Chapter One: New Allies, New Beginnings
"That, Reclaimer, is for you to find out." 343 Guilty Spark hummed as he floated out of the control room.
"We should be off. The Flood is still spreading, and if we don't hurry, they'll consume us." Keyes stated.
"Yeah, but where to? In Amber Clad is completely infected by the Flood, there's no chance we'll get that back," Johnson said, as he scratched his head. "It's also crashed into a wall, so there's no chance of getting into it, even with a Phantom or a Pelican."
"We could take my ship, human. A few Phantoms are heading this way to pick us up. I only hope that the Flood hasn't gotten to it yet." The Arbiter told them.
They walked back out of the hierarchical structure, and outside of the control room. Three Phantoms flew from the east, towards the control room. The Phantoms began to charge their turrets, but stopped when they saw the Arbiter. The Phantoms flew by the Arbiter and hovered just above them. A white armored Elite dropped out of the first ship, and two Spec-Ops Elites followed. The two Spec-Ops Elites drew their energy swords, when the white armored Elite held out his hand. The two Elites growled, and stopped in their place.
"Arbiter, you've stopped the Brutes? And their chieftain, Tartarus?" The white armored Elite spoke.
"Yes, Excellency. The traitors have been defeated, and the Sacred Icon has been secured." The Arbiter relaxed slightly, knowing that the Phantoms were not controlled by Brutes.
"Why do these humans live, Arbiter? We should grind them to dust," The first Spec-Ops Elite growled.
"Don't you agree, commander?" The second Spec-Ops Elite looked at the white armored Elite approvingly.
"The Arbiter obviously has a reason for sparing these humans, or they would have been dead by now." The Elite commander spoke.
"These humans are our allies now. The one that they call Johnson helped me defeat Tartarus. If you have a problem with them, you'll have to answer to me," The Arbiter glared at the Spec-Ops Elite, who was taken aback.
"Yes, Excellency. I understand." The Spec-Ops Elite apologized. "I will control my temper."
"You'd better, or I'll kick your ass!" Johnson yelled and shook his fist at the Elite.
"Johnson, there is no need for that. They're on our side, remember?" Keyes scolded.
"Yes, ma'am." Johnson murmured.
"The humans will aid us in our fight against the traitors, commander." The Arbiter stated. "Their determination should prove to be a formidable strength."
"I hope you know what you're doing, Arbiter. The war between the humans and the Covenant has gone on for thirty five years. Are you sure we can trust them?" The commander muttered.
"Commander, I know how you must feel, but you needn't feel that way anymore. The humans are our allies." The Arbiter stated.
"Alright, we should be on our way," Keyes interrupted. "There isn't much time left, and we need to defend Earth, before the Prophet of Truth destroys it."
"You're right. Everyone, onto the Phantom!" The Arbiter barked. "We need to stock up on our supplies before we continue onto Earth."
The Arbiter, the commander Elite, Keyes, Johnson and the two Spec-Ops Elites boarded the Phantom, and it took off with a gentle hum.
The Master Chief grabbed his Carbine and ran up to the top of the ramp. He peered around the corner and saw 3 Brutes, two with two Brute Plasma Rifles each, and one with a Brute Shot. He knew he had to think of a plan to get around them.
"I don't have much ammo left." The Spartan thought. He knew without looking that he only had one extra energy pod left for his Carbine. "The Brute with the Brute Shot won't be a problem; the grenades that a Brute Shot fires are really inaccurate. The two with the dual Plasma Rifles will be hard to get around. They'll cook my shields in a second."
John checked his belt, and found two fragmentation grenades and three plasma grenades. "That will work."
The Master Chief snuck to the corner and threw the plasma grenades under the Brutes. The Brutes looked down and roared. John pulled the pin off of one of his frag grenades and threw it into the group of Brutes. The frag grenade went off, ignited the plasma grenades and caused a massive explosion that shook the floor. John looked around the corner again and only found a melted Brute Shot from the explosion. John walked forward and saw that the walls surrounding the melted Brute Shot were scorched.
"Wow, that did a lot of damage," The Chief stared at the wall for a second, and shook his head. "I've got to get to Truth, fast. Killing him is the only chance I have for ending this war." The chief started around another corner and came to a locked door.
"Oh, great." John muttered to himself. For the first time since he left Cortana, his personal computer A.I., he wished that she was with him. Sure, she was annoying sometimes, and she overanalyzed certain things, but she was a vital asset. She had a great talent at hacking into the Covenant battlenet and scouting out enemy troops. John shook his head again and dismissed the thought. "It doesn't look like Cortana will be coming back with me this time." His thoughts traveled to where he left her, back at High Charity. "Johnson and Commander Keyes are both still on Delta Halo; maybe they'll find her."
John's com channel activated, and a voice on the other side said, "Hello, demon."
John looked around, but he didn't see any enemies. He keyed his com and barked, "Who is this?"