So here's the next chapter and well I guess things are gonna get a bit more interesting. I'm taking a few liberties with some things, which you'll see below. They're not major, but I just thought I'd forewarn you :)

Thank you for all the reviews, favs and follows. I'm glad you're all enjoying it :D

MarshalAlexandraAnderson: Thank you and here you go :)

Mr Review: He might stay, it really depends on Six. I mean she hates them with a passion ;)

ILikedabubbles: Don't worry, the chapters will be longer, the first two were just to introduce some of the characters :)

Telron: Glad you think so :) Things are only going to get more interesting.

Guest: Yeah, it was quite fun writing Roh's POV even though it was a bit of difficult. I'm glad you found it good :)

~/~

Waning: There is violence in this chapter, much worse than before.

"Speech"

"Sangheili"

Thoughts or words that are stressed upon.

Seven Devils


Noble Six, Reach

Six didn't know how much time had passed since she'd started fighting. She felt herself tiring, but she refused to give in. Bodies of Elites were stern across the dull and dusky ground. All of them had different wounds; bullet holes, plasma burns, knife wounds and even a few were dismembered. Their blood pooled on the floor and even coated parts of her armor. She almost revealed in it, her destruction was unrivaled on the battlefield.

Even Insurrectionists had come to fear her as she never left any of them alive. After all why should she? They hadn't extended the same courtesy to her father. They'd capture and tortured him, all because he was UNSC personnel. She'd never forget the day she'd found what was left of him when she'd been out enjoying the forests of Charybdis Nine. His body had been a message to the UNSC and all those that stood with them. The incident had been one of the reasons she fought as hard as she did, but now? She did it because she was ordered to and because she enjoyed it. The feeling of twisting her blade into another and watching as their life left them was something so amazing she could not put it into words.

Although, she never revealed it to anyone as it would cause them to question her mental stability. But, there was no doubt that her mostly now deceased team had figured she had a thing for killing the enemy.

"Noble Six, I am detecting numerous contacts closing in on our position," DOT spoke through her helmets speakers in her usual emotionless voice. Six still wasn't completely sure how she'd managed to get a hold of the AI.

She vaguely remembered stumbling into a small communications outpost that had contained minimal supplies that she'd grabbed.

She remembered getting ready to move on when DOT had appeared on one of the monitors and spoken to her for the first time. Sure the AI had spoken to the Noble team but she'd never addressed Six herself, something that amused the Spartan. She'd then managed to find an empty data crystal chip, a fact which had surprised her as all the crystals should have been destroyed. Although, as she'd taken in the trashed area of the outpost, the dead bodies and blood splattered walls, perhaps they hadn't had time. Her discovery ended up with her slotting the AI into the back of her standard Mjolnir mark five-dash-bee helmet, which was outfitted with the UA Attachment.

While Six was one of the rare Spartan-III's to have a neural implant at the base of her skull, she'd never been issued an AI. Even when she was given the chance to handle an AI chip, she only allowed them to occupy the neural interface for as little time as possible.

"Acknowledged," Six muttered as she discarded her empty plasma rife and unholstered her assault rifle. Just as she did, the silhouette of an Elite appeared in the dust that still encase the battlefield around her. The single Elite was soon followed by more and by then Six had already begun to engage them. She took down the first one without a problem, her bullets swiftly took down its shields and it managed to get a few hits in before she finished it off.

Six shrugged off the hits and began dodging around the others. As she continued to battle her shields took more and more hits. The sounds of DOT telling her to find some cover were blocked out as every muscle in her body fought through the fatigue that was trying to claim it; she didn't want to give into it, she wouldn't give into it.

More fire hit her and her shield broke. The first few burning shots hit her body and hands and she dropped her weapon. Another two others hit her helmet cracking the visor and forcing her to pull it off. When she did, the noises that had been DOT's voice faded away as she dropped it to the side.

Six scooped up her weapon and as she stepped to the side she began to calmly shoot down the Ultra that had been shooting at her. When the Ultra hit the floor she sensed something behind her and instinctively elbowed an Elite General across the face, knocking it to the ground. Its sword fell from its grasp and she gave it no time to grab it or recover from her blow as she pulled out her pistol and shot it in the head.

Breathing in deeply and attempting to ignore the pain Six only got hit in the stomach by more plasma fire. The hot substance burned at her skin and the pain of it almost caused her to sag to the floor, but she held strong. She unleashed a torrent of bullets at the Elite that just shot her in retaliation. Another one appeared in the corner of her vision and as she continued to fire from the hip at one, she shot the other with her pistol. Both Elites soon fell, but Six was given little time to recover as a hard force knocked her to the ground, sending her weapons flying from her hands. She caught the barking of another Elite as the Ultra pounced at her with its energy dagger raised.

Kicking out at the Ultra with as much force as she could muster, Six sent the white Elite stumbling away. After hearing footfalls of another Elite to her right she turned and managed to knock it's sword from its hand.

More barking could be heard in the background only it's more furious this time.

The Elite she disarmed recoiled while the Ultra came back at her with its energy dagger. Six rolled out the way and elbowed the Ultra in the jaw with one arm, while she reached round for her knife with the other. Straight after elbowing the Ultra she turned to stab it in the side of the face and was greeted by a gurgle as the blade tore through the alien's skin.

She then turned back to the Zealot she'd previously disarmed and saw it coming at her with its energy dagger. Six attempted to roll to the side to avoid the dagger, but found she couldn't when the wind was suddenly knocked out of her. The pain from her wounds intensified as something hard pressed down on her chest. Looking up she saw a Field Marshal and a scowl formed on her face as it barked at the Zealot and looked back at her.

In a last ditch attempt to be defiant of her death Noble Six brought her knife around at the Elites leg but her attack was knocked away and more pressure was applied to her stomach. A small hiss of pain escaped her along with all feeling as the Elite 'smiled' down at her before punching her in the face with its free hand. Blotches of black appeared all over her vision and before long blackness is all she could see as she dropped into unconsciousness.

~/~

Jaor 'Amasee, Reach

Jaor looked over the Demon he'd been told to keep alive. It was a miracle from the Gods themselves that his squad hadn't killed her in their attempts to 'subdue' her. He'd called out to them on numerous times when it had appeared they would kill her. But each time she'd managed to dodge out the way and continue fighting, despite being mortally wounded. Jaor wasn't completely sure why Field Marshal 'Rithinee wanted this Human, but he had a feeling he would soon find out as he threw the Demon over his shoulders.

"Pick up its helmet!" He growled his fool of a Zealot who'd almost killed her. The Zealot grunted back before sauntering over to pick up the damaged helmet.

Jaor turned his attention to the sky as the sound of a Phantoms engine caught his attention and soon after the streamlined purple vessel flew into view and stopped over them. He waited for the gravity lift to appear and when it did he stepped into the green light, which floated him up, into the belly of the Phantom.

The inside of the Phantom itself was empty, bar the pilot and two Spec-Ops Sangheili. Both of them stood either side of the pilot and remained hidden in the darkness. Jaor dumped the Demon on the floor and called to the pilot to take off. A grunt of confirmation was thrown back at him and turned around to see the only survivor of his squad; Lak 'Valisee.

"Why did you ignore my orders?" Jaor growled, "I specifically told you we needed the Demon alive!"

"Why must we keep the Demon alive? What is so important about this one? There are always more of them out there, defiling the artefacts of the Gods." Lak responded, tossing the Demons helmet next to its prone form.

"We shall find out when we reach Field Marshal 'Rithinee," Jaor said. "Now go get the binder for the Demon."

"Of course Field Marshal 'Amasee," Lak assured, his voice holding a small hint of mockery that Jaor decided he would deal with later. Leaning up against the wall opposite the Demon Jaor studied its blood splattered face.

It lacked the usual softness he'd seen on most of the Humans that did not fight them, but it still held youth. To the side of one of her closed eyes a large, dark purple mark was fading into view. Something that had probably been caused by his swift punch to her face, the knowledge caused Jaor to smirk for a moment before his eyes moved on. An angry pink line appeared to have been carved onto her face, running from the right side of her jaw and up, over her eye and into the short mess of blood matted hair. It tugged tightly at some of the pale skin around it and where it curved in at her mouth it seemed to pull her lips into a constant sneer.

It was at that moment that Lak returned with the binder. Jaor watched as the Zealot pulled the Demons armored hands together and place the binder between its hands before activating them. In an instant rock hard blue plasma encircled her wrists and Lak let her drop back to the floor with a thud.

"Satisfied, Field Marshal?" Lak growled to him.

"Very, Zealot." Jaor gave a calm reply that was accompanied by a small taunting lift of his head, a challenge to the Zealot if he ever saw one. Lak exhaled another growl before strolling around to the other side of the Phantom. Amused by his Zealots reaction Jaor released a small throaty chuckle that soon faded into silence that stayed with him for the remainder of the short journey.

~/~

Roh 'Rithinee, Reach

Roh stood with his three Zealots as they waited for the Phantom to return. All of them were decked out in their usual weapons: Vito with his simple, but effective, Needle Rifle, Luro with his Concussion Rifle and finally N'tho with his heavy Fuel Rod Gun. Everyone –including Roh- carried an energy sword to make them even more deadly in close combat.

Roh liked to believe that his team was prepared for every eventuality, but there had been teams just like his that had easy fallen to the Demons. Curling his hand into a fist Roh thought of his brother and while he may be angry towards the Demon that killed him, he was equally angry at the Prophets who may as well of killed them all.

A deep hum brought Roh out of his thoughts as he looked up at the sky to see the Phantom return. Soon after appearing it came to a stop above the ground and two figures descended via the green lift. One of them he recognised right away as the Field Marshal. The distinct protrusions on top of the deep purple helmet were what gave it away, along with how he barked commands at the Zealot behind him. Roh also noticed that the Demon was slung over his shoulder; its hands were bound together with the distinctive blue light that was used throughout the Covenant.

Waiting at his position for the Field Marshal to make his way over Roh stole a glance back to the cave. He hadn't returned since he'd last left and although not much time had passed, it felt like it had been much longer. Roh had also refused to think about what the Oracle had told him, now wasn't the time and while he couldn't just stand by and allow the Prophets use his people, getting himself killed for Heresy wasn't on his agenda either.

"Field Marshal 'Rithinee?" A deep voice called as the Field Marshal that had just arrived, reached them.

Roh turned to greet the newcomers, "That is me. I trust our Demon is still alive?" Roh eyed the black and red armored figure that was slung over his shoulder, along with the helmet his Zealot was holding. Two cracks were visible on the visor and it made Roh wonder how wounded the Demon was.

"Your Demon is alive, she is merely unconscious," He growled back, insulted that Roh would think him incapable of capturing a Demon. The Field Marshal's attitude would've surprised Roh had he not decided to look up Jaor's service record.

The record itself had been average in length and while Jaor had a few notable achievements to his name there was always one flaw mentioned; his arrogance. A trait that didn't bode well in Sangheili culture was always dragging down Jaor's record. It appeared to get many of those under his command killed and as he noticed the Demon slung over his solider and its lack of extra bindings, Roh wondered if Jaor's arrogance would kill them all today. After all, any credible Sangheili knew how dangerous and heavy a Demon was.

"We shall see," Roh murmured. "Bring her inside the cave and let us see if what the Oracle says is true."

Roh turned, not waiting for an answer. He was anxious to get this over with as the whole discovery had been a lot of trouble; he only hoped it was worth it. As they began to cross into the dimly purple lit cave human sounding groans could be heard and they all turned they attention to the Demon who was beginning to wake up.

~/~

Noble Six

The first sensation to hit her was pain and, oh boy, did it hit her. Her muscles screamed in pain as did her face and, in fact, the whole of her body. The biofoam had begun to do its job but it hadn't completely finished sealing the plasma wounds that had been inflicted on her body. A groan escaped her and she inwardly cursed to herself, now whoever had her knew she was awake. However, the fact remained that she didn't know who had her but that mystery was soon solved when she heard the tale-tale growling and barking of Elites.

Six stiffened and took stock of what she knew: her hands were bound, there were multiple Elites surrounding her, her helmet was missing –she only hoped they hadn't found DOT- and the only weapon she had was Emile's kukri that she'd strapped to her leg for a reason she couldn't currently recall. The odds weren't in her favor, but she wasn't labelled hyper lethal for no reason. She didn't need any fancy weapons; all she needed were her fists and the right opportunity.

She could feel the Elite under her loosen its grip as her weight was obviously growing too much for him to bear. Six smirked internally. All she needed to do was wait for the Elite holding her to weaken enough for her to overpower him and take him out.

For the short walk that continued Six came up with a few rough plans in her head. Each one was different to the other, taking in to account different variables and if some of the actions in her original plan were stopped.

The voice that spoke next was something that Six hadn't expected and if should had to, she'd guess that it was and AI, "A Reclaimer! How wonderful, the Librarian will be pleased."

Six frowned at the strange pitch the AI took on when it said 'Librarian' but made no indication that she was aware of the conversation.

The rumbling voice of an Elite spoke to the AI with a few others contributing to the conversation.

"If the Reclaimer deems is necessary then I shall allow you to enter."

More rumbling.

"Yes. Now bring the Reclaimer here."

Six felt herself moving, and as she did the Elite beneath her began feeling weaker but she had little time to think more of the matter as she was stood upright in front of a huge shiny metal door. As soon as she managed to regain her composure three orange beams shot out and hit her body. Where she expected pain Six was only greeted by a small tingling sensation that disappeared quickly and a loud rumble echoed through the cave. The walls shook with the rumble and she knew that it would distract the Elites, if only for a second.

Taking advantage of the situation Six quickly unsheathed the kukri and turned on the Elite that was behind her. The Elite had no time to react and was soon dispatched of as the kukri was embedded in through its eye. Her lips tugged into a smirk and she wrenched the knife out of the beasts head before charging at the next one, which was holding her helmet. In the spit second it too her to charge at the Elite it pulled out its energy sword and was about to swipe at her when she ducked low, kicked out its legs with one of her own and pounced on it.

Its head rocked back and revealed the vulnerable gab between the armor, which she managed to exploit by slashing across its neck. As its blood splashed back at her, Six mentally crossed off a second Elite from her assumed list of six.

Quickly sheathing the kukri, Six scooped up and activated the energy sword before turning around and jumping back onto her feet just in time to block an attack from one of the others. With both hands occupied with holding the energy sword in an awkward manor Six pushed forwards with all the strength she had in both arms.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw movement and with a big push to the side she managed to sweep to the Elites sword away from her long enough to kick it back and send it flying through the now open door and into another Elite.

Six quickly stepped backwards to keep the two Elites that had attempted to flank her, in front of her. They all stood facing each other for a split second before the Elite on the right lunged at her with his energy sword. Stepping to the side, Six caught the Elites blade between her own and tilted hers to the side. But before she could disarm her opponent the other Elite swung down at her and she was forced to back off.

As she backed off she took a chance and managed to place a well-aimed round house kick to the Elites back. The Elite went stumbling to her right and within a few seconds Six had charged forward to stab it in the gut. Her attack hit and the Elite crumpled to the floor in a heap, not completely dead but not currently a threat.

The other Elite roared and charged at her with a flurry of attacks that she just managed to keep up with. It's skill with the blade would've the only thing to make it difficult, but with her speed and battle instincts she managed to keep up. It lunged to her left and she parried it right back before launching her own attack as she tried to keep on the offensive. She knew she would have to dispatch him soon as there were still two left and so Six created an opportunity for her to finish him off.

The Elite brought his weapon around for another attack and Six brought her own around to once again capture it between the two prongs of her blade. As soon as her opponent's weapon was caught in her own she twisted her violently to the side and forced him to let go.

In a split second she shook his sword away from hers.

In another split second she swiped her energy sword across his neck, tearing through the flesh and burning through any armor or shield that would've offered up any resistance. The beasts head lolled back and a small amount of blood managed to spray back at her before she swiftly kicked him to the floor.

Coughing to her side caught her attention and without any hesitation she stabbed the Elite she'd already downed, right through the back. The coughing ceased and as she pulled her blade away he fell to the floor with a thud.

Harsh, long breaths escaped Six. She was still too tired to continue to fight like this, there had to be somewhere she could go. Something around her gut tingled with the distinct feeling of pain and Six looked down to find blotches of red blood oozing from her bodysuit. The wound wasn't deep and it wouldn't slow her down much, but that only meant something if she could escape. And as if some form of God was listening, an escape route more or less offered itself up.

"Oh my, Reclaimer! We must leave this outpost now if you are to survive!" The AI from before exclaimed.

"Lead on," She murmured in reply as a glowing blue orb floated into view. Although, she didn't trust it quite yet, it appeared to have the only ride off the planet. What happened after it helped her escape would depend entirely on what it wanted.

"Of course. However, our route is compromised by two more of the creatures you just defeated."

"I'll deal with them, could you take that with you?" Six inclined her head towards the helmet –and DOT- which lay on the floor next to one of the first Elites she'd downed.

"I will," The orb answered. A blue light appeared from his eye and surrounded her helmet, which was then lifted off the ground and disappeared after the orb as he left the room. The orb zoomed past the two Elites who'd recovered and noticing that the orb had her helmet their heads snapped in her direction.

What happened next surprised Six because only one of the Elites charged at her, while the other yelled something at it. The Elite charging at her ignored what the other had said and continued to run at her, its blade out and looking menacing as it did. Six could see that the Elite was distracted by its rage, as the Elites usually got when one of their own was downed. Deciding to see how much she could push it she sent it a smirk, which only grew when the beast let out a roar and sped up.

They both met with their blades and Six again threw herself into another duel. But, as the Elite continued to throw attacks at her, she began to notice how sloppy and easy they became to block.

Until one took her by surprise.

She'd just brushed aside another attack when suddenly his sword was at her again. It was only thanks to her astoundingly quick reactions that it didn't do more damage than skimming her armor. The slip up annoyed her, and Six decided to make up for it by taking her opponent out there and then.

As he was still recoiling from his latest attack she kicked out with her foot and landed her heavily armored foot in the center of his chest. The force of the kick appeared to wind the Elite for a second before she swung down with her energy sword. Slicing through the Elite's thick flesh and burning through its armor until the sword would go no further. The Elite let out a pain filled whine as its grip slackened and its weapon clattered to the floor.

In the background she heard the footfalls of the other Elite along with its frustrated chattering that told her that it regretted not jumping in earlier.

Wrenching the sword from her fallen opponents body she lifted it up to prepare for another fight when suddenly, the blade of the sword flicked out of existence leaving nothing but the handle cradled awkwardly in her cuffed hands. Six mentally grimaced to herself and knew there was no time to pick up another as the Elite arrived in front of her, sword ready.

Six knew she didn't have the energy or the maneuverability to take down the Elite, especially in hand to sword combat. Acting as quickly as she could Six knocked his hand out the way before he had the chance to attack. Jumping over him, she pushed away his hand before dashing out of the entrance and further into the metal structure.

~/~

Roh 'Rithinee

Roh was shoved away by the Demon with such force that he stumbled over one of the bodies of his Zealots. As he took in the carnage of the cave, Roh could barely believe what had happened in a matter of a few moments. One minute the Demon was slumped over Jaor's shoulder and the next she'd knocked him over by kicking Vito into him, killed Luro, N'tho, Jaor and Lak with such brutality that even a Jiralhanae would be put to shame; had she not managed to add her own form of fluidity into it. Seeing his comrades and long-time partners slaughtered in front of him Vito had become enraged and while he'd put up a good fight against the Demon, his broken and bloodied body said otherwise.

No sound escaped Roh. He knew he could have stopped this. He should have made sure the Demon was properly restrained and-

Roh stopped himself.

What was done was done and clearly the Forerunners wanted the Demon alive. That much was clear from the way the Oracle had offered the Demon a way out. Now, two decisions were presented before him: follow after the Demon and leave the Covenant or call for reinforcements and remain in the Covenant.

His decision should've been easy and instantaneous. But given what the Oracle had told him it only made everything more difficult. He'd been with the Covenant since the beginning -as it had formed when he was much younger- but he'd always been told to believe the word of the Oracles.

Time seemed to stretch on before him as he mulled over the implications that his decisions could have. If he chased after the Demon without contacting anyone then something might be suspected of him. However, if he stayed with the Covenant then he wouldn't be able to change anything as many would sooner label him a heretic than listen.

That's it, Roh thought, determination coursing through his mind. His decision was made and while he would miss the Covenant that had almost been like a strange and distant family, it was for the best. One thing Roh did hope was that his decision didn't affect his family back home on Sangheilious. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if it did.

With the knowledge that he would come back with a way to stop the madness of the prophets Roh murmured a few words of respect for his fallen brethren. Their deaths wouldn't go unpunished; he would make sure the prophets paid for their heresy and perhaps even the Demon would feel the end of his sword. Roh straightened up, clipped his sword back onto his leg and with one last glance back at his team he sprinted off to catch up with the Demon.

All the while he muttered curses to the prophets under his breath.


Thank you for reading, don't forget to leave a review, fav and follow :)

On another note, anyone else seen the Halo 2 cinematic trailer? So amazing :D Really looking forward to the Master Chief collection now. Why does it have to be so far away? D: