Author's Note: So we surpassed 2K views! Thank you folks so much for finding and reading my story in this niche area of Fanfiction. Also, I want you guys to leave a review voting for if I should write Legends Never Die alongside or after this story. Here's chapter 3 and make sure to favorite, follow, and leave a like.

Cooldude - The reason for a low number in the millions is that most of the planets that have been attacked have been mining, agricultural, or industrial outer colonies.

L - You made good points. You just have to wait and see where the story goes.

HECU marine - I had her do that because in lore, she was a more 'rebellious' Spartan and, to quote her wiki, "Held a rough attitude with UNSC personnel" so that's my take.

E3N - There's still more QZ's.

Guest - Noted, won't continue the mistake

Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or The Last of Us as they belong to Microsoft/343 Industries and Naughty Dog.

"Quotes."

"Radio Messages."

"Thoughts and/or reading"


Boston Quarantine Zone

August 2nd, 1324 Hours, 2033

A bullet embedded itself into the brick wall Daisy was using as cover. She was one of four soldiers currently engaged in a firefight with a small group of presumably Fireflies. Poking her head around the corner of the officers building, she brought her M4 up. Her augmented eyes scanned the battlefield and she tallied up a total of five enemies. One peeked his head out of a window to take a shot on another Marine taking cover behind a truck's engine block.

His first mistake was aligning with an insurgent organization, his last would be fighting for it.

A bullet zipped through the open window and right through his left eye, spraying blood and brain matter out the back of his head as the exit wound expanded. His rifle fell from the window as his hand no longer clasped it and it fell next to another insurgent. The force of the impact released the primer and caused a discharge, making the insurgent jump in surprise.

This provided an opportunity as he had exposed himself just long enough when jumping up that a sniper was given a clean shot. The second Innie dropped to the floor, a .308 Winchester round from a Remington 700LR putting a hole clean in his chest.

Another sniper shot rang out in return. This time, the fourth Marine who was firing from a mounted position on a concrete barrier was knocked on her back as a 7.62x54mm round impacted her chest. Ducking back in cover as she received return fire, Daisy glanced over at the Marine and saw her moving slightly with no visible blood markings.

Trying to peek around the corner again, she was met with a short, controlled burst of automatic fire forcing her to reverse her movement back behind cover. Unable to see the enemy without being fired upon, she thought of an age - old tactic. Looking at Private Smith's body, she saw that he had a knife on his waist. Grabbing it from its sheath, she poked it out from cover and motioned it around until she saw an Innie with a drum magazine - fed machine gun probed right next to the burning truck that started the firefight.

Still unable to move from cover, she shouted across to the Marine taking cover behind the engine. "Enemy LMG eleven o'clock behind the blown up truck, I can't get a shot!"

A few seconds after calling out the combatants position, a few single shots rang out nearby.

"Hostile down!"

A shouldered glance around the corner confirmed the kill. Leaning around it once again, she aimed her M4 at the fourth Innie taking cover behind a high concrete wall. From her angle, she could see their arm poking out while the rest of their body was out of harm's way. Firing a shot, she hit the upper arm; the impact of the force jerked the rest of the Innie's body allowing her to make an immediate follow - up shot hitting his chest.

The final Insurgent, the sniper, fired a shot at her.

She saw the barrel of the long gun aiming right at her. The momentary realization that she was vulnerable sent a short surge of adrenaline to her head, causing time around her to slow down. As the large small - arms caliber exited the barrel, it traveled at hypersonic speeds towards her. Stepping to the left, she dodged the round entirely.

To everyone around her, and that unlucky sniper, it was like she had just vanished and reappeared two feet to the left of where she once was. Unfortunately, the sniper's luck ended there as Daisy's barrel cracked through the air as the final round of the firefight met the sniper's forehead.

Once the gunfire went silent, she performed a sweep of the area looking for any survivors. Finding none, she lowered her M4 and turned, walking over to the Marine who had been shot and winded. Examining her, she saw that an indention in the plating had been made beneath the kevlar, but no piercing. Reaching down, she grabbed the female's arm and helped pull her up, or rather pick her up without any effort whatsoever.

Leaning onto the concrete barrier she had been using as cover and took several deep breaths after also now suffering whiplash. "Thanks." She weakly said to Daisy.

"Take it slow, you were hit with a rather large round." She looked up at the sound of a HUMV racing towards them with three Marines holding onto the sides. "Reinforcements are coming to secure the area, sit down and wait for a medic. You," She said, pointing to the other Marine who had taken cover behind the truck. "I want you to explain what happened here to whichever CO or NCO is taking charge after me."

"Rank?" He asked.

"Lieutenant."

"Yes ma'am." He confirmed with a salute, jogging off to meet the HUMV of troops as it slowed to a stop.

Looking up at the sniper who luckily had been on a nearby rooftop as the fighting started, she whistled at him and cupped her hand against her helmet, letting him know to keep a watch on the area. Receiving a nod in acknowledgement, she went back over to the winded Marine and helped take off her armor as their reinforcements piled off and out of the HUMV.

A grand total of seven Marines had come to reinforce their position. "They must really be struggling for manpower if a squad is our backup. Guess they're faring no better than the UNSC."

Out of the seven new soldiers, two had differing looks compared to the rest. One who was wearing a hat with the distinguishable rank of Lieutenant and the other wearing a white band with a red cross around his arm. The Marine who Daisy has previously told to wait for their arrival walked up to the Jr. Officer and began explaining the situation out of earshot.

The medic on the other hand ran over to the body of Private Smith and, after scanning his body for about thirty seconds, shook his head before heading to the three bodies that laid around the exploded transport truck.

Once the Marines armor was off, Daisy inspected her chest for any visual signs of injury and came to the conclusion that, even after being hit by a larger caliber, she was mostly unharmed. She would, however, leave the official consensus to the medic once he was done examining the bodies of the poor soldiers who were caught in the explosion. Soon enough, the man in question called for a pair of the new Marines to carry the bodies of their comrades over to the HUMV, preparing them for transport for equipment retrieval and the obituaries.

With the medic finishing his immediate field investigation of the dead Marines, he came over to Daisy and the other Marine. "Are you two ladies injured?" He asked, clutching his large first aid kit.

"I'm not and I doubt she is, but she was shot and knocked flat so a second opinion would be nice." Daisy informed him.

"I'm fine, just a little out of breath was all."

"That's an order Corporal. You can never be too careful." Daisy stated, using her newfound rank to sway the conversation.

The Corporal sighed. "Yes ma'am."

"Alright." The medic began. "If you come with me over to the truck, I can examine you. You were hit, so it's better safe than sorry; part of my job." He then looked at Daisy. "You may want to talk with Lieutenant Davis and provide any other details about what happened. The rest of us will get this mess cleaned up in the meantime." He said walking off while carrying the Corporal's armor.

Heeding the medics advice, Daisy stood up from the concrete barrier and made her way over to the new officer on the scene. As she walked up to him, she saluted him and waited for an 'at ease'. Receiving it, she brought her arm down, she held out her hand for a handshake.

The man took hand and shook it. "First Lieutenant Davis, don't think I've seen your face before Marine." The Lieutenant greeted Daisy. "Good to see a new leatherneck around here, but are you and why are you an officer."

"Special privileges. Lieutenant Spencer." Daisy responded.

Not bothering to look into it further as he had more pressing matters, Lieutenant Davis just nodded. "Well then, Lieutenant, I just got a verbal report on the events that just transpired from Sergeant Green. Do you have anything else to add?"

"No sir. By the time the fighting started I was still getting my equipment ready."

"Then if that's all, we'll pull security and wait for the cleanup crews. Dismissed; and good job."

"Thanks sir." Turning tails and heading right back to the officers building, she went back to her room and started re - reading the stacks of papers from the envelope. Over the course of the next few hours, with occasional glances at the cleanup through her broken window, she finished reading everything provided to her at around 2048 hours. The content was certainly interesting to say the least. They contained reports about every mission and collected pieces of intelligence dating all the way back to 2013, most likely to provide Daisy with as much information about what happened over the last twenty years in their timeline.

"Well if there's anything to describe humanity on this Earth, it would definitely have to be resilient." She remarked as she placed the papers in a large yet neat pile on the corner of her desk. Getting up from the chair, she grabbed her M4 and unloaded it, checking how much ammunition was left in the magazine. It was still mostly full, and without the lengthy interconnected logistics system of a fully operational military force, she would make sure that no resource would be wasted.

Placing the weapon next to her armor and other equipment in the closet that now had two spare uniforms thanks to the quartermaster service, she got undressed and went to shower. After around ninety seconds of a hot shower, the likes of which she hadn't had in nearly a month from constant deployments, she was drying off when there was a knock at the door. Folding a towel halfway around herself, she opened the door.

Standing on the other side was none other than Staff Sergeant Butcher who at first saluted before looking to the side upon seeing half - decent Daisy.

"You ok?" She asked, waving him off.

"You're uhhh exposed in some areas." He reminded her.

Looking down, she knew what he meant, but cared little if at all. "And? Never seen a woman naked before? You don't need to be courteous around me, I'm too used to integrated cleaning routines."

"If you say so ma'am." Butcher turned his head back to her and kept his eyes up at all times to at least be respectful. "Major Collins wanted me to inform you that you have full discretion to choose who you want for Naval Special Warfare."

Daisy smirked. "And are you looking to become part of the special forces Staff?"

"Me? No, no way I'd be able to pass whatever you guys do for tests."

"Well if you ever change your mind, all you've gotta do is show me." Daisy enticed him.

"I'll… keep it in mind ma'am."

"Is that all?"

"No ma'am, the Major said —"

"Please drop the formalities. I don't want to be hailed as an officer until I've earned the respect for it."

"Got it ma — ermmm Daisy."

"Anything else?"

"Yes ma'am." Butcher slipped. "Major Collins wants to see all officers at 0700 for a briefing. About what, he didn't say."

"Whatever it is, it can't be good. Hell, it's probably downright horrible." She thought. "Good to know Butcher. You're dismissed, thanks for the heads up."

Butcher clicked his heels together and saluted. Deciding to go with it, she returned one and closed the door as he turned and walked off, trying to silently swear at himself for saluting.

Daisy smirked as she closed the door and got dressed in one of the other two uniforms she was provided. "Welcome to the USMC." She thought, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.


Major Collins Office, Boston Quarantine Zone

August 3rd, 0705 Hours, 2033

As the last of Boston's remaining officers groggily took their seats, Major Collins stood up from his chair and addressed the roughly sixty men and women. "Yesterday at 1324 hours, there was an attack by the Fireflies on two locations; one being the officers quarters and the other on the prison. For the attack on the officers quarters, after - action reports say a group of five Fireflies detonated plastic explosives on a transport truck, killing three in the immediate blast and immediately opening fire. Following this, there was an instantaneous response from 2nd Lieutenant Spencer." He waved for Daisy to come to the front of the room. "The skirmish was ended thankfully not even two minutes later, but sadly at the cost of another Marine." Turning around, he gestured to everyone's attention to Daisy who was now standing at parade rest behind Collins. "Now, you may be asking yourselves 'Who the hell is this? I've never seen her before.' and you'd be right. This is Lieutenant Daisy Ann Spencer, and from yesterday - onward, she's our new special forces commanding officer."

A hand went up in the sea of people.

"Yes?" Collins asked.

"So she just shows up out of nowhere, helps in a fight, and is immediately dubbed the leading officer of all special forces activity?" One concerned and confused voice spoke up.

"Yes and no. As you all know, we haven't had any special forces of our own for a very long time. However, there did exist a special operations unit of Raiders still alive in the Hartford Quarantine Zone, but due to its falling and subsequent abandonment, Lieutenant Spencer's squad was cut off from their extraction and she barely made it out alive. I'll further explain her role in a minute because there is a more pressing matter. During the skirmish a larger group supposedly led by the Fireflies leader attacked the prison and escaped with three incarcerates in tow. Those who were wounded or killed in the fighting are being treated in the hospital or burial grounds. Meanwhile the escapees were Joel Miller, Tess Blanchard, and Ellie Williams. Why the Fireflies wanted them specifically, we're not sure at the moment. However, once we do find them, we'll be sure to not allow this mishap to happen again."

"Sir, if I may." Daisy interjected.

"Go ahead." Collins cleared.

"I have a suspicion that they may have decided to break out the smugglers because of their value to the Fireflies vaccination effort. Once we recapture the trio, have a look at Ellie's left arm and you'll see a calcified bite mark that matches the outline of a human jaw. When I met them, they told me a little about what they were doing and showed me that Ellie is immune to this virus." She informed the briefing.

That room went from quiet to an uproar in seconds. The men and women leading the remnants of the Marines in Massachusetts began yelling about the possibilities and problems something like this could cause. The MP's standing outside peeked through the stained glass of the door to check up on the now loud room.

"Attention!" Collins shouted over his officers. "Everyone sit down and shut up pronto!" His voice boomed the orders and, within seconds, everyone was back in their chairs and silent enough to hear individual breathing. He turned to glance back at Daisy. "This is very important information Lieutenant, I wish you would've shared it with me before."

"I do apologize about the inconvenience sir." She replied.

"Noted. Now for the rest of you, I believe I speak for all of us when I say we've had it hard these last twenty years. However, the news of a potentially final solution to the entire CBI could finally give the rest of our forces a true objective again. Starting now, we have two official objectives to complete: finding the girl and restoring communication nationwide with whatever quarantine zones we have left. I personally am hoping the Army at Atlanta survived since they would have everything we need in terms of equipment to stage an assault. No doubt the Fireflies are taking Miller, Blanchard, and Williams to their headquarters out west, and for that we'll need to see if the Air Force at Hamilton Airbase are able to do reconnaissance. For now, go break the news to your platoons. No doubt they'll be filled with joy after hearing about this. Dismissed."

As the officers file out of the room, their anger now replaced with sounds of joy, reveling, and giddiness, Daisy's eyes met with Collins'.

"And what will you have me do sir?" She asked.

"You're being assigned to Delta company, 3rd Battalion as a new platoon leader. It's full of individuals with better than average abilities in agility, marksmanship, and overall competence. They're our best men and women thus far, and if anyone is going to re - establish that communications tower, it's them."

"Would I happen to know anyone in it?"

"Great question, let me see." Rounding his desk, he opened one of its many drawers and shuffled through some files until finally finding the 3rd Battalion's. "Who've you met around the zone so far?"

"Staff Sergeant Butcher and his squad consisting of Private First Class Parks, Lance Corporal Hammers, and Corporal Rose. I've also met two Privates named Spikes and Martinez."

Collins flipped through the multitude of pages. "Can I get a first name on those last two?"

"Catherine and Franklin."

A moment of silence was followed by an 'ahh' sound from Collins. "So all six names you listed are in that company, however in different platoons respectively. So you may or may not see them."

"Well it's better to meet familiar faces… and maybe make a friend."

"For what it's worth, with how you kids grew up to be Superman soldiers, you have my sympathy. Speaking of which, I want to talk a walk down to the firing range so you can demonstrate some of your augmentations."

"Gladly, but only in exchange that you get someone to show me how to properly use 21st century equipment."

"Deal." Holding out his hand, he prepared for a handshake.

Grasping his hand firmly with her own, Daisy shook it. "Lead the way."

As they exited the office, the pair of MP's standing guard outside followed up behind Collins, getting in between him and Daisy. As they exited the building, two HUMV's were pulled around and Collins and his MP's got into the front vehicle while Daisy got in the rear one.

The drive took a surprising few minutes. As they traveled down the road, Marines patrolled the streets and kept watch of the civilians as they went about their day. They would pass by the occasional tense moment, group roundup, and/or investigation.

"How are the civilians treated?" She asked the driver.

"Huh? What do you mean?" He responded.

"How well are the civilians treated under our rule? I understand martial law is in effect, but they shouldn't have to fear their lives every day from the people protecting them, right?"

"Ma'am, I'm going to be honest with you. The last few years have been hell for all of us. The fall of three quarantine zones in the last eight years and increase in Firefly attacks has us all jumpy with a more 'shoot first, ask questions later' policy." The driver explained. "Fairness isn't exactly a commodity right now when supplies decrease every day and our ability to hold power and stability is waning. To be frank ma'am, we're nearly shit outta luck."

Daisy thought for a moment. "He deserves some good news. His pessimism isn't something all too uncommon with demoralization."

"Well, I have some good news, Marine. There is a girl named Ellie Williams who is most certainly immune to the virus who we're being sent out to retrieve her after we re - establish communications with whatever forces are left."

Looking at the man's face, she saw his eyes brighten and a smile on his lips. "You mean the apocalypse is gonna be over?" He asked with optimism in his voice.

"No guarantees Marine, but it could possibly be a start."

"Right now, a win is a win ma'am. And, pardon my French, we need a fucking win." He exaggerated.

"I don't doubt that, it's part of the reason why I'm telling you this early. We need morale to be high for the first step of the Major's plan."

"You say jump and I'll gladly ask how high."

Daisy chuckled. "One thing at a time Marine, let's get to the firing range."

"Affirm Lieutenant."

"Lay off the officer's respect, it's weird to me."

"Got it." He noted.

"Say, what's your name?"

"Shane McKay, First Sergeant." He introduced himself. "And you're 2nd Lieutenant Spencer, I already know that. Word has certainly spread about you from both officers and enlisted alike. Some say you dodged a bullet, but I call bullshit on that."

"It's an exaggerated half - truth. I saw the guy aiming for me so I moved for cover, he must not have anticipated me to move so he missed." Daisy explained, concocting a story.

"Well damn, here I was expecting some mystical unicorn that rode in to save you like the rumors said." He joked. "Eh, it doesn't matter now I guess, those bastards are dead after taking four of our own."

"Amen to that. Insurgents are definitely a pain in the ass." She agreed.

"Tell me about it." McKay said as they pulled up to a checkpoint.

Major Collins HUMV stopped and the Marine pulling security took a look at the drivers I.D. before handing it back and saluting, presumably at Collins. Waving both of their vehicles through, they entered an area filled with vehicles and personnel.

"Even while down, they're still able to fight." Daisy though, nodding in approval at the amount of equipment she was seeing just on the road itself.

They soon pulled in front of a large fire station. Once McKay turned off the engine, Daisy got out and walked around the front, meeting with Collins and his MP's who he told to watch the door once they went inside.

Inside, Daisy followed Collins to the front desk where a Marine sat behind a wire mesh screen. The Marine, upon seeing the Major, stood up and saluted. Collins returned the gesture, allowing the Marine to relax as she sat back down.

"Morning sir. What brings you to the armory? And with whoever this is?" She asked.

"Seems not everyone knows of my existence. Eh, it's only in due time." Daisy thought.

"I'm here to provide our new special forces commander with everything we have available for her, so we need armory and range access." He explained.

"Yes sir, give me a second." She said, heading to the wall behind her and grabbing the armory keys. Heading into the back, she opened the side door and handed the keys off to Collins."Make sure to give these back sir, it's a massive security risk." She warned him.

"I'm aware, thank you Master Sergeant. You can head back to your desk."

She saluted and went back the way she came. Collins and Daisy proceeded to cart one of every small - arms firearm they had on hand to the firing range behind the armory.

"Quick thinking on that excuse with her sir." Daisy complimented.

"Well it's not an excuse when it is a reason why we're here. You want to learn how to use 21st century firearms while I want to see these augmentations you have. And besides, as the new leader of NavSpecWar, you do need to understand all of our equipment; so after this, we're heading to the quartermaster to get you caught up on our other equipment, scanners, Kevlar armor, etcetera."

"Sounds like a plan. So where are we starting?" She asked.

Collins grabbed an M4 from their row of guns. "This. It's an M4 Carbine and you've already shown that you know how to use it, but it's never too late to learn a thing or two. First we have the weapons safety, magazine release, and forward assist; these three buttons are the lifeblood of the AR platform of rifles. I don't know what types of weapons you used in the 26th century, but these are easy to learn and master so you should be fine."

Placing the rifle down after clearing the chamber and leaving the bolt open, he took it apart and showed her the interior parts of the carbine and how to put it back together. For several hours, they repeated the process with every weapon in their arsenal ranging from handguns to the few squad crewed light machine guns they had on hand. Daisy, being a quick learner, was able to memorize all of the various different weapon information within the short amount of time.

Once the learning was over, they got to shooting. Daisy didn't even need a crash course in weapons handling as every firearm they had, she hit every shot without breaking a sweat. Collins himself was quite impressed at the level of skill she showed because none of his own men were able to get a perfect score on their first try.

He placed a hand on her shoulder as she was putting down the M240B. "I must say, whoever trained you did well."

"Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez. He was like a father to us and taught us everything we knew."

Collins smirked. "If he was here, how well off would our forces be?"

"You wouldn't suffer a single man."

"Oh? Why's that?"

"Because all of the Fireflies would be dead before he completed their training."

That got Collins chuckling. He had some very capable NCO's under his command, but having the man who trained his super soldier would no doubt be a bigger asset than an Apache.

"Sounds like a great man." He complimented. "Now, shall we hand over the Master Sergeants specialties and make our way over to the quartermaster to outfit you with the extra equipment you'll need in the field?"

"Yes sir." She responded confidently.

Carting the weapons back to the armory, Collins handed the keys back to the Master Sergeant before the pair went back out to the HUMV's. Hopping back in, they drove a little further down the heavily armored street until coming onto the neighboring police station. Parking and heading inside, they did near identical tests like they did at the armory, instead this time, Daisy walked out with a shiny new toy: an infection scanner.

After nearly an hour, they were back outside. However, before loading into the HUMV's to go their separate ways, Collins stopped Daisy for one last thing.

"Spencer, I want you to get acquainted with your new unit before I send out attaché's with your battalion's briefing. Once you receive your orders from your Battalion Commander, I want you all to be moving out within the hour after you review them. Understood?"

"Crystal sir." She saluted.

"Good. Dismissed Lieutenant." He saluted back.


Author's Note: Hey y'all. I know this chapter is a little shorter than the other two, but if I continued it instead of breaking it there, I would've probably been given a massive writer's block for the next chapter and I don't want that. I'm already writing slower because of college, BUT there will be a chapter each month.