0105 Hours, August 31st, 2552 (Military Calendar)/ UNSC Pillar of Autumn/ Over Reach, Epsilon Eridani System

SPARTAN-104, Frederic, twirled a combat knife between his nimble fingers, repeating specific knife techniques. Naval personnel walked by Frederic carefully, as the sight of a Spartan with a combat knife was usually accompanied by multiple dead bodies, hopefully Covenant. The port hangar bay was relatively empty, with most ground forces in the barracks. All fighters were out and engaged, and only a few had returned for repair and rearmament. He noticed the absence of any other Spartans, with Captain Jacob Keyes and Master Chief Petty Officer John 117 deploying many of the Spartans down to the surface. The only Spartans remaining on the Pillar of Autumn were John, Kelly, Linda, James, Will, and himself. Operation: RED FLAG was still authorized, but they had yet to find a Covenant ship able to be boarded. The Long Night of Solace was an option, and the Spartans were readying for deployment, but the supercarrier was suddenly destroyed by a UNSC team.

Fred lifted his head and watched as the hangar bay doors slid open, and a Pelican floated into the bay, the doors closing behind it. The dropship spun around, and touched down on the deck. Five seconds later, the back hatch cracked open, and four Spartans stepped out onto the hangar. Fred smiled behind his visor, and got up, sheathing his knife. He walked over to the Spartan team, recognizing their numbers: 039, 030, 044, and 059.

"Atten-hut!" Anton shouted, snapping to attention with the Spartan team.

"At ease, Spartans," Fred said, giving a quick salute.

The three other Spartans brushed past Fred, walking through the hangar. Anton and Fred walked together.

"What's the situation on the surface?" asked Frederic.

Anton sat down on a crate across from where Fred was sitting, and set down his assault rifle, "Not good." He began with a thick Russian accent. "Damn xenos have captured much of Quezon. We managed to retake a few areas, but the Covenant are still breathing down our necks."

"Any injuries?" Fred asked, sitting down.

Anton cocked his head to the side, and said, "None for us. For the regulars, though..."

"Pretty bad?"

Anton nodded, saying, "Two battalions of tanks were wiped out in five minutes by Banshees. Bastards took out Wolverines first, then they moved in. Bloodbath."

"We're deploying everything we've got right now. Reach won't fall on our watch," Fred said, unholstering his M6D Magnum.

Chuckling, Anton asked, "Would you let your home fall?"

Fred simply nodded.

"I'm gonna go catch up with the team. I'll see you later, Chief," Anton said, rising and then leaving the deck. As he started leaving, however, Captain Keyes' voice came over the intercom, saying, "All Spartans, report to the bridge. All Spartans to the bridge."

Anton turned around to see Fred approaching, his rifle slung over his back.

...

The ten Spartans stood in front of Captain Keyes, towering over everyone on the bridge. John stood ahead of the others, facing the Captain. Keyes looked out of the front viewport, and took a drag from his pipe, exhaling with a massive plume of smoke. He blinked a few times, and then turned around. His white uniform was covered with various medals and ribbons; he was one of the best commanders in the UNSC.

"Spartans, we have a... bad situation right now," the Captain said solemnly.

"Something worse than the Covenant, sir?" asked John.

"Well yes... and no. One of our refit stations, Gamma Station, is on the other side of Reach. An ONI Prowler, the Circumference, is docked there and was unable to initiate the Cole Protocol before the Covenant found it. The data on that prowler includes navigational data to other Inner Colonies, and more importantly, Earth. We've detected three Covenant frigates en route there. FLEETCOM has asked me to deploy Spartans to destroy the ship and the station," he explained, looking at each of the Spartans.

Fred was just about to volunteer to lead the mission, but Kelly beat him to it.

"Sir, permission to lead the space op," she said, stepping forward.

"Negative, Kelly. I'll be leading this one. Linda, James, meet me in the armory in ten mikes. Fred, I'm putting you in command in my absence," John said, turning to face Kelly and then Fred.

"Aye, sir!" they both said, saluting.

Captain Keyes took another smoke, and then said, "That's the other thing. Covenant forces on the ground are advancing on the power generators for the MAC guns."

"Aren't there Marines guarding those?" asked Vinh.

"Master Chief, you and your team may leave the deck," Keyes said to John.

"Yes, sir," John said, saluting and then leaving the bridge with Linda and James following him.

After the trio left, Keyes said, "Yes, Spartan. There are Marines guarding them. They request reinforcements, but HIGHCOM is all tied up right now. I'm afraid you will all be deployed to the surface."

"Just when we thought it was over...," Isaac mumbled.

"What was that, Spartan?" Keyes asked, hearing him.

"Nothing, sir!" the supersoldier replied loudly.

"Good. I wish you all good luck on your mission," Keyes said, turning around.

"Sir!" Fred snapped.

Turning around, Captain Keyes said, "Yes?"

The Spartans all saluted him, Frederic saying, "Good luck to you too, Captain."

Keyes gave a quick salute, and then watched the Spartans file off of the deck.

...

The seven Spartans all sat in the lone D77-TC Pelican dropship, waiting for clearance to leave the cruiser. John, Linda, and James were long gone, off on their mission to Gamma Station. Hopefully they would make it. John was the best Spartan of all of them, and there was no way he would fail. Linda was their best sniper and spotter, and her skills would be useful in the long ranges of space. James had lost his hand on Sigma Octanus IV, and John probably chose him because he was one persistent bastard.

Frederic sat down in the seat closest to the cockpit, and holstered his assault rifle. Kelly sat across from him, looking at the floor.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just never thought the Covenant would find Reach," she replied, looking up at him.

"Like I told Anton earlier, it won't fall on our watch. When John and the others get back, we'll beat the Covenant once and for all," Fred assured.

"How can we know John will come back?" Vinh chimed in.

"When has he ever let us down?" Malcolm, by the back door, said.

"True," Vinh replied.

"Alright, Spartans! We have a green light. Get ready for drop!" the pilot shouted.

"Buckle up, Red Team!" Fred yelled.

The back doors to the dropship closed shut, and the Pelican started to move forward slowly. Seconds later, the ship rocketed out of the Pillar of Autumn and began dropping into the atmosphere of Reach. The Autumn started to move away, towards the main fleet. As the Pelican began breaking through the atmosphere, the ship started to shake heavily. Everything started shaking, and the Spartans remained motionless.

"This is Knife 26, we'll be flying your escort," a female voice crackled over the radio.

Seven large Longsword fighters pulled alongside the Pelican, designated Bravo 001. The fighters weaved among each other.

Flight Officer Mitchell, the pilot, shouted, "We got Seraphs, coming in hot!"

The Pelican rolled and the Longswords peeled off to engage the attacking Seraphs. There were twelve of them, moving fast and punching hard. Knife 28 pulled behind two Seraphs, and destroyed them with bursts from its chaingun.

"Knife 26 here, we're gonna get 'em off your tail and rejoin in a few moments. Standby."

"Where are we touching down?" Fred shouted over the roar of the engines.

"I'm gonna put here down a few clicks away from the generators! Get ready, we're almost through!" Mitchell replied.

The last Seraphs pulled away, going to rejoin the battle.

"Knife here, Covies are retreating. We're gonna join back up. Took one loss," the squadron leader said.

"Touchdown in thirty seconds!" Mitchell shouted.

Fred got up, and walked carefully into the cockpit, bracing himself against the pilot's seat and the bulkhead. Outside of the windshield, a Longsword moved ahead of the Pelican, and then the ships pulled up as they approached the ground. As the Pelican leveled, Frederic and Mitchell gasped when they saw four Covenant ships scattered across the landscape, dropping troops.

"Where are we, Officer?" Frederic asked.

"We're over the forests near Orbital Defense Generator A-331. Pretty major base," Mitchell said.

The Pelican slowed, and Mitchell turned his head, "This is your destination. Thanks for flying Autumn Airlines."

Fred nodded, and then went back into the cabin, picking up his rifle. "Alright, Red Team. We're good to go," he said as the doors opened. The Spartans got up, and rushed out of the dropship, creating a small perimeter around the drop zone. The Longswords pulled up quickly, rising into atmosphere.

"I'll be your pickup too, Spartans. Hail me when you're ready," Mitchell said over radio as the Pelican took off, joining its escorts.

...

0500 Hours, August 31st, 2552 (Military Calendar)/ Near Orbital Defense Generator A-331/ Planet Reach, Epsilon Eridani System

The Spartans moved slowly, and were spread out to prevent any Covenant surprises. They couldn't visibly see each other, but their friend-or-foe monitors allowed all of them to keep track of each other. They all moved silently through the forest: light and shadow with a sudden burst of luminous green armor, then gone again.

"Red-One, this is Red-Four. Single enemy contact...neutralized."

"Red-Two, got one here two," Kelly reported. "Neutralized."

There were bound to be more. Fred knew that the Covenant never traveled in small numbers.

If the Covenant were this far out of urban centers, that must mean that the Covenant were slowly breaching the orbital perimeter. Either that, or they had been from the first wave, and the fleet had yet to take care of them.

He was so intent on listening to his teams field checks, that he almost ran into a pair Jackals. He instantly melted into the trees and froze. The Jackals hadn't seen him. The birdlike aliens sniffed the air, and moved forward cautiously, keeping their plasma pistols half raised. Closing in on Fred's position, they clicked on their energy shields. The small blue domes solidified with a low hum.

Fred keyed his com channel to Red-Two twice. Her green light winked on, acknowledging his call for backup.

The Jackals suddenly snapped their gaze to the right, sniffing rapidly.

A fist sized rock whizzed in from the aliens' left. It slammed into the lead Jackal's chest, cracking it open. It squawked and fell to the ground in a pool of purple and red blood. Fred rushed forward, kicking the last alien in the side, making it drop the shield. On the ground, the Jackal reached for its pistol, as Fred planted his foot onto its skull, crushing its head.

The two Spartans stood over the dead bodies. Fred picked up one of the pistols and tossed it to Kelly, who caught it mid-air.

"Thanks, could use this against any Covie vehicles," she joked.

"Red-One," Will's voice crackled over the com. "I'm half a click ahead of you. You're gonna wanna see this."

"Wilco," Fred replied, "Red Team, hold position and wait for my position."

Five acknowledgement lights winked on.

Fred quickly but cautiously made his way to Will's position. The forest started to thin, with freshly fallen trees littering the landscape. The shade thinned and vanished as the forest disappeared. Ahead, Fred and Will could see the generator facility. All of the tree's surrounding it were destroyed; the wood charred or blasted to splinters.

There were dead bodies, too: thousands of Grunts, and hundreds of Jackals and Elites. The burned remains of Covenant Wraiths and Ghosts were spread out among the bodies. Of course, there were dead humans too. Four flaming Scorpion tanks, their turrets dozens of meters away, were joined by overturned Warthog's, their crews slumped against the chassis. A Banshee flier was jammed into a guard tower, its wings snapped off and on the battlefield below.

"Red Team, move up to my position."

Five Spartans joined Will and Fred at the forest edge.

"Contact ahead... looks like two Warthogs. Friendly," Will said, looking through his scope. The distinct whine of the Warthog's engine approached rapidly, and the Spartans left the forest. The generator complex was intact, unlike the once great forest. Concrete bunkers bristling with machine guns and cannons surrounded a low building.

The lead Warthog slowed about a hundred meters away from the Spartans, and two Marines jumped out. The gunner turned his machine gun to face the team.

"This is Spartan Red Team. We've been assigned to protect this facility," Fred said over the com.

The Marines in front nodded and waved his hand for them to approach.

Fred could see Marines coming out from the facility, picking through the dead of both sides for weapons, ammo, and anything useful.

When the two groups met each other, the Marine said, "Lieutenant Buckman, Charlie Company. When I asked for backup, I wasn't expecting Spartans!" His guard looked ecstatic.

"We can leave if you want to?" Vinh joked, pointing his thumb backwards.

Lieutenant Buckman laughed, and said, "No, thanks. You can stay."

Fred relaxed his grip on his assault rifle, and said, "What's the situation here?"

Lieutenant Buckman told his guard to take the Warthogs back to base, and then ushered for the Spartans to follow him.

"The Covenant attacked about three hours ago. Those cruisers have been dumping ground troops, and we got the brunt of them, I'd say. We started off with about a thousand men, under Colonel Lehman of the 234th Battalion, but he was killed. I'm in charge now. Lost about three quarters of our men during the battle," he explained, as the group passed a trio of medics uncovering a wounded Marine from an upside-down Warthog. "We had about twenty Warthogs and seven Scorpions. As you can see, we only have three tanks left, and about seven Hog's."

"How many attacked?" asked Kelly.

Buckman tittered, and then said, "At least three times what we had. We requested air support, and HIGHCOM panicked. They ordered to bomb everything within five hundred meters of the complex." He paused, watching two Marines carry one of their comrades back to the base. "Thank god most of us were able to get back in time."

"I can see it wiped out the Covenant," Isaac said.

"Mhm, killed about forty of us. Most of them died quickly though," Buckman said.

"Sir, the Covenant are going to attack again. They don't really take no for an answer," Will said.

The Spartans and much smaller Marine entered the complex, filled with battle-weary Marines. Mechanics worked on the vehicles, getting them ready for the next assault. "Oh, I know, Spartan. We're gonna hold them off again, and again, and again," Buckman said.

"How many non-combat personnel are on site?" asked Fred.

"About five hundred, mostly engineers. Thank god a lot of them know how to fix faulty brakes on a Warthog," the LT said.

"Lieutenant Buckman, this is Chapman. We have Covenant dropships on the horizon. And it looks like a swarm of Banshees approaching on radar. I'm calling everyone up," a voice came through on com.

"Roger that. We have Spartans on site, I'm gonna have them do their thing," Buckman replied.

"Who's that?" asked Anton.

"That was 2nd Lieutenant Chapman, my subordinate. Looks like they're back. Which one of you is in charge?" the Marine asked.

Fred stepped forward, and said, "I am. SPARTAN-104, or Red-One."

...

"Fire!"

Six Gauss cannons went off in rapid succession, and six Ghost vehicles exploded, taking its pilots with them. Fred stood on top of a large bunker, designated as the hospital, and watched as hundreds of Covenant ground troops emerged from the treeline to the south, led by Elites. The loud cracks of .50 caliber sniper rifles pierced the air, dropping many of the tall, bulky aliens. The few remaining trees snapped and hit the ground in pieces as heavy Wraith tanks hovered towards the base.

"This is Chapman, Banshees incoming!"

The Gauss cannons turned to the sky, and fired at the thirty approaching Covenant fighters, taking down four in the first salvo.

Fred leaped off of the bunker, joining the rest of Red Team. "We've got hundreds of X-ray's inbound. Let's go get them, Spartans!" he yelled.

The Spartans nodded, and then followed Fred to the exit of the base. Three Warthog's wheeled by, their gunners spinning up the machine guns and opening up when they spotted the enemy. Kelly ran forward, joining a group of Marines behind a sandbag wall. She took down six Grunts with her assault rifle, and then dropped an Elite with her sidearm.

Anton and Vinh tossed grenades at a cluster of advancing Covenant troops, killing a dozen.

The Wraith's started to fire, their giant purple balls killing Marines and a few Covenant.

Fred and Will charged the main Covenant force, gunning down multiple Elites, Grunts, and Jackals alike. An approaching Wraith fired a mortar at the duo, missing. Will ran up the front of the tank, and ripped open the driver's hatch, dropping a frag grenade into the driver's lap. The Spartan then leaped off of the tank onto a Jackal, crushing the creature by sheer weight. The tank erupted in a great ball of fire behind him. Fred weaved between the masses of Covenant, using his assault rifle to score perfect headshots on many aliens. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw an Elite Major with an energy sword lunge in for him. He rolled backwards as the massive extraterrestrial swung and missed. The Elite roared, its mandibles splitting. Fred unholstered his pistol, and fired three shots, barely pinging off of the shielding. The Elite laughed, and jumped at Fred, tackling him. On top of the Spartan, the Major was just about to finish off the human when a shotgun blast ripped through its chest. The alien looked down at its wound, and then fell off of the downed supersoldier, dead. Malcolm appeared in Fred's visor, holding out his hand.

Fred took it, bringing himself to his feet. Kelly was leading the other Spartans forward, slaughtering Covenant. The Banshees were either fleeing or destroyed, and the ground vehicles were being blown up by the superior human guns. But the Covenant were still pushing forward.

With Red Team regrouped, they all pushed together as one, dropping literally hundreds of Covenant.

Then, dozens more Wraith tanks appeared. No problem.

But then they heard it.

The human guns fell silent, and the Covenant stopped firing. The ground started to shake, and the trees started to fall.

"Scarab!" a Marine shouted.

A massive four legged monster of a vehicle appeared from the forest. It had a top rotating turret that had a green horizontal visor, and one massive gun on the front, between the two front legs. The body held dozens of ground troops, a few manning plasma cannons.

"This is Buckman. All heavy forces, concentrate on that Scarab!"

"Negative!" Fred shouted into the com. "This is Red-One. We've got it. Focus on the main force."

After a pause, Buckman said, "Roger that, Red-One. All units, belay that order. Keep fighting the main force."

"Who here has a rocket?" Fred asked when the Spartans got behind a destroyed Scorpion tank.

Will and Isaac raised their hands.

"Alright," Fred began. "I need you guys to aim for the joints on the legs; aim at the green lights. When the Scarab legs lock up, its gonna come down for a few minutes. In that time, Kelly and I are going to slip onboard while the rest of you kill the gunners. Got it?"

Six acknowledgement lights winked on.

The Spartans rushed out from behind the tank, running across the battlefield towards the walker. The Scarab fired at the facility, destroying two guard towers and then a Scorpion. Red Team got under the beast in a minute, and Will and Isaac were hard at work firing at the legs. Soon, the front left leg exploded, and the Scarab started beeping, and lowering towards the ground. The Spartans rushed out from under, and then Fred and Kelly readied to board. They jumped onto it, to be greeted by six Elites. Seconds later, six Elites were dead. Fred rolled a grenade out onto the top deck, killing three Grunts and a Jackal. The two went up, and dropped alien after alien. They watched as the plasma gunners were killed by fire from the Spartans on the ground. Kelly got to the power source first, attacking plastic explosives to it. Fred arrived just as the woman fished planting them, and he immediately leaped off of the platform. Kelly was soon after. Red Team was mostly regrouped, aside from Vinh.

Two Wraith tanks approached the Spartan, who was furthest from the team. He jumped onto one of them, firing his rifle into the pilot of it. Then, the other Wraith fired at it.

Vinh disappeared in an instant.

"Vinh!" cried Anton.

Red Team advanced on the pair of tanks. Anton jumped onto it, and ripped off the hatch. He pulled out the driver, and slammed him against the ground, impaling his knife into the aliens neck. The Scarab behind them erupted into a great ball of purple and blue flame, engulfing over a hundred Covenant in the explosion. The debris took out more of the aliens.

The Spartans destroyed both of the Wraith tanks, and then rejoined the battle. The Marines were taking heavy casualties, and many were falling back, towards the interior of the base. The Warthog's drew back, but took down many more Covenant as they retreated. The Scorpion tanks backed away, destroying Covenant vehicles.

"Looks like the Marines are falling back!" Will shouted.

"Yeah, we need to go link up!" Fred replied, backing up slowly.

Red Team drew back, and took up positions in the towers. The Marines pushed forward, gunning down hundreds of Covenant Grunts as they spilled into the complex.

"Hold the line, Spartans!" Kelly hollered, throwing a frag grenade and blowing up three Elites.

"...One...in over...26...please respond," the radio crackled.

Fred dropped behind cover, and said, "This is Red One. Please repeat."

The radio cleared up, and then the voice came through, "Oh thank god. This is Knife 26. We've linked up with the frigates Grafton and Saratoga, we're inbound to your position, over."

"Roger that, Knife 26. Good to have you back. Request gun run's on everything outside of the complex, over. Repeat, everything outside of the base is yours," Fred replied.

"Got it, Red One. The frigates have ODST's onboard and ready to go. They'll drop in after our run, over," Knife 26 said.

Seven black dots appeared on the horizon, moving fast. The shapes of Longsword fighters took shape, and the roar of their cannons opened up on the legions of Covenant outside of the base. Rockets left their pods, and after the smoke cleared, there was nearly nothing left. More Covenant spilled out of the forest, but much slower. The Longsword's pulled up into the atmosphere, and then two large UNSC frigates sped into the space above the battlefield.

Small pods dropped down, dozens of them, and they slammed down into the charred ground. Coinciding with that were four gigantic slugs from the Orbital Stations piercing through the four Covenant cruisers nearby.

Fred led the charge, jumping off of the tower, Kelly and Will right behind him.

Within minutes, the Covenant were in a rout, tripping over each other to get into the forest. It was pointless, as Shortsword bombers were doing strikes on the woods, combined with the 50mm guns from the heavy frigates.

Red Team stood in the field, watching the woods burn. The ODST's spread out, searching for anything useful. The Spartan's armor was battered, and they were all exhausted. Most of them had been fighting for the past day straight, and now fought a massive battle and lost a Spartan; the first one to be lost on Reach.

"We must search for Vinh. He could still be alive!" Anton said frantically, starting to go look for his fallen friend.

Kelly followed him, and said, "Anton, there's no way he could have survived that. We all saw it. Believe me, we're all shaken, but we must move on. We must."

Anton looked at the ground, and even through the thick armor, all could tell he was hurt.

He turned around and nodded.

Fred strode over to him, and lay his hand on Anton's shoulder, shaking it.

"Let's move out."