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Chapter 6: The Covenant Strikes Back

At the center of the Star system housing the ancient Forerunner ringworld designated Installation 04, a starship from another galaxy floated dangerously close to the system's sun. A white stream of energy connected the ship to the star and the ship's shields shone a faint blue against the radiation and heat bombarding the Sith vessel. In the maintenance bay of the Interceptor, Darth Malak, the apprentice of the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Revan; stared blankly at a device before him. The device was shaped like a blaster rifle but to its side a small, skewed rectangular object lay, about three fourths of an inch thick and two and a half inches wide. Lifting his eyes from the device and to the Sith technician, Malak rose a brow in question.

"It's a rifle..."

Malak muttered, unimpressed. The technician's excitement was almost palpable through the Force and Malak did his best to stay patient. It didn't last more than a second.

"If you want to live..."

The Dark Lord began, only to have the Sith technician lift the weapon, load the curved rectangular device into the rifle and pull a lever. Malak could not fully restrain the flinch he gave at the weapon's roar. Single explosions were discernable as well as a metallic pinging every time the weapon spat out a small copper colored cylinder. At the end of the room a stand with a set of Sith armor covering it was set up. Malak turned his eyes to the object and rose a brow in appreciation.

"Projectiles... primitive but affective."

The technician nodded, clearing the weapon's chamber and releasing the magazine before handing the weapon to Darth Malak. Malak tested the weapon's balance, briefly considered using it to bludgeon the technician and sighed before setting it down and looking to the next weapon discovered from the human lifepods and Covenant debris. A Covenant needler sat, glowing magenta against the gray durasteel table and Malak looked between the weapon and the armored target. The projectiles had torn the armor to ribbons, leaving dozens of small holes in the armored plates. Malak briefly thanked the Force he wore a cortosis woven suit before watching the technician lift the next weapon and fire a single shot that moved slowly towards the target, looking like a shard of glass floating in zero gravity. The shard imbedded itself in the suit and a split second later exploded in a flash of violet-pink light. Malak narrowed his eyes slightly against the minor blast but took in the damage to the suit seriously.

"Have the tech droids set up a new set of armor and try the next."

The technician bowed his head, ordering the droids while Malak rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He would need to reestablish communications with the ground force on Halo and send the new data. He had no doubt that Revan had already done similar tests on the weapons but it was better to be safe than dead. The droids set up a new set of armor and the Sith technician hefted the next weapon, a Covenant plasma rifle when the internal alarm of the Interceptor activated. Malak frowned, his mind quickly dismissing the possibility of a space attack when he distinguished the different tone of the alarm; there was something wrong inside his ship. Scowling, Malak turned to the Sith testing the weapons.

"Keep me informed of your progress and find the ship's weapons master. I'm going to see what this is all about."

The Sith saluted and returned to his work, firing off a plasma burst towards the armor and watching it melt through the material before Malak turned and walked briskly towards his bridge. The Dark Lord's personal comm beeped and Malak sighed, lifting his wrist to his mouth and not slowing his pace.

"What is it?"

Malak's voice boomed, leaving no room for meaningless chatter. The comm was silent a split second before a response filtered through.

"Doctor Halfan activated the medical bay's security system a moment ago, Lord Malak and we've been unable to reestablish contact with the Medical bay. Security and Delta Legionnaires are holding, shall we clear the bay?"

Malak frowned deeply, reaching out with the Force and sensing the Cathar doctor, alive, though injured but nothing else. Whatever was attacking must have been artificial in origin and Malak reached further within the Force, seeing the room from a view few were given. Medical droids continued their tasks, unaware of their situation or unable to respond and a spark and hiss echoing along the Force told Malak a security droid was laying in pieces. Reaching further, Malak could sense a heartbeat, beating slightly faster than was normal for the average human and he broke his concentration, confused. Why could he sense a heartbeat but not a lifeform. It was as if the lifeform were simulated, artificial. Pulling his lightsaber free of his belt, Malak broke into a Force-enhanced sprint, using the maintenance hatches to reach the medical bay quicker.

As he approached the sealed doors to the Interceptor's infirmary, Malak waved his hand at the Sith guards and droids crowding the hallways, ordering them to stand down. Two Dark Jedi stood at either side of the door, their forms and faces obscured in their black hooded robes and black masks. Malak made the same gesture to the two and they backed away, still ready should anything attack them. Drawing in a deep breath, Malak nodded to one of the Dark Jedi and the hooded Sith activated the door's controls, unlocking and opening the door. Malak was a blur of red and smoke-gray as he rushed into the room, his crimson lightsaber snapping to life in a hiss and humming as his movements brought him into the medical bay and deeper, to where Doctor Halfan lay, holding her arm and hissing in pain as her yellow eyes glared at a figure beside her. The figure, unarmed though still very much a threat turned to the sudden entrance, surprise briefly reflecting in bright emerald eyes before they hardened and with a total lack of expression, the figure stood, lifting the Cathar Doctor by her injured arm and calmly wrapping its free arm across the Cathar's neck. Malak came to a stop, studying the figure that was clad in a battered black unisuit that looked to be a cross between leather and spandex.

"Are you well, Doctor?"

Malak asked, the Cathar was enraged, but still against her attacker's hold and visibly regained control of her anger.

"Broken bone along my shoulder blade."

The Dark Lord of the Sith kept his eyes locked on the figure holding the doctor, the lighting caught the figure's features and Malak could make out bright red hair and the angular features of the woman the doctor had said was clinically dead when he had left the medical bay only an hour before. Amusement suddenly came over Malak and he smirked, eyeing the woman like a scientist would a new anomaly.

"I see the dead have risen. Has Manaan's water turned to blood, have the forests of Kashyyyk become as desolate as the dunes of Tatooine?"

The doctor and the red-haired woman clearly did not share Malak's amusement but the Dark Lord could discern a flicker of uncertainty in the woman's eyes.

"Release the Cathar. I will only ask once."

Malak's voice cracked through the ambient noise of the Medical bay like an explosion and the newly revived Spartan stared back at the Dark Lord, unmoving and unresponsive. Malak briefly probed the woman, finding her thoughts strange. Though he could now register her as a human, her life force seemed faded, distant and out of reach. When the woman tightened her grip on the Cathar doctor, Malak extended his left hand, summoning the Force to stop the woman's movements. The Spartan blinked, her eyes unfocused for a whole second before she shook her head and struggled to remain holding her hostage. The Spartan was weaponless and without her armor and Linda 058 knew her options were limited. Why a human was consorting with aliens, possibly some member of the Covenant they hadn't seen before confused the Spartan but instincts and training took over where the mind would not and Linda continued to apply pressure in way of a warning.

"Stop whatever it is you're doing, now."

Linda ground out between clenched teeth. the Spartan thought perhaps a toxin was released in the air with how her head was pounding but it didn't seem to affect the feline creature or the other human and the Spartan blinked in confusion as she was suddenly thrown back and pressed against the wall, an unmoveable barrier holding her limbs in place while the tall, bald human panted heavily, slightly hunched over from the exertion of his outburst of Force energy. The red-haired human was resistant to the Force but not outside of its influence. She was absent yet also present within the Force and Malak was extremely unnerved by this. She almost felt like the mutated Sith Revan had fought and killed on Malachor V, or almost like a Terantek. Continuing to use the Force to restrain Linda 058, Malak knelt beside where Doctor Halfan had collapsed and checked her for wounds while shouting for his soldiers to enter. First were the two Dark Jedi, their crimson lightsabers ablaze in their hands as they cautiously approached. Next were the Delta Legionnaires, the Sith special forces unit, the best of their legions and last were the security droids and standard Sith troopers. The soldiers crowded the room, training their weapons on the single Spartan II while a Sith medic went to Doctor Halfan, assisting the Cathar to her feet and checking her injuries. Malak briefly sent a soothing wave of Force energy into the Cathar to aid in her healing before scowling at her.

"I told you to inform me of when you revived the subject."

The Doctor glared at the subject before glaring back at Malak.

"She was stabilized at the time but we were losing her so I had the droids revive her behind the stasis field. Somehow the field failed and the woman awoke and attacked me."

Malak narrowed his eyes, searching the Doctor's for only a moment before nodding and turning back to the Spartan. Malak clipped his lightsaber to his belt and sent away the security droids as well as the standard troopers. The two Dark Jedi, unimpressed by their opponent, left with them and Malak stared at the Spartan. Linda felt the hold on her fall away and set her jaw, staring at the soldiers and aliens before her with no emotion.

"Who are you?"

Malak asked, his eyes narrowed slightly as he concentrated on the woman's aura, still perplexed by her presence, or lack thereof, in the Force. Linda measured her options, mentally checking off available weapons and opponents before she really took in the stances of the four heavily armed and armored soldiers flanking the bald man. They wore armor of solid black, a small symbol adorned the armor, a sphere of white with the ends on either side spurting white flames. The symbol of the Sith Empire. Beneath the symbol a red shield and the basic designation for Delta was engraved on the armor and the soldier's black visors gleamed as they focused on their newly risen guest. Surrender was not an option but Linda decided perhaps a little subtlety would be in order, especially with the way the soldiers kept their full concentration on her. Standing slowly to attention, the Spartan stood straight and gave off her rank as well as her serial number and designation.

"Petty Officer Second Class, Spartan Linda - 058."

Malak's eyes glazed a moment in complete and total disbelief. What the Hell kind of name was that.

"I said who are you..."

Malak sighed, wanting to rub his temples. Linda felt a small fraction of a smirk twitch at the edge of her mouth but suppressed the urge to give in to her own humor. The man obviously didn't like repeating himself but she had made him do it. Malak continued to stare at the woman, who stared back while keeping perfectly at attention.

"This is Revan's kind of work, not mine. Are you going to be alright, Doctor?"

Linda's gaze slid to the Cathar and her red brow climbed a millimeter as she saw the alien woman experimentally test her arm. Malak's healing energy had soothed the pain and restored some of the damaged tissue, though not all. Still, only Spartans and Elites could recover that quickly on a broken bone, that or the Cathar was having one major adrenaline rush.
"Yes, thank you. A simple injection of kolto and a session with the bone knitter will do the trick."

The Cather's yellow eyes gleamed a challenge at Malak, suggesting silently that he take advantage of the same treatment. Malak grimaced at the mere mention of kolto. The liquid was fouler than Rancor breath in his mind and he wasn't about to let it be injected in him.

"It can wait."

Malak muttered, turning back to the Spartan.

"Well... Petty Officer Second Class, Spartan Linda - 058... I am Darth Malak, second in command of the Sith Empire of the Star Forge under Darth Revan, my Master and friend. We are not from your galaxy but from another, brought here by an ancient alien technology to explore this galaxy for... scientific purposes. Upon arrival we were assaulted by a fleet of alien warships that identified themselves as Covenant and we destroyed them. The ship carrying you arrived shortly after and you, as well as hundreds of other crewmembers that were in cryo tubes were ejected into space as the ship crashed on a... structure..."

Linda listened patiently, her face expressionless as she read Malak's for lies and listened to what he was telling her, smiling mentally at his use of her full rank and designation rather than her name. John must have frozen her in a tube after she passed out from her injuries and the Pillar must have been destroyed, or crashed. She could read no lie in the man's eyes and mentally frowned. Was it really possible? Narrowing her eyes, Linda called Malak on his claims.

"Prove it."

Malak rose a brow at that, shrugging.

"First, I'd like some information on your ship and your people. My Friend... My Master is on that structure right now trying to help you and fight the Covenant and its already cost us one ship. That's nearly a hundred thousand of our men and women, Linda."

Malak's voice grew colder at the last part and Linda could clearly see that he was angry, Hell he was pissed and she could see that his brown eyes didn't flicker, meaning he was telling the truth and not making it up. That, or he was a great actor. Pursing her lips the Spartan went over protocol for the position she was in. It was really in her own hands and while she didn't feel like chatting with the man, she wasn't ready to get shot at again so soon after returning to life either. Hell, it might even prove worth the risk.

"My... people are humans, all humans. We're relatively new to space travel but have, for the past several hundred years..."

The Spartan paused, making sure the Sith Lord knew the meaning of her words before continuing. Malak's eyes had briefly narrowed but otherwise stayed locked with Linda 058's.

"About twenty-five years ago one of our colonies, Harvest was attacked by an unknown force and we retaliated, finding the first non-terrestrial intelligent lifeforms in our galaxy, the Covenant. Since then we've been fighting a losing war with the UNSC, the United Nations Space Command, our military, trying to fight off internal rebellions and maintain order while the Covenant moved from colony to colony. The Covenant has offered no quarter to any humans and every colony they've conquered they have destroyed by orbital bombardment. By the time they finish no life can ever exist on the worlds again..."

An emotion flickered in Linda's features but was buried too quickly for Malak to read and he sensed the woman was speaking the truth. Recalling the Mandalorian's brutality, Malak felt bile rising in his throat as he thought of the countless lives lost to the armored warriors. It was evil, yes but he could see why the Mandalorians so despised the Republic. It was clear to he and Revan in the end that the Mandalorians had been right in a way to provoke the war, they strengthened the ones who challenged them and survived and they were all the more prepared for the True Sith in the end. The strong rule and the weak obey. It was the way of things.

"I am what you could call a special forces soldier and I was mortally wounded while defending Reach, our last real military stronghold outside of our home system, Sol. It was also my home since I was six..."

The Spartan trailed off, not wanting to go any further. What she had said was basic knowledge to any human soldier and civilian so it didn't really matter if she said it; but going any further into her background was bordering on treason. The Spartan's origins were kept secret for a reason and she honestly didn't care that she had lost her childhood to become one, she was happy to defend humanity; it was her life, her reason for existing. Fixing her gaze back to Malak as it had strayed during her conversation, Linda frowned at the man's expression. He looked almost bored.

"So you're losing. You're ships are inferior and you've no military so to speak of to reinforce you?"

Malak's voice was cold, calculating and a golden glint colored the Dark Lord's eyes. Linda's face was expressionless, the only tell that she was angry the clenching and unclenching of her hands.

"My dear... I'm a forward man and not big on grand schemes or subterfuge... I leave that in Revan's hands... I am going to be blunt and I want you to be blunt as well."

Linda was still as a stone a moment before slowly nodding.

"Good. We are new to your galaxy and are from one hundreds of lightyears away. We, Revan and I were once Knights of the Republic, members of the Jedi Order, an elite organization charged with keeping the peace and upholding justice. When our Republic was invaded and the Jedi Order chose to do nothing, Revan and I resigned our titles and took up arms against the Mandalorian invaders. We fought for several years against them and we, Revan, stopped them at every turn. We eventually destroyed the Mandalorians but at a very high cost and in the process... we discovered a new threat. I suppose you could say they are like the Covenant with their policy towards others outside their race. Revan formed a new Order to take the place of the old Jedi Order and named it the Sith Order. We began... searching for allies within the Republic and formed an Empire to stand against the threat we discovered..."

Malak wasn't about to tell the stranger about starting a civil war or even begin to explain why the Sith were preparing to fight the Sith, or True Sith. It was too much of a headache and he didn't need Revan smacking him in the head again for running his mouth. To her credit, Linda's expression did not change as she listened and her eyes merely flickered instead of rolling in their sockets as she easily read between the lines. Empires are not created from Republics peacefully and she was obviously looking at a warlord, the General of an Emperor and possibly a tyrant, though she had a feeling the bald man actually believed what he was saying. As the Spartan and Sith Lord conversed over the state of their respective galaxies, the Interceptor's power cells continued to charge through the Rakatan syphon and on Halo, mere hours after the crash of the Pillar of Autumn, Darth Revan was returning to his base camp.

A simple ditch dug into the ground and a raised section of earth set in a series of high rising cliffs and hills marked the boundary of the Sith base on Halo. Hundreds of Sith soldiers busily worked on the defenses while droids moved the heavy slabs of Durasteel between scaffolds and began pouring liquid duracrete into place. The Sith were digging in and a massive four legged walker with a powerful shield generator stood at the center of the camp, the shield generator humming loudly as a transparent blue field surrounded the base, providing safety from assault from the sky, or an orbital bombardment. Darth Revan's swoop bike slid gracefully through the shields, the shields designed to keep out energy weapons fire and not actual objects. A crack of static was the only resistance Revan met as his swoop slowed and came to a stop at a set of tables set out on the grounds. The Dark Lord dismounted, unstrapping and hauling a tattered pile of scrap that had once been his prized assassin droid. Tossing the destroyed HK-47 on one of the clear tables, Revan undid the straps to his mask and pulled back his hood, rubbing his dry eyes and wiping his damp forehead before pulling back his hood and taking a good, long look at the droid.

"Lord Revan."

Revan ignored the Dark Jedi speaking to him, instead noting the damage done to HK's frame and frowning as he crossed his left arm across his chest and then rested his right elbow on his left hand, his right hand fisted as it rested against his chin and his lips grazing his knuckles as he pondered his damaged droid.

"What is our situation?"

Revan asked finally, turning his golden eyes to the Dark Jedi beside him. The Dark Jedi was a Twi'lek with crimson skin and black eyes. The Dark Jedi's headtails were wrapped in black leather and a simple set of black robes adorned her athletic form. She couldn't have been more than twenty two and she was a veteran of the Mandalorian wars, the scars covering her body from her battles hidden beneath her robes except for a single gash, faint but visible that ran from the base of her chin to her ear. A Mandalorian had tried to take off her head with a vibrosword but she had managed to get out of the way, a split-second too late to avoid the deadly blade.

"My Lord we have lost contact with seventeen dropships and we have confirmed that twelve have been destroyed. Twenty seven fighters were lost with their pilots and an additional sixteen were forced to make emergency landings. The pilots are alive and were collected by their accompanying dropships. As of the moment we have twenty three Dark Jedi, including myself present and one more still active in the field. We lost contact with Sefail some time ago and the fighters accompanying the transport reported it destroyed and heavy Covenant resistance in the area."

Revan took in the information, nodding as he stroked his well-trimmed goatee. Dark brown-red hair ran down to just past his shoulders in a standard Jedi Knight's haircut and the Dark Lord's eyes seemed to be fixed in a glowing golden-yellow.

"Very well, Aven. Was my order to regroup transmitted to all ground forces?"

Aven Sek'tai nodded slowly, her black eyes studying Revan's stone features. The man's face was like his mask, expressionless and his eyes were as impassive as stones. The Twi'lek briefly wondered what had happened to so change the man. He used to wear his emotions on his face and he was so passionate that you just wanted to believe what he said. Now he was just as influential, but colder, more withdrawn and a Hell of a lot scarier.
"Transmitted, yes but not received by all. A small party from Commander Sefail's transport was dropped by a crashed escape pod from the unidentified ship and reported meeting up with survivors in a structure on the surface before they reported Covenant dropships and their signal was lost. They are likely near a large source of power or the Covenant have some sort of jamming device. A flyby by the fighters that escorted Commander Sefail's transport reported seeing weapons fire of Covenant, Sith and unknown weapons. They are providing air support at the moment but we don't know how long they can hold out without reinforcements. Another, larger group as well as Commander Drinn were cut off when they went scouting the surrounding ridges and we've since been unable to reestablish contact. What are your orders, Milord?"

Revan drew up his hood, slowly replacing his mask over his face and turned to Aven.

"Prepare a platoon and meet me at the assault dropships on the eastern side of the base to search for Sefail, you will form a second party to search the surrounding cliffs for Commander Drinn's party. Keep in constant contact with the base and prepare four larger groups than the one sent out earlier to be ready to reinforce either you or I. Keep the fighters working on distracting the Covenant from our position and have Major Sal'fan work on finding an alternative to this location for a secondary base. Have the reinforcements prepared for heavy assault should the need arise and get into some armor, Aven."

Aven bowed her head, turning and jogging from the Dark Lord's presence as she prepared a Sith platoon for the operation and passed on orders to the appropriate officers. Darth Revan turned his eyes back to HK-47, lifting a shredded part of the droid and noticing two distinct weapon patterns. Narrowing his eyes, Revan closed his hand, activating a Mandalorian metal blade from within his gauntlet that shot out and quickly dug into one of the holes, prying out a small metal cone.

"Projectiles..."

Revan muttered to himself, turning his eyes to the lightsaber burn and trying to remember exactly what had been in the area when he had picked up HK-47. He hadn't had time to investigate the area due to the Revenge's destruction but he had seen some blood pooled on the ground. Resisting the urge to sigh, Revan left HK-47 on the table for another day and stopped by a loading crate, pulling out a small protein bar and a flask of water. Lifting his mask and drinking the water, Revan stored the bar and half-filled flask on his belt and moved towards the makeshift landing pads. There were missing soldiers to find and curiosities could wait.

Bastila Shan stared blankly at the device the UNSC officers were arguing over. It was supposed to lead them to a transponder but all it seemed to do was lead them closer to where she could sense Darth Revan was going. They were mere kilometers from the Dark Lord and she could feel him, searching, angry and growing impatient. It was like the air around her grew colder with each step they took towards his presence and Bastila shivered, drawing the edges of her cloak together and rubbing her arms. She did not want to run into Revan any time soon but it seemed to be the will of the Force.

"Captain, I must warn you we are near Darth Revan."

Captain Keyes briefly glanced back from the path Corporal Wilkins was making and frowned, slowing his pace until he was beside the Jedi.

"That's where our people are, Ma'am. We don't have enough supplies and I doubt there is any game to hunt on this structure, or anything that could sustain us for long."

Bastila frowned but nodded slowly and Captain Keyes was reminded of his daughter, Miranda. She was a full grown woman now but he would always remember the little girl she had been and at that moment, Bastila looked like a frightened child. With the stories he had heard about this, Darth Revan, he didn't really blame her. He just wasn't sure he had any choice in the matter of working with Revan. Sometimes in war you had to work with the bad guys to win. The Captain was about to say something else when the Jedi frowned, her head turning to look at a shadow in a patch of brush. Bastila had been so concerned over their relatively close proximity to Revan that she had not been checking their surroundings. Captain Keyes' eyes followed Bastila's and he cursed as he spotted the distorted outline of a Covenant Elite. Instantly, a dozen Covenant Elites clad in black armor materialized, their weapons trained on the humans and their shields snapping to life.
"Which is the Captain?"

One of the Covenant Special Forces grumbled in barely passable English. When none of the UNSC officers or the Jedi answered, the Elites charged. They needed the Captain alive, the Engineers had discovered that the humans implanted neural devices in their officers and it could be searched for information, mainly the location of earth. The Elites resisted the urge to tear their opponents apart, instead disabling the humans with quick, significantly pulled punches. Corporal Wilkins opened up with his assault rifle as did Lieutenant Hikowa but the Elite's shields absorbed most of the damage and they were upon the two before they could kill any. Bastila immediately pulled her lightsaber from her belt, stopping abruptly when the Elites lifted the unconscious bodies of the UNSC crewmen around her and aimed their plasma rifles at their heads.

"That device... I have seen it before..."

One of the Elites growled. Bastila was preparing to attack when something struck the back of her skull and she collapsed, unconscious before she hit the ground. Behind her, a Covenant Elite in black armor stared down at the Jedi, its mandibles clicking as it turned to its fellow Shangheili.

"This one is to be separated. Find the Captain of the humans and kill the rest."

The Elites bowed their heads, turning and sorting through the humans, searching for a rank insignia. Captain Keyes was the second checked and the other humans had no chance as the Covenant Elites calmly placed a single plasma burst in each of the Pillar of Autumn's Command crew's heads, discarding their bodies and moving to their transport which had been shadowing them the entire time.

Spartan 117 slowly crouched, working his way around a large boulder that overlooked a pass between two cliff sides. The transponder for Fireteam Charlie was past these mountains and the Chief briefly checked his MA5B's ammo reader, seeing he still had twenty seven rounds. A little less than half a mag. Cortana had been silent for some time, analyzing the structure of Halo and keeping her attention focused on the motion sensor as the Chief had sprinted from cover to cover, eliminating scattered groups of Covenant quietly and efficiently. It wasn't until they came into view of a valley between the cliffside that she spoke.

"Chief, Fireteam Charlie's lifeboat is just down there, maybe they took cover in that structure."

John 117's eyes scanned the structure, seeing glints of silver in the sunlight. He'd seen that before.

"There's more of those Sith down there..."

The Chief stated, Cortana would have frowned if she had a body and used the MJNOLIR suit's sensors to see what the Chief could, and more.
"Looks like someone crashed."

Cortana said cheerfully at the sight of a Covenant dropship imbedded in a cliffside. The Chief felt the urge to laugh but ignored it as he scanned the Covenant sieging the strange platform rising from Halo's surface. Overhead a Sith fighter screamed past, trailing smoke as it spun out of control and crashed. John 117 calmly fought down a niggling sensation of fear that had simply become second nature to him over a lifetime of training and moved into the fight, his MA5B expertly spraying controlled bursts into the bodies of Covenant warriors.

Darth Revan knelt over a scorched portion of dirt, staring at the charred remains of Darth Sefail and his command. Rage burned in the Dark Lord at Sefail's incompetence before he noticed a gleaming speck in the valley beyond the cliffside path that was Sefail's final resting place. Moving quickly, Revan took in the sight of dead Covenant and small gleaming copper cylinders on the ground. Breaking into a run, Revan came to a bridge that stretched over a waterfall from one of Halo's artificial steams and stopped, staring at the UNSC Lifeboat before him. Covenant bodies littered the area but the inside of the lifeboat was filled to capacity with human bodies, all of them strapped in and killed on the impact. The Dark Lord's eyes narrowed as he considered the situation. Turning, Revan motioned to the soldiers shadowing him to secure the area while he called in a scanning crew from the command base.

Static answered Darth Revan's summons.