The Joining of Worlds-Part 1: No, I think were just getting started

by Jaye Wolf

Cortana and The Master Chief float aimlessly through space. What happens when a foe turned friend tells Cortana about the world they left behind. A Human/Covenant unity called the Systems Alliance, the wonders of their technology, and the discovery of a Prothean Archive on Mars. This new ally also speaks of another group of races under the banner of the Citadel Council.

2. Chapter 2: Unseal the Hushed Casket

A/N: Hello Everyone. Wow! I can't believe so many of you liked my story just off of one chapter. 1000 views in less than 24 hours is amazing! Thank you to everyone who left a review and corrected me on things, that was a real help! Please feel free to keep correcting me, I try to stay on the up and up with these games lore but its a lot to juggle. But also there are some things I changed in the lore in order for the story to actually make sense and to keep the story rolling. If anybody has any questions, comments, or concerns please feel free to leave it in a review. So without further ado. I do not own Mass Effect, Halo, RVB or anything else connected to the 3 franchises. Please Enjoy today's chapter.

January 12, 2554 - First Joint Species Meeting - CAS Shadow of Intent - Arbiter: Thel 'Vadam

They had done it, they had finally stopped the liars and their lapdogs. It didn't take long after the destruction of the Ark for the Prophets and the Brutes to try and start the Covenant again. The damn monsters started to glass planets left and right, without remorse, without mercy. The Human/Covenant truce was upholded by each side. With help of both forces, the two murdering species were pushed back to their home planets. The conflict had been named the 'New Covenant War'. Now, they just needed a way to bind them to their planets, and the Arbiter had an idea how. After long debates with the Human UNSC, they had a way to end their petty squabbles. He had finally made his way to the war room table, his armor still stained with the purple blood of Brutes. Every major sentient species had sent a representative to this meeting, though not without some begging and pleading by both Elites and Humans.

The Kig-Yar had sent two representatives, One a Ruutian, what the Covenant had called Jackals. Another was a T'vaoan, a Skirmisher. It was strange to see a Skirmisher, they had taken heavy losses during what is now known as 'the Fall of Reach' and almost had been made extinct. Though they are named different things, the two subspecies are still similar enough to be called Kig-Yar. They are genetically as close as cousins, but descend from different parts of their homeworld, giving them different attributes. The Jackal was a male named Kad Nit, the Skirmisher was a female named Siv Tell. They both sat in their chairs and for the most part looked bored. Both of them tapped their feet quickly, a common fidget among all Kig-Yar. On top of that, Siv was preening through her black arm feathers. A tic only found in Skirmishers, due to the fact that Jackals lack plumage.

To the left of the Kig-Yar were the Unggoy, or the Grunts. They had only sent one representative, apparently he was one of the smartest out of the species, his name was Yurtur. Originally, the Grunts had wanted to have the Elites represent them, but were told that would not be appropriate anymore. They were told that the Grunts had to represent themselves. Yurtur had mastered and knew the intricacies of every major language of every species at the table, around 20 languages. Even for an Grunt that is impressive. He had a basic grasp on 'theoretical physics' as the humans called it and was an excellent designer of weapons and armor. He was even deemed too valuable to be used in battle by the Hierarchs themselves, living a comfortable life for most of his years. Until the fall of High Charity to the Parasite, then he found his way to the Shadow of Intent, living aboard all through the battle of the Arc till now. Even with all his intelligence however, he was shaking with nervousness . . . or maybe it was with anticipation. The Arbiter could never really understand the body language of any other species. He had on white armor, leaning forward and taking in large gulps of methane through his gas mask. Yurtur's feet hung a foot off the ground, his short legs swung back and forth like a childs. His beady black eyes kept flying around the room, looking everywhere in timid worry or insatiable curiosity.

On the left of Yurtur was a wingless Yanme'e, a Drone. This one was sent by the closest queen to the Shadow of Intent. The ship the queen was on was in close enough distance to still rely orders to the wingless drone. It was unknown how the drones were able to communicate across large distances, most believed it was through high pitched tones that could pass through space easily, though the true way has never been discovered. The names of Drones did not translate over to other species well, due to the fact that Drones mostly spoke in high pitched screeches, the fluttering of wings and the rubbing together of their chiton. The Arbiter did not know the Drones name as of consequence. He was the basic Drone green and had small fringes on his antenna, showing that he wasn't anyone of significance. He was a conduit for the Queen, nothing more. The Drone looked around the room, fluttering his wings from time to time. He didn't appear nervous, at least not to the Arbiters eyes. Instead, the only true emotion the Arbiter could detect was contempt. It was no secret that the Drones did not like the other species, but at least the queen seemed willing to talk at least.

To the left of the drone were two floating unarmored Huragok or Engineers. One floated slightly higher than its counterpart and was a light blue color. His name was Rises on Occasion. His partner drooped slightly lower to the ground and had a purple blue mix color. His name was Heavier than Most. The Engineers get their names when they are 'born', something the Arbiter had witnessed when he was still Supreme Commander. The Engineers are not so much born as they are made. According to the old covenant scientists they are actually a collection of cell like nanobots that are almost indistinguishable from normal cells, put together to make some kind of Biosynthetic organism. The Engineers take the materials required and assemble a new member of their species. After the assembly, they are filled with lighter than air gasses. The initial buoyancy after they are filled is what they are named after. Both were chosen seemingly at random by the collective of Engineers. Both seemed at ease in the war room, glowing blue and making tiny movements with their tentacle arms. According to the Grunts, this is how they communicate. Overall they appeared relaxed.

The next species at the table was the Sangheili, the Elites. The Arbiter was one of the representatives sent, the other was Rtas 'Vadum, the shipmaster of the Shadow of Intent. He was wearing the full Ultra white armor that covered most of his body. The only part of him not covered in armor was his left set of mandibles, because he didn't have them. He had lost them to a parasite infected elite during the Battle of Installation 04. Rtas, like many if not all of the Elites had dropped the ee ending to his name. The Elites were given this suffix when they joined the military, as they all effectively resigned from the covenant, they also resigned that part of their names.

The next were the Lekgolo, Hunters, two Mgalekgolo (Colonies of Lekgolo) stood almost to the ceiling at 12 feet tall each. These two were Bond Brothers, technically one colony split up into two separate 'Beings'. The singular lekgolo worm has the intelligence of an animal, the more Lekgolo in a colony, the smarter a Mgalekgolo gets. These two Hunters were named Irdono Tenu Seto and Gentevo Tenu Retep. The two were sent in by popular vote, something that surprised many species, including the Humans. Many of the Humans believed the Hunters to be mindless brutes, they were shocked to find otherwise. The Hunters had speech, culture, their own multiple religions, even poetry. During the New Covenant War, the Human were often found speaking to the Hunters, or at least trying to. Many had learned their subtle language from the Grunts, who were lingual savants. Even the dumbest of Grunts knew at least 6 languages. At first, many of the Hunters had been outright ignoring the Humans, treating them as they did any other 'Lesser' race. As the New Covenant War went on, many if not the entire species had a change of heart. The Hunters had been impressed with Humans ability for combat, particularly for the Humans known as Spartans. After the first batch of battles, Hunters could be seen outright protecting the Humans. The Humans in turn began to fight to protect the Hunters, killing mercilessly to protect a severely wounded Hunter. A kinship formed between the two species, even now the Hunters were seated right next to the Humans who were on their left side. The only other kind of bond they had created like this is with the Arbiter's species, the Sangheili.

Which only left one last species, the Humans. The Arbiter had gained much respect for the Humans during his time fighting alongside them, particularly while fighting alongside the Demon, the Master Chief. Though he did call him Demon, it was out of respect. He had earned the right to be called such, and there is no greater ally than a Demon on your side. At first the Arbiter called him an ally, but after their time together, he called him a friend. Sadly he did not make it out of the slipspace portal from the Ark. The Elites had at first declared him dead, but the Human known as Lord Hood had told them otherwise. Stating 'Spartans never die, he is missing in action'. A strange sentiment, but one the Elites accepted. There were currently three humans at the table. The first was Lord Hood, a white male and a major leader in the Human military. Then next Human was a female with short grey hair and an inquisitive look in her eyes. Her eyes jumped from species to species, examining each one than typing something down on her data pad. She was known as Catherine Halsey, one of the most intelligent of all the humans if not the smartest of the whole species. When first introduced to the Arbiter, she told him she was the one who created the Master Chief, including all the other 'Spartan II's'. At this, many of the Elites bowed to her in respect, calling her 'The Mother of Demons', The Arbiter could of sworn he saw her smile at this. The last was another Human female with long red hair and green eyes, she wasn't anyone in the higher ups. She was however one of the best linguists in the Human Military. She knew most of the languages of the species at the table, according to her anyway. She claimed to be fluent in Lekgolo, Kig-Yar, Unggoy, Sangheili, and knew some of the Huragok sign language. Her name was Lieutenant Hannah Shepard. She was there for the benefit of Lord Hood, who only knew the Sangheili language, Halsey on the other hand knew all of the languages and probably a dozen more, but absolutely refused to translate for Lord Hood. The ex-Covenant species had no use to learn other languages, apart from the Grunts. Each species had translator chips implanted on their auditory nerves, automatically translating what was being said by everyone. It did look a little strange to see someone talking, here what they said in their language and here another voice speak what it meant in their heads, but the Arbiter got used to it after a while.

"Thank you all for coming to this meeting, our species has much to discuss." The Arbiter said sitting down in the chair at the head of the table. "As you all know, the Elites and the Humans called this meeting to discuss the matter of containing the New Covenant, and to stop another war like this from happening again."

Kad Nit made strange cawing and chirping noises with lower decibels, the Humans often referred to Kig-Yar speech as sounding like Velociraptors from old vids in their culture. The Arbiters translator kicked in and spoke directly into his mind with a synthesised and choppy voice.

"The Kig-Yar agree," The translator said. "But we do not wish to fall into the old ways of the Covenant, we were no more than slaves and will not willingly submit to servitude."

"Nor will the Grunts," a high pitched voice said from beside them in perfect english, the translator could not translate english, thankfully most every ex-Covenant species could understand the language.. Yurtur stood up on his chair to seem more imposing, it did not work very well. "The grunts have been cannon fodder for too long, we do not wish to be slaves to a new power." As soon as Yurtur ended his sentence, Rises on Occasion made multiple very fast and very complex motions with his tentacles.

"The Engineers feel the same way." Yurtur continued as he sat back down, Siv Tell scoffed a little before going back to preen her feathers. Yurtur gave her a dirty look, before settling back in his chair. The Kig-Yar and the Unggoy have never gotten along well, hopefully that will change soon.

"Then I suggest you listen to what we have to say." Doctor Halsey said as she stood up from her chair. She made a few short taps on her datapad and suddenly a hologram of something called the Universal Treaty of Brotherhood appeared in front of each species representative.

"This is a binding document made for all species. Its purpose is to dissolve all other governments, and create a new collective of species. To form a lasting alliance for every species, ex-Covenant or not. I believe there is much we could learn from each other, this is the smartest course of action." She finished, saying it more as a demand than a suggestion. She stared at each of the species in turn as she spoke, daring them to disagree with her. No one did, at first.

"I fully agree with you, Mother of Demons. It is a good plan, but some of the ideas in this Treaty are not for the best of many species." Irdono Tenu Seto's deep rumbles were translated by the chip in the Arbiters brain. Hannah Shepard leaned in close to Lord Hood's ear and spoke to him, translating the Mgalekgolo's words. When Shepard leaned away from Lord Hood, the man just cracked a smile and chuckled to himself.

"We did not expect for everyone to agree to the first draft, shall we begin the revisions?" He said turning to Halsey who set the document to edit.

The revision process took hours and hours. No new idea went unchallenged by another representative. Even thought it was long and arduous, the representatives found themselves having a good time. They cracked jokes, exchanged ideas, brought up their antient histories and old stories. Each species learning more and more about the other. Soon the final draft was finished, and the voting process had begun. The Elites had been chosen to preside over the revision process. It only seemed right, as it was taking place on their ship.

"Do the Humans agree to the treaty?" the Arbiter said as he turned to look at Lord Hood and his associates. Lord Hood nodded his head.

"We do." He finished with a smile on his face, a smile was also seen on Halsey's face as well, the first the Arbiter had seen on her the entire time she had been aboard the Shadow of Intent. Lord hood quickly signed his name on the holographic representation of the treaty. The Arbiter asked each species around the room if they would agree to the treaty, every single sentient in the room seemed almost eager to agree to it. The Huragok even signed the treaty before the Arbiter had finished his sentence. He referred to all of them by their species true name, not the dumbed down references to what they were made by the Covenant. Finally everyone had signed the treaty.

"The Eli- . . . No, the Sangheili agree as well. We hereby instate the creation of the Systems Alliance." The Arbiter said as he himself signed the treaty. "We shall spread the word to every possible planet and ship we have."

"As will the Humans." Lord Hood said as he walked over to the Arbiter and lifted his hand for him to shake, a Human gesture of agreement. The Arbiter obliged happily. They had finally done it. They had freed themselves from the Prophets and ensure peace with one of their greatest foes, who had now become one of their most powerful allies.

Lord Hood shook the hands of each of the species in the room, most were confused by this but followed through anyway.

"This meeting has been concluded, you may all go in peace." The Arbiter said with joy in his heart. "We will still have to appoint permanent members of the council, but that can be done another time." He finished. All heads nodded before they left their seats and began to walk out the doors.

Halsey was the first to stand up, but instead of leaving, she walked right up to the Unggoy Yurtur and began to speak with him. She showed him something on her Data pad. Yurtur looked at it for a second before his beady eyes grew wide.

"This is amazing, how were you able to . . . Never mind I don't want to know. Please walk with me, we have much to discuss." Yurtur said as he got out of his chair and hobbled down and out of the room. The rest of the species quickly left the room, the last being Lord Hood and his translator Shepard.

All that was left was himself, and Rtas who was the first to speak.

"Do you think this peace will last brother?" He said flexing what remained of his left mandible.

"I do," The Arbiter said with certainty. "I think this treaty will do us good, and the necessity for each other will keep us together."

"Necessity?" Rtas said as he began to walk towards the large hologram of the world the Shadow of Intent was orbiting. Thousands upon thousands of tiny blips were orbiting the planet, each one representing a ship either ex-Covenant or ex-UNSC, but now they were all Alliance ships. Something the Arbiter would take time to get used to. Sure, during the New Covenant War he had bounced from ship to ship, that wasn't uncommon. If someone were to walk onto a UNSC ship and find it populated with more aliens than humans, no one would bat an eye. Everyone took in everyone, there was no room for respect for the caste system, not during this war. But now that would be a common sight, for the rest of time.

"Yes brother, necessity." The Arbiter said still looking down and pondering the many ships on the hologram. The Arbiter tapped one of the small blips, the planet in the hologram zoomed out of sight and a large CAS battle cruiser appeared in its place. "These are our ships," he said then clicked on another blip and up came a UNSC frigate. "These are Humans ships. The difference besides the obvious is that we have borrowed our technology from the Forerunners, the Humans have created their own, and they still stand up against our ships." The Arbiter said as he swiped through the image, in response the planet reapered.

"With all of us working together, we could create things that even the Forerunners would consider worthy." Rtas scoffed at the Arbiters words, but the Arbiter went on, unflinching. "We could be so much more, our pride has gotten in our way to many times, this will show that we can change for the better, that we are not stuck in the ways of the old." Arbiter said turning away from the planet and walking back to the table.

"The old way is our way Our sacred past. We can not just upheave it, and we can not abandon it!" Rtas shouted at the Arbiter. With this the Arbiter spun around, anger in his eyes.

"The old way led to our servitude to the Prophets, to the loss of what made us great. If we follow our history, we are doomed to repeat it." With this the Arbiter ripped off a piece of his armor, showing his Mark of Shame. "It took losing my honor to realize how the Prophets used it as a leash for our kind! We have to make our own honor now! Honor by working with those we once called enemy, without whom we could never have stopped ourselves from being eradicated by the Covenant." The Arbiter said, letting his voice dull down to his normal speaking tone.

"We must honor our words, this Alliance is our salvation from becoming a doomed race. Don't be blinded by the wounds of the past." The Arbiter said staring at Rtas who could not meet his gaze. The shipmaster looked down in shame before meeting his friends gaze.

"You are right Arbiter, this is the only way. Thank you for helping me see it." Rtas said flexing his left jaw a small bit. "Sometimes I wonder if getting that mark is the best thing that happened to you." He said motioning to the Mark of Shame. The Arbiter was about to cover it before he stopped himself.

"It was meant to be my greatest downfall." The Arbiter said before he fastened the piece of armor he had torn off onto his hip, keeping the mark uncovered for all to see. "But it became my badge of honor." The Arbiter paused for a moment, looking down at his burn, before quickly straightening upward

"Give word to the rest of the ships of our new allegiances, have them spread the word as far as they can." The Arbiter said before turning around to leave the war room.

"On your word, Arbiter." Rtas said as he clenched his fist and struck his chest, a Sangheili salute.

January 12, 2554 - Post the Signing of the Treaty of Universal Brotherhood - (Formally the CAS) SSV (Systems Alliance Space Vehicle) Retributions Folley - Queen of Hive Number 3874

The treaty had been signed, good. The queen had thought for a moment that the species hotheads would prove too much for one another, and peace would be out of the question. The queen laid back and let her workers carry her around the ship, her bloated egg sac was too large for her to move around on her own.

It was imperative to the will of the Empress that the species form together. As they did so, the Yanme'e would continue to grow, and wait. They would wait for the lesser beings to create new weapons and ships, ripe to be taken and used against them.

This was the will of the Empress, the supreme ruler of all the queens and as such the ruler of all Yanme'e. Even though she was on the home world, the queen could hear her leader in her thoughts. Telling her what to do, telling her to wait and let the hives grow strong. An old Yanme'e proverb kept being repeated by the Empress.

"When a rival has eggs, you do not smash them. You steal them and raise them against your enemy." She said soothingly inside the head of the queen.

So the queen would wait, she would breed more and make sure the Yanme'e would succeed, for the glory of the Empress.

January 12, 2554 - Post the Signing of the Treaty of Universal Brotherhood - The SSV Shadow of Intent - Hannah Shepard.

Hannah couldn't believe her luck. She had actually been a part of the Treaty, sure she wasn't really part of the discussion but she helped at least. She was only 22 years old but she had been apart one of the greatest acts of peace within the last century, hell, probably in the last two millennia! She could barely contain her glee as she left the war room and began to walk with Lord Hood. He was speaking into a communicator to the joint chiefs of the now disassembled UNSC. There were no surprises for the rest of the higher ups that the UNSC was gone. They had planned on their own dissolution, it had been in the treaty the whole time. Only a few people had been opposed to the idea, mainly ONI personal. One of the most vocal about it was an Admiral by the name of Ackerson, a stick in the mud from what Hannah had heard.

But even with the Admiral's not so quiet opposition of the Treaty, it was still agreed upon by the joint chiefs. The UNSC and ONI and every other government known to man and anything else had been shut down. Now all that was left was the Systems Alliance, something Hannah was all too eager to serve.

The last few months had seemed like such a blur. Hannah had spent most of her time interpreting language for other species. At first it was just between Humans and Sangheili. But as she spent more and more time on alien ships, the more languages she learned. Soon, she became one of the most Lingual soldiers in the UNSC. So much so that she even got asked to be Lord Hood's translator at this meeting. To say that Hannah was ecstatic was an understatement.

"Not your first time dealing with non-humans is it LT." Lord Hood said suddenly, apparently he was done with his calls.

"Uh, No sir." Hannah Shepard said nervously.

"You can dispense with the formalities Shepard, I have had enough protocol for one day." Lord Hood said taking off his hat and rubbing his shaved head.

"Sorry sir, uh I mean . . . Sorry." Hannah fumbled with her words. "No, I've dealt with many non-humans before." She said regaining her composure.

"Only in the translating? Or have you been in battle before?" Lord Hood asked as they walked down the purple hall of the Shadow of Intent. From time to time they would see a soldier walk by, sometimes it was another human who had been stationed on the ship, which wasn't that out of place these days. Often times, however it was one of the other species. A group of Unggoy walked by chattering about their new status as more than slaves as Hannah answered.

"For the most part just translating, though I was on Cairo Station when the covenant found Earth, from there I went on to New Mombassa to . . ." She was cut off by Lord Hood.

"Your were on the Cairo?" Lord Hood asked almost confused.

"Yes sir . . . I mean, yes, I was working as a translator for soldiers with different languages, when the covenant attacked I was put in standard armor and fought with the marines. I was assigned to help Miranda Keys get to In Amber Clad." Hannah said with pride.

"Huh, lucky you remembered your training from. . . You didn't by chance see him? Did you?" Lord Hood asked Hannah seriously. Hannah knew exactly who Lord Hood was talking about.

"The Master Chief? Yes I did. We were pinned down by opposition, trying to get Keys to her ship, thats when he came out of nowhere and mowed down two squads of Covenant. He then jumped out of an airlock tunnel and went outside of the station." Hannah said thinking back to the memory, she was still in awe of it. Lord Hood laughed a tiny bit.

"Yes that sounds like John, a man of few words and tremendous action." He mused. Hannah was still thinking about her time on the Cairo. A memory flashed into her mind.

Flash Back

Cairo Station

They were pinned down between some crates and a wall, using it as a makeshift cover. Hannah cursed herself for not getting off the station when she had a chance. Miranda Keys had offered to take her aboard the In Amber Clad, but Hannah declined, saying that she was needed here

"Great idea Hannah, now you can die for glory instead of living for everything else." She mumbled as she lifted the helmet out of her face again. The dam armory had given her the wrong sized helmet, it was making things too difficult for her.

On her left was a private Carter Loxally, pretty much fresh off boot camp. To her left was a Sergeant Tim Grimes. They were the only ones left from the party that took Miranda Keys to her ship.

"Oh, don't be such a sowerpuss." Grimes said as he fired his M45 shotgun over the crates, taking out one of the grunt shock troopers. "This is fun if you forget all about the Covenant bomb rigged to send us all to kingdom come like the Malta and Athens."

"Thanks for reminding me." Carter said as he blind fired his MA5D Assault Rifle over the crates taking out a grunt or two by pure luck. Hannah was trying to calm herself down enough to make a clear shot with her 99D series Sniper Rifle she had picked up from a fallen soldier. She had been an excellent shot during training and had even been told she would make a great marksman in the marines, but her true calling had always been languages. She wanted to stay away from battle as much as possible. . . so much for that.

Hannah took a deep breath and whipped her rifle into action. She looked down the sights and lined up shot after shot and taking fire. After 4 shots her clip was depleted and there were 2 less elites and 2 less grunts that she had to worry about.

"Nice shot Shepard!" Carter said before he was cut off. After looking over the crates, he had taken a needler bolt to the eye. He slumped down to the ground with the pink crystal still glowing in his socket, and he wasn't breathing. Hannah slumped down behind the crates, finding it hard to breathe. She had just watched a kid die. Anger rose in her stomach as she was about to fire off more shots into the covenant forces. Before she could however, Grimes pulled her back down behind the crates.

"You trying to get yourself killed? Keep your damn head down." He yelled at her. Just then all the firing stopped. There was confusion for a moment, then the sound of the covenant boarding craft detaching from the station and the energy shields going up to stop depressurisation.

Hannah timidly looked over the crates to see a couple of dead covenant bodies but no live Covenant.

"The bomb." Grimes said as he stepped out from the crates as well. "Oh shi-" He started but was cut off by the intercom. The voice of Lord Hood came out loud and clear.

"The Master Chief has defused the bomb. I repeat, the Master Chief has defused the bomb." He said with obvious joy. Before Hannah or Grimes could celebrate, something shook the wall to their right, they caught sight of something fly out of the station.

Hannah quickly ran over to the window and stuck up her sniper rifle to see what it was. What she saw shocked her so much she almost dropped the gun.

"What was that?" Grimes asked as he looked out the giant window.

"It's the Master Chief." Hannah said in disbelief still looking down the sights of the rifle. She couldn't believe her eyes. "He's . . . he's guiding the bomb towards a Covenant Supercarrier." Hannah never thought those words would come out of her mouth.

"No goddamn way. Are you serious." Grimes asked trying to see farther into the void.

"Dead serious, he's passing by a Halcyon class right now." She paused for a moment. "He just went into the Carrier. . . Now he's coming out and." She was cut off by a huge explosion but she barely even noticed it, her eyes were still trained on the Chief.

"And now he landed on the top of . . . The In Amber Clad." She finished, still baffled by the whole ballet of destruction she had witnessed.

"My god. He just saved us all." Grimes said with wonder in his eyes.

End Flashback

Hannah finally came out of her stupor as they boarded a Pelican and took off from the hangar. Lord Hood had stayed silent until they bordered the craft.

"So what did you do after Cairo, you said something about New Mombassa?" He asked leaning back in his seat.

"Yes." Hannah started. "I was placed with Grimes as a tactical recon group in New Mombasa. After he . . ." Hannah paused "After he died I was promoted to captain. We led multiple excursions all around the city, even helped a couple of ODSTs on the ground. I made it my mission to not let anyone die under my command. Im proud to say no one did." She said her shoulder stiffened slightly at the end of her sentence.

"Hmm." Lord Hood mused in deep thought. "So you've been in a position of leadership before?" He asked her.

"Um, Yes. Why do you ask?" Hannah asked Lord Hood with curiosity.

"Oh no reason, just thinking of the future." Lord Hood deflected, but he had a small hint of a smile on his face.

January 12, 2554 - Admiral Ackerson's Office - ONI - Admiral Ackerson

The Admiral shoveled all his belongings into a box, he couldn't believe they had gone through with it. He hadn't been this angry since his body double had been captured and killed aboard CAS Triumphant Declaration. Dealing with his supposed 'Death' had been a Bureaucratic and Political fuster cluck.

They had actually made peace with the damn covenant, he never thought he would see the day. He was just about to leave when a glowing Holo Drone floated in through his open window. This frankly scared the Admiral half to death and he dropped all of his belongings on the ground.

The Holo Drone activated, revealing a hologram of a tall human man with brown hair and some form of glowing blue augmented eyes. He had on an impeccable suit and was smoking a hand rolled cigarette.

"Admiral Ackerson. I have a proposition for you. The organization I own is very interested in your services." He said taking a pull from his cigarette and walking casually over to the other side of Ackerson's office. "I pay well, and we have unlimited resources. Interested?"

Ackerson paused for a few seconds, still trying to stop the shock from leaking into his voice.

"That depends." Ackerson said trying to sound calm, on the inside he was scared out of his wits. How had this guy gotten a Holo Drone though ONI security. "What organization do you own? And who are you?"

"I'll tell you the name of my organization once you agree to join it. As for my name." He said taking in another huff of smoke and blowing it out. "You can call me The Illusive Man."

November 24, 2554 - Scorched Earth Alliance Research Center - New Reach - Yantan son of Yurtur.

Nervousness was not even close to what Yantan was feeling. He was feeling complete and unadulterated fear. Just 15 years old, barely out of basic training and into adulthood and he had volunteered for the Serum /Project. He swore this entire place had been made to strike fear into his heart. Number one is was overseen by the Mother of Demons, Doctor Catherine Halsey. Sure his father Yurtur was working with the Human woman and said she grew on you, but that did not put his mind at ease.

From what his father had told him, this Halsey had been working on the Serum Project ever since she had stopped working on the Spartan II's. She was quoted to say that she thought the humans would eventually join the covenant or visa versa. That it was idiotic to not work on the future. That is why she created the Spartan serum for the Unggoy, because she saw the potential they possess. Still not comforting to Yantan.

On top of all that. The research base was located on a planet the Covenant had destroyed, Reach. Sure, the joint species R&D had found a way to terraform the planet back to its Pre Glassing likeness, but the process still killed billions, and destroyed every settlement on the planet. Now it just looked like a normal planet, without any settlements on it. Except this one. All of these things made Yantan want to do what his brother did and attach plasma grenades onto his hands and wade into a pack of enemies. But Yantan steeled himself. This was for the good of his entire race. No longer would the Unggoy be used as the bullet shields by any species. This would propel them forward past what they are, into what they were meant to be.

So far, many of the Unggoy trusted the newcomer humans. Through their ingenuity and the help of covenant scientists like Yantan's father, the Unggoy no longer needed to lug around their giant gas packs. Now they had a methane converter that was practically miniscule and gave them all the air they needed. Based off of the Mjolnir armor, the Methane converter would take air and use a miniaturised fusion core to feed energy to the converter. It was ingenious, and the Unggoy could live free of their packs for the first time since their induction into the Covenant.

Yantan was walking alongside his father who was leading him to the Evo-Pod, the thing that would change him forever or kill him grotesquely. He pushed this thought from his mind as he saw the Mother of Demons herself coming down the iron stairs that were overlooking the Evo-Pod. The pod was 6 Meters tall and had some sort of pulley system with a cage overhanging the top. The cage did not excite Yantan.

"So this is your son, Yantan was it?" Halsey asked as she walked up to Yantan and Yurtur, the latter nodded his head in affirmation. "Pleasure to meet you, we appreciate the courage it took to volunteer for the program." She said as she turned around and began to walk to the other side of the vat. All around were people working on computers, or talking with one another. There were all manner of species here. Humans, and Huragok mostly. There were a spattering of Sangheili, Unggoy and Kig-yar as well. Though there were no Yanme'e around, strange but not too strange to think about for long.

"Why did you pick me, if I might ask?" Yantan asked, this caused Doctor Halsey to glance behind her for a moment before continued walking around the Evo-Pod. "I mean there must of been other volunteers." He said in his short squeaky voice, compared to the female's voice he sounded like a child.

"There were other volunteers, yes." She said sounding almost annoyed as she typed something on her data pad. "But none were as young as you, or as well developed as you." Halsey said not looking up from her pad. Yantan couldn't help but blush.

"The Alliance academy swears you are one of the best Unggoy they have trained, though they haven't been around for very long." She continued as they finally got to the other side of the vat. Yantan didn't know weather to take this as a compliment or an insult. On this side was a glass doorway to a glass tunnel that led straight to the top of the Evo-Pod. It was cloudy with methane on the inside. Also inside the room were multiple people all dressed in hazmat suits. One was Human male and two others were Sangheili females.

"These attendants will instruct you were to go and oversee the augmentation process. Best of luck." She said like she was bored and walked away. Yantan almost panicked again, but his father calmed him down.

"She just has a lot on her mind right now, trust me, when the procedure is over she will be a lot more inviting trust me." Yurtur said to him and patted him on the back. Taking in a deep breath, Yantan walked through the first door and let it fill completely with methane. After something dinged the next door opened and Yantan removed his mask. Tis revealed his spiky teeth and his nostrils. The smell of a room full of Methane was comforting to the Unggoy, sometimes it felt a little recycled coming from a mask.

"Please undress to your underclothes then follow us." One of the Sangheili females said. Her voice was slightly deeper than Doctor Halsey's but still sounded feminine in nature. Yantan could see her pale skin through the glass on the hazmat suit. She looked imposing, but her brown eyes seemed kind. As quickly as he could he undid his standard orange battle armor and stripped down to what a human had once called 'His skivvies' He liked the word and used it often, well as often as he could anyway.

He waddled his way up the stairs following the three scientists up the the top. At the top of the staircase was a metal platform that led to the cage. It was several times too large to fit one Unggoy, but Yantan guessed they didn't really know what the serum would actually do, sure he had seen schematics of what he might become, but things could always go wrong. He quickly changed his train of thought to something else, just counting his steps was good enough. It took him 23 steps to get to the cage. Not nearly enough time for him to ready himself. Again he steeled his nerves and followed the scientists orders. They put him on a medical trolley and stuck needles with tubes attached all around his bodies at each of his major blood vessels. It didn't hurt much, but it wasn't exactly comfortable. They fixed a methane breather on his face that was attached to a long tube that led straight into a methane tank. The scientists assured Yantan that it would have enough methane before they carted him into the middle of the cage. They explained that at first they would administer a pain killer before the gave him the serum. The fact that he would need a painkiller for the procedure was scary enough.

Before he could even begin to second guess his decision, the three scientists left the cage and locked the door behind them. As soon as this happened, the cage began to lower into the Evo-Pod. Yantan fought hard not to panic, though every fiber of his being wanted to run away screaming, he stayed put and looked calm, even if he wasn't.

The Evo-Pod was filled with Unggoy tailored artificial stem cells, it kind of tingled to be in it. Soon he was fully submerged in the blue water liquid, waiting anxiously for the procedure to begin. Before long, a clear liquid was pumped through the tubes and Yantan relaxed a considerable amount. He felt foggy and light headed, and he was okay with that. He felt no panic, no fear, not much of anything really. Just really, really okay. Then he caught sight of something else, a purple blue liquid was being pumped through the tubes now, it was pretty. He followed it carefully and with no concern for what it would do to him.

As soon as it reached the needles in his body however, he quickly felt different about the whole thing. It was like someone was pumping pure fire into his veins and ripping him apart from the inside out. Everything in his body cried out for mercy including himself but the liquid was merciless. The pain only got worse and worse, it felt like he was dieing. Then he blacked out.

Yantan awoke in a white room. It felt like no time had past but the ache in his body told him otherwise. His eyes fluttered open and he immediately remembered everything that happened. He had done it, he had survived the augmentations. How did he look? What changed about him? The first thing he noticed was that his eyesight had become increasingly better. Normal eye sight for an Unggoy was about 10/20. Now however, it felt like he had 20/10 maybe even more.

Next thing he heard was a familiar gasp. His head whipped around to see his father staring at him with wide eyes and joy on his face. Yantan jolted upright.

"Dad!" Yantan cried out. He was about to embrace him when he noticed a couple of changes. First thing was that when he bolted upright, his father seemed much smaller than usual, second thing was his voice. It still had a familiar unggoy twinge to it but it was so much deeper. It sounded like a male Humans voice, granted a smaller male human but a male human nonetheless.

"Yantan! Your awake, much quicker than we anticipated. . .This is remarkable." He said looking over his son. In response Yantan began to look over himself. Yantan gasped at what he saw.

His torso was long and muscular, reminiscent of a humans chest, some muscles were more defined than possible for Unggoy. He had noticeable pectoral muscles and a longer abdomen than he usually had. His legs were twice as long as usual. His upper leg was not the thin appendage it used to be. It was muscular and reminded him of Sangheili upper legs, but it jointed like a humans leg leading down to his shins that were longer and more agile looking than any Unggoy's legs. They still had the familiar spines on them and his feet were still 3 toed but much more slender, much like the feet of lizards on Earth. His arms reflected his legs in a way. Much more muscular and slender, yet reminiscent of his old arms. they spined like normal but appeared to be more sturdy and less stocky than a normal arm. His forearm back spines appeared less armored and looked like it was made of bone. His hands looked like his feet except better equipped to grab ledges and use tools. He twiddled his fingers to see them move at an astounding rate. Faster than before. everything appeared to be better than normal, supernatural in a way. Yantan was full of energy and excitement.

"Oh my Gods!" Yantan said with joy as he attempted to stand up but fell backwards onto the bed when he did so. He quickly deduced that he didn't exactly know how to walk in this body yet. Again he tried to get up, this time slower, letting his muscles react for him rather than is memory. He took a shaky step forward, then another. Then he started to walk around the room, then he began to run. It was glorious how fast he could move. Then he caught sight of something in the mirror, him. He checked himself over, Yantan was considered good looking by Unggoy standards before but now? Now he was possibly the best looking Unggoy in existence. He had everything a female would look for in a mate. He had sharper bone structure, sharper teeth, though now they were covered by a lip which was strange, wider eyes and a less chubby face.

"Father, this, this is amazing!" He spun around to see his father waddling over to him. Only then did Yantan realise his father was wearing a Methane converter, and Yantan was not. Yantan noticed a significant lack of methane wisps in the room. Yantan sucked in a deep breath and let it out. Noticing he wasn't dieing from the inhalation of Oxygen he became very confused.

"Uh dad, why can I breathe oxygen." He asked still getting used to his deep voice. Yurtur merely shook his head and spoke in his squeaky voice

"Something not planned but welcome in the Serum. You my boy have become the next step in Unggoy evolution. How do you feel?" He asked. He was taken by surprise when his now bigger than him son tackled him in an embrace. After the hug he stood up and began to test out some of his new arms and legs.

"I feel . . ." He started with a smile on his face. "I feel like going for a test drive.

April 2, 2557 - En route to Wake of Starlight from Diana Base on Luna - SSV Ghoul Transport - Spartan IV Edward Buck

Buck never really liked flying transports, these new Ghoul class transports weren't really an making him feel different about it. Sure they were new and vastly superior in every way to Falcons and Phantoms, it didn't put him at ease. But that was the way it was, and he couldn't change that. He could however complain about every single bump the thing made, and that was good enough for him.

The one thing he did like about the new transports were the seats. Since every species ass is just a little bit different, the seats were made out of a type of advanced memory foam. A soldier could lose track of time in one of these seats, but that wasn't the only thing different. The entire ship was made out of the new metal called Adamantium, named after a metal from old comic books. Whoever named it that deserved to be smacked upside the head for their stupidity, then immediately be bought a drink for the pure awesomeness of making a Adamantium real.

The ship was based off of both Falcon and Phantom architecture. It had the base body of a falcon without wings, and the 'wings' of a phantom and the ability to open up its sides for combat like a phantom would. It uses anti gravity technology and pulsar engines and used the now standard issue Twin Heart engines, just smaller versions. It also opened in the back with a miniaturised thanatos cannon chain gun, called a Scythe chaingun by the SASMs or Systems Alliance Space Marines. Buck worked with some SASMs for a time before he joined the Spartan Program and became a full fledged Spartan IV. He felt stronger and more battle ready than he had ever felt before. As an ODST he had been told that the Spartans were freaks of nature, but now they were celebrated. Praised as the next step in human evolution, Buck didn't know about that but he did know that he felt more than human now, superhuman was a better term.

Buck took of his helmet to look down on it once again. It was a variation of the old ODST helmet, renamed the Helljumper Armor. Buck had chosen this armor because he never wanted to forget where he came from and what event led him to where he was today.

One of the reasons he had chosen the Spartan program when it was offered to him by the former Noble team member Jun was the loss of his entire team to Drone forces when they stole ships from the Alliance. Romeo, Mickey, Rookie, Dutch, all of them killed. They had all been stationed onboard the SSV Atlantic Storm, a Buwan class Supercarrier. It was swarmed and taken control by massive amounts drones. The remainder of Alpha Nine ODST's had held their own for a while. Dutch was the first to be killed, shot in the heart with a needle rifle bolt. Next was Mickey who sacrificed himself for the rest of the squad. Romeo died in a firefight, killed by multiple plasma burns. The last to go was The Rookie. He pushed Buck into the last lifepod and held off enemy forces until it launched. Buck never forgave himself for being the only survivor. After two months he was cleared for duty by military psychologists and accepted Juns offer of being inducted to the Spartan Program. Veronica Dare had left him again after the end of the New Covenant War, so there was nothing left holding him to his old life. The augmentation procedure had been rough but he recovered in record time, driven by his hatred of the Drones. No one called them Yanme'e anymore. Being referred to by the name the covenant gave them was the worst insult for a species, calling the Yanme'e Drones wasn't nearly harsh enough in Bucks opinion.

"Hey, You a spartan." One of the other passengers aboard the Ghoul said to Buck. Buck looked up and saw a Archunggoy staring at him, waiting for him to answer. Buck was still adjusting to seeing the Archunggoy instead of the regular old Unggoy. They were far larger and far more tactically adept than before, and quite frankly impressed the hell out of Buck. They also scared him a little, similar to the way that Sangheili scared him. Scarry in the way that you respect, and in the way you pity the guys that they are fighting. This particular Archunggoy had on black battle armor and a Spec Ops helmet on. (Looks just like the old spec ops unggoy armor just more suited for the Archunggoy. If confused look it up on halo nation) The Archunggoy took off his helmet to reveal his face, he was a little tanner than other Archunggoy he had seen, must of just gotten off of shore leave.

"Yup, just got reassigned. You?" Buck said making conversation with the trooper. The Archunggoy's voice was deeper than most, closely resembling a 16 year old human boys voice.

"Just got back from a Little R&R on Earth. Love your planet. Particularly the Dead Sea, reminds of the waters back home." He said cracking a smile. "How long you been a Spartan?"

"Your sure do seem fond of Spartans." Buck said smiling back. "I've been a Spartan for about two months. Just got done with recovery.

"Sorry to pry." The Archunggoy said sheepishly. "It's just I heard a rumor while on Earth that some group of scientists was working on making Spartan versions of all other Alliance Species. Just got me excited." He said as he held out a tan 4 fingered hand.

"Names Olplo son of Loplot, Archunggoy Special Operations. Pleased to meet you." Buck leaned over and shook his hand firmly.

"Spartan IV Edward Buck, Likewise." He said leaning back in his chair. Suddenly there was a rumbling overhead, machinery could be heard as the Ghoul landed.

"Looks like we're here." Olplo said with anticipation, standing up like everyone else on the shuttle. Buck put on his helmet and prepared to disembark.

"Nice meeting you." Olplo said as he jogged off to follow the rest of his ASO squad.

A waypoint appeared on Bucks HUD which he followed to the far side of the hangar. It led him straight toward a group of 3 Spartans, each of them much larger than he was, which was saying something. These Spartans were easily 7 feet tall if not taller. One was holding a highly modified sniper rifle and was inspecting it very carefully, she was wearing some form of heavily modified armor, with scopes all over the place and almost no visor at all. Another Spartan, wearing the Hermes class armor was checking her Battle Rifle at an astounding speed, showing off major dexterous and speed capabilities, a small rabbit was imprinted on her armor. The last Spartan was wearing Centurion armor and was sharpening a knife, even though it looked sharp enough. As if working as one being they all looked up at Buck and stood to their full heights

"Um, Hi there. Spartan IV Edward B-" Buck started but was cut off by the Hermes armor spartan.

"Edward Buck, yes. We know who you are." She said looking back down at her rifle and making more changes to it, again moving very fast.

"Don't mind her, she's just being funny, or at least trying to. I'm Fred 104." Said the Centurion armored spartan. "The one with the sniper is Linda 058." He said motioning over to the scope covered Spartan who just gave a quick two finger salut

"Howdy." She said with a hint of a southern american accent.

"And the cynic over there is Kelly 087." He finished motioning over to the Hermes clad spartan who only gave Fred a one finger salute. It took a second for Buck to process why the names sounded so familiar, when he did he literally stumbled backwards.

"You're Blue Team!" he exclaimed in shock. Kelly swore under her breath and made a few motions in the air. A familiar sound of credits being transferred was heard and Linda let out a small chuckle.

"Just once, just once I'd like to meet someone who isn't shocked about us being Blue Team." Kelly said exacerbated.

"Yes, we are Blue Team, and now so are you." Fred 104 said stoically.

"What . . .?" Buck said reeling from this newest wave of shock. "Why me? What have I done, who told you that I was being assigned here?" Buck fired of questions. Each of the other Spartans sighed.

"So the new ones are just as talkative." Fred said to the others, who chuckled. "To answer your question, we chose you, no one told us to pick you."

"But why? Im just a former ODST." He said, this time Kelly cut him off.

"A former ODST who survived not only Reach but also New Mombasa, all without augmentation." She told him. "Trust me, you wouldn't be here if all of us weren't absolutely sure we wanted you." She finished, receiving affirming head nods from Linda and Fred.

"Uh, Ok then. If you say so, scary, spartan, lady." He said a little unnerved how fast she had gotten up from her sitting position. Buck quickly regained his composure after she sat back down.

"So, there is one last squad member you have to meet. Im sure you're familiar with Auntie Dot? The Noble team A.I.?" Fred said to Buck. Buck was only vaguely familiar with the Dumb A.I. used by Noble Team during the Fall of Reach, but nodded his head anyway.

"Well Noble team had her, we have the Enhanced Defense Intelligence. The first Smart A.I. not synthesised using human tissue. She's the first of her kind, and it's only fitting that she gets paired with a team of mostly Spartan II's, the first of our kind. But she just likes to be called. . ." Fred said as he lifted up his hand. A small pillar appeared with a large sphere on top of it. A small grid blipped on the 'Face' of the pillar and a small circle was ringed around the pillar, just underneath the sphere.

"EDI." The small pillar said. "Its very nice to meet you Edward Buck." The A.I. said with a synthesised voice. The only problem was that it was a far too familiar synthesised voice. Buck took a step backwards, staring down at the Avatar.

"Veronica?" Buck asked it confused. There was a pause before the A.I. spoke again.

"Oh, I believe a slight problem has arised." She said as she rotated around and faced Fred. "My voice was synthesised by copying the vocal recordings of one, Veronica Dare. Someone our newest recruit was previously romantically involved with." EDI said to the other members of Blue Team.

"That might make things awkward." Kelly stated bluntly.

"No its fine, just surprised me a little. It won't be a problem. . . Just as long as she doesn't call me Eddie." Buck said waving off the whole thing. EDI's avatar blipped slightly.

"Acknowledged, Edward Buck's preferenced name is now Eddie." She stated in a serious voice. Buck stared down at the A.I., narrowing his eyes slightly.

"That was a joke." She said plainly yet again.

"Right." Buck said disbelievingly. "Just Buck will be fine."

"I will network with your armor, I will help you in combat as much as I can, Just Buck.." EDI Stated with a slight inflection at the end. Buck sighed heavily and shook his head.

"Play nice EDI." Fred said glaring down at the A.I.s Avatar. Kelly turned to Linda and said in a not so hushed tone

"This is going to be fun."

1 year, 11 months, 31 days, 5 hours, 55 minutes since John 117 went into cryo - Forward Unto Dawn - Cortana

"So in actuality, the Asari were a failed attempt at making Humans by the Precurs . . ." Spark was telling Cortana before the ship began to move. Cortana and Spark fell silent as they scanned what was happening. The scans were showing the impossible, the ship was being towed out of orbit by some kind of ship. It wasn't Covenant or Human. From Cortana's memory banks of information, courtesy of 343 Guilty Spark, It was Turian. An actual Turian ship had found them and was pulling them out of the orbit of Chasm.

"I believe we require the aid of the Spartan." Spark said as he floated off the pedestal and looked up at the ceiling with worry.

"What about your beam cannon? Can't you use that?" Cortana asked in a hushed tone, she had stopped floating and was walking around the room nervously.

"I would only be able to use it for a short time before my energy source would be depleted. I am not equipped to take on an entire ships worth of enemies. We need the Spartan." Spark said, his synthesised voice quivering slightly.

"Allright, Allright." She said walking over to the cryo tube that held The Master Chief. "Can't say he is going to be happy to see you."

"I'm sure you will handle that." Spark said floating out in the open, making sure he was visible.

Cortana scoffed and took a big breath.

"Wake up Chief, we need you." She said tapping a few keys, not really necessary being as she was in the system, but it made her feel alive to do so. "I need you." She said under her breath. Staring at the still form of the Chief in the Cryo tube.

The Tube door opened as the ice thawed from the inside. At first the Chief did nothing, then he shook his head and stared directly at Cortana, he shook his head slightly again. Then his visor turned to Spark, and he tensed up to shoot himself out of the tube and directly at the Monitor. He would of if not for the intervention of Cortana. She put her hands on his chest and applied pressure on him.

This made the Spartan stop in his tracks as he felt Cortana's hands on his armor. He paused for a few moments, looking down at Cortana's hands, then he looked up to her face.

"How are you . . ." He started but she cut him off.

"Nice to see you too John." She said gasping still at actually touching something. "I reworked your suits firmware while you were out. I can simulate contact with you by having your suits receptors interpret me as a physical, and visa versa with my avatar." She explained, suddenly noticing how long she had been 'touching' The Master Chief. She took several steps backward in response.

"What the hell is he doing here." John said pointing an accusatory finger at the Monitor. Spark was about to explain himself when Cortana motioned that she would handle this. "That thing killed Johnson"

"He was rampant Chief. The same way I would be if he had not shown up." She said taking a step closer to the Chief.

"Rampant?" Chief asked still staring at the monitor. Cortana then explained how she came to trust 343 Guilty Spark and his backstory and how she had been given Meta sentients

"So, you are both living things now?" The Chief asked. Before Cortana could nod, a loud banging was heard from above. They had been docked with the Turian ship.

"What was that?" Chief asked as he quickly held out his chip for Cortana to jump into, which she happily did. Cortana was eager to get back inside the Master Chiefs head. Sure she liked walking around the ship, but home will always be home. Her face appeared in the upper right hand corner of his hud

"Long story. Not covenant, but enemies. Grab my projector if you can." She said pleadingly. The Chief had hold of the small floating ball before it even hit the ground. He magnetically fastened it to his hip. His next move was to grab his MA5D Assault Rifle from its place next to his cryo tube. When he checked it however, he found it to have only 5 bullets inside.

"Have to find ammo on the way." He said loading the clip into the gun. He was about to head out when Spark floated into his way.

"I may have a solution for your problem." His eye glowed bright as a small ball of energy popped up in front of him. Then parts of metal from around the ship started to flake off and soar into the glowing ball. The ball of light dimmed and floating in the grasp of the Monitors beam was a pristine magazine of bullets ready to be loaded into the MA5D.

"Thats, useful." The Chief said as he plucked the ammo out of Sparks hand. "Thanks." He said as he pushed past him.

"I believe I can be of even more use to you, Reclaimer." Spark called after the spartan. John looked over his shoulder at the A.I.

"How so." He asked his voice letting past a small bit of contempt. If Guilty Spark noticed this, he did not show it.

"I believe I could give you ammunition constantly in battle, I swear it would not impair your ability in battle, and might even help your abilities in some ways." Spark took in a deep breath, a bad habit learned from Cortana. "I could integrate myself in your armor, as a kind of Armor Ability as your species calls them." He said floating a little closer. The Chief stepped back in response.

"Chief please, he is only trying to help." Cortana said to the Master Chief. This made the Spartan pause.

"Are you sure we can trust him?" He asked taking a step closer to the Monitor.

"He made me what I am, saved my life. I trust him." Her avatar depiction said in his hud.

"Do it." Chief said to Spark.

"Gladly." Spark responded. He then began to glow bright white, not just his eye, his entire body. Pieces of him began to funnel into the left gauntlet of the Chief's armor. After one more blinding flash, Spark was gone from the world. John looked around his surrounding looking for the Monitor before his synthesized voice spoke from somewhere below him.

"Down here." Spark said. Master Chief and Cortana followed the voice down to Master Chiefs left gauntlet, which had been modified severely. Instead of the spartans usual green, the left gauntlet was now silver, the same color of Sparks chassis. On the back of the Chiefs hand was a single glowing blue eye, the Monitors Eye.

"Your architecture is not that dissimilar from that of the Forerunners. Interesting." Spark said as a tiny hologram version of his chassis suddenly was projected from the blue eye.

"Don't get any funny ideas." He told the small depiction of Spark. Cortana held back a smile.

"I wouldn't dream of it. Now what I can do his create any ammunition you require. If you have the need for more firepower, tap the blue button on your gauntlet. I can also provide tactical strategy and advice." He said before disappearing back into the glowing eye. Suddenly a new avatar window popped up on Chiefs hud, one depicting the floating chassis of the monitor. Both of the windows shrunk down to accommodate for the two windows.

"Cause one voice in my head wasn't enough." He said with a sigh.

"Oh you love me," Cortana teased. "Now, Let's get going."

A/N: So there is chapter 2! I hope you all liked it. I hope you all were happy with the way I portrayed certain characters. I am not as familiar with some as I am with others, such as Blue Team. This is where you guys and galls come in. Please tell me if anyone goes to OOC, I will be trying to give them their own personalities that will change as the story arc continues. With the release of Halo 5 coming soon, the cannon personalities may not match up perfectly with the Blue Team represented. So please tell me your opinions on how people should act. Every bit of help is appreciated. Also, just an FYI, The Normandy Crew will be a big part of this story, so who do you think should hop along with the Shepard Twins on their quest to save the galaxy, specifically from the Halo/RVB Cannon. Master Chief, and Cortana are a given but who else should? I do already have a few people picked out but I want your guys' and galls' opinion. As I said before, there will be great opportunity for character interactions throughout the Fic, so please, tell me what you want to happen. You already saw the bit between EDI and Buck, that was mostly because both Veronica Dare and EDI are voiced by the same person, Tricia Helfer. So how should others interact? Tali being slightly afraid of Cortana but then becoming good friends? Mordin and Halsey talking about science? Or maybe even Master Chief teaching Grunt some things about battle. Everything is up for grabs, Including character ships. Who do we want to end up together? Please tell me! Your suggestions have already changed some things in the story just after one chapter, so please don't stop now. I want to hear your ideas!

So thank you all so much fir reading, and I hope you all catch the next chapter of JoW.