Chapter 2.

'Coincidence? I think not!'

0900 hours, September 4 2552

Epsilon Eridani System.

The group sat in darkness, chillingly silent. For the last three days, they had watched helplessly as the covenant had glassed their homes, killed their families, friends and anyone else still on reach. They had started with the poles, slowly turning the planet into a glowing molten ball. The covenant had now all but finished their destruction of the human colony, through the view ports in the longsword, James could see covenant ships stationed around the planet, bombarding it mercilessly. As the longsword drifted lifelessly through space, James saw a covenant flagship exit slipspace, a distance from the other craft. He watched the behemoth move towards the other ships as the other ships turned to face it. 'Another enemy,' thought James feeling helpless.

'What the hell?' shouted Lansir suddenly.

James jumped to his feet and followed Lansirs gaze. The flagship he had been watching no more then 30 seconds ago had opened fire on its allies, covenant cruisers and frigates being decimated by some kind of laser weapon the ship had. The group crowded around the view port, silent and in awe, watching the battle as the Flagship destroyed its own ships.

'Preston, what's going on?' Asked Thomas.

'Not sure,' replied Preston. 'The ship seems to have failed identification checks. The comm links on this vessel are too weak to pick up anything from such a great distance.'

'Dammit.' Replied Thomas as she slumped back into her pilot's chair.

James turned quietly and paced the length of the cockpit. Questions flew through his mind. Who was in that ship? Why was it firing at its own ships? What had happened to the rest of his squad? Had John and Linda completed their mission? His brain overflowed with these questions, questions he could not answer. He sat back in the corner and, with the silence of the group, drifted into an uneasy slumber.

Three days later, Reach was just a glowing speck in the distance, after what seemed like an age, the Longsword had finally made it to the outer reaches of the eridani system. James knew action had to be taken, knew that their supplies were starting to fade, although he didn't want to tell the group that. They had been drifting for almost a week with no contact or action from the outside world. The covenant flagship had entered slip-space soon afterwards and the group had returned to their usual routines, monitoring comm. Channels, exercise, rationing food and sleeping. Today however was different.

'Incoming enemy,' said Preston through the loud speaker on the ship. 'Shutting down all systems.'

'No,' said James. 'Its time to take the plunge.'

'Your not backing out on us are you son?' asked Lansir gruffly.

'With all do respect sir, what other option do we have? We have less then a weeks supplies left and there's nowhere for us to run. Preston, what sort of ship is it? Asked James.

'A scouting ship, small, could be a frigate.' Replied Preston.

'Ok people, saddle up,' said Lansir. 'Thomas, turn us around and give me a bearing at that frigate, we got us a plane to catch.'

'What exactly do you have in mind sir?' said Thomas as she got to her feet.

'Oh you'll see, don't you worry about that.'

'Arbiter,' said Captain Nekomaree, as he made his way into the bridge. 'The strike force is ready sir.'

'Very good Captain, you have done well.' Replied the Arbiter curtly. 'The humans have requested to join the force Captain, they wish to search for the demon.'

'Hmmm, very well Arbiter, but I doubt even the human could have survived without help down there. We have detected small pockets of resistance in flagship bay 12 as well as Phantom hangars 9 and 17. They appear to be Sangheili Arbiter.'

The Arbiter stood in thought for a moment before replying.

'Make haste my friend, our brethren fall with each passing hour.'

'Yes sir' said Nekomaree and hurried from the bridge.

The Arbiter exited the bridge soon after, heading for the human's quarters. These humans were skilful warriors and good tacticians; he could use them in the planning of such an assault. He reached the chamber and knocked twice before entering.

The female was curled up in a corner, resting on a low bed originally designed for an Unggoy. The male, however was sitting on the floor, back against the wall, a small projectile weapon aimed at the Arbiters face.

'Not a good idea, human.' Said the Arbiter smartly.

The human lowered the weapon and got to his feet.

'Any news on the strike force?' asked the human as the female awoke and rose behind him.

'The force will be departing shortly, that is why I am here. If you are still willing to partake in this operation, I suggest you make ready.'

'Got all I need right here,' said the human pointing to a bag on the floor. He lifted it and removed two slightly larger projectile weapons, almost plasma rifle sized. The female knelt down and took two small pistols from the bag.

'Ready when you are Arbiter Sir,' she said with a salute.

'Follow me then,' said the Arbiter as he turned around and strode out of the chamber.

Sgt Johnson picked up the backpack and slung it over his shoulder as he left the room, jogging to catch up with the Arbiter and Commander Keyes.

'Remind me again why were taggin' along on their little expedition Commander?' mused the sergeant as he caught up with Keyes.

'The last time we heard from Cortana and the Master Chief, they were on high charity. Assuming they are still there, the Chief wouldn't be one to go willingly if the Elites came for him, even on a rescue mission. We have to find him and inform him of this new… treaty.'

'Piece of cake,' replied Johnson smugly.

'Sergeant, you do know that high charity is roughly the size of earths moon?' Queried the Commander.

'Meh, we'll just have to look for the action. That's where the chief normally is.' Replied the Sergeant.

'Come humans we must hurry, the ships are almost ready. We will be on the leading ship,' said the Arbiter. 'We must clear a landing zone for the rest of the force.'

'Sounds good to me,' said the Sergeant.

'You do realise how dangerous this will be?' asked the Arbiter puzzled.

'You seen me fire a rifle Arbiter, just wait till you see me close range,' Said the human. 'I might have a trick or two up my sleeve for those slimy flood bastards.'

As the three emerged onto the walkway above the hangar, the two humans jaws dropped. Hundreds and hundreds of Elites and grunts were forming lines and arming up at the hundreds of weapons racks, hastily placed in the hangar. In the far corner, at least thirty hunter pairs were huddled, checking and rechecking their bond-brother's weapons and armor. Sgt Johnson, after all the land battles and campaigns he had fought, had never seen this many covenant.

'This must be every warrior in…' Johnson started.

'The entire fleet,' said the Arbiter. 'Quickly humans, the ships will be departing soon. We mustn't make them wait. Each passing moment puts another one of my warriors in danger. Time is of the essence my friends.'

'Very philosophical,' said Johnson, jogging to keep up with the Arbiters large paces.

The Humans followed the Arbiter into a corridor and into a smaller hangar. He signalled to a Phantom in the middle of the bay. The Sergeant nodded and the Arbiter started again, striding towards the Phantom and straight into the grav-lift.

'Ladies first,' said Johnson as he let the commander past. She nodded and hurried into the purple light, disappearing in seconds.

'Here goes nothing,' muttered the Sergeant to himself as he stepped into the beam. He felt his stomach lurch as the lift took him and, within seconds, he was inside the drop ship.

The Human took a seat next to his the female and looked up at the Arbiter as he placed a long brown object in his mouth and lit the end on fire.

'So Arbiter,' he said. 'Why cant we just fry this thing from afar?'

'There are Survivors still down there; we must save them from the parasite. We must also destroy any docked ships to avoid their escape. Measures must be taken to ensure their containment.'

'Oh I get ya,' replied the human. 'Any sign of my boy down there?'

'The demon? Briefly, but not since before the traitors fled. We have lost communication with high charity completely for unknown reasons. Main plans are to save everyone and everything we can.'

'Sounds good to me Arbiter, Lets get to it.'

If the Master Chief wasn't about to witness the possible destruction of mankind, he could have been amused by the irony of this situation. He had taken command of no less then 75 Elites and grunts as well as a hunter pair, although they were stubborn to listen to him. The Chief and his new 'squad' had raided nearby armouries, killing brutes and jackals as well as scavenging weapons and equipment. The ship had long since entered earths atmosphere and was scheduled to make landfall at any moment. He had no idea what part of earth they were on but he had to defend it all the same. It was still Earth. His plan would soon kick into motion, and providing it was successful, would save a hell of a lot of marine's groundside. It would start the moment the ship hit the dirt. His squad sat around, staring at him alertly; obviously worried by the fact they were on an enemy controlled ship and outnumbered at least 100 to 1. Unbeknown to the covenant, the Chief had control of the entire corridor surrounding the huge docking bay the enemy army was situated in. The same corridor filled with windows looking into the bay. The Spartan felt a shudder as the ship slowed considerably, he could tell they were almost on the ground. He made the ready signal to the grunt stationed halfway between him and the next window who in turn, passed the signal onwards. Within 45 seconds, the ready signal had travelled the entire corridor and back to John from his left, everyone was ready.

The moment John felt the ship come to a stop, he had kicked the window in and activated 2 plasma grenades, throwing them into the room. As he did so, 30 or so grunts simultaneously shot the other windows in and placed stationary plasma turrets, which they began firing immediately. Roars broke out from the Brutes below, firing brute shots and frantically attempting to activate the Grav lifts that would lead them to solid ground and Earth. Dozens upon dozens of enemies fell as the combined might of 30 stationary guns, plasma fire and grenades cut into, tore apart and blew up the enemy soldiers. Drones flew up to the windows to meet the enemy and were promptly swatted out of the sky by bolts of plasma. The entire room was in complete chaos. As more and more enemies flooded through the now open Grav lifts, the fighting died down and the Master Chief, along with his new allies, surveyed the carnage they had initiated. Hundreds upon hundreds of enemy bodies lay in the bay below, the floor was hard to make out through the bodies, blood patches and scorch marks on it and the only movement left was the twitching of the deceased brutes.

'This is Spartan 117, any ground units in the vicinity please respond.' Said the Chief through the main communications channel. He had gotten so used to Cortana speaking on his behalf that he had almost forgotten completely that he could again use his communications equipment. He waited almost 30 seconds for a reply but no voice came through. The reply he did get set a large grin behind his helmet. A small blue light flashed once in the corner of his HUD. An acknowledgement light, but more importantly, a Spartans acknowledgement light, it was Fred.