Disclaimer: I don't own Halo, Halo 2, or anything in Halo or Halo 2.

The engine of the lifeboat roared to life, and we shot out of the In Amber Clad. I was strapped into one of the chairs, so I couldn't see through the pilot's viewport – I just gritted my teeth, gripped the barf bag, and stared straight ahead.

As the g-forces escalated, I soon found myself being pulled to the left, and I managed a glance outside: the lifeboat was speeding by one of the towers, and another one was directly ahead. I found myself wondering where Alicia would land, but was distracted by the feeling of my face being dragged off.

A few minutes of torture later, she cried, "The momentum of being launched off the In Amber Clad is causing us to go too fast . . . Just to warn you, we may hit the next tower."

I gulped as the small lifeboat began to rock violently. Suddenly, the ensign fired the reverse thrusters, sending me flapping to the other side of the seat like a rag doll. I heard a few bones popping, and I gulped again.

"Uhh . . . hold on." She muttered, barely audible over the roar of the engine. The lifeboat decelerated, and I got another glimpse out the viewport: one huge purple tower was all I could see. Alicia continued, "We are probably going to knick it. Hold on tight."

Again, she fired the reverse thrusters and the port thrusters, and I was jolted into the side of my seat. The engine began to scream from stress (so did I, but the ensign ignored me) as we hurtled toward the tower. Slowly, I felt the lifeboat begin to drift toward the right – starboard – but a moment later, we hit the tower on the port side of the lifeboat.

For a half-second a horrible screeching filled my ears, and then the lifeboat rocked and spun away. The whole thing was spinning – vertigo washed over me, just before my head hit the "cushioned" seat with such force that I fainted. I came around a few seconds later, just as Alicia Hartman called, "I'm going to right the lifeboat. Hold on." Oh, I was already doing that, plenty well. My knuckles gripped the support bars until they were white; my eyelids were peeled back; my heart beat like the drummer of an ancient rock-and-roll band.

Alicia fired all eight thrusters at once. I closed my eyes as the craft jolted and seemed to stop midair while speeding along at 300 kilometers per hour. When I opened them, we were cruising along at break-neck speed, heading toward the floor of High Charity.

"We're still coming in too fast!" She called. It felt distinctly like one of those old video games: The hero, speeding down from a doomed space ship, heading toward certain doom in a crash on an ancient and unknown world . . . Of course, this was still a vessel, but it was a big vessel.

I leaned forward and stared out the viewport. I could see the huge structure in the center of city: it looked almost like an ancient Egyptian pyramid. Bright lights made it glow, so it appeared to govern the whole of High Charity. When the In Amber Clad had arrived at the ring-world Delta Halo, I had overheard the Master Chief in conversation about the Covenant leaders. I had been with him for a while as he tried to kill the "Prophet of Regret", but I left him before he reached the main temple. I wondered if this huge building in the center of the city was where the Prophets reigned.

A jolt interrupted my reverie, and I saw that we were now incredibly close to the ground. Alicia righted the lifeboat as we hurtled down a long, narrow street. A moment later the bottom of the lifeboat skimmed the ground, and we hopped into the air. Hartman cut the acceleration engines, engaged the reverse thrusters, and deployed what landing gear the lifeboat had. Suddenly, the craft spun to the side and we began flipping and spinning – I screamed again as the small ship started to slow.

It felt like hours before we stopped with a clang. I was dripping from sweat, and the lifeboat was upside-down. Smoke was filtering into the tiny room as the engine fell apart; the emergency light shut off and the sealed weapons locker came open, dumping our gear onto the floor. I disengaged myself from the seat and crumpled to the floor, breathing hard.

After a few moments of bliss, Alicia grabbed my arm and dragged me up. Without a word, she picked up an M6C Magnum and a BR55 Battle Rifle. I hoisted the MA5B assault rifle I had found on the In Amber Clad, and an M7/Caseless Sub Machine Gun. The two of us pushed open the door and walked outside. The street was barely lit, but I could see three weaponless Grunts staring at us in terror. I hopped forward and seized one; it screamed in alien horror. Clutching it close to me, I asked, "Where are we?"

The Grunt stammered in perfect English, "The lower districts of H-High Charity!" It was so panicky I could easily hear the extra exclamation point.

Alicia pushed me away from the Grunt. Surprisingly, it didn't run, though its two buddies had disappeared. In a soothing voice, she said, "What can you tell us about this place?"

"High Charity is the f-flagship of the Covenant fleet. The Prophets came here to activate Halo, and begin the Great Journey –"

"What's going on here? I saw fighting when we passed over the towers." I looked up, and, indeed, I could see plasma blasts and streams of plasma rifle fire come out of the open areas of the only tower we could see. The others were hidden by the prefabs that surrounded the street.

The Grunt, too, glanced up at the towers. "The Sanghelli –"

"The what? Use our terms." Alicia interrupted impatiently.

"The Elites rebelled against the Prophets. Some of the Grunts – us – joined them, along with the mighty Hunters."

I gasped. I had been fighting the Covenant for a long time – since five years before the fall of Reach – and couldn't believe the Elites might soon be helping us. "Who are the Elites fighting?"

"The Prophets, and the beings that remained loyal to the Covenant – the Brutes, Jackals, and Drones."

Suddenly, a sonic boom echoed over the city, and I heard a voice say over some alien intercom system, "The Elites are retreating to the mausoleum. Fools! Their Arbiter can do nothing for them now." Of course, I had no idea what that meant.

"What is your name?" Alicia continued, taking no notice of the sonic boom or the announcement.

"Torffel. Do you need something of me? Please – spare me, I've never fought the humans –"

The ensign glanced at me. "We won't kill you, but we need you to guide us to a dropship." Torffel nodded, and, wasting no time, turned and began to trot away. The two of us followed. The small Grunt headed down the street, and I soon had a clear view of the other towers. In one of them, I could see the In Amber Clad, mangled from its crash. I frowned and felt a wave of sorrow come over me: I had liked that ship. The enormousness of our situation suddenly came over me: We were stuck in the deepest of enemy territory, with no way of escape; the Flood could very well be in here with us; Miranda Keys was probably dead, all the Marines on the In Amber Clad were dead . . .

I whispered to Alicia, "What are we going to do now?"

"We'll find a way out. Get a dropship, fly ourselves out of here –"

"What about the Flood? If they are still in the In Amber Clad, this whole ship could be taken over soon. If that happens, they can get anywhere in the galaxy!"

Alicia's hand leapt out and grabbed the Grunt's shoulder, and she turned toward me. "Remember the story about the Master Chief and Halo? How he destroyed it? If they escape into High Charity, we'll returned to our ship and detonate the reactors, just like he and Cortana did last time."

I remembered what I had seen right before we got in the lifeboat. "The Master Chief might be on High Charity, too! I think I saw him when we were on the bridge."

"If you did, we might be able to get his or Cortana's help." Her brown eyes drifted to the towers. I watched her carefully, and felt rather un-Marine-ly feelings. Ignoring that part of my brain and body, I stepped forward and grinned. "Shall we?"

Alicia smiled, and the two of us returned to following the Grunt through the lower districts.