Halo: The Path of Reclamation

by soulguard

Book 3: The Human Covenant war has shifted and time is more crucial then ever, as Earth is completely under the rule of the fierce Brute campaign. Can the last human efforts stop Truth's war machine? The final chapter of the Halo Side Trilogy has begun

25. To whom it may concern

\-\-\-\-\-Halo 3 Spoiler Warning -/-/-/-/-/
The contents of this final level contain potential spoilers for those who have not finished playing Halo 3. The events of the Master Chief are not documented in this level, but his possible fate is revealed. Be warned.

Pull up a chair, relax, and enjoy.

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Level 25: "To Whom it may concern…"

Newport News, Virginia
UNSC Special Weapons Dept. // ONI Research and Development Center
March 2, 2553

"I am proposing a department pay raise to fund he rebuilding efforts here in Newport News. As usual the halls are quiet, nothing exciting is happening and no machines are working. Weapons development is not a priority at the moment as mostly everyone is lending their hands to rebuilding the fractured world that we call Earth. But the reason it is so slow right now is because people are not being encouraged to work, to get back to a normal sense of life. The planet, our home, this Earth has been battered by war and sadly only finances can encourage people to work, and to spend.

"Earth; even the name is plain. It's a rock, dirt with a little water on it. It is the ground under our feet. But nearly half the population of Earth died to defend it. What have we been reduced to after the war against the Covenant? A more civil race? A more peaceful species?

"None of these things can be answered in such a short time of healing. But in time humanity will rise again and reclaim what was once ours. The Path of Reclamation, the sworn duty of the Reclaimers, was to defend this world and her territories and reacquire our lost inheritance. It was a doorway to the Ark. Physically, this is what the Path of Reclamation wanted from us; humans. The Path of Reclamation wanted us to travel to Installation 00, learn of our heritage, and defend the universe from the Ark. This was the Path… many followed the Path… but our goal was drastically different then what the Forerunners had intended. We sought the Path, we walked the Path, be we did not claim our inheritance. We chose not to."

The chatter beside the desk began to ring and Rose leaned forward to answer it. "Doctor Santos." She replied as she saved her document.

"Hey, the shuttle is here… if you're ready." The female voice stated.

"I'll be right out, Anne." Rose closed the chatter and looked to the words she had written on the screen. Her work document for a budget increase had once again been filled with her emotional outbursts. She couldn't focus on work, or writing reports, as every inch of her wanted more answers.

She stood from the table and exhaled, placing her hand to her swollen stomach. "If you get any bigger I swear I'll have you early." She giggled as she playfully rubbed her unborn child. Rose closed the display and began to walk out of her office. Outside stood two military men, in formal dress, and Anne, Doctor Halsey's former scientific aid. Anne smiled as Rose walked toward her and gave her a small hug.

Rose questioned, "What was that for?"

Anne lowered her head, "Today… is officially the end. I thought that maybe you were… bothered by that."

Rose smiled and rubbed Anne's young cheek. Anne and Rose had formed a strong bond during the ordeal following the Gatekeeper incident, and they remained in close contact over the past few months since.

"Excuse me ladies," The shuttle pilot smiled as he opened the door. "We should go. We should arrive at the Memorial just in time for the public opening."

They stepped into the Pelican shaped vessel and the pilot walked down the isle to assure that all ten of the passengers were in their seatbelts. It was going to be a long flight to Africa. Rose leaned back and closed her eyes.

"Did you get your checkup yesterday?" Anne asked as she gently rubbed Rose's pregnant belly.

"Yes, I did." Rose laughed. "It's going to be a boy. So far he's healthy… me on the other hand, I've never been so tired. All the time … I'm tired. And the cravings won't stop. I haven't eaten this much since my Lacrosse days in college. But at least then I was working out five days a week."

Anne giggled. "Baby's are parasites, eating away at your own health to make sure they survive." The two women laughed. "Hard to believe it's only four months. You're huge!"

"My Doctor swears off that's it's the Reclaimer DNA and all that rubbish. It's like a new trend nowadays. Reclaimer this and Forerunner that."

Anne laughed out, "Well, when you considering who the father is." She gasped softly after the statement. She didn't mean to cross that topic.

Rose turned her head and looked out the window as the shuttle floated miles into the air. "Yeah… the father."

- - - - - - - -

The sun sat on the edge of the world as the gate was opened for the public to enter the memorial. A phantom streaked away from the hillside, making a course for the Elite ship which sat high in the air. Most likely the Arbiter had attended the earlier commissioning of the monument. The ship had been there for nearly two weeks; monitoring the world for Flood activity. Rose wished that she could have met with the Arbiter before he had left. The Arbiter had made a quick visit with the Elite Queen before the Seed Ship left the system. Rose wanted to know what the elites were going to do with the newly freed grunts and what their plans were now that the war was over. She had so many questions for the elites, but Lord Hood made it clear that humans and elites were to stay as far away from each other as possible. There was still a great deal of resentment against the elites despite all that they had done in the last few months of the war.

Rose and the crowd of hundreds of hand selected civilians were invited to be the first to stand on the Memorial grounds after the official military unveiling. It was a barren hill, with the wing of a Longsword fighter protruding from the ground. Upon it were pictures and flowers and medals of honors for those who had fought and died to defend the world. Rose walked toward the stage and read the inscription beneath the UNSC brand:

IN MEMORY OF THOSE FALLEN
IN THE DEFENSE OF EARTH
AND HER COLONIES
MARCH 3, 2553

Also inscribed were the numbers '1 1 7', in tribute to the Spartan hero that never returned. The stage emptied as more pictures were added and family members wept, but Rose remained on the stage even when the flood lights were turned on to illuminate the historic mound. The sun set behind the hills to the west of her gaze, and Rose folded her arms across her chest. A few others remained on the mound, families of warriors who died during that eventful last assault by the Covenant and the Brutes. But soon, only three remained.

Anne stood in the field and waited as Rose continued to gaze upon the pictures and names upon the mound. An older man approached her and he quietly stood at her side.

Lord Hood removed his hat and patiently waited for Rose to turn. But she simply spoke, "Why are their pictures not here?" She stated with a sniffle.

"According to record, they did not exist." Hood sorrowfully replied. "Roselyn, the stage crew is waiting. They want to disassemble the stage. I told them to give you time."

"Thank you." Rose sighed. She turned and finally faced Hood. He smiled as she looked up to him. "I won't rest until the Black Ops are recognized for their deeds."

Hood pulled on his hat. "Fifty years." He stated directly. "In fifty years all Black Ops classifications will be lifted. It's a rolling cycle. Then, and only then, will any of their Pictures be hung on this monument." Hood turned and began to walk of the stage. "But for you… I'll try to make it ten."

Rose wasn't particularly happy about that answer. "After all this, after all they did to help this world fight… no one will know their story. What they did, how they suffered. How can you let that happen?"

Hood paused on the first step and then turned to look at Rose. "Roselyn, look again at the names and pictures on that monument. Do you think the Master Chief was the only Spartan we had in this war? You personally met Senior Chief Spartan 087 herself, along with another handful of Spartan's in the Master Chief's team. Where are their pictures, Roselyn? What about the hundreds of Spartan IIIs that died off world attacking Covenant deep space factories or fortress worlds? Where are their pictures?" Hood sighed as he lowered his head. "You aren't the only one that is angry, ma'am." Hood stepped back onto the stage and with a fatherly embrace, he hugged Rose without hesitation.

Anne stood alone at the base of the stage and listened as Rose's steel wall collapsed. She began to cry outright in Lord Hood's arms.

After a few moments Hood gave Rose a handkerchief and Rose dried her eyes. "This is the way things must be, Roselyn. The world wants heroes, but we both know that those heroes were made using inhuman methods. The backlash for those inhuman creations would outshine their deeds, and stain them. But we will not forget them. None of those that fought to save our world will ever be forgotten." Hood looked to the monument one last time as Rose sobbed in his arms. "I won't let anyone ever forget their deeds."

- - - - - - - -

4 Months Earlier…

Sangheili Flagship: The Key of Deliverance
Earth Orbit
High Charity Atmosphere entry in T-minus 4 hours

The landing deck of the Sangheili flagship bustled with activity. Spec Ops elites lined the deck as their Queen paced before them. At her side marched Commander Yalsmadee. Everyone's attention turned as another phantom entered the bay. Two figures dropped from the gravity lift at its center; a human and another elite.

Queen Vasmeola approached the elite as the warrior knelt before her. The human dressed in all black battle armor did the same. "Rise, Lieutenant." She stated with a smile. "It has been some time, Simyald."

Simyaldee stood and the human at side did the same. "Yes, my queen. Too much time." Simyaldee instantly recognized that now was not a good time to be sentimental. "My Queen this is Lieutenant Eric Raynord of the Black Ops." Eric stepped forward and bowed. He had never seen an elite female, and never knew that the Elites had such a structure within their civilization. She was tall, not as tall as the Males, but she carried her size well. Her structure was less lean, and less muscular, but her structure still displayed great power. She wore armor, yet it was unique. Eric could only summarize that her armor was custom to a female of her status. Her cloak rested in her left arm, almost in a Roman official's stance.

Vasmeola stepped forward and looked into his silver reflective mask. "Is this the Honorable one?"

"Yes." Simyaldee stated.

"A human that completed the 'Trials of the Prospects'. Such a thing would never be allowed under the old rules of the council. It truly is an honor to meet you."

Eric seemed emotionless behind his helmet, he shared no kindred with the elites, but he understood that his deeds earned him a great deal of respect. "Thank you." He stated exactly.

Simyaldee stepped forward, "Requesting permission to lead your assault?"

Vasmeola nodded as she tossed back her cloak and walked closer to Simyaldee. "Granted. You will be leading Commander Yalsmad and his units…"

"Yalsmad?" Simyaldee questioned. His words had escaped before he realized how loud he had said it.

Vasmeola pointed to the relatively young warrior while she looked at Simyaldee through the corner of her eyes. She continued, "his units of two hundreds Special Operations warriors. My ships will stay at a minimum safe distance while you all engage. At any time you may contact me and tell me to attack. With the combined power of the human ships, we can do a great deal of damage, but we can not destroy High Charity as it is far too large for such few ships. Also, if we begin to fire, your chances of survival will be few."

Simyaldee placed his right hand to his chest with a clinched fist. "The mission is of more importance then our lives." With that, every elite on the landing bay did the same. A thunderous rumble followed as hundreds of fists tapped their chests.

"Commander," Simyaldee added, "begin loading your units."

Yalsmadee nodded. "Yes sir." He then trotted toward his troops.

Eric commented. "Doesn't he outrank you?"

"Yes, but I am the most experienced and the eldest warrior amongst them. In these situations, rank does not matter."

As the crowd thinned Vasmeola waved off her honor guards and stepped closer to Simyaldee. Simyaldee stepped closer as well. Eric, feeling that he was not invited, turned and walked back toward the phantom.

Vasmeola lowered her stance and softly rested her head under Simyaldee's outstretched neck; a sign of submission. "When you return, will you lower your blades and lead the eldest house by my side?" She questioned.

Simyaldee's eyes gazed around the deck. Only a few eyes noticed him embracing the Queen, and those that didn't notice seemed to ignore it. "I never dreamed to see you again… though I had hoped." He mumbled. "It is my honor to take the head of my house, but that child… is he… really of the House of Yal?"

"He carries the name given to him by the elder female of your house." Vasmeola stated.

"My mother lives?" Simyaldee questioned in shock.

"Your past has returned to you, my love." She smiled. "Together, we will rebuild everything that we have lost." Simyaldee turned and watched as the last of the phantoms exited the deck into the coldness of space, yet two remained. Standing in front of one was the young warrior dubbed Commander. His eyes glared back at Simyaldee with a blank gaze.

Simyaldee grabbed Vasmeola and held her at arms distance. "If he carries my name, and my mother acknowledged it, then…"

"Yes. He is your son. He was my first born child of ten."

"You granted honor to other males?" Simyaldee questioned.

"Yes. We needed numbers and therefore I urged every female to bare children for the sake of the future; though only two of my young have survived the battles thus far. I offer you and you alone a place at my side."

Simyaldee smiled at the honor, to be the head of his family's house, and to have the Queen within his family was an honor higher then any. Though Vasmeola was far from being the eldest female, the House of Vas was the oldest. But certain things would need to wait. Battle loomed.

Simyaldee knelt to one knee. "We shall discuss this… if I return from battle." He stood and turned from her and then began to trot to the Phantom. He opened his COM. "Honored one, I shall lead the forward phantom of the Commander's Spec Ops units. Rally your human teams and follow us in."

"Copy that, Lieutenant." Eric replied.

Siren added, "Simyaldee, I recommend we breach the ship from the lower access terminals near High Charity's main access bay. It will allow us to get deeper in the ship with the phantoms."

"Agreed." Simyaldee stated. He leapt into the gravity lift and was greeted by the eyes of his son. "Commander Yalsmad. Make the units ready." He stated formally.

"As you wish." Yalsmadee turned to the pilot. "Contact all phantoms set coordinates to High Charity."

Eric climbed into the Phantom that he and Simyaldee had arrived into and floated within. Palab greeted him. "Where Second?"

"He's leading the Commander's troops. We'll meet with him on High Charity." Eric leaned closer to the Elite pilot.

Siren voiced through Eric's COM. "Fall in line with the Elites. I'll contact our support Pelican's."

Outside the dock of the Key of Deliverance floated nearly fifteen phantoms and eight human piloted pelicans and a dozen Longsword interceptors. Siren opened her Radio. "All units, I am uploading approach vectors. Longswords will speed ahead and clear a path through the outer hull of target Zones One through Five. We will have five separate landing teams at missions start. Once we land I will find Cortana and relay rally points to you all. See you on the inside."

Eric took control of the Radio. "ODST, standard deployment. Quick drop and clear the LZ. When you get inside you will be met with hostile forces instantly. Lay into the line with the flame throwers. Do not let your guard down at any moment. All teams, maintain complete pocket protection until your zone is secure."

Ahead of the charging forces was the greenish tint of the Flood infested city. High Charity bowled ahead like an unyielding planetoid, leaving particles of Flood spores to be destroyed in the depths of space. Considering that this was a full deployment into combat, Eric was a bit surprised at how quiet the COM channels were. There were only a few gasps and outcries on the line but he ignored them. They were all heading into the very heart of hell and only a handful of the troops in the assault would survive past landfall.

"19." Siren stated. "Once we touch down, we can't stop. If anyone slows down for a moment too long…"

"I know." Eric replied. Eric switched his COM. "Simyaldee, make sure your troops are wearing space gear or anything that will help them not breath in the spores."

Simyaldee replied back. "All of the troops are wearing infiltration armor, honorable one. They are prepared.

Eric looked at Palab, Migpap and the rest of the Mirratord grunts. "Sergeant, can those masks protect against the spores?"

"Me grunts use complete seal on rebreather." Palab added. "Me grunts ready for parasite's environment." Palab continued to pass out flame grenades and needler rounds to his team.

Eric nodded and watched as the Longswords made their attack run. His COM opened. "This is strike one, moving in to Zone One."

"Strike Two bearing in on Zone Two."

"Strike Three, contacts at Zone Three! Deploying countermeasures!"

There was nothing but static from Strike Four. Eric opened the Com. "Unit four shift to LZ three. Strike four is off the Scope."

"Strike Five here. Package deployed and the LZ is hot! Zone Five is clear for entry."

Other comments filled the line. "Zone Two is clear for entry."

"Zone three is clear for entry…" The line closed with an ear piercing scream and then static.

"Zone one is clear for entry. This is strike one! El Tee, you have clearance to Zones one, two, three and five! Happy hunting men."

Eric opened his COM. "Strike One, get your squadron out of here. All units advance."

Simyaldee's voice crossed the line. "All Phantom turret gunners, hold fire until you are in target of landing zones."

Twenty three ships breached High Charity's outer hull and streaked inside. By the numbers the ships split up and made their way to different landing zones through out High Charity's lower levels. Eric watched as the two phantoms ahead of him began to fire at the spot where they were to land. The side of his phantom opened and a Mirratord grunt mounted the side turret and began to fire at the ground. Flood forms slithered about the fleshy-coated surface as the plasma turrets boiled away dozens of infections forms and numerous brute flood hosts. Eric shoulder and M7057 Defoliant Projector and jumped to the ground. His feet sounded as though they landed in a pool of slime and he fired the flame at anything that moved. Several more sounds echoed at his side as the Spartans formed up and began to clear the zone.

Eric's radio burst with static as elites radioed their status. "Huge resistance at Zone five… overwhelmed!"

"Zone three clear… standing by for orders!"

"Zone two meeting formidable prey! We shall counter! Stand bye!"

Eric radioed back, "Zone one and three are clear. ODST control teams, land and assist at Zone five, three and one!"

"Roger that El Tee." Came the reply from a human corporal.

Eric turned and watched as a Pelican descended to his six. Eric waved for Kate to take his place and he handed her the flame thrower. She paced upward toward the fleshy wall and began to look around the corner as more Flood forms began to mass toward them.

Kate gave a shout, "Hostiles inbound! Sergeant, regroup your grunts to my six. 21 assist me!" Kate turned the corner with Dave and they fired their flame throwers into the hallway. The walls began to singe as the Flood forms shrieked in the distance. Palab and the Mirratord grunts waddled up behind the two green armored Spartans and watched their backs, making sure that the flood didn't sneak up behind them.

Eric approached the Pelican landing site and looked over the ledge. The city of High Charity lay in ruin in the distance. Flood spores floated all around as fleshy tentacles quivered over the buildings. This truly was hell.

The Pelican turned and landed, opened its ramp and the ODST filed out. Eric barked orders. "Check every inch of the Zone, I don't want one Flood form moving in this area. Be watchful of infection forms. If they grab you, you have about five seconds to get it off." Eric looked at the young men as they scanned the area and their feet. They were all scared, but so was he. No man could come into such a hostile, eerie, place and not be terrified. The walls alone could kill you. "Guard these transports. Eric ran back to the door where the hall was and followed Kate and the others.

Siren added. "Get me near a terminal. I need to find Cortana."

At Zone Five, Mathew jumped from the Pelican and fired six quick rounds from his M90 shotgun. Flood flesh shattered in front of him and he quickly reloaded. Six elites roared at his side and a dozen ODST blew flames into all directions. Zone Five was a nightmarish landing zone. The Flood seemed to come out of the walls. Humans and Elites were being overwhelmed. The flame throwers were buying them time, but not much.

Mathew opened his COM. "19, heavy resistance even with additional ODST support! We can not gain control of the LZ. I need to get moving." A gargling roar echoed at Mathew's side and he rolled free as an elite plasma rifles fired into the flood brute that was next to him. Mathew leveled his shotgun and killed an elite that had been changed into a Flood combat form. "And I'm loosing men fast!"

"Almost at the terminal, 08!" Eric radioed back. "Begin to push in, and keep moving. Don't stop or they'll overwhelm you. When Siren sends the Rally Point, get there as fast as you can!"

Mathew and the elites watched as the last human in the group was slapped by a monstrous Flood form. The ODST flailed across the room and his flame thrower landed at his side. Mathew wanted to grab the flame thrower as it was very useful against the flood, but he couldn't get near it without leaving the Elites sides.

Mathew shouted, "Move inward!" The elites formed up with energy swords and plasma rifles, and pushed deeper into the horde. Mathew then radioed, "Zone Five transport, get out of here. Hold at a safe altitude, we can not hold the LZ!"

"Roger that sir… what the hell…" The pilot screamed over the line. "Get it off me!" Mathew could hear the commotion as numerous marines screamed out to fight the Flood forms that had boarded the pelican. Mathew looked back toward the Pelican as four elite flood Form and one pure Flood form ran into the pelican's open bay. There was nearly two hundred yards of Flood forms between him and the pelican. He couldn't go back to help.

An elite roared. "Come human, there is nothing we can do for them now. Our mission must be fulfilled!" Mathew raised his M90 and joined the elite ranks as they pushed deeper into the infestation. Flood forms leapt on them from the ceiling, the walls, and through the floor. Mathew could only hope that he would see Eric one last time before he too became a victim of this hellish place.

Zone three was more calm then chaos. Yalsmadee and Simyaldee pressed the human forces and their flame throwers into strategic locations to keep the Flood at bay. Simyaldee was listening to every report over the COM and he wanted to go aid the humans that were dieing at Zone 5, but he had already prepared himself for what this horrific event.

Yalsmadee turned to Simyaldee and stated. "At this rate, I estimate that none of will reach the goal. Should not the human construct attempt to make contact now?"

Simyaldee peered all around as he answered, "No. We must get close to the other Construct. Gravemind must think that this is a rescue attempt."

"Ah." Yalsmadee huffed in an irritated tone. "My warrior's lives for the sake of a bluff."

Simyaldee didn't like the tone, but he never looked at Yalsmadee in order to comment, "A Gravemind is not something we can take lightly. I have faced two in my life, and nearly died each time. This, however, is much older and craftier beast. We have no choice but to sacrifice ourselves for the sake of the future."

Everyone's COM opened as Siren commented, "Rally Point Alpha is set. Uploading coordinates to your HUDs." A marker appeared on Simyaldee's HUD as well as Yalsmeadee and the other elites. "08, it is close to you, that is why there is so much resistance in your zone. Find cover until the rest of our forces can rally closer.

Mathew's COM echoed over the line. "Understood. I've lost all human forces. There are twenty Elites left with me. We'll give them as much hell as we can!"

Simyaldee barked over the line. "We are coming 08! Stand fast!" Simyaldee turned to his teams. "Advance to the Rally point Brothers!" The elites leveled their weapons and ran deeper into the Flood infest hallways. "Humans, stay and guard the exit crafts."

Yalsmadee and Simyaldee followed the advance of the nearly thirty elites as plasma weapons fired in all directions. Flood forms screamed as the team pushed closer to Zone 5 and Mathew's team. Then they encountered a road block in the form of five flood pure forms.

The hulking creatures spat infection forms from their mouths while two of them quickly began to contort their forms. They hunched over from their fleshy two legged shapes and the sound of flesh and bones snapping echoed around the room as the creature became more insect like in its appearance. This form made them faster and they charged into the pack of Elites. The elites fired their plasma weapons killing two but one got past and stabbed a spine like claw through an elite's abdomen. The elite's shield overloaded and popped in a haze of static as he yelled. His blood spat from the wound, but he quickly began to change into a Flood form. Simyaldee readied his twin blades and leapt on top of the pure form, stabbing it repeatedly until death came to it. The elite that had been stabbed contorted as he attempted to resist the Flood spores filling into his system and overloading his body and mind.

"Release me… brother!" The elite roared in agony as Simyaldee stood over him. A swift swing and the elite's head was severed. The body twitched as Simyaldee through a flame grenade on top of it, burning it into ashes.

Simyaldee looked to the others, "Forward, we are almost there!"

Mathew and the elites hunkered down less then twenty meters from Rally Point Alpha. They found a room and began to fill it with plasma, frag, and flame grenades. The hallway was engulfed with explosions and once chaos subsided Mathew stuck his head in and examined the room. His silver face mask which stretched from his chin to the top of his head reflected the room. Nothing moved, nearly everything seemed dead. He walked inside with three elites at his side.

"The rest of you guard the corridor." Mathew stated to the remaining fifteen elites. "Unit three should be on their way. We four will push on and try to secure a strong point."

"Understood." An elite in red armor radioed from behind his helmet. He fired several pulses into a thicket of brute and elite flood forms.

Mathew crept slowly, watching his radar and keeping the massive elites behind him from rushing to fast ahead. The flood were easy to mass together if there was the slightest of noise. Mathew looked into the next chamber and watched as it opened up before him. The door parted revealing a large room with four pillars that stretched from the ceiling and downward into an empty abyss of lower decks.

"What is this room?" Mathew whispered.

Siren picked up his comment on the COM. "The room you are in is the energy relay room. Gravemind established it to relay power from the three cruisers pushing High Charity."

Mathew examined the room. A central platform sat stationary in the midst of the massive circular room. The four pillars carrying power seemed to unit at the top of the high domed ceiling. "So if we destroy those energy conduits…"

"No." Siren replied on the line. "We can't. Doing that will cut all the power to High Charity and cause it to drift into Earth. Without power, Gravemind can't steer, if he can't steer than…"

"High Charity could fall anywhere on Earth." Mathew replied. "Thanks for the warning, Siren. Which team is closest to our position?"

"Team three and four should be coming up to your six as we speak. Team one and I will arrive soon. We lost contact with team two."

Mathew didn't like this. This was Flood central, and granted they were meeting heavy resistance this was nothing like he expected. Prior to mission start, Mathew didn't think that half of the teams would make it to Rally Point Alpha after primary insertion, but according to the command spreadsheet on his HUD, at least seventy five percent of all elite forces had made it past the first hurdle. Sadly, only five percent of the ODSTs had made it.

Mathew stepped into the room and looked about. His forward shields began do spark as calcium rounds began to ping against him. He took cover and spotted another Flood form stationed on the ceiling of the covered hallway surrounding the energy relay chamber. The elites took cover as well.

With his eagle eyes an elite gave the warning, "There are multiple Flood forms in this chambers. They are moving to flanking vectors. If we do not hurry, they will have acquired superior firing angles. We may not pass this chamber if we do not react."

Mathew looked around the corner. The Elite was right. There was no cover once they passed the hallway corner and into the open chamber. The Pure Flood forms were quickly setting up an ambush.

Mathew turned to the three elites. "Either of you have a bubble shield?"

The blue armored elite stepped forward, "yes." And placed it in Mathew's hand. Mathew stepped from cover and dropped the grenade. The shield exploded outward and Mathew switched from his M90 to a Plasma Rifle. He stepped beyond the shield and fired into the fleshy hides of the insect like Pure forms as they climbed along the walls. The Pure forms fired back with their calcium spike rounds but Mathew's personal shield was holding long enough to kill one. He then jumped back into the bubble shield to let his shields recharge. He watched as the elites did the same. They stepped out of the bubble, fired at the Flood Pure form long enough to kill them and then retreated to the shield. Back and forth they danced until finally the bubble shield faded. Mathew sprinted forward and killed the last Pure form with a solid punch to its exposed soft tissue. The creature's flesh crumbled and Mathew flung the loose flesh rich matter from his gauntlet. The three elites took position around the hallway inner chamber and made sure there were no more flood forms lurking.

Mathew took a knee and switched to his M90. He ducked walked closer to the edge of the chamber and looked down into the pit. A glowing mist of emptiness showed that falling would be a bad thing. Mathew then noticed that there were three flesh-like bridges that crossed the expanse to the center.

The door behind Mathew opened and Simyaldee and the Commander walked into the covered hallway. Mathew stood and began to walk back toward Simyaldee when his radar pinged a red dot. Mathew spun as a brute combat form landed at his side. Mathew kicked the dead husk of flesh but the brute managed to swipe him across the shoulder first. The brute fell backwards and Mathew dropped his M90 as his shoulder snapped from the impact. A gargled hiss escaped the brute as it stood to its feet and jumped on top of Mathew again. This time it slapped him across his midsection. Mathew's forward shields swelled and then faded. The alarm that Rose had created began to beep, warning him that he no longer had any defenses. Mathew staggered backwards as Simyaldee cut the creature down with his twin blades.

Yalsmadee examined Mathew. "What are your injuries, human?"

"My left shoulder is broken." Mathew moaned, but the pain was quickly fading. "But I'll be fine. My armor is compensating." Mathew could feel his muscles tightening around the broken bone, tensing in order to keep the bone from shifting, and the mixture of stimulants and pain killers being injected into him by the SPI Armors internal settings. Kate had said earlier that the armor was designed to keep you fighting. She was right about that. Even with a broken collar bone he was still combat ready. Mathew attempted to think of something more important, to push the pain to the back of his mind, and with that the pain seemingly vanished.

Simyaldee staggered closer to Mathew as more elites walked into the room. "Begin cleaning the Flood from this chamber! Eliminate the parasites from every corner so that we can push on. Construct."

"Go ahead Lieutenant." Siren replied over the line.

"Team three and four have meet up with team five at Rally Point Alpha."

"Understood." Siren commented. "Team three is on approach. Secure the room at the next marker." Siren updated the HUD of Team three, four and five. A marker pointed to the far side of the relay room and Simyaldee pointed his teams to make a path to the other side. Flood forms blocked the way, but they were overwhelmed by Simyaldee's swarm of troops.

Commander Yalsmadee led the charge over the bridge, his duel plasma rifles glowing blue hot from the constant assault. Flood forms melted in his path as six other elites followed him across the narrow expanse. Quickly and effectively the elite's overwhelming numbers and force had gained control of both sides of the massive energy relay room. Yalsmadee looked about as he smashed an infection form.

"Why is this going so easy?" He asked aloud, yet soft enough that only he could hear. In earlier attempts to take control of High Charity, his units were easily slaughtered before they could penetrate too deep. But now it was a completely different scenario.

Simyaldee walked up to Yalsmadee and his forward teams. "Secure this chamber with three member teams. Fan out and set up defensive positions near every entrance." Simyaldee ordered the units. They all nodded and trotted into position. Simyaldee then turned to Yalsmadee. "You look troubled, young one."

"I am not that young. But still, I feel as though this is going too well in our favor."

Simyaldee smirked. "When you reach my age, you'll learn that youth is something to be cherished." He looked around the chamber that his units had just taken over with overwhelming force. The hum of the energy relay pillars echoed throughout the room, even into the massive abyss below. "It was a good plan. And you have learned a lot from dealing with the parasites during your first attempts at destroying High Charity." Simyaldee placed his hand on Yalsmadee's shoulder. "Relax, brother. Keep your focus and you will see that this assault will not be our last." Simyaldee words came with a smile, but the Mirratord Second was also concerned. This was not what he expected either.

"Yet you did not hear the screams of those I sent into this place before." Yalsmadee sighed.

The COM powered up. "Commander, Team one has arrived. The humans are making their way to your location." An elite stated to Yalsmadee.

"Very good." Yalsmadee stated. "Make a path for them, but do not let your guard down." Yalsmadee nodded to Simyaldee and ran back to meet Eric.

Eric walked into the first Elite controlled section of High Charity and watched as Elites fought back the Flood infection and pure forms that were wondering too close to the first doorway. Eric motioned his units ahead. "Elites, fall in with the guard detail. 21 and 17, guard our rear with the flame throwers. Palab, you and the Mirratord grunts are with me."

"Copy." Kate stated as she stood next to the elites. Eric and the grunts made their way down the slime covered tunnels and hallways, passing packs of resting elites. Room by room they watched the elites confidently scan the area. Of the two hundred elites that had joined in the assault roughly one hundred and twenty were still standing. Eric couldn't say the same for the human teams. He clicked on his Friend or Foe layout and then scanned back to the area where the LZ was. The LZ guards were still there, still alive. Good news for now, but Eric felt something wasn't right. The Gravemind on Dorenth put forth a stronger fight then this.

As Eric neared the door leading into the energy relay room, he watched as Mathew patrolled the hallway just beyond it. "08, status."

"I'm holding my own, 19, but don't you think the Flood are being a little too… withdrawn?"

"Yeah, I agree. Something isn't right." Eric replied to his friend. He turned back to Palab and looked at the grunt king. "Sergeant, you fought the Flood on Delta Halo. Does this feel right to you?"

Palab had been nervous ever since they landed. His boney elbow spikes were constantly extended as he waddled on the murky hallways. This was not the same High Charity he once called home. "Me no like this." Palab grumbled. "Me feel… weird."

Migpap and the others also seemed nervous.

Eric looked back toward Mathew's area. "I'm sending the grunts with you. Give them something to do. They're all jumpy."

"Roger that." Palab and the grunts moved toward Mathew's clean up team while Eric pressed deeper into the relay chamber. He crossed the bridge and then stood before Yalsmadee.

"Come human. The sooner we complete this mission the faster we can leave this hellish place." Yalsmadee turned and ran back to meet with Simyaldee. Eric was quickly on his heels.

After a quick jog they arrived at the door. Siren cut into their team channel. "This is it. Cortana's energy signal is on the other side. You all know what to do."

Eric nodded to Yalsmadee and Simyaldee. "Expect anything." Eric then looked to the door as an elite in red armor pressed the door control. The door opened and Eric peered into the dark room. In the center glowed a small white dome sitting on a table top. But aside from the glowing holo panel the room was pitch black.

The elite in red stepped closer to the door, squinting behind his atmosphere helmet to see into the room. Everyone's motion trackers flashed as a tentacle shot out of the dark room and wrapped around the red elite. The Sangheili gave a horrified scream as the tentacle wrapped once around his torso and squeezed the life from him in nearly an instant. His shattered form was tossed to the floor as the tentacle retreated back into the room.

Yalsmadee, Simyaldee and Eric jumped back as a voice echoed about the cavernous shell of High Charity. "I did not believe you came to stop me, no, your path leads you to the tombs door. This is my grave. Two shall share it. No more. You shall now be the food that powers my outrage!"

"Movement!" An elite shouted over the line.

Yalsmadee shouted back. "Where?"

"Everywhere! They are above and below!" The elite's line faded in a thick pitch of screams.

Eric turned and watched as hundreds of flood infection forms swelled up from the lower abyss walls of the relay station. Combat forms jumped from up high and landed near patrols of Elites. The true horror had begun.

Simyaldee began to bark orders. "Form up by squads! Guard your grounds and begin moving back to the landing zones! Move brothers! It was a trap!"

Yalsmadee shouted into his COM. "Switch to close combat weapons! Use flame grenades! Fall back and establish a foot hold!"

Eric kicked out at a nearby combat form and then finished it with his M90. "08, take the grunts and rendezvous with the 17 and 21! Pull together and stay alive! Get the hell out of here now!" Gargled roars echoed everywhere is plasma fire sounded around the area. Gravemind had baited them, tested them to see why they had come, and upon seeing that they were after Cortana he unleashed his horde. In one view this was exactly what they wanted, but at the same time this was far more horrifying then they could have imagined.

The Flood was everywhere. Elites screamed as they were swarmed by dozens of infection forms, beat down by leaping combat forms, or slapped by powerful pure forms. Death screamed all around. Yalsmadee's FOF readout showed that his brothers at arms were dieing by the dozens. Entire squads were being killed in the blink of an eye. And with that horror was the notion that those who had been killed quickly stood back up under the control of the Flood. They were now grotesquely misshaped. The elites that were once allies were now hosts to the very enemy they came to destroy.

Siren cut into the line. "19, we need to get close to Cortana! Gravemind is distracted with the rest of the assault. Go!"

Eric tightened his jaws, fought through the fear of what had just happened to the red Elite and charged through the door. "Simyaldee get everyone out, now! Siren and I will complete the mission!"

"Honorable one!" Simyaldee shouted as he cut down two combat forms. He watched as Eric's armor vanished in the darkness of the room. "Good luck."

The room was filled with pitch darkness as Eric made a straight sprint for the glowing table ahead. His night vision quickly kicked in and he nearly broke his ankle trying to stop. Eric was ten meters away from the glowing holo panel when he stopped and saw what sat beyond it. The monstrous form of Gravemind loamed on the far side of the table, swept away in the darkness of the room. A massive entity of rotting flesh and fueled by the spores which create the flood.

"What good is a broken life to one that stumbles into my tomb?"

Siren spoke up. "Give her back."

Gravemind's monstrously long form of rotten flesh and bone leaned over the glowing dome on the holo panel. His mouth flapped and words escaped. "Her? What is she to you? You are not the Iron Casket. You did not leave her to my will. You did not vow to return to her. You are a broken life, your mind held by metal and energy and reflexes. She has no attachment to you."

"She belongs to us." Siren replied. She knew what she had to do and say in order to convince Gravemind to go through the portal.

"What she has, she has shared. To Earth she brought me, to feed on you. Broken, a fragment of her former form. Now she is nothing but a body, in a grave for two."

"Then you no longer have a need for her." Siren roared. She then spoke directly to Eric. "Move a little closer, slowly." Eric stepped softly, his eyes focused on the tentacles that lined the walls and the floor.

"What does she have that you wish to take? I wonder. Time? No. I think not. Knowledge? Perhaps, a prize greater then life itself."

"She has nothing. You have it all! But we need her if we are to survive…" Siren paused, hoping that Gravemind would take the bait.

"Survive? Death looms before you. My grave is not for you! What can she hope to help when it has already lost?"

"You don't need to know." Siren had to tempt him more. She had to make him ponder what was happening around him. "We'll take her, and you can have the Earth."

"Earth? Freely given by one, and condemned by another. She brought me here, why? You give it to me freely. Why? Tell me what you know. I shall ask, and you will give what she has not."

"Your doom is upon you." Siren stated. Eric was now only a few feet from Cortana's glowing dome of light. Gravemind loomed over head, looking down as if perplexed by these words and actions.

"No, I think not." Gravemind pulled back and tentacles darted from all directions. Eric dodged two and was hit by a third. A fourth wrapped around his waste and picked him up.

"Piss of you ugly mother…" Eric groaned as the grip tightened around his waste.

"No!" Siren shouted. "Kill him and I will not tell you." Eric heard the words, was he also a part of Sirens plan.

"Tell me what she does not!" Gravemind roared. His head loomed back into view, closer to Eric as Gravemind held him several feet in the air.

"Truth has gone through the portal. The Ark is preparing to fire."

"Then your fate is equal to my own."

"No." Siren sighed. "The portal will take you beyond the weapons reach. There is safety on the other side, through the Portal."

Gravemind turned his attention elsewhere and Eric and Siren could hear numerous COM channels being played throughout the room. Gravemind was listening to open channels.

Lord Hood could be heard, "Britannica, move to counter high Charity's forward progress. Try to alter its course away from the portal. We need make that ship crash on the surface."

Supreme Commander Timnaldee bellowed, "The human world is doomed, but we must protect the Path. Do not let that ship near the portal."

Siren was filled with joy. The timing of Hood and Timnaldee's transmissions was perfect. "We are going through to escape Halo's wrath. You will stay and die."

Gravemind roared deeply with a gargled hatred. "No! No! For too much time I have waited. Through centuries of planning have I been patient! Not now on the eve of my conquest shall you end my destiny!"

Eric felt the grip tightened and quickly sliced off the tentacle with his combat knife. Eric fell to the ground and rolled as another tentacle came to impact him. He stood and quickly brushed his hand over the dome of Cortana's prison. It was only a split second, but for two highly intelligent AIs it was enough time to exchange some words.

/-/-/-/-/

"Cortana."

"Don't get weak on me, Siren. Not now."

"It worked. Gravemind is angry. What can you sense?"

"He's attacking me … from all sides… but … I can see… he's altered course. He's going through the portal. He's following the Path of Reclamation."

"Cortana there still a chance. Come with me!"

"No. There isn't enough room for us both inside Eric's little suit. Besides… I have to do my part, just like you did yours. You said we had to do this separately, and I trust that. I have hope. The chief may need me on the other side. I have to go to the other side. That hope…I have that hope."

"He won't leave you behind."

Siren extended her arms down to Cortana's resting form. They embraced in a farewell hug. It was something that neither of them could say, but they knew that this was goodbye. The fate of the universe was now up the Master Chief, somewhere on Installation 00.

Siren pulled away and smiled at Cortana. "I'm sorry, I guess I really am weak."

Cortana held her head as she struggled to fight off Gravemind's constant probes into her data. "You … you can't help it. They left you with a strong emotional core."

"Take this." Siren placed her hand to Cortana's wall and data began to fill the space around Cortana. "I'm a virus form AI, remember. This should help your defenses for a little while longer."

Cortana felt a bit of relief as she absorbed the data. Her dome became brighter and stronger. "Thank you, Siren. Please, take care of Eric."

Siren waved and vanished back into Eric's armor just as he pulled his hand off.

\-\-\-\-\

"Move, Spartan! Get us out of here!" Eric threw a flame grenade at Gravemind's form and then turned toward the door. The path closed before him as tentacles filled the passage.

"There is no escape from my grave. You came and now you shall be food for my wrath."

Eric stopped and looked around as Gravemind swarmed around him. His head filled with Siren orders. "Drop back, marker to your left. Full sprint! I'll get the door." Eric obeyed; he ducked back as a tentacle slammed in front of him. He then turned to the left and a marker appeared on his HUD. At a clean sprint, accelerated by his armor, Eric moved toward the far side door. The door's security panel flashed green and then opened. Eric rolled through and pulled up his plasma rifle.

"19 to all units. EVAC. I repeat! EVAC!" He ran hard down the unknown tunnel, following the marker on his HUD. "Siren and I have been cut off. We'll find our own way off this ship. Go!"

"19, we're not leaving you behind!" Kate replied on the line.

"I gave you a damn order now get out of here!"

"19," Mathew cut into the line, "I have the Spartans, we'll hold the LZ as long as we can!"

Simyaldee cut in. "Honorable one, the relay room is completely under Flood control. Avoid that path as best you can. My troops are retreating to the LZ. We will not leave you behind for as long as you draw breath."

Eric heard there words but right now he could only worry about surviving. Flood forms were on his heels every step he took. Infection pods burst on the wall as he ran by them, and pincers stabbed at him, but he fought them off and kept running. He couldn't let them infect him, or he'd end up becoming far worse then a normal combat form. The carried the Sins of the Forerunners within his body; the Super Soldier Gene. If he became infected then he would also become an instant Gravemind. He would absorb the attacking flood forms and grow more powerful with each passing second. Then he would be united with the current Gravemind and help destroy Earth.

No. He couldn't let that happen.

Kim's voice once again echoed, "Dip and roll!" Eric looked ahead and saw that the marker was in a hole leading to the next level. He did what he was told. He dipped his head forward and rolled into the hole. He tumbled down a slimy path, reoriented himself and stood with his guns at the ready. The path was clear. "Two hundred meters, mark!" Eric sprinted forward as Flood forms lined the path ahead. The marker on his HUD was directly ahead. "Blow through! Go, go, go!" Eric scooped up a plasma grenade and tossed it ahead. Mixed flesh splattered all around and during the confusion he sprinted right through the middle of a pack of combat forms. Eric watched as the path ahead closed once the Flood realized what was happening, and he jumped over two of them. He landed, then side stepped toward the wall. He jumped up to another ledge, griped it and swung clear to the other side of the flood horde.

"Nice!" Kim shouted.

Eric wasn't done. He kicked out at an ODST combat form, and it dropped a M90. He's was empty. Eric kicked the weapon and it floated up, he grabbed it with his palm and instantly his HUD showed the ammo count. Six rounds were in the weapon, and he quickly discharged six shoots to clear his path forward.

"Thirty meters! And…" Kim began but she stopped as High Charity began to rumble. "Damn it!"

"What's happening?" Eric questioned as he continued to run and hold his balance.

"High Charity is caught in Earth's magnetic field. We're running out of time!"

On the far side of High Charity, Simyaldee, Yalsmadee, Mathew and the Mirratord Grunts relentlessly defended the Landing Zone in the hopes that Eric would find a way out. The Flood were coming from all sides and that was making defense seemingly impossible.

Yalsmadee clutched his energy sword as if it were the only thing that mattered. He swung furiously fast at the slightest twitch that moved toward him. Simyaldee stood at his side, his twin Mirratord blades glowed with a fresh charge as he cut down the combat forms that staggered into range.

Palab and his grunts sat atop plasma turrets near the Pelican's and Phantoms, behind Simyaldee, Mathew and Yalsmadee's line. The grunts main concern was killing the larger and faster Flood Pure forms before they came too close. Palab killed two in succession but as he peered into the distance something caught his eyes. A tower of flames flew into the air behind the Flood's advance, just over a ridge in the floor. Palab couldn't see who was causing the Fire but he quickly alerted Simyaldee.

"Human flame weapon!" Palab pointed as he yelled into his COM.

Simyaldee looked up for a split moment but quickly returned to killing the Flood. "Is it the Honorable one? Has he arrived?"

Mathew began to reload his M90 and quickly looked at his FoF tag. "No, it's 17!" Mathew opened his channel. "17 get over here!"

"I can't…" Kate huffed over the line. She was exhausted and cut off from the group. "Dave… Dave is down! He can't walk! I'm not leaving him here!"

"Kate…" Dave moaned on the line. "I'm done for… leave me here."

Kate yelled. "I'll carry you!"

"Watch your back!" Dave discharged a weapon as a Flood roared in the COM. "You… you can't carry me and fight."

Mathew gazed through the flood and found the weakest path. "You are sixty meters away on the far side of the ridge. I'm coming! Hold fast!" Mathew dashed forward, knowing that him leaving would weaken the LZ defenses but he couldn't let them die. He fired at the weaker combat forms in front of him and climbed the slippery mound. At the top he could see that Dave's legs had been completely ripped off, most likely the effect of a Pure Form getting too close. Kate stood near him, swinging her flame thrower in all directions and doing a moderate job of keeping the Flood back. Dave was holding an sub machine gun and firing at the smaller infections forms that were crawling toward him.

Mathew jumped into action, firing his shotgun at anything that wasn't burning from Kate's flame. He then shouldered Dave and yelled, "Make a path, 17! Simyaldee we are on headed your way!"

"Understood. Hurry!" Simyaldee roared over the line.

Kate swapped her last fuel cell into the flame thrower and shouted, "Last one!"

Dave held on as tight as he could to Mathew, as Kate fired her Defoliant Projector into the thick of Flood forms. Mathew walked backwards and put pounds of lead and his boot into anything that crawled close. They made their way through the thicket and Mathew cautiously placed Mathew under the phantom's gravity lift.

Kate fired the last of her flame thrower and cursed. "I'm out!" She dropped the defoliant projector and leveled her duel sub machineguns.

Once Dave had rising to the top of the gravity lift Mathew turned back to the line and continued to fire. But High Charity shifted under his feet. Everything that was walking quickly lost its balance and stumbled to the ground. Simyaldee stood to his knees and radioed the Pelican pilot.

"Report!"

"We have entered the human world's gravity well. Three minutes until High Charity enters the wormhole!"

Mathew cursed under his breath. "19, where are you?"

Mathew's COM burst with a static chirp. "Too far away! EVAC!"

Simyaldee added. "We shall not leave you, honorable one. We will finish this fight on the other side of he Wormhole." Yalsmadee looked to his father with a curious gaze. Dozens of humans had died in the past hour, why was this human any better?

"Negative!" Eric shot back. "We don't know what's over there, and the situation could be worse then we think. I'm close to the insertion pod room. I'll make my exit there! Get out of here now! I'll see you on the ground."

"19, you better not be lying to me!" Mathew shouted as he fired while retreating to the phantom. Kate, Yalsmadee and Simyladee did the same. The flood attacked in massive droves, as if signaled by their retreat. Mathew, Kate and the grunts were the first to jump into the gravity lift. They fired as they climbed.

Yalsmadee kicked out at a flood form that had jumped toward him. His hoof and power caused the flood form's rotten flesh to fall apart with the impact. He then turned and watched as Simyaldee masterfully cut down anything that came around him, retreating slowly but retreating none the less.

"Lieutenant Simyal, we should go!"

"I am behind you, Commander." Simyaldee stated as he spun and ran toward the lift. They both jumped into the purple light together and dropped plasma grenades as the lift closed behind them. "Go!" Yalsmadee yelled to the pilot.

The pilot swung the phantom and streaked over the city streets of High Charity. Thousands of infection forms and combat forms massed around the streets, but there was no time to admire the scenery. They pushed on toward the exit at full speed.

Mathew looked out the video portal at the sight below them. "Earth would have been extinct if this ship lands." He leaned back and began to help Dave cope with his injuries. Dave sat with his head in Kate's lap while she held his hand for support.

Kate stated through her private COM. "He hasn't said much sense I came up."

Mathew quickly linked to Dave's bio-stat monitor. "How's his grip?"

"….Dave." Kate whispered as she tried to see how tight Dave was holding her hand. Mathew didn't need Kate to answer, the bio-stat was saying it all; flat line across the board.

"Too much blood loss." Mathew huffed. "The containment on his suit was lost, so it couldn't seal the wounds on his legs." Mathew sat back against the bulkhead as he watched Kate hold Dave's hand. Mathew couldn't see Kate's face behind her golden face mask, but judging by her body posture he could only imagine that she was crying. Kate slowly lowered Dave's hand across his chest but she continued to hold him as the Phantom bobbed from side to side.

The Phantom banked and rolled as the pilot made his way through the hole made by the longswords when they first infiltrated High Charity. Beyond was the dark sunrise of a new day over Africa. The phantom rumbled as its engines hummed in the atmosphere of Earth. The pilot turned and began to fly parallel to High Charity's course as Simyaldee and Mathew glared into the forward monitor.

"That's the wormhole?" Mathew scuffed as he glared ahead.

"Yes." Simyaldee stated.

Ahead of them, floating nearly a hundred feet from the Ark's extended Pylons, was a blue ball with more then a five mile radius. As Mathew looked closer he could see that the blue edge vanished as he gazed inward toward the heart of the portal. It became a deep black as light vanished at the center. Its mass was immense. High Charity could easily fit through it with much caution.

Simyaldee added, "I could see the portal once I was in the air above Eden."

Mathew shook his head in shock, but his stunned gaze quickly faded. "19, report! El Tee, do you copy?" Only static followed. "Get us back in there!"

"No…" Yalsmadee stated. "You were given orders. And I also noticed that the external COM channels were being jammed as we exited the ship."

Simyaldee turned to Yalsmadee and glared at him sternly. "Why did you not report this?"

"Then we would all have been stuck on that ship." Yalsmadee stated. "Your Honored human knew the risk and gave you the charge of protecting his team. If he dies you would ruin his memory by jeopardizing his own kin."

Mathew huffed before Simyaldee could respond. "He's right."

"I know." Simyaldee stated as he turned back to the view screen. "But it does not make it just."

"How long before High Charity enters the portal?" Yalsmadee questioned.

The pilot looked over his instruments, estimated his speed to be equal to High Charity's, and then guessed the distance to the wormhole's threshold. "Less then twenty seconds."

At the edge of High Charity's former space dock, Eric raced ahead. He still had time, time to get out of High Charity. Siren cut into his thoughts. "I just monitored the team's EVAC course. They just exited High Charity."

"How much time do we have?" Eric shot back.

"Not much… less then a minute, I think." Siren stated.

There was a small blip on Eric's COM, though it was full of static.

Eric tried to respond. "Say again!"

"No use." Siren stated. "Gravemind is blocking all COM channels.

Eric hustled forward cutting past Flood forms before they could react. High Charity's vibrations were intensifying as he ran and he struggled to maintain his balance.

Siren shouted. "Ahead! The insertion pods are just ahead!" Eric sprinted as hard as he could. Time was critical, but as he entered the room, Siren's tone seemed to sink. "The pods…no… no! The pods are…"

"Empty." Eric huffed as he examined numerous chambers. "Is there another room?"

"Yes, but it's too far away! We won't make it! This was the closest Pod room in the ship. There are other insertion pod chambers, but this was the closest. The others…" Siren was lost in her own thoughts.

Eric didn't have the time to calm her down. "Prep the launch!"

"What?"

"We're jumping."

"I have been waiting." Gravemind's voice sounded in the room. Eric turned as Gravemind rose behind him. Numerous tentacles swung around in a desperate attempt to grab Eric. "You came to free one from my grave, but now you flee without your prize. Why do you flee the Path? If it is safe, then you should go. Yet to stay here would be your death."

Siren blurted. "Pod two is ready for launch!" Eric watched as the green light blinked over the pod and dived inside. A tentacle darted after Eric but it missed as he slid down the shoot.

"I journey to your weapon's control. To the heart of your Empire to destroy the means of my death. There I shall wait and see and listen. For now, I will spare this place of your inheritance, but know that I will return."

Eric slid down the tube as light opened before him. Wind whipped over his body as he fell. Below was the Ark portal generator, and his descent would make him miss the Wormhole itself by a few hundred feet. Eric and Siren had avoided going through the portal, but now they had to contend with a freefall of nearly three miles.

Siren stated, "Simyaldee's phantom is close!" Eric's COM opened as Siren yelled, "This is Siren and Black Ops 19, requesting immediate pickup! Lock in on our COM."

The phantom pilot scanned the area. "I have them!" They were far away and it would be a tricky catch. The pilot tilted the ship and accelerated. At their side, High Charity quickly began to merge into the wormhole, vanishing piece by piece as the massive ship crossed space time. But they didn't care to watch it leave, their goal was to try and catch their friend before he made a hard imprint on the ground below. "Five hundred meters!" The pilot yelled as he sped ahead. Soon Eric was in view."

"There he is!" Mathew yelled. "Open the side hatch." Mathew raced back to the main troop bay as the side wall began to lower. Air filled the bay and everyone inside held on.

Pallab stood and waddled to Mathew's side. "Look there! Honored human falling!" He shouted as he pointed at Eric's all black form.

Mathew cursed under his breath. "I need a rope or anything long enough!"

Palab gave Mathew a gangplank tether from the storage unit and he tied it to the ship. Mathew quickly wrapped the tether around his waist and calculated his jump.

"Closer!" Mathew shouted to the pilot. "Closer!" He added once more. "We only get one shot!"

The ground was coming up fast as the two object streaked downward. Eric extended his arms and legs to create as much air drag as possible, but his SPI armor wasn't as light as the modified ODST armor he was accustomed to wearing in the past. There was very little air resistance he could make in a half ton of armor.

Kate glared out the hatch as Mathew and Palab prepared the mid air retrieval, Yalsmadee stood at her side. Simyaldee stood at the cockpit hatch with the pilot, but still watched feverishly as Eric fell.

Mathew dived out of the ship with a mighty leap; his arms outstretched and speeding toward Eric. Eric adjusted in midair, pivoting his hips to turn toward Mathew. Mathew sped toward him as the ground came at them at a furious rate. Time seemed to stop as Eric reached to grab Mathew's quickly approaching hand.

The gangplank cable snapped taught and whipped Mathew back, leaving Eric and his AI Siren to freefall toward the Metal surface of the Ark wormhole generator.

"Eric!" Mathew shouted as he was snapped back toward the ship.

Eric powered on his COM. "Pilot, level off. Simyaldee, get my Spartans home."

"Honored one… I shall." Simyaldee replied with a heartfelt sigh. Kate, from her sitting position with Dave upon her lap, turned her head away from Eric's descent. She couldn't watch. Palab pulled feverishly on Mathew's cable until Mathew was safely inside the hull. But Mathew fought to try again. It took Palab, Migpap and Yalsmadee to keep Mathew at bay. There wasn't enough time to make another leap.

Eric commented. "Phantom isn't a Pelican, Matt. A pelican can skip and tumble along the ground if you angle it right, but a phantom will explode on impact."

"Not like this!" Mathew commented over the line. "We made it to the end! You can't go out like this!"

Eric turned off the COM.

Eric looked forward as the metal pylons generating the Ark wormhole came closer. Siren softly whispered, "Swelling Gel Layer to max pressure. I'll inject enough agents in your system to numb your body enough so that you don't feel the impact…"

"Thanks." Eric stated.

"I couldn't get you back to her." Siren softly whispered. "Get you back to Rose."

"Don't talk like I'm already dead."

"But…"

"We'll make it."

"I know, I mean… I hope."

"My luck hasn't run out yet." The ground grew larger as Eric streaked toward the enormous spike like pylons that extended outward from the Ark. Energy flowed up the tower sized pylons as they stabilized the wormhole overhead.

Siren's voice changed into Kim's voice and she sniffled in his ears. "Eric, I don't want to say goodbye to you again. Not like this."

"We'll be fine."

"Eric… I…" Siren's words were lost in the sound of metal hitting metal.

Sparks popped all around as Eric gripped the side of the sloped pylon extending out of the top level of the Ark. With his armored glove he dug into the metal surface, but the super thick alloy used by the Forerunners would not give. Eric clawed at the smooth surface, attempting to slow his descent. His armor's gel layer swelled and excess gel was vented through the release valves as the constant impacts on the metal surface overloaded the motors. Eric's face mask cracked as his head hit a metal edge, but that same edge also provided a hand grip. Eric grabbed it, and a half ton of armor suddenly came to an abrupt stop. Eric could hear, but not feel, the ligaments in his arms tear from the strain, and finally his arm could not hold the momentum shift. His grip released and he went into a free fall off the side of the Pylon.

He landed on the Ark after a near fifty foot fall, and the metal thud echoed for miles around the cavernous valley where the Ark Wormhole Generator lay. Eric laid on his back gazing into the blue and black void of the wormhole above. He couldn't feel anything, but he also couldn't move. Through his cracked mask he could see the phantom descending toward him. His mind could not feel the damage that had been done, but his body was could still respond to the damage. His fingers were twitching, his left leg was lying in an awkward angle, and Eric was finding it hard to keep his eyes open. His vision was becoming blurry and he could see that blood was swelling in his eyes.

He wanted to sleep.

Siren's voice crackled in a broken speech, "…. EEEEEric… youuuuuu… remember… rain… loooove… again… youuuuuuu…" and then silence. The soft hum that vibrated from his armor faded and his SPI Armor powered off. Eric watched as a blurry figure dropped from the phantom. But at that moment the drugs in his system began to wear off. Pain began to course all over him and instantly Eric's mind shut down as the sensation of so much pain overwhelmed him. Even in the darkness of his unconscious state Eric could still feel the pain. The only difference now was that he didn't care. And after a few moments there was no pain. No dreams. No thoughts or voices; just darkness.

- - - - - - - -

Newport News, Virginia
UNSC Special Weapons Dept. // ONI Research and Development Center
March 5, 2553

The memorial two days ago still sat in Rose's mind, but she had other pressing matters to attend to. Rose sat at her desk as she examined the files she had been given permission to access. It was a Spartan database for every listed Spartan that had served under the UNSC. Hundreds of Spartan I, the preliminary soldiers used to test combat induced drugs, hypnosis, and muscular enhancements. They were soldiers that were told that they could live normal lives, but would be stronger and faster then any other soldier in combat. The poor men and women during this phase lived with chronic headaches, sleepless nights and numerous wartime delusions or hysteria. Eight out of ten were considered incapable of leading normal lifestyles, while the remaining few were constantly supervised and usually died in combat.

The List of Spartan II was even more watered down. Hundreds of children were kidnapped and replaced with flash clones so that their parents would not panic and look for them. All of the flash clones eventually died, as flash clones could only live for a few days or weeks at most. Rose thought about the parents of those children and how they truly believed their children were dead. She rubbed her own belly in prayers that ONI would never try to repeat their prior deeds on her child.

Rose smiled. "No. They would never come near me." She thought to herself. Rose continued to examine the file and saw that every Spartan II had an MIA stamp beside their names, including 117; the Master Chief. Kelly 087's file had been deleted. Rose was curious as to why. She pulled Spartan 087's file and placed it to the side. Then she examined the list of hundreds of Spartan III. All of them were listed as MIA with the exception of Kate G017.

MIA was used because ONI didn't want any of their Spartans to be labeled as DEAD. Such a thing was demoralizing during a war as they wanted the Spartan's to seem invincible. The concept made sense, but the war was over. There was no longer a need for the files to be listed as MIA. But what Hood told her was correct. It would be years before the true light of the Spartan program came to the surface. But in the mean time Rose was going to devote her life to uplifting the more secretly guarded Black Ops Spartans.

A middle aged white man walked toward Rose's desk and dropped another data pad in front of her. "You aren't going to like it."

"You found the Black Ops file?" Rose questioned.

"We could be hung for searching for his material." He sighed as he sat near Rose. "ONI doesn't like people poking around their servers. And seeing that you work for ONI only makes making you disappear that much easier."

Rose examined the data. "Black Operations program under the guidance of Doctor Carolyn Smith." Her eyes widened as she continued to read. "What? This isn't right!"

"I told you wouldn't like it." The man said.

Rose read it aloud. "The Black Operations program was a series of Covenant intelligence gathering techniques whereby a Covenant soldier, preferably an Elite (Sangheili) was captured and interrogated…. What a load of shit!" She scanned the file further and it was all the same. "Another cover up!"

"Yeah." The man added. "What did you think they would do? Rose, your Black Ops Spartan's never officially existed. Any search or query on the Black Ops turned up only a listing of how to successfully interrogate an enemy. ONI covered their own assess with a big fat lie."

Rose turned off the datapad and lowered her head to the desk. "Thanks, Phil. You can go home."

"Sorry, Rose. I tried to help." Phil said as he stood from the desk. "I mean, I'm the best programmer in the R&D, so if I can't find it then it is probably gone." The man turned and started to walk away. "I'll see you Monday. Stop stressing over this, it can't be good for the baby."

Rose sighed heavily as Phil walked out the door. Phil turned a corner and placed his chatter to his ear. "She bought it. At least for now, but I'll keep my eye on her just in case."

"Good, the Admiral will be glad to know that." The voice on the other end stated. "We'd hate to harm Miss Santos while she is carrying a child."

"It would stain our creditability." Phil added.

"That aside, we are sending a team to handle the situation more thoroughly. They will convince her to stop sticking her nose in our affairs."

"How?"

"It's beyond your pay grade. Your duty is to watch Miss Santos. It is my belief that after today she will end her constant enquires." The line died and Phil pocketed his chatter. He walked out the front door as the salty air of the James River blew across his brow. He lit a cigarette in thought and then walked to his car.

Inside, Rose was thumbing through her datapad for lists of contacts in Australia. "If I can get someone closer to High Command, maybe I can get deeper."

Anne walked up to the desk and reported. "Hey, I got through to my friend. She's been keeping tabs on the Elites Communications with Lord Hood."

"Well?"

Anne sat back in her chair. "This is what was sent to the UEG from the Royal House of Sanghelios:

"To whom it may concern…

"Leaders of the Human world, we thank you for the support you have offered us during the last [months of our efforts to rebuild. Our offer to you also still stands, if ever you need it. We have found a distant colony within our territory and claimed it once again as our own. This world's former name has no meaning to our rebirth, and thus with pride our Queen renamed it Sanghelios. We now stand with pride to return to our former glory and might, but without the lingering darkness that the Prophets have cast over our heads. Even now we hunt them, and any other Covenant shadows, across the stars.

"With a humble decree we accept your alliance negotiations and several of our High Elders will meet with you on the barren world of Reach. This former stronghold of your great might shall always be remembered as the world where the Sangheili and the Humans joined and became brothers. Together we will sit, talk and rebuild this world. Though it will be your world, we wish to assist you to help soften the sentiment against us. Though you can not forget our past, we hope that we can move forward together.

"With the Covenant no more, and the Prophets on the run, the Unggoy have extended a wish to join our alliance. Palab the Great, the Unggoy King, has extended limitless resources to our aid. His world, Balaho, is rich with Methane and numerous minerals used in the construction of the hardest steels found in the galaxy. This is a resource we can not pass up. But unlike our past use of the Unggoy, we will work together with them. Palab the Great will send his first disciple, Migpap, as an emissary to Reach during our Alliance negotiations. The future of our union will be grand.

"Again, with great respect, we thank you for agreeing to meet. As stated in our first memo, the Arbiter and the leader of the High Council will be in attendance as well as numerous officials, the Unggoy Emissary and his team. There was once a day that we feared the voice of the Unggoy. Now it brings us much pride to hear their voice upon any discussions concerning their future. Things have truly changed, for us all. Our Queen and her First send their love and best wishes to the entire Human world.

High Elder Bal'mae
Head of the Sangheili High Council
Selected Speaker for the House of Vas
Speaker for the House of Mae
--First Age of Rebirth--

Anne closed the datapad with a smile. "It seems peace with them will happen in my lifetime. Not sure how I feel about it, but what can I say. We can't ignore them."

Rose smiled. "At least Palab was able to take his grunts home. I still wonder about Gridolee and the Mirratord though."

"Yeah, but I'm sure they're fine. After all, isn't Simyaldee now the Queen's First, or whatever?"

"Yeah. He's head of her house, I think. Since the Council was reformed I'm sure the Queen doesn't have as much power as she did during that battle, but she is their ruler.

Anne smiled. "You really did bond with them while you were out there?"

"They aren't just animals or monsters to me." Rose added. "I worked with them, fought with them and watched them die. I know what they did to us, but I also know that they were tricked."

"Well to each their own." Anne stated. She gave Rose the datapad and looked at her watch. "It's late and we're all alone here. Want to get out of here and grab some dinner? My treat!"

"Thanks, but I'm trying to reach my contacts at HighCOM. They should be getting ready for work over there soon. I hope to catch them as soon as they get into the office."

Anne leaned over the table and plucked Rose's forehead. "Think about the baby. Don't stay up all night." Anne then smiled and walked toward the door. With a click the door closed and Rose was alone. She rubbed the point on her forehead that Anne and flicked, and chuckled to herself. Anne was so young and playful that it was an almost complete contrast to the girl she met in the Gatekeeper facility. Anne was a shattered woman, torn and lost. She had been cast aside, nearly killed herself, and fearful that she was going to become a flood.

"Time really does heal." Rose said with a sigh.

She dialed her chatter and called a few people, but no one picked up. "I guess it's still too early in Australia." She closed he chatter and rubbed her belly. "I should have taken Anne up on her offer." She stood from her desk and packed the datapads into a shoulder bag. It had been a long week and she was looking forward to staying in over the weekend.

The walk to her car was quick and the drive to her nearby apartment over looking the river was even quicker. As she neared her apartment door she waved her ID card and the door slid open with a soft hum. Inside the lights were already on and she froze as she noticed someone was standing inside the door frame of the kitchen. Her heart raced as she stepped away from the thin white man. The door closed behind her and locked.

"Miss Santos." He said in a calming manor. "Please, do not be alarmed. Our being here is for your own protection." The man was short, thin, and Rose assumed that if she needed to fight him she could, even with her child. He was wearing regular street clothes and looked as though he could blind in a crowd easily. Rose instantly had memories of how Wesley dressed when he was shadowing her every movement during the MJOLNIR Mark VI program; they were nearly identical.

"Who are you and why are you in my apartment?" She yelled.

"As I said, we are here for your protection." The man pointed to Rose's couch and two other men stood. "If you will come with us to the roof, everything will be explained."

"I'm not going anywhere with you." Rose stated as she began to back away.

The thin man near the door sighed, "Ma'am, we are not hear to harm you. If that were the case we would have done it without you knowing." The man held up his identification. "We are with Section III. You've made some enemy's in high places and they want to calm your fury. A peace offering, if you will."

"A peace offering?" Rose repeated. "So ONI isn't going to simply erase me like they do everyone else? What's on the roof?" Rose questioned.

"Our transport." The man answered. "I promise we do not plan to kidnap you or do anything harmful. We simply want to calm your fury." Rose nodded and they four of them made their way to the roof.

The door to the roof parted and the salty river air whipped through Rose's jet black hair. She pulled it back to keep it out of her eyes; in case she needed to run. On the roof was a Pelican. The thin small man and his two assistants stood at the roof door and motioned for Rose to walk toward the Pelican. The rear bay of the bird opened. Rose looked into the dark hull of the bird but couldn't see anything. Instead she heard a voice and the sound of metal walking on metal.

"Oh look, she's glowing." A familiar female voice stated. "I estimate she's four months pregnant." Rose placed her hands to her hips as three armor clad Spartans walked into view; their SPI armor was black with a silver face mask that stretched from their chins to the top of their heads. The voice was unmistakably Siren's. "Rose, can I be the Godmother?" Ignoring Siren statement, the lead Spartan walked forward, leaving the other two at the pelican's ramp. His silver face mask reflected Rose's frozen glare of anger. Siren laughed. "She doesn't look too happy to see you." The Spartan stopped in front of Rose with only a few inches between them. He unlocked the seal to his helmet to reveal his clean shaven face.

"You're late, Eric," she fumed, but a tear rolled from her eye as she glared up at Eric's six foot three frame. She sniffled.

"Sorry," Eric said with a soft smile, "I overslept."

"I was worried." Rose smiled as Eric dried her eyes with his gloved hand. "I thought that you … I hoped, but didn't expect…"

"I know." Eric smiled.

"Why didn't you call me?"

The thin man behind Rose spoke up, "That would be my fault, ma'am. ONI wanted to keep the Spartans on a low profile until they were completely rested from their surgeries. The armor upgrades you gave them pushed the threshold of their limits and they need a great deal of recovery time. Also, 19 was unconscious for seven days while they fixed him up."

"What happened?" Rose asked as she stepped even closer to Eric; she pressed herself against him and engulfed herself in his presence.

Siren answered, "We decided to go sky diving over the Ark wormhole generator."

Mathew added from the pelican ramp. "Yeah, but watching you slide down that Pylon was some kind of legendary feat."

"How long can you stay?" Rose questioned.

Eric said, "Ten days. But then we are off to Reach until the negotiations are complete."

"Why do you have to go?" Rose softly frowned, showing a soft womanliness that she rarely displayed.

"We aren't going alone. You're coming too."

"Really?"

The thin man coughed as he spoke, "Yes, apparently word got out that the Honorable Human's mate was caring his child. The elites want to have a celebration in your honor, Miss Santos. Apparently the first male child of a family is a reason for celebration amongst the Elites. Lord Hood agreed and ONI is fronting the bill; so long as you discontinue your constant enquiries into the Black Ops Program."

Rose grinned and walked to the edge of the building, where a row of metal benches over looked the James River and the setting spring sun. Rose sat down and Eric sat beside her, placing his helmet on the bench at his side and his arm around her. Tears rolled down her face as she happily smiled. Kate and Mathew stood behind them and watched as the sun sat over the river's edge. It was a beautiful evening as they all took a moment to finally embrace what they had worked so hard to save. So many of the Black Ops had fallen in the past fifteen years of the war, and only two original members remained. Kate, the Spartan III, was a happy addition to the family. She wore Melanie's SPI armor with pride and honor.

Eric pulled a silver flask from his belt clip and held it high. Engraved upon the flask were the words 'Do or Die'. Eric took a quick drink and then passed it to Mathew and he also held it high and took a drink.

Mathew looked at Kate as the young girl glared into the distant sky. "This belonged to our sister… our best friend." Kate turned and looked at the flask and then she looked at Mathew. Her short blonde hair bobbed from the gentle breeze. "Hold it high, and remember all those who fought and died by your side." Kate took the flask, held it up to the sun and took a sip of the drink. She closed it and gave it back to Eric.

Siren's voice softly echoed from Eric's helmet. "We won't forget them. Any of them."

The End.

---

Thank you. To all those who have followed this trilogy, showed your support, and kept me encouraged to finish. A story for fans written by a fan of the Halo Universe. This would not be possible if it were not for you readers, and the Bungie creative team. As always, Comments and criticisms are welcome.

Special thanks to ...

-Mom
-Dad
-Lil Bro
-Xx Lai Tasha xX (run, run, run, rest, repeat)
-Scorptank (get back to writing, kid!)
-Haloxenon (where far out thou?)
-Highland Brute (cut throat and to the point)
-HLC 3 (happy b-day)
-MrClark (lurking in the shadows)
-Dl Daddy (keeping it real)
-Last Standing (keeping the pressure up)
-Limited Edition (one of the first)
-Aardvark (cheering from the corner, while leading the race)
-RAG3 ON3 (A fan group? w00t:D)
-Warbirds (death from above)
-Aozora (Machinima for the masses)
-The Lone Heretic (keeper of the sacred Mirratord Halls)
-All of the Members of "The Mirratord"
-Everyone that has knowingly used the "Mirratord" in their stories, and helped lift it to epic proportions
-The Bungie team (1200 pages of Halo FanFiction and you can't tell me 'hi'? lol)
-God (gave me a little talent, so that I can rule the world XD )
And to everyone else that I know I missed. Thank you!

Halo©, Halo 2©, Halo 3©, Halo: Combat Evolved© Bungie Studios™
©Microsoft Games Studios
All names created from the Halo games and novels © Bungie Studios™
All names created with the Halo Side Trilogy ©Bungie Studios™ and SoulGuard
This is a work of fantasy and fiction based on the Halo Franchise. Any likeness to real people, places or events are coincidental. Halo is rate M for mature gamers over the age 17.