CHAPTER ONE

1430 Hours (Earth Time), October 6, 2552 (Military Calendar) Aboard UNSC Vessel Judicator, Sol System, Orbit Above Earth.

The bridge was chaos, three more Covenant Supercarriers had just entered the system, adding to the already massive fleet already engaged. Spartan Rachel-035 stood, in her massive MJOLNIR armor, at the front of the bridge next to Capitan Tobias.
"Sir you requested my presence?"
"Yes, we have received word from UNSC Command that there is something on earth that the Covenant want, they want it bad. I'm sending you to stop them."
"Sir, I don't know if I will make much difference against a whole covenant armada."
"I have faith in you soldier."
"Sir! I won't fail you."
"Don't do it for me, do it for humanity."
"Yes sir." Rachel thought she saw the air flicker for a second, but when she looked again it was gone.

Rachel left the bridge and promptly headed to the weapon locker. She decided that she should go in heavy, she didn't know if she would have a chance to restock. She grabbed her trusty MA5B rifle, a handful of clips for it. She hefted an M 19 SSM Rocket Launcher, snickering at the thought of blowing the limbs off a few Covenant. She got her hands on a MD6 pistol, its 12.7mm semi-armor piercing high explosive rounds were effective at all ranges, which made it an excellent choice for this mission. Ammunition for the pistol, a full 6 grenade ring clip, a few cans of C-7 explosive, and a couple of LOTUS anti-tank mines finished her armament.
As Rachel was leaving the armory, a shudder ran through the ship. "All forces prepare for Covenant boarding. Sections 4, 5, and 6 have been overrun." Rachel pulled a copy of the ships schematics up on her HUD. She was currently in section 14, the launch bay was in section 2, and she needed to get there as soon as possible. She sprinted down several corridors, until she came upon a pitched battle in a mess hall. Three Elites and a handful of grunts were slowly advancing towards a group of marines who were desperately trying to hold them off.
Rachel tossed a grenade into the middle of their formation. The elites were fast enough to avoid the blast, but the grunts were caught right in the middle of it. They were torn to shreds as the grenade detonated. Blue alien blood spattered all over the room. The marines cheered shortly, until they realized that there were still three Elites in the room. The elites growled in anger as they were cut down by the combined fire from Rachel's rifle and the marine's barrage of bullets. Rachel left the marines to their duties, and continued to the launch bay.
She made it to the launch bay without any serious conflict. There was a Pelican dropship waiting for her there. "The Capitan wants you off the ship ASAP ma'am. The ship is fueled and ready to go."
"Let's not waste any time then." The pilot dropped the ship into the planet's atmosphere and they were on their way to the surface.

"She's gone, are you happy you bastard?" Tobias spat into the air.
Mogomo Furooti deactivated his cloaking device. "You gave her the correct location human?"
"Yes damnit I did."
"Good, you of course know that you are useless to us now."
"But you said…." Tobias's speech was cut off along with his head. Mogomo closed down the energy sword and activated his cloaking device again. He chuckled to himself as he left the bridge. Soon the human disease would be exterminated from the galaxy, and he would claim all the glory for himself.

The dropship touched down on the outskirts of a seemingly abandoned town. Rachel thought this odd, seeing as Earth was the most densely populated planet in UNSC space. The dropship lifted off and moved hastily back to the ship. She saw a small shape run between two buildings. She swung her rifle into position, but there was no more movement. She warily moved towards the building that the shape went into. The inside of the building was almost hollow, as Rachel moved inside her enhanced hearing picked up sounds from everywhere. Suddenly the door behind her slammed shut and lights turned on inside the building. She instantly knew that it was a trap. She was surrounded on all sides by Grunts, Jackals, and a handful of Elites. An Elite in black armor strode forward. It spoke in its own language, but the translation software in Rachel's armor allowed her to hear him.
"Drop your weapon and surrender to us, and we might spare your life."
"I'm sorry that I can't comply with your request." She said brightly.
"I thought that you might say that." He replied with a grim smirk.
He brought his weapon up, as did every other alien in the room. "I suggest you surrender while you still can."
The lone Spartan looked around desperately trying to decide how to deal with the aliens around her.