Author's Notes (A/N): I will no longer using the (Time Frame) except when on Flashbacks since I will no longer be following the original Halo's storyline. But keep in mind I do know the storyline very well.

Chapter 15 Skirmish

Everyone look up as there was a huge explosion that was clearly visible, even in daylight, up above on space. Then there was a sudden gush of strong wind, like there was a tornado right in front of them. The Master Chief got blown into the air but managed to quickly grab a branch of a tree and hung for dear life. Leaves of trees got blown in the direction of the wind. It was like there was a giant vacuum a few feet from them.

Trees got uprooted and were thrown into the wild wind. The clouds from the sky were literally moving in synchronization with the speed of the wind. All were heading for one direction. When everything calmed down, the forest was clearly destroyed as tree trunks lay scattered everywhere. A few big trees were uprooted. Boulders, that weren't there before, were now scattered haphazardly.

"…Uh…." groaned Johnson as he stood up. He easily got blown away by the strong gush of wind as he was now nowhere near the Crater in where they found the Chief. He looked around as he examined the place.

"Marines! Sound Off!" he ordered. Nobody answered for a few seconds then,

"I'm Ok!" shouted Doc, Stahn and a couple marines who were a few feet away from him.

"Everybody alright!?" asked the Master Chief as he jumped down from the tree he held on.

"What the heck happened?" asked Z'jo, who stood up and was limping. His leg got smacked by a tree branch.

"Uh…" groaned Zide. He got blown away and hit dead on a rock face.

"…*Cough*…*Cough*… What the hell was that?" asked Nira who was approaching Zide on the rock face.

Everyone huddled up near the rock face where Zide was. They were still to shock to speak. Zide was groaning in pain as his body ached while Doc tended some cuts on his face. Johnson did a head count and noticed 2 were missing; Thel and Zen.

"Where are the Arbiter and Zen?" asked Johnson and was surprised when someone answered.

"Right here." It was the Arbiter who replied. Everyone looked at him and saw that he was carrying someone in his arms. It was Zen.

"He got hit by a tree trunk." answered the Arbiter answering everyone's question in there heads. Thel placed him on a flat rock surface and Doc tended to his wounds. After a few seconds Zen began to stir.

"…Ugh…" groaned Zen. His entire body hurt, his head was spinning and his chest hurt like hell. Nira sat beside him on the rock surface.

"You ok?" she asked. Zen opened his eyes and blinked, "I'm fine." then he sat up.

"What the heck did you do Zen?" asked Johnson. Everyone's suddenly snapped to Zen waiting for an explanation.

"Wait… Before I explain, Cortana can you get a video of what that explosion was on space and a video feed of, say, 5 minutes ago of Kenya, Africa." Everyone stared at Zen then back to Master Chief who was still and silent as inside him Cortana did her thing.

"Ok… I have it." said Cortana on the speakers. Zen created a TV screen in front of them and an AI slot near it. He held out his hand to the Master Chief and understood what he wanted. He placed his hand on the back of his helmet and retrieved Cortana's data chip. Zen took it and placed the chip at the AI slot of the TV. A few moments Cortana flashed into the screen in front of them.

"Wow…" said Cortana looking around the corners of the TV screen. "Nice wiring Zen…" Zen cleared his throat.

"Oh right sorry." said Cortana and then she disappeared; the screen then flashed a video of the High Charity in space.

"This is the video of that explosion in space." The video played and they all watched attentively. A few seconds into the video there was a flash, then, BOOM. The intensity of the explosion was intense. The entire High Charity got engulfed in flames. Bits and pieces of metal and debris flew into the air. When the flames and smoke dissipated High Charity was no more. Cortana closed the video and she appeared again in front of the screen. Every pair of eyes turned to Zen which was waiting for his explanation.

"Ok. I planted a bomb on High Charity. As you can see it exploded and it is no more. In short no more flood." Stahn's jaw dropped at the statement.

"Its true." said Cortana in agreement. "I did a life scan from one of the satellites and it said 'No life forms found.'."

"Cortana, can you show the video feed of Kenya now please." said Zen. Everyone looked again onto the screen.

"Sure thing Zen." then she disappeared again. This time she showed a video feed of Kenya. There was a large ship, which was clearly visible on the landscape.

"It's the Forerunner Dreadnought." said Master Chief when he recognized it.

"Yes, it is." said Zen.

The Dreadnought was cruising into the air, when BOOM another bright flash. But this time the ship didn't explode. Instead it stopped flying and it started shrinking right in front of their eyes. Then Zen noticed that there seemed to be some disturbance coming from in it. When it got small the disturbance was clearly visible, as a transparent looking, vacuum. The vacuum started sucking everything in, trees, rocks, soil, everything.

A few moments into the sucking, it flashed, then, nothing. The Dreadnought was nowhere to be seen. In the place where it was originally was, now was a visible crater; probably caused by the disturbance sucking in the soil. The video finished and Zen took out Cortana's data chip and handed it back to Master Chief, who took it and placed it back in his data slot.

"So now, as you have seen." began Zen. "The Prophet of Truth is dead; he got sucked in by the portal, along with the Covenant he had left."

"Wow." muttered Stahn.

"Amazing." mumbled Thel under his breath.

"Well now, if you guys want to ask more questions, please ask them later. I'm just going to rest here for a while." And with that Zen's head started going down for the rock but it landed on Nira's shoulder. Nira didn't mind and he let Zen sleep. The moment Zen's head came in contact with her shoulder he's body went into unconsciousness due to the pain he endured by being hit by a tree trunk.

* * * *

Zen woke up. He was now lying on a bed, which was comfortable for his aching body. His mind was going over the things he had done the past few days. First he got teleported to another world, and then he got Creator Powers. He fought covenant and nearly died by being stabbed by an energy sword. He shaped the future when he was asleep; fell and confessed his love for an elite when he woke up. Managed to stop a brute from activating halo and now he was lying on a bed because his whole body ached by being hit by tree trunk which was caused by the explosion that killed the Covenant and Flood.

It was a lot for him but he felt happy. He saved humanity from the deadliest parasite ever and made an alliance with one of the most genocidal specie ever. He opened his eyes and blink due to the light being too much for his eyes. He sat up and looked around. He was no longer in the forest but back at the Crow's Nest, a human base in Kenya. He vaguely remembers being carried by Nira into a pelican which was headed back here.

He stood up from the bed and stretched. His joints crack as he did this. He found out he was only wearing the jumpsuit of his armor. He quickly created himself some black sweat pants and a faded blue top. He placed on his bed along with some socks. He looked around and there was a bathroom in his room. He headed for it, making a towel along the way, and locked the door. He undressed in his jumpsuit, and stared at his chest in front of the mirror. He was developing a quite visible six-pack even though he doesn't go to the gym. His arms were becoming muscular and gaining more muscle. Beyond all the muscle in his chest, he had a visible patch of skin which was sore, due to the fact he was hit by a tree trunk in speeds of a speeding truck.

He just shrugged in response to the bruises he had and stepped into the shower cubicle. He turned it on and let the warm water, relax his aching muscles. He washed himself and quickly toweled off when he was done. He quickly dressed and was tied his boots. He stepped outside and was surprised to see only a few people walking down the hallway.

He started walking down the hall, following the signs that said 'Cafeteria.' He arrived at the Cafeteria's double doors and saw inside that there were a few people eating in it, human and alien alike. He stepped in and scanned the room. There were mixed groups that were scattered in the Cafeteria but he manage to see where Stahn was eating, along with the rest of the gang ('Evanam siblings, Thel, Master Chief and Johnson.).Zen took his food and carried the tray to where he saw the gang.

"Look who's finally awake." said Stahn as Zen approached the table.

"Hello." said Zen weakly as he sat next to Nira.

Zen noticed that Stahn's hand was now there again.

"Hey your hand's fine again." said Zen to Stahn.

"Yah, it's completely mechanical now. Now I'm like part Cyborg. I actually had asked the medical team to put some skin back on it." Zen just nodded. The group ate with relative chatter. A few moments later the intercom crackled to life and announced,

"The following people please report to the docking bay, Z'jo 'Evanam, Zide 'Evanam, Nira 'Evanam, Thel 'Vadam, Zen Black, Stahn Zeban and the Master Chief. Thank You."

"Wonder what's going on?" asked Zide to Stahn. Stahn just shrugged and the group stood up and headed to the office.

* * * * *

A few minutes later they arrived at the docking bay which was filled with all sorts of vehicles, from human to covenant. But one vehicle in particular always made the soldiers stare at it with curiosity. It was Zen's motorcycle. When they arrived Sergeant Johnson greeted them,

"Nice to see you guys again. It would seem they have a skirmish mission for us."

"Really?" asked the Master Chief.

"Yeah we have received reports that a couple of Loyalists that are attacking a nearby planet. We had to go there and neutralize the threat."

"Great another mission." said Zen sarcastically.

"Well it beats just being here and doing nothing." said Zide.

"Heck Yeah." agreed Z'jo.

* * * * * *

A few minutes later they had boarded the Shadow of Intent and were now headed to the planet that was under attack. Rtas Vadam was quite happy to go to another battle since he was board being at the Crow's Nest. They had entered slipspace a few minutes earlier and were now exiting it. Zen placed his helmet and sealed with a hiss as it pressurized itself.

He stepped out of the armory, but not before grabbing a battle rifle first, a pistol and a couple of grenades in which he clipped to his belt. Outside was Stahn whom was wearing his Yellow Creator armor. He actually requested this to Zen whom was just happy to oblige. Now there was 1 Spartan and 2 Creator Armor wearing soldiers, one blue other yellow.

"Zen this is so awesome!" said Stahn with excitement.

"Glad you like It." replied Zen. Then the 2 headed down towards the docking bay. When they arrived they saw, Thel, Z'jo, Zide, Nira, Rtas and the Master Chief waiting for them.

"Wow, it suits you Stahn." said Zide admiring his Creator Armor.

"Thanks." replied Stahn. Then they saw Sergeant Johnson approaching them.

"Ok, marines-"he looked at the Sangheilis-"and Sangheilis. We are about to be dropped into the outskirts of the Loyalist camp, which was actually a refugee camp. You know what that means right, there are going to be civilians in the area so watch your fire."

"Sure thing, Johnson." replied Thel.

"We will rescue these innocent civilians from their captors." said Rtas

A few moments later they were being beamed down a gravity lift. The landscape on where they are now was quite different from the lush landscape of Africa. They were in a desert. A barren desert; which was filled with craters,

'Probably from the attacks it sustained during the Human-Covenant War.' thought Zen to himself.

Beyond the desert was the city of Zanastra, a colony of the humans, which was now a barren wasteland. The buildings were destroyed beyond recognition. But within that city was a refugee camp which housed civilians of the war. Even the civilians of High Charity, the ones who managed to escape, fled to the camp. Zen could see from the distance that there was a Loyalist ship that was moored above the city.

Once they were down, their vehicles were the next to go down. A few moments later 4 warthogs were in front of them and Zen's motorcycle. The 2 warthogs were filled with Marines and Elites. The group boarded their respective vehicles, Zen with his motorcycle; Z'jo being driver of the warthog; Zide shotgun and Nira on the turret. The other warthog was boarded by Johnson being driver, Rtas in shotgun and the Master Chief taking the turret.

"All right team, Move out!" shouted Johnson on the Comlink.

"Ok, I'm putting Zen on point, Cortana can you give him a NAV point on where the camp is." ordered the Master Chief.

A few moments later a NAV point appeared on Zen's HUD as he started the motorcycle. It said their destination was a few miles away, so he turned to his panel and pressed a song to play on his motorcycle. It showed 'Now Playing: I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas.' Again his comrades gave him weird looks for his choice of music. But the title spoke for itself for him; he had a feeling that something was going to happen that will change him forever.

"Move Out!" said Zen as he cranked the accelerator leaving a dust of smoke behind him.

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