A/N: I'm back. And well aware that Yet 'Daumo's quotation of Horatius was actually something Macaulay said. However, I cannot imagine an Elite knowing that. So yeah . . . enjoy.

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Microsoft, Bungie, or 343 Industries. This is for my enjoyment and, hopefully, the enjoyment of others. I do not receive a profit.

Exodus

Raj couldn't help it. He let out another scream of complete and utter frustration, ignoring the way that Arianna rocked the Pelican in response. The worries that had always bubbled below the surface, held in only by his demeanor, were escaping. War had never seemed so awful. They were SPARTANs, not mere soldiers. They were supposed to ride ahead, slaughtering their foes. So why had three of them died already?

Raj tried not to any more morbid thoughts drift past, because he was a SPARTAN. Marines could be worried about dying (especially against the Flood), but SPARTANs were unkillable. After all, Juliette and Marcus and Edward were only missing, right?

But Raj couldn't stop wondering who would be next.

So Kahn was glad to have something else to think about when Stephenson came onto his helmet comm to announce, "This op is live. Intel gathered from an area known as Control suggests that Halsey may be here, but be quick. Fireteams Crimson and Majestic are disabling "slipspace locks" that are keeping the Infinity trapped around Requiem . . . which is now heading into its sun. Don't be here when that happens.

"Your only official goal is to study the place, but look for Halsey and find her if you can. O.N.I. wants her dead, but just bring her back. Let Lasky sort the mess out. Good luck."

Kahn grabbed a battle rifle and magnum, readying himself for when Pearlman touched down at their destination. Known only as Singularity, its appearance had been made clear to Roland only when Requiem's death knell began. And so, as a fireteam damned by circumstance but uplifted by achievement, the remnants of Nebula had been selected to investigate, and more importantly, look for Halsey.

As the Pelican alighted on a small bluff, Kahn flicked on his Promethean Vision to ensure that it was working. With it, he saw Pearlman shuffling around in the cockpit as she got her own weaponry ready for the operation. Kahn turned his Promethean Vision off and waited by the ramp.

Once Pearlman joined Kahn, he hit the door controls and the ramp descended. The pair stepped off and carefully snuck down the bluff, eyes flashing behind helmets. But Kahn and Pearlman were far enough away that they went undetected.

The area around the rise was very lightly treed, and the tall, yellow grass suggested a veldt. Kahn tried to emulate Pearlman's soft footsteps through the grass, but his own steps felt far too loud in order to run infiltration. Not for the first time, he wished Brady would just fade out of her Active Camo and come to help. But it never happened.

Kahn tried to shrug off the idle dreams and darted up to right behind Pearlman. The grass began to grow a little sparser and Kahn passed close to one of the few trees in his view. It was tall, graceful, with light brown bark. Yellow-green leaves adorned the top of the tree and spread out in a wind-blown disc with a crest on top. It reminded Kahn of a sand dune or an ocean wave coming to crash down on him.

Kahn shook off the foreboding and continued toward Singularity, following Pearlman. The grass got thinner and sparser until the SPARTANs were walking on dirt. But that was a a short-lived environ. A light blue energy field descended from a dome in the sky, terminating at the edge of the dirt, where it was replaced by Forerunner metal. Pearlman's boots rang as she stepped onto the floor, but the energy field did nothing to hamper her progress. Kahn stepped into the energy projection after her. Suddenly, a bolt of green plasma flew at Pearlman from the side. She twitched, dropping as though shot, and the green light flew just over her purple armour, staining it a sickly green for just a moment.

They had found the enemies. Or rather, the enemies had found them. Kahn whirled around to find a pair of Hunters crouched, guns pointed. Kahn fired off a three-round burst and dove to the side. Another bolt of explosive plasma boiled the air where he had been.

And then came another explosion, this one launched from the other side. Kahn turned warily round only to see Pearlman's magnum buck as though in slow motion. The gun jumped and a bullet casing flew. Kahn followed the bullet and saw a Grunt wielding a fuel rod gun writhe and collapse. Kahn shouldered his rifle and fired at the next Grunt in the group. Pearlman shot again and they advanced, drilling bullets in the heads of the Grunts.

Kahn reached the last Grunt with an empty chamber. So he twisted it around and stabbed it in the neck with his knife. Kahn turned around, dropping the empty magazine out of his gun. As he put another magazine into the gun, he saw one of the Hunters closing. Kahn scrambled backward, shooting bullets into the Hunter's weak knees. The three-round bursts were like bee stings - they annoyed the Hunter, but didn't really stop it. What did was Pearlman's newly acquired Fuel Rod Gun. Five green globules flew at the Hunter, slamming into it over and over again. Once the last one exploded against the Hunter's armour, the beast fell forward, dead.

Kahn nodded his thanks and bent down, scooping up his own fuel rod gun in place of his magnum. Together, the SPARTANs rained green explosives down onto the other Hunter while its own gun swiveled back and forth, clearly undecided as to which enemy to shoot. As it fell, Kahn heard Pearlman. "Come on. That was only border patrol. All the secrets are deeper in."

"Said the actress to the bishop." Pearlman just groaned, but Kahn was happy. Killing things was a great way to take his mind off of depressing thoughts. Kahn and Pearlman scavenged more ammunition for the fuel rod guns before heading to the centre.

The fuel rod guns made their job a lot easier. Kahn would use his Promethean Vision to spot targets, mark them, and then explosives would fly. However, there just weren't many enemies. A clutch of Jackals, another group of Grunts, the occasional patrolling of Elites, but that was it. Very little to shoot. Just the ruins of ancient Forerunner buildings.

But as Kahn and Pearlman climbed a set of gargantuan stairs in the epicenter of Singularity, they found out why. The steps on the outside (which had involved stealing Float Packs from a pair of Elite Rangers to climb them) formed a ring around a central depression. The sinkhole was a mass exodus. An army of the Storm Covenant was gathered around a giant ship situated in the ring. A tall spire was built into the ground near the ship. Pearlman came onto the radio. "Fireteam Nebula to Infinity. You reading this?" But there was no response.

A longer pause, but still no response. The spire was tall, imposing. It reminded Kahn of a picture in a book about Reach before the glassing . . . during the Winter Contingency. He started. "That's a Covenant cloaking tower. I remember that they were used on Reach as staging points to steal information about Earth. No wonder Roland didn't find this place earlier.

"That blue energy dome projects a "dead-zone" that communications cannot go through, except, apparently, the energy pulse as Requiem began its self-destruct sequence. We need to destroy the spire and get a message to Stephenson."

Pearlman flashed her green. "Let me guess. The override is at the top. And look here." An objective marker appeared and Kahn zoomed in on it.

Although the view was fuzzy, Kahn could make out an Elite in blue armour with a glowing helmet. "Jul 'Mdama," Kahn whispered in an awed voice. Finding 'Mdama was like "finding a needle in the Requiem haystack", as Palmer put it. Then the way 'Mdama was moving caught Kahn's eye. He squinted as 'Mdama shifted. Kahn gasped audibly. A frail figure in blue was situated in his arms. It didn't take much work to figure out who it was.

"We have to get down to her!"

Pearlman shook her head. "Normally, I'd agree with you, but there are only two of us. Yes, the short definition of a SPARTAN is 'We do the impossible,' but if we fall - and in an army of that magnitude, we will - no one will know Halsey was here. We need to destroy that spire." Pearlman took a running leap and activated her Float Pack. She began drifting toward the spire, and Kahn followed suit.

After a minute of drifting, Pearlman adjusted her angle and flew to the lip on the top of the spire. She landed in a crouch, magnum pointed. Kahn landed next to her and promptly shot a curious Grunt in the head as it stepped out of the spire's contol room to investigate the noise of the landings.

The pair walked in. An Elite stood at a control console, plugging numbers. Pearlman tackled it and twisted. Kahn heard a resounding crack as the Elite's neck broke. Kahn ran up to the controls and glanced at the controls. Aiming carefully, he slammed a fist into the device, and it began to spark.

Kahn turned away from the control panel in time to see Pearlman launch the last of her fuel rods at the feet of an Elite. Kahn grabbed his own cannon and fired his last shot. The Elite died in the green explosion, but it was too late.

It had growled something unintelligible, but clearly understood by the Promethean Knight that warped in right next to Kahn. He backpedalled, shooting at the Knight Commander, but its shields were just too strong. Pearlman joined in, peppering it with Magnum bursts. The shields dissolved as the Knight fired its scattershot at Kahn. The hard light punched right through his armour, and he could tell that the emergency biofoam his suit administered wouldn't be enough. He collapsed.

When Kahn came to a minute later, Pearlman was kneeling by him. Kahn could see the remnants of the Knight as it dissolved.

"Blow the suit and get to safety," Kahn croaked.

"What?"

"You heard me. Blow the suit. Tell them what happened here. And then mark me MIA."

"Why?"

"Because humanity needs heroes. We are the struggle for freedom. We represent the human spirit. When Heracles died, his soul was carried up to Olympus on the smoke of his pyre. He became an immortal, destined to watch over the Greeks even after death.

"Do the same for me. Eliminate all traces of my passing. Humanity needs to be reassured that even when we aren't really there, we are still riding war chargers somewhere, marking those destined to die in battle."

"Like the Valkyries."

"Yes. Like the Valkyries. Immortal, undying, the shield-bearers for gods, reapers of men, slayers of evil. Mark me as Missing In Action. I may not be there, but I can still ride ahead, arbiter of life and death.

Don't let them think otherwise."

Arianna nodded. Raj watched as, with shaking fingers, she flipped open the access panel on his left arm and punched in the eight digit code. There was a quiet beep.

Her voice was fragile. "It's done."

Raj nodded his thanks. "I'll see you later, but now, now I am going to find Juliette, and Marcus, and Edward.

"When the thunder comes, do not weep. It heralds the Storm, yes, but we, we are the rain, the wind, the lightning in the sky. Together, we shall hold the hordes of hell, beat back the black beast, unseat the unconquerable. Together, we shall fight for humanity from afar, waiting for you.

"Now go! You have been called on to serve, but not just yet."

A/N: Well, this is the last official chapter, but I am going to add an epilogue, so stick around for that. Oh, and this time, Kahn's suit will blow using the built in detonation code that has a blast radius of about 10 metres as opposed to the modified fusion reactor bomb the he built (like in Batman: Dark Knight Rises).

Yes, the detonator uses the fusion pack, but it isn't modified like Kahn's bomb. For story purposes, Mark VI failsafe detonations have undergone some modifications as compared to the Mark V, notably time before detonation.

And it feels as though Kahn's speech would be something he was thinking but just wouldn't dare say. What do you think? Is he too OOC? Because I do not want to remove his speech. In fact, I kind of want parts of his speech on my grave.

Please inform me of any mistakes, no matter how small. I want this polished. It will undergo editing once I finish the epilogue.