A/n Ok people, this is a story about the covenant first invading Earth from the perspective of a 16 year old boy and how his journey is linked with Master Chief and his battle to fight the covenant. Please read this, I have taken way too much time in this story to be ignored, thank you

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo but I aid Bungie's efforts in world domination.

His feet flattened the long soft grass as he quickly marched up the hill. His brown untamed hair blew indifferently in the strong breeze that forced the lush grass to ripple down the hillside, lapping at the concrete city below. The city darkened as the sun slowly became strangled by murky grey clouds, but Leo continued at a forced pace up the slope. Passing a hand through his hair, more through habit than purpose, Leo muttered curses to himself. Content with walking, he fell in to the sea of grass and turned on to his back. The ocean was welcoming and safe so he shut his watery blue eyes.

'I'm not a kid anymore,' the boy said aloud to his audience, the clouds darkened. 'I want to be taken seriously.' His mind flashed back to the argument with his parents, the wound still fresh tore at his heart.

'I'm not a kid anymore Mother so stop treating me like one. I want to grow up, go out in the world on my own,' Leo whined at her, his eyes a fiery blue.

'You're only sixteen Leo. You do far more than what I was ever allowed to do at your age. You're too young to want to grow up so soon,' she replied coolly and routinely.

'You're mother's right Leo,' his father added, resting his hand on his wife's shoulder for moral support. 'Don't wish you're life away. You are still a kid and we just want to protect you until you do grow up. We just don't think you're ready yet.'

'How old is ready?' He cried desperately. 'You treat me the same as you do my little sister,' he accused, his hands clenched at his sides.

'You know that's unfair. Elene is ten. We give you plenty of independence,' his father pleaded defensively. Leo's mother began to cry softly, her hands padding her face catch her tears.

'But I want more.'

Leo opened his eyes and his mind to the sky above. The darkening sky was a surprisingly happy distraction from thinking about arguing with his parents. Right now he could see in his mind his house that stood alone, resting only a few hundred metres down the slope, his parents upset and discussing what just happened. Despite Leo's immense guilt for upsetting them, he was still angry. Their protectiveness over him for the past few years was suffocating and he just wanted to grow up more independently, alone sometimes. He didn't usually argue with his parents because he never wanted his little sister Elene to see them arguing. But today she was at a friend's party in the city and Leo had let his anger go with no boundaries.

The sky grew thicker and a pall of darkness spread across the concrete jungle city and rushed up the slope towards Leo. He sat up, a sudden chill passed through his body that forced him in to a shiver. The sea of grass was no longer a vibrant green but had turned dull with the change in weather. The tides no longer rippled down the hill and the breeze ceased. The only sound that forced the atmosphere alive was the distant humming of traffic that droned ignorantly.

Leo's gaze swept down the slope towards his house. His eyes focused as he spotted his parents in the front garden, their hands raised and gesturing to the sky. His head rolled back on his shoulders slightly as he too looked back at the sky. His lips spread slightly then dropped apart involuntary in amazement. The sky had turned a deep grey, but that wasn't what threw Leo off guard. Above the city the grey pall had turned purple and the clouds had begun to swell around an invisible object. Leo was on his knees now, suddenly too weak to stand but his curiosity still forced him closer to the sky. His body tingled all over, seemingly possessed by adrenaline.

More purple clouds swelled in clumps above the city but the city continued to roar with life and blissful ignorance. The tingling in his body soon turned to vibrating and the brown haired boy snatched his stare away from the sky to his hands; they were trembling. He quickly stood up, his body no longer hypnotised by the sky. As he straightened he nearly lost balance on the ground. He wasn't shaking, the earth was! His blue eyes turned wild with confusion, what is going on?

He looked back at his parents in the garden for an answer. They were both kneeling on the grass, arms around each other and heads raised. Leo's body trembled uncomfortably and without thinking, he wrapped his arms around himself to stop shaking with little effect.

Then everything went silent. The cars in the jungle city no longer roared, and the earth ceased to tremble for a few seconds. Seconds turned in to minutes as time slowed down. The air grew thick as Leo clutched weakly at his chest. His heart thudded from the inside of his ears as the seemingly solid air pushed from the outside in. His eyes were still locked on the purple clouds clustered above the city when a dense, self- contained purple light shot out from one of them. He forgot to breathe in as the thick air tried to push its way down his throat. The light crashed into a sky scraper in the centre of the city, sending cascading ripples down the building, shaking it to its foundations. Leo heard nothing of the impact and watched as the building crashed in on itself, sending a large brown dust cloud through the city. Time still slowed for the spectacle unfolding in front of Leo as the building continued to plummet to the floor.

Then Leo's vision snapped from his trance-like state as several more lights shot out from various purple encased clouds, moving ten times faster seemingly than the first. The beautiful destructive purple flares appeared to hit and destroy random parts of the city indiscriminately, fuelling the already expanding dust cloud. Leo froze as a stray purple missile appeared to head straight towards him. He was transfixed by the beautiful yet deadly light and stood paralysed. At the last second he threw his arms above his head as an instinctive self defence as the light crashed a few hundred yards down the slope from where he stood. Before he could realise he was alive, the thick, heavy air was swept away as the blast from the impact took him off his feet and tossed him up the slope. He flailed as he was flung through the air and the wind threw him onto his side.

Pain shot through the left side of his body and he reluctantly tensed his body to cope with the pain. A strong breeze was rushing up the hillside now and Leo struggled to lift himself up to peer down the slope. His eyes burned in disbelief as he looked at his home, burning an image he'll never forget; it was no longer there, just bricks and rubble, a cloud of dust attempting to mask the destruction.

His eyes swelled, his body tensed, 'Mum!' he shrieked. One foot fell forward, the second fell in behind and then too many to count. 'Dad!' he equally cried, his calls choked by unforgiving tears. The wind pushed hard against him but he ran, he flew towards his home with love-filled speed.

His brown hair flicked violently as the air and tears pushed past him. Purple missiles crashed all over the city now and crafts began to emerge from the cloak-like clouds. But Leo didn't witness the Covenant invasion of Earth taking place in the city, his heart was focused on his parents.

In only a few seconds it seemed he was at his home, the remains of it that is. He ran to the front of the house where the garden was, the last place he had seen them before-. He pushed the thought away as he waded through the rubble. Bricks and debris ripped his jeans and legs as he went, but the only pain Leo felt was ripping at his heart. His sobbing grew frantic and desperate when he came to the garden; it was under several feet of rubble.

Leo fell to his knees, hope had tore away from his heart and had left him empty. His defences broke down and tears flowed freely down his face. They were lost forever and he would never forgive himself. If only I hadn't argued with them that morning. He knew it was foolish to think that that would have altered his parents' fate but at least it would have released him from the infinite guilt that was already shadowing over him, fettered to his very being.

Too wrapped in his own guilt, Leo only just noticed something other than rubble out of the corner of his watery vision. His hands hurriedly rubbed at his eyes to get a better look. He squinted in his frustration to focus and it slowly became clearer. It was a hand! He jumped to his feet and ran across the rubble, stumbling and falling frequently. He grabbed at the familiar hand. 'Mum!' he yelled at the hand. He let out a gasp. Her hand was still warm. Hope hovered over his heart and he called out there names again, but there was no reply. He felt for a pulse on her wrist but there was none. His heart began to tear apart again and his shoulders grew heavy. It was childish to think they would have survived such a blast. He pulled his hand away reluctantly from his mothers. He gave a short shriek as he fell down the remains of his home down to the grassy ground. His mother's blood was on his hands as he stared wide eyed at his palms. The guilt on his shoulders nearly gave a crushing blow and Leo wished it had been him under the rubble when he thought about how lifeless his parents were now.

Leo had stopped crying now; he had to grow up quickly. Poking out of the debris, as if wanting to be found, was his father's samurai sword that had been passed down the family. Emotionlessly and unceremoniously he picked it up.

'I know I have only disappointed you father but I will avenge you both,' he softly spoke to his parents' graves. 'I will protect-'it dawned on him. '-Elene!'

He looked at the city. It was no longer being bombarded by uniformly coloured lights from the clouds, instead dark purple and blue ships were descending on to the city and its inhabitants. His heart beat quickened. Elene was in the city at a friend's party. Strapping the sword to his back, Leo ran down the grassy slope to the dust engulfed city. As he ran he could hear a droning sound coming from behind him. Looking back, he watched as an army of about ten pelicans flew above and several army vehicles known as warthogs drove past and around him. It was unreal. The warthogs bounced up and down over the uneven surface and each warthog was fully loaded with people and gun turrets. None of them seemed to notice him and they continued down towards the invaded city.

As he continued down the slope at a godly speed, Leo rushed upon the large crowds of civilians trying to escape the city. Leo nearly fell over himself trying to slow down as he reluctantly fell in to the crowds of families. He tried his best to push his way through them, tearing through the hands of mothers' clutched desperately at daughters' hands. If Leo's mind had not been so focused on his own sister he may have felt guilty for breaking those desperate bonds of hope and safety. Elene was staring at Leo in his mind, her hand outstretched, calling for him to hurry. 'Brother'

'Monsters! There's monsters!' A desperate voice half shouted, half screamed.

From all around him, choruses of voices shrieked the same thing over and over again. Leo tried his best to ignore the incoherent ramblings of aliens in the city and plunged through the crowds.

The closer to the city he got, the thinner the crowds of people became until there were only a few clusters of people left, desperately searching for lost relatives.

Leo picked up pace again and ran down a main street in to the city. Dirty brown dust still hung in the air and clung to the boy's clothes. The city still trembled as weakened buildings collapsed and purple missiles still bombarded the city. Leo was nearly at the council flats near the city centre when another wave of civilians came rushing towards him. This time the youth jumped in to a side alley to avoid being dashed against like a rock against a river. Leo watched as hysteria swept over the fleeing crowd. People fell and were trampled upon by their own family and others in the panic. Bright pulses of light fired in to the rear of the crowd, blood erupting from the back rows of the mass of people.

Emotion drained for Leo's face, the slaughter was too much to bear. From deeper in the city, under the concealment of the murky dusty clouds, blue and red plasma energy blasts were shot in to the fleeing civilians until none were left. The cries of small children were even silenced. Leo just watched the culling before taking off once again down the side alleys. Why?

For all he knew, Elene could have evacuated the city with all her friends by now, or have been-. Leo's eyebrows furrowed as if willing the thought to pass as quickly as it had entered his mind. He will find her alive and waiting for him at her friend's house. Leo's heart pulsed faster; he was nearly to the block of flats he would hope to find Elene.

'Please let the building still be standing . . .' he pleaded with an unknown force.

He shut his eyes as he rounded the corner. It was still standing. Leo grinned in relief and ran across the deserted main road to the entrance of the flats. Leo paused before opening the door, it was too silent. As he opened the door the ground shook softly and again as he ran up the stairs. At regular intervals the shaking would get more violent knocking plaster off the wall causing the building to groan in pain. Leo finally made it to the top floor, his breathing shallow and raw in his throat. He clutched his chest as he opened the door.

'Elene! I'm here, I made it! Elene . . .'

Brown eyes searched frantically around the deserted apartment. She wasn't there. A rush of warm blood swept to his head as his heart pounded faster and faster, just before Leo collapsed to his hands and knees, sobbing freely once again. He had let them all down.

'I was stupid to think she'd still be here waiting for her brother that would come here to late. I'm never there for people.' He clenched his fist. 'Stupid!' He shouted as he pounded the ground. The ground pounded back. Leo stopped crying for a second and looked around the apartment. The ground shook more violently this time causing his body to sway involuntarily and force objects off shelves and on to the floor. Outside the authorative shouts of men could be heard over what sounded like another crowd of fleeing civilians.

Leo edged closer to the open window and peered out over the once empty street. Again families were fleeing the city but this time they had a group of about fifty soldiers covering their backs from whatever hid in the enveloping clouds of dust. The ground shook violently again and everyone paused momentarily to gain balance before a new wave of intensified panic swept over them.

'There is nothing to fear people. The situation is under control,' a soldier shouted either out of confidence or ignorance. Leo decided on the latter, too many innocent people had been slaughtered today including his parent and possibly his-

'Hurry up people! We need to evacuate this area for a landing zone for Master Chief!' He continued. Murmurs of hope spread through the crowd and they began to move again.

'Master Chief….' Leo thought to himself. It's got to be bad if he's been called in to deal with the situation.

'Move it, move it! The pelicans are under fire. They need an immediate drop off-' the soldier stopped short. Everyone paused again as they watched a pelican fly over the crowd and flames burst from its belly. Screams ripped through the crowd as they ducked from falling debris. Leo tried to his shut his eyes but curiosity prised them open. Large slabs of metal sheeting and other debris landed in to the crowd, immediately crushing whole families or horrendously maiming people. Leo heard their screams the loudest. Leo's heart bled with them. The craft continued to drop altitude rapidly as it spun slowly on its side until it disappeared over the horizon of buildings and erupted in to flames.

Leo's mouth fell open. Master Chief was their only hope from this foreign being. Earth was being invaded and it was defenceless now their hero had been killed. Leo looked back down at the crowd who still stood in amazement. Some were crying, the injured screaming until they died of exhaustion, and others just stood there. Morale and confidence had also been stripped from the soldiers as they hesitated with what to do.

'Al-alright people, let's get out of here. Pick up the injured and stick together!' The soldier stammered, weakness evident in his voice.

Before they could gather themselves together however, what seemed like an earthquake shook the crowd back to the floor where they struggled to get back up. Leo leaned out of the window and searched down the street where the crowd had come from initially. At the end of the road a mechanical monster gazed down at the group of stunned people. Four claw-like legs supported the bug-like body that towered above the buildings nearly. A circle of light was focused in the centre of what appeared to be its head was aimed at the crowd and seemed to be getting brighter.

'Scarab!' One of the marines shouted. Before a resistance to the monster could be made or the crowd could run, the 'eye' of the Scarab glowed brighter than ever. Leo's breathing became shallow and laborious as the air became heavy. Adrenaline rushed through his body, this had happened before when that mysterious purple light destroyed his house and-

Leo leaned out of the window quickly just managing to not fall out and shouted as loud as he could, 'Run! It's going to kill you-'

It was too late. A devastating golden light was forced out from the eye of the Scarab down the street and through the crowd. Flesh burned and disintegrated in the bathing light. Soulless bodies that didn't disappear in the light ran until flames finally consumed them and took their pain away. The smell of human flesh was nauseating and the sound of weakened buildings crashing to the floor echoed throughout the city.

Leo lay on the floor of the apartment unconscious under the rubble. He had jumped out as the beam of light destroyed the front of the building he was in. His body twitched slightly as blood poured from where a large chunk of glass was buried in his leg. Even in his dreams his sister's face haunted him. What if she had been in the crowd that laid chard in the street now? Her burning fingers reaching out for him, her eyes filled with blood.

'Where were you brother?' she smiled sweetly at him.

A/n Thank you for making it through the story. I mean it when I say I'd appreciate reviews because I really don't know if people will like this style of story. Next chapter features Master Chief for all you die-hard fans.

KujaWolf

Gamertag: KujaWolf

I will be redoing this chapter at a later date.