Chapter 15- Old Friends, New Allies

Author's Notes- He has returned! Not by popular demand, but rather my own wanting him back, Jorge has come back! I was surprised that no one wanted him back. "I am shocked, almost too shocked for words." As always rate and review (no I will not be going crazy about it this time, I have recovered from rampancy), and PM me if you're interested in betareading or moderating the forum, or if you want me to betaread for you. Don't be shy; I don't bite, I would be very happy to do so. I know it says I'm on hiatus, but just give me a PM, and I'll give you my email address to email the chapters to. Just one thing: if you do want me to betaread for you, please send it as a Word Document. I don't have a Mac, or the software to read that type of file. Sorry for the inconvenience. I sadly cannot moderate forums due to my lack of a consistent internet connection. Anyway, back to book matters. To address a possible review, I will not bring Kat back simply because her death could not be disputed: She was shot through the head with a Needle Rifle by a Sangheili Field Marshal. (Wort, Wort, Wort [shoots Kat in the head] YAYZ IZ HEADSHOTZ A DEMONZ!) I know I brought Jorge and Carter back, but their deaths were disputable. So enjoy the sort-of novelization of High Charity. Now featuring Jorge-052 as Jorge-the badass with the machinegun-052.

As Jorge climbed out of the wreckage of the Corvette, or at least a part of it, he looked around, and saw three figures watching him. Recognizing them as Spartans, he walked over to see who they were. He saw two that he instantly recognized as Six and Jun, and after reading the others FOF tag, he recognized him as well. "Hello, John. It's good to see you again." "How do you know my name?" Jorge removed his helmet. "Recognize me now?" "Not really, no." "Remember whenever Mendez used to call up Number 052, and we would have to ask which one?" "That I do remember. It is good to see another II alive and well, Jorge."

Six looked at the Chief. "Wait, so your name is John?" "Yeah, what of it?" "Nothing, I just didn't know you had an actual name." "Don't you?" "I do, I just don't remember it." "(Sarcastically) Okay." Jorge walked over to Six. "Looks like Reach has kept on being good to me." "Seems so. Looks like you'll have to return the favor later." "Do you know if any of the others survived?" "Emile and Carter did, but Kat was killed by an Elite Field Marshal." "That's a shame." Jun walked over. "I hate to break up the reunion, but don't we have a Prophet to catch?" Jorge looked over at him. "What's a Prophet?" "They're the leaders of the Covenant, and one is going to try and conquer Earth." "Wait, so the Covenant found Earth?" "About two months after they glassed Reach." "Fan-fucking-tastic." John looked over at the other Spartans. "Emile and Carter are taking care of a Brute Chieftain that wants to activate the rings." "What rings?" John looked over at the pedestal again. "Cortana, do you want to explain it to him?" "I can, unless you do." "You know more about it than I do." "Okay, then."

Her avatar turned to Jorge. "The rings that the Chief refers to are an array called Halo, a weapon built by the Forerunners, an ancient race that has gone extinct, to kill of the food source of a virulent parasite known as the Flood." "And that would be?" "Any living thing that has enough mass. Humans, Covenant, whatever. We're all equally edible." "That's great news." "The rings appear to be structure a lot like Earth used to be, back about 2000 years ago. That means no gigantic skyscrapers, no settlements, nothing that isn't critical to the functioning of the rings. They also appear to have Earth-normal gravity, and an atmosphere nearly identical to Earth's before the overpopulation polluted it." "How many of them are there?" "Counting the one John blew up, 7." "So now there's only six." "Correct." She addressed the entire group. "There's a Pelican on a collision course for this pad, get off of it, NOW!" They all ran, and sure enough, a Pelican came screaming in and crashed right where they had been standing. They all saw the little sickly-green things come out of it, and they all instantly assumed the same thing, but Jorge spoke it. "That's the Flood, isn't it, John?" "Sure is. Get ready for a fight." Cortana told them that Flood-controlled dropships were touching down all over High Charity. They all moved towards a doorway that she had directed them to.

Jorge managed to pull the machine gun turret off of the downed Pelican after the Flood Forms had been dealt with, commenting that it wasn't his preferred weapon, but that it would do and the group moved on, soon coming to the gravity lift that would take them up. Cortana disabled the lift once they reached the top, and they all heard Truth over the loudspeaker. "Shall we let the Flood consume our holy city? Turn High Charity into another of their wretched hives? No enemy has ever withstood our might. The Flood too shall fail." Jorge looked at John. "Does he ever shut up?" "Not that I know of." The group moved on, coming to a transit room where several Drones and a Brute were fighting a group of Flood Combat Forms.

Jorge moved forward to kill them, but was stopped by John. "Wait, let them fight it out, then we'll kill the winner." The Flood emerged victorious against the Drones and Brute, but before they could infect the Brute, they were ripped apart by a hail of machine gun rounds. "Ha! Too easy!" The Forms that weren't completely destroyed got back up and charged at the Spartans. "Oh, shit." They heard a BANG, and a grenade flew towards the Flood Forms. When it detonated, they were ripped apart, all of them this time. The Spartans turned to the source, and found Six holding a smoking Grenade Launcher. He tossed another grenade up and down rhythmically. "Found another present from Johnson." Jorge asked him what he meant. "When we were going to kill another of these Prophets, one of the guys, Sgt. Johnson, always gave Emile grenades for these that were way more powerful than necessary." "I assume you just used one?" "No, that was a regular one. These pack way more of a punch."

Jorge just shook his head, and they moved through, coming to an open area filled with Flood and Brutes. "Now would be a great time to use that grenade, Six." "I was just thinking the same thing, Chief." He loaded the grenade, and launched it, killing all of the Brutes and most of the Flood Forms. The group did away with the rest of the Flood and moved on through. They found a gravity lift, and Cortana told them that it would take them to the Prophet's personal chambers. "Maybe we'll find out what Covie porn looks like." "Really, Six, REALLY!? "What? I'm just saying, John. Maybe we will. You don't get to be that megalomaniacal without watching LOTS of it." "Just keep it to yourself next time, Six. And don't call me John. Only he and Dr. Halsey can" The Chief pointed at Jorge. "Fine, fine, I won't."

They entered the chambers, and Six's thoughts about Covie porn were dashed. "So much for that idea, Six." "Sorry I said anything, Jun." Cortana told them that she couldn't delay the launch much longer, and that the next lift would take them to a conduit running to the Forerunner ship. When they reached the top, they found a pack of Brutes, supported by a Jackal Sniper, battling the Flood. When Six pulled his Sword to fight them, the Chief stopped him. "We need to get to that ship, now." Six tuned his thruster pack so that it would allow him to fly, and launched himself towards the other end of the room, where Cortana was waiting to activate a small gravity lift to allow them access to the conduit. The Chief, Jun, and Jorge were forced to fight their way across the room, killing any that stood in their way. They reached the other side, and they rode the grav lift into the conduit. Just as they were about to reach the ship, it took off and the conduit shut down, depositing them on the outer hull of the ship.

Cortana contacted them one last time before they left High Charity. "When you get back to Earth, good luck. The Chief looked back at the city. "When we finish with Truth," Cortana interrupted him. "Don't make a girl a promise, if you know you can't keep it." The ship left the city, and amidst the battle between Brute and Elite- controlled ships, jumped to Slipspace.