Ekree Molsafee clicked his mandibles in disgust as he viewed the scene unfolding in front of him. Elite after Elite had been thrown at the small group making their way across the bridge toward his platoon's position. Only moments earlier Ekree had been completely confident, until word reached him of the demon's involvement with the other soldiers.

The demon wasn't supposed to be here. None of these human vermin were. He nodded to Efna Soldamee, his second in command, giving the tank commander the go ahead. Mortars began lobbing uphill toward the advancing humans.

"Such is the weakness of these infernal contraptions." Ekree had never liked the Wraith's designs, especially its armament. Time and time again it's slow-moving plasma was being proven useless against the human's tanks when it came to distance. If it were not for the range of the human's tanks and the demons, the humans would be crushed on all fronts. "Send in more Ghosts to keep the humans occupied until they get in range. And get those Banshees in the air!"

Two ghosts' engines roared to life as the craft quickly began ascending toward the oncoming humans. The Banshees had began their ascent as well when a shell from the human's tank struck one on the nose, obliterating it. The second one began streaking toward the humans, but was quickly turned into flames as the Scorpion's secondary gun tore into it. "Curse the demon! Today is his day to die!" Ekree could wait no longer. His massive form boarded a Ghost of his own and sped toward the oncoming force, leaving the Wraith's to continue their barrage.

Ekree Molsafee was honored among Elites, even the field commanders over him. The Sangheili's form was large, besting most others by 300 lbs and two feet. Ekree had made up his mind long ago that he would be the one to stop the demon from killing his race, and a smile grew upon his face as he relished this chance.

The two Ghosts before Ekree's had raced up the left side of the bridge, and were currently taking fire, so the elite took the opportunity to sneak up the right. A toppled bus provided a barrier to keep the humans from seeing the warrior until he would be close. "You have killed enough of my race accursed one. You will die by my hands."

Ekree ejected from his Ghost without slowing, flying through the air and landing on the top of the Scorpion as the Ghost snagged the tank's rear treads, throwing it into a spin. The strong creature began pounding at the tank's hatch, each contact of Ekree's hand leaving a larger and larger indention. When the lid finally folded, the powerful elite ripped it from its hinges and grabbed the Master Chief's armor as the Spartan was about to draw his gun, lifting him from his seat and tossing the armored solder onto the bridge's surface.

The massive elite dropped to the ground, satisfied in knowing he had caught the Spartan off guard. The demon had regained its stance, and now it was time to fight. Ekree wondered why the other soldiers were paying him no attention.

Would they not interfere with his battle? Perhaps there was some honor among their wretched race after all.

Whatever the reason, it didn't seem they would be a factor. The Elite bolted toward the super-soldier, knocking the Spartan's gun away. Ekree was stunned, however, when his follow-up blow missed.

Could it be that humans possess this kind of speed?

Even other Elites had fallen to this form of attack, yet the demon seemed very prepared for it.

The stunned elite's shields flashed, but held, as they received the blow to Ekree's midsection. The Spartan's attack would have been a deadly one without the extra protection. The massive elite was knocked back, but maintained his balance. Ekree's next charge came even faster than his bulk suggested he was capable of. The elite's shoulder smashed into the Spartan's shields and faded them, sending the soldier into the bridge's retaining wall.

Again the alien's second blow missed, smashing into the wall and causing concrete to turn to dust. "Stand still vile creature and I shall make your death swift!" Again the Spartan didn't reply, but instead landed a kick to Ekree's left leg, causing his shield to fade, but didn't cause him any harm.

The Spartan followed up this time with a quick hit to the elite's face that fazed him slightly. The Spartan tried to get in another hit, but Ekree intercepted, gripping the soldier's hand tightly. Ekree then rotated his body slightly, sending Master Chief into a short flight before crashing onto the bridge.

"You just messed with the wrong guy." Blurted out a female voice from the Spartan's armor.

"A female?" Ekree started to laugh, but thought better of it. He wasn't going to waste any more time fighting a female.

"Well that pissed him off. You like seeing me get hurt don't you?" Master Chief asked Cortana, slightly annoyed.

"I figured it was time for you guys to stop the tango and get serious. Or did you forget about the Scarab? Hurry up and get rid of big, dumb and ugly so we can get back to the mission."

John stared out the reticule embedded in his visor. The elite was big. One of the larger ones the Spartan had encountered and was immensely strong. Cortana was right though. Too much time was being wasted here and not being focused on the Scarab. "Let's do this." The Spartan broke into a sprint, hurtling toward the immovable elite.

Ekree was somewhat confused. He had now heard both a woman and man's voice coming from the demon.

Truly this race was an affront to the gods. What race sends their women to fight?

"No matter." Ekree primed a plasma grenade and tossed it in the Spartan's direction. With blinding speed, the super soldier picked up a dislocated car door and held it in front of him. The grenade struck the door and fused itself to the blue-rusted metal. The Master Chief tossed the door over the side of the bridge, allowing it to explode harmlessly.

The move caught Ekree off guard and he wasn't able to react to the Spartan slamming into him. His shields instantly drained from the force of the soldier's half-ton Mjolnir armor. Ekree brought his fist up, preparing to strike the demon's back when sharp pains began coursing from his abdomen.

The demon had drawn its weapon, which was now pumping projectiles into the elite's stomach. Strength was quickly leaving Ekree's body as he brought his fist down, not having the force to even cause the Spartan's shields to flare.

"Curse you demon. You will fall to my brothers." The light faded for the massive elite, and he crumpled to the ground in a heap before the Spartan.

"Not very classy, but it gets the job done."

The Chief didn't answer.

Private Thompson was barely left unscathed. The out of control ghost had missed him by inches, slamming into the wall behind him. The ghost then activated its self-destruct mechanism and flung itself into the air. It threatened to come down on top of him, but Thompson performed a roll at the last second as the ghost slammed into the bridge beside him. Its once colorful controls now dark and smoking as Thompson turned on his back and gave a long exhale.

Josh reached out and offered his blood and dirt-covered hand to Thompson who clasped it and was promptly pulled to his feet.

"Well, that was interesting, let's never do it again." Amy mused as the Spartan rejoined the group.

"There are some reinforcements coming in warthogs from the east, we will need to meet up with them in the tunnels, but first we need to do something about those wraiths." Amy thought the Chief's AI sounded as though it already had a plan.

"So what is the plan Chief?" Josh said with a half-smirk, all the while loading more rounds into a Jackhammer.

"I am not the Chief, but the plan is simple, you guys cover our asses, and the Chief and I will blow the tanks." It started seeming to Amy as though the Chief couldn't or wouldn't answer for himself.

Maybe he is just a man of few words. The silent type.

Amy discarded her sniper rifle and picked up a couple of plasma rifles the fallen Elites had left scattered about. "Charge is almost full on both of these." Amy stated loudly to Josh, who had his attention on a couple of Ghosts, seeing if they were still drivable.

"Damn, you girls don't leave a guy much to work with." Josh surveyed the craft, which were riddled with holes and had sparks arcing out of various gashes in the vehicles' armor.

"You're a sorry excuse for a driver anyway." Thompson had regained his posture, although the Marine had developed a slight limp from all the gymnastics he had just finished performing.

"Thompson, ride caboose on the Scorpion so we don't have to keep waiting on your ass." Josh smirked, enjoying a little payback for Thompson's comment.

The chatter was quickly cut short as the Scorpion sent a round hurtling down the bridge's slope. The shell impacted to the right of the Wraith's cockpit, exploding it and burning its occupants alive. The first tank fell silent as the second Wraith continued to lob balls of super-heated plasma fruitlessly up the bridge. A second salvo from the human's tank impacted its main cannon, causing a massive explosion that consumed all the Covenant soldiers around it, including Efna Soldamee.

Suddenly there was peace on the bridge. The only sounds were the solemn hum of the Scorpion's engine and burning cars giving into their weight, crumpling in on themselves. The Scorpion once again continued forward, this time unchallenged.

An odd feeling came over Amy as they crept upon the now defunct Wraiths. The team was sweeping the area when Corporal Wilkes came upon the charred remains of Efna Soldamee. Efna had been a soldier, but he was also a devoted partner to his mate and father to his offspring.

As Amy looked down she could see what appeared to be a picture in a frame, but the image was moving. It was some form of playback device that showed Efna playing with his family, surely enjoying times that were not marred by war. The device flickered from damage suffered in its fall. It seemed its sole purpose to stay on was for Amy's viewing purposes.

Were there two races so different?

This was a side of the Covenant, or perhaps more specifically, the Sangheili race that Amy had never seen. She almost started becoming captivated by the images of a father playing some alien version of soccer with his children. Suddenly Amy felt something returning inside her that had been gone momentarily while staring at the images. Hate. She didn't care if they played and loved like humans do.

They attacked us.

With that thought Amy brought her boot down on the device, smashing the screen and causing it to shatter so finely that the shards became invisible against the concrete below.

Decrypting transmission…Please wait

Decryption Complete…Opening contents

Received: from unknown (22.1823.87.212) by MailerX-daemon 64287

Fri, 20 Oct 2552 17:38:31 -0400

Message-ID: 0b04201c6c881$5e64abtge42c0$6c00000amaster6438

From: Unknown

To: Unknown

Subject: 1st Harvest Crop

Date: Fri, 20 Oct 2552 17:38:31 -0400

X-Priority: Epsilon

Greetings Colonel,

The first gathering is complete. Subjects are now being wiped and prepped for Alpha transplant surgery. Colonel I must admit that these are not the best subjects, but under the conditions we have gathered what we could. Due to the nature of this project and the enhancements given shortcomings should be overridden, but I am concerned about the psychological stability of the transfer. Should we have a mental episode with one of the transplants within the cycle it may take all the other subjects to stop it. Should we have more than one… I don't see normal military force being a method of control. We should rethink any possible failsafe measures before attempting to bring any of them online.

…End Transmission

…File deleted OK

The tunnel had been pretty uneventful. Amy was cautious with each step, but there had only been a few stragglers to mop up here and there. Some grunts sprang from behind an overturned car to the right and started to run away, but were quickly mowed down by the Scorpion's secondary gun.

While rounding a curve a path appeared to Amy's right. It was large enough to fit a small vehicle, and had a ledge that overlooked their position. Amy could hear the distinct sound of a Warthog's engine whining, creating a resounding echo throughout the cavernous tunnel. Soon headlights began to flood the dim space as the Warthog appeared with a full load of Marines. Soon several more Marines came walking in a patrol formation from behind the Warthog. It felt good to Amy to have a larger force again.

They began to cheer as they saw Amy's small platoon and the Scorpion. The Marines knew from intel reports that the bridge was heavily defended and hadn't held much hope for the ragtag team to make it across.

The celebration was cut short, however, as a report from a beam rifle cut through the air, exploding the Warthog's gunner's head, his unclasped helmet landing a couple of yards from Amy's feet. Another Marine fell as they took cover.

"Somebody get that damned sniper!" Amy suddenly regretted leaving her sniper rifle behind, as it would have proved invaluable in this situation.

Before Amy could ponder on it for another moment, the Spartan exploded from the Scorpion's cockpit and sprinted full speed to the far wall the Jackals were perched upon. His speed was incredible. Amy deduced that he could possibly even keep up with a Warthog. Amy left her makeshift cover of car wreckage and ran to join Josh and Thompson behind the Scorpion.

A sudden ear-piercing shriek was emitted from the sniper's position as Amy could see the Jackal's lifeless body being thrown to the ground below by the Chief. It made Amy almost yearn to have his abilities, were it not for rumored horror stories of the soldier's augmentation process. The rumor also said that a lot of them didn't even survive it, and some that did were severely deformed.

"Alright team, the Chief took care of the sniper, lets finish clearing this tunnel!" With that Amy's team broke from their cover as the remaining Marines powered up their Warthog. The two groups then met up with the Spartan at the base of a partially sealed tunnel.

Amy noticed one of the Marines going up to the Chief and offering him her shotgun, to which he accepted, handing her his pistol in return. Seemed like a bum deal to Amy, but if things were about to get close they needed the Spartan to deal with the Elites.

Amy took a moment to check the plasma rifles' meters and they were about one-third empty. She was about to catch up with the others when she noticed an assault rifle that had skidded down the wall where the Marines had been hit.

Amy hated to take anything from a dead soldier, but she had never cared for the Covenant's weapons.

"Alright everyone, let's hit it." The female in the Spartan had returned, and presumably took back command over the situation.

It could get bloody up there

It seemed there was only one pathway going into the other side and if the Covenant were on the other side waiting for them, even with the Spartan, they would be in trouble.

The small group of tattered Marines made their way up the walkway's embankment to the opening. The Chief had taken point. Amy followed behind the Spartan closely, her eyes constantly scanning for threats. Hopefully, the Chief's shields would be her shields if the Covenant were to open up on them. The Spartan suddenly dropped to one knee and held up a fist. The rest of the group kneeled as the Spartan and Amy dropped to their bellies and slowly eased across the ledge overlooking the tunnel's pathway.

She could see Jackals and Grunts scurrying about, but the Elites didn't seem to be there. This worried Amy. She had seen the Elite's cloaking technology before and hoped they weren't just hiding out. A Jackal began shrieking as it raised its beam rifle. Apparently its keen vision had made the bird-like creature aware of Amy's team.

Plasma fire erupted and began arcing in Amy's direction. One shot hitting the Spartan, causing the Mjolnir's shields to flash. Amy zoomed in to four-times magnification on her battle rifle and released three successive rounds. The shots were on target, and the Jackal fell to the ground.

"Josh, Thompson, get some grenades in there now!" Amy's requests were answered as two grenades were tossed. One landed near a small group of grunts, shredding their bodies. The other grenade went farther to the opposite wall and detonated. A flash caught Amy's eye as some of the grenade's shrapnel seemed to impact thin air. The Elite's cloak evaporated as the beast roared in pain and anger.

"They're cloaked!" Amy yelled, however her announcement was overshadowed by the screams of a young Marine, who was suddenly lifted into the air by a force unseen. His body began to twitch as multiple needler rounds were pumped into his back. Even though the Marine had expired, the Elite continued its barrage. The Sangheili stopped suddenly as the other Marines turned to face it.

With a bellowing laugh the Elite tossed the young man's lifeless body amongst them. The surrounding Marines watched as the needler crystals embedded in their fallen comrade's back reached critical mass and exploded. Three of the Marines were killed, while the girl whom had gotten the Spartan's pistol had her left leg torn off below the knee.

"Concentrate on the Elite in the tunnel." The Spartan spoke to Amy as if he had not just witnessed the terrible scene. The Spartan jumped to his feet and began sprinting at the now visible elite. The creature roared to accept the Spartan's challenge, but was not ready for John's strength as he slammed into it, releasing a round from the shotgun. The Elite was knocked off the walkway and into the main tunnel.

The two remaining Marines ran to overlook the creature, and began unloading their assault rifles into it. What remained of the Sangheili's shields flickered and faded, and the creature quickly succumbed to the Marines' fire.

The Marines tended to the female as Amy kept pumping rounds in the Elite's direction. A large shipping crate was giving the Covenant warrior sufficient cover, so Amy decided to hold off until it decided to poke its head out.

Reports from Josh and Thompson's rifles were ringing in Amy's ears as more Jackals and Grunts fell. Any Jackals that tried to use their shields to block the bullets were met with grenades at their feet.

Things were quieting down as Amy stayed focused through her scope at the position she felt sure the Elite's head would appear. Suddenly a horrible thought registered in her mind.

He is cloaked again. Dammit how could I have been so…

No sooner had the thought's echo started to subside that she dropped her scope to give herself a wider view. A feeling of instant horror came over her as the glowing orb of an inbound plasma grenade shone brightly in her face. She would have no time to move.

Suddenly the view of her impending death was obstructed as Private Thompson reached out and snagged it. Thompson knew he didn't have much time as the grenade began to fuse itself to him. He jumped to the floor and tucked into a roll as he landed to keep his momentum going. "You're going with me you split lip son-of-a-bitch!"

The grenade illuminated the area around Thompson as it reached maximum charge. Its bright rays bended through the Elite's active camouflage, giving its position away to the Private as he lunged forward in its direction. Private Thompson's body exploded in a fury of liquid and fragments of bone and skin as the Sangheili was blown backwards. The grenade's concussion depleted the warrior's shield and caved its chest in.

Amy could barely see the Elite as she neared it. Tears flowed from her eyes at the thought of Thompson's sacrifice. Thompson had truly given the ultimate of himself and redeemed any sins he had previously committed in Amy's eyes.

I knew it was cloaked. How could I have been so stupid? If I hadn't of been so stupid. Thompson would still be alive.

Amy wiped her eyes as she came upon the fallen Sangheili. Its chest strained to rise and fall as the creature attempted to breathe. A strained gurgling sound was all that came from the Elite's mouth. Amy slowly brought her rifle to bear as she continued to fight more tears. Standing at pointblank range, Corporal Wilkes squeezed the trigger.