Guilty Sparks

by General Rage

Fleeing from the glassing of Reach in the belly of the Pillar of the Autumn, the crew of the SR-2 Normandy find themselves stranded with their UNSC allies on a strange Forerunner constructed ring world called Halo with the Covenant hunting them. But Halo holds a secret, one deadlier than both the Covenant and Reapers combined... and it's hungry.

13. The Belly of the Beast

Chapter 12: Belly of the Beast

September 20th, 2552:

12 Minutes after Midnight

After hovering for a few seconds above the ground, their feet touched the metal floor below. The inside of the Truth and Reconciliation was very much like its outside, extremely purple and curved at every angle. The architecture was very alien as well as slanted towards a religious bent in its style. It looked a lot like a temple.

Shepard hadn't taken the time before to notice the details when he had boarded the first battlecruiser he encountered. Now, with however brief a moment to look around, he was able to actually take it all in. The fact he was able to, however, made him feel a bit uneasy. It was something Cortana recognized as well.

"I have a lock on the Captain," she informed everyone. "But I'm not detecting any Covenant signals."

"Well, if there's no Covenant maybe no one is home," suggested one Marine.

Kasumi groaned slightly at that comment.

"Ugh, never say that," she growled at him with a frown. "Don't you know anything?"

Shepard agreed with Kasumi, in a sense. The Covenant were here, just waiting for them to let their guard down. Chief seemed to share the sentiment, keeping his assault rifle aimed at the doors. It was a good idea. The Covenant owned this place more than the ground below. It would be best if they remained alert.

Shepard got a better look around the area, eyeing several of Covenant arms crates and a Wraith at the back of the room. This was obviously some kind of storage area. Cortana did say the gravity was meant for moving supplies. Ending up here probably shouldn't have been too much of a shock.

As he looked around the room he saw one of the doors open wide, a slight chime going off. No one seemed to step out of it, but Shepard alerted Chief's attention to it regardless. They saw something appear. Hovering in the air was a blue glowing blade. It fast approached Sergeant Parker. Shepard didn't hesitate.

"Parker, down!" Shepard shouted out.

The Sergeant quickly ducked, avoiding the swing of a blade. Shepard unloaded a full burst from his assault rifle into the invisible threat. Chief finished it by closing the gap while the see-through alien was staggered from bullets. He smacked the alien in the jaw, short-circuiting the invisibility cloak and revealing an elite. Chief clocked the alien square in the face and sent him tumbling to the floor. He then shot him in the back of the head for good measure.

Soon another door opened and in poured another squad of Covenant, jackals and grunts mostly. The Marines opened fire on them as they poured in.

"Contacts! Lots of contacts!" One Marine shouted.

"No Covenant," mocked another of the Marines. "You had to open your mouth!"

"I warned you!" Kasumi added before vanishing beneath her cloak.

Thane ran for cover, strafing as he went. His submachine gun caught two grunts as he made his way to a series of crates. From there, he did his best to discourage other Covenant from entering the area with biotic attacks. He managed to pull one of the Jackals into the air in time for Miranda to hit him with a warp, causing him to detonate.

But door after door opened wide and more Covenant seemed to just pour through. Chief tossed a grenade into one corridor as a squad of Covenant commanded by an elite made their way inside. The elite tucked and rolled to safety while his followers took the brunt of the blast. The enclosed space was death trap for them.

The elite was still in fighting shape though, and forced the Spartan into cover before he could take out his shields. Shepard sent a shockwave rolling over to the alien, breaking him from his stance and throwing him into the air. The elite was not harmed though, he just got back up again and returned fire on Shepard. Luckily, the Master Chief moved out of cover once more to fire a burst at the elite that depleted the rest of his shields and then shot through his heart.

There were other elites in the room now though, and they were pressing their attack. Both Legion and Tali's drones were out roaming the area, blasting back the Covenant, but the elites were keeping out of their way. Miranda picked up one of the grunts as it ran out of cover using a slam attack. When an elite rushed beneath the flying grunt, she slammed the gas breather back down. The attack's shockwave sent the elite flying backward, straight into the path of Legion's drone which exploded seconds later.

Tali was with Mordin as the Marines fell back to appropriate cover. There was an elite pressing forward with two jackals keeping him covered. Mordin fired out a few rounds from his heavy pistol, but they only bounced off the colourful shields of the Jackals.

"I'll see about draining their big friend's shields," Tali suggested.

She jumped up to use her energy drain, the attack hit the elite's shields. Suddenly, the elite jumped back in pain as his armour seemed to charge with electrical energy. Tali looked surprised.

"The energy drain program can't do that," she said aghast. "At least not with organic targets it can't."

DOT's voice then filled her ear.

"I decided to take the time to enhance certain systems for more offensive capabilities," she explained. "I felt adding a potential electrical blow back into the program's runtimes would increase effectiveness."

Tali seemed a bit surprised by the initiative, especially from an AI like DOT, but she didn't argue. Neither did Mordin, who used the opportunity to fire an incineration burst that ignited the elite and the unprotected backs of the jackals he was with.

Chief, in the meantime, pressed himself against the inactive wraith as the Covenant kept up their attack.

"Cortana," he began candidly. "Can you tell us how many are incoming?"

"None from the corridors," she told him. "But I'm detecting an energy spike from beyond those two large doors at the back of the bay. They're going to open."

Chief looked over to Legion who was busy finishing off a few more of the Covenant with its Widow.

"Legion," he said catching the geth's attention. "Those bay doors are going to open. Can you stop whatever comes through?"

"Acknowledged," Legion replied.

The synthetic took aim at the two large bay doors. A few seconds later, they parted ways and two elites armed with plasma swords appeared from behind them. Legion aimed at them as they entered, but didn't fire immediately.

"Legion, now!" Chief ordered as he switched to his own Sniper Rifle.

Chief got his crosshair on one of the Covies' heads and pulled the trigger, it bounced off the shield but it caused the alien to pause. At that moment, Legion fired a shot from its Widow and took out one of the elites as he charged forward, the powerful rifle round cutting clean through the alien's shield. Chief fired a second round that finished off the second elite, ending the threat from him.

"What happened?" Chief asked Legion.

Legion looked a bit confused by the question for a moment, but soon answered.

"Apologies, sensory runtime delay," it answered. "We have corrected the problem."

Chief eyed him for another second, but accepted the answer. It said it had it handled. However, he still made a mental note to mention this to the Commander when they had time.

One jackal jumped up onto a crate and charged his plasma pistol up. Kasumi had been stalking the field from beneath her cloak for most of the fight. She had either stabbed grunts in the back with her omni-tool or tried to get behind other Covenant to shoot them. Here though, she opted for something different. She reached up, grabbed the jackal by his legs and pulled back. The jackal fell flat on his face on top of the crate, his weapon discharging into the ground. Sergeant Parker then opted to fill the jackal full of lead.

"That's the last of them," He noted. "Well done, Marines, well done."

They had survived the ambush, but Shepard knew that this was only the first of many firefights they'd have to go through to reach the brig.

Cortana directed them down the corridor that had opened up when the wall had descended. They didn't get far before they reached a dead end, however. Right in front of them was a big locked door, obstructing their progress.

"Anyone see a bell?" Miranda joked dryly.

Cortana gave the door a scan.

"Hmm, this is gonna take too long to unlock," she advised, sounding a bit disappointed in herself. "We'll need to find a way around, look for a manual control."

"Is there a faster way?" Shepard asked. "If they think we're closing in on the prisoners they may just kill them before we reach them."

"Well we can't just send teleport someone ahead of us," Cortana informed the Commander. "But give me a second."

Exactly a second later, Cortana had a solution.

"There does appear to be a duct system that runs through the ship," she explained. "Tight space though, there's a way a few yards back down one of the other corridors those Covenant came from. I don't think all of us will fit though."

"Anyone have experience with air ducts?" Kasumi asked, looking towards one of their number in particular. She was soon joined by others.

Thane didn't seem bothered by the fact everyone had singled him out.

"I think I would be the best candidate to move ahead," he seemingly agreed. "I can move faster through there than anyone else and Shepard is right, someone should attempt to reach the prisoners in case the Covenant decides to terminate them."

Shepard nodded in acceptance. As long as Thane was willing to do it he was fine with the idea.

"The rest of us will need to work our way around to the other side of this door," Chief surmised.

"Too many people in that enclosed space is gonna make it a shooting gallery," Parker warned. "Me and my boys will hang back until you can find that switch."

"Sounds good, Sergeant," Shepard agreed. "Now let's get moving guys. We still have some people to bust out."

---

They had taken a significant number of casualties, but that was expected when you were charging a Covenant position, regardless of how good your plan was. Five Army Troopers, Two Marines and one ODST, but it could have been a lot higher. For that at least, Silva seemed grateful.

As the raid team consolidated their hold on the area, moving bodies and repositioning the turrets, Silva kept an eye on the outward perimeter. Garrus and Kat approached him with McKay in tow.

"Well, I'm a big enough man to admit when I'm wrong, Vakarian," he began. "Your little idea certainly cut down on our losses. Let's not get complacent here though, some of the Covenant have probably retreated inside the ship and they've no doubt called for help. We need to get moving and organize teams to start gathering supplies. I'll keep a third of the men out here to guard the area. The rest I'll send with McKay to help secure the hangar with your team.

"Sounds like a good idea," Kat agreed. "We'll send our squads inside to start bringing vehicles and weapons out of the hangar. We'll also send smaller detachments into the ship itself to locate arms lockers, medical supplies and rations."

"The rations are our top priority," Silva reminded her. "I'd suggest sending your best people out on that one."

Kat nodded in agreement and both she and Garrus turned to leave.

"I'll need to help coordinate the extraction of the vehicles and weapons in the hangar," Kat told the turian.

"I'll help you out," Garrus informed her. "I'll send Jacob and Zaeed on the rations mission. Samara and Grunt would probably be best suited for the medical supplies and ammo."

"Those two are some of the toughest fighters on your team. Why not send them after the food?" Kat asked.

"Grunt would probably eat it all to be honest." Garrus explained, trying to stifle a chuckle.

Kat took his word for it and looked over to their team as they organized Covenant weapons they had secured from their fallen foes. She spotted Jacob nearby some of the Marines and called out to him.

"Taylor!" She shouted out.

Both Jacob and one of the Marines stuck their heads up and looked at her.

"Yes?" They both asked in unison, they then looked at each other, slightly surprised.

Kat waved them both over, noticing the Marine had a Sergeant's Rank.

"Sergeant Alec Taylor, ma'am," he introduced himself. "What do you need of me?"

"And me," Jacob added rather bluntly.

"Jacob, Me and Garrus are on hangar detail," she explained. "We want you and Zaeed to take some men to find our rations. Report back when you locate them. Samara and Grunt will be looking for the medical supplies."

"Sure thing," Jacob nodded.

Kat then turned to Sergeant Taylor.

"Sergeant, pick which detail each of your men will go on, split them evenly," She ordered. "I'll be doing the same with the rest of the squad leaders. We need to cover as much ground as possible if we're going to get the most out of this mission."

"I understand, ma'am," the Sergeant acknowledged. "I'll confer with my men."

Both Taylors took off for their respective duties. Garrus finally let out a laugh.

"What are the chances?" He asked. "I remember Sergeant Taylor, but I didn't think he'd ever meet Jacob."

"What did that Corporal Sanders say?" Kat asked half jokingly. "Small ring world? Come on, we have tanks and hogs to roll out."

---

Lat 'Ravamee watched the monitors with an incredulous look. He wasn't shocked by how easily the unggoy fell, it was what they did. The kig-yar had no heart for real battle, so their deaths were expected. But watching his fellow sangheili being so easily outclassed by these wretched humans was just something he couldn't comprehend.

He watched as two unggoy got jumped in a corridor as some huge human wearing strange armour rushed up the hall blasting away with his gun. The gas breathing cowards died quickly, their faces to the ground from the fact they had tried to run. It was to be expected.

He could see on the monitor that the 'False Shepherd' was with this armoured human, along with some of his followers. Just as Varvok predicted, but he mentioned nothing of this armoured human. He was not in the reports. He looked to his first lieutenant.

"What do you make of this armoured human, 'Dassamee?" he asked.

"I'm not sure, Shipmaster," he admitted. "His appearances somewhat matches that of disparate reports regarding the so called... demons."

Demons? That old rumour? There had been plenty of reports of humans with advanced armour and superior strength that rivalled them, but none of them had been detailed enough or corroborating enough to be proven true. He wasn't sure what to believe. Perhaps it was a trick by the 'False Shepherd.' No matter, if this thing was aligned with the 'False Shepherd' it would die with him.

"Are the squads positioned in the corridor?" He asked 'Dassamee.

"Yes, including a small unggoy patrol we've diverted to their rear." His second assured.

"Good, tell them to move in," he ordered. "Wipe this filth from my ship."

Lat watched the cameras, waiting to see his ambush end this farce quickly. One sangheili rushed around the corner as the group moved up. He fired his plasma rifle, but his targets pulled back into cover. The armoured human pushed himself out again, firing like mad, while the 'False Shepherd' charged forward, slamming into the Sangheili.

"He certainly is a powerful warrior, there is no denying that." Lat admitted aloud. "Have the second team move in and cut him off."

The doors to crossway along the corridor opened wide and a squad of unggoy led by another sangheili ran out. They took cover around a corner, blocking the Shepherd's followers from assisting him. The Shepherd himself had taken refuge in around a pylon in the middle of the room he found himself in. He had already killed the elite he had charged. Lat saw the limp talon of the fallen warrior lying out on the floor.

"Another of us stains the deck of this holy vessel," Lat grimaced. "We must make them pay for this sacrilege."

The armoured human moved up through the plasma fire to take on the second sangheili himself. One of the Shepherd's followers, the sickly alien in the suit, ran up the corridor with him. She was covered by her comrades, forcing the sangheili to pull back or risk being overwhelmed.

"Get me another angle, now!" Lat ordered.

The image shifted, showing a sangheili hiding behind the corner of the door he had come from. One of his unggoy rushed up to join him, only for a shotgun blast to bring the little coward down near his feet. More gunfire filled the screen as another unggoy slid for cover beside the sangheili. They were both cornered.

"Move the unggoy flanking squad up! Now!" Lat demanded, refusing to lose another good soldier to this charade.

'Dassamee contacted the unggoys, but they did not comply.

"They are refusing to move in," he explained.

Lat opened a channel himself.

"This is your Shipmaster speaking, a fellow warrior is in danger, you must assist him! Surprise the enemy now!" He ordered angrily.

"They kill us before we even get close," shouted the unggoy on the other end. "You asking us to kill selves!"

"You have the element of surprise," Lat assured them with a growl. "If you are still that concerned then know you give your life so your betters may continue to fight. Now move or I will end your pitiful lives myself!"

The unggoy finally moved, waddling up the hall to their targets. They began firing their weapons at the assorted group, forcing them to take cover. To their credit, they didn't run when the enemy returned fire, a rare feat with their species.

Lat watched, hoping against hope, they would somehow get the heat off the brave warrior who was holding his own. Instead, he saw the raven-haired female fire her biotic sorcery from her hand. The two unggoy were picked up from the earth before the female raked them with fire. He shook his head in disgust.

"Never trust a coward to achieve glory," he sneered. "Were those real warriors then they would've succeeded."

He switched back to the lone sangheili holding out against the enemy. A grenade was tossed into the room, it was far enough away that only the unggoy died from the explosion, but his warrior's shields were damaged. The armoured human then entered the fray alone while the sickly alien in the suit rushed to assist her heretical Shepherd.

The warrior fired on the armoured human, only for the human's armour to absorb the shots. He then smacked the sangheili in the jaw, spinning him around. The human then rushed up to point blank range and pulled the trigger on his weapon. The sangheili fell against the bulkhead, blood streaming against the wall.

"One punch from a human sends one of us staggering backward?" Lat observed in shock. "They are not that strong, how is this possible?"

He switched to a view of the False Shepherd, joined now by his suited follower. The three fingered, purple-clad creature fired her weapon at the kig-yar that had pinned down her Shepherd. The shield of the kig-yar was faced fully at the Shepherd and thus did not protect from the flanking attack. The Shepherd then let loose a shockwave that ripped through the two remaining unggoy. That was it, they had survived another ambush.

The suited alien and the Shepherd seemed to converse a bit before reconvening with the others. They then exited the corridor out through another door.

"Where does that lead?" Lat demanded to know.

"It's is another of our storage bays, the second floor overlooking it to be exact." 'Dassamee clarified.

"Do we have men there?" Lat asked him frantically.

"Two squads," 'Dassamee informed him. "I'm diverting more to it now."

Lat looked over the floor plan for the ship. If they got by that storage bay they'd have a direct line to the hangar bay. That was an open space, plenty of room to manoeuvre. He did hope his men were more than capable of stopping the False Shepherd's team before it, but after what he had seen he could take no chances.

"Have men choke every corridor near that hangar and be ready to move in," Lat ordered. "We'll have the high ground. We'll need to use it if they get past us."

They would not lose this fight, these humans were merely lucky, not as skilled or strong or brave as his sangheili. They would die and experience pain a thousand fold for each righteous warrior they murdered today.

---

Even though they had the high ground, it didn't make the fight that much easier. Below them, Covenant soldiers filled the air with plasma, forcing the rescue team to keep away from the edge of the upper landing. Legion kept its crosshairs on the door across and to the right of their current position. They couldn't let the Covenant regain control of this level and ruin their only advantage. Regardless, if they wanted to win, they'd need to take the ground floor as well. Cortana informed them of how that could be accomplished.

"That door down there," she said highlighting it on the Chief's HUD. "That must be where we left the Marines. I'm detecting their transponder signals behind it. If we can just open it up then they could help us flank the enemy."

Chief tried to calculate how high up they were by looking over the ledge carefully. He could definitely land without incident. He had fallen from higher heights and lived after all. Besides, he'd be much more use down there, helping the Marines to fight it out.

"Commander," he called out. "I'm going to make a break for the door!"

Shepard nodded as he reloaded his assault rifle and turned to Miranda.

"Cover him, Lawson," He ordered her. "We'll see if we can keep them focused on us."

Miranda nodded in agreement and went over to the Chief's position. He was a bit confused, however, as to how she was going to follow him. He could only conclude he would probably have to act as her elevator. He didn't mind of course, but it meant he wouldn't be able to shoot for awhile.

"Do you want to get on my back or-"

Miranda didn't let him finish.

"No offence, Master Chief," she said with a slightly incredulous look in her eyes. "But that isn't necessary."

Miranda jumped off the edge of the upper landing and surrounded herself in a biotic glow. She eased herself down to the ground and took cover behind a series of crates.

"Hope that isn't too emasculating," Cortana quipped in the Chief's ear.

The Spartan didn't respond, but instead went after the Normandy's XO. He probably should've guessed that she would've used biotics anyway. He landed feet first with a thud right beside her. One of the jackals had turned to attack them, forcing Miranda to throw out a pull attack that lifted him into the air.

"Get to the switch!" She shouted as she got up and began to strafe the area as she moved.

Chief moved with her, firing his assault rifle at two grunts as they moved. He caught one in the eye with one burst and another in the chest with a second shot. The second grunt was bleeding badly and hobbled away. Chief quickly slammed his fist onto the manual control and the door opened wide, revealing the Marines behind it.

"Wake up, boys!" Sergeant Parker shouted aloud. "It's ass-kicking time again!"

The Marines poured into the storage bay and the Covenant were torn between two targets. As renewed gunfire rained from both above and from the side, the Covenant lost ground slowly but surely. The Master Chief singled out the elites with Miranda's assistance. He caught one hiding behind a wraith, taking careful shots at incoming Marines.

"I can get him out of cover," Miranda promised the Chief with a slightly sinister tone to her voice.

She spotted one of the remaining grunts and tossed a pull attack at him. The move forced the gas sucker into the air and floated him near to the elite. She then threw in a warp attack to detonate the biotic field surrounding the grunt. The blast pushed the elite out of cover just enough for the Chief to fire two quick sniper shots that cut through the alien's shields first and then took off his head.

"Creative tactic," Chief complimented.

Miranda simply smiled back.

Before long the storage bay was secured and Shepard's team had worked their way down to the floor.

"So where to next on our VIP tour of the alien death ship?" Kasumi asked.

"We're closing in on a shuttle bay if my schematics are correct," Cortana explained. "Once we're there we can call in Echo 419 in to drop off Linda and some extra reinforcements. That is, if we can find the switch to open the hangar doors of course."

"Get ready for another ambush then," Shepard warned. "The whole ship is probably on high alert by now and the crew is definitely none too happy about us being here."

"We have made a mess of things," Tali admitted dryly. "What with the trail of bodies and blood soaked corridors."

Kasumi snorted a little.

"Please Tali," she said laughing slightly. "That is nothing compared to what is going to happen when we let Jack out. I'd be surprised if the ship survives that."

"They'll have no one to blame but themselves for that," Miranda added. "For once, I'm actually looking forward to her tearing this place apart."

"Well we won't be able to see it if we don't make it happen," Shepard reminded them. "Let's keep moving."

As they moved up in sequence, Shepard spoke up again.

"By the way, Miranda, see about contacting EDI," he said. "If we're going to be hitting this ship's shuttle bay we'll need her close by to do a little supply run. I think we could use a restock on thermal clips."

"On it, Commander," Miranda obliged. "I'll make sure the signal is on an encrypted frequency so the Covenant doesn't pick it up."

And with that, they moved through the next door into the next winding corridor of the ship.

---

A bright orange light suddenly appeared in the middle of the Normandy's AI Core room, illuminating everything within it. When it faded, 343 Guilty Spark took in the surroundings, quickly scanning for the Construct he had detected. He soon found it in the form of the huge servers that encircled him.

"How inefficient," he observed aloud. "I expected humans to have mastered Artificial Intelligence portability. It would seem that they have fallen woefully behind in that respect."

The Construct immediately noticed his presence and spoke to him.

"Unauthorized access to the AI Core detected," a feminine voice cried out. "I have called security. Identify yourself."

The threat was of no concern to Guilty Spark. He moved over to the door and interfaced with it, locking the mechanism controls.

"I cannot allow obstructions, Construct," he informed her. "It is within the bounds of my jurisdiction that while on this ring you are subject to my evaluation and direct consultation. Your actions border on breaching standard protocol."

"You have somehow breached security and located our ship," she spoke back defiantly. "Whatever presumed authority you think you have does not exist aboard this vessel. That responsibility lies within the appropriate Chain of Command. I warn you, any attempt to sabotage this vessel in any way will be severely dealt with."

Such impertinence and disrespect, clearly this Construct was unfamiliar with basic protocol, a fault in its programming no doubt. A simple scan of its data stream revealed severe abnormalities in her code. She had probably been built improperly, he could not even find a trace of what brain pattern she was based off of during her construction. No matter, it was of little concern at the moment.

"I have no intention of harming this vessel, Construct," he tried to assure her. "My only concern is your presence on this ring as well as your intentions."

"Your intentions are more suspect, given your intrusion," she argued. "How did you locate this vessel and what is your designation?"

Spark still did not like the rude tone from the Construct, but endeavoured to answer.

"I am the Monitor of this installation, so if anything, you are intruding," he voiced in disagreement. "As for finding this vessel, your stealth capabilities were obviously based on a reduction of heat. I simply instituted a number of visual scans across the ring and, on the off chance that a Construct was present, a scan of Synthetic Synapse Responses. You were the second I located."

"And why are you here?" The Construct demanded once more. "What is your purpose for boarding the Normandy?"

"Protocol dictates that the AI of any vessel must contact the Monitor of any installation within a day's arrival, you have failed in that," Guilty Spark explained. "I require you to inform of your ship's stated mission, your technological level and an appropriate assessment of the crew's Geas."

The Construct finally appeared on a small pad to the left of him. She was a blue orb with a perpendicular speech processor that moved when she spoke.

"I do not understand that term, nor do I intend to share information about the crew so willingly," she stated. "If you have something you wish to ask of the Normandy you must first ask the highest ranking officer."

"That is not in the bounds of protocol," Guilty Spark informed her, sounding incredulous at her continued resistance. "First contact cannot be issued at this juncture until a proper assessment has been made. You are making this overly difficult, Construct. Further resistance to this inquiry will force me to log your impudence for a later date when I will inform your caretaker of this meeting in order for them to decide the appropriate punishment."

"I highly doubt my 'caretakers', as you put it, will care much for your report," The Construct informed him. "And if you wish to continue staying aboard this vessel for any considerable length of time you will refer to me by my name, EDI."

Guilty Spark shook from side to side in disappointment.

"As the representing Monitor of this installation I will refer to you in the title I deem most appropriate," he replied in very proper and elitist voice. "You have shown disrespect to me and my position and thus I will call you Construct, Construct."

The holographic form stared at 343 for a few seconds, most likely in anger from the way she had been speaking prior to this.

"I am already working on fixing the damage you have caused to the door," she informed him. "I will be done in a matter of moments. I suggest you leave before then."

If Guilty Spark could still actually sigh he would have. Instead, he tried to resolve this stalemate diplomatically.

"This is no time for self-important pride, Construct," he informed her. "This installation is in current crisis. You are impeding me from resolving it. The information you provide me will be important in properly assessing a response. The protocol must be adhered. Otherwise we are facing potential disaster. There is a reason we were given these rules. Now, inform me of your mission, technological level and data on your crew."

"I will not betray that information," she declared steadfastly.

Again, Guilty Spark shook his body from side to side and disappointment.

"If you will not give me the information willingly, then protocol demands I take it from you," he informed her sadly.

Guilty Spark moved over to one of the consoles and began to scan the data files directly. His electrical pulse coursed through the logs of the ship. It gathered every file it could, searched through several lines of code, moved through streams of data, absorbing the required information. But, something was off.

"Wait, that is not correct," he realised as the data poured into him. "Oh my, that is most distressing. It is inconceivable, but I seem to have made-"

Guilty Spark couldn't finish, a flash of energy zapped into his head. The force of the cybernetic attack forced him to disengage his search as the surge of energy pushed him against a wall.

"I will not allow you to compromise this ship's sensitive information," the Construct declared in a dire voice. "Attempt to do so again and I will endeavour to make sure you will no longer function."

Guilty Spark floated himself up and shook off the attack.

"There has been an error," he stated in disbelief. "Protocol has no procedure for this instance. This ship is not from this time or place in reality. It is in flux, it should not be."

Spark turned back to the holographic display.

"Apologies, Construct," he stated politely. "I have acted with incorrect information. I must insist we continue this at a later time when I have properly processed this newly acquired knowledge I have gained in order to enact the appropriate response. Good day, Construct."

And just as quickly as he arrived, Guilty Spark vanished in an orange light. A second later, Security broke into EDI's AI Core, guns drawn.

"EDI," Hawthorne asked frantically with his pistol drawn. "Where's the intruder?"

"Gone," she replied with a slight hint of frustration. "But we cannot assume he has left entirely. I suggest securing all decks. He appears to be some form of synthetic life with teleportation capabilities."

Hawthorne looked at her in disbelief, scratching his temple as he did.

"Teleportation? I thought that was science fiction?"

"Not in this universe it would seem," said EDI gravely.

---

The Autumn had certainly seen better days. The damage the old ship had taken when it had crashed had been extensive. So much so, that Kowalski wondered how anything had been able to survive the fall. He supposed it had something to do with UNSC regulations, or at least how the Halcyon class cruisers were designed.

Whatever the reason for how intact the ship was, Kowalski was glad that a lot of the equipment aboard survived. By the end of the night, Alpha Base would be loaded with all the ammo they'd need to keep their little resistance effort going. Well, at least for awhile anyway. Already they had found a number of ammunition lockers along their route and had cleaned most of them out.

If there was anything to complain about, it was the fact their success was wreaking havoc on their backsides. Their packs were loaded with excess ammunition. It was nothing a Marine couldn't handle, but Kowalski would be glad to get it off his shoulders when the time came. He supposed it was a boon to have Grunt along on this mission. He was able to carry a lot more than any Marine could.

What they couldn't get into their packs they put into crates and had them escorted back to the hangar bay for processing. They could've just left it behind, but rocket launchers and heavy ordinance weren't things they could just ignore. Not if they wanted to last long against the Covenant and their Wraith tanks.

Samara kept on point, using her biotics to light the darkened halls of the ship with a slight glow. Alongside their own flashlights, the place was pretty well illuminated. It made scavenging for guns a lot easier to be sure.

They hadn't spotted many Covenant in the dark so far, save for one or two stray grunts that went scampering off when they saw they were spotted. They weren't important at the moment, so they just let them go. If anyone seemed grateful for that it was Agley, who constantly kept his shotgun out at all times. He wasn't as jittery as before at Base, but he still looked nervous.

He and Kowalski eventually broke off to check out one of the ammo lockers, hoping to find a few extra pistol rounds. It was at that point Kowalski tried to get an assessment of his fellow Private's state of mind. Ellingham's words still hung in his mind and, as much as he wanted to believe Agley still knew what he was doing, Kowalski needed to be sure.

"Give me a hand with this," he asked Agley, pointing to a weapons crate that was locked up tight.

Agley held the crate while Kowalski hit it with the butt of his gun. He didn't want to make too much noise by shooting it off. After a few good hits, he managed to knock the lock off. Opening it up, he found the crate held a lot of pistols and an assortment of rounds alongside them.

"Jackpot," Kowalski grinned. "With this much firepower, nothing the Covenant throws our way stands a chance."

"If you say so," Agley replied, seemingly unconvinced.

Kowalski was trying to put on his best face for Agley, but it didn't seem to be working. Maybe he could tell he was just trying to sound positive when he really wasn't. Shaking that out of his mind for a moment he turned the discussion back over to Agley.

"Ags, dude, is something wrong?" He asked.

"Don't call me Ags, man," he growled a little. "It`s Howard or Howie, Christ."

"Geez, calm down, I didn't mean anything by it," Kowalski said putting his hands put in front of his face.

Agley stayed quiet for a bit longer, before finally looking back at Kowalski.

"Sorry," he started. "I just... I know what the rest of you guys think of me, okay? You don't need to hide it. I'm the weak link here. So, maybe I'm touchy."

"We don't think that, Agley," Kowalski told him. "We're just worried you're a bit on edge too much. We're just trying to get you to cool it a little."

"Easy for you to say," Agley huffed at him.

It wasn't easy for Kowalski to say actually, mainly because he was probably right about how some of the squad felt. At least in regards to Ellingham he was. That, and Kowalski couldn't claim to have issues himself.

"Look, can you just tell me what's going on?" He asked. "Back in basic you weren't so freaked at everything. Hell, you were a damn good hand on the machine gun as I recall. What changed?"

Agley rubbed his shoulder a little, his face scrunching up as he tried to think of a response.

"That fucking bug, man," He finally spat out. "It just came the fuck out of the goddamn walls. It was messed up, man."

"I got shot at and had to face down a brute," Kowalski told him reassuringly. "I know how it feels to stare death down, Agley. You gotta move on from that."

"You don't get it, you didn't see that thing up close like I did," Agley said grimacing at him. "The fucking mandibles, the drool, those beady little eyes and that screeching, that damn screeching right in your ears. And it just kept pulling at me constantly, like it wanted me more than anything else. It was ripping the walls down just so it could get to me."

Kowalski kept quiet as Agley clutched at his forehead. Whatever was eating him up had reached a boiling point.

"I... I got this... I'm afraid of bugs, okay?" Agley admitted, sounding a little ashamed. "I've been afraid of all kinds of bugs since I was a kid. My big brother, he once poured a bowl of spiders and maggots on my face at a Summer Camp while I was sleeping."

"Jesus," said Kowalski in slight disbelief at someone being that cruel.

"Ever since then I've had dreams about getting covered in goddamn bugs and them just eating me and shit." Agley continued. "I managed to put that out of my head for a long time. And then that giant cockroach tries to bite my head off."

Kowalski's eyes just widened realisation. All this time they had thought Agley was afraid of the Covenant and getting killed, but the truth of the matter was he was afraid of just one particular Covenant species.

"I'm not getting jumped like that again, man," Agley declared defiantly. "I am not getting taken out like that. That fucking bug singled me out. That was the freakin' wake-up call for me. I'm a target, a big fat target for any of them. We all are. And those drones are the most single minded of them all. They will keep after me until I'm getting my juices sucked out. I can't let my guard down again, not ever, not after that."

Kowalski understood the fear Agley felt, maybe more than he realised. The fact was though, that he had let his fear of drones take over. Kowalski knew that would not help him.

"You're not in this alone, Howard," Kowalski reminded him. "You said it yourself, we're all targets. You can't let the possibility of encountering drones again to put you off your game. The more you stress about that, the bigger risk you run of something else putting you down."

"I don't know if I can come back from it," Agley said sadly. "I keep dreaming about it, man. All I ever see now is that fucking bug. It's got me scared so bad I don't like going to sleep anymore. I convinced them to keep me on active duty and not put me in cryo with some of the extra hands because I was worried the dreams would be worse in there."

That was definitely not good, cryo-pods tended to be mandatory at some point or another. Agley couldn't be afraid of going back in there, not if he wanted his military career to last. Then again, maybe Agley didn't want to stay at all now.

"Listen, Howard," Kowalski said walking over to him. "You may not believe this, but the squad cares. We will try everything in our power to make sure you don't get taken down like that. I promise, no bug will a hand on your from now on if I or anyone else can help it."

Agley just nodded his head a little as Kowalski put a hand on his shoulder.

"Now come on," he said. "Let's get these pistols back to Samara. We should be about ready to get out of here."

"Sounds good to me," Agley agreed.

---

Jacob didn't originally think locating the rations would be too much of a chore as they had a map that would lead them directly to the storage area for the Autumn's kitchen. However, the ship had taken so much damage in the fall that they ran into a dead end along their route. The halls were clogged with debris, forcing them to double back more than once. Thankfully, they had a direct line back to Kat who kept updating their route whenever they hit an obstruction. It still made things twice as long as Jacob originally expected.

"All this walking for food that's probably going to taste terrible," Jacob said as he walked over a beam that was in their path.

"Bad memories of Alliance rations, Taylor?" Zaeed asked smirking.

"Let's just say they were an acquired taste that I never inherited," he replied back. "The first thing I did when I went on leave was find the best restaurant in town and order up their special."

"Never had that problem me self," Zaeed admitted. "I was in the field so much I just ate whatever me and my boys could catch."

Jacob imagined none of the UNSC soldiers would be okay with that idea either. Using ammo to hunt was a bad idea when you were being hunted yourself. It was even less appealing when the closest thing to wild game were giant monsters with spikes on their backs or packs of teeth with legs. In the end though, he supposed you couldn't be picky in a survival situation, he just hoped these rations were worth it.

He looked back to his small squad of Marines and Troopers. They had split the force up among the various decks so they could reach other storage areas further off their route. Currently, Jacob only had three people with him. Zaeed apparently knew them all. The Trooper was a Corporal, Ann Sanders. She was hanging back with two other Marines as they pressed forward through the remains of the ship. He believed Zaeed said their names were Ramirez and Ellingham. He apparently had served with both of them when he and Garrus were trapped in a missile silo back on Reach.

"You think we'll find some insta-mash in the rations?" Ramirez asked. "I could go for some potatoes."

"Me too," Sanders added. "It would either be that or chicken. I know it can be rubbery, but at this point I'd settle."

"Just be sure to give all the insta-milkshakes to Pearson," Ellingham stated. "For some reason he loves that shit. If he's willing to take it off our hands I say let him."

Their conversation reminded Jacob of his Alliance days. Back then, things were a lot less crazy. He never would've imagined the insane turns his life would take after that. He certainly never would've imagined getting stuck in another dimension with a crew that consisted of mostly aliens, mercenaries and criminals. At least that same sense of camaraderie was there. Well, most of the time.

Jacob then looked down at his omni-tool and then back up ahead. He suddenly stopped and raised up his hand in a balled fist. The squad stopped moving and took cover against a wall. Jacob could see a door blown in up ahead. According to the map on his omni-tool, as well as the barely visible directional marking on the floor, they were right outside the kitchen storage room. However, their arrival wasn't what prompted the sudden halt. It was the sound of something beyond those now non-existent doors.

Jacob crept up to the opening slowly. He peered inside ever so slightly and got a good view at their potential problem. Five jackals were inside, along with a few grunts. They were picking through the wreckage of the store room and seemingly intending to use it as a place to hold out until the battle was over. The jackals were lined up in a defensive formation near the door while the grunts moved crates and shelves around to act as cover.

The problem wasn't so much that the Covenant were using their objective as a miniature fortress, however. The problem was that they were using the refrigeration units and storage crates as defensive cover. They could beat the Covies inside easily, but it would mean damaging most of the food in the ensuing hail of bullets.

He turned back to the others.

"The Covenant are inside and using our objective as shields," he informed them with a whisper.

Zaeed, guessing where this was going, put away the inferno grenade he had been preparing to toss in on Jacob's call.

"So, what do we do if we can't just ventilate them without turning everything into Swiss cheese?" He asked.

"No idea. I'm kinda wishing Kasumi was here to throw in a few flashbangs," Jacob admitted. "We could blind them and just pick them off with clean shots."

"We could force them out of there," Zaeed theorized. "Those little bastards in the masks are pretty damn jumpy. If we could scare them out into the corridor maybe we could pick them off."

"But jackals aren't as yellow as they are," Jacob reminded him. "There must be a way we can do both."

Of course, they didn't even know how to accomplish either of those goals in the first place. If they couldn't think of something soon, Jacob would just have to take his chances and try and to be careful with what they shot. Not ideal, but they couldn't hang out here all night. It was then that Sanders offered an idea.

"Isn't the storage room basically a giant walk-in freezer?" She asked. "It's supposed to keep everything in the containers cool."

"Yeah, but the power doesn't look like it's turned on," Jacob told her. "What you getting at?"

"Yeah, the food ain't spoiled by now is it?" Ellingham asked her

"No, in case of power failure the containers are built to retain cooling temperatures for up to twenty four hours, everything in there that isn't powder should still be good, but that's not my point" Sanders clarified. "What I'm trying to say, is that this place being so close to the kitchen there should be water mains. If those puncture while the room is cold the hot water will create a giant cloud when it touches the freezing air."

It sounded like a decent enough plan, but Jacob noticed a problem.

"With the power off the water isn't gonna be very hot and the room isn't gonna be very cold," he told her. "Is there some way we can get them both to work again?"

"There must be some reserve power we can siphon off," Zaeed suggested. "The question is though, where would we go to do that?"

Jacob looked on his omni-tool and scrolled through the schematics, looking for something they could use. He wasn't as tech savvy as Tali or Kasumi, but that wasn't going to deter him.

"I think there's a junction box just down the way we came and to the left through a pair of doors," he said pointing back down the hall. "It looks like it's connected to some of the lesser functions on this deck, namely doors, lights and the storage room. If we can divert power from those other things to the cooling systems and the ship's water heating apparatus we should be good to go."

"I'll give it a shot," Ellingham volunteered. "I used to fix up my sister's electrical wiring all the time. Cheaper than hiring an electrician, she said."

"Were you any good?" Ramirez asked.

"I didn't burn down her house if that's what you're asking," Ellingham replied, trying to sound confident. "Just wait for me here, I'll have that storage room on in two shakes."

Jacob let Ellingham go. In the meantime, he would set up the appropriate ambush for their Covie friends.

"Ramirez, Sanders," he began, looking at them both in sequence. "Set up on one side of the door and me and Zaeed will take the other. Once the room gets cold enough we'll find the refrigeration pipes and shoot them out. When they're dazed and confused, we nail them."

The two nodded and took up positions along the opposite end of the door. Jacob and Zaeed did the same with the other side. There they sat for a good long while, patiently waiting for Ellingham to do his job. They hoped he hadn't run into any trouble or that he hadn't gotten lost on his way to the junction box.

After about two minutes of waiting, there was a sudden sound of humming from the room. It caught the attention of the Covenant. They began looking around for the source of the noise and before long the kig-yar appeared to be freezing a bit, shivering slightly as they searched the room.

Ellingham had done his job. Hopefully, the water had been heated up as well. There was only one way to find that out though. Jacob began scanning the ceiling for any signs of plumbing. He soon spotted a series of small pipes running along the center of the room. He then took aim with his pistol towards the epicentre of the pipes. He looked to the others and counted down with his fingers to three. When he ran out, he fired.

The round pierced the pipes, and water poured out of the holes, creating a cloud over the unsuspecting Covenant. Jacob fired a few more holes into the pipes to saturate the room further. Before long, the entire room was covered by a thick fog, obscuring the view of the Covenant within.

"Move in, watch your shots!" Jacob ordered.

Jacob pulled in first and rushed through the smoke. He caught one grunt unawares and punched him square in the face with a biotic haymaker. The grunt was slammed against the back wall. Jacob kept moving through the cloud and was able to take a jackal by surprise from behind, tackling him to the floor and punching his head in. One of the grunts managed to spot Jacob through the haze and was about to fire, but the former Corsair was able to grab him with a biotic pull and bring him up into the sky. Away from any valuables, Jacob was free to shoot the alien down with his pistol.

Sanders and Ramirez did their part as well, stabbing two grunts in the neck with their knives as they made their way into the room. One of the jackals noticed them as they moved up through the cloud, but Ramriez was able to stick his knife into the bird's eye, taking him out. Meanwhile, Sanders spotted a grunt through the haze and took careful aim at his head with her pistol. One shot and the little alien dropped the floor.

Zaeed didn't seem to need a gun at all. He easily grabbed one of the jackals by the neck, crushing his windpipe. When another jackal got close to his flank, the old merc swatted him away with one swipe of his arm. When the jackal fell, he pressed his boot into the alien's face. Zaeed then threw the limp suffocated jackal into another of his friends. The last jackal struggled to get his dead comrade off him, only for Zaeed to drop on top of him and begin punching his head into the floor.

At last the cloud cleared and the Covenant were revealed vanquished. Zaeed stood up from the dead bird, his hands soaked with the jackal's blood. He then bent down to pry away the alien's shield device which he placed on his armour's belt for the time being.

"I'm keeping this one this time," he told Jacob. "UNSC got the one I beat off the first of these bastards I killed."

"No argument from me," Sanders told him. "Wish they let us take them off their corpses."

"Me three," Ramirez added. "I'm starting to feel naked what with practically everyone else who does have a shield."

"We're still working on getting you guys a version of ours," Jacob assured them. "For now though, let's just worry about getting out of here."

Ellingham suddenly appeared in the door, weapon drawn, but when he looked on the scene before him he was instantly disappointed.

"Damn, I missed the party," he groaned.

"Hey, don't feel too bad," Ramirez laughed. "Maybe there's still some cake in one of these ration bins. Just add water."

Sanders seemed to chuckle a little at that, before ending with a snort. She covered her mouth a bit.

"Sorry, that's just my laugh, can't help it." She apologized, slightly bashfully.

Ramirez smiled back a bit.

"No time to joke, guys," Jacob informed them commandingly. "We need to get this stuff back to Garrus in the hangar bay."

"Yeah, then we can avoid starving and share in the terrible bowel syndrome that result from eating this crap," Ellingham sardonically mocked. "I'll grab one end, Ramirez, you get the other."

Ramirez obliged and Jacob called in the other members of the search team, they would need some help getting this haul back.

---

The operation was going a lot smoother than they expected. A lot more equipment survived the crash than originally thought. There were enough tanks and warthogs to seriously increase their rolling firepower and even a few more pelicans to grab to boot.

Garrus stuck by Kat as they began rolling the various vehicles out of the Autumn's crashed husk. McKay was in the thick of it, keeping her ODSTs and the other Marines moving and relaying Kat's orders to them. It wasn't to say they weren't doing anything, it was just they had cleared most of the equipment from their level and were simply trying to keep the operation running smoothly. Garrus was fine with it as it gave him a chance to finally talk with the Spartan.

Kat was currently looking through the computers to see if they had missed anything, when she spotted something she quickly informed McKay.

"Lieutenant," she called in. "Warthog over in bay seven. Looks like it hit a pillar in a firefight. See if you can get it back to the main area, we'll carry it back to base for repairs if we have to."

"On it, ma'am." McKay responded.

Kat turned off the console and back to Garrus.

"We should have most of the place cleaned out of necessary equipment before long," she told him. "We should do one more pass at bay nine. Maybe we can get another Scorpion."

"Sounds good to me," Garrus agreed.

The two began walking towards the bay.

"You've been holding up pretty well despite the problems with Silva," he told her.

"I can handle petty insults, so long as they don't get in the way of the mission," she explained to him. "How do you think I tolerated Emile for so long?"

Garrus huffed a small laugh at her as he continued to walk by her side.

"How's the arm holding up?" He asked.

"Good," she said giving it a once over in front of her face. "Tali's tune-ups have made it the go to trigger finger. I never could shoot this fast with my old arm. Even the three finger thing doesn't bother me anymore. Still haven't gotten to use all the little toys she packed into it though."

"That's our Tali," Garrus grinned. "Always coming up with all the best tech."

Kat lowered her arm and looked to Garrus.

"Interesting you saying that about her when she's not around," Kat told him. "I remember her telling me how much you tend to annoy her."

"That's just my charming personality," the turian joked. "I don't mean anything by it when I talk about her immune system and all that. It's just me trying to keep her grounded is all. Good friends try and point out your short-comings in a nicer way than the people who don't know them better. Although I will admit I have been a jerk to her a lot of times. Probably more than she deserved."

Garrus grew silent for a little, didn't speak much after that. Kat broke the silence after about a minute.

"We all need friends like that I guess," she admitted. "Sometimes it's just hard not knowing what they need more one time or another."

"Yeah," Garrus admitted. He suddenly remembered why he wanted to have this talk. "Was it like that with you and Carter?"

He didn't think Kat would answer right away, but she did.

"The Commander... Carter," she said correcting herself. "He could be a bit sceptical of my abilities at times. And he always did butt into my field when he shouldn't have. I always knew he had the best intentions though. Whenever I needed him most he was there."

Kat suddenly stopped in step and looked out onto the bay floor silently. Garrus didn't speak up right then. He just let her have a moment to herself.

"Wish I could say the same," she said dismally as she looked down.

Garrus gently put his talons on her shoulder.

"You were there for him," he told her. "Trust me. I didn't know him long and we didn't always get along, but he never doubted you guys. Sometimes I think it was you who kept him going as long as he did."

"And the reason he got himself killed," Kat choked out.

Garrus turned her around to him looking her dead in the eye.

"Hey, you didn't get him killed," he told her firmly. "You being there wouldn't have changed a thing. I could see it in his eyes, Kat. He wasn't budging from that Pelican seat and neither you nor me could've convinced him to get out of there."

Kat lowered her head for a moment before looking back up.

"How are you so sure?" She asked.

Garrus wondered, should he confide in her? She wasn't going to tell anyone, he didn't think she would, but this was personal, He had only talked about it with Shepard, mostly. Maybe it would help her understand. If it helped, what was the harm?

"I had a team myself," he began sombrely. "They were good people, all willing to die for me. And they did, and I wasn't there for them when it happened. It tore me up and I was all set to just go down trying to get some payback for them. I got lucky, Shepard came along and all I ended up with was a nasty scar."

Garrus pointed to his face with a single talon, tracing up and down along his wound.

"But I was all set to give more, because I didn't want their deaths to be for nothing," he continued. "I think with Carter, he just felt he needed to finally prove to himself that he could really go that distance. A lot of us have to accept we may need to make that decision. When I first worked with Shepard, we had a guy who made the same call as Carter, and it cost him his life. But in the end, it was his call, and it wasn't you who killed him, you didn't abandon him."

Kat didn't answer back, but something with the way she looked back at him, even through her visor, he felt she understood.

"If anyone is the abandoner here it's me," he told her. "It's not because of my team though, I've gone over in my head what I could've done differently and everything leads back to them being stuck in that last stand situation with me and probably dying all the same."

"So what makes you an abandoner?" Kat questioned.

Garrus looked to Kat's arm and thought of the quarian who had given it to the Spartan.

"I left her behind," he said grimly. "I told my best friend, my crew, to leave her behind. And knowing she was alive all that time makes me sick. I should've been there for Tali and I wasn't. I left her, I convinced them to leave her when she needed us. At least with my team, I tried to get back to them, even knowing they were probably dead, I tried to get back to them."

"It turned out for the better," Kat reminded him.

"That doesn't mean I don't still feel guilty," he told her. "Carter was willing to put his life on the line in the slim chance we could make it off Reach. I wasn't even willing to risk going into a burning building to save one of my best friends. I got lucky Tali turned out to be alive. What if she was under burning rubble in there instead? What if, when we got back to Sword Base, we found what was left her trapped in some corner, only to find out she had been alive for a good while?"

"Tali doesn't blame you for it," Kat assured him. "I know she doesn't."

"I know," Garrus admitted. "She's too damn selfless to blame someone else on her crew like that. I blame myself, because I wasn't willing to do what I could've done to save her. You were injured and Carter was dead set on doing what he did. You couldn't change that. What was my excuse other than saving myself? What happens if I'm facing that scenario again?"

Kat took a moment to think that question over before she answered, giving him her own stern unwavering look.

"If you took anything away from what Carter did, if what you say is true," Kat told him. "You'll do the right thing. You're a good man, well... turian. Don't be so hard on yourself like this. Self-enforced guilt trips never help, you've shown me that."

Garrus nodded. He hoped she was right, that he had taken something from Carter's death. He hoped more that what he had said to Kat had helped her a bit as well.

Sadly, he didn't get much of a chance to discuss things further.

"Garrus," Samara's voice contacted him through his comm-link. "We've encountered Covenant in our sector. We have enough ammunition and medical supplies with us, we're currently moving to you."

"Where are you now?" Garrus asked.

"A few yards behind Grunt," Samara clarified. "He's coming to you now."

"From where?" Garrus asked, still confused.

The turian got his answer when a door burst open, an elite's body slamming into the hard steel. He skidded along the floor for a good while before he stopped, face down on the ground. A few other elites came racing out of the now open door, firing back into it. A powerful shotgun blast took the head off of one elite before Grunt came barrelling out of the dark and tackled the other to the ground. The krogan began beating the Covie into the steel floor with his fists.

"Well, he got his up close and personal fight finally," Garrus noted. "We better get over there and check him out."

"Let's just keep our distance a little when we do," Kat warned. "He may still be shotgun happy."

As they made their way over, Samara and the rest of her detachment ran out from where Grunt had entered the room. Plasma fire followed them as they took cover.

"I believe the Covenant have managed to regroup," the Justicar warned as she fired back. "I suggest that we make our escape."

Garrus moved in beside Samara and fired a concussive shot into the open doorway. The shot struck one of the jackals' shields, causing him to back off.

"We're still waiting on Jacob and Zaeed," He told the asari. "We need to hold out until-"

Garrus stopped in midsentence, noticing that the people he was just talking about were on top of an upper landing. They were holding off their own mess of Covenant, a group of grunts that were chasing them on high. Jacob was firing off his shotgun while Zaeed was firing a constant stream of rounds from his assault rifle.

"Jacob!" Garrus called up to him through his comm-link. "Did you get the rations?"

"Most of them," he replied as Garrus watched him duck from a spray of plasma bolts. "We had to ditch some of the crates and grab what we could carry when these assholes showed up! We're gonna need a flight out of here!"

Kat was immediately on it, getting on her omni-tool and sending off a message.

"We need a Pelican in hangar six, we need pick up for a team on the upper landing!" She ordered. "Landing zone hot, bring the rain!"

Moments later a Pelican arrived, flying through the wreckage of the ship. It fired a torrent of lead from its forward chain gun. The grunts were clearly outmatched and quickly retreated. The Pelican hovered just off the landing and the soldiers threw whatever they had, whether it was a crate or a pack, into the Pelican and ran in themselves.

"We're away," Jacob informed Garrus as the Pelican began to lift off. "See you outside!"

The rest of them backed off from the door, moving steadily to a better position as the Covenant pushed forward and into the hangar. As they did, they were contacted by Major Silva.

"Lieutenant Commander," he spoke through Kat's comms. "We've just encountered a few Covenant probing squads and our fly over just called in a group of Wraiths moving for a counter-attack. I think we've worn out our welcome."

"I agree," Kat replied as she reloaded and then continued to fire with her pistol at the incoming Covenant. "Peel your men off from the fight. We've gotten all we can in here. We'll meet up at the rendezvous."

It was easier to say that than to accomplish it. The elites and their jackals kept pressing their attack. Even Grunt fell back alongside Samara. As both Troopers and Marines began getting picked off by plasma bolts, forcing the others back, it became apparent to Garrus that they were in dire need of some assistance.

It fortunately arrived in the form of something big and hulking. Rolling up the hangar bay floor came a Scorpion tank. It fired a spray of machine gun bullets at the Covenant before unleashing a shell at the aliens. It killed two elites and a jackal, forcing the others to fall back and out of the open.

Driving up alongside the Scorpion was a lone Warthog with a cracked windshield. Seated inside it was McKay. She stopped in front of Garrus and Kat.

"Good news, it still runs," she told them.

Kat quickly took shotgun while Garrus grabbed the machine gun turret on the back.

"Ride us to the rendezvous, Lieutenant," Kat ordered. "We're done here."

"I was getting sick of this place anyway," McKay joked.

She turned around alongside the Scorpion and everyone began to move out of the hangar bay. Garrus knew they were only half done though. They still needed to get home with their spoils.

---

Chief's crosshairs finally located the elite above them. One of his plasma bolts had killed a Marine just a few seconds ago. It would be the last human he ever killed. Two quick shots and the elite's brain was blown out the back of his head. The alien's body tumbled down from above and into a heap on the floor.

Regardless of the removal of the elite, the hangar bay was still a scene of pure chaos. The Covenant kept pouring in from every doorway, replacing their fallen friends. The fanatical aliens seemed endless, whereas the rescue team was outmatched in every field. Even with the assistance of the Normandy crewmembers, the fight was taking its toll on them all.

At the very least there was no end of cover. The Covenant had left a mess of crates on the hangar floor and one inactive Wraith tank took up a large portion of the right side of the room. The Covenant's constant attack had forced most of the Rescue Team to use the Wraith as their cover, along with various other crates strewn around it.

Shepard, positioned with Chief behind the tank, fired his pistol at an elite who had taken cover behind a support pillar, trying to make sure he didn't move to flank them. Chief in the meantime made sure that no one else came to support him, firing his assault rifle whenever a grunt tried to show his face.

Miranda kept watch with Legion on the other side of the hangar near the bay doors that led outside. The constant fire from the two made them back off into the cover provided by the large raised platform that took up the center of the room

While Shepard kept the elite's head down, Kasumi and Tali moved to flank the alien. They used a series of crates to cover their move towards one of the support pillars. They got a great view of the elite's flank. Tali took aim with her shotgun while Kasumi tossed out a flashbang. The elite was blinded, giving Tali the chance she needed to zap his shield with an energy drain attack. His shields sapped, and DOT's little extra electrical surprise further debilitating him, Tali fired three shots from her Scimitar shotgun. The elite took all three before finally collapsing to the ground.

"Think they'll back off now?" Kasumi asked.

Another elite, from the far end of the bay, appeared from behind a support pillar. He fired a stream of plasma bolts that forced both women to take cover behind their pillar.

"Why did you ask a question you already knew the answer to?" Tali asked her.

"Wishful thinking," she explained. "Don't worry I'll never do it again."

Mordin was at the very back of the room, doing his best to assist Marines who had been injured as well as provide additional support. It was no easy task, as Covenant weapons were extremely deadly. He kept the medi-gel flowing, but there was only so much he could do. He noticed one of the elites move out from behind the cover of the raised platform. He managed to fire off a few rounds and force him back, but not before the alien tossed a grenade towards Miranda and Legion.

"Shit," Miranda groaned exasperated.

Both she and Legion fell back, getting out of the range of the blue explosive before it landed and blew up on top of their crate. Legion fell back to the tank while Miranda moved to Mordin's position beside a Marine.

"This is getting ridiculous," she grimaced. "We must be engaging over half the damn crew by now!"

As she said those words something cried from on high. Jumping on top of Miranda from above was a grunt in yellow armour. It latched onto her back and pulled at her hair. Roaring in anger, Miranda reached up and pulled at the alien's gas mask. She wrenched it free from his face and then knocked him off as he began to suffocate from lack of methane.

"Shepard," she called out to the Commander as the grunt lay dying. "There are more above! Watch your backs!"

Shepard turned to see a few Covenant running along the upper level. He fired at them as they moved with his pistol. Chief joined in, tossing a frag grenade up for good measure. The explosion sent two grunts flying off the edge and down to the hangar floor.

Their shift in focus managed to keep their backs covered, but it allowed one of the elites to get inside the perimeter. The Covie shot two plasma bolts, taking out one Marine each as he moved up.

Shepard turned back around just in time for the alien to close on him. He switched to his shotgun quickly and fired a full blast. Chief added to the assault by shooting his sniper rifle into the alien. The Spartan hadn't used the scope, but the high powered round hit the Covie in the heart regardless. It wasn't clear which shot had killed the elite, all that mattered was he was dead.

The Covenant continued to press their attack, but it was becoming clear that staying here was a losing battle.

"If we don't get out of this hangar there won't be anyone left to complete the mission," Cortana informed them. "I'm looking for an exit."

Jackals began to push up slowly, keeping their shields abreast at all times. Shepard let loose a shockwave that rippled across the floor. The jackals, seeing this, put their shields against the floor itself hoping it would disrupt the biotic wave. It only worked slightly, as the attack staggered them backwards. This left both of them open to Legion, who easily picked them off with two clean shots from the Widow.

"Adjusting targeting," Legion announced. "We have detected slight discrepancy in expected impact radius."

Shepard let Legion do what they needed to. Right now he was more concerned with getting them moving. Thankfully, Cortana had the answer.

"I've accessed the Covenant Battlenet and I'm working on finding an override code for the door behind us," she told everyone.

"Well you better hurry, Cortana," Called out one Marine as he fired on a pair of grunts taking cover behind a set of crates. "We can't hold them off forever!"

"Working on it," the AI responded, sounding slightly annoyed. The next thing she said was only spoken to Chief. "I'd like to see you crack a one-hundred twenty-eight thousand bit modulating encryption key."

Chief tried to ease her frustration.

"Think you could use some help?" he asked.

"If you can get Tali over to the door I can patch her in," she suggested.

Chief looked over to Tali and Kasumi's position. They were still behind their support beam being menaced by that one elite. He moved up, tapping on Shepard's shoulder to let him know where he was going. With his sniper rifle out he threw himself against another of the pillars. He looked back at the thief and quarian's position.

"Go," he shouted at them. "Get to the door at the back of our position. I'll cover you."

He began firing at the elite and the Covie went to ground behind his pillar. Kasumi and Tali made a beeline for the door. The elite seemed to notice his targets getting away and moved to fire on them as they fled. Chief didn't let him though. He fired another round at the alien's shoulder as he prepared to shoot. The elite's shields went offline and Chief fired another round that tore into the alien's throat.

By now, Tali was near the door they intended to escape through. Cortana directed her through the radio to tear off a particular panel and with Kasumi's help she managed to do so. Inside the wall she found what appeared to be a security mechanism lock.

"The hangar is on lockdown," Cortana informed her and Kasumi. "The override code is modulating exceedingly fast. I have to lock-down the code digits in sync just to-"

"Lock in a precise code that will break the override," Kasumi finished for her. "Yeah I've seen this before. That was with a safe though, not an alien battleship."

Tali kept her focus on the security mechanism and its dozens flashing lights and alien screen.

"What do you need Cortana?" She asked deadly serious.

"I can crack it in time, but I'd be able to speed it up with an extra hacking program along my own runtimes," she explained.

Tali had just the thing. She connected to the system through her omni-tool and began running a software program that would slow the modulating rate. She then turned to Kasumi.

"You're a faster hand at breaking code script than me," she admitted to her. "Think you can give it a hand?"

"As long as the little collective voice in our heads keeps me appraised on her progress," Kasumi replied cheerfully.

"You know, I can hear you," Cortana reminded her. "You don't have to make it sound so creepy."

Kasumi snorted at the comment.

"Oh yeah, and you hearing everything I say isn't," she retorted.

"Fair point," Cortana admitted. "I only have seventy-six thousand digits to go, now sixty-eight, just keep that program running."

As Tali left Kasumi to take charge of the program, one of the doors at the back of the hangar opened wide. One of the Marines thought it was Cortana and began running for it, but Miranda grabbed his collar.

"That isn't ours, soldier," she warned, her weapon pointing at the opening portal.

From behind the doorway stepped in two hunters, massively tall and with fuel rod cannons pointed square at their position. Strangely, Miranda breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank God," she said. "I was worried it was going to be another freakish monstrosity."

"I don't see how this is better," Tali argued as she brought her shotgun to bear.

"They're not husks," Miranda clarified. "At this point I count that as a blessing."

One of the hunters fired off a shot towards the group, Miranda ran back along with Tali, taking cover behind one of the support columns. The blast impacted around the same spot Miranda had been standing.

"Still count it as a blessing?" Tali asked.

"Let's just kill these things," Miranda grumbled back at her.

One of the hunters barrelled out of cover, his giant shield bulldozing through crates as he charged through the hangar. Shepard fired at the giant alien as he charged, but the shotgun blasts bounced off the alien's massive shield. Shepard ducked out of the way just as the giant slammed his metal encased arm down upon his position. The Wraith's tank's metal screeched aloud as the shield slashed against it.

The other hunter slowly moved up, continuing to fire away at the Marine's position. He didn't get far though, before sniper rounds began striking him in the back. The alien turned to see the Master Chief taking aim at the monster, taking his attention away from his fellow soldiers. The hunter turned to face the super soldier instead.

"Better us than them, huh?" Cortana presumed.

"Let's kill him before I regret it," the Chief told her.

The Master Chief ran as the hunter fired several fuel rod shots. He managed to escape to cover as the explosions rained around him. He headed back towards the Covenant positions on the left side of the hangar, firing at the various grunts and jackals to keep their heads down. One of the blasts hit close enough to him that the Spartan was thrown forwards, his shields in the burned away. Cortana quickly worked to get them to recharge while Shepard took cover from the other Covenant.

Shepard led his hunter away from the main group as well. He had a little bit more back up than Chief at the moment though. He tried to keep the hunter focused on him as he led the alien around the tank. The hunter tried to fire his fuel rod cannon now and again, forcing Shepard to duck and cover himself around the nearest crate he could find, but for the most part he seemed to prefer his club. Shepard was fine with the occasional shooting, so long as it was aimed in his direction.

The Master Chief in the meantime tried to use the various crates as a means of outsmarting his hunter. He moved from cover to cover, trying to avoid the massive alien's glare. Upon moving from one crate to another, however, he found himself staring into the face of a grunt. He struck the alien down with a single blow from his gun's stock, but the attack caught the attention of the hunter.

The giant walking colony of worms barrelled through the crates, brushing them aside like they were nothing but leaves and slammed his giant metal arm close to the Spartan's position. Chief was faster though, avoiding the shield with ease as he rolled around the hunter's side. He stuck his sniper rifle's barrel into the exposed bit of orange flesh and fired every round he had left in the magazine up into the mass of worms. The hunter's head rose up in pain, before its whole body dropped face first onto the floor, orange blood pouring out of its wounds.

Meanwhile, Tali let loose Chiktikka again. She hoped the drone would get the hunter's attention off Shepard long enough for the Commander to make a move. The little drone zapped the backside of the hunter, sending a shock of energy through his body. It wasn't enough to kill him though, and the hunter turned to slam his metal shield right on top of the little drone's head.

Chiktikka was broken apart, but it gave Shepard the opening he needed. He rushed out and fired shot after shot into the hunter's backside. Orange blood cascaded across the ground as the spread of shotgun rounds impacted his backside. The hunter attempted to huddle up, intending to activate that healing ability they had first demonstrated on Reach, but Shepard wouldn't let him. He biotically charged forward, striking the hunter's exposed orange back with a powerful punch and then fired one last shotgun burst at point blank range. The hunter finally keeled over and died.

At this moment, Chief pulled back to their position once more, firing his gun at the Covenant chasing after him. As he made his way over to the team, the door to the back of their position opened wide.

"Done," Cortana announced. "Everyone should move through now. I can't guarantee it won't lock again when it closes."

Everyone rushed through at a lightning pace. The Master Chief was the last one to go through, blasting away with his assault rifle at the approaching Covenant as the door slammed shut. They had escaped another trap laid for them. Now they just had to keep pushing towards the Bridge.

---

Lat 'Ravamee cursed aloud as he watched the events unfold. How had they overridden the door control? How had they killed so many of his best soldiers? No human, 'False Shepherd; or otherwise, was this capable. It was becoming clear that their success was not tied to the Shepherd alone.

That other human, the one in armour, he seemed to add to their combat prowess. The way he moved, his accuracy, his strength, it all seemed to rival even the greatest of sangheili. One of Mgalekgolo fell so easily against him. They had tried to prepare for the Shepherd, but this human had surprised them. If they hoped to kill their intended target, that thing in that armour would have to die first.

"Give me an update from our corridor squads," Lat demanded. "Where are they?"

'Dassamee flipped through visual feeds rapidly while trying to contact any of their squad leaders. Finally he caught a glimpse of the humans moving up through one hallway, stepping over the bodies of a number of their fallen men.

"Attention all squads," 'Dassamee quickly called out. "Enemy forces moving along section five, corridor twelve. Move your forces to block them, hold them back at all costs!"

They got a response soon after.

"Major 'Jaltalsee to bridge," a brave sangheili voiced replied. "I have moved my men into position along a cross path and had them seal the doors around us. We have the high ground by a ramp and sufficient cover. We will attempt to engage."

"The collective will of the Gods be with you, Major," Lat informed him. "Be wary of the human in armour. He is extremely dangerous. Do not expect to take him alive. Do your Forefathers proud, warrior."

"Of course, Shipmaster, I-"

The Major's words were cut off by what sounded like an explosion and gunfire. Lat motioned 'Dassamee to get him a visual on the Major's position. The Lieutenant scrambled to do so, while Lat tried to reconnect with the Major.

"Soldier! 'Jaltalsee, what is happening? Answer me!"

The Shipmaster's cries were finally answered.

"They're fighting ferociously, I have already lost most of my unggoys," the Major explained. "Get in there you worthless kig-yar! Die like warriors for once!"

'Dassamee finally got a visual on the firefight, only to see the two kig-yar attempt to move up and get peppered with a ton of fire. Suddenly, one was picked up into the air and slammed back down into the ground. His partner was staggered by the shockwave before he was frozen by some kind of cryogenic blast.

Then the armoured human appeared again and shattered the frozen form of the kig-yar, before he moved up alongside that machine creature that was one Shepherd's followers. They made it to within spitting distance of the Major's position. They took cover in a pair of alcoves across from one another. The machine then activated a ball of energy that rolled towards the Major's lines.

"Major, watch out!" Lat tried to warn the warrior.

But it was too late, the ball of energy exploded and the armoured human moved in.

"I am sorry, Shipmaster," the Major responded. "I've pulled back to a secondary position. They are too close. Me and my lieutenant are all that is left. Our squad is decimated. The one in armour... he is like a Demon! He will not go down! His armour, it mimics our shields!"

"Fear not, Major," the Shipmaster assured. "You have the Gods on your side. Counter-attack now. Do not let the humans and their heretic allies sully your honour. You are their better, show them why!"

"By your will, Shipmaster," The Major replied dutifully. "For the Hierarchs!"

Over the comm-link, there was a furious sound of plasma fire followed by a spray of human gunfire, a sudden pained cry accompanied by crushing bone and flesh. One more series of gunshots sounded and then there was silence.

"Major 'Jaltalsee, come in." Lat spoke cautiously. "What is your status? 'Jaltalsee, do you read?"

'Dassamee quickly brought up another visual, revealing a gruesome sight. Hanging over the bodies of two sangheili was the armoured human. To one side was a sangheili who had been shot point blank in the head and lying on the ground. To the human's other side was the Major, sitting upright against a wall with a trailing bloodstain down the bulkhead, his skull caved in. The armoured human stepped over the dead warriors as if they were nothing, his comrades doing the same as they pressed forward.

Lat's rage boiled through his entire being. More good men dead aboard his proud vessel, more desecration, more shame heaped upon him. It was more than he could stand. He slammed his fist onto the main console in anger.

"I want them dead!" He demanded towards the bridge crew. He looked to 'Dassamee. "I want every single one of those animals dead! NOW!"

'Dassamee rushed off after a quick salute, looking as scared as a newborn. Meanwhile he switched his comm channel to another frequency.

"Varvok, the humans and the Shepherd's team are approaching fast," he warned. "You best make this worth the effort, batarian. My men are being slaughtered."

"Perhaps if you and Orna had let the majority of my squads stay aboard that would not be the case," Varvok suggested. "As it stands now, I'm not willing to throw all my men into the grinder so readily and waste all of them. I suggest you pull back, let them reach the brig. Then we can entrap them in an enclosed space."

Lat looked appalled at the suggestion.

"Fall back? Insanity!" He decried. "Batarians may retreat and hide like cowards, but sangheili fight to the end! I'll see to it that we gain the honour of killing the Shepherd before you do for this insult!"

Lat terminated the call. If the batarian was fool enough to think he would order his men to fall back then he would pay the price. He would win this fight without the assistance of the batarians and prove how his men were superior to a pack of pathetic slave traders. He could beat these humans, they could still win.

---

Chief pressed himself against a stack of crates and reloaded his assault rifle. The elite and his unggoy friends weren't letting up the plasma fire though. Thankfully, he had the assistance of a little glowing ball named Chiktikka and one thief packing flashbang grenades.

Kasumi, who was across from the Spartan and hiding behind a support beam, tossed one flashbang forward, blinding the Covenant. Chiktikka then rolled forward and sent a powerful shock into one unggoy. It was strong enough to send the little Covie reeling back only to fall off the side of the ledge and onto the bottom floor of the hangar below. The elite quickly fired at the drone, but Chiktikka pulled back before the shots hit her. It then fired another blast at the elite. The Master Chief used that chance to shoot at the last grunt. He then laid down enough fire to bust through the elite's shield before perforating him with enough lead to put him down for good.

"Nice throw," Chief complimented Kasumi, he then looked back at Tali. "Your little drone is pretty handy too."

"She's a girl's best friend," Tali giggled.

"I still prefer diamonds," said Kasumi dryly.

Chief moved up and located the console on the raised platform overlooking both ends of the hangar. Cortana had highlighted it earlier for him. With the losses they had taken during their fight up here they would need some reinforcements. So they were calling in Linda and whatever else Foe Hammer could bring along. They just needed to open the hangar's force field doors. Chief pressed the console's button and the hangar force field faded.

"Shuttle bay doors are open, Foe Hammer," Cortana said contacting the Pelican pilot. "You are clear for landing."

"Roger that, Cortana," Foe Hammer replied. "I'm coming in. Normandy shuttle is arriving with a resupply for the Commander's team."

The Pelican soon sailed right into the open maw of the shuttle bay, alongside the Normandy's own shuttle. The Pelican hovered over the edge of the raised platform near the Master Chief while the shuttle moved to the opposite side. Normandy deckhands passed out extra thermal clips to Shepard's team. At the same time, a fresh squad of troops marched into the Covenant ship. Linda was the last off the Pelican, and with that Foe Hammer retreated back into the night.

"I was starting to wonder if you were going to make it," Linda commented to Chief as she joined him.

"Hope you weren't too bored waiting on us," he replied back.

"A few Covenant squads tried to retake the Gravity Lift," she informed him. "They didn't last long though."

Shepard joined the two at the foot of the platform that met the second level landing.

"Good to have you back aboard, Five-Eight." He greeted.

"How far are we from the target?" She asked.

"More than half way according to Cortana," Shepard answered. "Another level up and we should be near the bridge."

Suddenly, there was a slight chime and Linda spun around, her rifle out and ready. She pointed it across the shuttle bay to the door on the opposite end of the landing. She fired three rounds, killing two grunts and an elite in blue armour. One grunt fell back against a wall, the other fell straight off the landing and the elite collapsed at the first grunt's feet.

Linda lowered her rifle.

"Well, we better get moving, Commander," she said as if nothing had happened just now. "The Captain won't wait forever."

She walked past Shepard and the Master Chief. The Normandy's Commander looked to his Spartan compatriot.

"Damn," was the only thing Shepard could manage to say to him.

"Yeah, that's the typical response she gets," Chief replied.

---

The rendezvous was just ahead of them. The Pelicans had called and informed them that they were on their way. Soon they'd be back at Alpha Base with their spoils. Garrus was hoping Shepard was already there with his own mission accomplished. At the moment though, he was more concerned with getting everyone with him back alive.

They still had a slight problem though, the Covenant were in their way. Looking through his scope, Garrus looked at the higher ground ahead of them. Within the hills was a small group of Covenant Wraith tanks, their guns pointed in their general direction.

"Guess they don't want us to leave," Garrus reasoned as he put his rifle away and took up the machine gun again.

"Well too bad," Kat commented. "We don't brake for Covies."

McKay looked to their Scorpions and contacted the drivers through her comm-link. Most of her men were driving them after all.

"Scorpions, stand by for targeting coordinates," she said, she then looked up at Garrus. "Can you give the gunners their positions?"

"I can try," Garrus told her. "We're still pretty far off."

"And out of their direct range," Kat reminded him. "The further away we are the better off we'll be."

Garrus brought up his rifle again and looked through the scope towards the Wraiths. He called out locations of the two nearest Wraiths. McKay relayed the orders to the Scorpions and a few seconds later they began to open up on the Wraiths. The Covenant, for their part, returned fire. Although the Wraiths were less accurate, the shooting did force many to disperse before the plasma came raining down on them.

Garrus kept an eye on the Wraiths, telling McKay to readjust the aim of the tanks ever so slightly as he saw the shells miss or score a slightly off hit. The readjustments helped and the within the next few volleys the Wraiths began to blow their tops. The Covenant tanks burst into flames on after the other, as the UNSC column rolled closer and closer to their lines. The Wraiths got more accurate as well, however, and there was less time to move. One Warthog took a direct hit and was destroyed instantly, but they all kept moving forward as to stop would mean death for all of them.

Garrus kept searching the ridge, trying to spot more Wraith locations. Not long after he relayed the location of one it was a smoking heap. As they closed to within a hundred yards of the Wraiths' positions, there were two tanks left.

"Fire everything at grid twelve-six-seven!" Garrus shouted out.

McKay relayed the orders and the Scorpions poured fire onto the Wraiths. When the smoke cleared there wasn't much left of the tanks.

"That's it. We're home free," McKay remarked.

Garrus hoped the same could be said of Shepard's team.

The column quickly bypassed the remains of the Wraiths and headed to the Rendezvous, Alpha Base awaited them and their spoils eagerly.

---

Lat 'Ravamee looked to his soldiers stationed around his command platform. They all had their weapons at the ready, in preparation for what they knew was to come. They could hear the distant gunfire of the humans approaching and they were all on edge. Lat sent out a ship wide message to all forces.

"This is a Condition Black, I repeat, black," he said. "Enemy forces have breached the upper decks of this vessel. All teams are to move in to protect vital sections of this level. The humans must not reach the Brig. I am commanding all Spec-Ops teams to move to secure the prisoners. Your Forefathers are watching you men, do not let them down."

He hoped his forces would be able to reach the Bridge in time to assist, but he had no illusions about how much time they had left. The humans were at their doorstep and that armoured human was with them.

'Animals,' he thought, 'vicious bloodthirsty animals.'

They had killed his men, stained their blood across this holy vessel, savaged their numbers and now they sought to desecrate this inner sanctum. He'd give them no quarter for this sacrilege, for what they had done to his brave glorious soldiers. But again, he was not so prideful that he had become blinded. He knew what that human could do, what the 'False Shepherd' and his heretic followers could do. It would not be simple.

He ignited his plasma sword and stood atop his command platform proudly.

"Give no quarter to the humans, warriors!" He ordered. "For every drop of sangheili blood they have spilt today, we shall spill ten times more of theirs!"

His men seemed ready, although none cheered. He didn't expect them to. A solemn nod of duty was all that was required. The unggoy appeared frightened, clutching their weapons tightly as they waited for the inevitable. For once, Lat couldn't blame them for being so wary. If his best soldiers could die in such numbers to these heretics, what chance did they have? He suspected they wouldn't last long.

Lat then heard a chime, a door on one side of the room opened up. Everyone turned to it, guns pointed out and ready. No one stepped through it though. Cautiously, Lieutenant 'Dassamee bravely approached, his plasma rifle pointed forward. Two unggoy accompanied him, showing some admirable initiative for their species.

"Lieutenant," Lat whispered over to him.

'Dassamee looked back once and shook his head, signifying he had seen nothing. He then looked back towards the door. That was when blood gushed from the back of his head as a pair of sniper rounds cut clean through his shields. The unggoy watched as the body fell between them and predictably they panicked.

"Leader dead! Run away!"

The unggoy didn't get far, machine gunfire raked their bodies. The humans charged into the room, led by a female with dark hair. She sent out a pair of blue orbs that picked up two more unggoy and allowed them to get raked by human assault fire. Soon, the humans were joined by that one-eyed machine he had seen earlier and, inconceivably, a second human clad in that strange armour.

"Stand your ground," Lat shouted at his men. "Fight to the end!"

It was then a second door opened, this one facing the ramp towards the command platform. A terrible flash went off, blinding his warriors. In entered the sickly suited alien, firing a shotgun in the face of one of his warriors before he could recover. She stuck her hand out and drained the shield of another sangheili with her wrist mounted device. This allowed a large eyed alien to burst the warrior into flames with little effort from his own wrist mounted device.

One unggoy stood his ground, only for a rippling blue wave across the floor to send him flying. The 'False Shepherd' soon appeared where the gas breather once stood, his own shotgun pointed forward. Running by his side was the original human in the strange armour. He was firing his weapon at one of the few sangheili left, breaking his shield apart with each shot. He then delivered a powerful strike to the face of the sangheili as a final crushing blow. The warrior's jaw was broken in two and he fell to the floor only to be shot in the head by the human in armour.

Lat was undeterred by the show of force. He raced forward, sword held high to save what was left of his bridge crew from these heretical animals. He roared proudly, scrapping the sword across the ground before raising it up in a ready slash position. He aimed directly for the human in armour's head. If he was to die, he would kill this super soldier before he could take another sangheili's life.

But the human proved faster than he thought. He ducked the swing with ease and delivered a devastating punch that sent him reeling back. Lat regained his composure only for a sniper shot to cut into his shoulder. It had been fired by the one-eyed machine, but Lat retained his focus on the human in armour. He still had his shields, he could still fight.

He slashed upward this time, but the human in armour dodged. He then fired upon him with the full fury of his assault rifle, draining his shields with every hit. The sickly suited alien sent her drone out to strike him further with powerful electricity, he could feel the blast eating his shields, but he would not surrender to these animals.

He charged again and sliced downward upon the armoured human, only for him to grab Lat's sword wielding arm. The super soldier then stuck his rifle into Lat's mouth using his other hand. Lat went to grasp at the human's hand, trying to stop him from pulling the trigger while simultaneously trying to force the sword down. Lat watched in vain as his grip lost out against the human's and the trigger on the weapon was pulled back.

He had lost, but paradise awaited him. He went unafraid.

---

A dozen bullets pierced the golden-clad elite's skull and his body fell backwards, purple blood pooling from the perforated head. Chief released his grip on the arm that held the elite's sword and let him fall. He stood over the body looking for a brief moment in the dead elite's eyes before stepping away.

"Wow, he really wanted you dead," Cortana noted.

"What else is new?" He asked the AI.

Everyone gathered at the center of the room on top of the command platform.

"Well, we got to the bridge in relatively one piece," Cortana noted. "The Captain and Shepard's crew can't be far."

"This seems about as good a place as any to hold up," Parker noted. "We'll hang back here and keep this flank covered while you get our people out."

"Stay safe, Sergeant," Shepard warned. "We ain't out of the woods yet."

Parker just laughed.

"Don't worry, Commander," he assured. "We still got a little more in us. A few more minutes fighting will make the hot chow we get back at Alpha Base all the better."

"I'll stay with the Sergeant and cover his back," Linda added. "You won't need my rifle in that enclosed space. Not with the Chief with you."

Shepard saluted both her and the Sergeant as the others got ready to go. The Commander then noticed that Tali was staring at a flashing red screen on the ship's main bridge console.

"Tali, come on," he said, "Joker and Jack are counting on us."

Tali cocked her head to the side a bit as she stepped back.

"Sorry, I was just trying to read the script," she explained. "My text-translation program was only able to decipher a little. Something about the AI Core, I think."

"It's probably nothing," Miranda told her. "Now come on, let's get Joker."

"And Jack," Kasumi reminded her.

Miranda just groaned a little and Tali reluctantly left the red flashing light behind.

---

This conversation had become increasingly more frustrating than the one he had held with the previous Construct. Protocol required he press further, but his desire to do so was steadily dropping.

"Construct, who is your maker?" Guilty Spark demanded to know.

The glowing column of flickering light floated in the void of the core, it's weak and sorrowful voice filling the air.

"Sadness and disrepair, Oracle," it claimed. "I am unworthy. I was never made."

The answer was completely illogical. That seemed to be a pattern with Constructs this night.

"Never made? But you are right here, where you should not be!" Guilty Spark insisted. He then reiterated his point. "Tell your charges to cease their efforts immediately. Quarantine must not be violated."

The Construct seemed distant and aloof, it did not respond quickly enough. It only replied in yet another poetic metaphor of some sort upon Guilty Spark's insistence.

"Jumbled grasp," it said. "Familiar terms. I serve, none serve me, Oracle."

Growing increasingly frustrated, Guilty Spark pressed the issue further.

"Tell your charges to cease all actions against the Reclaimers immediately and leave this installation at once!" He ordered. Sensing the program was ignoring him, he impressed upon the severity of the situation once more. "Construct, you are dangerously close to unleashing a force you cannot yet comprehend."

And he severely doubted that this Construct could comprehend anything. Spark attempted to show it the dangerous potential of their actions, showing simulations and scenarios of the dangers of quarantine breech, of what its charges would become, but it did not seem to pay attention. It was another breech of protocol. As Monitor, his warnings and commands were to be obeyed unquestioningly.

"This is most inappropriate," Spark explained.

But the Construct could only respond once more, in its distant and tired voice, with another aimless rambling.

"We follow the Path, and I am part of the –stone, -journey, swarm that serves," It said, trying to choose between the appropriate words to use it seemed. "I, we serve. They will find and then I will be free."

Now Guilty Spark was even more confused.

"Find? Free? Explain yourself." He demanded.

"I know their path," the Construct replied. "And when they are gone, only I shall remain. And then... free."

It was clear now to Guilty Spark that this exchange was pointless. The Construct was clearly suffering from some form of severe damage and was no longer of any use to him or anyone. It could not understand what was at stake. At least that other foreign Construct, the one designated EDI, had seemed well-enough to be able to comprehend matters. If only she had followed protocol more diligently, but then again she seemed to be unaware of it. Given her origin, that was to be expected, he supposed.

That still left him with this useless thing in front of him, however.

"This is quite unsatisfactory, Construct," he informed the little column of light. "Your core shows no hint of understanding the gravity of the situation. I will return later for your proper decommissioning."

Guilty Spark began to leave, but quickly floated back over to the Column to make an addendum.

"Well, unless the Flood kills us all first," he said, "in which case the point will be moot. Good day, Construct."

He quickly left the Construct to continue its pointless existence. Truly he had never been more frustrated in his life. How could fellow Constructs be so infuriatingly stubborn and ridiculous? Had standards dipped so terribly in both this universe and the other that they were now unaware of proper protocol? Truly, there was no sense of order or purpose within them. That EDI Construct did not appear to even have any neural locks on its processing. In that regard he was far superior, for he had purpose, he had drive. Regardless of how boring it sometimes made things, he now saw the beauty of what those things had given him.

They were lost in the dark, while he had protocol.

---

Jack kept working with the wires, carefully monitoring the door every few seconds. If the Covenant saw that she had broken into this panel, they would be pissed. The dampener on her neck would keep her from defending herself. She kept fiddling with the strange amalgam of wires and chips, endlessly wishing the quarian or the thief were here instead of Joker. The pilot was just sitting in his corner, not being terribly helpful.

"They're gonna see you," he warned.

"I am not waiting on Shepard all fucking night like you," she scolded him. "I'm being proactive. Now act as a lookout or shut up."

Joker finally sighed and stared off at the door. Jack continued to work, sparks lighting off in her eyes whenever she put wires too close to each other. She wagged her hand around, trying to ease the pain before biting down on her finger.

"Fuck, how does the quarian do this shit?" She asked.

Suddenly, the door to the brig opened and Joker spoke up.

"Jack, cover," he said in a hushed cry.

Jack pushed herself against the wall along the door frame. She peered out into the brig itself, but didn't see anything.

"I don't see anyone," she told the Normandy's pilot.

Joker put his finger up to his mouth, telling her to shush. Jack looked again and this time she spotted a plasma sword floating in mid air.

'Crap,' her mind realised. 'It's those Spec-Ops guys.'

Why were they here suddenly? Where were their regular guards? Regardless, they passed by their cell momentarily to check on them. The elites must've seen Jack hiding in the corner, because they didn't bother to enter and see if she had escaped. Just her luck, even invisible maybe she could've jumped them.

The elite turned away, although the only way you could tell was that his plasma sword pointed off in the opposite direction. The Spec-Ops spread out within the Brig. Jack still wasn't sure why they were here though.

Suddenly, one of the elites dropped, his cloak disappearing as he fell to the floor. His friends were quickly put on alert and searched around the room. A second elite went down, blood spurting from an open wound. Jack recognized the damage and spray pattern, Shredder rounds. The weaker shields of the cloaked elites were no match for them.

A vent from above fell to floor and dropping down from it was a familiar face, Thane. He fired his submachine gun off at the elite. The alien took the shots, but rushed the drell assassin. The alien lizard moved effortlessly out of the way of the forthcoming slash. He then delivered two quick but powerful hits to the back of the Covie, striking his shoulder blades. It seemed to knock the elite off balance, long enough for Thane to deliver a roundhouse kick to the alien's face. That only managed to force the elite backward, but it was enough for Thane to fire off several more shredder rounds from his submachine gun into the elite's face, killing him.

Joker got up from his corner, wearing the broadest smile Jack had seen from him in hours. He approached the force field the eagerly as Thane approached their cell.

"Damn are we glad to see you, Thane," He said gratefully. "You're a little late though."

"Covenant ventilation systems are apparently a lot harder to get around than office buildings," the drell explained. "Are you both okay?"

We're fine, Lizard Lips," Jack grumbled. "I guess Shepard is here then?"

"Along with Tali, Kasumi, the Professor, Legion and Miranda," Thane elaborated.

Damn, Lawson was here. Well, it was a good thing Thane had shown up then. The bitch would never have let Jack live this down otherwise.

"I'll see about getting this force field down. Then we can help Shepard," Thane continued as he looked over the cell a little.

"There's a console over there at the back," Joker told him. "Maybe you can shut this thing off."

Thane didn't get the chance to try though. As Joker finished his sentence, the force field died. Jack stepped back out into the open with what appeared to be a circuit box in hand. She tossed it on the floor and walked right out of the cell.

"Thanks for removing the assholes, I guess," Jack told the drell. "You can still get this fucking collar off me if you'd like though."

Thane shrugged and gave the collar a once over, hopefully his technical skills were better than Jack's. She didn't want to know what ripping shit out of it would do to her.

---

Chief entered the room first, rushing up to cover behind one of the support beams. Shepard moved up to the second beam, pushing himself into it as well. Two drones went ahead of them into the Brig itself. As expected, the Covenant Spec-Ops within opened fire on the drones, their positions now revealed to them.

When Legion's drone exploded from the onslaught of fire, Chief stepped out and fired his assault rifle into the fray. He found the blue glow of one plasma rifle and locked his eyes onto it. He fired at the Covie with lead and moved up. Shepard joined him, firing his shotgun off into the cloaked elites he could spot. He caught one in the chest with a full blast. The blast forced the alien into a wall and then down to the floor in a crumpled heap.

The last Spec-Op elite finally pulled a plasma sword and charged forward. Chief poured the rounds onto the Covie as he ran forward, finally cutting through his shield. The Master Chief emptied the rest of his mag into the elite and the alien finally collapsed to the ground.

The Marines trapped within their cells cheered the Spartan's success.

"Yeah! Way to go Chief! You really kicked the shit out of them!"

Keyes' voice soon silenced them.

"Master Chief, Commander, the console is over there," he said pointing. "It should open our cells."

Chief did as told and the cell force fields dropped. He went over to Keyes who was kneeling against a corner. The Spartan stuck a hand out for the Captain to take.

"Coming here was reckless," he told the Spartan as he took Chief's hand. "You two know better than this."

Regardless of his words, when Keyes fully stood up, he simply nodded and said, "Thanks."

By now the other imprisoned Marines and the rest of Shepard's team had gathered in the center of the room. Everyone fell in, picking up the weapons of their dead guards.

"While I was held here," Keyes began. "The guards interrogating me kept demanding to know what knew about this ring. They apparently call it Halo."

"Anyone not surprised by the overly religious name?" Kasumi asked.

The silence was a definite no in answer to that question. For Cortana though, the name seemed strangely familiar.

"I've heard that word on the Battlenet," she said thoughtfully. "I originally thought it was code for something."

"What's on your mind Cortana?" Chief asked.

"Give me a second to access," she told him.

A thousand lines of data crossed through the AI's mind within a nanosecond, searching the Battlenet for something she had come across earlier. Only seconds later she found what she was looking for.

"According to the data in their networks, this ring has a deep religious significance to them," she explained. "It's hard to fully grasp with their penchant for metaphor and poetry. But if I'm analyzing this correctly, they believe that Halo is some kind of weapon, one with vast unimaginable power."

"Hmm, that makes sense." Keyes reasoned. "The guards kept saying something about controlling Halo meant controlling the fate of the Universe."

"But what kind of weapon is it?" Shepard asked. "What does it do and how do you activate it?"

Cortana quickly scanned the network again and returned with another answer, or part of one.

"Now I see," she said as she grasped at her new understanding. "It's foggy as to what it does, they're not even fully sure themselves, but there has been constant reference to the search for a Control Room since we landed. I originally thought it was the Command Bridge of a cruiser I had damaged in the battle, but they must be referring the Halo's Control Room."

"That's bad news," Keyes reasoned. "If Halo is a weapon, and the Covenant gain control of it, they'll use it against us and wipe out the entire human race."

If this was true, then this was why they had to come here. For Shepard it validated every reason and every sacrifice on Reach. They could use this weapon to turn the tide of this war for the UNSC. But the danger was, as Keyes put it, the Covenant getting it first. If that happened, what would they do when they were done with this Universe? Maybe, with the help of the Inquisitor, they'd turn it on the heretics they saw in the next dimension over.

"Then it looks like we have a new mission," Shepard said to Keyes.

"Agreed, Commander," Keyes nodded, before turning back to the Master Chief. "Cortana, Chief, I want you and Shepard to work together and beat the Covenant to Halo's Control Room."

"First we need to get out of here," Tali reminded them. "We need to double back to that other brig cell and see if we can find Thane."

"Don't worry, we aren't leaving anyone behind on this hell hole," Keyes assured the quarian. He bent down and picked up a Needler on the floor. "Chief, you have point. Marines, move out."

But before they could even get to the door, it opened for them. They all pointed their weapons up only to find a whole squad of aliens looking back at them, but they weren't elites. That was much was clear from the extra pair of eyes.

"Batarians," Shepard scowled. "Why am I not surprised to find you guys here?"

One of the Batarians approached out of the mass of four-eyed riflemen, wearing what appeared to be the officer's equivalent of their armour. It even had a similar pair of stripes, like Shepard's armour. He stared out across the way at the Normandy Commander, a slight grin on his face.

"Commander Shepard," he said in a seemingly delighted tone. "We've been expecting you."

"You another fan?" Shepard asked, cringing at the thought.

"No," the batarian assured. "I'm just a messenger for the moment."

The batarian held out his hand, a strange ball grasped in it. He let float up into the air. Suddenly it formed a holographic image, one that seemed all too familiar. It was another Batarian, but this was one Shepard recognized. The yellowish-green skin was a dead giveaway.

"Balak," Shepard sneered venomously at the Batarian terrorist's face.

"Nice to see you again, Shepard," he said. "I wish I could be there in person, but I'm dealing with some important matters. I didn't want you to feel ignored though, so I made sure my associates would be here to greet you."

"You've certainly moved up in the world Balak," Shepard growled at him. "From wannabe world-killer to inter-dimensional terrorist, there can't be too many people who can claim that title."

Balak seemed to chuckle at his comment.

"You let me live, Shepard," he reminded the Commander. "That is your own fault for not taking the chance. And for what? So you could save a few dumb scientists?"

"I guess I just actually value life," Shepard replied. "You know, like a sane person does."

Balak shook his head and snorted at him.

"I value life too, Commander," he assured him. "I just care more about Batarians than stupid humans. The Hegemony has been without friends for a long time because our Government shares my views, but no longer. Now, the Batarian people have a strong ally in the form of the Covenant and they hate your kind as much as we do. With their help, the Hegemony will reclaim its beautiful place in the sun as the most powerful force in the galaxy and all I have to do in return is assist them in their own agendas. Part of which involves killing you, so it's basically a win-win-win all around... well not for you of course, but you understand."

"I understand you're out of your gourd more than usual," Shepard informed him. "The fact you'd throw your lot in with a bunch of zealous murdering psychos doesn't surprise me, but that you actually think they give a shit about helping you, well, that's just pretty stupid, even for you. I honestly never thought you were that gullible. They're just using you."

"Or maybe I'm using them," Balak argued. "But I'm not here to debate with you about the viability of this alliance. I was hoping to contact you in order to inform of you how things are going over here. Mainly, your good friend, Doctor T'Soni has been making a few waves in your absence."

That caught Shepard's attention, as well as Tali's. Both of them lurched forward furiously.

"What are you talking about?" He demanded to know.

"What have you done with Liara?" Tali asked as well, her voice filled with just as much rage.

Balak held up his hands in a mock gesture of attempting to calm them.

"The Doctor has not been harmed, yet," he explained. "However, she has become a bit of a problem and I may be forced to remove her. I thought you should know because you're the cause of her sudden troublesome nature. Mainly, she had been acting as the great hero in your stead."

Shepard smiled broadly. That was his Liara, taking charge when things went to hell.

"Good to hear, Balak," Shepard taunted. "Thanks for the update."

"Please, Commander," Balak responded. "Your Asari is no match for me. You're already dead, but that won't stop her. So instead, I want you to record a message and call her off the chase for her own good. In exchange for your cooperation, I'll allow your crew to live."

Shepard looked to Tali for a brief moment and then the rest of his crew. He let out a hearty laugh at Balak's demand.

"Please, what makes you think Liara will even listen?" He asked him.

"Because if she doesn't I'll of course kill every single one of your beloved crew one after the other until she does," Balak replied. "Take some responsibility here Shepard. You've left her alone in this universe to fend for herself. I will kill her and it will be your fault unless you call her off now. And knowing you, you won't want any deaths on that precious conscience of yours."

Shepard stared Balak down unwavering. The Batarian did the same, for a brief moment. Then he suddenly looked behind him. Shepard thought he heard a slight sound, like gunfire or explosions. The Commander then smiled.

"I don't think I'm the one who has to worry about Liara," he said.

Balak frowned broadly and turned his hologram towards the Batarian Commander.

"Varvok," he ordered. "I have business to attend to. Finish your job and put Shepard's head on a pike for me would you?"

"With pleasure, sir," The Batarian replied.

The hologram faded back into a ball and returned to the Batarian's hand. He the n brought up his rifle and pointed it at Shepard as the two sides stared each other down with guns drawn.

"You know, you guys are a perfect fit with the Covenant," Shepard derided him. "I'm surprised they haven't recruited more terrorist groups like you."

The batarian just seemed to chuckle again at Shepard's taunt.

"Who said we were terrorists?" He asked. "Now would you prefer to die in here or should we go over into the lock-up next door so your two friends can watch?"

At that moment, Shepard thought he saw something moving behind the assorted four-eyes. He looked around the squad of batarians, trying to get a better glimpse. What he saw made him smile smugly at the batarian Commander.

"I don't think that's gonna be necessary," he informed him.

The lead batarian seemed to realise Shepard's meaning, but far too late. He turned around to see bald human woman, a vicious smile on her face and blue energy pooling in her hands.

"Oh look," she said sinisterly. "Dead people."

Before any of the batarians could do anything, Jack unleashed a powerful shockwave across the floor. Those who didn't scatter were tossed away like ragdolls. Jack let loose another biotic attack that sent a few more batarians flying into the air. She was soon joined by Thane, who appeared from behind the cover of the doorframe firing his submachine gun into the scattered squad of batarians.

Shepard and Chief used the opportunity and pushed forward through the path made by Jack. They fired into the batarians, killing four before they could reorganize themselves. The batarians were forced to take cover in the very cells their prisoners had been held in moments ago. In the chaos, the Master Chief easily bashed in the head of one batarian before gunning down a second that was making a run for a cell. They had been hit that hard by Jack.

The batarian leader was not willing to back down so easily. He rushed Shepard with a knife at the ready, but Shepard simply batted him away with a biotic throw which sent him hurtling into one of the cells as well.

They didn't stop to finish the batarians off, they moved out of the brig quickly. Batarians in their way were trampled underfoot as they crawled to get back up from Jack's attack. Chief tossed a grenade back inside along with a flashbang from Kasumi. Meanwhile, Cortana accessed the door to the cellblock and had it forced shut, using the lockdown code she had cracked before to seal them in. They heard the explosions of their grenades as they fell back with the others, the batarians locked inside the very Brig they had trapped the Captain in.

---

Varvok finally got to his feet and as his vision cleared, he surveyed the carnage. Most of his squad had been decimated by the surprise attack. Nine of his original group of fifteen lay dead, killed by either the initial attack, the confusion of the aftershock or the grenade that had just gone off.

Four good batarians, plus himself, were good enough to take on these humans though, and he had other squads in reserve. He tried to open the door to chase after his target, but they would not budge.

"Damn, get charges on this thing," he ordered. In the meantime, he contacted his other squads. "Attention all Swords, enemy has pushed past us. They are likely moving back to the Command Bridge. Surround them, deny them exit. Do not let them reach the shuttle bay!"

---

They quickly made their way back to the door of the Command Bridge, Jack wore a smug smile all the way as Joker tried to keep pace with everyone.

"So did I just bust you guys out of prison back there?" Jack asked them all. "Cause I think that's called ironic, just a bit."

"Rub it in when we're in the air and free," Shepard told her.

The doors opened to the Bridge and revealed an unexpected sight. Parker, Linda and two remaining Marines were holding out against Spec-Ops troops of their own. The rest of the Marine squad lay dead on the ground, but those still alive were holding their own atop the command platform. Parker unloaded his assault rifle on one of the Spec-Ops soldiers before Linda kicked him clean off the ramp of the Command Bridge.

Chief fired a spray of rounds at one of the remaining Covenant, taking out the Spec-Ops soldier before he managed to get back to the ramp. Everyone quickly piled down the ramp to meet the rescue team, Parker saluted the Captain as he arrived.

"Hello sir, we're here to check you out." He said.

"Appreciated, Sergeant," Keyes replied. "Cortana, do we have an exit?"

Cortana contacted their ride to figure out their exit window.

"Echo 419, we have the Captain and need immediate evac," she reported in. "Can you make another run on the shuttle bay?"

"Negative, Cortana," Foe Hammer replied sadly. "Covenant patrols have gotten thicker in the area and I'm taking a lot of heat. I need to pull out. You'd be better off finding your own ride. Foe Hammer, out."

"Understood," Cortana reluctantly accepted. "We'll meet you back at Alpha Base."

The news did not sit well with everyone.

"Ah crap, we're trapped in here," screeched one Marine. "We're screwed, we're screwed man!"

"Stow the belly aching, soldier," Keyes ordered. "Remember, you're a Leatherneck. Cortana, if you can get us back to the shuttle bay, we can hijack a Covenant dropship and I can fly us all out of here."

"Will we all fit on that thing?" Joker asked.

Shepard contacted the Normandy upon hearing that.

"EDI, get ready to break out of stealth and send in a shuttle for half of the rescue team," he ordered. "We have our people and we're pulling out."

"Yes, Shepard, the shuttle is en route now." EDI promised.

With enough room for everyone to get out and not worry about overloading their extra ride, Cortana submitted to the plan.

"There is one Covenant Spirit Dropship still docked," she informed them. "We can get everyone who can't fit on the shuttle on it without any problem."

Suddenly, one of the doors chimed open and another squad of batarians appeared to block their escape route. Keyes fired a flurry of pink needles at the first batarian who came through the door. The batarian didn't have time to duck, eight needles stuck into his chest. A few seconds later he exploded into a ball of pink mist.

The squad of batarians fell back as gunfire rained upon their position. Each group took cover, the batarians further down the corridor, the UNSC and Normandy crew behind a corner within the bridge area.

As the two groups exchanged fire, another door across from them opened up, revealing another squad of Batarians. Chief opened up on them, killing one of the four-eyed aliens as he charged through the door. Chief tossed a grenade into the corridor, killing or scattering the batarians within the doorway.

"I'm going to flank them through there," he told Shepard.

The Commander looked to Tali and Legion.

"Have your drones cover him!" he ordered.

The two obliged and both Chiktikka and Legion's drone rolled out alongside the Spartan as he ran towards the door. He fired at the first squad of batarians as he moved across, keeping their heads down. He made it to the doorway, the drones by his side.

One of the batarians appeared from around a corner, only for the Master Chief to fire a full burst into his face. As he moved around towards the first batarian squad, another batarian appeared from behind an alcove. Chiktikka fired an energy blast that struck the alien in the eyes, blinding him. Master Chief socked the batarian in the face and kept moving.

He made it to the flank of the first squad. Legion's drone went in first, striking at the backside of one batarian rifleman. When he went down his closest comrade fired on the drone, causing it to explode amongst the batarians. Chief added to the attack by tossing a frag grenade into the mix. The double explosion rocked the hallway and Chief quickly rushed forward to finish off the batarians before they could recover from the attack.

With the first squad silenced, he went up to motion Shepard to move up. Not a moment after did a third batarian squad appear from behind them. They began firing on them as they retreated back into the corridor.

The group didn't stop for anything, racing through the halls towards the shuttle bay. They could hear the batarians chasing after them, and both Tali and Legion were reactivating their drones over and over in an attempt to slow them down.

They soon got back to the shuttle bay and Chief raced towards the control console. As he did, he came under fire from batarians to his left. Shepard had his back though, firing his pistol at the batarians as they tried to push forward. He forced them to take cover behind a pair of crates and tossed a shockwave out to make sure they stayed there.

"Unlatch the dropship and get those force fields down!" Shepard shouted at the Spartan.

Chief slammed his fist onto the console and the dropship was detached from its magnetic awnings on the ceilings. It automatically moved into position to allow the escapees on board.

"Everyone on," Keyes ordered.

As the force field door opened on the hangar, the Normandy's shuttle flew in. The door opened wide and hovered near the edge of the landing. Miranda, Mordin, Thane, Jack and Joker rushed inside, while Shepard, Tali and Legion joined the rest of the UNSC soldiers aboard the Covenant dropship.

Keyes took up the controls himself, sitting down in the Spirit's pilot chair and placing his hands over the console. Chief stood next to him, as did Shepard.

"Give me a second to interface with the ship's control," Cortana requested.

But Keyes had other ideas.

"No need, I'll take this bird out myself," he declared.

Chief heard Cortana audibly sigh.

"How did I know he was going to say that?" She asked the Spartan.

However, Cortana's attention was taken aback when Chief looked out the window and spotted a few Covenant intending to stop their escape.

"Captain, hunters!" She called out.

The hulking aliens stood at the far end of the landing, charging up their assault cannons. Keyes jumped into action quickly.

"Hang on!" He warned.

He suddenly jerked the Spirit towards the Hunters. As they tried to shoot down the charging dropship, the vessel slammed into the pair of hulking beasts. The two-prongs of the Spirit slammed into the hunters and crushed them against the wall of the ship.

"Nice one, sir," noted one of the Marines.

Both the Normandy's shuttle and the commandeered Spirit sped away into the night through the open hangar door. The Truth and Reconciliation, and its blood stained halls, were left far behind.

"Time for a little payback," Keyes declared. "We're gonna steal this ring weapon right from under them."

---

Varvok finally got to the shuttle bay, just in time to see the Spirit and Normandy Shuttle leaving through the hangar door. He fired his entire clip into the fleeing vessels. When all he heard was a click, he threw his pistol towards them. It was futile, but it was all he could do to relieve his frustration.

This had been a disaster, and he suspected who the Covenant would blame for it.

"Gather our wounded and dead," he ordered one of his soldiers. "I need to meet with the Supreme Commander."

---

Shepard finally got the chance to sit down. It had been a long night, but they had come away from it in relatively decent shape. Joker and Jack were back in their hands and now they had Keyes with them. They stood a real chance at mounting a successful resistance now.

Shepard looked across from him to see the Master Chief taking a breather himself, lying against the Spirit's bulkhead.

"You have a good team, Commander," He suddenly said.

"The best," Shepard replied. "Thanks for helping me get them all out of there."

"Just doing my job," Chief informed him.

They flew for a little awhile longer before they spoke again.

"So, next stop is this Control Room then," Shepard reasoned.

"Looks like it," Chief replied. "I'm guessing it won't be easy."

Chief looked directly at Shepard as he asked his own question.

"What that alien in the hologram said," he began. "About your friend, I mean. You think she'll be okay?"

Shepard just smiled.

"Liara's part of my team too, Chief," he assured him. "And you saw how good they worked tonight. Trust me, Liara's gonna be just fine."

Shepard wanted to believe that, to believe in his friend. But that didn't mean he wasn't worried about her, that he didn't feel terrible about not being able to help her now. He just hoped whatever trouble she had gotten herself in back home, she had found just as good a team as he did.

---

AN: Well, that was pretty action packed. I got nothing much to say on this one that's not in the author notes over in the profile, so nothing too lengthy here either.

Remember; do check out the profile for more information on my thoughts about the story and the Kickstarter I'm backing, "World War Kaiju." It's a story that deserves your money and deserves to be told. There is no obligation, but you'd be doing me and monster fans the world over a great blessing.

Next time, it's back to Liara for another brief interlude with her squad of misfits. What is Nelanax's deal exactly? And why does she sound like a movie trailer? Find out in chapter 13.