Hi everyone - I know you're wondering about the almost two year break. Well - a lot of stuff happened in my personal life that kept me from writing, my editor went to college, and on top of it my computer with all of my plot plans crashed right before the last two chapters (well, chapter and epilogue) were written. After Halo 3 came out I almost considered dropping the story line because I found out what happened, though in the end I chose not to, so this fic will end with Halo 2 and we'll all pretend that I finished this on schedule before the H3 premiere. I finally found my notes about two weeks ago and now I'm proud to say that the story is finished. Thank you all for your patience and reviews!
P.S. My one normal plot shift takes place in this chapter - I'm making the Chief's stay at the ruins a bit longer to accommodate my plot. Sorry Bungie.
P.P.S. To whom it may concern: YOUR SOUL IS MINE AND IT ALWAYS WILL BE!! BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA!! YOU CANNOT GET IT BACK!
(sorry to everyone else about that)
Verya
--
Brigid stared down the launcher pointed at her face and did some quick calculations, she could disarm him quickly, but he would probably fire a rocket and hit the marines accidentally. She raised her hands and stepped fully into the light. "I'm wearing this armor because it was given to me," she said.
"You're number?" The man asked, clear tension in his voice.
"256," Brigid replied. The man lowered his jackhammer and nodded.
"117," he said, "Master Chief."
"Chief," Brigid replied, "Can I signal my forces to move in?"
"Yes," he replied, "But I still want an explanation."
"You'll get it," she replied, "Ja'naço, come on up, send the all clear."
"Yes Ma'am," he called up, turning on his light and maneuvering into the structure.
"Hello again," Killjoy said, projecting her image in front of Brigid, "It's nice to see you."
"I thought something seemed familiar," another voice said, "Chief, that's the AI that hacked the base system."
"Interesting," the Chief said, then he raised his jackhammer and made to fire once Ja'naço turned the corner. "Ready!"
As the marines gathered weapons Brigid charged foreword and shoved the jackhammer downwards. "Whoa, he's with me." The marines looked at the woman in surprise as she stared down the Chief, he relaxed his grip and Brigid released her hold on his weapon. "This is Colonel Ja'naço, he is my subordinate. Several elites and grunts are on their way with your marines, after we drop them off we'll be on our way."
"I still have a few questions," Chief said, his helmet hiding the emotion that tugged at the back of his mind, he had not seen any of his squad mates in months, and he did not know if he'd find any of them again. "And you should wait for the cover of night before returning to your base." Brigid nodded and signaled her troops to come into the structure and take up guard positions. Tensions were high as Yap-tak ordered the Sanghelli on guard next to marines, which went against everything the jarheads had learned in basic training.
"Admiral," Yap-tak said, "The guard is posted, nightfall in two hours, I suggest we move out then."
"Thank you Captain," Brigid replied, sitting next to a wall, her rifle next to the Chief's. "Get some rest."
"He's a Captain?" Chief asked, his helmet inclined slightly as he looked down at the smaller girl. "I thought that grunts were considered cannon fodder."
"They are, in the Covenant," Brigid replied, "Captain Yap-Tak is a brilliant tactician and a fearsome warrior. I wouldn't want to fight him."
"You never told me your rank 256." Chief said, leaning against a wall.
"Admiral," she replied, leaning across from him.
"I'm the highest ranking Spartan," he said, "I didn't know any of the second generation were cleared for regular deployment."
"I'm not one of your recruits 117," Brigid said, "I was going to be in Black-Ops when I was injured, the Spartan Surgeries were the only way I survived, I'm no where near as powerful as you. As for why I'm traveling with Sanghelli and the like, there's a Resistance for to the Covenant and we've been fighting with them ever since."
"That's a hard story to believe," he said, "But I'm guessing I don't have a choice."
"You don't," Brigid said, "But it wouldn't help if you did." She looked outside, wishing that the sun would set faster, she was anxious to get back to her troops. "Please excuse me, but I have to contact my forces." The Chief nodded and she walked downstairs to an abandoned section of the ruins. "Killjoy, patch me through."
"I've got Jo," She said.
"Hello Brigid," the woman said, "What do you need?"
"Have you found the map room?" Brigid asked, noticing the Chief come up behind her.
"I don't think we need it," Jo said, "I accessed files from the first Halo and I think I can find the location of the Index without it, but that isn't one of our problems."
"What's wrong?" Brigid asked.
"Well," Jo said, "I got an update from Brian, we've got the entire Covenant Fleet inbound. He's managed to hide our ships, but he doesn't know if he'll be able to stay for very long. He may have to jump out of the system and then back in for a pick up." Brigid grit her teeth under her helmet and lowered her head.
"Roger that," she said, "Keep me informed."
"Will do Admiral," Jo said. Brigid sighed and turned back to the Chief.
"Well? Do you have any other questions?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to spar?" The Chief asked, "It's been a while since I practiced against someone like myself."
Brigid smiled and upped the shield status on her torso. "Sure Chief."
The Chief raised his fists and Brigid took a fighting stance, her hands open and flexed so her palms would be free. They stayed in that manner for a few moments and then began to circle each other slowly, sizing the other up. Then it would seem as though Hell had broken loose between the two seasoned warriors. The Chief had a huge advantage in strength and skill, but Brigid's size gave her the advantage of agility and she was easily faster than he could ever hope to be. Brigid also had flexibility on her side, though the Chief had always been lucky. He threw the first punch, his fist snapping foreword faster than the eye could see, though Brigid dodged it easily. The counter she had planned had to be put off when his knee came sliding towards her face, she rolled around him and used her momentum to snap a kick the his back-plate. The shields barely connected as the Chief rolled away and came up in a fighting stance. It was Brigid's turn to attack. She faked a punch and brought her left palm in for a quick strike to his arm, blocking the counter attack with her arms and throwing her knee towards his chest as she jumped. The Chief caught the blow easily and tossed her backwards without much thought, following her quickly as she rolled out of it. Brigid managed a second roll and came up ready to fight, but the Chief landed a solid punch to her helmet. She was knocked off her feet and slid back until she hit the wall, needless to say it hurt a bit. Brigid shook off the blow and was back on her feet, the Chief coming closer, she ducked under the punch and began to circle around him, still blocking and ducking. Finally she caught his arm in just the right place and flipped him over her shoulder, he took her down with him and she was forced to roll out of the hold. Chief was back on his feet and aimed a kick at the woman's head. Brigid caught his foot and twisted it as she stood, holding him down easily. The Chief lay for a moment and then dragged his leg around to the appropriate angle, throwing Brigid off balance for the crucial moment he needed to pin her throat to the wall.
"Yield," Chief commanded, his grip present if not threatening on her throat, his other hand with a knife at the joint in between her shoulder and body, ready to sever the nerves attached to the limb.
"I accept," Brigid replied,smirking, her knife at the sensitive armor joint between his body and thigh guards, perfectly angled to sever the tendons and arteries below the hip. The Chief smiled and the two lowered their weapons. Brigid looked out the open window and saw the sun setting, it was time for her troops to leave. "You're a better soldier than I could ever hope to be Chief, I'm glad we were able to meet."
"Perhaps we'll meet again some day," Chief said. Brigid nodded, there was a sense on comradere there she had not found with other troops, and a sense of leadership she had never seen before, certainly more than she believed that she ever possessed. Brigid had a gut instinct that she would have followed this man to the death if he'd asked her to without hesitation, it was a rare quality and she could only hope UNSC appreciated it.
"I'll look foreword to it Chief," Brigid said, "But for the moment, it is goodbye." She sheathed her weapon and turned her back on the one man who could have answered all her questions, she had given up the search for the truth about herself long ago. Ja'naço embraced her when she was close enough, sensing her troubled emotions.
"Did that human bother you sister?" He asked protectively, his shield a comforting presence at her back.
"No Ja'naço," Brigid said, giving a gentle smile under her helmet, "He didn't bother me. We should be moving on." The Admiral was back, pushing her personal needs aside until the battle was over, until she could deal with them. "Tell Yap-Tak to mount up."
"Ahead of you Admiral," Yap-Tak said, shouldering his cannon as he took his position on the flat bed. Brigid walked to the center-most Warthog and slid into the passenger seat, her jackhammer nestled gently against her leg as the small convoy took off for HQ. Brigid had a lot to think about on the way back, hardly believing how long it had been since she'd taken command of the Resistance forces, and yet how old she felt despite her years. The Chief had seemed old as well, though was clearly stronger than she could be.
"Covenant inbound!" A cry came, cutting Brigid's musing short. "Two Phantoms with Banshee support enroute to Head Quarters."
"Alert the troops," Brigid commanded over the radio, "Tell them to get to the vehicles and get ready to move. Adjust our course and come about to intercept just before HQ, we have to buy them some time. Send a message to Colonel Hetington a tell him to start scrambling the Covenant communications and battle chatter, once he finds a gap he should get into HALO atmosphere and run dark."
"We bugging out soon?" Jo asked, "I thought we were going to stick around for a bit."
"This fight isn't going to take long," Brigid replied, "What's our status?"
"Drop ships are firing up now," she said, "Tanks and ariel support is moving out to rally point Bravo two klicks outside HQ, the display should be going out to your HUD momentarily. I've got all non-essential personnel inside and we're ready to lift off on your command."
"Order one of the drop ships into the air," Yap-Tak suggested, "Have it come in with a combat drop after the first volley, finish up the attack so we can get out quickly."
"Good idea," Brigid said, "Jo, make it happen."
"Done." the colonel replied over the whine of engines, "Tangos two minutes away from your position, friendlies coming off your three in thirty seconds."
"All craft stop," Ja'naço ordered, Brigid lifted her launcher and flipped her visor to night vision. "Light discipline, bring these bastards in." The vehicles shut off their lights and motors so that the approaching force couldn't see them, a few seconds later the tanks and support forces rolled in behind them and also closed down their lights.
"Stay frosty," Brigid said over the com, "I have the first shot, tanks focus on the phantoms, cannons and machine guns on the banshees. Open fire after my signal." The affirmative green light activated on her HUD and Brigid closed her scope in on the horizon. A cloud of Covenant troops edged closer to her firing range as she locked onto the lead scout, the small beep of confirmation rang in her ear. She pulled the trigger and quickly let the second rocket follow the first. The banshee burst into flame before it had time to send out a distress beacon and Brigid reloaded the jackhammer.
A river of plasma and fire was unleashed against the Covenant forces as the group emptied their stores of ammunition. Tanks and Scorpions traded shots to the large Phantoms, the turret attachments falling to the ground as the armored sides began to cave from the constant barrage. The banshees hardly stood a chance from the fire below, having to dodge nearly invisible rockets, stores of plasma from the cannons, and combined turret power from the ghosts and warthogs. Once Jo's drop ship entered the battle it was over, the only sign that the Covenant had even attacked was the large pile of burning metal on the beach.
"Well done," Brigid said, "Everyone pull back and get onto your ships, we're pulling out." Jo landed her Phantom and Brigid climbed aboard.
"Update from Brian," she said, "He managed to punch a hole and bring our ships into a geosync. orbit with HALO. He says that the Covenant sent out a distress call several hours ago, the main fleet should be arriving soon."
"They're bringing the whole fleet?" Brigid asked, surprised. "We have less time then I thought. Order Brian to keep our ships out of sight and keep us posted. Jo, we need to find a new campsite for the night, what do we have."
"Some scenic lakes on the other side of these mountains," Jo said, pulling up a map of the region. "Looks homey enough."
"Put us down in the brush land," Brigid said, "Make camp for the night. We'll start in the morning." Brigid turned and saw the sun beginning to rise over the far horizon, they would only have enough time to grab a few hours of sleep before the real battle began. They would have to buy enough time to get everyone off and get through the fleet. The ships engines were turned off and Brigid exited her ship to camp out on the wing, trying to remember the last time she had been able to sleep under a sea of stars.
It ha seemed she barely closed her eyes when she was being shaken awake again, the sun was now up and her HQ was a flurry of work. "Admiral," one of her aides said, "Admiral, wake up! The Covenant fleet has arrived and the Prophet of Regret has been assassinated." Brigid's eyes shot open and she sat up quickly.
"What?" Brigid asked, climbing off the wing as she approached her staff. "Where are we?"
"Covenant battle chatter shows that the fleet arrived about forty minutes ago," Jo said, motioning to the sand tables. "They're in high orbit here. The Prophet of Regret was killed by a 'Demon' in this structure here, they've destroyed the structure. We don't know if anyone was in there or not, but our spy tells us that the Covenant is in upheaval with the death of Regret and the council is furious." She smiled and leaned her fists against the table. "They're replacing the Honor Guard with Brutes."
"They're replacing the Snaghelli?" Brigid asked. "That could accelerate our plans, contact our man, tell him to be ready when the signal comes." Her security officer nodded and went off to the long-range radio. "Get me Colonel Hentinton on the radio, I'm going to need a patch to Covesash on Ithil, encoded on the highest security level." Brian called her back in two minutes and let her know that the patch was secure.
"Admiral," Covesash said, "I hear that there is good news."
"I might be waking up the kids soon," Brigid said, "Since one of the parents is in trouble, we're going to wake them up." Covesash nodded and sent her the codes to wake up their agents inside the Covenant. "I'll call you when I have more information." They signed off the call and Brigid went back to the sand tables. "We have our codes, send them out and order an activation of orders at 1600 hours."
"That's not until tonight," Jo said, "Are you sure you want to wait that late."
"It'll give us time to come up with a plan and contact the humans," Brigid said, "Start broadcasting on all known UNSC channels and block out the Covenant, we're going to need to coordinate attacks if we want to get off this ring alive."
"Admiral," the radio operator monitoring the Covenant said, "I just got a message that said something about an Ark, the Covenant have docked High Charity there and sent an attack squadron after the Index."
"We have to get to the Index now," Brigid said, "How's contacting the UNSC ship coming?"
"I've got their location," the radio operator said, "But they're not responding to any hails."
"Killjoy," Brigid said, "Do you still have the protocals for UNSC communication from serperate friendly forces?" Killjoy winked a green light on her HUD, Brigid plugged a cable into the back of her helmet. "Do your thing." Killjoy quickly relayed the commands to the operator and he was able to hail the UNSC commander. "This is Admiral McClain broadcasting on all emergency channels, if any UNSC forces can read me please respond on this channel."
"Nice to hear from you Admiral," a clear female voice rang through, "I'm Commander Keys of the In Amber Clad, how many ships have you brought."
"Three," Brigid replied, "Listen quickly, I need to know where your forces are so we can coordinate our attacks to cause maximum damage. My troops are currently on the beaches and we've repelled all Covenant forces, we're scanning for the control room now."
"Don't bother," Keys replied, "I'm already on my way to the Index now."
"Good," Brigid said, "Give us your location and we'll come to back you up." The coordinates appeared on her HUD. Brigid cursed under her breath. "It'll take a while to get to you because of the Covenant blockade, but we'll be there as soon as we can. Radio me on the channel if you need us to come in guns blazing."
"Will do," Keys said, "Thank you for coming Admiral, I wasn't aware any of our forces were in this quadrant."
Brigid gave the commands for everyone to load up and move out. They would have to move slowly over ground, but it was the safest way to secure her troops without being spotted. "We're not UNSC Commander. Tell your men to look for the rag-tag group in marine green. McClain signing off." Brigid cut the connection and mounted her warthog. "I'll drive."
"Jeep Jockey," Jo mocked over their comm.
"Says the pilot," Brigid mocked back. "I don't know how long we can burn these engines in formation, but we'll be arriving right about the time that our sleepers activate and start the civil war. "Ja'naço, any news from the Hunters?"
"None, I'm afraid," Ja'naço replied from his place near her warthog. "We will have to see, though once we arrive we should sway many away from the lies of the Prophets. There has been great unrest since the Brutes began to seize power." Brigid nodded and shifted up a gear before locking the pedal in place. Nearly four hours later they engaged the first Covenant forces they found. The Resistance forces split in two, with the main group led by Jo headed on to aid Keys, a small detachment of forces chased the Covenant into some ruins. As the battle raged the Covenant realized they were vastly outnumbered and called in their surrender.
"That was fast," Brigid replied from her position crouched behind a large column. "Yap-Tak, what do you think?"
"To easy," he replied, switching over to his squads channel, "My snipers, cover the doorway. If hands go to weapons your orders are to shoot first, one shot one kill." Green lights winked on the HUDS as snipers took positions. Brigid smiled, glad to have the fierce warrior at her side.
"Covenant forces," Brigid called, "Throw down your weapons and come out with your hands up." Brigid saw a group of weapons come flying out the door with a platoon of Snaghelli and a few supporting squads of grunts. She smiled when she saw who was in command, and ordered the troops to stand down. "Fancy seeing you here."
"And you, Admiral," the Sanghelli in front replied as his troops lowered their arms. A few grunts were confused, and so were a few Sanghelli. "I thought you were Coveant forces."
"Odd, thats what we thought you were," Brigid replied, "It's good to meet you in person." The Sanghelli clicked his two remaining mandibles and saluted.
"My troops are at your command Admiral," he said, "Forgive me, but I had to accelerate your orders when the Arbiter arrived. The lies of the Prophets have been revealed and our eyes opened."
"Thank you Commander," Brigid said, "What is beyond these ruins?"
"The Control Room is on the other side of this canyon," Half-Jaw replied, "The Arbiter and a Sergeant Johnson left less than five minutes ago, we were mounting up when you entered the canyon."
"In that case," Brigid said, "Let's mount up and roll out, they'll need all the help they can get. Ja'naço, get on the radio and tell Jo to make a bee line for the next canyon, deploy our banshees. Send out our code over all channels, get as many on our side as we can." Ja'naço nodded and the group took off. All over the battlefield Sanghelly, Hunters and Grunts shifted their line of fire towards the Brutes. One Hunter team even stopped in the middle of their charge against a line of marines, turning and attacking the Brute and Jackal forces at their back as Sanghelli aided in the slaughter of Covenant troops. Marine forces did not question the turn of events that allowed them complete military victory. Brigid's troops rolled through the canyon, destroying all in their path as they got to the structure, but they were to late to help. Sitting outside the structure were several people and a Sanghelli in ceremonial armor.
"Admiral McClain," the young woman in UNSC greys said, "Is this your force?"
"Yes," Brigid replied, "It is Commander. What happened?"
"We were able to stop HALO from activating," Keys said, "But Truth got away on the Ark, the Covenant Fleet is heading back to Earth."
"Only half of it will be fighting with the Prophets then," Half-Jaw said, turning to his subordinate, "Order my carriers to ready for battle, we're leaving as soon as everyone is aboard."
Brigid also turned to her radio operator, "Send in a pickup call to Brian and Pasada, we're heading back to Earth as well. Commander, where's your ship?"
"It's in a low orbit a few hundred clicks away," she said, "I have a Pelican inbound for a pickup."
"Then lets go," Brigid said as the troops organized to depart. After long years of hard fighting, they had finally caused a rift in the Covenant. Now, all they had to do was break it.
--
Yea, I know that the story ending was kind of a cliffie (Just like Halo 2's ending) so I wrote you guys a little Epilogue. Have fun - it'll be up next week.