Chapter 4 - A Great Journey

Lieutenant Major Locke JL-3513:

Locke's quarters were pitch black. His mattress had been rolled up and shoved off to one side of his bunk. Two candles flickered in the darkness, wax dripping down their sides. The Spartan sat cross-legged in front of them, forearms resting on his bent knees, eyes closed. He concentrated on nothing but his breathing, in, and out. Chest expanding, contracting. Meditation had done wonders for him. It cleared is mind, allowed him to put things in perspective.

The first tenet of the belief system that had brought him to meditation was not to kill, respect for life. But Locke had been attracted to these beliefs because he felt that they were the only set of teachings that truly acknowledged the universe as it was; chaos. Nothing stayed the same, change was constant. Evolution was a just a never-ending run to keep your place. By the logic of an ever-changing universe, then, shouldn't the very tenants of the teachings themselves change? Locke saw it as his duty to protect humanity, and in this age that often meant killing, violently and without hesitation. Even if the targets were human. Locke felt no shame in performing his duty, and knew that this made him an extremely flawed adherent. But either way, embracing the chaos had helped him become ever-adapting, a crucial trait in his line of work. And for surviving a chaotic universe in general.

Which was why, when he was thrown up off the floor and against a bulkhead by a sudden thrust of the ship's deck, he was only momentarily surprised.

"Roland!" he snapped, as he threw his helmet on. He'd been in his armor, per usual during the 'day' cycle of the ship, even though he was on personal time. Part of being ever-adapting was being ever-prepared. He was making his way down the Infinity's corridors while most of the Marines and crewman on the ship were still lying on the ground, wounded or in shock, trying to make sense of what had happened. Warning klaxons went off and added to the mayhem. The ship continued to rumble and groan.

"Banished warships, Lieutenant! Their entire fleet made a slipspace jump in the middle of our formation. One of them rammed us."

"What?" Locke knew that didn't make any sense. Precision slipspace jumps had been possible for a long time now, the UNSC had reverse-engineered the ability from Covenant ships after the war. But precision could only be so precise. The fleet had been actively on the move, getting closer to the Meta-Halo so they could investigate it. Jumping an entire fleet inside the formation of another fleet while it was moving wasn't just threading the needle. It was threading the needle while speeding by at 160 kilometers an hour. Blindfolded, if you did it from outside the system.

"I'm with the Captain on the bridge as well, assisting the Infinity's defense", said Roland.

"On my way", as Locke was making his way to the bridge, he came to a decision. It wasn't one he made lightly. His mission in being here, aboard this ship, had always been twofold. Protecting the interests of the UNSC by either securing or destroying this 'ringworld' the Forerunners had built was, of course, one of them. Out of everyone on this ship, he suspected that only Jun knew of his second purpose. He wasn't supposed to, not even Captain Lasky knew, but somehow the cunning old Spartan had figured it out.

Locke had known for sure about Jun's awareness after Cortana took control of the bridge. When the Master Chief had been convulsing on the floor, immobilized by Cortana's attack, Locke's first thought had been to remove the AI's datachip by force. When he'd been fumbling at the Chief's helmet, the electric shock Cortana delivered in retaliation had launched him halfway across the bridge. He'd recovered and sprang to his feet, sidearm in his hand without any conscious thought.

In his mind, Locke had already performed the deed. He'd taken four to five steps over to where the Master Chief lay prone. Raised the pistol. Emptied the clip into the back of his skull.

Not out of malice; it was true, he and the Master Chief hadn't started off on the best of terms. Locke had his own reasons for being suspicious of the legendary war hero, not the least of which being that legends rarely stood up to close scrutiny. Still, it was undeniable the man had been invaluable to humanities survival. Objectively, losing him would be a blow to the UNSC's war efforts, for morale reasons if nothing else.

But Cortana's takeover of the ship was dire enough to warrant it. If she'd turned those weapons on the rest of the fleet, their entire mission here would've been doomed. More than likely, the combined efforts of the rest of fleet would have been enough to take down even the massive super-carrier. But the losses that would have been sustained during a battle like that would've cripple them. The survivors easy pickings for either the Zealots or the Banished. If Locke couldn't pull Cortana's datachip, it would have to be destroyed. By any means necessary.

Before he could even take the first step to carry this out, however, Jun had moved over to the Master Chief. Rifle gripped his hand, held low across the chest, but with his body facing Locke instead of the fallen Spartan. For a moment that felt like eternity, they had just stared at each other. Fire blazing between them through their faceplates. Then the deck of the Infinity had moved again, scattering them in different directions, and the moment had been lost.

That was the second reason he had come to doubt the Chief Warrant Officer's judgement. The first had been allowing the rampant AI aboard the Infinity in the first place, against protocol. He had almost enacted his Command Override directive then and there. But in the end, he'd held off. Given his qualifications and his specialized training, HighCom had agreed to ONI's request to invest Locke with the power to take control of Majestic Company if need be. But he would have to explain himself to a military tribunal when this was all over, and if his reasons were found lacking, he'd be tried for subverting the chain of command.

He felt his reasons were sound enough. It was somewhat of a snap decision, made in heat of the moment as they faced imminent contact with the enemy, but one he had thought through beforehand. He had regretted not using the directive before when his instincts had told him to. He wouldn't make that mistake again. He didn't trust Jun to make the hard choices, and their mission here would depend on hard choices. Majestic Company needed to be unified under a leader who understood that before the fight came.

He forced open the three lead Spartan's comm-links, sent them a copy of HighCom's emergency order, and spoke, "Spartan's A266, 3083, and 117. I'm here-by invoking Emergency Order 10211-J, Command Override. I've been invested with this power under the direct authority of UNSC High Command. We don't have much time. I'm taking control of Majestic Company. The three of you report to the bridge, immediately", he said. Then he severed the connection, cutting off any argument.

He arrived on the bridge himself shortly after. It was a perfect reflection of chaos, crewman screaming over each other and the warning sirens alike. The deck lurched again as Locke came up behind Captain Lasky's workstation, and he saw why. The Captain's holo-display showed a smaller Banished ship lodged into the side of the Infinity; they must have been able to turn away from the Banished warship just as it hit them. Its battering ram had struck at an oblique angle and was caught in the super-carrier's mangled hull.

As Locke watched, the Banished ship fired a volley of missiles into the Infinity's side at point blank range, which threw shrapnel and fire back onto the Banished ship as well. Red lateral lines along the invader's surface flared red, indicating that it's plasma weapons were charging.

"Jesus", said Lasky, "It's trying to burrow its way into the damned ship!".

Lasky spoke to Roland, "I need a firing solution for that MAC cannon!"

"It's too close to the Infinity, Captain. We'll barely clip it".

"Do it! Then divert power from the shields to the engines and accelerate to maximum speed."

"Aye, sir!"

Locke got a firsthand view over the captain's shoulder as this played out. The heavy tungsten round from the nearest cannon did, indeed, barely clip the back end of the Banished warship down near the engines. The force of the impact drove its bow upwards, partially dislodging it from the Infinity. Screeching metal could be felt more than heard through vibrations in the deck. Then a momentary lurch as the artificial gravity adjusted to compensate for the fire bursting from Infinity's exhaust ports, pushing it forward. The Banished ship's whose engines had been clipped fell away from the Infinity as momentum pulled them apart, leaving a trail of broken metal from both ships.

Locke took in the other holo-terminals displayed around the Captain's workstation, and knew that they had simply jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. Banished warships were still pouring out of slipspace all around them. Every ship in the fleet was engaged with at least one Banished ship, many with two, and they had completely taken advantage of the element of surprise. Perhaps a third of the UNSC fleet had been either destroyed or mortally wounded before even firing a shot.

Two more Banished warships turned to the Infinity now, firing missiles and charging their plasma torpedoes. The Infinity's point defense lasers took down many of the Banished missiles, but many others made it through. The Infinity's shields were already weakened, so the volley quickly overwhelmed them and impacted along the hull. More vibrations rumbled through the decks as the Infinity was raked by explosions on its previously undamaged side.

At that moment, Palmer arrived on the bridge with a group of other Spartans trailing along. Spartan IV's.

"Where the hell is Warrant Officer Jun and the Master Chief?" said Locke.

"I don't know, sir", said Palmer.

Locke didn't even have time to get angry or ask any questions before the ship lurched violently again. One of the two approaching Banished ships had successfully launched a plasma torpedo, and it splashed against the Infinity's hull. It melted a large swath of their armor plating outright, and burned its way through more interior decks beyond. The sheer size and strength of the Infinity's hull was holding the ship together at this point, but if this kept up they were going to be nothing but a hollow shell.

However, the super-carrier wasn't without teeth.

"Lock Cannons 3 and 4 on the foremost target, fire at will!" shouted Captain Lasky.

Two MAC rounds punched through the warship that had fired on them in retaliation, one straight through the nose and one in its starboard side. Thanks to the insanely thick armor on the Banished ships, the MAC round that hit its nose stayed lodged within the vessel, but the one on the starboard side went clean through. The ship spun away, debris flying through space, engines sputtering.

The second ship was impacted by a MAC round as well, but the hit wasn't as clean and only sheared an edge off the hull. However, a volley of the Infinity's missiles impacted along its midline as well, and the red lines that had been glowing along its hull flickered out.

"We crippled their weapon's system's, Captain!" said Roland.

Another large impact against the Infinity's barely-recovered shields lurched them all forward. The damaged ship they had left behind in their wake with the clipped engines didn't have their weapon's systems crippled. They had launched a plasma torpedo after the Infinity. Their shields dispersed some of the heat, but enough made it through that two of the engines exhaust ports were melted outright. Reactor fuel sputtered out to space in a frozen arc, automatically vented to keep the engines from exploding.

"We're dead in space!" said Lasky.

"We're trying to re-route power now, but boarders are taking control of the reactor decks!" said a crewman.

The Captain turned towards him, "Lieutenant Major?"

"Don't do it", said Roland within his helmet. The damn AI already knew him, "You'll never make it in time yourself. We're at opposite ends of the ship."

Inwardly, Locke cursed, but knew that Roland was right. But the situation couldn't be ignored; if the Banished detonated the reactors, they were all doomed. He accessed the Spartan's battlenet and located the nearest of them, "Fireteams Shadow and Golem, abandon the infirmary. Reinforce Fireteam Pheonix on reactor levels 12 and 13, acknowledge."

Both fireteam leaders acknowledged his order, although there was a slight delay that made him suspect they had confirmed it with Palmer first. Consequentially, when he accessed the Spartans battlenet he was also able to locate the Master Chief and the Chief Warrant Officer. They were down in the brig. Springing Halsey.

"BRACE FOR ANOTHER IMPACT!" shouted the Captain.

The ship with the crippled weapons now had a massive tail of fire behind it, pushing its engines to the limit as it shot towards them. There was no way to dodge it. Their weapons were still recharging and reloading. Shields were down. And this warship had already built up alot more momentum than the last one that rammed them. The moment hung heavy in the air as the entire crew went silent in anticipation. Then the impact swept over them all like a wave.

The lights went dark. Locke was slammed up against another bulkhead so hard his shields died, and the blunt impact to his ribs was enough to drive the breath out of him. He folded over with a blunt pain radiating out of his side, possibly indicating a broken rib. After taking a few seconds to recover and gather his wits, he rose to his feet and activated his VISR in the darkness.

"Palmer!"

Her status light winked green, and he found her staggering to her feet behind him. The status lights of the Spartans she had brought with her flashed green as well as they also recovered. The bridge crew, without the benefit of MJLINOR armor, hadn't fared as well. Some of them were no more than bags of broken bone and blood wrapped in skin. Others lay on the floor, groaning, holding twisted limbs. A lucky few were clamoring to their feet. The Spartan's found Captain Lasky lying nearby, unconscious and with a very obviously broken arm. Locke glanced at a flickering holo-display that showed the ship that had rammed them spinning away, crumpled like a tin can and broken to pieces.

"Lieutenant", said Roland. "That last hit fractured the Infinity's super-structure. Our back is broken. The reactor levels are still being overrun, and there's more boarders heading straight here to the bridge. The Infinity is lost."

A heavy feeling of anger, spite, and defeat hit him all at once. He hadn't even had a chance to fire his weapon and the battle was lost. It infuriated and humiliated him, but he resolved to get his revenge on the Banished. In time. But to do that, he'd need to fight another day. And more importantly, it was his duty to make sure the captain lived to fight another day.

Locke scooped Lasky up in one arm and called out to the dark room, "We're abandoning ship! Sound the alert! Grab as may wounded as you can, anyone who can make it to the lifeboats!" he left it unsaid that anyone who couldn't make it to the lifeboats was going to be left behind.

Suddenly, a bright light blinded him. Blinded them all. But it wasn't coming from the overhead lights. Outside the viewport, a bolt of white lighting flashed across the empty void again. Impossible. More lighting flared, farther out, spider-webbing outwards. Wherever it touched both UNSC and Banished ships came apart in shreds of fire. Backdropping this all was the Meta-Halo. It was glowing. Glowing with a bright white light. Massive blue-white ripples radiated outwards from the ring along its edges.

"Oh. Shit." said Roland, "Lieutenant, I think this entire ring is about to-"

And then there was nothing but a blinding white light and a ceaseless, unending roar.

Doctor Catherine Halsey:

Doctor Halsey's accommodations in the brig had been pretty cozy, relatively speaking.

She was, of course, confined to the cell that was her living quarters during non-working hours. A bunk, sink, toilet, and shelving all in one space, with a glass door allowing no privacy. However, the adjoining cells in this block had all been torn down, and along with what would have once been the adjoining area between the cells there was now a fully- stocked laboratory. While it enraged her that she was now a prisoner of the UNSC, in all practical applications it made little difference to her research. And that was the most critical thing, the only thing that truly mattered, whether the self-righteous hypocrites in the UN or the ignorant masses knew it or not. Her vindication would have to come later.

Halsey had been sitting at a table, taking notes on her tablet when the ship shook violently. She'd smacked her head against the tables surface, and there'd been a hollow ringing in her skull after. She'd felt woozy, touched her forehead. Her fingers came away with blood on them. She must have lost consciousness for a few minutes, because all the sudden she was on the floor and there were alarms blaring, with a howling wind all around her.

The Doctor had staggered to her feet on the angled floor. She looked out of the window in the door that led out of the laboratory, the former cell block, and saw that her guards had fled. She hollered for them to no avail. The air was still howling all around her, and the temperature was starting to drop. She couldn't open the door, there was nowhere for her to go, nothing for her to do. Doctor Halsey grabbed her two most critical assets in the lab, the two things that she hoped someone would find on her corpse one day, and waited to die.

She was huddled in a corner shivering, panting heavily, when two Spartans broke down the door to the cell block. She was starting to get delirious from oxygen deprivation, barely able to focus on the golden faceplate in front of her. She heard only one word the Chief said.

"...Cortana..."

She patted her shirt pocket. It had been one of the things she'd grabbed. She watched the Master Chief take the datachip. Slip it into a pouch at his belt. She passed out again.

The Doctor was shocked awake when what felt like a tornado lifted her in the air and threatened to sweep her away. An armored green glove on her wrist was the only thing that prevented that, holding her horizontally above the floor. She struggled to look up at what was happening and the vicious wind tore at her eyes, bringing tears. The Master Chief was pulling her through a pair of blast doors that Jun was holding open with his body, back against one side and both arms on the other. They made it through the doors under Jun's arms, and as soon as they did Jun popped out from between them. They slammed together with violent force, and the air went still.

"Let's move", said the Chief.

Halsey lay on the ground, wheezing. Her eyes were stinging, lungs burning, brain foggy, arm on fire like it had been dislocated when John was holding her. There was no possible way she could move right now. She was an old woman, not a soldier. But the sharp jab of needle as the Master Chief popped a stim injector into her chest would allow her no rest. She gasped as the Chief hauled her to her feet.

"We have to move."

"Wait!-"

It was no use. She was jostled along between these two towering seven foot hulks of armor and muscle, prodded at a grueling pace that allowed her no respite to even catch a full breath. Somewhere, dimly in the back of her mind, she knew the Spartans were probably moving at a painfully slow pace for them. This was confirmed when, a few moments later, John gave up all pretense and slung her over his shoulder. Not a dignified way to make her escape, but she'd take it.

She was slightly less grateful when, barely a few moments later, she was slung unceremoniously onto the floor. Three Banished Brutes rounded the corner, with three Jackals and another trio of Grunts trailing behind. The Master Chief practically punted her into the relative cover of a nearby doorway while tossing a grenade at the invading party, while Jun strafed in the opposite direction, rattling off bursts with his Battle Rifle.

The Brute at the head of the group was the leader, as indicated by his crimson armor and horned helm. He also had power shields, which sparked and crackled as the bursts from Jun's rifle rang off them, failing to penetrate. The impact jerked the Brutes head back though, and the mini-grenade he'd been about to fire at them from his Brute Shot went up into the ceiling. Meanwhile, the Chief's grenade ricocheted off a bulkhead and landed behind the trio, between them and the supporting troops who were trailing behind.

Two of the Jackals managed to get their energy gauntlets between them and the explosion. One didn't, and they were plastered against the nearest wall along with an unlucky Grunt. The gray-armored Brute Minor who had been trailing farthest behind caught a load of shrapnel in the back as well. It ripped into the armor there, and the force of the blast caused it to stumble forward and drop its Spiker. The second Minor charged forward with its own Spiker; the impact of several rounds chipped at Jun's shields and forced him into the cover of a doorway opposite to Halsey's.

The Master Chief charged forward, Assault Rifle blasting away as he did his best to dodge and deflect shots from the support troops who were regrouping. His burst of fire tore down the last of the Brute Major's power shields, several rounds digging into the thick chest plate. They embedded themselves deep within the armor, but showed no signs of having penetrated to the flesh beneath. The Brute roared and fired another mini-grenade, which the Chief dodged. Then the Master Chief switched to his Magnum.

The heavy slugs tore straight through the Brutes open mouth in rapid succession, out the back of its skull. The Brutes entire head came apart in chucks of red-purple gore, which flew in every direction. The headless corpse remained standing for a bizarre moment before the Brute who had been injured by the grenade shoved it out of the way. It'd given up on it's lost Spiker and dropped to all fours, launching at the Master Chief.

Jun pivoted from his own cover and fired a series of precision shots at the other oncoming Brutes head, popping off its armored helmet and punching several rounds through its face. Across from him, Master Chief stepped back and aimed a well-timed kick at the beserking Brutes mouth. It shattered the creatures lower jaw and smashed its teeth together. As the Brute dealt with that, Jun launched another volley of Battle Rifle rounds into its left side. The impact of the rounds drove into the armor there and caused it to stagger against the nearest wall.

It fell practically right next to where Halsey crouched. It's helmet had come off too, so she got a good look at the Brute's face; elongated head covered in a pebbled gray hide like a rhino, with bristly black hair along the edges and a spiky mohawk on the top of its head. She could see the ruins of the Brutes jaw working, oversized carnivorous teeth sticking out in all directions. Its right arm was holding itself up as it leaned back against the wall, left arm waving feebly in the air as it tried to right itself. The Master Chief ended that with another strike of his armored boot. Halsey couldn't look away from the pulpy mass of brain matter that squished out from around the edges of the Chief's boot as he crushed the alien's skull against the bulkhead, morbid fascination overcoming her.

The remaining Grunts and Jackals didn't stand a chance. They were all outfitted in the typical fashion that distinguished them as Banished troops: the Jackal's with energy gauntlets configured in the shape of two overlapping diamonds, with triangular divots cut out into the sides for firing. All four of them wore thick, studded armor and crested helms, these particular ones all colored in different shades of orange or red. One of the Jackal's had a Mangler, the rest had Plasma Pistols.

The Mangler-armed Jackal was the only one who managed to do any significant damage, with a heavy bolt that deflected off the Master Chief's shoulder. The rest of their shots either went wide or had negligible impact as they were gunned down. Jun blew off the Jackals gun hands, and as they instinctively went to clutch at their ruined stumps the Chief swept across them with the Assault Rifle, taking down one of the other remaining Grunts in the process. The last Grunt gave a wail of despair and threw its arms up in the air, waving them wildly as it waddled away as fast as it could. It caught rounds in the back from both Jun and the Master Chief, which caused its methane tank to pop in a small explosion that launched it further down the hall. It landed on its stomach and laid still, dead.

Halsey had read plenty of post-action reports, seen plenty of combat recordings. But seeing her Spartan's at work in real life was both awe-inspiring and terrifying. The sheer speed and violence froze her with shock. Although she didn't have much time to sit and contemplate it, because the deck shook violently once again. The grinding, shrieking tear of metal throughout the ship was so loud it shook her skull. The floor was still vibrating as the Master Chief hauled her up again, half dragging and half carrying her away.

Smoke filled the air now and she tried to wave it aside, coughing, but could see no more than two feet ahead of her. They came to a lift and Halsey was shoved inside. As the doors closed, a pillar of fire raced down the hall behind them. Halsey had enough time to feel the heat, the sweat against her skin, and wonder to herself what being roasted alive would feel like. Then the blast doors finally slammed shut. She could hear the blowtorch sound of the fire raging against the doors, starting to turn them red hot, but the lift was already moving up and away by then.

Halsey gasped in air, coughing. This was the first time she'd had a chance to catch her breath since the Spartan's had hauled her away from the brig.

"Chief, ca-", she coughed again, hacking up some flem. "What's going on?"

"We're under attack. The Banished found us."

"I can SEE that, how?"

"We don't know, Doctor", said Jun, "We're rendezvousing with Lieutenant Major Palmer on the bridge. The Captain will know more."

"Cortana?" asked the Chief.

Doctor Halsey sighed, exhausted, "Fine, Chief. For now. I've inserted a corrective algorithm into her code, it's replicated her internal systems and is constantly refreshing them to match. It should keep her from deteriorating too much further. But for god's sake, don't activate her! The only reason she survived so long on the Dawn was because she was isolated, no stimulation. The more stimuli you expose her too, the faster she'll unravel".

The Master Chief nodded in acknowledgement, "Our main path to the bridge just went down in flames. We're re-routing you through the atrium level."

The Infinity's atrium proved to be only marginally safer than the corridor of fire. It was a massive, sprawling room, with walkways winding between raised planters of various sizes and shapes, some large enough to play a decent ball-game on. They all held various trees and ferns, some with vines that draped across multiple trees and overhung the walkways between the planters. A knot of Marines and crewman trapped in the center of the room were using the foliage as cover, along with the planters and support columns dotted throughout the room. The ceiling was made of glass, with many cross-braces running across it like a spiderweb, beyond which flashes of fire could briefly be seen from the massive fleet battle raging outside.

A horde of Banished troops were advancing on the UNSC soldiers. They were led by a pack of Brutes numbering somewhere north of half a dozen, with at least twice that number in supporting troops. The Jackals were arrayed in a rough half-circle around the Marines position, using their shields to deflect fire while Grunts waddled up heedlessly to the front lines, yipping excitedly. The diminutive creatures were far from marksmen, the majority of their shots went wild and they were gunned down with ease. But they were effective in diverting the groups fire away from more important threats.

Skirmishers were making their presence felt. The hardy, feathered sub-species of Jackals were using their superior speed to zip between bits of cover and flank the human contingent. As Doctor Halsey watched, one of them popped around from behind the corner of a planter and gunned down a pair of crewman crouched there. Heavy crystalline rounds from its Needle Rifle punctured their chests and they exploded a moment later. Halsey caught a quick glimpse at their rib cages and organs falling out as they toppled to the ground. A group of Marines who were nearby, pinned down by more Grunts and Jackals, pivoted to return fire, but the Skirmisher had already ducked out of the way. The rest of them were using similar guerilla tactics, wearing down the group with hit-and-run potshots before they could fire back.

And, of course, the Brutes were dominating the battlefield as always. A few were behind the line of Jackals, covering their allies with bolts of red plasma and heavy spiker bolts, but the majority were right up front with the Grunts. But unlike the Grunts, they were taking everything the Marines could dish out and serving it right back. A trio with Brute Shots were particularly effective at driving the humans back, relentlessly pounding their positions with mini-grenades which blew away pieces of their cover with each impact. An excited Marine charged out with his Assault Rifle on full auto, flinging rounds at a Brute who had wandered into point blank range. The rounds deflected off its armor and power shields, giving it time to swing its Brute Shot in a savage arc. The blade severed the Marines head from his shoulders.

Then the Brute's own head exploded. A moment later, Halsey heard the backfire of Jun's sniper rifle, which he had unslung and shot practically near her head. The ringing in her ears made her momentarily deaf, and muffled whatever the Master Chief was telling her, but she got the general point as he shoved her behind a pillar. Jun continued to fire his sniper rifle, strafing and taking down targets of opportunity. Brutes when he could, Jackals if he couldn't. His fire covered the Master Chief's approach, as he came in with his Assault Rifle again. The nearest contingent of Covenant were taken by surprise by the new line of attack along their flank and turned to meet the Spartans, but the those out front with the best field of fire on the Master Chief had their head popped off by Jun's sniper rifle.

One of the Grunts went mad. It howled loudly and pulled out two plasma grenades, both glowing with a soft blue haze as the Grunt armed them both and waved them over his head. A burst from the Master Chief's Assault Rifle took it in the head, and the grenades dropped to the ground amidst it's fellows. A whole mass of Grunts were consumed by the explosion, and the chain reaction of their methane tanks exploding popped all through the Banished. More grenades that had been lying on the ground, dropped by their fellows who had been killed previously, detonated as well. Bodies and blood went flying. A good chunk of the support troops that had been clustered together, Grunts and Jackals mostly, were obliterated along with a few of the Brutes.

Shock rippled through the rest of the Banished who had been far enough away to be unaware of the new attack before, and now they all pivoted to the Master Chief, who was forced to sprint back as he dodged and weaved among the planters. But the Marines had taken notice as well. Given new heart by the Spartans support, many leaned out of cover to open fire on the Banished's now distracted and significantly unprotected flank. Halsey couldn't help but peak from behind cover long enough to watch a Brute go down as a trio of Marines converged their fire on it, finally punching in enough slugs into it to penetrate the armor. But they paid for it, as a Brute shot detonated amongst their feet and sent the trio flying as well, severed legs flopping to the ground nearby as they screamed.

But between Jun's sniping, the Master Chief's grenades and Assault Rifle, and the Marines renewed attack, the Banished found themselves worn down quickly. The remnants were forced into a far corner of the atrium, trapped under heavy fire just as the Marines had been earlier. The tide of battle had definitely turned.

That was, until, another set of doors at the other end of the atrium burst open. They came apart with enough force to squash a few of the unlucky Grunts who had been cowering at the back. A Brute taller than any she had seen before stepped out, covered head-to-toe in blood red armor. It wore a very high-crested red and black helm, with a Gravity Hammer slung over one shoulder. The beast moved faster than she would have been able to guess; it took a running leap clean over some of its fellows, landed amidst a group of Marines that had been pushing forward, and slammed its hammer down. A shockwave of crackling red energy radiated outwards, both burning and flinging away the unfortunate Marines who had been caught in the blast radius. Everyone in the area turned their fire on the Chieftan, but it simply absorbed the bullets like a lighting rod and kept charging forward. Any humans who were unlucky enough to be caught in its path were either swiped aside with its Gravity Hammer or simply trampled.

A heavy bolt ricocheted off the support pillar where Halsey was crouched. She flinched back. When the Spartans and the Marines had been launching their counter-assault, the Skirmishers who hadn't been gunned down were too quick to be caught in the same corner as the rest of the Banished. They'd leaked out around the Master Chief and were making their way towards Jun, trying to take out the sniper at the back. Consequentially, they were about to come up on Halsey's position, since she was between them and the other Spartan. Jun had strayed afield, trying to get a better angle on the rapidly moving Chieftan, and had to hurry back over to her position. His shots kept the Skirmisher's suppressed long enough for her to scramble out to another piece of cover, out of the line of fire.

However, this development left the Master Chief without any covering fire. The Marines were now scattered and demoralized, and those who could fight were still engaged with Banished remnants from the first group as well. The Chieftan had the Master Chief squarley in his sights. The Chief dodged and weaved amongst the planters, firing burst of his Assault Rifle at the Chiefta, but never managing to get more than a few seconds worth of fire in before having to sprint away again. A high stakes game of cat and mouse unfolded, both combatants dodging and weaving amongst the lines of fire from the gun-battle unfolding all around them.

White lighting flashed above them. It crackled soundlessly in the space beyond the atriums glass ceiling, between the ships in space that were battling it out. Halsey registered the phenomenon with unease.

Within the atrium, a heavy blow of the Chieftan's Gravity Hammer slammed down too close to the Master Chief for comfort. The Chief's shields visibly popped out of existence and he went flying. His Assault Rifle tumbled away amongst burning and toppled foliage. He turned the headless dive into a semi-graceful roll, popped to his feet, and managed to empty an entire clip of Magnum slugs at the oncoming Chieftan. It looked like he was shooting a tank with a pea-shooter.

A heavy hand landed on her shoulder. Jun was dragging her out from behind cover, firing burst from his battle rifle now at the Skirmishers, taking bolts and Needler rounds on his shields as he covered her. The battle on her doorstep had enveloped her new position as she'd been captivated by the Master Chief's dance with death. Jun was once again rescuing her before the Banished could gun her down. But as she moved, she registered another flash of lighting above them. And it clicked into place.

"JUN!"

Jun paid her no mind. He shoved her down behind the cover of another planter as he poked his Battle Rifle out from behind cover, firing bursts. Halsey shoved against one of his shoulders with both arms. He barely moved, but one hand lashed out with enough force to knock both her arms away and leave them with whiplash. But she succeeded in gaining his attention. She pointed at the roof.

"SLIPSPACE RUPTURE!" was all she said.

Another bolt of lighting flashed in space. Never one of the slower Spartans, Jun put together her meaning. He scooped her up in his arms and began moving them towards the nearest set of blast doors. Trying to hail the Master Chief as he did so.

But it seemed that the Master Chief's intangible but ever-present aura of luck had finally given out. John took a Gravity Hammer strike directly to the chest. He flew a dozen feet away, bouncing and scraping across the floor. He left a trail of sparks until he finally skidded to a halt. Halsey watched as the Chief struggled to a sitting position, Magnum still in hand, and fire more rounds at the Chieftan. Jun noticed this too, and shoved Halsey ahead of him as he fired at the Chieftan's back, but was soon forced to re-focus on the Skirmishers that were still tailing them.

The Chieftan contemptuously swept aside the Master Chief's pistol. It planted a massive, armored foot on the Master Chief's chest, and raised it's hammer on high. Ready to bring it down and end him.

The blackness of space became white. The world howled. The atrium's glass ceiling shattered as the Infinity's very structure was warped by the sudden, heavy transition into Slipspace. Halsey watched from between the blast doors that Jun shoved her behind as both the Master Chief and the Chieftan were lifted into the furious, chaotic energy of Slipspace rupture that was enveloping them. And that was the last she saw of John as the doors slammed shut.

Authors Note: Hey guys! I dont usually like to do 'author notes', so I'll probably edit this out after awhile, but I just want to say thanks to everybody who has stuck around long enough to read this. Sorry that it took so long to post this chapter, but to be honest the following chapters are probably going to start taking as long or longer. I have alot of real-life stuff I have to deal with right now. But for me, this is entirely a self-motivated project, so I do plan on getting this done no matter how long it takes. Hopefully some of you will be around when that happens, but if not, thanks for again for reading along this far.

P.S. Another part of the reason this took so long was because I decided halfway through the chapter that I may switch over from Infinity armor abilities to Reach armor abilities, and more specifically those available in the Mythic Overhaul mod for the game, since that is what I am playing and drawing inspiration from. The main four Spartan's stat's would based off custom builds I developed for each character in Mythic Firefight, and I ended up having alot of fun with them. They are:

Master Chief - Armor Ability Sprint, Damage Resistance 150% (Assault Rifle/Magnum)

Jun - Armor Ability Jetpack, Enhanced Motion Tracker/75 meters (DMR/Sniper Rifle)

Locke - Armor Ability Drop Shield, Default Good Active Camo (Plasma Rifle/Spartan Laser)

Palmer - Armor Ability Evade, 200% Melee Damage (Shotgun/Grenade Launcher)

So at some point I may rework all this into the previous chapter when they are discussing the new Mark VII armor, and edit the Chief-Palmer conflict accordingly, although the outcome would be the same. I may also edit the encounters earlier in this chapter as well to reflect this, and in general do some more re-work on it. This entire chapter, and the previous ones, are basically still beta's and I may go back and change things about previous chapters in general as I move forward.