We're talking years in the future, with technology advanced to the extent that millions of light-years can be passed in a spaceship within minutes. There is only one spaceship in a universe so evolved, dominant to every other ship created, the Pillar Of Autumn.

Equipped with all the necessary goods and technology barely accessible to other creatures, the Pillar of Autumn had everything on it. The A.I level of the ship was unmatchable, controlled by Captain Keyes and Cortana; it was the safest ship to exist, created by mankind until the Covenant took over.

The damage by the Covenant had been done; this fight has been going on for thousands of years. Initially, in search of the forerunner artifacts, they came across humans. Ultimately deeming them as enemies, forcing them into worshipping the forerunners, the Covenant were repeatedly getting negative feedback.

On the other hand, Humanity was constantly evolving, advancing and adapting to new technology and knowledge far beyond the Covenant's reach. And as for the Covenant, that meant humans were getting more dominant to them, and this was something they could not bear.

Humans during the time were infiltrated with the Flood, fighting on two faces; one with the Covenant and the other with Flood; there was alot of bloodshed. But with their technology and weapons, they managed to pull off the battle each time. They crashed into Earth and built their most incredible creation, the Pillar of Autumn. There, with all the knowledge and technology invested into this one ship, it's what made it stand out the most.

Fast forward to the current situation, the Pillar of Autumn is under attack. The Covenant have taken over, and they are more robust than ever. This battle took away the precious lives of the crew on the ship to the extent that it could not have gotten worse. There was just one way out, and Captain Keyes understood this well; he realized that the root of the problem had to be dealt with, which meant disposing of the ship. Keeping their pledge to fight till the last man alive in mind, he calls on John-117, the Master Chief.

"Captain Keyes," reports Chief.

"Good to see you, Master Chief. Things aren't going well. Cortana did her best, but we never really stood a chance, they have outnumbered us." Keyes replied.

Both of them were well aware of what the situation was; 343 Guilty Spark had activated their defensive weapons and were charged to fire on any ship that did not reciprocate a safe distance of a minimum of one light-year; this report did not reach the Pillar of Autumn because the transmission was weak and the database had erupted during the facade.

Judging the situation, Master Chief and Keyes had a rough conversation until Keyes picked up the receiver and spoke in a breaking voice, "This is your Captain speaking; I'm initiating Code Protocol, Article Two effective now. We're abandoning the Autumn; I order all crew members to evacuate immediately."

He slowly lowered the device and looked down in dismay with this sentence.

"The lives of our men are a priority, captain," said John-117.

Captain Keyes nodded as he pulled down the alarm bar indicating that Article Two was initiated. The ship had to be put down, the risks were increasing, and some hard and quick decisions had to be made.

The Captain ordered everyone to evacuate; he planned to stay behind the ship to navigate it manually into a crash landing. Still, he promised Chief that he'd make it out alive. He would steer the ship in the direction of Halo and meet Master Chief and the others at the boat. Although he told them to leave if the ship was directed and he couldn't make it in time.

With this decision, Cortana, the Artificial Intelligence had to be entrusted to someone, and no one was better for the job except the Master Chief. Cortana protested Keyes' decision after realizing that this plan was nothing but a suicide mission. But Keyes remained steadfast on his words; he realized that he was doing what had to be done, that the Captain always goes down with the ship.

John-117 had to leave, leading the other men to escape the Pillar of Autumn and only Cortana knew the right way out. A small part of Cortana stayed back with the Captain to help him navigate the ship correctly. All the automation engines had been burned out, leading to manual control. Master Chief, after taking an oath from Keyes that he'd direct the ship and meet them at the docks, left.

The idea was to create a front for the Covenant and distract them so that the ship could steer the right way into Halo. The way out wasn't an easy one. Covenant forces had taken over almost every corner of the ship, but here's where the Chief's Assault Rifle came in handy. They finally reached the last hurdle with Cortana's directions and the Chief's exceptional fighting skills.

The lifeboat. Here is where the major conflict took place. John-117 aimed to get every last man surviving out of the ship, given it was ready to be driven into doom. But a crew member, Harper I, refused, saying that the team cannot be the same without the ship or Captain Keyes.

The Covenant had already discovered that the Master Chief and the crew members were escaping the ship. The whole army set their eyes on one location, the dock. The crew members were fastened one by one, all except Harper I.

"Do you think we're worth anything without the ship? We've lost everyone here!" Explained Harper.

"It doesn't have to be this way; we can still escape; we're going to get revenge for everyone that died on the ship. The Covenant will pay for every last soul they slaughtered today. We need you for that, come on!" Master Chief insisted.

"It's not fair to my men; I'll come if the Captain makes it. If not, then I'll dispose of the boat manually," he said

The Covenant forces reached to docks and started to attack. Keyes shut the main door airtight. Only the temporary valve was open for Keyes to enter the lifeboat; Harper had shut his chances of getting on. As soon as Harper shut the first door, he turned around to defend himself from the Covenant and opened fire. Within the first few seconds of the scenario, the ship tilted vertically, thrashing everyone to one side. This was the sign Master Chief waited for. The ship had been directed to Halo manually, and Keyes was on the run to make it to the lifeboat.

Running as fast as he could, he reached the gateway where a group of Covenant forces detected him. Keyes changed his direction towards the other portal, where there was a straight way to the temporary gate. With Covenant forces following his left and right, he shut every door he could on the way to reduce traffic. All until he could see the lifeboat. Master Chief opened the portal and the valve to ensure that he could slide in easily.

Keyes being 3 feet away from the ship, a Covenant Elite from the main gate pulled the manual disposal plug that detached the lifeboat from the ship into space and left him behind, but Keyes jumped. All the crew members were stunned to see if Keyes reached the boat or not, and he did, or atleast, his hand did. His hand reached the first step of the lifeboat and slipped, but Master Chief jumped in and grabbed his hand, pulling his weight into the ship and closing the doors.

As soon as the doors were closed, a crew member pushed on the oxygen diffuser, and they all took off their suits, breathing heavily. There was a moment of silence where it hit everyone how much they had lost. Harper and the other fighters gave up their lives on the ship, and now they could see the ship going down through the glass window of the boat.

The Covenant knew that Keyes and the members were escaping from the ship, but what they didn't know was that the ship was about to crash land on the one place they glorified the most, Halo.

The crew members saw the ship crash; it was an emotional moment seeing the esteemed Pillar of Autumn die down. According to the preliminary plan, the lifeboat would go in a different direction to another ship. But, Keyes stood up and, without a word, steered the boat to Halo.

"We will rain fire on these bastards!" he mumbled as his eyes teared up.

The boat turned in Halo's direction, and the crew members hooted for a hot minute. The boat accelerated to the fastest gear and eventually landed on Halo, a few miles from the Pillar of Autumn wreck.

"Crew! We're here to destroy the root, the Covenant will always stay our enemies, and our brothers have fallen today because of them. They gave up their lives to save us, and it's our job to put an end to this. Once and for all." Announced the Master Chief.

"What's the plan?" Keyes asked.

"We'll search for leftover ammunition and weapons; anything that works, anything that you can get your hands on. Collect it".

The search on Halo finally begins. There's dust and smoke everywhere. The crew members slowly walk towards the ship, gazing at what's left, reminding them of the lost family. Until they come across what they thought was a huge shadow.