Author's Note: Sorry about the long wait... and yes I am dead, I am writing from beyond the grave. Anywho, I hope you all enjoy, and I hope it was worth the wait. More will be coming! Don't worry!

Chapter 8: Guilty Spark

"The parasite will spread unchecked across the Sacr... Halo, without anyone to stop it," Jimaelhae was explaining, not bothering to wipe away any of the blood that was covering his armor, but mentally attempting to shove all the lies the prophets had fed him to a dark corner of his mind.

"Yeah, we need to find a way off here. We can't fight off all the flood across Halo. Especially with such little ammo" Nathan said. He had slung his battle rifle across his back, and was once again sporting a Covenant carbine.

"Will there be any way to IN AMBER CLAD? Or will we have to take something smaller?" Fenris asked, holding her own nearly empty battle rifle against her chest. The shotgun was slung across her back. She wanted to find shells for it, it killed flood good.

"I don't know how many marines are left on this damn ring, so don't be thinking about IN AMBER CLAD. It's too big for three people to pilot it, especially when one isn't even human. Besides, do we even know how to work it? I say we try and find a pelican," Nathan said.

"Are they even big enough to get us back home?" Fenris asked.

Nathan only shrugged in response. He really didn't know, but it was a better idea than just sitting around, waiting to die.

"Well, then lets get moving, I don't want to get caught with my pants down," Fenris said.

Jimaelhae blinked a few times at the expression Fenris used then turned to look towards the forest again.

"That's where the brutes came from," the elite pointed out.

Fenris crouched low to the ground, and examined the dirt and grass. She slowly looked towards the jungle they had come out of, and where Jimaelhae was pointing. She narrowed her eyes slightly, and then started walking towards it.

"Fuck off. I don't want to go through there again," Nathan said, but followed nonetheless. Whatever vices Nathan Little may have had, cowardice was not among them.

As soon as they entered the darkness of the jungle, cutting off the light of the sun, the three were on their guard. They had barely begun their journey through the thick foliage when the angry growls of flood warriors reached their ears.

Fenris rarely took her eyes from the ground, tracking the path the brutes had taken to reach the ruins carefully. Their progress was much speedier this time, but Nathan still felt a cold fear knotting in his gut. He could still see his squad being torn apart one by one. Could still see Wesley firing his pistol into the back of Sara's neck.

"Mother fucker," the marine sergeant muttered under his breath. Jimaelhae threw the man a look, and Fenris glanced over her shoulder, but both quickly brushed it away and the three continued through the dense jungle.

Cerberus had secretly made his way away from the human female, who he knew was in front of the temple. No, she wasn't human, she was something more. With a grunt of something that was a cross between approval of a worthy foe and shame at having to sneak away, the brute warrior slowly made his way up the cliff face, taking care not to be seen.

He often had to stop on small clefts in the rock to regain his breath. Though his strength was quickly returning he was still weak, and lugging himself and his axe up the cliff face was straining work. He eventually made his way to the top of the cliff. He threw the axe on the top ahead of him before pulling himself up.

He crouched on one knee, a fist planted firmly in the dirt to steady himself. His chest heaved with exertion. Again he found himself admiring the woman who had wounded him. She was unique amongst her kind, honorable enough to fight in melee combat, and strong enough to win. He didn't understand.

Cerberus knew though, that she would be a danger to the Covenant, maybe as much a danger as the fabled Demon. Maybe more so.

Pushing the thoughts to the back of his mind for the mean time Cerberus took a deep breath, then pushed himself to his feet. He took a few seconds to steady himself, then picked up his axe, and started in the direction of where he knew the covenant encampment would be set up. He had to warn them, he had to recuperate.

After he was recovered he would begin his hunt for that woman. He would kill her.

Stealth wasn't a concern as the trio crashed through the underbrush. Fenris didn't even pause as she fired a burst at a flood warrior falling from the tree tops. The bright green bolts of Nathan's carbine shot through the air like streaks of lightning, cutting down flood warriors before they could reach the ground.

Fenris was relentless in her path, she seemed to know exactly where she was going. She would suddenly twist around trees, and start off the path in directions that other marines would get lost in, in just a few moments. To think of it, Nathan was lost. He had no idea where he was going, him and Jimaelhae were just concentrating on killing, Fenris was getting them out of this hell.

An infected marine jumped in front of Fenris. Nathan was about to fire when he noticed the recognition that passed across her face. Was this guy from her unit. Before he could fire, Fenris lunged forward and punched her hand through the creature's chest. The body crumpled almost instantly, and Fenris let it drop to the ground.

"Keep moving," she yelled back, and started forward at a fast run. Jimaelhae had no problem keeping up, but Nathan found himself struggling. Damn aliens, and psychotic marines. Why couldn't everything just go back to normal.

For Nathan, nothing had ever been normal since he had stepped through the gates to that boot camp on Reach. No matter what he managed to accomplish here, light-years away from home, nothing could ever go back to normal.

Then suddenly the three burst through the thick foliage into the bright light of the sun. The brightness was the first thing Nathan noticed, the second was the stench.

It was a smell he would never forget, the smell of a battlefield after a battle. He looked across the ground. Everywhere there were corpses, some human, some covenant, some flood. Their carcasses laying under the midday sun, the wind carrying the sickly sweet odor over to the three companions.

"Holy Christ," Nathan muttered, then shook his head.

"Check the dead for ammo," Nathan said, and the other two nodded. Again, Nathan found himself looting the bodies of his comrades, but the situation required it. He couldn't even stop to give them a decent burial.

"We have to do something about these bodies," Fenris said as she slipped a shell into her shotgun. She was crouched beside the body of a marine who had been torn in two. His bottom half was no where to be seen, and his guts had spilt across the ground.

"We don't have time for any burials," Nathan said, slipping a magazine into one of his magazine pouches.

"I never said anything about burial. I say we burn them," Fenris said holding up a flare she had found.

"The parasite wouldn't be able to use the corpses," Jimaelhae said, picking amongst the covenant corpses.

Nathan realized what they were saying.

"Start a pile on that rubble," Nathan said, slinging his rifle, bending down and grabbing the material of a dead marine's fatigues. He started to drag the body towards the small pile of rubble he had indicated.

Fenris finished loading her weapons, then started ferrying bodies from the edges of the battlefield, all the while warily glancing around to make sure nothing was sneaking up on them.

Jimaelhae dragged the brute corpses towards the growing pile. He often had to get Nathan's help for the larger ones, but steadily the pile grew.

Fenris stood at the edge of the carnage. An immense migraine was pounding at her skull from within, and the bones up her legs and forearms ached, pronounced with the occasional stab of pain that ran through her entire body. Slowly, with a twitching hand she reached into her pocket, and pulled out her pills. She emptied the bottle into her hand, and stared incredulously at her palm. Only a single white pill was there.

"Fuck right off," she said, but downed the tablet nonetheless. The effects were almost immediate. The migraine dulled slightly, and the pains diminished a little. Not entirely however, and soon enough they would be back, and she'd have nothing to fight them back with.

She dropped the empty bottle in the grass, and then grabbed the corpse laying facedown nearby. As she lifted the body Fenris saw the face. Pvt. Windsor had been in her squad. He had been a nosey little bastard but he was a good soldier, and had even saved Fenris's life before. Fenris looked away for a second, then lifted the corpse. Nearly all her squad was accounted for, and they were all dead. Maybe some were still living, hiding somewhere out in the jungle, but she doubted it.

Fenris threw the corpse over her shoulder and started towards the pile. As she got closer she noticed that Nathan and Jimaelhae and pretty much finished piling the corpses. They had even got a separate pile of weapons. They looked up as Fenris approached.

"Last one?" Nathan asked.

"Yeah, I got the flare in my pocket," Fenris responded. She got to the pile and threw the body on. Cracking her neck she pulled the flare out, and lit it. The bright white flame started up, shooting from the end. Fenris tossed it onto the pile.

Almost immediately brute fur and marine fatigues caught up. The flames quickly made their way across the heap of corpses. Soon enough the smell of burning flesh wafted towards the three still living soldiers.

They all stood still, each reliving their own memories connected with that smell. Nathan remembered Mombassa, the burning warthog with the charred marine at the wheel. Covenant troops were tearing through the old African city, killing everyone in their wake. They were stopped, which was why they were here.

Fenris thought back to when her father got into a car accident. The vehicle had caught fire. When firefighters showed up on the scene they had thought that car was empty. That was, until Fenris's father's skull popped open, splashing brains across the driver's window, and sending a flow of crimson down over what was left of him. She had been on the police force then, and had been there when it happened, keeping traffic away from the scene, all the while shoving her emotions deep inside.

Jimaelhae remembered burning worlds. Billions purged in the all consuming flames that spread across entire planets. All in the name of a false word. How many had he killed in the name of the prophets, all the while they were ready to throw the Sangheili away. To be replaced.

The glow of the fire lit the faces of the three as they stood watching the flames consume the past. Then like a phoenix of ancient myth a silver orb rose above the flames from behind the pyre. A bright blue light shone from its centre.

"The oracle?" Jimaelhae said, dumbstruck. Nathan merely cocked his head to the side in confusion. Fenris stared up at the floating mechanical orb.

"Not quite an oracle," she said.

"I am 343 Guilty Spark, keeper of installation 04, which has been destroyed," the orb said, the blue light flickering to match the syllables of its words. The small A.I. construct floated in the air above the fire for a moment, looking at Fenris.

"You are not the same as the other reclaimers," Guilty Spark said.

Fenris couldn't help but smile. Guilty Spark flew down so he hovered directly in front of Fenris. A small blue light emanating from his 'eye' began to creep over her body. She felt a slight tingling sensation all over.

"Only one?" he asked suddenly. He floated upward slightly. He started flicking his gaze between Fenris and Nathan, almost in confusion.

"Only one. The human race was not created by the forerunners, and the reclaimers were simply a genetic experiment done on humans," Fenris explained. There were a few seconds of silence.

"Of course you are right. Come quickly we have no time to waste," Guilty Spark said.

"Come where?" Nathan started when suddenly white light surrounded his body. He glanced over at the other two but they were obscured by the same white light.

"God damnit," he muttered, then felt his stomach drop as everything went solid white.

In the jungle overlooking the clearing a figure stood in shadows, thick tentacles swirling from its form, obscuring it further.

"You will die like everything else reclaimer," the creature said in a low gravel voice. With that it disappeared into the jungle.