Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 2: The Sacred Ring

"Report."

Darth Revan's voice asked calmly, slightly louder than normal due to the sound of minor explosions across the bridge of his ship. It took a moment but the disorientation amongst the crew of the Revenge quickly left them and they moved to their stations with mechanical military efficiency.
"Hyper drive is out as well as power relays to four of our five pulse lasers. Weapons are operating at a fifteen percent of normal charge and engines are cold although we still have maneuvering thrusters. Our fighter and transport launch bays are fine but the engine room is not responding. Whoever sabotaged us either knew where to hit us or they were extremely lucky."

Revan took in the information, shaking his masked head slowly.

"There is no such thing as luck, Captain. Only the Force. This was meant to be. Have fighter wings one through seven launch and do a quick visual check of our damaged systems. Then have them take defensive positions until we can repair the damage done to our ship. How are the sensors and communications relay?"

The captain of the Revenge, a young Corellian by the name of Alai Desara shook her head slowly as she looked over the Revenge's damage reports.

"That jump took out most of our engineering section and we're operating on reserve power. We'll need to unload and rebuild the core's operating matrix if we are to have the power. Then of course there is the physical damage as well. We've lost twenty seven men to either the infiltrators or the damage suffered and the communications array is going to take a good five or ten minutes to rebuild."

The Dark Lord of the Sith moved to the console, keying in a series of codes before agreeing with the Captain's assessment. Moving to the viewport, the Dark Lord of the Sith clasped his hands together at the small of his back, collecting his cape away from his surcoat before his eyes flickered to the image before him.
"Get the sensors back online as soon as possible..."

Revan ordered, his voice quieter than normal but still heard by the crew. The crew, transfixed on their tasks until that moment finally looked up to see what had their Lord so distracted and gaped.

"What is this, Lord Revan?"

The Captain asked, coming to stand a step behind Darth Revan and to the left of the Dark Lord. Revan shook his head slowly, not certain what he was looking at but knowing it had to be a Rakatan or Forerunner installation.

"Whatever this device... this ringworld is, we're going to need our sensors to know if we can get any closer to that gravity well."

Revan's gloved hand extended to point at the rust-tan gas giant before him. A moon of violet orbited the gas giant and positioned directly between the two bodies lay a ring in space, blue and white and green and steel-gray against the darkness.

"Something... something is waiting here... hungry..."

Revan whispered to himself, unconsciously touching his gloved hand to the transparisteel of the Revenge. A wave of Force energy permeated the space around their ship and Revan breathed easier when he sensed the presence of his apprentice and his support ship.

"Use a low powered carrier signal and let Malak know its good to see him."

Revan called to his crew, his mind reaching deeply into the Force and coming up against only a blank wall for light years in all directions. Distantly, Revan could sense a boiling hunger within the Ringworld itself but beyond, far off like a sound echoing beneath seawater, he could feel death, billions of dead and dying spread on distant parts of the galaxy. Pulling away from his Force-trance, the Dark Lord of the Sith moved from the view of the ringworld, making his way to the lower decks to inspect the damage and begin his hunt for the intruder. At the end of the bridge stood a rust-colored assassin droid and Revan waved his hand to the droid, calling to it.

"HK-47, activate and begin search protocol. We have a Gizak in the nest"

The droid's eyes flashed crimson before dimming to orange and it rose its massive blasterrifle to its shoulder, turning and following its master with a distinct gait in its step, telling of overeagerness, even for its artificial life.

On board the Interceptor, Darth Malak rubbed his bald head, completely and totally perplexed by the sight before him. While the Star Forge had been an awe inspiring sight he had had a good two weeks to get used to the structure after trudging through the tropical islands of Rakata Prime with Revan and their band of Mandalorian War Veterans in their search for power. They had wanted the power to end war, and the Star Forge was a step on that path but they needed more and the massive ring before him sure looked like more.

"Perhaps this is what we are looking for..."

Malak voiced his thoughts aloud, his brown eyes quickly diverting from the ringworld and onto the Revenge. Stifling the nausea that overcame him as the Rakatan Hyper drive accelerated them to speeds unimaginable to even the best minds of the Republic, Malak reached within the Force, sensing what Revan had and shuddering.

"Bring us next to Revan's ship and keep our weapons and engines fully charged. We are strangers in unknown territory and we need both ships. Prepare our tractor beam to tow the Revenge if needed and keep me informed of any damage sustained to either ship."

The crew executed Malak's orders with the efficiency that had gotten most of them through the Mandalorian wars and the two Dark Lords of the Sith and the Sith ships waited, their fighters moving in patrols around them as they waited for the repairs to Revan's ship to be completed.

In the bowels of the Maintenance deck of the Revenge, Bastila Shan felt the full weight of her situation fall upon her as her connection with the Force diminished significantly. She could no longer sense the steady presence of the other Jedi of the Order, or the interlacing networks of life that made the Force so clear. All she could sense were forty Dark Jedi and the indifferent crews of the two Sith ships as well as a nearby presence that seemed to exist yet not exist. She could not delve too deeply for fear of being discovered by the crew of the Revenge but the Padawan felt a distinct yearning within the presence, a will to consume.

"Sensors have been restored as well as communications."

Darth Revan nodded absently, his inspection of the lower decks done quickly and his search for the intruder passed along to his assassin droid, HK-47. The Dark Lord of the Sith bent over a console, shaking his head at the sheer amount of damage done to his ship before a ripple within the Force caused him to look up from the console to the starfield in the distance. Revan's eyes narrowed and locked on a small flashing star in the distance. A surge of life energy filled the Force and Revan turned to his ship's Captain.

"Place first priority on shields and engines. Then weapons. Launch all fighters and make contact with the Interceptor, we're about to make a first impression."

In the distance, twelve blue-violet ships, looking more like some deep sea creature than actual ships tore from hyperspace, following the trajectory of the Pillar of Autumn after it had fled the Battle of Reach and tracking its destination to the planetary bodies known simply as Basis and Threshold. Threshold being the rusty brown gas giant and Basis being the moon that stood opposite of the gas giant and the Ringworld.

"Sir we've been spotted, four ships moving to intercept us."

Revan turned to the ship's Captain, waiting for her to respond to her officer. The Captain quickly looked from the Dark Lord of the Sith to her lieutenant before hurrying to pass along Revan's orders to repair the ship's engines and shielding. Weapons could wait so long as they had their fighters.

"Malak on the line, Lord Revan."

Revan nodded, tapping a console and speaking to his apprentice.

"Unidentified ships are launching fighters, ours moving to intercept."

Revan shook his head, ignoring the interruption and speaking to Malak.

"Malak keep the Interceptor where it is. I don't think they've detected your ship yet. Keep it in the sensor shadow behind the Revenge and hold until my mark. Charge the pulse laser and standby to launch an opening salvo of turboblasterfire."

Malak confirmed the order and did as Revan ordered, keeping his ship hidden behind Revan's as the violet-blue ships moved closer and closer. A garbled message played over the Revenge's comm lines and the translators cleaned and replayed the message.

"We, the Covenant claim the Sacred Ring. Destroy the human filth and cleanse Halo of their taint."

Raising a brow at the communication, Revan turned to his Captain and then back to several non-human members of his crew.

"Is the pulse laser charged?"
Revan asked, already knowing one was still fully functional. The weapons officer nodded and Revan pointed to the lead Covenant ship.

"Then send our regards."

An orb of crimson energy collected in a dish-like object before disrupting with concussive force into space and directly into the lead ship of the Covenant task force. A weapon that could cut a Republic ship cleanly in two even with its shields and armor fully intact impacted on the Covenant ship's shielding, causing the energy field to flare to brilliant golden before it collapsed and the beam continued into the Covenant ship, splitting the ship down the center. The Covenant ships immediately broke away, their shields glowing as their sister-ship exploded in a brilliant blue-violet flash.

"Give chase, Malak."

Revan ordered, the pulse laser already charging for a second shot at the three remaining Covenant ships within range. The Interceptor lived up to its name, rising like a shadow from behind the Revenge and firing its already charged pulse laser into the side of one of the fleeing Covenant vessels. Instead of being split down the center, the second Covenant ship to fall to the Sith's advanced Rakatan weapons simply exploded as its core was struck with a direct hit. The shields of the remaining two Covenant ships flickered and flared to bright gold before dispersing and Malak's ship moved with in quickly, its turboblasters spraying both ships with a steady stream of crimson turboblaster fire. Small fires erupted upon the Covenant ship's hulls, shortly followed by larger internal explosions as they took too much damage to even begin to challenge Malak's speedy craft.

"Break away, Malak and return to the your holding pattern while the fighters clean them up."

Malak did as ordered, his ship banking away from the fight and pulling away as the Covenant ships attempted to flee, their crews panicking at not only the superior firepower, but also the superior speed and maneuverability of their foes. One of the Covenant ships charged her plasma torpedoes, the red glow of the weapon unremarkable against the burning embers of her hull. An orb of superheated plasma shot out, tracking the Interceptor.

"Malak you have incoming. Plasma based weapon, turn hard to port or you'll lose your engines."

Revan tensed slightly, watching the superheated plasma slowly track his apprentice's ship and watching as Malak turned into the deadly energy wave. The deflector shields of the Interceptor flared blue before collapsing and the plasma splashed against her armored plating, painting the gray hull black and orange. The orange cooled quickly in the cold of space before the glow dispersed, leaving only a massive scorch along the agile Sith cruiser.

"Sensors report minimal damage, though the shot took out the Interceptor's shields and absorbed a majority of the weapon's energy."

The Dark Lord of the Sith took in the information and raised his apprentice.

"I wouldn't suggest taking too many more of those, Malak."

Malak's voice grunted a reply, the former Jedi too busy trying to command his fighters to intercept the damaged Covenant ships. From the Covenant line, the Supreme Commander of the Covenant Fleet of Particular Justice, the fleet sent to destroy the human stronghold of Reach and Ship Master of the fleet's flagship, Ascendant Justice; gaped at the spectacle.
"Are you certain these are humans? Their Heretic weapons could not accomplish this... not even their Radiological devices are so efficient. Could these be Forerunners?"

The Shipmaster, a tall Elite or Shangheili, stared blankly at the two ships that had already vanquished a third of his pursuit group and quickly shook away his blasphemous thoughts. The humans had obviously stolen the sacred relics of Halo and built these abominations.

"Prepare to launch a full assaul-"

"Ship Master we have a new contact, the human vessel we tracked to this location. The unknown ships seem content to stay where they are. We should move to intercept these humans before they can desecrate Halo with their presence."

The Fleet Commander clicked his mandibles in irritation, torn between revenge for his fallen brethren and the need to protect against even more humans touching the sacred ring.

"Move to intercept the human ship. The Ascendant Justice will remain here to observe the battle with our already engaged forces. Fight with honor, brothers and show the human filth no mercy."

The order was received and quickly carried out as seven of the remaining eight Covenant ships broke away to pursue the Pillar of Autumn as the UNSC cruiser fell from hyperspace and into real space.

"Have the Truth and Reconciliation break from the battle and land on Halo to make repairs. The support ships will move to offer repairs while Prophet's Willcontinues to engage the unknown ships..."

The fleet commander of the Covenant force narrowed his eyes, searching the viewer for any hints of more human filth.
"Send word to the Prophets. The Sacred Ring has finally been uncovered, yet the humans taint it with their presence as they do the other holy worlds. We humbly request a battle group be sent to aid us in cleansing the human vermin."

From the bridge of the Revenge, Darth Revan calmly crossed his arms over his chest, watching as Malak's ship obliterated one of the two remaining Covenant ships to attack them. The fourth Covenant ship broke away and slowly lumbered towards the ringworld the Covenant communication identified as Halo.

"Malak, let the last ship go. We have more important things to worry about. How are your shields doing?"

A momentary pause followed before Malak responded.

"Minor damage to the ship from the alien weapon. Our shields are charged to fifty-seven percent and steadily rising. Whatever they used took out our shields but couldn't penetrate our armor. At least not while its energy was dissipating."

Revan nodded absently to his apprentice's train of thought. The alien weapon was powerful, but could not penetrate the Sith ship's advanced armored plating. Blunt physical force was required for that, something the powerful turboblasters of Republic capitol ships could deliver very well.

"It appears the remainder of the alien fleet is breaking off and... following something on the far side of the gas giant. Are sensors operating at that distance?"

Revan turned to his ship's captain while at the same time speaking to Malak. The captain nodded and quickly transferred a readout of their sensors to Revan.

"Primitive ship with... questionable hyperspace capabilities. Relatively slow but maneuverable and... single energy weapon consistent with mass acceleration technology... I can't believe it, Revan its using a rail gun..."

Malak's voice trailed off, his breathing audible over the comm line.

"Compared to the ships that attacked us its about as dangerous as a gizak..."

Dead meat, in other words. Revan shook his head, clearing away any emotion he felt at the prospect of an unwinnable battle. He'd had his fair share and learned and bled and he did not need a trip down memory lane. Drawing in a deep breath the Dark Lord of the Sith calculated the situation and turned to his ship's Captain.

"Captain Desara, priority to all system repairs. Ready the fighter wings for ship to ship combat and launch. Prepare the landing craft and the Fifth through Ninth Legions. Malak, have your ship begin charting the stars and this system for fallback points and anywhere we can jump. We're alone here and can't fight a war but I intend to find out what that bloody ring is."

Malak and the Captain both passed along their agreement, the Captain of the Revenge moving to assist in the repairs to her ship and Malak continuing his holding pattern while his ship's scanner crew began charting the star layout, looking for any points they could use to calculate a hyperspace jump. In the landing bay of the Revenge, Bastila Shan had packed away her Jedi robes and lightsaber and donned a silver suit of Sith armor with the Basic symbol for six, a V with a single I following it. The Jedi Padawan had little time to throw her bag over her shoulder when a Sith Lieutenant in crimson armor entered, his head doing a quick scan before seeing the disguised Jedi and ushering her out of the room towards the landing bay.

"Move it, soldier. Lord Revan has ordered all of the Sixth and that's you. Move!"
Jumping slightly at the Lieutenant's rough voice, Bastila quickly complied, moving towards the loading bay in a near sprint. The Sixth Legion had loaded up several dropships by the time Darth Revan had reached the landing bay. Bastila stiffened as the Dark Lord of the Sith entered, pausing to inspect the lines of armored Sith before he walked along the wall where a long line of blaster rifles stood in a line. The Dark Lord's gloved hand slowly rose, brushing against the row of blaster rifles until Revan stopped, pulling a simple blaster rifle from the rack and moving towards the transports. Bastila felt her face flush and struggled to hide her presence within the Force when Darth Revan stood directly in front of her, tossing the blaster rifle at her. Reflexively catching the weapon, Bastila stared down at the rifle numbly a moment before looking back up to Darth Revan.

"Can't go down there swinging your helmet, now can you?"

Revan asked, his tone playful, if that was possible for a Sith Lord. The members of the Sixth Legion laughed and Bastila nearly stumbled over as an armored Sith beside her clapped her on the shoulders. Revan chuckled before turning and addressing all of his soldiers.

"Alright, here's the situation. We've reached the Forerunner Galaxy and go figure we were attacked right away by some overzealous religious aliens. We're going to land on an artificial space station... now you've all seen the Forge so no gaping, and we're likely going to be seeing some close combat. Fighters are supporting us while we repair the Revenge and Malak on the Interceptor is going to see if we can find a way out of here if needed. Any questions?"

The landing bay fell silent and the Dark Lord of the Sith nodded while Bastila Shan looked on in mute shock. He had almost sounded pleasant, like a commander coming to comfort his troops before a battle. The lines of Sith broke and rushed onto their dropships within moments, Bastila struggling to make it on board and look as if she belonged. What happened next scared her as much as it shocked her. Darth Revan climbed on board her transport, seating himself next to her and waving to the dropship's pilot to go. Revan was actually going into battle with them and Bastila fought down a shriek when Revan leaned over to her, laying a hand on her shoulder and whispering to her.

"First jump?"

Bastila nodded without thought, causing a chuckle to come from Revan.

"It won't be your last, I'll make sure of it. When did you get recruited?"

Searching her mind frantically for a response, Bastila simply went with what came.

"My ship was captured during the Raid on Foerost and I chose to defect rather than die."

Revan nodded, chuckling darkly.

"A good choice... at the time..."

When Bastila said nothing, Revan merely leaned back, sighing as the ship rose and began working its way towards Halo.

"This is where the fun begins..."

The Dark Lord of the Sith muttered, more to himself than the anonymous Sith soldier he had chosen to watch over. Everything about the trooper's body language said that she would get herself killed and whoever she was with killed and Revan was going to make a point to his men. He was their commander, their leader and it was as much his responsibility as it was theirs if the battle was won or lost. He wanted to know what Halo was and staged the assault so he would go. He would fight with them and bleed with them and he knew they would love him for it.

Reaching the loading bay of the Revenge, HK-47 came to a halt, the assassin droid's scanners reaching out to the sensor and tracking the unique signature of its prey. Recording that its prey had likely found a means off of the ship the droid moved through the assembled ranks of the Fifth Legion and boarded a transport, waiting for the crews to load and take it to its prey.

"Cortana, all I need to know is did we lose them?"

Captain Jacob Keyes, the Captain of the Pillar of Autumn, asked, his eyes tired and troubled as he reflected on the events on Reach. Reach was the last stronghold the UNSC controlled outside of earth and while they had followed the Cole Protocol of making random, blind jumps to throw off any Covenant pursuers from the trail to earth a very simple truth remained. They were going to lose the war and humanity was on the verge of extinction. A strong female voice responded to the Pillar of Autumn's Captain through a speaker.

"I think we both know the answer to that."

The Captain shook his head, trying to figure out how the Covenant had been able to track them.

"We made a blind jump... How did they-"

The female voice cut off the Captain, impatient.

"Get here first? The Covenant ships have always been faster. As for tracking us all the way from Reach; at light speed my maneuvering options were limited."

Captain Keyes sighed, his eyes narrowing on a distant fight between Covenant Seraph class fighters and his ship's own Longsword Interceptors. It almost looked like a great bird sweeping down to pluck a fish out of the water when the wing-shaped Longswords struck at the Covenant fighters.

"We were running dark, yes?"

Captain Keyes asked, hopeful but reaching for straws. The voice, sounding quite irritated, more at the situation than the Captain's questions responded.

"Until we decelerated. No one could have missed the hole we tore in subspace. They were waiting for us on the far side of the planet."

Seeing his options were limited to fighting or attempting to flee, the Captain calmly clasped his hands together at the small of his back, looking up to a holographic projector on his bridge.

"So where do we stand?"

A holographic image of a woman, her hair short and her form a translucent violet appeared, numbers and runes streaming along her form.

"Our fighters are mopping up the last of their recon picket. Nothing serious yet; but I've isolated multiple Covenant Capitol ships on an intercept course for us. They should be on us in ninety seconds. They're moving in groups of three and I've detected 3 battle groups... and something else. Analyzing..."

Computations and readings that would have taken a human crew a good two minutes were finished within a second.

"There's wreckage and... something else. I'm not quite sure what to make of it, Captain."

Captain Keyes sighed, knowing it could wait.

"All the same, bring us back to battle status... and Cortana?"

The image turned to the Captain.

"Hmm?"

The captain's troubled features hardened to stone, a small smirk playing on his aged face.

"Lets give our friends a warm welcome."

In the cryogenics bay of the Pillar of Autumn, a coded sequence played over a console reading UNSEAL THE HUSHED CASKET. The maintenance technicians quickly, though nervously followed the orders, beginning the thawing process for the UNSC's most deadly non-nuclear weapon. A Spartan II named John, identification number 117.