Chapter 3

Location: Aboard UNSC Frigate "Highland".

John stepped off the Pelican and looked around the bay. The Hangar was virtually undamaged. There were eleven Longsword fighters and twenty-four Pelicans. UNSC soldiers and engineers were running around the bay, collecting weapons or fixing broken control panels. A video link snapped into view on his visor.

"Chief, this is Captain Stanford. It's good to have you on board. I need you in the Bridge. Double-time. Hurry." The Captain told him.

"Yes Sir." John replied and the video snapped off. John ran towards an elevator and punched in the command for the Bridge.

John arrived at the bridge. The view display showed thousands of UNSC ships holding off tens of thousands of Covenant ships. We seemed to be failing.

"Sir. Reporting as ordered" John shouted.

"At ease son." The captain replied. "Chief, we have a problem. My ship has intercepted a message from Truths ship. They have been giving every ship in their fleet the co-ordinates to a thing called "The Ark". I don't know what it is but all I know is that it is on Earth. Fortunately, it is underneath our Weapons and Vehicles Research facility. Luckily I managed to send a transmission to them and they have built up their defences. I need you to get down there and help them. I have prepped a Pelican with ammo and men to transport you down there."

"Yes Sir." John replied.

"When will you be ready to move?" Stanford asked,

"Immediately." John replied.

The Pelican tumbled and turned through the Earths atmosphere. John held onto a grip that hung above him. Out of the ramp colour whipped past in a blur.

"ETA is twenty seconds. Prepare for landing." The Pilot told them over the radio. John braced himself for landing. There was a slight thud and then the transport came to a stop. John stepped out.

John looked around himself and saw he was in a jungle. There were Warthogs driving around. Scorpions were patrolling the area. Two men greeted John and took him to the base. Inside John met Admiral Baker.

"Sir, I have been assigned to defend and guard this place from Covenant attack. Permission to start straight away Sir?" John asked the Admiral.

"Granted. Chief, do whatever you can to stop the Covenant from overtaking this base. I have some new weapons and vehicles at your disposal. If you make your way to the Armoury I have twenty Marines there ready to help with the base."

"Yes Sir." John replied.

In the Armoury the walls were covered with portable gun turrets and new weapons. Outside the Armoury was the Garage. There were four new vehicles and there were five of each. The first was like a normal Warthog but with two mounted chain guns. On the side of it the word Ripper was written. The next was a Locust. It was a helicopter with five missile pods and two mounted mini guns. Then there was a tank that looked identical to the Scorpion tank but it was called The Lion. The last vehicle looked like the best to John. It was a massive tank; five other Marines could have easily fit inside it. There were portholes in the side where Marines could fire out of. It was called a Battle Fortress. Back in the Armoury the twenty marines arrived.

"Sir, SGT Adams here. We are going to help you defend the base. What did you have in mind Sir?" he asked John.

"First, get sixty marines over here. I want all of these vehicles to be manned." the SGT radioed all of their Pilots and a few more Marines. "I want all of them turrets controlled by someone." John ripped a map of the base off the wall, "I want them here, here, here and here," he said pointing at the map. Fifteen Marines grabbed a turret each and hauled it towards their specified position. I want Snipers on the roof of the base, a Sniper and a Spotter. I want Rocketeers to be in the passenger seats of all vehicles. I want Assault teams to be made, each team made up of fifteen men. And I want those Locusts to patrol the area." John told them.

"Yes Sir" Adams replied, and he hurried off to prepare the base.

John walked into the Armoury and looked around. There were four new additions to the Human arsenal, the MA8B which he had already handled, the new rocket launcher with four barrels instead of two. It was called the Shark. There was also a minigun, which John took and put it around his neck; on the side it read The Punisher. There was a new pistol with two types of ammo, explosive and shredder, it was called the Dominator. John also picked up a MA8B rifle, a combat knife and four Frag Grenades.

"O' Holy One, our Stealth Cruiser, Invisible Death, has managed to slip past their MAC guns and is making top speed towards The Ark." Gor told the Prophet of Truth, "It should be there in sixty-six Units. O' Noble One our new recruits are aboard that ship, our Scalers. They will be able to remove any threat."

"Very good Chieftain, we must now concentrate all of our fire on just one of their gun stations to break their ranks. We must then pass through and land on Earth. The Great Journey is nigh Chieftain. We will soon have started. Launch the boarding craft. Contact all ships. Tell them to target all of their orbital guns. Make a break in their ranks. Once we have defeated a sufficient number, we go through and land near The Ark." Truth replied.

"Yes, O' Noble Prophet of Truth." And he walked away.