Chapter 1: Marching as to War

The hum of the Pelican dropship filled Nathan's ears as the craft flew over the surface of Delta Halo, drowning out the blaring music coming from the headphones Jim wore. He nodded his head in time with the beat that no one else could hear. The others just sat back, trying to relax, but it was always unnerving heading into battle, and now they were fighting in unfamiliar territory.

Nathan looked over his troops. The ONI agent sitting across from him had everyone unnerved, except for Mike who was fast asleep, his helmet pulled down over his eyes. The man had a calmness about him that was chilling.

Wesley had his false smile pasted on his face, trying to make friends. It wasn't working, as everyone ignored him.

The remains of Platoon 6 were being inserted just a kilometre away from a Forerunner complex where Cortana believed the architect was located. The only problem was that the Covenant were already there, so there would be some fighting.

Nathan wished he had the Master Chief with him. That man had done this before, he'd be able to smash right through any defenses the Covenant had for them, but the Spartan warrior was needed elsewhere, so Platoon 6 got the job.

"I always though platoons were made up of a fair amount a marines, this is about squad size. So where is everyone else?" Wesley asked, shouting over the pelican's engines.

"Hey, asshole. Keep pushing and you get a bullet in the face," Sara said, touching the butt of her pistol to emphasize her point.

Wesley's smile faded for just a second, and Nathan could see fear in his expression, but it was quickly shoved away making room for his regular fake smile and arrogant expression. Nathan shook his head in disgust.

"You wouldn't dare shoot an ONI officer, you'd be court marshaled and executed," Wesley said.

"Try me," Sara said, and her lips stretched out in a sick smile of bloodlust.

"Why you little bi-" Wesley started.

"Enough. We have to go into battle, and I'd rather we save the fight for the aliens," Nathan yelled.

Sara sat back, still smiling, and Wesley crossed his arms, fuming, staring at the Sgt. with utter fury. Nathan met that stare with his own eyes. The ONI agent could see the steel will behind those eyes, but he also saw the sorrow. He remembered looking at Sgt. Little's record.

Though he was loath to admit it, it was fairly impressive. The man had once taken out a pair of hunters with only two pistols and a grenade. Using the grenade he had found a new method of killing Hunters that his platoon had called the 'Little Boom'. Wesley knew the Sgt. had fought on Earth over the past few days, but his records weren't updated, so the ONI agent had no idea what the man had done recently.

Wesley managed to calm himself down, and his smile was soon back on his face. They would be landing soon.


The pelican's whine shifted as it lowered to the ground. Its landing gear lowered, and the craft touched the ground softly, despite its large size. Then the back hatch opened, and the marines all got up, and disembarked.

Amy went first, her shotgun probing through the confining shrubs of the jungle they had just landed in. Hank, the sniper, separated himself from the group, and silently entered the trees of the jungle, Nathan had no doubt the man would be able to find his own way to the complex.

As one the platoon of marines moved through the jungle, ignoring the vines the snaked down from the branches of the trees that towered above them. Wesley was trying his best to be quiet, but he had no experience, and made Nathan almost wish they had been dropped off right in front of the complex.

For about a half-hour they slowly made their way through the jungle, each marine grimacing whenever Wesley snapped a twig, or rustled a branch. Eventually they reached the edge of the jungle. Just ahead of them was a ridge with a natural dirt ramp slightly off to the side. Atop the ridge was a two story metallic structure. Grunts were patrolling just along the top of the ridge. A single elite stood in front of the structure.

"This is it. Hank, you in position?" Nathan asked over the personal radio everyone carried.

"Yes," Hank breathed, barely audible.

"Okay guys, let's kick some alien ass," Nathan said, waving his hand forward.

The marines burst from the jungle foliage, startling the grunts. The elite reacted immediately though, and ignited an energy sword, and caught a sniper bullet in the face. Purple blood splattered across the structure and the elite fell to the ground lifeless.

Nathan and Danny brought their battle rifles to their shoulders as the other marines charged for the ramp. The rifles immediately began firing, and the bullets tore through the grunts standing sentry. Some of their corpses fell from the ridge and landed on the ground below with a dull thud.

The sound of another shot from the sniper rifle, and the clearly visible bullet line showed that another elite had emerged from the structure and was now laying dead beside it's brother.

The marines were on top of the ridge. A grunt jumped on a plasma turret placed atop the complex, and began to swivel it to gun down the marines, who didn't see it. Except for Gary, who was kneeling on the ground, a rocket launcher on his shoulder.

The grunt had fully swiveled the turret, but let out a scream as it saw the rocket flying directly at it.

The marines ignored the resulting explosion, and ran towards the building that housed the architect. As they approached, a cloaked elite began firing at them. The plasma bolts sped towards Danny, whose amazing reflexes allowed him to roll out of the way. Nathan fired a burst from his rifle, hitting the nearly invisible elite. It's shields flared, and Hank took the shot, hitting the alien in the chest. It was thrown against the wall as it became fully visible. It's lifeless form slid down to rest face first on the ground, leaving a trail of blood on the wall.

The marines walked up to the entrance. As the marines entered, Sara stopped the kick the third elite's corpse a few times, before entering with the rest of the platoon.


"Stay put Hank, make sure nothing comes in behind us," Nathan told the sniper over the radio.

"Roger that sir," Hank responded.

Confident that his ass was covered, Nathan ordered the platoon to move in. As the marines walked cautiously down the metallic hallways, Nathan threw a glance towards Wesley, who still walked with an arrogant, pompous stride, though he hadn't fired a shot getting into the complex. He really wasn't worth the trouble to bring along.

The marines were suddenly out of the cramped hallways, and had entered a large room. There were some long metal plates in the room that came up to a man's waste, then there was a chasm that cut through the centre of the room with only two thin looking bridges to get across.

And there were Covenant.

"Behind the plates, take cover," Nathan commanded, and the marines did so, but the first man to safety was Wesley.

Sara poked her rifle over the top of the plate, and fired a burst. She heard grunts scream, so she brought her head up so she could see where she was shooting. She fired an entire magazine before anything fired back, and it was a grunt with a needler.

"Shit," she yelled, ducking as glowing pink shards flew at her face. The top of her helmet was still above the plate, and the needles hit it, bounced off, flew into the air and popped above the marines.

"Holy crap, they actually work," Jim said with a laugh, referring to the helmets.

"Okay, lets kill them," Nathan said, and stood, firing his rifle in the same movement. The other marines followed suit. Wesley watched the carnage in mute amazement as the grunt corpses were torn apart by the bullets, their bright blue blood spraying across the shining metal floors of the complex.

The marines reloaded their weapons, and walked across the bridges. After that room, there were more hallways, leading deeper underground. They met a few jackals after a minute, but the bird like aliens were quickly gunned down by the marines. Then the platoon moved on.

Quickly they came to the end of the twisting hallway, and were in front of a door.

"I think this is it guys," Nathan said.

"Damn well better be," Jim muttered darkly, and Danny went forward. The door automatically opened, revealing a massive hologram of halo in a large room. And a really pissed off elite standing by the console.

"Shit," Danny said, as the elite's plasma rifle fired. The plasma bolts struck the young marine across the chest, and his unarmored shoulder. Danny screamed, and the elite was about to finish the human before it off, when it noticed a grenade fly in through the door.

It growled, just before it detonated, and sent the alien flying through the air to crumble in a heap in the shadows.

The platoon gathered around Danny. Amy pulled out a knife and cut the smoldering fatigues away from the burnt flesh. The armor had only stopped a few bolts, some got through and would have killed him if another one or two hit him in the same area. His shoulder was almost burnt away entirely, unprotected as it was.

"Holy fuck man, it stinks," Jim cried out, clamping a hand over his face to stifle the stench.

As the marines did their best to bandage Danny, Wesley walked past them to stare at the hologram.

"What is it?" he asked.

Nathan walked up beside him, surprised at the man's ignorance, he was ONI after all.

"That is the architect. It's a map," Nathan replied, he had found what they had come for, but it may have come at the price of another marine's life. He already had too much blood on his hands, he didn't need Danny's.

Author's Note: Due to the content that could very well be appearing in this story, and also due to the new rating system, I may be rating this fiction as M. I will listen to any reviews that suggest otherwise.