The Worst of the Worst

Chapter 1: The New Threat

The year is 2555.

The chief sat down on a bench located in his barracks. He toyed around with his pistol, taking it apart then quickly putting it back together. He went through his collection of weapons, from his sniper rifles and shotguns to his weapons he had gotten from the Covenant, when they were still a threat. The Covenant presence in the Master Chief's day has been dead for nearly three years now. And for three years it seemed as if the Master Chief could not think straight. Finally, the Covenant was wiped out, mankind was safe...but he didn't feel right. He felt as if something was missing. He felt as if he wasn't truely a human being. He kept hearing the voice of one Samus Aran in his head, moments before she was sent back to her year of 2205. The chief had been thinking alot about what Samus had said, about being human. He had wanted to speak to her ever since.

Since the Covenant homeworld was destroyed, the UNSC banned all time travel from there on out and as the last three years went by people have seem to forgotten they had discovered such a thing, or simply refuse to talk about it. Time travel is not the easiest thing in the world, one simple change could alter the history of the universe. But the chief didn't care. He needed to speak with the bounty hunter. The chief knew where he needed to go; straight to UNSC HQ.

The chief walked through the UNSC HQ for the first time in six months, which is odd for him because he was used to being there almost every day during the human-covenant war and even for the two years following. As he approached the room where the Time Travel equipment was, he realize he didn't have clearance. He stopped a soldier running past him.

"Who has access to this room, soldier?" The Master Chief asked.

"I'm not too sure, Master Chief..." the soldier replied, frightened.

"What's your name?" The chief queued again.

"Private Joseph Staten, sir." The soldier replied.

"And you have no idea who has clearance to this area?"

"I-I-I think Lord Hood might have clearance."

"Thank you, Private." The chief said, and went on his way.

The Master Chief approached Lord Hood's office and realized he was having a meeting with one Capt. Miranda Keyes, Admiral Whittaker, Sgt. Johnson and Dr. Dufraime. When Hood's secretary realized who was here, he told him to go on straight in. The chief did so without hesitating. The people inside the office looked at the chief as if they had seen a ghost.

"Nice to see you, Master Chief." Lord Hood announced. "I was hoping you would come. Didn't you get my memo?"

"No."

"Well, we're here to discuss a new threat. Recently, a number of UNSC spacecraft have been disappearing in quadrant 37, sector B6 of our galaxy. Do those co-ordinants sound familiar, Master Chief?"

"It was the former location of one of the angelic Halo rings, sir." The Master Chief responded.

"As you know the remnants of the Halo ring floats around in that sector, and so far a total of nine UNSC spacecrafts carrying a number of soldiers, who have been working as the clean up crew for what has been left over on the ring, have completely disappeared. No tracers whatsoever. It's as if they disappeared into thin air."

"Do you think it may be the leftover heretic Covenants?" Keyes asked.

"No, it can't be. No technology they have, especially since their planet has been destroyed, would be able to do such a thing. All I can think of it being is some sort of supernatural force or a completely new breed of A. I."

The Master Chief had two things come to mind...actually, one thing being worked by two hands.

"Admiral Whittaker," the Master Chief said, "do you remember how many Covenant ships remained in free space when their planet was disintegrated?"

"A few thousand, Master Chief." The Admiral responded.

"And out of those few thousand, how many were we able to destroy?"

"Nearly all of them. There is only a few dozen left. A few dozen ships mean roughly a few thousand Covenants. Compared to a few billion, I think we've narrowed it down. But I still don't think a few dozen lone Covenant ships could cause this."

"I don't think it's the Covenant soldiers. I don't think its the Covenant at all." The Master Chief replied.

"What do you think it is, son?" Sgt. Johnson piped up.

"Gravemind...and Cortana."

Lord Hood was stunned. "Master Chief, do you believe Cortana is still operational, and that she is working with the flood entity known as Gravemind?"

"Working with, no...but manipulated into working with, yes. The UNSC never did find that ship where Cortana was left and I know for a fact Gravemind was using myself and the Covenant Arbiter to find what he wanted...he is probably using Cortana for the same thing."

"What do you think could happen, Chief?" Miranda asked him.

"Gravemind is very powerful, and if he can manipulate Cortana, he can manipulate anyone. He could be planning an attack on us. Hell, he's had three years to prepare."

"What should we do?" Admiral Whittaker asked.

"I need to speak with Lord Hood privately," The Master Chief said, "then he will inform you of what to do." The other looked confused. The Chief asked again, "Please." They all exited the room.

"What is it Master Chief?" Lord Hood asked.

"I need access to the Time Travel equipment."

"For heaven's sake, why?" Lord Hood asked surprisingly.

"We can do the same thing we did when we faced the Covenant. Form a team of experts to take down Gravemind. We don't know what to expect."

"Do you really think that this is necessary, Master Chief?"

The Master Chief lied. "Yes."

"Alright chief, I will devise a list of several people you can recruit..."

"I need access right away." The chief interrupted.

"Why?"

"There is one of the former team members I know I can recruit right away."

"Alright Chief, but please be back soon. We don't know when Gravemind will strike and I would hope you will be here when it happens to react."

"Will do, sir."

The Master Chief headed to the Time Travel equipment room. Dr. Dufraime greeted him when he got there. The Chief fully suited up, carrying a trusty M6C Pistol as well as an M90 Shotgun just in case, strapped to his back. The Master Chief clicked his helmet in place and was prepared to travel back in time for the first time in three years. He would also see Samus. He had hoped she would not be upset with him, but the Chief needed her. So did the future again.

"Where to, Master Chief?" Dr. Dufraime asked.

"Planet Zebes, year 2205."

"Sounds familiar..." Dr. Dufraime said as he punched in the co-ordinates. "Don't take too long, chief!"

Dr. Dufraime pushed the button. The Master Chief felt that weird sensation of travelling through time once again. Before he knew it, he was standing on Zebes' soil. What he saw, however, was not what he had expected to see.