A/N: The reason I am going to skip the interrogation on the Ex-Covenant is pretty simple. I have no idea on how I would go about it. If I get an idea on how to work it out later, I might edit the chapter. Please help me come up with a name for my new tank, because I'm pretty sure that you don't want to read M812B over and over again in the next chapter. Well, enjoy.


Chapter 4: Reclaiming our Glory

The Arbiter led the remaining Sangheili and Humans down the corridors until they reached the deck below the 'bridge' as the Humans called it. He let them rest for a moment before continuing. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the two Humans talking to each other. He couldn't quite hear what they were saying. He the saw the bodies of a few of Jiralhanea. "Everyone, gather your gear, its time to go to the command room" said the Arbiter.

'Hiraldee and the trainees made their way through the halls and finnally made it to the bridge. Going through the doors, they were surprised to see that the Arbiter and a few Ultras, plus the Humans, were already there.

"Arbiter, I see you are faster than I thought. Perhaps you care to enlighten me about Tartarus" asked the Spec Ops Commander. He noticed the two Humans with weapons, but decided not to mention it.

"Yes, the Jiralhanea Chieftain and his guards were defeated. His first son was sent to attack the Human home world, so there is currently no leader for them. The Sergeant here helped me kill the Chieftain by taking down his shields." He motioned towards Johnson.

The Spec Ops Commander looked down at the Human. Then the sergeant spoke. "The Master Chief is still on that city of yours. We need to go get him and return to Earth."

"Yes, we must. Trainees go and take positions on the ship systems. I will take control." Said the Arbiter. "First, set a course for High Charity, engine output at 100 percent." "Yes, Arbiter, we will arrive at High Charity in approximately 1 and one half units."

Miranda asked the sergeant, "Do you think the Chief is still alive?" "Hell, knowing him, yeah. He's probably kickin' some Prophet's ass and makin' him feel silly right about now." Answered Johnson.

They felt a lurch as the ship moved through the ring world's atmosphere. After 15 minutes or so minutes, they arrived at the former symbol of glory and power for the Covenant. Now it was covered by a thick, green layer of flood spores. And it also had several holes in the domed section, presumably from the battle of the Brute and Elite Ship Masters.

They watched as the Arbiter walked over to them and said "we are sending in two Phantoms to the city's surface, we would like for you to come with us, Sergeant."

"Thought you'd never ask. Just show me an armory, and I'll go anywhere you want." "Very well, follow me this way" said the Arbiter.

When they got there, Johnson found that the ship somehow had an exceptionally large cache of Human weaponry. "Why do you have so much UNSC ordnance?" Questioned Johnson.

The Arbiter replied, "They work much better than our plasma weaponry and technology. The bullets, I believe they are called, go through flesh and bone, enabling us to kill the cursed parasite. Plasma takes much longer, as it has to melt through its decrepit skin and sometimes armor, making it takes much longer to kill it."

The Sergeant then proceeded to exchange his beam rifle for an AR, an M6D pistol, twelve magazines of ammunition each, and 6 fragmentation grenades. After, he and the Arbiter walked off towards the Phantom. They used the miniature grav lift, and took in what the strike teams of 8 Spec Ops Elites weapons were using as weapons. A few had Carbines, others had BR55s, and they last two he saw even had rocket launchers. But they all had the same secondary weapon, a Plasma Sword.

"The Spec Ops Commander is in the other Phantom. They have three of your machine turrets on board. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, we have replaced these two Phantom's plasma turrets with the turrets found on the nose of your pelican drop ships. So do not be surprised."

"That will help us a lot with the Flood. But what about the city's automated defenses?" Inquired the Sergeant.

"Arbiter, come here and see this" said the communications officer aboard the Phantom. The Arbiter walked over to the console. He heard a transmission that was coming through.

"Any UNSC forces in the area, this is the A.I. Cortana. Please respond on the D-Band radio frequency." "Sergeant! Come here quickly!" Called the Arbiter

Yeah, what is it Arbiter?" Said Johnson"Listen to this transmission." After the message played through again, the sergeant's eyes widened. "Patch me through on that signal."

"Cortana, where is the Chief?" Asked the sergeant. "He went with the Prophet of Truth's Forerunner ship. I wanted to stay here incase the Flood found a way off the ring and this city."

"Well, we should come and get you then. Handle the auto defenses where we're gonna land, and we'll extract you."

"No, to dangerous. Gravemind might figure out how to stop a remote detonation. And the best chances I can give you for a timed one, is 2 minutes and 30 seconds." Said Cortana.

"Well I like those odds." The Sergeant said. "But we need you at Earth; you are to valuable to be destroyed. Plus, when we do go back to Earth. we need to prove that this new, although unofficial, alliance is real."

"Very well Sergeant, but I advise you, you need to hurry. Gravemind is probing through my data banks and breaking through my defenses. I have a limited time before it's necessary to destroy the city and the ring just to stop him from doing this."

"Yeah, alright." He answered. "Let's get ready for this Arbiter. Good thing I brought an AI carrier."

"Yes it is. Warriors, we must extract the Human construct, and evacuate the city. It will be destroyed after we depart."

The two Phantoms arrived at the landing bay. When everyone got out, they heard the unearthly scream of the Flood and encountered a fierce resistance of infection and combat forms. The Elites set up the MG turrets they brought, and started tearing apart everything they set their sights on. Then the rocket launcher started firing. The Flood opened up with their weapons too. A rocket flew right by the sergeant's head. "Son of a bitch that was close!" He exclaimed. He then returned to firing at the combat forms with a steady staccato form of shooting. The Elites with carbines were shooting with a good degree of accuracy. A rocket detonated in the middle of a pack of Flood that were getting to close for their own good, and blew them apart. Green gore and decayed body parts littered the floor everywhere. Then, a combat form with surprisingly bad aim, fired a rocket that impacted with a decorated pillar on a grav beam. It fell over and crushed the entire back row. But some of the Elites were running out of ammo for their carbines and other various weapons, and switched to their energy swords. They called the Phantoms for support. They swept in with the refitted MG turrets, and wiped out the stragglers. And they dumped an ammo crate behind them.

They hurried for ammunition incase of another attack. Johnson and the Arbiter ran to the other end of the docking bay. "Hello Sergeant and you Arbiter." Said Cortana.

"Greetings, Construct. Please, make haste. I do not wish to be here very much longer." Responded the Arbiter.

"Yes, OK. Sergeant, do you have the carrier?" She asked. "What? Oh, yeah, its right here."

"OK, please take me out of this holopad and put me into the carrier." "Alright. Hang on a second." He answered.

Johnson took out the hard chip, and put it into the armored AI carrier. "It feels good to be in some UNSC equipment again." She said.

"Alright, let's go back to the ship." Said the Sergeant. They all boarded the two Phantoms, and waited to be back on the ship. When they got to the docking bay, they all got out. "Congratulations, Arbiter and Sergeant Johnson, on a mission success! No casualties either!" Exclaimed 'Hiraldee.

"Yes it was. But now we have a new problem. What shall the collective races of the Sangheili, Unggoy, and Lekgolo call ourselves?" The Arbiter asked.

"Hmmm. How about, The Reclaiming Glory?" 'Hiraldee questioned.

"That might work. But we need to agree with the rest of our forces, and the Humans about the alliance." Answered the Arbiter.

"Yes, true. But we need to go and rally the remaining Sangheili controlled ships over to here."

"Sergeant Johnson, let you're construct in our ships systems. I'm sure it will help us with anything we need." The Arbiter requested.

"Yeah OK. Give me a second." He responded.

Johnson took out Cortana's memory ship and put it into one of the holo pedestals. "Construct, please send out a signal to any Sangheili controlled ships to rally here."

"Please say you're message now." "All ships that are in Sangheili control please rally at High Charity." "Message sent. I'm sure you will not want to miss out on the explosion Johnson?" She asked.

"Oh! I almost forgot. Arbiter and 'Hiraldee, would you like to see Halo and High Charity explode?" He asked.

"Very well, it will be good to see that cursed ring die." "Yes, me too." They both answered. "Construct, please get 2 of the big monitors focused on the ring and High Charity." The Arbiter asked. He then saw to of the screens flicker to life. They showed High Charity exploding in a gigantic ball of blue and red flame which quickly burned out in space. Then the city tilted towards the ring and crashed into it. Pieces of the ring world were crashing into still intact parts, creating more destruction. The remaining large sections of the ring slowly burned themselves out, still rotating. High Charity was no more.

A/N: the Ex-Covenant get a name, one that I hope you all like. Cortana gets saved, and we are ever closer to an official alliance. Keep reading and reviewing. Please, it helps to know that someone out there likes the story.