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.

18. I'll See You on the Beach

Chapter 17: I'll See You on the Beach

September 20th, 2552: 1126 hrs

The glistening sea below them was breathtaking. So too was the bright blue sky above it that they were currently flying in. Were it not for the fact they were deep in enemy territory, stranded on an ancient alien weapon of some kind, as well as on their way to a hostile beachhead, Master Chief probably would have been taking in the scenery more. As it was though, there was little time to admire Halo's artificial environment. This was mostly because they were coming under fire.

"We're approaching the LZ! It's gonna be hot!"

Foe Hammer wasn't kidding. The Covenant below were already firing every plasma bolt they could shoot off up at their Pelican. As the little bolts of fiery gel bounced off the craft's armour, Chief braced himself against the side of the door, pistol at the ready. He could already hear Linda firing off her Sniper Rifle at the enemy ground forces. Normandy's Shuttle was flying in between the Pelicans, searching for its own spot to land while avoiding the small arms fire.

"You sure this is the least defended part of the island?" Chief asked Cortana.

"According to the recon report, yes," The AI replied, slightly annoyed by his lack of faith. "It has the best cover and I'm only counting two squads down there. Now stop complaining and make them dead."

The Pelican hit the sand as Chief cocked his pistol.

"Touchdown! Hit it Marines!" Foe Hammer shouted.

Chief launched himself out of the Pelican and rushed across the beach, firing his pistol at the enemy lines. Behind him, the Normandy's shuttle had landed and from within poured out several of Shepard's team. Shepard himself had been in the second Pelican with Linda, which had landed just a few feet further down the beach.

Two grunts scurried out from the rocks that dotted the beach, firing at the Master Chief as he moved up. Aiming down the pistol's scope, Chief popped off two shots that struck the two aliens right between their eyes. As their corpses fell to the ground, ending up face down in the sand, their fellow grunts began to retreat further down the beach.

At that moment, elite squad leaders fired down at the Spartan from the small sandy hill above. This forced the Spartan to take cover behind one of the rocks on the beach before his shields failed. They quickly recharged and Chief popped out of cover to fire off several shots at Covenant soldiers. After getting hit by three bullets, one of the elites retreated, his comrade soon followed. Chief pursued, moving up the hill towards another series of rocks.

As he continued to fire into the fray, he watched the battle that was unfolding around him. To his right, he saw Linda rolling into cover. She took aim at a jackal that was strafing some of the Marines moving up the beach. One clean shot blew the alien's brains out. He soon tumbled into the sand. Linda then ejected the spent thermal clip from the rifle she was using. It was a gun she had borrowed from one of the Normandy crew called a Widow. It was a pretty devastating rifle to be sure, if the now headless jackal was any proof of that.

Linda was soon joined by Garrus and the two began picking off grunts together with their sniper rifles. As the little gas suckers popped up from cover to fire on the attackers, Linda and the turian popped their heads open with devastating precision.

To his left, he could see Jack rushing up on point. She threw a cascading wave of biotic energy towards a clump of rocks, sending the grunts taking cover among them flying. She then tossed a throw attack at the floating aliens, causing the biotic energy around them to detonate. The display sent the grunts nearby into a panic. They ran back to better cover, abandoning the left flank for the other Normandy team members to push forward.

"Fuck'em all up!" Jack cried out, firing her pistol at the fleeing aliens.

As Jack lobbed a biotic energy ball towards the Covenant lines, Shepard's lumbering Krogan crewmate, Grunt, charged forward. He fired his shotgun point-blank into a jackal, the round bounced of the alien's shield, but the Covie's defence could not protect him from Grunt's charge. The krogan lowered his head and rammed the jackal, tossing him up into the air like a wild bull would toss a man.

Another jackal tried to charge his plasma pistol as the krogan passed him, but Grunt only needed to stretch out his arm and smack the bird-creature away like a ragdoll. Blue plasma bolts sped past him as he charged forward, forcing him to take cover behind a Covenant container set up on the beach. The elite firing on the krogan had him pinned, but Chief had his back. Using his scope, he fired two pistols shots at the Covie, dropping his shields. Grunt noticed this and used the opportunity to fire a concussive shot that sent the alien tumbling out of cover. The Krogan then rushed over as the elite tried to stand and fired an inferno round from his Claymore at point-blank range into the alien's head.

The Marines behind Chief began to move up with him, firing at the Covenant as they were pushed further back. The Spartan decided it was time to move once again and took point for his fellow soldiers. They were joined by Samara, who had rushed in to offer her own bit of aid. She tossed out a biotic singularity in front of her, picking up grunts and jackals around it. As the Marines fired into the swirling mass of bodies, she let loose another biotic attack to detonate the singularity.

"I'll keep pushing up the middle," Chief told Samara. "Cover me!"

Samara simply nodded, firing her assault rifle into the enemy lines. Chief ran forward, as did everyone else. The final hill stood before them, beyond that was a large structure that overlooked the entire beach. Some kind of building that protruded from the cliffs and stretched to the water's edge. There was a large, thick support beam in the center of the spanning structure that created two archways the Covenant Forces were now gathering around. It made little difference, they wouldn't last much longer.

Chief noticed Jack was still leading the assault on the left, launching herself forward only to come down on the enemy with a terrible biotic wave that sent them flying. The drell, Thane, backed her up with some clever gun play, taking down a trio of Jackals as he launched himself off a rock. He got above the bird-creatures and fired down at them as he fell. He landed amongst their dead bodies and pushed forward.

It was then Chief heard a rippling sound of energy. Shepard had moved up through the ranks and had slammed into a couple of grunts. The little aliens were sent flying as he quickly took cover among the rocks and tried to flank the aliens. Tali soon joined him, running up the side of the hill. Her drone moved up ahead of her and it was soon among the ranks of Covenant, compromising their position. She fired at a grunt with her pistol, her shot penetrating the alien's eye. Before long, Chief had joined the two.

"They have some good cover behind that archway," he told them. "Looks like most of the elites are trying to rally there as well. We're going to be in for a fight."

"Don't worry," Shepard assured him. "We got this."

As Shepard said that, several plasma bolts struck their cover. Another group of jackals were pushing up, guarding two grunts as they made their way forward. Chief popped up to fire his assault rifle at them, but noticed a shimmering glimmer to the flank of the aliens. Appearing out of thin air was Kasumi and she soon tossed a flashbang amongst the Covies. Chief shielded his eyes as the flash disoriented the Covenant. Kasumi then pulled back as Kat and Jun deactivated their own cloaks and fired into the disoriented mass of aliens with their assault rifles.

Seeing their chance to push up, Chief vaulted over his cover and into the Covenant lines proper. He smacked a grunt in the face with the butt of his rifle before riddling his body full of bullets. As an elite tried to pull back his small squad, Chief opened up on him as well. The alien turned his little group towards the Spartan, only for his squad to get picked off by several sniper shots. Chief looked behind him and to the right to see Garrus and Linda, who had positioned themselves to the Spartan's rear behind some cover.

"Always got your back, Chief," Linda told him over the radio.

Chief just nodded and pushed forward as the elite tried to take cover behind some trees at the back of the beach. Chief wouldn't give him the chance, he tossed a grenade among the foliage, forcing the elite out of cover. The explosion damaged the alien's shields and Chief delivered a running haymaker straight into the alien's jaw. Before the Covie could recover, he fired the rest of his magazine into the elite's torso, trailing the spray of rounds up to his head.

With him down, there only a few Covenant left, two of which were elites. The Marines began pooling around the archway structure, picking off the grunts and jackals that were left. He decided to leave the small fry to them, as the elites were the biggest threats left on the beach now.

He tossed a grenade into the Covenant ranks once more, trying to draw the aliens out. They must've seen him, because they immediately set their sights on the Spartan as they rushed out shooting like mad. Chief was forced to take cover behind a Covenant container as shields dimmed into the red.

"Recharge in two seconds," Cortana informed him. "Pushing additional power to shields to increase strength, but it won't hold up for long against two plasma rifles shooting at it."

Luckily, he wasn't alone in his assault on the two Covenant officers. He soon spotted Shepard moving up, Tali behind him.

"Energy drain, now!" He shouted out as biotic energy pooled around him.

Tali activated her omni-tool and fired an attack at one of the elites. The alien's shield drained to nothing and his body coursed with electrical feedback from the attack. Seconds later, Shepard propelled himself forward with a charge attack and sent the elite hurtling backwards.

Master Chief then saw the second elite moving to fire on the Commander. The Spartan rushed out, pistol in hand and pointed at the offending alien. He fired five shots from his magazine as he moved forward. Three shots killed the alien's shield, one caught the Covie in the shoulder and the last one cut through a piece of his helmet and skull. But even bleeding profusely from a shattered skull, the elite stood tall.

As the Spartan closed to within arm's length of the wounded Covenant officer, the alien tried brought his plasma rifle up and tried to strike the super-soldier down in one last show of defiance. Chief grabbed the alien's arm with one hand and used the other, which was still gripping his pistol, to deliver a savage hit of his own straight into the side of the Covie's head.

The elite went down and Chief was able to catch Shepard finishing off the second elite with his shotgun. He turned to Tali, grinning broadly.

"I think you enjoy doing that a bit too much," Tali told him cheekily as she approached.

"I just kinda like looking at their surprised faces when I smash into them," Shepard explained.

Chief coughed, catching the attention of them both. He then pointed to the downed elite.

"I handled him for you by the way," Chief told him. "Thanks for distracting him."

"It's really nothing." Tali jokingly insisted. "Shepard just tends to draw a lot of attention when he shows off. He also kinda goes into his own little world too."

"Very funny," Shepard lightly chided her. "Charging gives you tunnel vision sometimes, it's kinda unavoidable when you speed across the battlefield within the span of two seconds and hit your target head-on."

Gentle ribbing aside, they had won the first step in this fight. With the beach cleared of enemies, they had their foothold on the island now. The team of Marines and Shepard's people quickly got together and prepared for phase two.

"How did those shield packs we gave your men hold up, Sergeant Waller?" Shepard asked.

The aforementioned Sergeant was a very clean cut man. He was a member of the ODSTs, but he and his men were currently wearing Marine gear. He had been more than eager to assist in taking the Cartographer. It had also seemed to placate Silva's concerns by having one of his Drop Troopers on mission.

The Sergeant tapped a small device attached to the back of his belt.

"We're good, Commander," he said proudly. "These things sure are a life saver. Glad you could spare a few to cover us."

Shepard had wanted to hand out portable shield packs to the Marines for awhile. He didn't have enough to give every survivor, so he had to use them sparingly. He decided, for this mission, that he needed to level the playing field a bit. The Covenant weren't going to get any easy shots against the Marines on this operation. The packs weren't powerful enough to stand up to many hits from a plasma weapon, but they'd still survive long enough to give them all a fighting chance.

Before Shepard could discuss things further, he heard a voice coming from his radio.

"Somebody order a Warthog?" Foe Hammer asked jovially.

"I didn't know you made house calls, Foe Hammer," Called out one Marine over the radio.

"You know our motto," she replied, still rather upbeat. "We deliver."

Echo 419 soon hovered into view above the beach and slowly inched down low enough before it released the Hog strapped to its undercarriage.

"Alright then," Cortana began. "We better move out and find the Map Room then."

"Agreed," Shepard concurred before looking to his team. "Garrus, I'm gonna take Kasumi, Tali and Grunt with me to assist in the search. You stay here with Jack, Thane and Samara and keep the area secured with the Marines. Linda, Kat and Jun will help out."

Garrus simply nodded as he joined the others in setting up defences. Both Kat and Linda walked over to Shepard and Chief before they set out.

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to call us in, Commander," Kat was quick to add.

"Don't worry about us, just keep this position secured," Shepard told her. "We'll have our own bit of firepower after all."

Shepard put his hand up to his ear.

"Miranda, Joker," he stated. "We have our beach head. Drop the shark."

"On our way, Commander," Joker responded.

"We'll maintain a close watch on the area around the island," Miranda added. "If we spot Covenant reinforcements, we'll inform you."

The Normandy soon appeared from out of the clouds above and sped along the edge of the island. It opened its shuttle hatch as it passed and allowed the Hammerhead to fall to the sand below. The vehicle soon came to life and drove up alongside the Warthog.

"Legion and Zaeed are aboard, Commander," Jacob spoke up over the radio. "I got the stick and they're ready for your orders."

"Good, have Zaeed stay here to keep the place secured and keep Legion on the gun," Shepard ordered. "Remember, we need to keep him close and out of harm's way for now."

"No problem, sir," Jacob responded. "I'm just glad we've attacked some place nice for a change."

"Savour it while you can," Zaeed added as he stepped off the Hammerhead. "The assholes who own it currently aren't going to make this a picnic."

---

Zek had to hand it to this Zuka, he had guessed right. The Demon and the False Shepherd had both shown up at the island. Apparently, he was right to assume the humans would be after to Cartographer. It was a pretty juicy target since it was supposed to pinpoint the location of this stupid ring's Control Centre. He just didn't think that they knew about all that, but he could admit when he was wrong. Humans did tend to be smarter than most sangheili gave them credit for. He doubted that's how Zuka saw it though. He just didn't seem to like underestimating the enemy.

"Are you in position, pirate?" Zuka asked over the radio.

He was still an asshole though.

"Yeah, I'm at your little super important structure," Zek replied. "How do you even know that this thing is the Cartographer anyway?"

"The Zealot Field Marshall in charge understands the workings of our Gods greater than you," Zuka replied. "That is none of your concern in any case. Your job is to keep the Demon out and force him to my position near the Security Centre."

"If we have control over the security centre, how come we're having trouble getting the Cartographer working?" Zek asked again.

"I don't have time to answer your questions, pirate," Zuka replied angrily. "If you must know, some of the main consoles aren't responding upon use. Does that satisfy you?"

Zek shrugged the vicious retort off. He supposed annoying the sangheili with questions had gotten old anyway.

"Alright then, relax," Zek told him. "I got this area covered."

Zek was sitting on the top of the Cartographer building's main entrance. It gave him a great view of the surrounding beach. He'd be able to see everything from up here and get a good shot on any humans trying to mount an assault. He held no illusions about this mission though; he wasn't going to be able to kill the False Shepherd or this Demon. That wasn't even his job after all. Zuka's plan relied on leading the two into a trap of some kind he had set up at the security room. The sangheili hadn't explained exactly what kind of trap it was, but he'd let him worry about the details.

Besides, if Zuka fucked up it wouldn't be his or any of his crew's feathers on the line. He was just here to make sure they never bit off more than they could chew. Even forced to work for the Covenant, they were still pirates and pirates didn't stick around to save someone's ass when there was no profit in it. If something went wrong, he'd have to work on salvaging matters, mainly by making sure Varvok's people didn't get needlessly slaughtered.

There were a few squads of batarians stationed across the island, mixed in with his regular crew mates. That was Varvok's idea. He didn't trust Zuka enough, or the island's Zealot Commander for that matter, to look out for them. Zek had their best interests at heart though. If Varvok's men all died, well, it could seriously hurt their business arrangements. He was still waiting on some of those Harpoon guns for his boys after all.

"We're in position at the bottom of the structure, Zek," one of the squad commanders informed him. "We'll keep in cover so they don't see us."

"I'll let it you know if I need your help," Zek told them before he switched channels. "How's my advanced warning system holding up?"

His two scouts didn't respond at first, but a moment later they spoke up.

"Uh, yeah, we were just about to call, sir," the scout said as the sound of gunfire resonated in the background. "We got a bit of a problem with a pair of human vehicles and- oh crap!"

There was the sound of an explosion before the communication cut out.

"Well, sounds like the humans are out for a little stroll on the beach," he stated as he readied his needle rifle. "Goody, I need the target practice."

---

The incoming missiles had not been kind to the jackals stationed on top of the rock. Their friends on the ground fared little better, as their shields proved unable to stand against the never ending assault from the Warthog's machine gun. Chief kept manoeuvring the Hog as best he could through the sandy terrain. One good overloaded shot from a jackal's plasma pistol and they'd stall out in the middle of a firefight.

He turned the Warthog to the side and let it skid over the sands towards one of the jackals. The vehicle ran the alien down before he got a chance to run. The move gave the gunner a clear shot on another jackal and he was able to take him down before he could get to the safety of the rocks.

The Hammerhead was already speeding ahead, firing missiles at a nearby clump of trees. The Covenant within the foliage ran scared, save for the two elites who managed to keep in cover behind the trees. Even as the ground rocked around them with explosions, they refused to run blindly out into the open. This pretty much saved their lives, as their fearful grunt comrades were ripped apart by the Hammerhead's missiles.

Legion could tell where they were though. Even with the barriers installed into the geth's central processors, it compensated for the problem by relying in the Hammerhead's own systems. It was picking up their heat signatures, so Legion began to target their positions directly.

A barrage of missiles flew from the Hammerhead and made their way towards the treeline. The elites, seemingly sensing that their cover was no longer useful, fled. The missiles crashed down, causing a number of the trees to tumble over on impact. It was a close call for the Covenant officers. Legion trailed the gun after them, firing as Jacob drove the Hammerhead into position.

The elites made their way towards a large hill at the end of the beach. It would lead them to higher ground with more secure places to take cover in. They fired back at the Hammerhead as they went, explosions devastating the landscape around them, but Legion kept the main gun's crosshair's focused on the two. The elites were taking aim at the Hammerhead's propulsion systems however, intending to disable it.

"Legion!" Jacob called up. "You better take care of them now! I do not want us dying in the middle of a fight!"

Legion decided to cut the elites off, taking aim up higher on the hill. The missiles cascaded down, blocking off the elite's escape. The delay gave the Master Chief's Warthog time to roll up and join the fight. The elites did what they could with what little cover was offered. One threw a plasma grenade in the Hammerhead's direction, but Jacob easily avoided it. The grenade exploded harmlessly in the sand, and Legion fired another terrible barrage.

This time, the missiles hit the elite square in the chest. His comrade dodged to the side, as the Warthog's chain gun bit at his heels. Chief slammed his foot down hard on the accelerator and the Hog rushed forward to run the alien over. The elite simply rolled to side as the vehicle moved in and he grabbed onto Chief's side of the hog.

He made a move to grab the Spartan, but Chief pulled a hard left. The momentum forced the elite back and gave Chief a chance to pull out his assault rifle, which he rested on his other arm a she took aim. He riddled the Covie with bullets before using his free hand to punch the elite off the Warthog. Downed by the attack, Chief turned hard to the right in order for the back wheel to catch the elite. There was a slight bump from the backend as the Hog straighten out.

"Hitchhikers are always trouble," Cortana quipped.

The Hammerhead dropped off Shepard, Tali, Kasumi and Grunt at the foot of the hill while the Master Chief rolled the Warthog up to them.

"Move the Hammerhead around the side, Jacob," Shepard said as he departed. "We'll take the high road with Master Chief."

Jacob slowly drove the Hammerhead away and Shepard walked over to Chief's side of the Hog.

"We should be close by now," Cortana informed the group. "The recon team reported a structure up ahead."

"EDI says the Normandy spotted it while they were flying in," Shepard added. "She detected heat signatures on the fly-by."

"I'm picking up movement myself," Cortana added. "It stands to reason the Covenant have already entrenched themselves around the structure itself. This hill should put us on their direct flank."

"That should put us in a good position to take them out if Jacob attacks them from the front with the Hammerhead," Chief suggested. "We'll be able to clear them out quickly if we're lucky."

Shepard nodded in agreement and Chief began to drive the Warthog up the hill. Shepard followed closely behind. Both the Hog and Shepard's team stopped within spitting distance of the structure proper. It was a raised platform sticking out of the rock face. Burrowing into the cliff was a forked, open doorway surrounded by several squads of Covenant soldiers. Including at least two elites they could see in red armour.

Everyone kept low to the ground as they watched the Covenant move about the area. They didn't want to get spotted just yet. The enemy looked like they were expecting an attack, but weren't entirely sure where it would come from just yet. They were already massing at potential attack points though, which would make any assault hard.

"You sure the Cartographer is in this structure?" Master Chief asked Cortana.

"I'd bet my Core Matrix on it, Chief," she replied confidently. "Those elites are wearing Zealot-rank armour. You can tell by the configuration of the helmets. They only send them out on important artefact retrieval or excavation missions. The Silent Cartographer is in that building."

Chief surveyed the area around the structure and spotted what looked to be a cave of some sort one the far wall.

"There's some kind of opening on the opposite flank," he said, pointing out the cave to the others.

"I believe the recon team mentioned they spotted a cave at ground level around this particular area," Cortana added. "That could be its exit."

Chief looked to Shepard, but he already knew his intention before the Commander even started nodding his head knowingly.

"Jacob," he spoke up, putting his hand up to his ear. "Change of plans, move around to the other side of the structure. You should see cave in the rocks. It will lead you up to the top level and put you on their opposite flank."

"Pincer movement, I like it," Jacob replied. "But how you gonna keep them from spotting me? The Hammerhead isn't exactly very quiet or subtle."

"We're gonna give them a slightly louder and even less subtle distraction," Shepard replied with a roguish grin. He then, unsurprisingly, turned to the krogan in his squad. "Grunt, smash."

The krogan slammed his fists together and offered a hearty laugh.

"My favourite kind of order," he chuckled.

And with that, Grunt ran into the fray, screaming like a mad man. Chief moved the Warthog up to give the gunner a clear line of sight so he could assist the rampaging alien reptile. The chattering of the chain gun added to Grunt's roaring battle cry as the krogan charged forward.

The first victims of his assault were a pair of the aliens who shared his name. Grunt struck the Methane suckers clear off the edge of the platform with one single swoop of his head. He then fired his shotgun at the other Covenant as they rushed for cover from the Warthog's machine gun.

Tali had already sent in her Drone to back Grunt up, while Kasumi turned on her cloak before entering the fray. Shepard stayed by Tali's side, firing off a few rounds from his assault rifle into the battle. He then watched as one of the Gas-Suckers tried to sneak up on Grunt from behind, using the forked entrance to the Cartographer. Instead, the Krogan just turned and punted the little alien into the rock face with a single mighty kick. The tank-bred reptilian then laughed as he continued to open fire on the Covenant.

"You know he gets that from you," Tali sighed as she looked over at Shepard.

"I can't help it that he copies my up-close and personal approach," Shepard replied. "He's a krogan, Tali. It's in his genes."

"Or you encourage him too much," Tali suggested teasingly.

In the midst of Shepard and Tali's discussion, pink tracers whizzed by the Warthog, almost hitting the gunner who was forced to put his head down. It didn't take long for Cortana to help trace the origin of the shots and pinpoint the target for Chief on his HUD, a jackal sniper on top of the entry way.

"Shooter up top!" Chief warned as he jumped from the Warthog, his pistol drawn.

More pink needles flew through the air and everyone quickly went to ground. Chief opened fire on the sniper who quickly ducked back into hiding, away from view. Since he was out of the Warthog anyway, Chief kept moving forward. He fired his pistol at more of the scattered Covenant garrison as they fell back. Shepard and Tali moved up with him, adding further momentum to the assault.

The Covenant had started to retreat into the entrance way for protection, but out of nowhere they started getting help. Rushing up along a slope that led up from the beach directly to the platform was a trio of jackals. They were assisted by, surprisingly, batarians firing away with their assault rifles. Chief hadn't expected to see them here. The reinforcements forced the Spartan to take cover in a small nook against the entranceway.

"Now would be a really good time for that Hammerhead to show up!" Cortana shouted into the Spartan's ear.

Almost as if on cue, just as the small squad of batarians and jackals got in front of the cave exit, the Hammerhead sped out into the open. The tight knit group scattered, but not all could get away in time as the armoured hovercraft slammed down on top of them.

One of the batarians rushed forward, towards the attackers instead of away. As he tried to take out Chief, Grunt pulled out of cover and fired a concussive shot at the four eyed alien. The blast knocked him back towards the edge of the platform and gave Chief enough time to fill him full of holes. The batarian's body fell to the sand below.

Grunt suddenly lurched forward, a pink barb stuck in his shoulder. Chief looked up, knowing the shot could've only come from the jackal sniper from before. He intended to finish the job and stepped out to take him down, but before he could he saw the jackal jump back suddenly. He was avoiding an omni-blade attack that had come at him from behind by Kasumi. The alien kicked at the thief, only for her to toss a flashbang in his direction. Blinded, the Jackal stumbled off his perch and onto the platform below.

Shepard had also seen the scene unfold and was already lining up a shot of his own on the jackal. Remarkably, the alien recovered his bearings and made a break for it. He rushed across the platform, now littered with the dead bodies of gas suckers, fellow jackals and a few batarians, towards the edge. It was smarter than staying out in the open, Chief supposed. He still took aim at the alien's feet with his pistol though, intending to make sure he didn't get away.

The jackal fired indiscriminately at the treeline as machine gun bullets and Chief's rounds licked at his heels. The Spartan landed a good hit on the Jackal's leg, causing him to lurch forward. The alien kept running though. Shepard then let loose a shockwave that rippled across the ground towards the jackal. With whatever strength the creature had left, he forced himself to jump into the air, narrowly missing the attack. He turned his body in mid air to fire on the Master Chief who got off one last shot that struck the jackal in his arm before he fell out of view.

Chief would've gone over to make sure he had taken care of the problem, but he became distracted by a series of small explosions. He turned around to watch as a single elite barrelled out of the entranceway, fiery blasts from the Hammerhead's missiles erupting behind him. He rolled down onto the ground and fired on all who were in range of him. Chief was once again forced to take cover against the entrance way wall.

"This one seems fast," Cortana warned. "I'd suggest leading him at about five or so centimetres."

"Thanks for the recommendation," Chief replied as he prepared his pistol once more.

Shepard had moved towards the edge of the rock face with Tali while Grunt stayed with the Chief. The elite now controlled the entire gap between Shepard's position and the entranceway he had so dramatically exited. He was soon joined by two grunts who had also remarkably survived the Hammerhead's barrage.

"Stay where you are, Jacob," Shepard ordered. "Don't let anyone come out of your side and flank us."

The Elite was keeping covered in a little nook between the entranceway and the rock face currently. He was keeping his two lackeys out in front as extra meat shields. Tali decided to activate Chiktikka again to act as a distraction. She let the little drone roll out into the open, where the two grunts were quick to attack at with their plasma pistols. As they did, Tali popped up to fire two clean shots from her pistol, killing both aliens with a single shot to the head. She quickly pulled back into cover, however, when the elite fired at her with his plasma rifle. He then shot at the drone to finish it off.

As he did though, Kasumi dropped another flashbang into the fray. The elite was blinded by the forthcoming flash, giving Shepard the chance he needed. He moved out of cover and Chief joined him. The elite stumbled around for a few seconds more when Tali used her energy drain to weaken his shields and give the Covie a nasty electrical shock. Shepard fired his shotgun at the alien, but the elite managed to shake off Tali's attack just in time and roll away. His shields were gone though, which meant it wouldn't be too hard to take him down.

Chief opened fire on the Covie with his pistol pressing forward as he did. The elite didn't have much space to move, but he still managed to avoid or take the successive gunshots with relative ease. He kept moving, despite his wounds, but Shepard would put a stop to that. With the alien distracted by the Spartan, Shepard fired another shotgun blast at the elite. This time, he had modified his ammunition, cryo rounds. Two successive shots from his Scimitar and the unshielded elite was frozen in place.

"Let's see you dodge now," The Commander commented.

Chief just aimed his pistol at the Covie's head and fired a single shot into it. The frozen creature shattered before him and the way to the inside of the Cartographer was now clear. They still expected the Covenant who had retreated to be inside though.

"I'll go in first," Chief told the others as he carefully moved up.

Stepping inside the entranceway, he found a large hall extending into the rock face. The corridor was triangular as it moved upward and shined a bright blue that resonated off the gray and white walls. There were little alcoves dotting the hall all the way to the back of the room.

Chief didn't have long to look at it though, as several plasma bolts almost took his head off, both blue and green. He pulled himself back into cover and switched from his pistol to assault rifle. He supposed he should've expected that, more than enough Covies had been able to retreat inside here after all.

"Well, that's not gonna make things easy," Cortana reasoned.

"Don't worry," Chief assured her. "They're just a minor roadblock."

Shepard soon joined Chief by his side with his own assault rifle at the ready. Moments later, Tali, Kasumi and Grunt appeared through the entrance on the right side and took up positions on the corner opposite of them.

"So what do we got?" Shepard asked the Spartan.

Chief looked back at the Commander briefly before turning back to the open hallway. He had heard that question plenty of times before and had been able to give the answer without even thinking about it. Here, he considered the situation more given Shepard's different skills and those of his team. The fact was, despite their many qualities, they weren't Spartans. It wasn't the same team. They could never be.

However, Shepard was a capable leader. He had proven it several times to him. He had done so again just outside before the attack. Chief respected him for it, and in that vein he could adjust. In many ways, he already had.

"There are at least two elites at the end of this hall, maybe three" he explained. "I only saw them briefly, but they look like zealot-class too. At least one is taking cover in one of the various alcoves along the walls. There are also a few grunts too. We won't be able to get close enough normally. Do you think you could use your charge?"

"I could, but I'll probably get shot apart before I catch them all," Shepard replied. "A Nova strike could work, but that will drain my barriers and make me even more vulnerable."

So, that was out. Chief had one frag grenade left, but wasn't sure it would be enough to take down an elite. Maybe he'd kill a grunt, but the elite would certainly be able to get away in time. He doubted Tali's drone would be able to survive the journey and get close enough to the Covenant either.

"How good is Grunt against plasma?" Chief asked Shepard.

"He's got a thicker hide than us," Shepard admitted. "But he's not going to have a lot of room to move in there. He'll never make it."

"Says you," Grunt grumbled.

Shepard just gave the krogan a look and the alien quickly backed down. Even with the krogan option out, there was still a way out of this. He thought back to Tali's drone. The Covenant would never let it get close enough, but it could still work as something else.

"What if we use that drone of Tali's as a distraction?" He asked Shepard. "We could make them come out into the open to attack it before it gets close and then we could catch them there."

"I could send a shockwave or something across to them," Shepard suggested. "But it only goes in one direction and we may not catch them all in one hit."

Master Chief considered the options before them. Shepard looked to be doing the same, considering everything he had told the Commander. Given how long the hallway was, the number of bad guys, the layout of the hallway, Chief came to his own idea.

"Can your biotics carry an object?" Chief asked.

"Sure they can," Shepard answered. "I'm not sure how that would help though."

Chief showed his grenade.

"I need you to get this thing flying into them," He explained. "We can't give them time to dodge it."

"I can do that," Shepard agreed. "But that's a lot to bank on one plan. After it blows, can you cover me and Kasumi as we move up?"

"How are you going to do that?" Chief asked out of pure curiosity.

"Kas can go ghost while I zip from cover to cover," Shepard explained. If I close the distance a bit I can get a decent enough angle on them to take them down."

It sounded good to him. The explosion would certainly be a big enough secondary distraction for the Commander. Chief just hoped enough of the Covies were killed in the initial explosion.

"I'll move up with you," Chief suggested. "I can split their focus."

Shepard just nodded and looked to Tali. With a simple touch of her omni-tool, the quarian activated her drone and let it roll out into the open. Chief prepared the grenade as Shepard pooled energy in his palm. When the drone got a few feet out into the hall, the elites began opening fire on it. Chief primed the grenade and moved out to throw it. Shepard then moved out himself to send biotic throw attack out that struck the grenade from behind.

The hit turned the grenade's lob into a straight line and the grenade rocketed towards the Covenant lines, who were still focused on the Drone. The explosive passed by the head of one of the elites. Due to the way the biotic attack had hit it and changed its direction, the grenade moved into the left corner, striking against the wall. The frag exploded moments later and sent two grunts flying. The elite nearby had not been killed by the attack, but he had been injured and his shields were shot.

Shepard was already rushing up the corridor. He used his charge attack, not to strike at the Covenant, but to zip into a nearby alcove to close the gap between him and the Covenant. He quickly sent a shockwave rolling forward to strike the injured elite before he could get his bearings. The attack sent the alien flying sideways into a wall. It was doubtful the elite was dead, but at least he was further disoriented.

Kasumi had already vanished and Chief knew it was his turn to play his part. He stepped out, acting a further distraction to assist the Commander. He fired his rifle at one of the elites as he continued to fire at him. Shepard fired his own rifle at the alien and then quickly ran across to another alcove. The shot smacked against the elite's shields and, with Shepard now on his direct flank, the alien retreated into cover.

His place was taken by his fallen brother, who had picked himself off the ground and returned to shooting. He felt he had a clear target with the Master Chief moving up the center, but Chief already had his eyes on him. He fired several shots at the elite, catching him in the shoulder. The alien returned fire and placed himself back into cover once more. Chief still had his eyes trained forward, but Cortana soon warned him of what he couldn't see to his rear.

"Chief! Movement from behind!"

The Spartan turned to see an elite poke his head out of cover and fire a shot. His shields whined their low power alarm as the bolt hit him center mass. He fired a stream of bullets that bounced off the elite's shields, keeping his focus on the Spartan. Chief wanted that, because he could see what was happening from behind the Covie. Grunt barrelled down the hallway and slammed his full weight into the elite's back. The attack carried both the krogan and the elite back into the alcove, where Chief could only hear a shotgun blast follow soon after.

The Spartan turned his attention back to the front, although he noticed Tali had moved up as well to offer further support fire. The elite on the right returned again this time, but Tali's pistol was accurate enough to catch him in the head. The alien's shields were strong enough to keep it from being a fatal shot though, and he fired back on the quarian, forcing her into cover.

Just then, Kasumi materialised behind the Covenant officer. A single overload pulse from her omni-tool and the alien's shields were completely devastated. The elite, noticing what had happened, turned to face her. Only for Shepard to land a shot one the alien's back with several well placed rifle shots. The elite stumbled forward and Kasumi vanished once more from view. The elite turned to fire on Shepard now and that was when Chief struck. He rushed in and hit the alien in the face, striking him with the butt of his rifle.

The elite's comrade in arms on the left tried to assist, only for Tali to fire on him with her pistol. She hit him twice in the abdomen and added a little extra something to it. The research they had done on Covenant weapons had given them a better understanding of how they worked, making their omni-tool more effective at sabotaging them than before. The attack would last longer and shut the plasma weapon down for a significant length of time. Whereas before they had only managed to shut it down for a few short seconds.

Using her omni-tool, she broke into the weapon's regulatory systems and shut them down. The weapon suddenly overheated when the elite tried to take a shot and Shepard took the opportunity he had been given.

The Commander rushed in, firing his shotgun at the Covie. The alien threw himself back, avoiding the shot. Shepard flung a shockwave next, throwing the alien into another wall. The elite threw himself back up and ran straight towards the Commander once more. He backhanded the Commander away, knocking him to the floor. Shepard grabbed his shotgun again as the alien's plasma rifle finally started to cool again. He took aim at Shepard, only for shotgun blast to cut deep into his arm. Shepard hadn't fired his weapon yet though. He looked to the left, down the hall and saw Tali aiming her shotgun at the Covenant soldier.

"Shepard! Shoot!" Tali shouted at him.

The Commander refocused and fired his own shot, an incendiary shot that hit the elite center mass and took him down for good. But as the alien's body burst into flames, Shepard forced himself up to go check on the Master Chief.

But he found the Spartan hadn't taken nearly as long to take out his Covie. The Chief had pounded the alien with two extra strikes from his assault rifle before delivering a full burst from his magazine into the alien's body, tearing him apart. The alien now lay dead against the wall.

"Well, it was messy, but we managed," the Spartan congratulated.

"With the Covenant putting up this much of a fight the Cartographer must be here," Cortana confidently insisted. "We just have to keep going down into this facility and we'll find it in no time."

Grunt soon joined the others dragging his own kill behind him. It was missing a head. Chief hoped it was because of the shotgun blast.

"So, place secured?" He asked.

Kasumi soon appeared again out of thin to answer the krogan's question.

"Yeah, not quite," she told him. "Take a look around the next corner."

Chief, following her advice, walked down the ramp to the next level of the structure. When he got to the near end, he carefully peered out down the ramp way, trying his best to remain quiet and discreet as he did. He could see a small squad of Covies in a small corridor with one last elite watching over them. He thought he could see another elite in gold armour standing in what looked to be a door. There was a window to one side looking out on a vast empty space within the island's innards.

No sense in making a big plan for this one though, he already had one. He had snagged a plasma grenade off the elite he killed. He saw no better time to use it than now. He turned back to Shepard, who had joined him in cover.

"I'm gonna clear a way," he told them. "Get ready to move."

Chief armed the grenade as Shepard gave him the thumbs-up. He moved out of cover and tossed the device at the single elite. While the squad was expecting an attack, their weapons trained at the entranceway to the room, they were still taken by surprise. The grenade stuck to the elite's head and the grunts panicked. The resulting explosion decimated the squad within the confined space, but the elite in golden armour was quick to react. He slammed his fist onto a panel within the door and Chief heard a sudden chime.

"Don't let them lock the doors!" Cortana shouted.

Chief rushed in, spraying rounds like mad at the doorway in front of him. Shepard's team did as well, but it was too late, the doors suddenly locked shut. All they could see now was the elite in gold armour staring back at them through a small window in the door, probably laughing for all they knew.

"Stand back," Grunt told everyone as he cracked his knuckles. "I'll get it open and wipe the smile off that ugly mug of his."

Grunt slammed both his firsts into the door several times, trying to beat it down. But after about a minute he gave up, panting as he stepped away.

"Okay, tougher than they look," he admitted, although he still looked rather mad.

"Interesting, I underestimated the Covenant's understanding of Halo's Sub-systems," Cortana observed.

"Well, we can't be right all the time," Chief told her bluntly.

Cortana didn't address his comment. He could only assume she was annoyed though, just by the sound of her voice.

"I don't think we have enough firepower to break these doors open," Cortana informed everyone. "I also don't see a port or mechanism either me or Tali can use to open it either."

"Well there's gotta be a way in," insisted Shepard. "You have any ideas?"

"We'd need to shut off this island's security systems," Cortana suggested. "That will require us finding where its security hub is located. It shouldn't be too hard."

Save for the fact they were running out of time before the Covenant sent in reinforcements. It looked like this mission was going to go on a bit longer than they had hoped. If they were going to make any headway, they'd need to start moving now. As they headed back up, Cortana contacted Captain Keyes to inform them of their progress... or lack of, as it were.

"Cortana to Keyes," She began.

"Go ahead, Cortana," the Captain soon replied. "Have you found the Control Centre yet?"

"Negative, Captain," Cortana replied dutifully. "The Covenant has impeded our progress. We're going to need to disable this installation's security systems if we wish to proceed."

"Understood," Keyes responded. "We're still in route to the objective. I may be out of contact when we get there. In case that happens, I'm giving you a direct order to use whatever means necessary to get into that facility and find the Control Centre. Failure is not an option here, not with the Covenant closing in on the prize."

He didn't have to remind them, but Chief saw that it was important to repeat the urgency. It made the fact they had to find this Security Room fast all the more relevant in their minds. He wasn't about to let some damn door get in their way, not with so much at stake.

---

That had been stupid, trying to fight when he should've taken the chance to flee. All he had to show for it was a shot up arm and a leg. It was the souvenir of his beach visit he didn't even know he wanted. Course, the fall had been pretty bad too. He supposed the sand cushioned it a bit, as did the whole tucking and rolling thing, still hurt like hell though.

Thankfully, the batarians and one of Zek's own men dragged him to safety under the shade of the platform above. They administered medi-gel onto his wounds and did their best to slow the bleeding. He still felt light-headed though.

Zek also still felt stupid for trying to shoot that human in armour though. He was a pretty fast trigger shooter, but that human was something else. No wonder everyone wanted him dead now. In fact, they probably should've been gunning for him earlier. He was lucky to have even survived the encounter, especially with the False Shepherd with him.

"What do we do now, boss?" The kig-yar beside him asked worriedly.

"Try not to get shot again," Zek suggested. "That's a start."

Moments later they heard the revving of a human engine and soon saw two vehicles leaving the structure's platform. The hovering one simply boosted itself off the platform and down to the ground, while the machine gun vehicle used the dirt ramp to the side. At least they hadn't been seen, and they were following Zuka's plan.

Zek decided to inform the sangheili of the good news.

"Zuka, they're headed your way," he warned, sounding exhausted as he did. "The Demon and that Shepherd of yours have just left the structure and are continuing down the beach."

"Excellent," Zuka replied. "But, we must keep any possibility of reinforcements from assisting them. Have some of your men join the batarians in harassing the human landing party. Keep them locked on the beach."

"That assumes that is even their plan," Zek told him. "Shouldn't we just reinforce the Silent Cartographer with more men and wait for them to come back?"

"And that assumes either of them will survive," Zuka laughed. "Fear not, your task will be simple enough to accomplish. Once the Demon and Shepherd both lie dead, the rest of the humans will fall."

Zuka terminated the call, much to Zek's displeasure. He hadn't even given him much of a battle plan to work with. Was he just so caught up in the fact his trap was working he didn't care?

"They always say it's easy, but they never do it themselves," Zek grumbled. "I guess we better do what he says though. He is the big shot sangheili after all."

"Do we actually have a plan?" One of the batarians asked.

"Meh, I'm working on it," Zek replied, his voice suddenly sounding weak. "But first... a nap... a long one."

Zek fell back into the sand, losing consciousness. His fellow kig-yar shook his head. After about a minute of waiting, he slapped Zek's face which caused him to wake with a start. Zek grabbed his plasma pistol as he sat up again.

"I paid for the wench in full!" He blurted out loud, before he quickly looked around and remembered where he was. "Oh, right, this shithole. Damn it, I wanna go back to Malkazet Cove. Crewmate! Knock me out again!"

"We kinda have a fight to win, sir," he reminded Zek casually. "Sorry."

"Ugh, I hate reality," Zek groaned.

---

The prospect of protecting a beach you just took from the enemy did feel a bit nerve-wracking. If you could take it, why couldn't they do the same? Kowalski wondered how they'd pull off defending the place without making the same mistakes the Covies just did. They didn't have any turrets or proper defensive emplacements with them either and it wasn't like they had greater numbers. Most of the guys were relying on the three Spartans they had in the group to even the odds a little, as well as the Normandy Crew. Kowalski still felt a machine gun would still be nice though.

He and Sergeant Taylor, who had just returned from talking with Sergeant Waller, were keeping watch near the front of the beach. Everyone was behind them filling up one of the oldest fallbacks in the Marine playbook, sandbags. It wasn't much, but they'd at least stop a plasma bolt.

"You know, I kinda expected them to be here by now," Taylor admitted. "The Covenant isn't known for taking it's time. There just doesn't seem to be any movement."

"Maybe they're too busy with the Master Chief, trying to keep him from getting inside the Cartographer," Kowalski suggested.

"Maybe," Taylor replied. "But let's not get cozy just yet."

Taylor peered through his binoculars again, scanning further down the beach with them methodically. Kowalski looked behind them for a moment to get a view of the others. Garrus was organizing things with Sergeant Waller and Noble 2. Zaeed was handing out a few extra avenger assault rifles that he had brought with him to the troops. Jack wasn't too far from them, pooling biotic energy into her hands, while Samara stood at the ready with her gun pointed down the beach. It was pretty damn busy, that was for sure.

"How's that shield pack of yours doing?" Taylor asked him suddenly.

"Tingles a little," Kowalski admitted as he returned his gaze to the front. "Gotta be honest, not used to having invisible energy covering my body."

"Well, if it's good enough for Spartans, and the elites, why not us?" Taylor replied simply. "I'll just be grateful if it saves me from getting torched by plasma."

Kowalski definitely shared that sentiment. He only wished they had gotten these things sooner.

Suddenly, Kowalski's shield shook. Taken off guard he ducked down into cover along with Taylor. The Sergeant stuck his head up long enough to get a good view. A small number of unidentified soldiers were taking cover behind what looked to be several jackals and their shields. While the jackals advanced, the soldiers moved up and fired over them, ducking down when necessary.

With the almost human like appearance of the soldiers, Kowalski and Taylor realised it could only be one adversary. One they had fought when they had first landed on this ring.

"Batarians," Taylor warned as he got his rifle ready. "We didn't expect them to be here."

The two pulled back to better cover, rounds and plasma shots already flying over their heads. Kowalski rolled over the top of one of the rocks further up the beach and into relative safety. Already, soldiers were firing back at the small enemy squad. Jun and Linda took aim at their means of protection, the jackals. Linda fired a single shot that was able to penetrate the ankle of a jackal as he moved forward. It then travelled further into the thigh of the batarian behind him.

Jun managed to score a headshot on a batarian as he stood up to fire. He turned to the jackal that had been protecting him now, who backed up slightly, trying to reorganize their small squad. He didn't make it far before another shot from Jun cut into his hand. The rolled away from the next shot Jun fired and covered himself with his shield.

The shield may have defended from the bullets, but they couldn't do much against biotics. As Kowalski fired back with Taylor, trying to land a shot on the batarians when they popped up, he saw Jack rushing out into the open.

"I'm gonna rip you to shreds!" She called out, firing her shotgun as she moved up.

The blasts only bounced off the shields and earned Jack the ire of the jackals. Jack quickly rushed to cover beside Kowalski and Taylor.

"Well, I got their attention," she said. "That Justicar better be ready."

"What are you talking about?" Taylor asked.

"Just watch," Jack told him smirking.

Samara soon moved into the open and slung out a powerful wave of energy. It flew across the battlefield and struck one side of the small group. They were so focused on Jack's position, they hadn't seen it coming. When it hit, Jack launched herself over the rock, her hands resonating with energy. She threw out a terrible shockwave towards the enemy. After the throw attack had knocked them for a loop, the shockwave scattered them across the beach.

As batarians and jackals landed back in the sand, those who weren't killed by the combined attack began to fall back. The jackals kept the batarians covered as they did. Those able to walk began to pull the injured from the fighting back into the cover behind the corner of the rock face at the end of the beach. Jack fired her pistol and sent a few biotic warps at the scattered soldiers as they fled. She managed to scramble the insides of one jackal before plugging a bullet in the back of his neck.

"Yeah, you better fucking run!" She shouted out at them, spitting into the sand when she finished. "Come back for more when you find out where your balls went to!"

As Jack walked back into the defensive lines, Kowalski conferred with Taylor.

"They're not gonna be away for long," he told the sergeant. "That looked more like they were just testing the waters than anything. Next one is gonna be worse. Now I really wish we had a Warthog."

"Master Chief needed it more," Taylor told him. "Don't worry though, there's a chance we might be getting some reinforcements. There was supposed to be a second team that landed on the other side of the island. They had a Warthog, but we haven't heard anything from them yet. Waller asked the Commander and Chief to keep an eye out for them. With any luck, maybe they'll find them and direct their Hog back to us to help out."

Kowalski supposed they could only hope the Hog was already on its way. If the Covenant got serious, they weren't going to be able to hold this beach for long without support.

---

The vehicle was resting on its side, its windshield cracked and its wheels sticking up in the air. The bodies of its crew and their supplies were strewn around it in a bloody mess. To the vehicle's credit, it still looked like it was in workable condition. Perhaps the driver had simply been shot, but he couldn't tell from here. Chief Just knew Waller wouldn't be happy to hear his Warthog wasn't coming.

They were several feet down the beach from the turned over Hog, after seeing it they didn't want to get too close just yet. Using his pistol's scope, he looked across from the warthog to see a clump of trees and vegetation. As he suspected, he could see the Covenant moving about within the foliage.

"Looks like they've posted a small patrol," Cortana observed. "They wouldn't do that unless it was for something important. We have superior firepower though, this shouldn't be too difficult."

"I'd like to increase our odds just a bit," Chief told her, eyeing the second Warthog once more.

He turned to Shepard, who had gotten out of the Hammerhead with his team.

"I'm going to try and get to that Warthog," he explained to him. "I can turn it over and then use its gun to rain fire on the Covenant in the trees."

"Then Jacob moves up, along with our Warthog, and we add to the overall barrage," Shepard reasoned out. "I like it."

"You would," Tali warmly scoffed at him. "It's massive overkill, effective, but overkill."

"The Covenant have already impeded our progress enough today," Cortana added. "I say we deal with them quickly this time"

Tali, despite her comments, did agree, but she had some concerns.

"You sure you'll be able to get to the Warthog without them seeing you?" Tali asked the Spartan.

"If they do, you can always rush in early to take the heat off me," Chief assured her. "My shields should be able to hold out long enough for me to reach the car and get it turned over."

"Alright," said Shepard. "We'll move in the second the shooting starts then."

Chief nodded and then swiftly moved out into the open. He kept his pistol up as he ran across the beach. The Warthog was still several feet away from them. Both the Hammerhead and their Warthog were hidden behind a bend in the rock face. They were out of view of the Covenant, but now, out in the open, Chief was vulnerable.

Sand kicked up behind him as he rushed across to his target, his eyes transfixed on the overturned car. When he was in range, he slid into the safety behind a series of rocks the Warthog was among offered. He looked up quickly to see if the Covenant had been stirred. They had not. One elite was, however, suddenly staring out on the beach. Had he spotted his footprints in the sand? Chief wasn't sure, but it wouldn't matter in the next two minutes.

As he was looking over cover, he was able to get a better view of the foliage. Their suspicions had been right, the Covenant were guarding something. For Chief could now see an opening beyond the trees, leading further into the island.

"It looks like some kind of path," Cortana observed. "It could lead us to the Security Centre."

"That's what I was thinking," Chief concurred. "But let's open the road first."

The Spartan grabbed the edge of the Warthog's chassis. With one simple heave, he was able to flip right back onto its wheel. That immediately caught the attention of the elite and several of his compatriots. Plasma bolts were already flying by the time Chief climbed onto the machine gun. He aimed it down at the Covenant position and started shooting.

Bullets raked the area. Covenant Soldiers started running for cover behind trees and rocks. Two grunts died within the first two seconds with a sweep of the gun. Jackals scurried about among the foliage trying to take shots, but their shields could not stand up to the onslaught. The elites fared better, keeping low behind cover as the machine gun tore through their position.

It didn't take long for Shepard to bring the other Warthog up. He put a little too much pressure on the pedal though and ended up hitting the bumper against the rocks. The gunner was able to withstand the hit and fired short controlled bursts into the treeline, hoping to scare some of the Covenant into the open for the Spartan to take out.

Shepard in the meantime jumped out of the driver's seat along with the Marine on the passanger's side. They began firing on the Covenant themselves. Tali, Grunt and Kasumi soon moved up from cover to join them, firing their weapons into the Covenant position.

The Hammerhead was the last to arrive, although only a few seconds after Shepard. It wasted no time in unleashing a barrage onto the Covenant lines. There was no room for anything that valued its life to move now, as fire from all sides destroyed anything and everything within. It was a choice between either being exploded or cut down by bullets. One jackal tried to get to high ground on a rock to get a better shot at them. A missile soon found him before he could get off a shot.

Chief imagined the grunts were all first to die, the elites kept out of harm's way. Firing endlessly wasn't going to achieve anything except wasting ammo. The Spartan eventually stopped shooting, trying to lure the elites out. He didn't know if they'd attack or pull back further along the path. He imagined at least one would try to cover his compatriots while they fell back, he was soon proven right.

An elite moved out from behind his tree and fired several shots as he went. Two more barreled towards the path at the back. Chief unleashed every bullet he had at the running elite, cutting through his shields in moments before raking his body with rounds. He hadn't lasted long, but his efforts had allowed his friends to escape, at least for now.

Chief left the gun behind and jumped back down to the beach. Shepard moved up towards him with his team. They both looked at the smoking and ravaged vegetation in front of them, the bodies scattered about the area.

"There's bound to be more along the path," Cortana told them all. "That kinda goes without saying though. As does the fact we're on foot from here. We're not getting these vehicles through that pass or those trees."

Shepard agreed and turned to the Hammerhead while contacting Jacob.

"Take the Hammerhead back to the beachhead," he ordered. "They'll probably need your help more than us if the Covenant reinforcements show up."

The Hammerhead took off down the beach, intending to link up with the beachhead. Chief supposed, since they weren't getting a Hog, they might as well get a missile shooting hovercraft. Maybe Waller would appreciate it more.

"You sure you're okay hoofing it back to the Cartographer after?" Chief asked the Commander.

"We could use the exercise, and besides, if it doesn't work out we can just take this Hog here," Shepard informed him. "The others will need the Hammerhead if they're gonna hold that beach. Right now, Jacob would just be sitting out here waiting for us when he could be helping them."

Chief could agree with that. The last thing he wanted was leaving those Marines on the beach unprotected from the inevitable Covenant counter-attack. Besides, it wasn't that far from the Cartographer anyway.

"We should be careful," Chief warned. "They wouldn't have retreated far."

Chief then looked to the Marines in their Warthog.

"Stay here until we contact you," he told them. "We might need you close by."

The Marines obliged and the team moved up into the hillside among the trees. They got a better look at the damage they had caused, stepping over the bodies of the dead and crushed Covenant forces. They eventually found the path and backed away from it when a flurry of needles rushed out at them, accompanied by a few plasma bolts.

"Well, you were right," Shepard told the Chief.

"I'll go right, you go left," Chief suggested. "Your team can come in behind us."

Shepard just nodded, pointed his Shotgun forward and ran up the side of the hill. His team was right behind him. Chief went right as Shepard sent a shockwave rippling across the forest floor. Two elites ducked out of its way, continuing to fire their weapons as they made a move for better cover and higher ground. The shockwave ripped apart two grunts instead.

Chief opened up on the retreating Covenant Officers, bullets striking their shields. He moved across the open area, not standing in one spot for too long. As the elites fired back on the Spartan, Shepard launched himself into another charge and struck one of the elites before he could turn. The alien flew back into a wall. Shepard shot him once with his shotgun, inferno rounds burning into his skin before he collapsed dead to the ground.

Shepard then slammed his fist into the ground and let a nova wave send the second elite tumbling. With his barriers gone after the nova, the Commander got into cover quickly. The downed elite soon got back up to continue shooting. Chief opened fired on the alien next, forcing him into cover as well. It wouldn't help him much.

Tali had moved up along the Covie's flank while the alien was distracted. She let loose Chiktikka to flush out any more enemies further up the hill while she snatched the elite's remaining shield away with her omni-tool. She followed up the attack with a shotgun blast that caught the alien in the square of his back. Angered, the elite turned to fire on her. The plasma blasts missed her only by inches, forcing the quarian to take cover with her Commander among the rocks.

Chief took aim at the elite once he poked his head out and fired two shots from his pistol. He caught the alien in the head, finally taking him down, but more problems soon revealed themselves. More grunts and a few jackals were barreling down the hill, pushed on by two more elites.

Shepard's krogan fired a concussive shot up into the hillside, pushing one of the gas suckers down to the ground. Shepard sent another shockwave rippling up the hill at the enemy while Tali's drone went on the offensive. Her quarian master backed the little rolling ball up, taking shots at the little gas suckers as they were zapped by the drone. Tali landed a shot on the methane tank of one grunt. A follow-up zap from the drone caused it to catch fire and explode, taking a jackal with it.

Chief threw a grenade up on the hill and it exploded among the mass of Covenant infantry. He then started to push up the hill to take out the elites. As he did, another concussive shot from Grunt pushed a jackal down, and was powerful enough of a hit to take his arm-shield offline. Tali quickly fired a pistol shot that cut the jackal down with a shot between his eyes.

He made it halfway up, when he spotted something in the trees moving through the branches. Materializing in the air, Kasumi appeared, jumping down from a tree she had grasped onto along the hillside. She came down atop one of the elites, sticking her omni-blade into his shoulder. The elite bellowed in rage and he butted her off of him with a strike of his head. Kas landed with a thud against a tree, but the elite wasn't able to follow-up on his attack. Chief fired two shots from his pistol, striking the alien in the head. Kasumi just smiled at the Master Chief gratefully and vanished again.

Chief had no time to figure out where she had gone. The second elite fired on him, taking out his shields in a few hits. Chief ran to cover behind a tree and brought his assault rifle out again. He was the only thing left in the way now.

"I'm rerouting power to charge your shields back up, but I don't think that elite is going to wait," Cortana warned.

"I know," Chief told her.

He readied a plasma grenade in one hand, but didn't get the chance to lob it. Cortana screeched in his ear.

"Right!" She shouted.

Chief moved his gun to the right and saw the elite trying to take him out with the butt of his plasma gun. Master Chief fired a few shots into the alien, forcing him back, before he flung the plasma grenade at the Covie's head. It stuck, but the alien suddenly charged at him. Chief quickly kicked him in the center of his stomach, forcing him away. The Spartan then rolled down the hill a foot, putting some distance between him and the Covie. Moments later, the alien exploded.

"Well, that was pretty tight for a second or two," Cortana told the Spartan. "Maybe next time we should just shoot him a lot."

"It worked, that's good enough for me," Chief replied stoically.

The Master Chief pushed up the hill first, not waiting for Shepard and the others. He knew they'd follow anyway. They soon met with him on top of the hill, dozens of trees dotted it. As they scanned the area, Chief's motion sensor tracked something big nearby. He turned to look down the hill to his right and saw some kind of strange circular metal structure. It didn't take him long to spot the blips on his sensor, hunters. Everyone quickly got into cover once again, taking up positions in the trees.

"Okay, this is going to be tricky," Shepard said, racking his brain to come up with an idea. "I brought along our missile launcher just in case we ended up fighting something big on this island. Not sure if it will be enough to punch a hole into those two though."

"We just need to split their focus a bit," Chief assured him. "I can go one way, draw the attention of one and then you can hit him in the back."

Shepard turned to his team.

"Tali, Kas, stay back and harass those two if you can," he told them both. "Grunt, I want you with me and the Chief. We're going to get in close enough so they can't use their assault cannons. You see an opening, take it."

"With pleasure," Grunt laughed once.

The Master Chief went first, his pistol out and ready. If he could land a shot in the right place, maybe they wouldn't need the launcher. He took aim at the square of one hunter's back and fired. The hunter suddenly turned, however, the shot ricocheting off his armour. The hunter looked towards the Master Chief, flaring his spines. He charged his cannon, and Chief ran for cover as he prepared to shoot. The hunter got his shot off, narrowly missing the Spartan, before a concussive blast knocked him for a loop.

"Over here you sack of worms!" Grunt shouted aloud as he sprayed the hunter with his assault rifle.

The hunter readied another shot along with his brother. Shepard, taking cover behind a tree, jumped out and fired the missile launcher at one of them. The attack sent the alien stumbling sideways, bits of his armour cracking under the blast. The hunter stopped charging his cannon and turned to face Shepard, keeping his shield up as the missiles kept coming. With the rockets seeming to just bounce off, Shepard ran before the hunter could make a shot.

Shepard made a beeline for one of the hunters, ducking and sliding past him as the monster tried to slash at him with his shield. He took aim with his shotgun as he slid by and fired a shot into the alien's back. It didn't catch him in the vulnerable spot, but it still got the alien to follow him. The massive creature had now taken his eyes off the Spartan, which gave him another chance.

The Master Chief fired three shots at the alien's vulnerable orange spot. Again, the hunter turned before the shots could hit. He charged his weapon again, aiming for the Spartan, but thankfully the Master Chief received some help.

There was a sudden flash of light over the alien's head that seemed to disorient it slightly. Probably due to the bang more than the flash, hunters were sensitive to concussive shockwaves. Chief didn't bother to look up to along the hill. He already knew who had thrown the flashbang.

"I owed you one!" Kasumi shouted out.

"Thanks!" Chief called back.

Then, without warning, he charged at the hunter.

"The hell are you doing!?" Cortana asked aloud in shock.

"Taking a play from Shepard's book," the Spartan answered simply.

He ran up to the still dazed hunter. He grasped onto the alien's shield and forced himself up. He then stuck his pistol into the space between the alien's armour around his neck and let off several shots into it. Orange blood spewed out of the wound, guts and gore flying as gunshots rang out and ricocheted inside the beast's body. The hunter suddenly fell to earth in a heap.

"Never do that again," Cortana told him as Chief jumped off the corpse.

"Get me a rocket and I won't have to," he told her.

Chief looked over to find the other hunter in close quarters combat with Shepard and Grunt. Tali's drone was out again, trying to run interference. The quarian herself wasn't far away. She was shooting her shotgun at the hunter's head to further harass it. The blasts only bounced off the creature's helmet though. With so many enemies, close to it as well as distanced from it, it couldn't pick a target without opening itself to someone else.

It seemed to prioritize Shepard the most though. He was constantly throwing biotic attacks at the alien's body, making him the most constant threat. He tried to charge at Shepard, only for the Commander to roll to the side and avoid the attack. It next tried to swat at him, but Shepard again rolled back and away from him before adding another biotic punch.

Chiktikka suddenly closed in and sent a powerful energy burst into the alien's back. The hunter turned suddenly and slammed his shield down at the drone, killing it instantly. But it was the opening Grunt had waited for. He rushed up onto hunter's back and slammed his fists down hard onto the alien's armour. He pried the plate loose, revealing the orange backside. The hunter didn't let him do more damage though. The massive Covie ran forward and then stopped suddenly, causing Grunt to launch off his back and slam into a tree.

The hunter charged his gun to finish off the krogan, but another shotgun blast ripped into his shoulder. Tali was sidestepping into the fight, bringing the alien's attention to her.

"That's right, get into position," she whispered to herself.

As the hunter readied to fire, Shepard armed his launcher and fired two more missiles into the creature's back. That ripped a hole clean through the beast's flesh. The monster dropped face first onto the ground and orange blood began pooling around it.

"Well, that was a workout," Shepard noted.

"Let's not get too complacent," Chief warned. "If hunters are here, then we're on the right track. And they won't give up that Security Centre without a fight."

"In fact," Cortana began to warn. "I'm detecting Covenant just over the next hill leading out of this place. So get ready for another fight guys."

Tali looked around the structure that surrounded them more before they left.

"What is this?" She asked. "It seems so out of place. There's no entrance or anything."

"Hmm, I can see about finding any more information about the Covenant's knowledge of this island," Cortana suggested. "But first things first, we need to get to the security terminal."

---

This was not working. Harassing the humans was only costing them men. Every time they tried something, the damn humans pushed back. He was currently cut off from his people on the other side of the island as he'd probably have to go through whatever humans were with the damn Demon and the Shepherd.

Zek hated to admit it, but he needed some sangheili. Not that he could order them to come, but he could perhaps convince Zuka to request as such from the Zealot Commander. So, while Zek watched the humans from afar within the shadows, he called up the asshole.

"Zuka, I could use some help if you can spare it." He began.

"Don't bother me, pirate," he ordered back. "The Demon is near, I must be ready. I have no time for your requests."

"Just ask the Zealot Commander to send a few sangheili," Zek insisted. "You guys love to fight, not stay stuck up in ancient tunnels and shit."

"I don't have time to worry about that, my concern is the Demon," Zuka reminded him. "Keep attacking them, I don't care what problems you have. A few men lost to those humans now is nothing compared to what we will lose should the Demon live."

Zuka terminated the call. Zek now wondered if he cared about killing the Shepherd at all or if the Demon was his only real target. Whatever, all he cared about was getting off this island alive. For now, he was keeping everyone in the shadows. The humans pretty much owned the beach at the moment, it was best to refrain from getting into a fight.

But they'd have to fight. If they didn't, then if this thing went south, Zuka would blame everything on their lack of conviction. They just had to keep fighting until the reinforcements showed up. Once they showed up they'd be in the clear responsibility wise.

"We need to switch up tactics a bit," Zek reasoned.

That meant playing more to their strengths. They weren't warriors; they were assassins, rogues, thieves, those were the things the Covenant used them for. The batarians were Black-Ops, not frontline assault soldiers. Direct attacks would just lead to more deaths. He had to find a way to get around the problem, or over, or anything. He suddenly looked up to the large structure that hung over the beach near the human position. And then, inspiration hit him.

"Huh," he thought aloud. "That could work I guess."

---

Garrus wondered how many more times these batarians would come at them with their Covenant friends. The jackals refrained from getting too close now, the used their shields to protect themselves while the batarians huddled behind them. They fired off a few shots from their rifles and then pulled back. A minute or so later they did it again, only this time from the other side of the encampment.

From the looks of things, there were at least two groups on either side of them that were poking at them, keeping them on their toes, trying to make them exhausted and waste ammo. Everyone was now doing their best to stay in cover, while keeping their heads low and jockeying for a good position to fire back from.

Defending this beach was starting to get a bit arduous. Garrus was starting to think they should attempt a break out, move towards one of the structures on the island and hold there. Surely there was better place to make a stand than here.

At least for now, with the assistance of Linda and Jun, they were able to keep the Covenant at bay with their sniper rifles. Linda was particularly impressive with the Widow. Despite the fact it only had one shot, the Spartan made every single one count. Garrus counted at least four batarians and four jackals that she had killed with it by now, one of each for all four times they had tried to probe their perimeter. When the Covenant did send reinforcements, she'd probably be their best asset against the elites.

"You know, I expected them to use more elites," Kat told him as she looked over the beach. "I guess they're holding back their best to defend the Cartographer while they attempt to boot us off the beach."

"That or they know reinforcements are coming and they don't want to waste people trying to kill us all when they think we're as good as dead anyway," Garrus suggested.

"I suppose we should enjoy the light treatment," Kat concurred. "That won't last for much longer."

Garrus looked around at the group, huddled together in the rocks and against the sandbags. Their eyes were all trained on the front and back of their position. While the losses had been slightly greater on the Covies' side, they had still lost a few men to the sustained attacks. They were mostly from the first few shots fired when a new attack started up. The attacks were only fatal if they had a powerful enough weapon to break through the shields in one or two hits.

Given the state of the wounds from those who died, Garrus pointed to one culprit, the Kishock Harpoon gun. He'd seen it once before in the Hierarchy Military against some Blue Suns mercenaries. There wasn't much you could do against one of those, especially with the right ammo modifier.

"What do you expect the Covenant to hit us with when their back-up arrives?" Garrus asked Kat.

"Elites mostly, along with a ton of grunts, maybe a hunter pair if they can spare it," She replied. "When that happens, we need to get to cover."

"That's what I was thinking," Garrus told her. "The Cartographer structure down the way would probably be our best bet."

"I imagine that's where the Covenant is going to send a large portion of their troops to though," Kat presumed. "It is the whole reason they're here."

Garrus had considered that, but it wasn't like they were any safer out here. Once Shepard got to the Cartographer with the Chief, perhaps they could fall back to the structure. Again, a better idea than just sitting out in the open and getting shot at.

Garrus tried to put his restless thoughts at bay. He looked out across the beach and its surroundings, the crisp blue sea in general. He still found it hard to believe that this whole ring was, in reality, some kind of weapon. It looked all too pristine and natural, too inviting and peaceful. Maybe that was the point, maybe it was all to conceal its true purpose and keep unwanted hands from pulling the trigger.

"It's a shame you know," Garrus told Kat sombrely. "It seems every time I find a nice beach to potentially soak my talons in, it turns out I don't have time because I'm in the middle of a damn war."

"Our rotten luck I guess," Kat shrugged. "I don't suppose this beach was also on an ancient alien weapon world though."

"No, regular planet, just near an evil science lab plus fortress," Garrus elaborated. "We also ended up blowing it up."

"Huh, that is a shame," Kat concurred.

They both continued to stare at the water for a few seconds more, watching the waves slosh against the sands. Garrus thought of Virmire as he did, about what they learned there, what they had lost there. His comments made him wonder if history was repeating itself today. He wondered what terrible secrets they would discover once they found the Control Room for this place. As the Citadel, Virmire and, slowly but surely, Halo had seemingly taught him, nothing this clean looking really was all that spotless.

Although, it would be hard to top what had happened that day on Virmire. 'Vanguards of Destruction' were a rare commodity, as was holding a conversation with an giant evil war machine from Dark Space. He doubted Halo had anything as terribly damning as that lurking inside their final objective. Besides, they knew it was a weapon. The only secret Garrus concluded was waiting for them was the revelation of what this thing did and why it was built. It would still probably be something terrible though, it always was.

"Have you ever been to a beach, Kat?" Garrus asked.

"Never had much time to visit them after becoming a Spartan," she admitted somewhat sadly. "I suppose this would be my first in awhile, a very long while. I remember going once to one with my parents, before they were killed."

He remembered, as a Spartan III, Kat and the rest of Noble Team had been recruited as orphans of Covenant attacks. Garrus didn't say anything right away, he knew better than to try and make her remember something like that. He did eventually offer something, words that were far less insulting than 'I understand', which would've been a lie. He wasn't sure if he'd ever be able to understand what Kat and the other IIIs had gone through.

"Well, I hope you remember the trip you took more," he said to her. "That's the memory you want."

"Sometimes it's hard to remember," Kat replied solemnly. "We all used to focus so much on the reason we got recruited I found. Sometimes, in the first few years, it was the only way I could remember their faces. Now, they come and go. I guess that's the price you pay when you join up as a teenager looking for revenge or justice, whatever they told us we'd get. Barely remember what they offered me either."

That was something he could relate to on his worst days. Those being the days he spent trying to figure out what his driving force in the end really was. It so hasrd to distinguish between what was justice and what was just revenge. He still hadn't completely figured it out yet. But before Garrus could say anything else a shot rang out.

"Batarian!" Zaeed shouted form nearby, firing his sniper rifle down the beach.

A batarian with two jackals protecting him was using a Kishock Harpoon Rifle to shoot at them again. Garrus tried to rushed to position to get round to the side, take out the sniper's shielders, but soon found it unnecessary. Several missiles flew through the air and suddenly impacted on the three enemy aliens. As sand exploded around them, their bodies flying up into the air, Garrus looked to where the missiles had been fired and smiled.

There, under the large spanning structure's shadow, sat the Hammerhead, its main gun aimed down the beach.

"Sorry we're late," Jacob told them all over the radio. "Hard getting back around the beach you know."

Suddenly, Garrus liked their odds a bit better.

---

All the gas-sucking grunts were dead, as was one of the elites leading them. But his comrade was a lot harder to pin down. Tali's drone could never seem to get close enough. The quarian's own shotgun never managed to catch him either. The alien ducked and dodged away from incoming fire, only to shoot back his own. One of the plasma bolts took down the Master Chief's shield and cut across his arm. It hurt like hell, but Chief pressed on.

Finally, Shepard managed to snag the elite with a single pull attack that brought his out of cover. Kasumi overloaded his shields as he floated in mid-air, leaving the door open for Chief to get some pay back for his injury. The assault rifle fired a final burst and the elite finally went down.

It had been a relatively quick battle, but that elite had been rather slippery. He had avoided the plasma grenade that took out his friends and most of their grunts. Then he had started running through the trees like a rabbit, ducking from cover to cover in a desperate attempt to survive. Although, The Master Chief imagined it was more about wasting their time than anything else.

Chief let Shepard administer the medi-gel on his arm quickly. That dealt with the burn pretty well enough on its own, but Chief still stuck in some bio-foam to ease the pain. When it subsided, he turned back towards the large grey building sticking out of the ground. They had finally reached their target, the security centre. They approached it with caution though. Cortana hadn't detected anything yet, but after encountering resistance all the way up here they fully expected a fight waiting for them.

They moved around the structure until they found a large opening. Entering with weapons drawn they found a ramp that led down into the very hillside they had been fighting on. When they reached the bottom, they found themselves in a large open room with a single column of some kind that took up the center of the room.

There were a few Covenant cargo pods here and there, but nothing really stood out from the norm. There was only that strange central support that looked like an altar but it was holding up some kind of column. There was a hole between the two pieces that went straight through it. A strange bit of alien architecture to be sure, but there was no sign of their intended objective.

"Cortana," Chief asked the AI. "Where's the Security Control Console?"

"It must be close," she replied. Suddenly, her voice became more urgent. "Wait, I'm detecting movement just in the next corridor in front of us."

At that moment, they heard the clanging of giant metal feet moving towards them from the corridor. They readied their weapons, pointing them towards the sound. Then, moving out into the open, appeared a creature that stood top three bulky legs that were similar to a hunter's massive shield. Two of the legs were attached to the front of the monster while one was attached to the backside of it.

The legs supported an armless torso that had a single outstretched head stick out of the chest. The head was that of a hunter, only it sported three electronic eyes in a pyramid pattern that scanned the room insidiously. Under what, for lack of a better word, could be termed as his chin, appeared to be some kind of plasma rifle embedded into his neck.

That wasn't what really caught their attention though. No, that honour went to the giant fuel rod cannon strapped onto to where the head should've been. The weapon resonated with a green sickly glow, as did several of the giant rods sticking out of the creature's back, alongside the typical hunter spines.

Tubes and wired mesh held the whole creature together at every interconnecting joint. It slowly clambered out into the room proper and only stopped when it stood near the centre of the back wall. Then, the fuel rods on its back began to sink down into the creature's back. As they did, the weapon atop it began overflow with power. No one needed to be given an order to figure out what to do next. They all ran for cover where they could find it as a devastating sustained beam of energy burst forth, slicing at the air where they had once stood.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," said Kasumi as she took cover with Shepard. "But bring back the fire-breathing grunts."

When the beam subsided, Shepard poked out of cover to fire off a few rounds at the monstrous husk creature, but the rounds seemed to bounce off a kinetic barrier. He ducked back down into cover once more quickly as the creature's head turned to him and let loose several plasma bolts from its secondary weapon under its head.

"That thing is a mobile defence platform," Shepard said grimacing. "If the beam doesn't get you, the plasma rifle will."

"All I know is it's in between us and that Security Console," the Master Chief told him. "We need to kill it and fast."

Suddenly, there was more plasma fire. It wasn't coming from the hunter-husk though. It was coming from two squads worth of Covenant, some elites and grunts to be precise. They fired on the positions of the Spartan and the Commander's team, forcing their heads further behind the crates and alcoves that stood between them and annihilation.

"Great, the Tri-Clops has back-up," Tali grumbled, blind firing her pistol into defending Covenant squads.

"Tri-Clops?" Shepard asked her, wishing for some clarification.

"Garrus was able to name the Spitfires," Tali answered defiantly. "I'm naming this one. It has three legs and three eyes, it works on two levels."

Shepard wasn't going to argue with that logic, plus they needed to focus on fighting this thing off along with its friends. Luckily, Shepard had an idea of how to deal with it.

"I can take down the barrier it sports with a few hits using my warp attack," He explained to the others, plasma fire continuing to hit their cover. "But we're going to need to break through that heavy armour and get past its secondary gun. That's going to require some heavy artillery and a distraction."

"Well, I am the Queen of Misdirection," Kasumi suggested. "I can give you guys a quick moment to open up on it."

"Knowing where to hit couldn't hurt either," Tali suggested.

With that in mind, Chief poked his head out slightly to get a better look at their target. Grunt provided some cover fire while he told Cortana to scan the Tri-Clops. A few seconds later, Chief put his head back down, as did Grunt before another beam blast shot towards him, narrowly missing. Grunt huddled lower, the heat of the near miss plasma beam at the back of his neck resonating from his close shave. As the green flow of plasma flew past their heads, Cortana revealed what she learned to the others.

"Preliminary scans suggest those fuel rods in its back are providing the necessary power to maintain that beam," she explained. "Shooting those should disable that function or maybe even damage its internal systems. The legs seem well-armoured, but the joints look particularly vulnerable to attack."

"If we can get a grenade or a missile in there, maybe we can set it off balance," Chief suggested.

"Sounds like an idea," Shepard agreed. "Alright, we spread out, we shoot the rods if we can, divide its line of sight and when I get the barriers down we'll go for the legs. I still have a few missiles left to shoot. Don't let that stop you from taking your own shots at that thing though. Thin out the regular Covies as we go too, we don't want to forget about them and have them shoot us in the back. Let's Move!"

Kasumi started things off by throwing a flashbang among the Covenant. The flash was great enough to blind a number of the aliens, allowing Kasumi to slip away under her cloak. Tali took off from cover next. She let Chiktikka roll off ahead of her before turning to the Covenant, her shotgun drawn. She fired two shots each killing a grunt as she past.

The Tri-Clops eventually spotted her though and tried to shoot at her with its plasma rifle weapon. The bolts narrowed missed the quarian as she slid across one of the Covenant crates and ducked into cover behind the central pillar just as the Tri-Clops fired its beam cannon again. The attack barely missed her, the residual energy causing her shields to spike a little.

"Keelah, that stuff is hot!" She shouted aloud.

"I got him Tali," Shepard told her. "Grunt, concussive shot now!"

Shepard threw himself out into the open and tossed a warp attack at the three-legged monster. Grunt stepped up to fire a concussive shot as well. Both attacks hit at the same time, severely damaging the kinetic barrier. The Tri-Clops still remained standing, but his protection was starting to fade.

That didn't make him any less of a threat, however. The Tri-Clops honed in on where the concussive shot had come from and took direct aim at Grunt and Chief's cover. The cannon on the monster's back surged with power.

"That's a cue for us to run," Cortana informed the Spartan.

Both Grunt and Chief ran from cover, the krogan went towards an alcove, while Chief made a dash for the pillar where Tali was currently. The powerful blast smashed through the crate, obliterating it and sending pieces flying across the room. Chief ducked under one as it passed near him. He fired his pistol at the Tri-Clops twice as he ran. This incurred the monster's plasma rifle fire which struck against his shields as he ran. The Spartan made it to cover just as his defences started to dip into the red.

Chief poked his head out again to see one of the elites directing fire towards their position. Plasma bolts struck their cover at a furious rate, forcing the Spartan to move his head back into safety.

"We need to cut down some of their leadership," he told Tali. "That monster may be dangerous, but unlike it those elites can actually think. The longer they're active, the sooner they'll figure out what we're trying to do against the Tri-Clops, if they haven't already."

"Yeah, they'll go for anyone trying to take down the barrier or hit the rods," Tali presumed. "How do we take them down?"

"I need that monster off me for one," Chief suggested. "I need to get to a better position to flank their lines."

Tali nodded and punched in a few commands on her omni-tool.

"I've directed Chiktikka to start drawing fire to the right," she told him. "I'll cover you while you get to their flank."

"Sounds good," The Spartan replied.

With that, Chief simply stood and took off running to better cover. Tali fired off a few rounds from her pistol into the Covenant lines. She managed to catch a grunt in the shoulder and head, killing him. Chief in the meantime rushed forward. Chiktikka was busy sending shock blasts at the Tri-Clops, so the monster didn't take much interest in the Spartan as it fired plasma bolts at the little drone.

However, one elite rushed up into the fight and tried shooting at the Master Chief. Seeing this, Tali used her omni-tool and drained the elite's shield away with a flick of the command button. An electrical shock stopped the elite dead, allowing the Spartan to give him a good punch across his face.

When the elite stumbled back a bit, the Spartan noticed one of the grunts from behind the lines charging his plasma pistol, aiming at him. The elite then recovered and swung at the Master Chief. At that moment, the grunt fired. In a split second, Chief grabbed the arm of the elite and forced him into the path of the oncoming plasma bolt. The attack hit the elite instead and, without proper shields to protect him, killed the Covenant Officer instantly.

The grunt, shocked at what he had unwittingly done, stood like a deer in the headlights as Chief pulled out his pistol and shot the little alien from afar in the head. As the body of the gas-sucker fell to the floor, the Master Chief ran the rest of the way to the alcove, just as the Tri-Clops returned his attention to him. A powerful beam cascaded across the Spartan's cover, just moments after he reached it. When the beam subsided, he began firing out into the Covenant lines with his assault rifle.

Now that he was on their direct left, and closer to them, they were easy targets. He managed to catch another elite completely unawares. He riddled his shield with bullets before he could react. There was no cover he could hide behind, so the elite tried to charge the Spartan. He fired his plasma rifle, ducking and weaving away from the Spartan's shots. As he got close, Chief dropped onto his back and let the elite lunge at him. The Spartan then fired upwards with his rifle, before kicking the alien hard in the chest. Full of bullets, the corpse finally fell dead to Master Chief's side.

"Get back to harassing the Tri-Clops," Cortana told him. "With less and less support, it's going to be forced to deal with more problems from us now."

"Yeah, I figured," Chief replied bluntly. "Is the barrier still up?"

"It seems that way according to my scans," Cortana answered. "But the attacks are taking their toll."

Chief renewed fire on the hunter-husk, but the Tri-Clops refused to let up. Despite its vision being divided in so many ways, the creature was still proving to be a challenge. Any sign of movement and it began firing on it. Tali found herself unable to move with plasma fire flew over her head through the hole in the column. Kasumi managed to get her some relief, appearing and firing a few hits from her submachine gun. That forced the Tri-Clops to change its target.

As warps from Shepard and concussion shots from Grunt kept hitting it, the Tri-Clops' barrier began to fade. Finally, after another combined barrage from the two, the glimmering field of protection vanished. Although the Tri-Clops didn't seem to notice nor care about the loss.

In fact, it only seemed more determined to fight on. It fired a terrible beam blast at Shepard's position, one that was so strong it managed to destroy part of the alcove's wall. Shepard was forced to back into a corner just to avoid getting melted alive. The second it subsided, Shepard ran to better cover near the column with Tali. He sent out a shockwave at the Covenant to knock them back, managing to hit one of the grunts taking aim at him.

When Shepard was safe, Master Chief took aim at the fuel rods on the Monster's back. The pistol shots managed to hit their marks, breaking the rod in two shots. The rod shattered and a mixture of green mist and slime poured from the wound. The attack earned the attention of the Tri-Clops and it turned its head to fire a blast of bolts from its plasma rifle.

Tali was quick to respond to the attack, the outstretched neck made a perfect target for her own pistol. She fired two shots that managed to hit the beast in the head, knocking its aim off. The plasma bolts instead hit two unsuspecting grunts standing nearby. While the creature was still disoriented, Tali aimed for another rod on the monster's back. She fired five shots and three managed to hit. They burst open the rod and yet more steam and slime poured from the wound.

Even with its power source threatened, the Tri-Clops prepared to fire another fuel cannon beam. The weapon began to charge up, even as more green mist rose from its back. The beam shot out and struck the column near the hole. Shepard pushed Tali down as the beam travelled through the column and nearly took the top of their heads off.

Suddenly, Kasumi appeared to the creature's right, just metres away from the beast. She fired a stream of shots from her submachine gun into one of the rods on the creature's back. When it burst, in the middle of the beam being fired, the Tri-Clops reared backwards as its weapon sputtered wildly. A huge gush of smoke and slime spurted up from the hole as the Tri-Clops screamed aloud.

With the Tri-Clops interrupted, Kasumi now found herself in the middle of the Covenant lines. One of the grunts nearby fired his plasma pistol, catching her attention as her shields began to spike. Kasumi quickly rushed over and stabbed the grunt through its head, just in time for the gas-sucker's elite officer to point his weapon at the thief. Kasumi kicked the body of the grunt off her omni-blade and at the elite, throwing off his aim as the alien knocked the corpse away. She used the distraction to turn invisible once more and vanish from the battlefield.

The elite didn't have much time to find her again, as a concussive shot from Grunt sent him backwards. The krogan fired a few quick shots to lower the elite's shields, but the elite easily pulled back away from the line of fire. The attack seemed to catch the Tri-Clops' attention and it turned to fire its plasma rifle at the krogan. Grunt remained out of cover too long, trying to shoot at one of the remaining rods on the monster's back. That came at a price, as his shields dipped too low and he took a hit in the square of his torso plate. Grunt quickly ducked back into cover, his armour smoking from the hit.

"Stay down, Grunt!" Shepard ordered him from across the room. "I'm coming to you!"

Grunt just nodded, although he did seem angry. Shepard soon raced across the room, sliding beside the krogan as plasma bolts raced after him. The Shepard quickly looked over Grunt's wound with his omni-tool, eventually giving him a nod.

"Don't worry," he told him. "Your armour got most of it. But remember, next time your shields dip facing plasma, don't rely on your healing factor to save you."

"Sorry, Shepard," Grunt apologised. "Got a little lost in the moment."

Grunt's actions weren't for naught though. It had forced the Tri-Clops to turn enough that it gave Chief a good view of its backside and the remaining three rods. He wasted no time in targeting them. Cortana brought up markers for him to aim at on his HUD and Chief simply used his assault rifle to rake the Husk's backside. The deformed Hunter's rods popped one by one. Suddenly, the giant cannon it sported began to spark as mist and slime ejected from its body at a rapid rate.

The Tri-Clops itself began to reel around like mad. It fired off a random burst shot from the cannon suddenly in the direction of one of the elite that Grunt had forced to retreat. The blast nearly killed him, but seemed to simply throw him into the corridor. The few grunts left, seeing the Tri-Clops' reaction, fled the room. Chief fired at them as they left, missing one of them, he figured they'd handle him soon enough.

Suddenly, the cannon burst into flames as did the Tri-Clops' backside. Seeing this as his moment, Shepard pulled out the missile launcher and fired a few shots at the creature's leg joints. The shots seemed to disorient the beast, but they missed their intended target. The Tri-Clops was moving too much, trying to put the fire out on its back by slamming it into the wall or moving around rapidly. It suddenly fired its plasma rifle in Shepard's direction, spraying bolts everywhere. It did not intend to be an easy target again.

Kasumi soon appeared beside Tali, keeping her head low to the ground.

"It's gone completely batshit!" She shouted. "I think we really touched a nerve this time!"

Tali pressed a few commands on her omni-tool for Chiktikka. They needed to disable that plasma rifle, at least for a short while. She directed the drone to do what she had been programmed to do best, go for the optics.

The little drone sped back onto the field and avoided the plasma bolts that the monster tried to hit her with. The drone finally got close enough and sent a powerful electric shock straight into the Tri-Clops' three eyes.

"That a girl, Chiktikka!" Tali shouted out proudly. "Give him another!"

Tali pressed down hard on her omni-tool, increasing power output to Chiktikka's weapons. The drone let loose another shock that burst the central eye with a terrible electric arc. The plasma rifle was also venting steam, which meant the attack had overloaded it. They wouldn't get as good a shot at the beast than right now.

"Chief, Now!" Shepard called out.

The Spartan knew exactly what the Commander wanted and tossed a grenade near the creature's feet. The grenade got directly under it, near the left tripod. The resulting explosion tore through the joint and suddenly, the monster was leaning to one side, unable to move.

Shepard wasted no time in seizing the moment. He charged over to the beast with his biotics, slammed into its side with his shoulder and sent a biotic punch straight into the side of its head. Chief was quick to add his own muscle, moving over to shoot a point blank shot through the beast's head. The alien tried to point and charge its plasma rifle at him, but the Spartan grabbed its head and forced it up. As the bolts hit harmlessly against the ceiling, Chief, using his still free arm, fired a few more rounds from his assault rifle into the Monster's neck.

As sickly orange blood poured out of the former hunter's body, Grunt moved up as well. Chief forced the head over to the krogan with a punch. Grunt grabbed the head and then began to pull. As he did, both Chief and Shepard fired more rounds into the beast's neck, cutting through his flesh. Seconds later, the whole disgusting long neck of the monster was pulled clean out of its socket and the Tri-Clops finally stopped moving.

"Well," Shepard said, ankle deep in slime and gore. "This has been incredibly disgusting."

"Let's just finish off the Covenant and deal with the security system," said Cortana urgently.

The team left the large room and went into a more confined hallway. They kept their eyes open for the two remaining Covenant, a grunt and elite supposedly. But they saw nothing except more cargo containers dotting the room, and their objective of course.

Inside a little box room suspended over a seemingly bottomless abyss, was the security terminal. The Master Chief walked over to the console in front of what appeared to be a fully three-dimensional graphic display.

"So where did the elite go?" Kasumi asked.

"I'm not picking up anything on motion trackers," Cortana replied.

"Then forget it," said the Master Chief. "Let's just shut the security system off and get out."

He still didn't know which buttons to press on the panel, but eventually he settled on one. With a single press, the holographic display suddenly opened up revealing the inner workings of the Cartographer. Parts of the diagram were highlighted instantly, showing green across the whole board all the way down to the very bowels of the island.

"There," Cortana announced. "That should open the door that leads us into the main shaft."

The objective accomplished, Chief and the others turned to leave. However, not even seconds before reaching the corridor, they received a radio message.

"Mayday, mayday," Shouted a male human voice. "Dropship Bravo 022 taking enemy fire! We are taking enemy fire and are losing altitude!"

Great, thought the Master Chief, that didn't sound good at all.

"Understood," Cortana replied to the dropship. "We're on our way."

While Cortana was trying to reassure the pilot, she quickly became more realistic as she spoke to the others.

"They don't sound like things are going well," she told them. "We better get topside now if we want to reach them before the Covenant do."

"Then we'll kill every last one we see if they do," the Master Chief promised the AI.

After that Hunter Husk, he knew this mission wasn't going to get any easier. The Covenant no doubt had more surprises in store. He just hoped they could weather them.

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AN: Author Note Update in Profile Reserved for next Update