A/N: Wow…two reviews (one by E-Mail)…it's better than nothing, I guess. Here's a response to one of my readers:

Agent Squishy: First, it's spelled Pillar of Autumn. Secondly, if you've ever read The Spartan Chronicles (which is being rewritten) Mike and Trey are Spartans that escaped Reach. They're integral to the story line.

Madman Mac: I appreciate your comment and I'll keep em in mind, 'mano.

Warning: Minor mush scene here. If you don't like the romantic stuff…well, TS.

The Marines of Charlie Company

Chapter Four:

Getting Ready to Roll

David awoke around an hour later, sweating profusely and utterly confused and befuddled. What was that dream about? It still scared him, the eerily grave voice still repeating that same phrase in his mind over and over, but now slowly fading. He still had that wary feeling about the ringworld, and it grew stronger as the voice grew weaker…something was going to happen…and it was going to happen soon, with massive repercussions. However, he had other things to deal with at the moment, which included a suicide mission on a Covenant battleship.

He stretched lazily and yawned, twisting and popping his back, scratching his chin…the normal routine for a person that just woke up. A pair of medics checked him over carefully before releasing him from sick bay to go about his business. David marched down the narrow, turquoise corridors and eyed the Grunts and other Covenant there that were scrubbing the walls and floor. Some gave him odd looks, while others continued about his business. One Elite recognized him and called out, "Human! You were the one Kizkip wounded upon the vessel, correct?"

Kizkip? That must've been the name of the Grunt that shot him in the chest. How did this Elite know about it? 'Well, they must be able to talk about victories after all,' thought Carson, 'like us.' "Yeah, what of it?"

The Elite nodded and clicked his lower mandibles as a sign of a chuckle. "So, you are the one after all…well, Human, I should hope you survive."

Now puzzled even further, he Carson wandered down the corridors and into the armory, where he met many of the men that were riding in the Pelican with him. Their faces brightened considerably when they saw him enter. "Hey, Sahge! 'e's alive!" said an Australian Marine as he glanced at the door.

Several people smiled and stood, slapping the young Marine on the back, laughing, talking and joking with him now. Then, however, a silent hush fell over the room as a trio of armor-plated behemoths entered the room and everyone sank back a little. One of them was in jet-black armor, which was missing paint in some places and the titanium could be seen underneath in patches. The second was in royal blue armor in around the same condition, if not somewhat better, than the first one's and they both had the bright yellow Sergeant symbol emblazoned in their bicep plates. Then, in the center of them, was the most famous Spartan of them all: Master Chief.

The Sergeant Bradley, the man that commented to Carson in the Pelican, stood up and snapped to attention, followed by the other Marines. "Are all of you ready?" asked the Master Chief as he looked them over, stopping on David.

"Yes sir, every one of us. Don't worry about the Corporal over there, he's fine. Marines! Move out!"

The exited the room in single file, the Spartans last, and headed down to the hangar bay, Marines and Medics wishing them luck along the way. When they arrived at the hangar, which had a spectacular view of the hills surrounding Alpha Base, they found Sally waiting for them. She was bleary eyed and had a worried expression chiseled on her face. Obviously, she'd been worried about David when he was in the mini-coma, but now she was sick with it. He told the other Marines to go ahead to the Pelican and that he'd catch up. "Sally," he began while walking toward her, "is something wrong? You don't look too good."

"David," she managed to choke out through the lump in her throat, "promise me you'll come back. In one piece."

Smiling, he hugged the young woman, let go and headed toward the Pelican, setting a hand on the ramp and launching himself in. Then, David looked back at her, winked and gave a thumbs' up. "You have yourself a promise.:

He could see the young lady smiling as the Pelican rose and shot off of the platforms and out over the rolling green hills. The Sergeant was giving a briefing, but Carson already knew the gist of the mission due to the Lt's explanation of the situation. He stood and headed over to the back of the Pelican, leaning against the bulkhead and closing his eyes, praying silently that no more dreams would come to plague him like those that had before.

As he drifted off to sleep, darkness came…followed by an intense bright light, identical to the one that occurred earlier. There in front of him again were three tall beings, cloaked in robes of vibrant colors and jems. "Who are you? Why do you keep coming to me like this?"

The middle figure took two steps forward and reached a hand toward David. "This is the only form we can communicate with you in, David Carson. We are the Forerunner, creators of these mighty rings that you now reside on. As for our history, that is for another time, but know this; you are all in great danger. And not just from the Covenant. The Flood lurk below the surface of Halo and must not be released. If they are, we fear it may be the end of all sentient life in the universe. The Reclaimer will not be able to stop the Flood on his own, David Carson."

They conversed for what seemed like an eternity before Carson awoke. He was resting in a bit of an awkward position and his neck was slightly sore. Night had fallen around the rocky wasteland that the Pelican was flying over and the engines made relatively no noise. He managed to hear the end of a sentence Cortana was saying how they were to get aboard the Covenant ship.

"Well how are we supposed to board this thing if it's in the air? The Corps issued me a rifle, not wings!" one Marine commented.

David sat up from where he was and looked at his fellow soldier. "There's a gravity lift that transports troops and supplies to the surface. That's our ticket in."

A/N: BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! FINISHED! Remember, as always, read and review!