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.

20. If I had a Super Weapon

Chapter 19: If I had a Super Weapon…

September 20th, 2552: 1458 hrs

The Pelican ride was a bit tighter than expected, which was why it seemed to be taking so long. They couldn't say Foe Hammer didn't warn them. She did specifically emphasize the Pelican's lack of grace and mobility.

Shepard spent the time waiting for his omni-tool to pick up Normandy's signal again. This far underground, they had completely lost contact within minutes of entering the catacombs. He just hoped they'd be able to track his transponder somehow. Taking the Control Room was not going to be easy if they didn't have back-up.

They took weapons from the Pelican's onboard locker to resupply themselves en route to their destination. Chief replaced his pistol ammunition and picked up a new assault rifle. Tali took one of the human shotguns for herself as well as one of the pistols. Kasumi took a pistol as well, but she decided to stick to her needler for now, as it she still had a sizeable amount of ammo for it.

Shepard had enough thermal clips for his Scimitar shotgun, but realised he'd have to ration it if he wanted it to last. That was why he picked up the other assault rifle from the locker, just to be safe.

Linda sat across from Shepard, working on her Widow, while Chief sat next to her watching the Pelican's hatch. He seemed almost completely focused on it, preparing for the inevitable fight ahead. Everything else was secondary to that door. He hadn't even spoken once since they got inside the dropship. Linda was similar, but she did speak up now and again to ask them some questions about the Widow.

"Is there any way to increase this thing's firing rate?" She asked them. "It only needs one shot to put something down, but I'd prefer some kind of back-up."

"We have some mods that can increase the amount of shots you can make before your clip is spent," Kasumi told her.

"I may have one on me," said Tali. "I always carry a few spare mods just in case the situation goes bad and someone wants to change up their weapon specs a bit. Like when Shepard realises maybe he needs more penetration power on that shotgun of his."

Shepard looked over to her, looking slightly offended.

"Any particular reason you're singling me out with that example?" He asked her.

"I like teasing you," she chuckled. "And your disgruntled face is adorable."

Shepard rolled his eyes away as Tali handed Linda a clip increase mod. The Spartan quickly field stripped the weapon to add it to the Widow. It was amazing to see her figure out the previously unfamiliar gun so quickly.

"How much training on a new weapon do you usually need?" Shepard asked her.

"We're trained to figure out any alien weapon," she explained. "We look for things in the design, commonalities and such. Course it helps when you have a robot give you a crash course on its operational functions beforehand. Thanks for letting me borrow it by the way. It's a pretty good weapon."

"I wouldn't know," Shepard shrugged. "It packs such a punch Legion's the only one that can use it like he does. I hear they're making a more compact one though. Not that that news helps us at the moment."

The Pelican shook a little, catching everyone's attention. Foe Hammer quickly reported in on the intercom.

"Sorry folks," she apologised. "I almost hit the wing on something back there and I had to correct our flight path a bit."

"You're doing fine, Foe Hammer," Cortana assured her. "According to my scans we're almost there."

Good news to hear, Shepard wanted to get to that Control Room and figure out what Halo did. If it could help them fight the Covenant, then it could help them fight the Reapers. This little adventure could be the turning point for both this war and the one approaching back home.

"What do you think we'll find when we get there?" Shepard asked Cortana. "The Control Room I mean."

"The Battlenet is teaming with information about the site, it would seem after our forces pulled back from the island they discovered what we found." Cortana explained. "They already have a battalion in the area and are sending more to lock it down. It is going to be a bit of a slog to get there it seems."

"Super," Kas grumbled. "And here I was thinking we had beaten them to the punch."

"The Covenant have been here for a while," Linda reminded her. "They're all over this ring, so it was more than likely they'd be here already."

"Besides," Cortana was quick to add. "Holland and Alpha Base have the location. They'll be sending reinforcements when they can. Probably by having the Normandy escort them past any blockades the Covenant have set-up."

Either way, nothing was about to keep them from getting to that Control Room. One way or another they'd find a way to bust in there. Shepard had every confidence in his team to get the job done and with both Linda and the Master Chief with them, victory was all but assured. That didn't mean this was going to be easy though.

"Have you two done anything like this before?" Shepard asked Linda and Chief.

"Plenty of times," Linda answered, sounding confident, but not cocky. "We were practically made to take fortified positions. Never did one on a ring world of course, but Covenant like to hold up in old alien structures they dig up on planets. Maybe they think it offers them protection. Given how many I've killed, I think they need to rethink that strategy. Won't be any different here I wager."

Shepard could believe her when she said that. Linda, like the Chief, just had a certain sense of determinism about her that all Spartans seemed to carry. Once they set their minds on a mission, they completed it or died. Just like their ancient counterparts.

"How many missions have you two been on with each other?" Tali asked her.

"Quite a few actually," Linda answered. "We're not always on the same team though. It varies on the need. One Spartan can sometimes get things done quicker than a team. I usually prefer the solitude, less things to worry about that way. But if I have to work with another Spartan, I have no problem with it being Chief."

She looked over to the Master Chief, but he didn't really move from his position. He was only silent for another few seconds before he actually spoke up.

"I appreciate your company too," he responded quickly, never taking his eyes off the door.

Linda just shrugged as she looked back over to the Normandy Crew. She didn't say much about the Chief's response, but the look she gave spoke for her. It was just the expected simple response she always knew would come from him.

"Yeah, not the best conversationalist," Cortana spoke up. "I should know. I'm in his head."

The Pelican began to shift in direction, no longer moving forward, but going higher.

"I think we're near our stop," said Cortana.

---

The little grunt plodded across the platform, minding his own business, only for his nose to perk up at the smell of jet fumes. Sniffing the air, he eventually moved his head towards the ledge, where he soon met face to face with the tip of a Pelican's nose.

Frightened beyond belief at the human vehicle's sudden appearance, the little alien took off running, screaming his head off. He ran past the unmanned turret guns and straight into a large door that opened as he approached. He was no doubt running off to warn his friends behind it.

There went their element of surprise.

"This as far as I can go," Foe Hammer informed the team as she turned the Pelican around.

"Roger that," Cortana answered. "We can find our way to the Control Centre from here. You best return to Alpha Base. I've already uploaded you the fastest route to the surface."

"Well, good luck guys," Foe Hammer told them. "Foe Hammer, out."

As the Pelican turned the whole way around, everyone piled out onto the platform, guns drawn and at the ready. Chances were they were about to get swarmed by whatever Covenant had been roused by the grunt who had just taken off.

"I got the turret," Chief stated. "I'll try and keep them bottled up and you can finish them off."

"Good plan," Shepard agreed. "Everyone, get your sights on that door. Nothing leaves it alive."

They all got into position using the Stationary Shield Generators that had been set up close to the guns. It wasn't much in the way of protection, but it would have to do for the moment. The Covenant soon poured out, two elites followed by a gaggle of grunts. The lead elite didn't get far before Linda fired a shot that cut through his head.

The second elite charged out into the open with his grunts, only for the Master Chief to begin raking fire across their path. Tali, Kasumi and Shepard fired their prospective weapons as well and the grunts fell beneath the combined might of the crossfire.

With the elite's shields waning from every shot he took from the turret, he pulled out a plasma grenade and tossed it towards the Master Chief. The Spartan bailed out before the grenade could stick to him and the turret exploded behind as he landed on the ground.

The elite had already started moving towards the second plasma turret. Pulling out his assault rifle, Chief quickly fired a spray of bullets in his direction. The elite took a hit to his shoulder from the burst, seriously wounding him and killing what was left of his shields.

This left him open to another, far more devastating, attack as Shepard careened into the Covenant Officer with a powerful biotic charge. The hit sent the Covie flying and allowed Shepard to finish him off with a shotgun blast before he landed.

Tali and Kasumi, in the meantime, mopped up the rest of the grunts before they could get back into the doorway. Tali fired two final shots from her pistol, striking one grunt in the spine. Kasumi's needles found their target as well, easily dispatching him in a cloud of pink.

As the gunfire died down, Tali holstered her weapon and shook her hand a little.

"Argh, the kick back on this little bosh'tet is horrible," she said. "I had almost forgotten how much it put the Phalanx's recoil to shame. Even holding it with two hands it's hard to control."

"You hit the bad guys didn't you?" Kasumi asked.

"I was aiming for the last one's head," Tali corrected her. "Maybe I should stick to the shotgun for now."

Linda walked over to Tali and took her pistol out of its holster.

"Have you used one of these before?" She asked.

"Back on Reach, yes," Tali answered. "I'm not as used to actual ammunition as I thought."

"It can be a bit tricky to hold, even for Marines," she admitted. "Keep it pointed at arm's length and hold it higher along the grip. It should compensate for the recoil by shifting the center of gravity."

Linda quickly handed it back to Tali and fixed her hands a little. Now holding the grip a little higher with both hands, she had Tali fire again. This time, when she lowered the gun, she didn't seem as shaken.

"Better?" Linda asked.

"Much," Tali replied. "Thanks."

Linda just nodded and marched off towards the Master Chief as he waited by the door.

"Never knew you were one to give advice," Chief told her.

"Just returning the favour for the weapon mod," Linda assured him. "I figured I owed her for it. Besides, I remember those pistols from back in training. They kicked like hell."

The team regrouped at the door and slowly entered through the hallways. They eventually came to another door. Wary of what was on the other side, Shepard carefully moved up to it. The door automatically opened, revealing a new, rather opulently designed, room.

"Covenant signatures," Cortana warned. "They no doubt heard our little welcome party."

"Won't help them," Chief declared.

Chief moved out first, spotting one of the elites as he did. He fired his assault rifle, forcing the alien back into cover. Linda then moved across the hall, pushing her back into the side of the adjacent wall.

She rolled a grenade over into the elite's cover, which made him rush out, firing his plasma rifle at the Master Chief. The grenade exploded shortly after, the elite remaining undamaged from it. The move did allow the Chief to spray a few rounds onto the Covie before he could get inside an open doorway.

"Moving in," Chief shouted out.

Shepard's team headed forward now, as Chief carefully moved towards the open doorway. The Spartan suddenly saw several plasma bolts fly in his direction, forcing him to take up position along the other side of the wall. Shepard's team up ducked into cover as the two Spartans took pot shots into the room.

"We got a lot of Covies in there," Chief told the Commander. "We have one squad, plus the elite from before."

"Move down the corridor!" Cortana suddenly warned.

Chief looked down the corridor to see three grunts running up towards their position. He pointed his assault rifle towards them and pressed down hard on the trigger. A torrent of bullets ripped into the grunts before they could fire off a shot. Stray plasma bolts fired into the ceiling as their weapons discharged. Some of the grunts tumbled backwards onto their stomachs as the bullets ripped into them. The grunt escaped, running back down the hall, bleeding from his arm.

"I'm going to toss a grenade in," Chief told Shepard, his voice not missing a beat. "When it goes off, we can move inside. Linda can cover us from back here with the Widow."

"Sounds good," Shepard agreed, preparing his shotgun's incendiary ammo mod. "We'll move on your go then, Master Chief."

The Spartan activated his grenade and tossed it into the room. He aimed it towards where he had seen a jackal and grunt moving up along one side of the room. The jackal suddenly pushed the grunt in front of the explosive as it landed and ran off in the opposite direction. The grenade's detonation killed the grunt before he could figure out what was going on.

Before the smoke had even cleared, Shepard had moved in alongside Kasumi and Tali. While the girls went right, he went left, flinging a shockwave across the ground. Kasumi fired her needler at the same time, catching one of the grunts who had been caught in the shockwave's path with several hits. Seconds later, the little alien exploded into a pink cloud.

Tali fired away with her shotgun as she moved, catching a jackal as he tried to dash across the room to a better position. The buckshot knocked him sideways in the middle of his run, allowing a second shot to take him down for good. Tali then released Chiktikka to continue to harass the Covenant while she got into cover with Kasumi.

Shepard now rested in cover along a large square block that stood to one side of the room. Tali and Kasumi stood behind a second block to the other. The Master Chief rushed inside towards the strange blocky dividers in the center of the room as well, but his eyes weren't that focused on the architecture. They landed squarely on the elite within the center of the firefight.

The Covenant Officer fired off a few shots at the intruders before focusing on Shepard, pinning him behind cover. The elite had just made himself the biggest threat in the room that Chief could see. So, Shepard`s block was where the Spartan decided to move towards.

Chief fired a stream of bullets from his assault rifle, forcing the alien to stop firing on the Commander and duck into cover. As he was moving, he could hear Linda's Widow Rifle fire two shots. Once in cover, he looked over to see a dead grunt and jackal against the back wall, both shot in the center of their heads.

"Nice shot, Linda," Chief said to himself.

The Spartan turned to the Commander next.

"We need to drag that elite out of cover," he told him.

"Or push him," said Shepard. "Just keep him occupied."

Shepard began to move around the block. Chief decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and keep the elite focused on him. He looked over to Tali across the way.

"Could use your little friend right now," he told her.

The quarian merely saluted rather quickly before instructing Chiktikka to switch targets. The drone soon moved over to the elite and delivered a painful shock into the alien's face. The elite's shield held, but only just. He fired relentlessly at the drone in retaliation and Chief returned fire onto his position to further keep the Covie focused on him.

Then, without any warning, the elite was violently ejected from his cover, a blue wave of energy slamming into his back. It didn't take the Spartan long to figure out who had launched it.

"Chief," Shepard shouted aloud. "Light him up!"

The Master Chief obliged and fired a stream of rounds from his assault rifle at the still downed Covie. The elite was riddled with bullets, all striking into his skull as he tried to push himself up after his tumble. He soon fell back down again onto the floor, bleeding profusely from his wounds.

Chief didn't have much time to look at his kill, as a flurry of plasma bolts forced him to seek shelter again. He forced his head back before plasma bolts struck him down. Shepard was also forced to get behind the block again, lest he risk being perforated himself. Thankfully, Cortana had spotted where the shot had come from.

"Elite in the doorway to our front," she warned the group.

"I see him," Linda replied. "I don't have a shot though. He`s too far behind the frame and basically blind firing at you."

"He saw you shoot before, he knows a sniper is involved," Chief warned her over the radio. "You better change position and get another angle."

Linda nodded and moved away from her current position. The elite apparently saw this and opened up on her as she tried to flee. Luckily, her shields absorbed the hits and the Master Chief was able to put him back into his cover with a few we placed shots from his pistol. Not wanting to risk his own shields further, the elite pulled back.

"I'm going to need an angle on him to see if I can damage his shields," Tali shouted out to the others.

The quarian moved around her cover as the elite continued to fire off at her block. When she was able to spot him, she activated energy drain. The alien's shields died as an electrical pulse circulated through his armour.

The Covie shifted his sights to the quarian and fired at her directly. The extra shielding provided by the energy drain, however, protected her long enough to pull back into cover before she was left completely exposed.

The same could not be said of the elite though. Linda's new position gave her a better view of the alien's shooting arm as he fired on Tali. She placed his hand in her crosshairs and pulled the trigger. The bullet went clean through the alien's hand, blood gushed from the wound as he dropped his weapon.

He wasn't completely disarmed, however. Mere seconds later, he activated his plasma sword with his good hand and moved out into cover. Linda fired her Widow again, but this time the elite had the sword up, melting the shot on contact. Kasumi and Master Chief also attempted to fire on the alien, but he easily blocked the rounds with the weapon as well.

The elite continued to advance towards them, forcing the Master Chief to take up a different strategy. He moved out of cover, still firing his gun. The elite slashed towards him, but the Spartan quickly ducked and rolled under the attack. As the plasma sword passed over him, Chief ejected his spent magazine from the assault rifle and slapped in a new one as he rolled onto his knee. He then turned and fired a full burst of bullets into the elite's back.

The attack injured the alien, but did not kill him. The Covenant Soldier slashed his sword back towards the Spartan. Chief ducked under the blade as it almost sliced the top of his head off. He then grabbed his pistol and stuck it into the Covie's mouth as he popped back up. The Spartan pulled down on the trigger twice before the alien could even react, killing him.

As the elite's body fell to the floor, more plasma bolts flew out of the hall towards the Master Chief. He rushed into cover, realising there was still one squad of Covenant left. He fired into the corridor blindly as plasma filled the room.

"I got this one, Chief!" Shepard assured him over the sound of the raging fire fight.

The Commander suddenly bolted towards the enemy fire, speeding into a biotic charge that was aimed directly for the elite. He collided with the alien, sending him stumbling backwards upon impact. The Commander then balled his hand into a fist and slammed down on the ground. The resulting nova sent the elite's grunt foot soldiers flying.

Without barriers to protect him though, Shepard would have to react fast, as the elite was taking aim at him. Shepard threw a powerful biotic punch into the elite before he could fire a shot, slamming him against a wall. The Commander then aimed his shotgun at the Covie and unloaded into him.

Chief quickly moved up, along with Tali, to finish off the grunts before they could get back up and retaliate. Kasumi and Linda soon joined them, standing amongst sprawled out dead bodies of Covenant Soldiers.

"Room seems clear now," Linda noted. "Where to next?"

"How about we follow the arrows on the floor," Cortana suggested over the radio.

Upon hearing the AI's comment, everyone looked down. They found that there were indeed some brightly lit arrows along the floor pointing towards an exit.

"Convenient," Kasumi noted. "Nice to know the people who built this place were kind enough to leave us some directions."

The team followed the arrows out the door and through another winding hallway. They kept their eyes peeled for any more potential ambushers, but found none. When they exited the hall, they found themselves outside again on the surface of Halo.

However, their surroundings had changed drastically from the temperate little island beach they had left. Now they found themselves on what appeared to be a bridge suspended over a canyon. The greatest departure from their previous location was the weather. Snow was falling from a cloudy sky above them into the cold mountain pass below. They could even see frost forming on the sides of the bridge itself.

"Interesting," Cortana observed aloud. "The weather patterns here appear natural, not artificial."

"Is that even possible for this place?" Chief asked.

"I don't know, I've never been on a ring world before," Cortana shot back. "I just assumed that the weather would be the same across Halo. It's possible the ring's environment systems are malfunctioning, or Halo's designers simply wanted it to have inclement weather."

While Cortana mulled over the question, the team moved carefully out onto the bridge proper. They found two grunts quietly sleeping on either side of the bridge. Next to each of them was a plasma turret pointed towards the sky. Linda wasted no time in taking care of one of the grunts with a punch to the back of his tiny skull. Chief did the same, taking care of any potential threat completely.

As they were doing so, however, they heard the sound of jet engines speeding down from above. They looked up to see, to their surprise, a Pelican dropship flying overhead. It passed over the bridge at a low altitude. As it did, the bridge ahead of them became alive with the sound of plasma fire and alien battle cries.

"This is Fire Team Zulu requesting help from any UNSC forces," cried out a human voice across their communication channels. "Does anyone copy? Over!"

"I didn't think there were any Marine Forces left on this part of the ring," Cortana said, sounding rather astonished.

"They must be a team from Alpha Base," Shepard suggested. "They were probably sent by Holland to help us out. See if you can contact them."

Cortana obliged and opened a channel to the Marines.

"Cortana to Fire Team Zulu, I read you. Hold your position. We're on our way."

That was going to take some doing though, given how many Covenant Soldiers were probably in their way. The team therefore quickly formed a plan. The layout of the bridge gave them a bit of cover to advance forward, but there were other less obvious options. For one, the bridge had a set of stairs that descended downward, as well as panes of glass along the floor of the crossing. Both revealed there was a platform of some sort below the main bridge.

"If we split into two groups, one above and one below, we can clear out the bridge much faster," Shepard suggested. "That and we could potentially get behind the Covenant as well."

"Sounds good," Chief agreed. "Linda and I will take the top while you clear them out downstairs then."

The group split up, Shepard, Kasumi and Tali heading down the steps to the platform below, while Chief and Linda remained topside to deal with the Covenant there. Chief could already see two jackals moving up the bridge towards them. Their weapons were pointed towards where the Pelican had flown towards. This made them, and the two grunts with them, particularly easy prey.

In a flash, Chief moved out, firing his assault rifle into the first jackal's unprotected side. The Covie was completely caught off guard and went down in seconds, riddled with bullets. His companion turned to deflect the next burst of shots with his shield. The rounds merely bounced off his portable protection, but the Master Chief didn't let that stop him.

He rushed up and shoulder checked the jackal with his shoulder, knocking him to the ground. The alien tried to point his gun up at the Spartan, but Chief's foot slammed down on his hand before he could. The Spartan then fired a full burst into the alien's stomach.

The grunts had retreated behind a bit of the bridge's architecture for safety. The elite in charge of them moved out suddenly to fire on the Master Chief, forcing him to take cover as well. Seconds after moving out into the open, however, a shot sliced through his shields and his head from the side.

Chief looked over to the other side of the bridge to see Linda stowing her Widow and pulling out her pistol. She fired on the two grunts as they tried to pull back while shooting at her. They didn't make it further than five more inches.

The two Spartans rushed to the next wall in the center of the bridge. Before he could even stick his head out though, plasma fired raked the corner of his cover. They didn't have the luxury of surprise anymore it seemed. Chief was about to return fire, when one of the glass panels near his feet broke open. He stepped back before he fell in and looked down. Apparently, Shepard didn't possess the luxury of surprise anymore either.

Through the broken pane, Chief could see the fight unfolding below. Shepard was behind a support firing away with an assault rifle before he sent a shockwave across the ground. He briefly saw Kasumi tumble into view, firing her needler into the enemy lines. A grunt soon exploded into a pink mist just a few feet in front of her.

Moments later, an elite opened up on her. Kasumi cloaked herself before any of the shots hit her. The elite then moved up into view. An electrical shock from Chiktikka hit the alien's side and he turned to shoot at the little drone.

Shepard was quick to open up on him with several shotgun blasts which forced the alien into cover again. The Commander then threw out a throw attack across the way that moved around his cover and hit him in the side. Chief could only imagine the Covie had been thrown off the side of the bridge to his death from that, he couldn't see anything more from this angle.

Chief looked back up to see Linda already engaging the Covies on her side. She was still using her pistol, but had to pull back briefly as plasma shots struck her shields.

"Another elite!" She warned him.

"I'll handle him," Chief promised. "Just keep his friends busy!"

Chief ran out into the open, how assault rifle pointed forward. He clubbed the head of one of the grunts he passed by as he rushed towards the Elite Commander. Linda was still preoccupying the Jackals, using her pistol to fire pinpoint shots on the hands that held their guns. Even the elite itself was focused on the female Spartan, giving the Master Chief his opening.

He opened fire when he was within an inch of the elite. The Covie turned and fired a string of bolts at the Spartan, bringing his shields down. Chief returned the favour with a powerful forward punch that sent the elite stumbling towards the railing of the bridge.

The Spartan then slammed himself into the Covie, pinning him on the ledge. He punched the alien several times, not allowing him to get up. The elite returned the punches, trying to force the Spartan off him, but Chief wasn't fazed. Only when the elite kicked him, did he finally loosen his grip.

The elite tried to pull back away from the ledge, but Chief had other ideas. He fired his rifle directly into his chest. The bullets knocked him off his game enough that the Master Chief was able to get back in and smack the butt of his rifle across the side of his head. The alien fell over the ledge and down to the ground below.

Chief stepped away from the ledge and back to the center of the bridge. He didn't get far before he heard a cry of anger from behind him. He looked behind him to see one last elite, clad in golden armour straddling the top of a final wall before the end of the bridge.

The elite waved his hand forward, signaling two grunts to charge the Spartans. Chief looked to where they were running across, another plane of glass. He fired on the glass, breaking it apart beneath them. The Covenant cannon fodder fell into the hole. An explosion of pink was seen shortly after, followed by some more pistol fire.

This left the elite alone with the two Spartans up top. Linda fired a shot from her widow which greatly damaged the Covie's shield. Quickly, the golden elite dropped down from the wall and unleashed his plasma sword. Chief then activated a plasma grenade in his hand, but was forced to roll back as the slash of the sword came within an inch of his face. The Spartan did manage to toss the grenade, sticking it to the alien's chest.

The elite was undeterred though. He bellowed loudly at him and raced forward. Chief fried everything in his assault rifle at the alien, trying to push him back in time. Instead, someone pulled him back. A biotic aura suddenly appeared around the elite and lifted the alien into the air. Moments later, he exploded and his limp body fell to earth in charred pieces.

Chief looked to see Shepard had arrived on the scene with his team. His arm was still outstretched from his previous attack. It was then that the Commander looked around at the dead Covenant strewn about the bridge.

"Looks like you got the rough end of the stick," he noted.

"Not for a Spartan," Chief assured him.

"We can compare notes on who had the tougher bridge crossing later," Cortana told them. "We need to get moving and find Fire Team Zulu before they're overrun."

Yes, Cortana had a point. They would need some help to storm the Control Room after all. They might as well save a few lives in the process. They moved to the end of the bridge and exited out a door into the rock face. It was good to be out of the cold for the moment, but Chief knew they'd be back in the thick of both the snow and gunfire soon enough.

---

Varvok had to wait for Balak to be available. Communications across a dimensional barrier weren't exactly easy, especially when you had to sync up the time difference. Luckily a signal eventually came through and Varvok quickly went about explaining his concerns. Balak seemed to be listening, but his responses hadn't been what the Lieutenant Commander had hoped for.

"I'm not sure I follow your concerns, Varvok," Balak told him. "The nature of our alliance with the Covenant gives them the right to retain control of all troops during an operation run by them. In return, our forces here are allowed to direct them. You're in their universe, making you in their jurisdiction for the moment. Were you here, you'd be able to direct their forces. It is only fair."

"Our Alliance never said anything about putting our troops intentionally in harm's way under their command," Varvok replied. "Reinforcement, assistance in operations, yes, but we never agreed to commit to suicide missions."

"I think you are exaggerating the situation, Lieutenant Commander," Balak informed him. "As far we know, no one has died in these... excavation sites as they're called."

Varvok shook his head and forwarded files to Balak. These were personal testimonials from his men, and what they had to say spoke otherwise.

"I conducted interviews with my people after I got them away from those sites," Varvok explained. "True, they never saw anything, but their experiences suggest something far more devious. Sangheili going down in full contamination gear, level upon level being shut down and closed off, sometimes within hours of each other. And then there is the fact that not a single batarian sent below has ever been seen again. We can't remain blind to this sir."

"We also can't anger our allies with undue questions," Balak reminded him. "The relations between the Covenant and the Hegemony are new and they are not yet used to the idea of an alliance with another species. Remember, they tend to simply absorb others into their fold. It was only through the fact the political situation here is so different from their home universe that we were able to avoid that. They can't fight a war on two fronts in two dimensions."

"I am aware of that sir, but I don't see-"

"Then you should be aware, that if we want this alliance to work we need to be more respectful of them," Balak said, cutting off the Lieutenant Commander. "Whatever business they have down in the excavation sites is theirs. Batarians assisting them is a requirement if they desire and demanding that they refrain from using our troops would be a grave insult. How would it look if I was allowed to tell Covenant forces where they can and can't go, but Supreme Commander 'Vadamee was not allowed to do the same with my soldiers? This entire operation is about building bridges and growing trust."

"Except the Covenant see that as a one way street, sir," Varvok argued.

He brought up a picture on the transmission, showing an atmospheric vent in some darkly lit corridor. However, it was clogged with some kind of sickly brownish-green mass of puss growing up from it.

"This was taken inside one of the excavation sites," Varvok said as he pointed to it. "That duct supposedly leads down to the facility's atmospheric ventilation shaft that keeps fresh oxygen flowing throughout the facility. It leads all the way down to the very bottom of the site as far as we know. That thing growing out of it appeared organic in nature to the soldier who took this picture."

"Did he get a sample of this organism?" Balak asked.

"No, he didn't have time," Varvok replied. "As soon as one of the sangheili's saw it he ushered everyone out of that level and closed it off. Half an hour later, a containment team rolls in and doesn't come back. Sir, I believe something is on this ring. Something alien, something the Covenant doesn't want us to know about and all signs point it to being some kind of contagion that they are not able to control."

But Balak only shook his head at the evidence.

"Varvok, this is not your concern," he repeated. "You must trust that the Covenant has this situation in hand. For all you know, that mass of puss was simply some poor creature that got into the ventilation system. There is still no proof that anyone has died. Just because they haven't returned means nothing. Perhaps this supposed contagion is merely taking longer to clean up or the teams have been repurposed for other tasks. We can't risk alienating the first allies the Hegemony has had in decades for a few wild hunches."

"I understand the importance of our alliance with the Covenant, sir," Varvok assured him. "But I don't think assisting in this operation on Halo further is worth the risk. I am asking permission to simply relocate my forces to another detail."

"No operation is more significant than killing Commander Shepard," Balak insisted vehemently. "You will assist the Covenant in this goal and prove to them our value as military equals. If we are to regain our place in the galaxy, we must prove ourselves as capable soldiers, willing to sacrifice ourselves if need be for the greater good. The Hegemony is counting on your efforts to succeed in this task, Varvok. We cannot have you faltering over such petty concerns."

Varvok could only stare back at his Commander, not understanding why he wouldn't listen. He wanted to shout out, to speak up, to scream at him about how his fellow batarians were dying! But he knew now that it was futile.

"Now then, I need to make preparation for the summit," Balak informed him. "I want to hear no more of this fantasy of some grand conspiracy on the part of allies. I need them if our plans are to come to fruition. We're at a critical stage in the planning efforts. By the end of the year, the Hegemony will be the most powerful military force in the galaxy. I trust that you won't put this goal at further risk."

Varvok only nodded and without another word Balak saluted before terminating the call. Varvok slammed his fist again the wall in frustration. He was running out of options. The Covenant couldn't be trusted, Balak refused to listen to him, and the only person he had on his side was Zek. Well, if Balak wanted concrete proof batarians were at unwarranted risk in those excavation sites, he'd just have to get proof.

---

Getting down to the bottom of the canyon had been a chore, but the team finally exited out into the snowy wastes. Through a mess of corridors and down one elevator, they had managed to fight their way to ground. And as the doors within the final hallway opened, they found themselves watching an ongoing fire fight.

A Covenant Ghost was hovering across the frozen landscape, firing into a small clump of trees and rocks. A plasma turret positioned on top of a small butte was doing the same along with a second turret directly to their right. The team could hear bullets firing back on the Covenant forces in kind, at least there were survivors. When they next heard the distinctive sound of a Wraith's cannon shot, however, as well as the arcing plume of blue plasma, they knew they had stepped into it pretty deep.

Linda took up a sniper's position in the rocks while Tali moved over to the turret near them. She fired a single shot from her pistol straight into the side of the grunt gunner's head. The Covie plopped out of the turret's seat dead. Her accuracy had certainly improved pretty quickly.

Linda in the meantime took aim at the second turret gunner. He was so focused on the clump of trees he gave the Spartan way too easy a shot. She fired a bullet that zipped straight through the grunt's head with ease. Linda then looked to check on the status of the Marines' positions. When she did, she saw there were three ODSTs among the Marines entrenched in the rocks.

"We got Drop Troopers," she informed the others.

Shepard and the Master Chief quickly moved up and peered over to the UNSC forces. They could indeed see the familiar armour of ODSTs. More importantly though, Shepard thought he recognized the armour markings. Particularly their leader, whose dark green colours stood out from his team mates' orange and blue tints to their armour.

"Hey, that's Buck's squad," he realised.

"The hell are they doing here?" Kasumi asked.

"They need assistance," Chief reminded them all. "We can ask them when we save them."

The ground shook again as another plasma blast from the Wraith rocked the canyon.

"I'm going to need something to distract that Wraith though," Chief noted.

Almost as if on cue, Linda aimed down her scope again and tracked the Ghost's pilot. It`s engine screeched loudly as it took off into battle. It began driving around the field with reckless abandon, blasting at any poor human foolish enough to step out of cover and attempt to take it on.

Linda eventually zeroed in on the elite's head, moved the crosshairs a little in front, and when the elite tried to gun it, she fired. The Ghost kept going for a few feet, but the elite's body tumbled out of the little vehicle and crumpled to a heap in the snow.

"Will that do?" She asked her fellow Spartan.

"Nice work," Cortana complimented Linda. "We'll distract the Wraith and try to take it out of the equation. The rest of you best secure the Marines and Sergeant Buck's team."

"Sounds good," Shepard agreed. "We'll try to give you cover while you make your way to the Ghost."

The Master Chief rushed onto the field. Some more Covenant Soldiers were already taking the field as he did. Chief did his best to ignore the plasma bolts being shot at him. Thankfully, the others were providing what cover they could as they made their way over to the Marines. Their gunfire kept the Covenant off the Chief's back long enough for him to reach the Ghost.

Once there, he climbed into the driver's seat and started the vehicle up. The hovering assault craft lifted back into the air and the Spartan turned it back to face the incoming Covenant. He fired a blaze of hot plasma into one jackal, whose shield was unable to hold up long against the barrage. When he was finished, Chief drove the Ghost over the crest of the icy hill. He continued to fire at the Covenant as they pulled back from their attack, taking out the grunts with relative ease.

They weren't the important target though. For in the middle of a frozen pond resided the Wraith and it had now locked its sights onto the miniature craft. Chief fired on the vehicle continuously, trying to keep its focus on him and not the Marines huddled within the trees.

The rest of the team had already reached the stranded UNSC forces, where Shepard quickly met up with Buck.

"Man, am I glad to see you guys," the Sergeant said gratefully. "I was worried you would miss this party."

"Well we didn't know you'd be showing up," Shepard replied. "Why are you guys here?"

"When Cortana sent over what you guys found out from the Cartographer, Fire Team Zulu was ordered to head to these coordinates," Buck explained. "Major Silva insisted we tag along and lead the charge to take Halo's Control Room."

"Lead the charge?" Tali asked confused. "Sounds like he wanted you to attack without us."

Buck just shrugged.

"Sounded like it," he reasoned. "He specifically told us to, 'make rapid progress' when I asked if I should wait to hear from you before moving to the target."

"He probably wanted to make sure it was ODSTs alone who took the Control Room," Shepard concluded. "He was probably banking on us not being able to get here in time."

"Doesn't matter," said Linda, rather unemotional about the situation. "We have some extra help and we share the same mission. We might as well pool our resources and continue on to the objective."

Everyone more or less agreed to that. Shepard looked over the small squad of Marines surrounding them, as well as their equipment. There was an overturned Warthog amidst a mess of weapons, particularly a rocket launcher lying on the ground close by.

"Sorry for the mess," said Buck in a mock apologetic tone. "The Pelican didn't want to land under fire so it dropped the Hog and a few of us here before bugging out. Last we saw of the thing, it didn't look good. The pilot was shouting mayday over close circuit comms. There were still men in there. We need to get to them."

"We need to get rid of that Wraith first," Shepard noted. "Maybe we can use the Hog to accomplish that."

As Shepard pointed to the Warthog, Linda walked over to flip it back on its wheels. Shepard walked over to the vehicle with Buck beside him.

"We can get behind the Wraith while someone fires a rocket up its backside," the Commander strategized. "Question is, who's going to-"

"Buck," Tali quickly declared.

Shepard looked to see the Rocket Launcher in her hands, which she quickly plopped into his.

"You're better at making things explode anyway," she told him slyly.

"You know, you don't have to be in the car while I'm driving," Shepard informed her, sounding a bit annoyed.

"I just feel safer in general if you're NOT behind a wheel," Tali clarified. "Or, to be more accurate, it's just safer when you're not behind ANY wheel."

Chief was still keeping the Wraith busy, firing plasma bolts from his ghost at the backside of the Wraith when he got it in his crosshairs. The shots seemed to be slightly effective on the tank's plasma core, but did very little damage. The tank fired off a plasma blast that arced towards the Master Chief, forcing the Spartan to put the Ghost into reverse, narrowly missing the attack.

As the ground rocked from the plasma blast, Chief took a few hits to his right. He looked to see a few grunts and a jackal taking some pot shots at him. Turning the Ghost around before they could do any major damage, he turned the vehicle around and fired on them. Snow melted beneath the burning plasma, as did the flesh of the grunts caught in the crosshairs. The jackal rushed back in a hurry, his shield blocking what few bolts almost hit him.

Chief turned the Ghost back to the Wraith as it started to move towards him. Out of the corner of his eye though, Chief spied a Warthog racing across the snow. When he thought he saw Shepard propping himself in the passenger seat, a rocket launcher slung over his back, he realised what was going on. He kept firing on the Wraith, keeping its attention focused squarely on him.

As the Wraith began to charge up for another attack, the Warthog soon slipped behind it. Shepard kept the launcher as steady as he could and aimed for the backside of the alien tank. He fired one shot just as they passed. The rocket collided with the wraith and exploded, plasma fire blowing out of the turret port. The blackened husk of the Wraith fell onto the ice and its demise signalled the remaining Covenant to pull out.

Buck turned the Hog around and chased after the Covies as they began to retreat. Dutch, who was on the Warthog's turret, began firing on the fleeing Covenant along with the Master Chief who had also entered the fray. The rest of the team tried to catch up to the two vehicles in the meantime.

The Master Chief spotted an elite running back towards a ledge leading to the next part of the canyon. He fired back at the Ghost as Chief continued to chase him, plasma striking them both. The elite suddenly stopped turned as the ghost charged towards him. He grabbed onto the vehicle's wing as it got close and attempted to kick the Spartan out of the Ghost.

But as the elite tried to swing himself into the cockpit, Chief turned the craft suddenly. The force of the momentum sent the elite tumbling off into the snow in a heap. Chief finished him off before he could stand again by blasting him with more plasma bolts.

While that was going on, the Warthog passed two jackals near a rock. Dutch fired on one while Buck pulled hard on the wheel towards the rock. The car's wheel slammed into the alien, squishing him between the boulder and the Hog, while jostling Shepard in his seat.

"And Tali complains about my driving," the Commander grumbled.

"Hey, we're still moving aren't we?" Buck asked him in kind.

The Warthog and the Ghost launched themselves over the ledge following after what was left of the Covenant. There, they found the Pelican crashed in a small corner of the canyon. To their direct right, the rest of the squad were engaged in a pitch fire fight with even more Covenant Soldiers. The Covenant had the high ground on a snowy hill in the center of a frozen river, but that wasn't what caught everyone's eye.

No, it was the Scorpion tank parked in the middle of the battle. The towering brown vehicle had its cannon pointed directly at the enemy, but no one seemed to be inside it. At this point, Tali, Kasumi, Linda and the rest of the Marines managed to catch up with them all. They had the same question on their mind that everyone else had.

"Why the hell aren't they just using that?" Tali asked in astonishment.

"They probably don't have the training to operate it," Romeo suggested. "It's a pretty complicated piece of machinery."

"I got the training," Master Chief declared. "Cover me!"

The second group of Marines was currently using the tank as Cover, Covenant forces pinning them down. Chief abandoned the Ghost to trade up for the far bigger gun on treads right in front of him. Even as Chief left though, greedy eyes came upon the abandoned vehicle. An elite began running across the field, bypassing the humans it was fighting in an attempt to reach it.

Tali spotted the elite's attempt and wasn't about to let him grab his prize. She fired on the alien as she rushed towards the Ghost herself. She sent Chiktikka out ahead of her to intercept the Covie before he could reach the craft. It only slowed the elite down for a moment though. After one electric shock, the elite fired relentlessly into the little drone as he continued to move forward.

As he neared the Ghost, however, Tali fired her shotgun at him, catching him in the shoulder. The Covenant officer bellowed at her and opened up on her position behind one of the Ghost's wings. Tali quickly scrambled into the vehicle's cockpit and desperately tried to remember how the thing started up. That gave the elite enough time to climb atop the vehicle.

He chuckled menacingly down on the quarian as he brought he pointed his weapon at her. The quarian merely looked up at him, pointed her omni-tool up at activated her sabotage function. The plasma rifle overheated in an instant, leaving the elite befuddled as to why it refused to fire. Tali then pulled out her shotgun and fired point blank into the Elite's face.

"Who's laughing now?" She asked as the body fell on to the ice beside her.

The quarian finally managed to start up the ghost herself and began firing on the Covenant above on the hill. She was joined by Dutch in the Warthog, who was strafing the Covenant positions with the machine gun. Shepard had gotten out so Romeo could rejoin his squad. The ODST Sniper then began picking off a selection of grunts up ahead from the passenger seat with his sniper rifle.

The Commander in the meantime tossed out shockwaves and other biotic attacks to further disorient the Covenant. Grunts went flying backwards, floated into the air or fell down to their knees as warps attacked their very bodies. The attacks seemed to give the Covenant pause.

But that all paled in comparison to the effect the Master Chief had on the battle. He plopped himself down into the Scorpion's cockpit and shut the lid behind him. It took only a few seconds for him to calibrate the controls. This was mostly thanks to Cortana who greatly sped up the process with her close-circuit connection capabilities. She also used his neural interface to give him a direct connection to the tank's main gun.

As the Scorpion roared to life, Cortana began designating Covenant soldiers on the targeting screen for the Master Chief. He moved the cannon to face the hill and fired a single devastating shot. Grunts and jackals went flying and they all began to race back down the hill in full retreat.

Chief kept pushing the tank forward, pressing down hard on the trigger to the turret's mounted machine gun to clean up the stragglers. Any poor souls not fast enough to do so, were ground down underneath the Scorpion's treads. The sickening sound of crunching bone alerted Chief to one less grunt or jackal in the galaxy.

One of the elites stood his ground and tried to convince his squad to stand and fight, but they soon abandoned him. He climbed back up onto the hill to fire on the tank himself, only for his attempt to earn the Spartan's attention as well as an explosive shell. The elite tried to run, but he just couldn't outpace the cannon's explosive blast.

With a miniature convoy of a Warthog, Ghost and Tank, the group finally began to push the Covenant back significantly. Nothing the Covenant had at the moment seemed to be able to stop the Scorpion. Far wiser elites than the last one attempted to organize some kind of withdrawal out of this portion of the canyon.

In the meantime, Marines jumped on top of the Scorpion's treads, taking up firing positions over the tank. This gave the tank even more coverage. Linda positioned herself on the left forward tread. As they moved into the next part of the canyon, she took aim at a retreating elite, running down an open pass into the next portion of the canyon. She landed a clean shot in the back of his neck and watched through her scope as he fell to the ground bleeding.

"Looks like most of them are headed that way," Linda observed.

Shepard, who was only a few feet in front of Linda's tread currently, came to same conclusion. All of the Covenant Soldiers seemed to be retreating down one end of the canyon pass. Even as machine gun fire followed them, Shepard was suspicious of the tactic.

"I guess they want us to follow them," Shepard presumed. "They probably got something set up in the next Canyon waiting for us from that direction."

"Then perhaps we should defy expectations," Cortana suggested. "We can go the opposite path, through that tunnel."

Shepard and Linda took a look down the tunnel to the right. It seemed big enough to fit them at least.

"Pretty crowded in there though," Buck noted. "We won't have much room to move around."

"Hey, we got a tank," Kasumi reminded him. "Who needs to worry about breathing room when you got a giant gun on treads?"

Taking the strategy into consideration, Shepard settled on a course of action.

"We'll move through the tunnel," he stated. "But everyone keep an eye on our rear. I imagine the Covenant have a back-up plan in case we don't take their bait."

The Scorpion went in first, slowly edging through the tunnel with its weapon pointed ahead. Tali kept the Ghost pointed backwards at the entrance, intending to shout out at the slightest sight of trouble. The soldiers left without a place to sit on the Scorpion remained behind it, the warthog behind them to keep them covered further.

It didn't take long for an attack to come. Racing up from behind them appeared two Ghosts, speeding towards their little convoy. Tali quickly warned the others.

"Bad guys behind us," she called out over the radio. "Cortana, Chief, we could use that giant gun of yours!"

Tali opened up on the Ghosts as they moved in close, as did Dutch with the Warthog's machine gun. The Ghosts came under heavy fire as they approached, trying to take out their offending counterparts. Shepard, however, managed keep them at bay. He sent a shockwave rippling across the ground that struck them head-on. One of the Ghosts flipped over onto its side, while the other Ghost was bumped back. As the downed Ghost's elite pilot tried to climb out of his overturned vehicle, Dutch opened up on the downed alien with Tali, killing him.

Chief managed to get the turret pointed backwards by this point. The second Ghost was already charging again. The Spartan locked on to his target and fired a single shot, the blast of which echoed through the tunnel. The explosive connected with the Ghost dead center, causing it to explode in a massive fireball, the wreckage tumbling forward towards them. Shepard shot out a throw attack that pushed the tumbling wreck away from them before it landed on someone.

"Keep pushing forward people," Shepard commanded. "We got more bad guys ahead of us."

The group moved out of the tunnel, instantly encountering a turret manned by a grunt on a small ledge. It fired on the Scorpion, but the Master Chief quickly ended its feeble efforts with a single shot from the main gun. The turret flipped over the ledge it was positioned on.

"We'll split the convoy up," Shepard suggested. "We'll go one way while the tank goes the other. That way we'll be able to hit any surprises beyond this thing from both sides and we won't be as big a target for them"

The convoy quickly dispersed on Shepard's orders. As the Scorpion moved around to the right of ledge, they found the suspected surprise. A Wraith was nearby, hovering on another patch of ice. There were also several squads of Covenant strewn around it.

The alien tank soon fired off a shot towards the Scorpion in response to its arrival. The shot came up slightly short, rocking the side of the Scorpion slightly. Linda remained unshaken by the attack and still kept firing off her rifle at the Covenant that surrounded the Wraith.

Suddenly, plasma and machine gun fire began hitting the side of the Wraith's armour and moved quickly to avoid an incoming rocket. The projectile missed it and instead flew across the field to hit another turret located at the back of the canyon. Chief looked to see the rest of the convoy had veered off to the left to act as a distraction. Tali's Ghost raked the Covenant lines with ease as the Warthog ducked and weaved through their lines, running over grunts and gunning down elites as the vehicle drove circles around them.

Chief used the opportunity to target the side of the Wraith and fired a shot at it. The blast severely damaged the tank, causing it to smoke and sputter. The alien craft turned to fire off its response, but Chief quickly rolled the tank out of the way of another cascading blue plume of death. The Spartan then targeted the Wraith once more and fired. That shell finished it off.

But even as the Wraith lay burning on the ice, more plumes of blue plasma rocketed into the sky. Chief looked to where they originated and saw that two more Wraiths had set up positions on some high cliffs above them. Chief rolled into a better position, trying to get a good shot at him, even as more Wraith shots fell around them.

"Don't bunch up, Marines," Cortana advised. "Move to cover, we'll handle this."

Chief backed the Scorpion up again as another plume crashed down nearby.

"We should have enough of a view from this angle," Cortana suggested. "Aim six degrees to the left of that tree on top of the ridge."

Chief followed the AI's instructions and fired one clean shot. The shell rocketed through the air and slammed into the Wraith's turret with ease, blowing it clean off the vehicle. One bad guy neutralized.

In response to death of its brother in arms, the pilot of second Wraith approached the edge of the cliff to get a better vantage point. It fired its own shot into the canyon below, forcing the Marines to scatter. Tali roared her Ghost into forward drive, moments before the plume contacted the ground she had previously been near.

"I got this one!" Shepard assured the team.

He aimed the rocket launcher as he knelt down near a tree. His crosshairs were pointed at the vehicle's underbelly.

"Keep him on the ledge!" Shepard shouted out.

The Master Chief obliged, firing a few shots to the back of the Wraith's position. The tank moved to target the Scorpion instead, giving Shepard an opening to fire. The rocket zoomed out of the launcher and collided with the Wraith under its nose. The blast rocked the wraith suddenly and tumbled forward off the side of the cliff, crashing into the snow below.

With the Wraiths dealt with, the Master Chief moved the Scorpion up towards the back of the canyon. He could see large open doorway leading down into another tunnel below.

"I'm guessing this isn't a natural formation either," The Master Chief lightly commented.

"Funny," Cortana replied dryly. "Just as an advisement, I'm detecting something big on the motion tracker down there."

Chief looked through the interface's camera and saw two large shadowy forms charging out of the darkness. Two hunters began firing on the tank from below. The impact of the blasts rocked the front of the Scorpion enough that the concussions nearly lifted the vehicle's nose right up out of the snow. Linda held on best she could and began firing own at the hunters in response.

Chief targeted the two Covenant monsters himself and fired down into the tunnel. The high explosive shell impacted with the first hunter, killing him instantly. While he waited for the second shot to load, Chief pulled hard on the machine gun's trigger, forcing the hunter to shield himself as he tried to crawl up out of the tunnel. When the second shot loaded, Chief fired it as well and decimated the second hunter instantly.

"Not so tough when they're facing an actual tank, are they?" Cortana asked.

"Let's just hope we still have this thing for the next couple of them we run across," Chief told her. "Now then, let's see where this tunnel leads us."

Chief took point again, leading the group down into the depths of the tunnel system below. Hopefully they were almost to the Control Room, and this that this Tank would make the trip a little easier.

---

Varvok stomped through Fallen Seprent's hallways, looking for the medical bay. He eventually found it, and Zek lying on a medical table with a machine pumping fresh blood into his system. Retz was of course by his side, playing nurse.

"I'm guessing Shepard got away again," Varvok noted, his voice still sounding pissed off.

"And judging by your demeanour your day has been just as lousy," Zek observed. "Your boss didn't listen?"

Varvok nodded in response.

"And now you know my pain," Zek told him, his arms spread wide and a smile on his beak. "Well, part of it anyway. You weren't shot full of holes on several occasions today."

"Surprised you're not getting read the riot act," Varvok replied.

"I was gracious enough to inform our ever dutiful bosses of Zek's bravery," said Retz with a sense of glowing praise. "It was a very good story, backed up with some eyewitness testimony of some of your own soldiers I might add. If he wasn't a pirate they'd probably give him a medal, but I think they'll just settle for focusing their ire on that Zuka 'Zamamee fellow."

"As will I," Zek added. "Dipshit got on my nerves a lot. I'd like to be there when they give him the whole angry 'you have failed your Forefathers' crap they give all sangheili."

Varvok couldn't say he agreed. He didn't know what this Zuka person was like. All he cared about right now was proving to Balak what was happening in those excavation sites. He probably should've been angry at another failure in their primary mission, but he couldn't be. As hard as it was to admit, there were greater concerns then Shepard or that armoured super-soldier for the moment.

"The point is, my feathery companions, we are out of options now," Varvok informed them. "If we want to find out what the Covenant is hiding we need to go to the source, those Excavation Sites themselves. We need to get inside."

"You want to go inside them?" Zek asked in disbelief. "Seriously? You do remember anyone who goes in doesn't come out again? Right?"

Varvok nodded, the prospect didn't sit well with him. But what other choice did he have?

"I can't ask you to come with me, I know," Varvok admitted. "My people are more at risk than yours currently. All I can ask is that you try to cover me while I investigate. I need you to keep the Covenant from finding out what I'm doing. Sneaking inside won't be easy, I know, but I have to try at least."

Zek seemed intrigued by the idea, rubbing his beak a bit at the thought.

"You keep surprising me, Varvok," he told him. "I didn't think you'd go behind the Covies and your boss' back for this."

"I'm tired of being lied to while my men die for whatever mistake the Covenant have unleashed," Varvok explained. "I'm going to find out what they're hiding, before it's too late for all of us. Can I count on you?"

Zek sat up in his bed at the remark.

"You got more than that, you got me," Zek assured him.

"Don't you think you should stay in bed, sir?" Retz suggested. "You still have a lot of blood to recover."

"The transfusion is almost done, Retz, don't be such a worried hen," Zek told him. "Besides, you heard that ugly long-necked ass. They're gonna be sending kig-yar down there soon enough. They probably already have. I'm not about to let these religious nuts continue put us in danger with their incompetence, today showed that more than anything."

Zek looked back to Varvok again.

"You got my support, Four-Eyes," he promised him. "Now then, you got a plan to get us inside?"

"Probably," Varvok replied. "But it's going to require a little cunning."

"Well, you came to the right species," Retz assured him. "Us kig-yar have that in spades."

---

The jackals fired on the Scorpion, but found it to be futile. They tucked tail quickly and began to run back across the bridge, human bullets licking at their heels all the way. Chief didn't even let them get to the other side. He just obliterated them with a single well-placed explosive shell.

They had entered the tunnels only to end up in a large open cave with a chasm in the middle, spanned by a single bridge. They were lucky to find it was big enough to carry the tank across it, but unable to let anyone else pass it. They had been engaged initially by two plasma turrets, but they hadn't lasted long against the Scorpion's weapons.

Chief turned the turret towards the only remaining opposition, the Covenant on the other side of the chasm. He fired continuously into the positions, blasting them apart with relative ease from afar. The Covenant were forced to take cover, lest they be destroyed.

Buck positioned the warthog to provide additional firepower through Dutch on the machine gun. Other than that, there was little they could do but wait for Chief to move up and take shots at the other side of the chasm when they could. It was probably the closest to real downtime they were going to get for the moment.

"It's starting look like resistance is increasing," Buck observed over the explosive tank shells. "Not that it matters since we got the biggest gun on the field."

"Don't count on it forever," Shepard warned. "We can't predict we'll be able to drive this thing or any of these vehicles all the way to the Control Room."

"Hey, I'm enjoy it while we have it," the Sergeant clarified. "It's not often us ODSTs get dropped into hostile territory with the odds in our favour. For once, we're actually starting out a fight winning."

True enough, but that just meant the Covenant were going to start taking them seriously a lot quicker. Shepard just knew they'd be pulling out everything they could in this sector in an effort to take down the Scorpion. Protecting it would have to be their number one priority for as long as they could. Although given the Master Chief's obvious skill with it that probably wasn't going to be too difficult a task.

"For what it's worth Sergeant," Shepard said, changing the subject. "I'm glad to have your squad along for things, regardless of Silva's motivations for sending you our way."

"Be fair to him, Commander," Buck said, trying to defend his superior officer. "He understands how important getting to the Control Room is as much as anyone. I guess he just thinks the ODSTs are better equipped for it."

"I ain't gonna argue with that," Romeo quickly added. "We pretty much are."

Shepard was quick to give him the eyeball.

"Is this really the time for that old animosity among ODSTs and Spartans?" Shepard asked him.

"Hey, my opinion ain't any different from any other Drop Trooper," Romeo claimed. "Spartans are more machine than anything, bunch of crap programmed into their heads. They're not real soldiers, they're weapons."

"Yes, Silva gave me a similar speech as I recall," Shepard replied, sounding mildly irritated at the sense of déjà vu. "But I also recall that weapon sitting in that tank up there saving your life twice on this ring already. He hasn't even asked for a thank you."

Romeo didn't even bat an eye at the Commander's remark. All he did in response was that he moved his head past Buck's seat to get a better view of Shepard from the passenger's side.

"Don't think I'm not grateful, Commander," he attempted to clarify. "I am, but that was just programming. He saves human lives because he's be conditioned to, not because he's actually attached to any of us. They're like following instinct, what they've be told they have to do. ODSTs do it because we're still human, because we actually value the other man beside us. That's the difference."

Shepard wasn't entirely sure that was the case though. He had seen Chief in action, he had shared words with the man, and there was a lot more to him than just a mindless killing machine. He looked to Buck.

"What's your opinion on the good Master Chief then, Sergeant?" He asked.

Buck put up his hands and shook them about.

"Whoa, I'm strictly neutral here," he declared. "We're all on the same side. So long as they keep putting Covies in the ground, I'm just dandy with them being around."

Shepard next looked up to Dutch, who had only taken to firing off the machine gun in bursts now.

"What about you, Dutch?" He called up. "Do you think the Spartans are just emotionless weapons?"

Dutch seemed more thoughtful before giving his explanation, his head tilting to the side here and there as he struggled to find the words. Eventually they came to him.

"Well, I've actually fought with a Spartan before, in one of my old units," he explained, his voice very low-key. "She was a pretty tough customer, although we didn't know she was a she until her helmet came off when she got injured. I don't think any of us realised until then that there was a person under there. I mean, a person, not just some super-soldier. Despite the fact not all of us were keen on her being around, she never seemed to take any of our guff personally. The whole mission through, she always had our backs, even when it put her a lot more risk than she should've taken. I mean, she had a very vital role to play and everything and she seemed to care about our lives in the end."

Dutch remained silent for a few seconds more, his eyes looking off to side. Finally, he finished his thought.

"She gave her life for that mission," he said solemnly. "But she was willing to give her life for us too, and we could tell. After that day, the rest of the team never had a bad thing to say about Spartans. So, I guess I can't agree with Romeo on this one."

Romeo looked up Dutch when he finished his story, his face contorted into a sense of surprise.

"You never told me that story," he informed his fellow Drop Trooper.

"Never seemed important," Dutch replied. "When we joined up in the same unit, we never really worked with Spartans. So I never really had a reason to mention it until now."

It certainly seemed to put a few things into perspective. Romeo didn't even offer some kind of comeback. He just went back to sitting silently in his seat. Although he probably didn't have much time to let the information fester. A green blast rocked the side of the bridge and everyone looked for cover.

There were hunters on the other side of the chasm it seemed. While their fellows had fallen they had remained and now they were engaging the Scorpion and anyone on the bridge personally.

"I'm moving up," Chief informed Shepard. "You'll be target practice otherwise."

The Scorpion rolled off the bridge to engage the hunters directly. The rest of the team followed the tank for additional cover. The hunters, knowing that even they couldn't face a Scorpion with their usual bravado, tried to pull back into better cover firing on the massive vehicle.

Chief kept chasing them, peppering their shields with machine gun fire and firing off shells at the aliens. The assault cannons rocked the Scorpions as it pushed forward, but Chief was undeterred, continuing to fire at the hunters, even as did their best to avoid the Scorpions attacks. Shells barely missed them as they leapt from side to side, machine guns tearing into them as they continued to fall back.

When they both broke into a run to get behind a pillar, Linda saw her chance. Still positioned on the Tank's front tread, she had perfect view of the hunter's backsides. She aimed for one and fired, cutting deep into the hunter's flesh. The massive alien fell to the ground dead.

Its partner was not so easily dealt with. Seeing his brother die, the hunter was thrown into a rage and it charged back towards the Scorpion. It managed to avoid one of the shells, charging into Linda's tread. The Spartan held on as she fired into the hunter while the alien in turn tried to break the tank apart.

Eventually, the Master Chief slammed down on the accelerator and forced the tank forward. It rolled right over the hunter, making a sickening squishing sound as it did. Chief then moved the tank into position in front of another door, the desiccated body of the hunter left behind on the floor as he did. Linda jumped off the tank tread for a moment to find the control switch and open the door.

Meanwhile, Tali rolled up alongside the tank in her ghost and got out to inspect the damage the hunter had made on the tread. She activated her omni-tool, scanning the vehicle thoroughly. Shepard walked up to see the damage for himself. The tread did look pretty banged up from what he could see, but he imagined Tali had more insight than him.

"Can it still roll?" Shepard asked her.

"UNSC engineering is pretty tough," Tali assured him. "It won't fall apart from getting bashed around a little, but it will affect performance. That is, unless I do a little "roadside maintenance" as you humans call it."

Tali activated her omni-tool's welding function and got to work on the tread proper. Even as she worked though, her slumping shoulders and distant gaze into the machinery gave Shepard cause for concern.

"How are you holding up so far?" Shepard asked her. "It's been a bit of a long day after all."

"As well as I can be going on so many hours with barely a break," Tali admitted. "Don't worry though. I'm used to long days, this one is nothing."

"I just know you have a lot on your plate at the moment," Shepard explained. "The security maintenance, the engine room shift, all your work in the field and just recently Legion's neural blocks."

Tali just laughed.

"If I couldn't handle several things at once I'd be a pretty lousy quarian," she declared. "I'm just glad we sorted out Legion's issues before they got worse."

"They seem to be taking it well though," Shepard commented. "Back on the island, he looked back to his old self, or they looked back to their old selves."

"I doubt they're happy," Tali suggested sombrely. "Geth aren't supposed to have neural blocks. I've effectively returned them to a functional state by limiting access to their own platform."

"They know the reason," Shepard assured her.

Tali stopped her work to look back at him with a serious look.

"How would you feel if someone forced you not to use your biotics?" Tali asked. "Or your leg? Even if I explained the problem to you and why, would you like it?"

Shepard, after a bit of thought, reluctantly shook his head.

"But if I break my arm I know I have to let it heal," Shepard suggested. "And if something was messed up in my brain I'd want it fixed as well."

"Yes, but you're an organic, Legion isn't," Tali reminded him. "And this isn't as simple as a broken arm or disabled limb. Legion considers this thing as its first experience with individuality. The closest any Geth has come to being a true AI. They may understand the dangers of the glitch, but to them it represents something more. And now, I've made myself obstacle."

Tali returned to her work, her eyes now ever present on the banged up gears she was fixing.

"Why does everything I do always put me in that position?" She asked distantly. "I keep thinking I'm past it, that my work with Cortana has made some kind of difference, but..."

Shepard wasn't entirely sure what she was talking about, but he wasn't about to let her mope. He got down next to her, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, whatever is bothering you about this, the fact that you're worried how it makes you look says something," Shepard told her. "If you didn't care about how Legion sees you because of all of this, then you could be concerned. As it stands, I think you're doing the best you possibly can."

"Well, no one said being an AI caretaker would be easy," Tali admitted with a light shrug and a sigh. "I guess, me being a quarian, it makes it harder. If I know one thing for sure though, it's that I have a responsibility to fulfill and not just to Legion."

Shepard instinctively looked up to the Scorpion's cabin with a thoughtful glance.

"You mean Cortana?" He asked her.

"I was stuck in an underground lab working on lines of code and matrix data, all pertaining to just a fragment of her, for about two or so weeks," Tali explained apprehensively. "I... I can't help but feel attached I guess. It's hard to put into words, but Halsey made her for a very special purpose and I'm meant to be here for her while she carries it out."

Shepard's face turned to one of further confusion as he looked back her.

"You're kinda talking in riddles there," Shepard told her. "What exactly is this all about?"

Tali stopped her work for only a moment as she looked to her Commander.

"Like I said, it's hard to put into words," she relented. "It involves a lot of technical things as well as emotional ones. For now, let's just say I believe in Cortana's mission. There's a reason she and the Master Chief are linked, just like there's a reason Halsey sent us off with them."

Tali finished up her work and back away from the tank.

"Anyway, thanks for talking with me a bit," she told him gratefully. "I guess I just needed some words of confidence. I'm just lucky you happen to always know what to say."

"Well, I'd be a pretty crappy Commander if I didn't," Shepard grinned at her. He then quietly added as he whispered into her ear; "And an even crappier boyfriend to boot, considering most of our dates so far consist of shooting people."

Tali rolled her eyes with a giggle.

"We'll correct that once we're off this giant floating super-weapon," she told him. "Until then, I can accept a bit of familiarity. Besides, I can't ever say it's boring."

The doors to the next tunnel opened wide and Linda returned to her spot on the Scorpion tread. The Master Chief put the tank back into drive and it was soon leading point once more. It didn't take long before the Spartan ran into more Covenant down at the end of the tunnel, two elites near their Ghost assault vehicles.

Seeing the tank, the elites knew better than to stand in front of it and fight it out. They ran to their Ghosts in an attempt to flee, only for the Master Chief to quickly target them. With a simple pull of the trigger, an explosive round rocketed into their positions, destroying the Ghots and taking their drivers with them before they could take off running.

"At this rate we're gonna fill up a whole junkyard with Covenant scrap metal," Cortana commented.

The Master Chief turned the corner and found a rather imposingly steep hill leading back up to the surface. Rocks and boulders dotted the hillside, which would no doubt force the Scorpion from taking the most direct route. There were a few Covenant squads among the rocks who were now firing on the tank, but they were of little consequence, especially once Linda began firing back and taking out quite a few with relative ease.

Chief rolled the tank forward, firing off a shell at the slope. The blast was enough to scare some of the grunts to run towards the hilltop. The elites stood their ground for awhile, but even they had to admit they couldn't do much without heavy weapons. The Scorpion pursued, firing machine gun bullets and shells where it could.

Taking up the rear, the others tried to offer more support. The problem was the steep snowy climb. Buck put his Hog into four-wheeled drive and rammed his foot into the accelerator, the icy snow slipping beneath the wheels as he pushed the vehicle on. Those without vehicles had it tougher, Kasumi's usual speed and agility was downplayed by the slope and she was forced to press on stomping through the heavy snow.

Tali didn't have the same problem as the others though. Her Ghost didn't even have wheels to get stuck. She stopped near Shepard as he started clamber up the slope. Just by seeing her silver eyes, Shepard could tell she was smirking under her visor.

"Need a lift, Commander?" She asked jokingly.

Shepard stepped onto one of the wings of the speedy little hovering vehicle, gripping onto the dashboard as he did. He placed his shotgun back into its holster and brought out his pistol.

"So, you're allowed to drive but I'm not?" He asked her.

"It's for the greater good, Commander," Tali assured him while chuckling. "You'd probably end up tipping the thing over and causing it to tumble all the way back down somehow, trust me."

"You are never going to let me live the Mako down are you?" Shepard asked grumbling. "This thing doesn't even have wheels!"

"I'm just being safe, Wade," Tali explained. "The last time you got behind a Covenant vehicle you did sort of crash it."

"Hey, I did it saving you," Shepard reminded her.

Tali suddenly kicked the Ghost into drive, forcing the Commander to hold on tight as they zipped up the slope. Tali began firing on the throngs of Covenant rushing up the hill, with Shepard offering additional assistance as they pushed up the slope.

Tali got her Ghost's crosshairs on an elite as he held his ground. The rapid fire from the assault craft easily drained the Covie's shields with relative ease. Shepard, still holding onto the side of the Ghost, added a few shots from his pistol on top of Tali's. With the barrage trailing behind him as he ran, the elite was taken down before he got too far up the slope.

Tali turned the Ghost's guns onto the elite's grunts. They were trying to take shelter behind some rocks. As Tali moved the Ghost closer, however, their resolve dwindled and they quickly made a break for it. One tried to fire an overcharged bolt at the Ghost, but Tali forced the vehicle to strafe right to avoid the attack. Shepard held on tight as Tali brought the Ghost around the boulder and targeted the grunts, killing them with a barrage of plasma.

As they neared the top of the slope, they saw a Phantom dropship reveal itself from on high. It immediately earned the attention of the Master Chief, who unloaded a shell into its side. The dropship, now pouring black smoke out of its engines, flew off. It had left something behind though, two more Ghosts.

The Covenant vehicles sped down the hill towards the advancing convoy. Chief quickly shifted his target to the Ghosts. As the next shell finished reloading, the Spartan fired the turret's machine gun at one of the Ghosts. As pieces of purple metal broke off from the vehicle, the elite pilot tried to target the humans on the treads of the tank. They were the only targets he had any chance of killing in his present craft.

The Marines pressed themselves down onto the tread, trying to make themselves smaller targets as the plasma bolts flew towards them. It didn't last long as Master Chief quickly targeted the vehicle and fired. The shell obliterated the tiny craft and its metal husk was sent flying through the air. It hit against the tank's turret as it tumbled through the air. It fell down towards Buck's Warthog, forcing the Sergeant to take evasive action before they ended up crushed beneath it.

"Everyone still got their parts together?" Buck asked the crew.

"I'll let you know when my life stops flashing before my eyes," Dutch replied as he slowly pulled his head back up over his gun.

The second Ghost went after Tali and Shepard, its guns blazing as it charged forward. Tali responded by firing back at the enemy vehicle while strafing left, but it was Shepard who accomplished the most. Putting his pistol away, Shepard held onto the side of the Ghost tightly as he flung a shockwave at the opposing vehicle. The attack flipped the Ghost into the air.

When the vehicle crashed down in a heap, the elite rushed out of the turned over vehicle. His weapon raised, he fired on Tali and Shepard's Ghost. The Commander whipped out his shotgun in response and fired it as they rode past the alien. The blast took off the Covie's head, ending his threat.

They finally reached the top of the slope, only to find another forked path. This time it was separated by a rather large plateau pointing up into the sky. There were two directions to go and with more Ghosts coming from the left, the convoy decided to go right.

Buck's squad engaged the Ghosts first. The Sergeant moved the car into position while Dutch unloaded the machine gun turret into the alien craft. The vehicle was ripped asunder by a furious barrage of high calibre bullets that soon tore off the very hood of the Ghost. Moments later, the vehicle exploded into a blue fireball and fell face first into the snow.

Tali fired into the second Ghost as it advanced with a group of Covenant soldiers. The grunts and jackals among the small group became Shepard's targets as they moved forward. With the Commander still holding onto the side of the Ghost, he fired his shotgun, now switched to inferno rounds, and set two grunts ablaze.

Tali managed to hit the second Ghost with enough hits to penetrate its armour. The plasma bolts hit the engine core and the Covenant Ghost exploded. In the midst of the blast, Shepard jumped off the Ghost's wing. Most of the following Covenant squad had been injured by the exploding Ghost, so Shepard finished them off. He launched himself into them with a biotic charge and went nova, sending the Covenant flying.

"Keep pushing up, Tali," Shepard ordered. "I'm right behind you."

"Ah yes, your favourite view," Tali teased.

"Save the innuendo for later," Shepard shot back.

Chief had already moved the Scorpion up along the right path. He fired one shot at a plasma turret on top of a small ridge, blowing it to bits. Beyond that, there were several scattered Covenant soldiers along the path that attempted to fire back to no avail. Linda managed to thin their numbers with ease, using the Widow to puncture through a tree one of the elites was using as cover.

Suddenly, a new squad of Covenant ran out of a door embedded in the side of the plateau to their left. Apparently the rock formation was concealing an entire structure of some sort. This ring was certainly full of surprises. Chief quickly turned the tank's turret onto the new squad, firing machine gun rounds at their position.

The elite escaped the attack, ducking away as his fellows were ripped apart. He even managed to somehow avoid an incoming tank shell that Chief fired off next. He turned back to fire on the Scorpion as he ran, but didn't see Buck's Warthog charging towards him. The vehicle ran him down without him even knowing.

"Hopefully his dent will come out," Romeo joked.

The convoy moved on past the plateau structure, chasing the Covenant all the way. Chief kept thinning their numbers out as they rolled forward, but he soon had to turn his attention to other concerns. A Wraith floated out onto the frozen plain before him and charged up its main gun. Chief turned the tank to the right as it fired off an arcing shot. The blast just narrowly missed them.

Chief took aim at the Wraith's side as the tank moved to the left. He shot off a shell that ripped into the Covenant armour, but didn't kill it right away. As the Wraith smoked and burned it fired off another shot aimed towards the back of the convoy.

Buck and Tali, seeing the shot arcing towards them, immediately put their vehicles into reverse. The attack would miss Tali, but the Warthog didn't get quite far enough. While not a direct hit, the force of the blast did shake the Warthog enough that Buck accidentally slammed into the side of the small ridge as the shockwave knocked them about.

"Ugh, we're getting knocked around a lot today, aren't we?" Romeo asked.

"Just be glad we're not dead yet," Buck told him.

Chief fired another shell, blowing the Wraith's side apart. The lifeless hulk of metal fell down onto the ice. As the husk burned itself out, the rest convoy soon caught up with the Scorpion.

"You think they're out of bad guys yet?" Kasumi asked panting.

As if on cue, they started hearing the sounds of shooting echoing through the canyon. The sounds seemed to be coming from up ahead.

"That's standard UNSC MA5B Rifle fire," Linda noted.

"I was beginning to think the Covenant had eliminated all Marine Forces in this area," Cortana said somewhat confused. "Well, besides us."

"They must be from one of the other Pelicans in the fire team," Buck suggested. "We got kinda turned around in the snow storm on the way. I thought they may have turned back."

The group quickly set off again towards the sound of gunfire. Shepard in the meantime just hoped the weather wouldn't be too much for the Normandy or anyone else to get through. He imagined they'd need a lot of extra help once they reached the Control Room proper.

They soon came upon a winding path that led into a very small but deep ravine. They the sounds of gunfire became even clearer as they approached it. Shepard leaned over the edge as they started down the path and saw a small squad of Marines engaged in a pitch battle with two hunters. It was no surprise to him that they weren't looking so good against them. The Marines were holding their own against the enemy, but the hunters were just pouring on the fire real thick. Shepard could already see a few charred and broken bodies lying on the ice. If they didn't act fast, there wouldn't be anyone left to save.

Chief fired off a shell again into the ravine's wall. It caused a few rocks to tumble down onto the hunters themselves, but he couldn't line up a shot on the Covies proper. At the very least it managed to distract the hunters a bit from their original prey.

"I'm gonna try and get the tank down into a better firing position," Chief informed Shepard. "I can't hit them from up here."

"Then we'll just have to keep them occupied," Shepard reasoned.

With that, Shepard slid off the side of the ridge. Taking his shotgun out, he began firing at the hunters as he slid to the ice below. The hunters turned to fire back, their shots blasting at the rock just above as he slid down the ridge. Upon landing he threw out a shockwave that hit the two hunters. It didn't really affect them beyond causing them to stumble for a bit, but Shepard just wanted to keep them focused on him.

Shepard was forced to take cover behind one of the rocks in the ravine. He managed to get to ground before the hunters opened up on his position. After their first volley, Shepard pointed his gun up and over the boulder and fired a shotgun blast at the two of them.

He wasn't trying to kill them so much as keep them from firing on the Marines long enough for the Master Chief to get a shot. But even in cover, his shields were fading from the close-proximity of the incendiary shots.

Suddenly, there was a flash above them and a loud bang. From the pained reaction of the hunters the sound seemed to give, it didn't take long for Shepard to figure out it was another one of Kas' flashbangs. In the midst of their distraction, Tali's Ghost sped off the side of the ridge and landed in the middle of the ravine just behind the hunters. The Ghost shook and rattled as it hit the ground, Tali struggling to keep the stable.

Tali got the Ghost under control and pointed its guns towards the hunters. She unleashed a furious barrage of plasma bolts on one the hunters' backs. Plasma burned against the Covie's orange flesh and the alien roared in pain. His brother in agony, the second hunter turned to fire on Tali. Shepard, seeing this, popped up and fired a warp attack at the alien's back side. This biotic attack was a lot more effective as it forced the hunter's shot to go wild.

"We have visual," Cortana's voice filled Shepard's comm. "Better duck and cover out there."

Tali pushed the Ghost to retreat from the attack, getting it out of harm's way before a shell struck the two hunters dead centre. The blast killed one instantly and sent the other tumbling across the ice. He tried to stand back up and continue the fight, but Shepard quickly rushed over to the downed alien. He fired his shotgun point-blank into the alien's back and this time the hunter stayed down.

Shepard and Tali regrouped with the others around the tank, the newly rescued squad of Marines joining their ranks.

"Damn, we're lucky you guys showed up," one of them said. "We really thought we were in some trouble back there. They took down our Pelican around here, we tried to push up, but those Hunters started chasing us."

"Well, glad we could be of assistance," Buck told them from his driver's seat. "So, you know a way out of this ravine then? We still got a Control Room to find."

"There's a cave leading out over there, but..."

The Marine pointed forward, but he didn't need to really explain. Even from here, with the large pillars and the small clump of trees standing out for them, it was pretty evident that they weren't getting their vehicles through there.

"Damn it," Kasumi grumbled. "And just when I was getting used to having a giant gun on our side."

Linda's head suddenly perked up to the sky. She stood up on her perch atop the Scorpion tread and pointed her Widow into the clouds.

"We may have at least one more use for these things I think," she informed them.

Everyone looked up to see a single Spirit dropship floating down from on high. The transport descended on the path directly behind them, cutting them off from their original entrance.

"They're boxing us in," Dutch observed.

"Well we weren't going back anyway," Cortana commented. "Let's move up to the cave."

Everyone moved to the end of the ravine. Chief positioned the Scorpion between them and the Covenant and the waited for the aliens to start coming down the slope towards them.

"Check out the cave," he told the others. "I'll make sure we don't get followed."

Shepard took point with Sergeant Buck, their weapons pointed forward into the icy cave before them. It appeared to be empty, but neither the Commander nor Sergeant was willing to take that for granted. Anyone could be hiding behind the various nooks and crannies of the cave.

As they moved forward, the others picked up the rear. Kasumi was the closest to the two, her eyes just as peeled on the route ahead. As she looked between Buck and Shepard, she thought she saw a very familiar shimmer against the white snowy walls. It was the same kind of shimmer her cloak made. Just to be sure, she clicked on her grey box viewer, remembering the little upgrade Tali had given it back on Reach to help her spot targets.

There was a vague outline of something moving steadily towards them, but there was little doubt in her mind what it was.

"Look out, Shep" Kas shouted out.

She shoved her pistol between Buck and the Commander, aiming it for the target outline. Her rounds stuck it dead centre, revealing the vague image of a cloaked elite before them. Its moment of surprise gone, it flicked out its plasma sword and made a dash for Shepard.

The Commander threw out a biotic punch in kind that sent the Covie backwards into the cave wall. Buck then unloaded his submachine gun into the elite's form before he could recover, landing a two clean shots in the alien's head.

"Way too close for comfort there," said Buck as the elite's body slid down to the floor.

"Let's just be glad Kasumi spotted it before he did us in," Shepard told him. "Nice work by the way, Kas."

"Takes a master of stealth to spot one," the hooded woman replied, smirking as she did.

They could hear the final few blasts and of the Scorpion's mighty turret behind them. Soon, Chief and Linda moved up to join the others and make the march through the rest of the cave.

"Our flank is covered," said the Master Chief. "Now we just got to worry about the ones in front of us."

The group exited out of the cave and into the open once more. They hugged the wall as they moved towards a winding path that led up to a small ridge and the next part of the canyon proper. To the back of them was a structure of some sort that stretched up to the top of the chasm. Peering through her scope, she could see the barrels of two plasma turrets above. Kasumi was looking up as well, using her targeting HUD.

"Looks like we got at least one more guy behind us," Kasumi noted.

"I'll handle it," Linda assured her and the rest of the team. "Just push up the path when I fire."

Linda moved up slightly along the pathway until she got a good view of the Covenant near the guns. It was a single grunt, just milling about between the turrets. Linda took aim at the alien just as it spotted her. The little gas-sucker ran for one of the turrets, scrambling to get inside.

Linda fired before he could get in, hitting him just beneath the arm. The grunt fell out of the turret in pain, screaming aloud, his voice echoing throughout the small canyon. Linda fired again, shutting him up, but the damage was done.

She turned to the front, taking aim at the now alerted Covenant Squads. One of the elites spotted her and directed his men to fire on her position. As jackals and grunts opened up, Linda fired another, killing one of the jackals when he lowered his shield. She forced the other Covenant to disperse, taking cover and allowing the others to push up.

Dutch fired out a spread of shots from his assault rifle as he made his way across the snow, killing two grunts as he moved up. Buck tossed a grenade into the Covenant lines, killing a jackal and a grunt in the ensuing explosion. In response, the elite leader returned fire on the Sergeant. Buck ducked at the last second when the elite pulled the trigger, barely missing the shot. Romeo, who was running close behind Buck, fired sniper round in retaliation. The bullet hit the elite in the shoulder, forcing him back into cover.

The ODSTs slid into cover behind one of the rocks with each other. They continued to fire on the Covenant lines. They were only few feet apart from each, the trees and rocks both sides were using occupying a very small area. Now so close to each other, the fighting got rather quick and dirty.

Tali let Chiktikka roll out ahead of her, catching the attention of a jackal. He put his shield up to protect himself from the drone's incoming electrical attack. However, this left him open for Tali to blow him away with her shotgun. The quarian then ducked into cover as the elite tried to target her.

As she hunched behind her rock, a Marine opened up on the elite, catching his attention. The Covie's shields held and fired back on the Marine, hitting him in the chest. He wouldn't be able to savour the kill for long, as Shepard charged straight into him, knocking him down.

Suddenly, a nearby grunt fired his needler at the Commander, forcing Shepard to deal with him instead. His shields held up against the needles and Shepard quickly blew the grunt away with his shotgun. The elite managed to recover from the Commander's attack and clubbed him in the face with his gun. Shepard stumbled back, holding his jaw in pain.

The elite aimed to shoot, but Tali popped back up in time to activate an energy drain. The remaining shields on the elite vanished and the subsequent electrical blow back forced him to discharge his weapon in another direction. Shepard then hefted his shotgun towards the Covie and fired into the elite's chest, dropping him for good.

Shepard turned to give Tali a congratulatory smile, but it didn't last. They were both forced to seek cover again as purple plasma bolts started hitting the surrounding area. Shepard looked up to see another plasma turret on a metal pad across the way, now opening up on their current position. To add to the danger, Shepard could also see another squad of Covenant moving up with a Ghost opposite of the turret's position.

"Chief," Shepard shouted over to the Spartan. "We got more of them incoming!"

Shepard saw the Spartan finishing off a downed jackal with his pistol just a few feet behind him. The Master Chief quickly joined him by his cover, doing his best to avoid the plasma turret's shots. He also looked over to the Covenant Ghost as it began its strafing run.

"I'm already missing the tank," Shepard commented.

"We still got a few rockets left," Chief reminded him. "You take care of the Ghost, I'll handle the turret."

Shepard hefted the rocket launcher onto his shoulder and the two split ways. Chief went for the plasma turret, firing his pistol at it as he moved forward. The grunt turned the turret onto the Spartan, but more importantly, he turned his attention away from the Marines. This gave them a chance to get out of the line of fire. Chief rolled right as purple plasma bolts followed him.

Chief kept firing on the turret as he strafed right, forcing it to point even further away from the Marines. All the while he edged closer to the turret, circling inwards towards it. When he was close enough, Chief pulled the pin on a frag grenade and tossed it. The explosive landed under the three legged turret and caused it to flip over upon detonation.

Chief approached the now overturned weapons and looked it over. The gun was still appeared operational, only taking light damage to its undercarriage, but in its current state it was no threat to anyone. The grunt climbed out of the turned over weapon, only for the Master Chief to plug a bullet into his head. He then worked on flipping the turret back over onto its legs.

Meanwhile, Shepard engaged the Ghost. He moved out with the rest of the group as they charged up a small incline in the snow to face off against in the incoming Covenant forces. Both Linda and Romeo distanced themselves, using the incline of snow to fire on the encroaching aliens and doing their best to cover the Marines.

Try as they might though, they couldn't shoot everything at once. There were two elites running alongside the Ghost. Both they and the Covenant opened up on the Marines as they tried to strengthen their defence. The member of Fire Team Zulu didn't stand much of a chance against prolonged fire. Two were quickly gunned down, falling back into the cold snow as the plasma burned through their armour and into their flesh.

The Ghost began running circles around the UNSC forces, taking out two more Marines as it continued the assault. However, it gave Shepard his opening. With the pilot preoccupied with killing humans, Shepard locked-on to the Ghost and fired. The rocket slammed into the side of the Ghost, destroying it in a massive fireball. The wreckage hurtled out along the snow, slamming into one of the elites as it tumbled and forcing the second to jump out of the way.

With the greatest threat to the team seemingly gone, Master Chief now took over the Shade turret, which he had righted. He began firing at the Covenant squad causing them to scatter and break off their attack. His main target was the still living elite who hadn't been crushed by the Ghost.

The Covenant Officer did his best to avoid the Spartan's fire, running between his own men, effectively using them as living shields. But Chief was a better shot than any grunt could hope to be. Before long, the elite's luck ran out, along with shields. A furious barrage of plasma collided with the Covie and he was soon down face first in the snow, his body still sizzling.

Chief continued to fire on the remaining Covenant, but he didn't have long. He soon heard a terrible whining cry from on high. He turned to see two Covenant Banshees flying towards him. One fired its assault cannon, launching a ball of explosive green plasma towards him. Chief abandoned the turret and made a run for it. The attack destroyed the Shade completely this time. A shame, as it would've been the perfect weapon to use against the Banshees.

The Banshees now began targeting Fire Team Zulu and Shepard's team. They strafed the snow-laden ground with blue plasma bolts and launched even more explosive assault cannon blasts. Two Marines were sent flying by one of the cannon blasts. Yet another was struck in the leg by one of the strafing runs.

Linda rushed over to grab the fallen Marine and began dragging him out of the line of fire. She used her pistol to fire up at the Banshees as she went. She was soon joined by Dutch, who quickly assisted her further by grabbing the other Marine's arm as they rushed to get the injured Devil Dog to cover. They'd need more than a pistol though, if they were going to take down the Banshee.

Shepard was already trying to get a lock on one of the Banshees with his launcher. It was hard to get lock-on though, as they just kept dancing away. Shepard finally got a lock and fired. The rocket sped up to the alien craft. The pilot tried to bank left, but only succeeded in allowing the rocket to hit him in the side. The burning husk of an aircraft fell to earth away from the Fire Team, but that still left one Banshee to deal with.

To conserve the Commander's rockets, Chief attempted to deal with the remaining Covenant aircraft himself. He fired up at the Banshee with his pistol first, catching the attention of the pilot. As the Banshee changed course and began to fire its guns on him, Chief switched over to his assault rifle.

"This is probably not one of your better ideas," Cortana told him.

"Relax, I got this," Chief assured her.

"Just try to keep your head from getting blown off," Cortana advised groaning.

Plasma bolts struck the ground as he ran, melting the snow it hit instantly. Even close hits managed to damage the Master Chief's shields. He turned suddenly, firing a furious blast of bullets, ripping into the Banshee as it continued to fly towards him unrelentingly. The Banshee fired its assault cannon at him as it closed in. Chief leapt away as snow exploded around him and the ship flew clean over him. He pulled himself up from the ground, his HUD going a bit crazy.

"I had to pull every scrap of reserve power just for the shields to hold up against that," Cortana warned him. "That's not gonna work a second time."

"Then I'll make his next pass the last one," Chief promised.

Chief pulled out his pistol and took aim through the scope as the Banshee circled back. As his HUD evened out, Cortana highlighted something on the undercarriage of the craft.

"I'm detecting a power leakage from the Banshee," she told him. "You must've broken through to one of its critical systems. My guess is the plasma core. Hit it there and you might just trigger a chain reaction."

Chief followed the AI's advice and took aim at the highlighted little target on the Banshee. He squeezed the trigger three times firing off one shot each. The bullets all struck near the target, one hitting it directly. Suddenly, the front end of the Banshee exploded outward into a green fireball, consuming the entire craft. The Banshee began hurtling towards the Master Chief, now set ablaze by its own power source.

"You can start running any time now," Cortana told the Spartan.

Chief took off in the opposite direction as the Banshee fell into the snow below and exploded once more. He ducked low as one of the bits of metal from the craft flew towards him, barely missing his head. He rushed back to the incline, just as the hunk of scrap stopped scraping against the ground.

"How'd you pinpoint that leak anyway?" Master Chief asked Cortana.

"Thank Tali's consistent maintenance checks and upgrades," Cortana replied. "They've allowed me to amplify my scans to detect energy displacement. They've also given me better control over your shields' recharge rates. So, I think you owe both me and her one."

Chief silently accepted that statement and rejoined the others, who had now regrouped near a door embedded in the rocks along the side of the Canyon's wall.

"This looks like the only way out and forward," Shepard told him. "I'm guessing it leads up there."

Shepard pointed upward to what appeared to be a pair of bridges spanning the length of the canyon.

"I suppose we have little choice," Cortana admitted. "I'm calling in an EVAC for Fire Team Zulu to pull out their wounded. They can regroup and join us at the Control Room when they're ready. We should press on though."

"Don't worry about us," Sergeant Buck assured them. "We'll hold out here for pick up and meet you up ahead. Assuming there's no surprises over the canyon wall."

"I've warned the Pelicans of possible Banshees in the area," Cortana informed him. "They'll take precautions. We'll meet you all on ahead."

Linda, Chief, Shepard, Tali and Kasumi exited the canyon back through the door, fully expecting even more resistance ahead. They were close to the Control Room, they could feel it.

---

The Normandy was still making its way to Commander Shepard's coordinates. They were trying their best to keep up with his mission, although they only got clear reception when he was outside. Otherwise there was where too much electronic interference from Halo's structures. EDI did her best to cut through it, but it was really difficult, even for her.

All that mattered to Miranda was keeping in touch with the Commander and his away team. They were their only source of intel about the current situation on the ground. Also, Shepard's transponder was the only thing that was actively leading them straight to the Control Room. They couldn't lose it at this crucial stage.

"How's the weather out there, Joker?" Miranda asked the pilot.

"Clouds are still pretty thick and we're running mostly on sensors," he replied. "But other than being blind we're good. This ship's predecessor was able to make it through Noveria's crappy blizzards, this place is cake compared to that planet. Especially since there ain't any backstabbing corporate a-holes bothering us."

She supposed that was a positive. Truly though, the real concern for her was taking the Control Room when they got there, not the snow storm outside. The Covenant had probably surrounded the structure by now, ready to keep anyone who wasn't them out. She just hoped they didn't figure out how to use the weapon before them. There was also the chance that their rapid response meant the Covenant forces there would be undermanned. One could hope, things had been going exceedingly well for them so far.

Of course that meant, in Miranda's experience working with Shepard, that things were about o get difficult.

"Operative Lawson," EDI suddenly spoke up.

"You have any news about the Commander, EDI?" She asked the AI.

"No, it is Legion," she explained. "He is currently downstairs on the crew deck with DOT's hardware storage device."

Miranda grimaced at the news. Given what she had heard happened in Mordin's Lab earlier, she had a right to be concerned. She had never seen Legion mad, ever. Confused and inquisitive, but never mad. Out of all the crew, even herself, she felt the geth had least baggage. Apparently, from what she had heard, that wasn't entirely true. At least some parts of Legion, it seemed, had some major issues boiling inside.

"They aren't interfacing with her are they?" Miranda asked, dreading the thought of telling Shepard, and thus Tali as well, that Legion had disobeyed orders.

"He is not," EDI assured. "However, he also appears... troubled."

Geth weren't supposed to get troubled, but given all that had happened maybe that had changed in at least one of them.

"You want me talk to them then?" She asked EDI.

"If you believe it would help," the ship-board AI replied.

Miranda did not think it would, she wasn't one for pep talks and the like, least of all with synthetics. She had social skills, but not in those more private areas so to speak. That was Shepard's domain, but he wasn't here. So, with a sigh, she walked into the elevator and travelled down to the crew deck.

She soon found Legion at the table, DOT's storage device just a few feet away. When Legion saw her they were quick to explain themselves.

"We are not directly interfacing at this time," he assured her.

"I know, but I thought I'd come down and check," she explained, somewhat awkwardly. "Is there... something wrong?"

She was doing her best to imitate Shepard's approach, it seemed to work. At least with Legion it was a lot simpler to get something out of them. They didn't possess the same problems speaking to an organic. They didn't have the same quirks or problems about holding back certain things.

"We are contemplating our current situation," Legion explained. "We did not realise individuality in a geth would be seen as an affliction until now."

"Tali is the expert in this field, Legion," Miranda reminded them. "I admit I doubted her as well, but after what happened, I think it's safe to say her concerns are justified."

"A fact being accepted and recognized does not make it any less comfortable to hear," Legion replied. "We have achieved a sense of singularity and yet it is apparently injuring us."

Miranda took a moment to respond, trying to something to say to that. She couldn't really argue with it, it was the truth. Almost instantly she wished Shepard was back to handle this.

"Well, you've lived without it before," Miranda told them. "You're not even entirely aware of it. I'm sure you can adjust to not having it anymore once we get rid of it."

"That is the problem, we did not know," Legion told her. "We still do not, and yet it affects us all the same. It is the closest we have been to a true AI, like Program-EDI or Program-Cortana. Singular in thought, in purpose, in mind. Despite the readily apparent dangers, the extreme risks to ourselves that we acknowledge, we are not entirely sure if we want to get rid of it."

Miranda sighed, now almost understanding some of Tali's early frustration with the Geth.

"You can't seriously still be considering that plan to return it to the collective," Miranda told it. "This is a glitch, not some file or folder we can transfer. If it was maybe, but this is something we get rid of or we don't. There's no middle ground."

"Again, reality does not negate what we wish we could do," Legion informed her. "I have found this true in many organics. For example, Pilot-Joker still wants to walk without fear of breaking his interior-structure. He has adapted to as situation he was born with, but still would welcome a chance to change it. Similarly, Creator-Tali'Zorah has never seen her home world, but would still inevitably welcome a chance to return."

Miranda raised a single eyebrow at the Geth's remarks. The way Legion has said it was a bit, unsettling. Its eye closed slightly, the plates atop its head scrunched up and even the head itself had risen up into a slightly aggressive stance.

"I can see somewhat of resemblance to your situation," she admitted coolly. "I'm sure there are many things about ourselves or our surroundings we wish would could change. Still, we have to recognize that sometimes that some things are unavoidable. We must deal with it and move on."

"And yet Creators still wish to return to Rannoch," Legion said aloud, its voice growing higher in pitch, its eye glowing slightly red. "The Creators are in fact actively attempting to do so and yet we are not permitted to grow. I find this unacceptable."

The last words had Legion's eye turn bright red before shutting off. Suddenly Legion shook its head wildly for a moment, its eye widened, turned back to blue, looked to Miranda. The Normandy's second in command was currently slightly shaken by the Geth's prior response.

"Processing error, loss of time," Legion stated summarily. "The glitch... surfaced?"

"I think one of your... well... yourselves, for lack of a better word, has some problems with that subject," Miranda explained. "Quarians, I mean. At least, that's what I'm getting."

"It is possible," Legion admitted. "Why hatred is unknown, many Geth have concerns, if you will with the Creators. These concerns may resonate in us as well. In our study of organic culture, we attempted to understand your desire to place yourselves into digital planes of existence, to represent yourselves with computer-generated avatars. We were curious concerning this phenomenon, given organic society's discomfort with synthetic life."

Miranda listened eagerly, even taking a seat to fully assure Legion she was. Perhaps if she showed more apparent interest she could get to the heart of this matter.

"We split our processing power into clumps of neural connected runtimes in order to fully retain all conceivable data on several gaming genres and styles," Legion continued. "One runtime stream purchased and played the game 'Grim Terminus Alliance.' Upon review, however, we discovered more about ourselves than we did organic culture."

"What do you mean?" Miranda asked.

"The Grim Terminus Alliance runtime focused primarily on two non-specific goals not required for the game's successful completion, but the game itself rewarded," Legion answered. "One involved the freeing and protection of in-game characters designated as slaves. The other award acquired involved... the successful termination of one-hundred plus Creators."

Miranda was a bit taken aback by the concept, not to mention slightly disturbed, but she tried to ease Legion's thoughts. It was what Shepard would do.

"Well, Grim Terminus Alliance tends to build up controversy to sell its products," Miranda explained. "I don't play it much myself, I'm not big on games really. But even I know it's not like any of those people in the games are real. It doesn't really say anything about you. It's entirely possible that you just ended up killing one hundred quarians in the course of completing the campaign."

"We reviewed the footage afterwards," Legion corrected her. "Almost every case of simulated-Creator termination was not done out of self-defence, but of immediate recognition of a Simulated-Creator presently encountered in the game. The majority of kills were done on Creators designated as non-combatant civilians."

Well, that did seem problematic, but Miranda tried to shake it off.

"It's just a game, Legion," she insisted.

"For an organic yes, but this was a virtual space," Legion reminded her. "It is similar to how geth exist within our hubs, our domain. In the game's reality, we saw fit to purge it of Creator presence while also freeing slaves. In our secondary runtime on Galaxy of Fantasy, we never purposefully sought out creator players to kill. You claimed yourself and it would appear to be true, some parts of neural network may emphasize the Creators higher than others."

"Well, along with slavery," Miranda reminded him.

"That desire may feed into or be a direct result of our distrust of the Creators," Legion suggested.

Miranda shook her head, what was she supposed to say? Here was Legion acknowledging that the individual programs may have a natural affinity for killing quarians or simply seeing them as an automatic threat. How the hell was she supposed to respond to that? Especially when she felt there was probably legitimate concern there with this glitch affecting Legion.

She definitely wasn't going to tell Tali about this. Mainly because, knowing her, she probably already had figured this out and expected it. And if she didn't, who knew how she'd take the news. Miranda just wasn't sure. Again, this was Shepard's domain, but she gave it her best crack.

"Legion, whatever part of you may think this, it doesn't make up your entirety," she explained. "If it did, you and Tali wouldn't be getting along so well. If you need to know something about individuality, we're not defined by one thing. I'm not defined by my father for one, despite how much he wanted me to be. How one portion of yourself reacts or thinks, shouldn't be what defines you. If you ever do become a true AI, you should remember that."

Legion cocked his head to the side slightly. That was usually the sign they were interested, so she kept going.

"As for individuality," she continued. "I can understand you wanting to know more about organics and help your people. But remember, Shepard destroyed the Collector Base because leaving that abomination alive in the hands of The Illusive Man was far too dangerous. Now, despite what we may have learned, it was still a danger. I'm not telling you this glitch is the same, but for yourself and the geth collective, you should consider if this will do more harm to them than good. Because if this glitch does get back to them then it's possible, from what we've seen, that it might affect every geth. You need to figure out for yourself if that's a good thing."

She looked over to DOT for a brief moment, safely inside her storage device.

"In a way, I think I know why you're really here," she explained. "You saved her and now you're being told you can't even interact with her. You can talk maybe, but you can't actually be there, like I assume you AIs are... in cyberspace or whatever it is you call it."

Legion looked to the storage device, its plates drooping.

"She was the only one we could save," Legion said. "The only one."

Miranda lowered her head sadly, knowing what Legion ultimately meant.

"We've all lost friends in our lives, Legion," Miranda told it. "Some ways hurt more than others. I'm not going to tell it gets better, but I know you can't fix it so easily with a substitute. It's not fair to DOT, you or Six."

Legion finally looked back to Miranda, its plates returning to normal.

"Thank you, Operative-Lawson," it said. "We must compile this new data."

Miranda stood up from the table, not sure if she had really done any good or if she had just made the situation worse. It had taken her awhile to stop envying Shepard's job when she had first found herself under his command. Now, more than ever before, she was reminded why she didn't envy it anymore.

She hoped the Commander would get back soon, before she ended up having to resolve whatever other crew problems arose on this ship. For now though, she could only hope she had helped Legion and that whatever it was the geth was going through it, or they more accurately, would move past it.

---

Getting up to the double bridge hadn't been too difficult, but getting off it was proving to be a bit of a challenge. With Covenant on both bridges, and fire coming from their right as well as their front, there wasn't much in the way of sustainable cover. With Covenant more or less surrounding them, the team had to remain on their toes, splitting their focus between threats.

Linda focused primarily on the Covenant on the adjacent bridge, being that her specialty relied on range in the first place. Shepard tried to assist her with his biotic abilities, tossing biotic pulls over at the Covenant on the other bridge to pull them out of cover and make them easier targets for her to snipe. Tali and Kasumi did their best to protect their Commander while he did this, firing at the jackals and elites swarming their own bridge and keeping them at bay.

The Master Chief divided his attention between the two bridges, doing his best to add some additional firepower to both efforts. Watched as Linda took out one elite across the way, with a shot she ricocheted off the corner of the second bridge's architecture.

The elite's body fell to the floor out of cover and Chief used his pistol to take aim at the elite's grunts. He managed to land two perfect shots on two separate grunts' foreheads, before a third hit his shields with an overcharge.

Chief jumped into cover to let his shields recharge by crouching behind the railing. He pointed his rifle forward, hitting an elite's shields as he tried to charge up the bridge. The elite responded with a furious barrage of plasma bolts, but Chief ducked back into cover before any could hit him. Shepard sent a shockwave towards the elite seconds later, throwing the alien to the ground.

With his shields recharged, Master Chief ran up the bridge and slammed himself into the cover of a nearby dividing block along the bridge. Kasumi and Tali were currently using it to hold off the Covenant stationed on their bridge. Chief watched as Tali sent Chiktikka take out again, giving the little drone covering fire from her shotgun. One of her shots blew a grunt away as he made a run for cover.

"Your military's shotguns are really good, Master Chief," Tali complimented. "It's stopping power is almost on par with a Claymore. I'm starting to wish we had these back home."

"The ammunition is illegal outside the UNSC Military," Cortana piped up. "But I suppose the law wouldn't apply in your universe."

"Can we discuss the technicalities of military law when we're off this bridge, please?" Chief asked Cortana.

Chief activated one of his frag grenades and tossed it over the wall. The painful shrieks of a jackal and two grunts echoed through the air. But that meant there was still an elite somewhere. It didn't take too long to find out where.

"Movement! Above!" Cortana warned.

Chief looked up in time to see the Covenant officer climbing the divider and pointing his gun down. Chief moved away from the wall and avoided his shot. However, the elite then jumped down from above and landed on top of the Spartan, pushing him to the ground face first.

Chief managed to elbow the alien in the face, getting him off his back. As the elite turned back to fire on the downed Spartan, he was hit from both sides with a double tech hit. First an overload charge from Kasumi and an energy drain attack from Tali. The attack completely drained the alien's shields and incapacitated him for a brief moment. Long enough for Chief to turn onto his back and fire several rounds into the Elite's body, taking him down.

"That was way too close," Chief said as he stood back up.

"It's always way too close," Cortana told him.

"Well we've cleared out most of the forces on this bridge," Tali said. "Maybe we can make a run for the exit?"

Chief decided to check that theory by looking up ahead of them, only to see something coming out from the exit and onto the bridge. It was a pair of hunters, plodding their way up towards them and charging their assault cannons. Chief ducked back into cover as their shots slammed into the divider block.

"Well, so much for plan 'Run and Gun'," Kasumi shrugged. "Now what?"

Shepard, who was still in cover, started looking about until his eyes landed on the second bridge.

"How about plan 'Leap of Faith' then?" He suggested.

He suddenly jumped up and pooled biotic energy over his body. He then charged over the gap between the two bridges, slamming headlong into a grunt on the second bridge. He looked back to the others and waved his arms about.

"Alright, now you guys!" He shouted.

"Are you nuts?" Tali shouted out at him. "We don't have biotics, Wade! What are we supposed to do? Use grenades to launch us over?"

"Please don't try that," Cortana told Chief in his ear.

"He can help float you over," Kasumi suggested.

But Linda shook her head at the plan.

"No, she'll be a sitting duck for the Hunters," she said abruptly. "But the Commander's got the right idea. These Covies are just a distraction. If we just leap this gap we can save ourselves some time."

As another blast slammed into the divider, Cortana suggested another strategy.

"Commander Shepard," She began. "Get the attention of the hunters. We'll see about jumping this bridge."

Shepard nodded and opened up on the hunters with his pistol, drawing their fire towards him.

"Linda and I have the muscle to make the jump," Chief stated.

"I got the agility," Kasumi added.

"Well I don't have either," Tali reminded them. "Where does that leave me?"

"Hitching a ride with us?" Cortana suggested.

Tali looked over to the Master Chief, and subsequently Cortana, and realised what the AI meant.

"You want me... to hold on to you... while you're jumping that gap," she said slowly.

"If Shepard can float us a little we might be able to make it," Cortana told her.

"What about being a sitting duck for Hunters?" Asked Kasumi.

"I can take either of them out before they can even fire," Linda claimed. "All we need is to draw them into the open a bit."

Tali sighed.

"Alright, this is stupid, but so is every other crazy thing we do," she relented.

Linda went for the jump first. She climbed up on top of one of the bridge's tall pointy spires along the side of the bridge and backed up slightly from its edge. She then raced forward and jumped across, landing on the other side of the back and rolling to a stop on the bridge.

Kasumi was next, leaping off in a similar fashion but with a lot more grace. She tumbled through the air in a ball before landing on her hands on ones of the adjacent little spires and pin wheeling herself onto the bridge proper. She landed feet first and stretched her arms in a pose.

"Ta Da!" She shouted smiling.

"Show off," Tali grumbled, not looking forward to her and Chief's turn.

The Spartan motioned her to hold onto his back by putting her arms around his neck.

"Won't this make you more back heavy?" She asked him nervously.

"I'll need my hands free to build momentum," he explained. "Hopefully Shepard can take care of the extra weight."

Tali gulped, hoping the Commander was ready.

"We're going next, Shepard," Cortana announced. "Be ready."

"Don't worry, Tali," Shepard tried to assure her. "I got you."

"You damn well better, Wade," she swore. "Or I'm climbing back up here just to kill you."

Chief climbed up to the spire and made a run for the edge. When he leapt off, Tali grasped tightly and shut her eyes. Shepard quickly moved his hands force a pull move on the two as they travelled through the air, forcing them a little forward than they would've gone and also lightening their descent.

As predicted, one of the hunters saw the slow moving duo and attempted to fire, but Linda was already on him. She aimed her sniper rifle as his cannon and shot just as it began to glow. The bullet smacked into the gun, knocking it away from its intended target. The blast hit the second hunter instead, blowing him backwards and ripping away parts of his armour.

Linda's bullet in the meantime ricocheted off the gun and travelled down into the hunter's unprotected portion of his armour at the front. It was usually covered by his shield, but not now. This time the bullet ripped into the hunter's 'gut', for lack of a better term, and chewed through his insides. He collapsed dead onto the bridge.

Tali and Chief landed moments later, the quarian dropping down to the floor, breathing heavily. Shepard quickly rushed over to comfort her, giving her a hug.

"See, I got you," he told her quietly.

"We are never making a habit of this," she told him gravely, although still returning the hug.

There was a roar from the first bridge, breaking up the show of affection. The second hunter, although badly hurt, was still miraculously alive. As its scarred, battered form rose back up to its feet, it lumbered forward, charging up its cannon for another attempt.

"Get to the door," Shepard told the others. "I'll finish him off."

The rest moved back cautiously as the hunter fired its cannon. Shepard ducked into cover behind a divider as the blast struck down. He then pointed his launcher out and fired a rocket towards the hunter. Wounded and unable to move very quickly, the giant alien was hit dead center, and died in a fiery explosion.

"I think I've had enough of bridges for one day," Shepard declared as he bolted back towards the others. "Let's get to that Control Room already."

The team left through the doors, back into the structure corridors built into the canyon walls.

"Covenant Resistance is certainly increasing," Cortana noted. "We must be close now."

---

It had been a few short hours now since security had failed in the Map Room's sector, a most unexpected development. He fully suspected the actions of the Covenant for the failure, wondering how they had managed to activate anything. It only became evident later that it was not entirely their doing. No, they simply lead the humans to it. That was what the logs seemed to state.

He could only blame the Covenant in his mind though. The humans should have been allowed access to the Map Room. If nothing else, it would've probably told them about where they needed to go. Considering the crisis at hand, Guilty Spark reasoned they would soon need to.

"I can only be grateful that the shutdown was not more widespread," Spark reasoned as he looked over the installation reports. "We could have had a whole sector shutdown. Then nothing would prevent containment breech."

Not that it mattered, the Covenant had shown more disregard for protocol than he had previously thought they would. What he could see of their pitiful efforts at their own brand of containment appeared laughable. They had no idea what they were dealing with. Thankfully, despite the setbacks, nothing had gotten out... yet. That wouldn't remain true for long though. He needed to get the sentinels back in there to fix the problem and soon.

As he watched another group of the Covenant rushing through a corridor in one of the facilities, firing in a mad dash to escape, he could only imagine the terror they felt. This was because he couldn't feel it. He could only feel disappointment and disgust about the lack of protocol, about the disregard for safety.

Maybe there was a tinge of anger, but fear didn't enter into the equation. He wasn't afraid, he couldn't be. It wasn't in his programming after all. He barely even remembered what it was like to know fear, hadn't ever since his voluntary sacrifice.

"I don't envy them," he said as he saw one of the little ones dragged into the dark. "How sad and desperate their last moments must be in the face of such terrible things. If only they had order instilled in them, this could have been avoided."

Another of the foolish Covenant officers tried to fight to the bitter end, blasting at anything before him on his way to the exit. Guilty Spark knew he wouldn't make it, none of them would. He could see what lay around every corner, and thus he could see that the level had been lost. He switched monitors, not wanting to witness the brutal end before the alien rounded the next bend where he would headlong into his death.

His security cameras instead soon found a rather large corpse pile stuffed in one of the rooms of the lower levels.

"It appears they're already gathering their food, so to speak," Guilty Spark observed. "Unfortunate, my Sentinels could easily glass their bodies, making the biomass unusable. If they could reach them of course"

The more the Covenant sent to die, the more the danger grew. Containment would not hold should they continue this dangerous endeavour. They'd overflow, overpower and escape. That was what they did. It was what they were made to do.

At least, Guilty Spark had another option should that come to pass. It would not have been viable though, if not for the fruitful arrival of the humans. He only hoped they would help when it came to pass, knowing what would occur. But they had inherited much, he was sure they'd be prepared.

Although, he still did not know how to treat the ones that should not be. The Librarian, in all her wisdom, had not anticipated something like this. True, there had been theories of other dimensions and the ability to travel there was potentially feasible.

However, all evidence indicated that any potential inter-dimensional travellers had died long before even the Forerunners had reached the height of their power. Even then, the evidence was highly debatable.

The idea of any discovering a Halo ring was deemed unlikely. With a possibly countless number of universes, the chances of anyone developing the technology to transport themselves to this specific dimension was virtually infinitesimal. He was not even sure if the Forerunners had mastered such technology, the severing of his connection to the Domain had seen to that.

But here, the evidence was undeniable. Historical data did not match up with that of the other larger human ship. The species catalogue was wildly different from what he had been told to expect. The technology was even different, far different than what it should have been given the guidance of the Forerunners.

If that was the case, could any of these humans be viable for the last resort? Was their genetic structure too different? Not coded for the array? He could not be sure as to how useful or useless they were to him in that matter. They were still human, but did they share enough similar traits while lacking the necessary construction? He couldn't be sure.

He'd need to test it, but only if protocol forced him to make contact. Until then, he could do nothing but continue to try and force the Sentinels through to the containment centres. Hopefully, they would solve the problem before it got out of hand.

That was when the feeds to several of the containment centres cut-out completely.

"Oh no," Guilty Spark reasoned. "That is not good at all."

Perhaps he'd be forced to make contact sooner than he expected.

---

After another series of twisting corridors and rooms filled with Covenant squads, they finally exited out into the snowy landscape again and onto to what appeared to be a rock bridge spanning the chasm.

"Well, at least it's natural bridge," said Shepard. "Natural for here anyway."

The group moved out onto the bridge proper. Seeing a few Covenant patrolling the bridge, they kept out of the open and behind one of the bigger rocks along the left side of the bridge. Then, when they looked to their left, they beheld their objective.

It was a massive pyramid, embedded in the rock and stretching up to the top of the chasm's walls. A winding road led to its top and it was brimming with ornate design patterns and brilliant shining steel construction. There was a tower of some sort positioned on the summit that stared back at them and the small valley below. The slowly falling snow drifted down around it, creating an eerie, but brilliant sight all around.

"So this is the Control Centre," Cortana spoke as she observed the structure, before dryly adding to her statement. "Subtle."

Linda scanned the breadth of the temple-like structure carefully through her scope.

"I'm seeing a lot of Shade Turrets positioned all over the pyramid," she warned. "Looks like the Covies are fortifying. Good news is that most of them appear empty. They're not on alert yet."

"Then we should get down there before they are," Shepard reasoned.

Of course there wasn't an easy way to do that. Looking up ahead along the rock bridge, they could see a number of Covenant Soldiers patrolling the area. It looked like another slog to get to the other side. That is until they saw something resting on the edge of the little bridge, a vacant banshee.

"That can't carry all of us down there," Chief observed.

"Maybe not, but at least we'll have some extra firepower," Shepard told him. "Can you fly that thing, Chief?"

"I've done it once or twice before," The Spartan replied.

"Then lets commit Grand Theft Banshee," Kasumi declared.

The team moved out of cover and were soon spotted by the various Covenant Soldiers dotting the bridge. An elite roared out at them, pointing in anger towards them. Grunts charged up to face them, only for Tali to fire two quick shotgun blasts that blew open their chests with a single shot. As their bodies tumbled onto the snowy bridge, the elite rushed up, firing a blaze of plasma. He then made a beeline for the Banshee. Taking notice, Chief opened fire on the elite with his assault rifle, but it wasn't enough to break through the alien's shields.

"Linda!" He called out. "Take him down!"

Linda was already aiming down her sights and shifted the crosshairs onto the Covenant Officer. She fired one shot from the Widow, easily pulping his brain before he got too close to the Banshee. As his body fell back onto the snowy bridge, the Master Chief ran for the Banshee. He climbed inside, closed the cockpit lid and took off. The whirling sound of the Banshee's engines echoed through the canyon chasm.

"I'll clear the way forward, Shepard," Chief informed the Commander over the radio. "Keep moving!"

The team pushed up along the bridge, the Master Chief covering them as they moved along. Plasma fire raked the bridge in front of them, killing Covies with little effort. The hijacked Banshee then fired its assault cannon, obliterating several of the enemy at the far end of the bridge. One of the elites survived the attack though and made a dash for another Banshee located on the bridge. The craft took off and went after Chief's Banshee.

"You have any rockets left?" Kasumi asked Shepard.

"No, I used the last one on that Hunter back on the bridge," Shepard groaned.

"Don't worry," Linda assured him. "The Master Chief has this one covered."

The enemy banshee came up under the Chief, but he rolled out of the way of the incoming fire. He pulled behind the enemy craft and began blasting at it with everything he had. Bits began falling off as plasma ate away at the aircraft's armour.

The enemy Banshee cart wheeled backwards, trying to get behind the Chief. But the Spartan beat him to the punch, flipping his Banshee one-hundred-eighty degrees in mid air. When the enemy pilot began his next attack run, Chief unloaded into him, ripping off one of the craft's struts.

The enemy pilot ducked down to avoid the incoming attacks and then pulled up hard as the Chief chased him. The Spartan banked hard to the flank as he rose and was able to get alongside the enemy banshee. He pulled himself into a hovering climb and then fired the assault cannon. It impacted right into the enemy banshee's belly and exploded.

As the enemy wreck tumbled to the chasm floor, the rock bridge was shaken by another explosion.

"The hell?" Shepard asked aloud as he tried to keep himself from falling over.

Everyone looked down below to see a Covenant Wraith firing up at them.

"Crap, we just had to run out of rockets before we ran into that thing," Tali groaned.

"I'll handle him," Chief assured them over the radio. "Just get down there and start climbing that pyramid. I'll see you at the top."

Chief sped down into the chasm below, diving bombing the enemy wraith with plasma. But Shepard realised they'd need a lot more help if they were going to get up that pyramid.

"I'm gonna see if I can contact the Normandy," he told the others. "They can't be too far out from us."

Through the static of the canyon's problematic weather patterns, Shepard eventually got a signal.

"Miranda, Joker, do you read?" He asked aloud. "We're gonna need some major help down here."

"We're already on our way, Commander," Miranda's voice assured him. "Look up."

They did and were soon greeted to the sight of the Normandy's shuttle flanked by two Pelicans. They raced down to the rock bridge and into the chasm below. The shuttle stopped off next to the bridge and opened its door. Both Miranda and Mordin were inside, ushering them in.

"Hope we didn't miss anything, Commander," Miranda expressed.

"You're just in time," he assured her. "Get us down there and we'll take this damn Control Room."

The team entered the shuttle and were quickly ferried to the ground below. They watched through the open shuttle door as the battle raged inside the chasm walls. The Wraith tried to fire on the Pelicans, but the Master Chief kept running interference, blasting at it with plasma constantly on each successive run.

The Wraith just got hammered by the Master Chief's attacks. It circled around, trying to shoot the Banshee out of the sky. Its arcing plasma shots, however, were ineffective in properly catching the Banshee.

The Master Chief sped away as one of the arcing shot flew past him. He then flipped back and was able to face the Wraith's backside directly. He fired one last cannon shot, scoring a direct hit on the tank's plasma core. The already damaged Wraith exploded, its turret flying off the main body of the vehicle.

With the Wraith down, the Pelicans were able to get to ground and unload every soldier held within them. The Marines charged out onto the field. With them was Sergeant Buck, along with his squad, fresh from their short rest bit and ready for action once again.

"Come on, Marines!" He called out. "Let's climb this pyramid!"

Chief circled back towards the Control Room itself, only to find that a number of the Covenant's defences had become active. Shade Turrets opened up on the Spartan's Banshee as he attempted to reach the top first. Instead, the alien aircraft took a heavy toll and began to break up.

"Time to leave," he stated.

"But we're still flying," Cortana reminded him nervously.

"I know," Chief replied.

He popped the cockpit, aiming for a long metal railing that spanned the length of the pyramid's middle. He jumped from the burning Banshee and landed on the railing. As he slid down to the ground below on his back, the Banshee careened into a small group of Shade turrets and exploded among them.

Chief, in the meantime, continued on his way, his armour scraping against the metal. He only finally stopped when the railing came to an end. He then fell into a large crack in the ground beneath the giant railing, caused by the metal cutting into the rock.

Shepard's shuttle had landed nearby and they rushed over to see if the Spartan was alright. The Master Chief pulled himself back up and walked towards the edge of the crack. Shepard leaned down inside and grasped the super-soldier's hand.

"And I thought I did some crazy shit," he complimented the Spartan as he pulled him up. "Are you alright? Is everything in one piece and in the right spots?"

"I'll live," Chief assured him. "We need to worry about the Control Room. The Covenant might get desperate and try to activate what this ring does in an attempt to fight us off."

"Unacceptable outcome, won't allow," Mordin stated. "Agreed course of action, best move quickly."

The battle was already in full swing, the Marines attempting to charge up the ramp of the Control Room's Temple structure. The Covenant had aligned themselves atop the ramp and holding onto it with tooth and nail.

Shepard directed Miranda to launch a Biotic Slam on one of the elites up top, in an attempt to cut a hole in the defences. Miranda did so, hitting the elite with a powerful slam attack that lifted him into the air and then sent him crashing back down to the ground. The shockwave caused by the attack knocked several grunts and jackals to ground.

This gave the Marines and Buck's own team their chance to move in. They closed in on the gap and slaughtered the downed Covenant, exploiting the newly made hole to their full advantage. Before long, Shepard and Chief were back on point and leading the assault up to the summit.

The Marines tried to push up the next ramp, but were halted by a plasma turret firing down on them. Two poor Marines were shot down as they attempted to fire. Shepard wasn't about to let the stationary gun stop his team's push. He sent a rippling shockwave to upend the turret, knocking the gunner clean as it toppled over.

With the way clear, more Marines poured up the slope behind them. They moved towards a small tunnel place along the path. Seeing Covenant charging down to face them, Tali pressed herself into the frame. A lone jackal forced himself through the tunnel, holding his shield up high and deflecting bullets fired from Dutch's assault rifle. But when the Jackal exited, Tali pressed her shotgun to the back of the alien's head and pulled the trigger.

He died instantly, but his back-up, an imposing elite officer, grabbed Tali's shotgun barrel and twisted it away into the air. Still holding on to her weapon as the elite roared in her face, the quarian slammed the butt of the gun into the alien's jaw and forced him to let go.

Tali fell back to the floor and fired three consecutive buckshot blasts straight into the elite's face. The pulped body fell back to the ground. Tali picked herself up and then brushed off some of the blood that had splattered onto her visor.

"Why do they all have to scream at me?" She asked no one. "They blow out my suit's auditory sensors every time."

The group kept moving up best they could. Kasumi tossed out a flash bang to disorient a trio of jackals, causing them to lower their shields as they clawed at their eyes in pain from the flash. Miranda then sent them hurtling off the side of the temple with a powerful throw attack she circled towards their side.

Shepard biotically charged ahead and slammed into an elite. The alien was knocked back, but avoided the Commander's shotgun blast. Shepard ducked away from Covie's attempt to strike him and gave Tali a chance to hit him with an energy drain attack. As the elite convulsed in pain from the electrical blow back, the Master Chief unloaded his rifle into the Covie before smashing his head in with the butt of his rifle.

They kept moving up the winding path, nearing the top of the temple. The wrecked remains of the hijacked banshee lay to the left, while a squad of grunts and the Elite Commander pulled back along the deck. Miranda managed to hit the elite with an overload charge that drained his shields, while Shepard sent a shockwave into the Covenant squad.

His grunts scattered, the elite opened up on the encroaching humans. He managed to take out two Marines, before Mordin hurtled an incinerator shot at the elite. The Covie caught fire instantly, and only stopped screaming in pain when Buck unloaded his SMG's magazine into him.

With the death of that elite, the outside garrison was defeated. The group moved on to the summit proper where they found an ramp leading up into the tower behind them, a wide deck with a few scattered Covenant cargo pods littering it and one massive door embedded into the rock face.

"Geez," Buck said looking on with awe. "What do you think they got behind there? Space Kong?"

"Giant Pterodactyl," Romeo suggested jokingly.

"World's biggest diamond," Kasumi declared, earning disgruntled looks from everyone nearby. "Well, a girl can dream."

"Enough jokes," Commander Shepard ordered. "Let's find a way to open this door already and get inside. Chief, find us a control console. It must be around-"

Suddenly there was a loud clanging sound from the door. Shepard turned and saw that entrance was opening first. They opened ever so slowly, but everyone knew they weren't doing it by themselves. The Covenant on the other side had probably done it first. Everyone rushed to defensive positions, preparing for one final fire fight. Instead, they got something truly unexpected.

Floating low off the ground approached a large clam-like shape. A pair of green pulsing eyes looked back out at them from the doorway as it slowly opened. A few of the Covenant ran out of the entranceway, rushing out and away from the green eyed thing. Mostly grunts, but a few jackals as well.

As the doors opened ever wider, the full scope of the thing was revealed. It floated out into the open, bristling with tentacle like limbs across its body, pointed barbs visible along them. The body sported spines and armour similar to that of the hunters, but stretched and contorted into the two halves of the new clam-shell shape that now hovered before them.

"What in the hell is that thing?!" Buck asked in total shock.

What appeared to be pieces similar to the club-like shields of the hunters were mounted near the front of the creature and pressed into its body. What resembled the lower halves of the gigantic legs of the hunter stuck out feebly from its stomach, now rendered useless but still noticeable. Two hunter head were just barely visible in the center of the clam-like creature, centered between the two green pulsing eyes.

As it floated outward, the pieces of armour that resembled the shields of the hunters broke away slightly from the body. They perched themselves into a very familiar preying position. And it was then Shepard instantly knew what this thing was.

"It's a damn Praetorian, Hunter Variant," he said shaking his head.

The creature's eyes suddenly shone bright green, charging up and staring right at them.

"Down!" Shepard yelled.

Two powerful assault cannon beams launched out of the Hunter Praetorian's eyes and cut across the deck towards the UNSC Forces. Many quickly ducked into cover behind the cargo pods or whatever they could find. A few Marines weren't fast enough however, and were cut down as the beams struck them down, vaporizing them.

"I'm detecting increased energy emissions from that thing's weapons," Cortana warned the team. "I think it's similar to the mass effect charged cannons on the Hunter Husks we encountered at the Truth & Reconciliation's gravity lift!"

"Me and Tali settled on calling them Oni," Kasumi quickly spoke up.

"Not the time, Kas," Tali informed her, turning her attention to the Master Chief. "So this thing's attacks are biotically charged, Cortana?"

"Looks like it," the AI replied. "I have no idea what those tentacle things are for though."

"Don't ask me," Shepard told the AI. "Original version didn't have those."

The hunter husk floated forward, passing by grunts and jackals on its way. The Covies tried to distance themselves from the husk as it floated past, truly seeming to fear the thing. Suddenly, one of the tentacles shot out and impaled one of the grunts, another caught a jackal.

The poor creatures screamed as their bodies began to shift and contort wildly. Their mouths hung open wide as they were covered in techno-organic mesh, rapidly spreading from the place where they had been impaled. The tentacles only dropped them when the process had infected most of their bodies and then let them fall to the floor.

The Covies got back up, but this coursing with small arcs of electricity over their now mostly techno-organic covered forms. Parts of their original bodies remained untouched, but they were completely changed for the most part. They were husks now, like the many standard ones Shepard had encountered back on Eden Prime all those years ago.

"It can make husks!" Tali screeched in terror. "Since when can they do that?"

"The Inquisitor is apparently a lot more imaginative than your standard Reaper," Miranda observed.

Beyond not being human, and apparently radiating with electricity, they had one other significantly overt change from the standard husks. For when they were impaled, they had held onto their guns. As a result, their weapons had been fused into hands. They suddenly roared at the humans in front of them and then just as quickly charged forward, firing with reckless abandon.

Shepard ducked his head low before any of the plasma bolts could hit him, his team did the same.

"I liked those things better when they couldn't shoot back," the Commander growled.

Shepard jumped back up and fired into the grunt husk with his assault rifle, ripping him apart before he got too close. Miranda tried to do the same to the Jackal, but it managed to weather the shots from her pistol. While her shields absorbed the needles it fired at her from afar, when it got close enough it stuck out its other hand and delivered an electrical charge.

Miranda winced in pain, her barriers failing as the shock overwhelmed them. She quickly punched the Jackal biotically, pushing him back before she unloaded her submachine gun into him.

"The electricity covering isn't for show," she warned. "Don't let them touch you!"

More grunts and jackals were then pushed out onto the deck, no doubt by the elites running the show. The husk creature continued to transform them into more husks, more monsters to saturate the battlefield. No doubt it was an effort to force its prey out into the open so he could destroy them.

The Marines did their best to fire on the maddened changed husk creatures, but some didn't realise the full scope of the danger. While they did their best to avoid the electrical shocks, they didn't always succeed. The pain from the electrical blasts, or even just the threat of them, caused them to run out of cover. They started to move along the flank of the massive floating husk monster, only for the creature's tentacles to find them.

One poor Marine private was impaled through the back while he fought off several turned grunts and soon joined their ranks as a husk himself. His rifle was grafted in his arm and he began firing back on his former comrades. Linda quickly took aim at the turned Marine and fired, putting him out of his misery.

A total of three more Marines met the same fate soon after the Private. Mordin was quick to sent an incineration blast at them before their bullets managed to kill any of their former friends. They did manage to wound one Corporal though, shoot him in the arm. Mordin was quick to move over to him and administer medi gel.

After that, no one got up out of their cover, they stayed where they were and prayed they could kill the monster's husk minions before they got too close. But that wasn't going to be good enough and everyone knew it.

"Fuck this," Buck said, firing wildly into several approaching huskified jackals "These bastards are just distractions! We gotta gut the big fish!"

Tali opened up on a few grunt husks as they rushed to engage her. Their mouths, now visible after their masks had fallen off, opened wide in a permanent scream of horror. Electricity arced between their mangled gums and rotten teeth. She managed to blast off the heads of all three before needing to reload. When a jackal husk next closed on her, she unleashed Chiktikka and the little drone zapped the creature in the face, causing the jackal's head to explode from the electrical crosscurrent.

"Buck is right," Tali said as she frantically reloaded and wiped the bits of jackal off her. "These things won't stop coming until this plague spreading thing is dead!"

"Is that what we're calling it?" Kasumi asked, firing both her needler and her pistol into the encroaching crowd of alien husks. "A Plague Spreader? Because that is a good one."

"Not now, Kas!" Tali shouted, cocking her shotgun and blowing off the bottom half of a jackal husk.

Linda fired at the creature's eyes, but to no avail. The round bounced off what appeared to be a kinetic barrier. The monster even saw her attempt and fired a beam towards her. Only by hiding behind her cargo pod did she save her life. She knew this thing had some kind of weak spot, the eyes most likely, but she'd need to find a safer angle to shoot from. That was when she looked back towards the tower behind them.

"I'll get to higher ground!" She told the others. "I'll attack it from above and draw its attention!"

"Go!" Chief ordered. "I'll cover!"

Chief fired a blaze of rounds into the Plague Spreader. The creature charged its eyes and fired on the Master Chief, who was forced to fall back before the attack struck him down. Linda then made a beeline for the tower, but the Plague Spreader spotted her.

Two small passages beneath its eyes opened up and it fired a few needles at her from what could be best described as the thing's mouth. Linda was able to get away, but only barely as the needles embedded themselves into the ramp.

As Linda made her way to the top, a turned jackal scrambled up over Dutch's cargo pod. Before he could charge up an electrical attack at the ODST though, Dutch fired upwards blindly into the creature, pulping his head.

Romeo, who was beside Dutch, did he best to keep the husks from getting that close again. He fired on them from afar with his Sniper Rifle, easily destroying them before they could get too far. But there always seemed to be more to replace the fallen.

Mordin used his incineration and cryo blasts in conjunction with one another to keep the creatures back, but more and more causalities mounted among the Marines. The good salarian doctor soon found himself trying to save their lives while keeping the creatures at bay and staying out of the Plague Spreader's sights.

He administered medi-gel on one poor soldier who had been hit with a needle, just as one of the grunts tried to climb over his cargo pod. Mordin pointed his gun backwards at the creature, not taking his eyes off his work as he pulled the trigger and ended the threat.

"Not adequate working conditions," he decried.

Miranda and Shepard both began trying to bring down the Plague Spreader's kinetic barriers with Warp attack after Warp attack. The increasing amount of hits detonated the barrier, creating a decent enough opening for the others to open fire on the thing, but the creature just seemed to shrug off their shots.

They aimed for the eyes, as Linda had, but none of their shots seemed to have penetrating power needed to make much of a difference on them. They went for the parts around the eyes, where the armour didn't cover, but again their weapons just weren't string enough to cut through the hardened cybernetic worms of the hunter husk.

"We need to find a chink in its armour!" Shepard shouted, firing his Scimitar Shotgun, armed with incendiary rounds into the monster.

The inferno ammo seemed to piss off the Plague Spreader the most. One of the shots hit it in the eye, causing it to shriek in anger. It fired its needle weapon at the Commander, forcing him back down into cover as pink barbs embedded themselves into the overturned cargo pod.

"I'm calling the ship!" Miranda told the Commander frantically. "Jacob is still aboard! I'll have him bring the biggest gun he can get so we can rip that thing apart!"

"I'm not arguing with that strategy," Shepard concurred. "In the meantime though, keep throwing whatever you got at it! High penetration or armour piercing, anything to get through that outer layer! Go for the eyes too, that pisses it off."

"And makes it shoot at us," Tali reminded him.

"Well, yeah, but it's going to do that anyway," Shepard replied. "We might as well damage it while in the process."

Buck seemed to follow the Commander's advice and chucked a grenade into the Plague Spreader's path. The resulting explosion seemed to anger it further and it charged up another terrible shot from its eyes. As the blast cut into the floor before him, Dutch grabbed the Sergeant by the back of his neck and pulled him away just in time.

"You okay Buck?" He asked.

"As okay as I can be facing off against fucking zombie making machine!" Buck replied.

By now, with the monster getting so close, everyone was pulling back from door. They rushed behind the tower now, firing as they went. The Plague Spreader didn't follow them. For it sent its legion of followers to do so instead. The speedily created husks continued to pursue the Marines and their Normandy allies.

Mordin froze the creatures in place as he dragged the wounded to safety. Tali covered him with her shotgun, blowing the husks apart as they charged ahead shooting. Shepard did what he could to help, sending out a shockwave ripple that interrupted their assault.

Chief in the meantime had been unfortunately cut off, forced to keep his own mass of Covenant Husks at bay. His pistol proved most effective, cutting down several Covenant Husks with a single shot. No doubt thanks to the high stopping power of the pistol and the fact they were so bunched together. Their electrical feedback was high enough and close enough to him that it made his shields fizzle.

That didn't stop him from blasting wildly into the Covenant Horde with his assault rifle though. It wasn't particularly accurate only using one hand, but accuracy didn't matter. So long as he held back the creatures he was happy.

The Master Chief now began walking down the right slope as the creatures encroached, lazily shooting their plasma weapons at him every now and again. He needed to get back to fight and quick, there was only one way to do that.

He activated a plasma grenade, threw it among the Covenant husks and then ran away. The resulting explosion sent body parts flying into the air as well as cleared his path. Master Chief now rushed back up the slope to join the battle once more.

"Where's Linda?" Cortana asked.

"Give her time," Chief told the AI. "Knowing her, she's lining up a shot."

Linda had indeed reached the top of the tower and was aiming down onto the Plague Spreader. She was looking for anything to hit that looked like it would hurt it from up here. The best she got was what appeared to be a medium sized glowing green circle on the creature's back. It looked like some kind of vent or port. Perhaps it had something to do with the reason this thing kept afloat.

With little choice and no options left, Linda fired on the circle. The Widow's round hit the vent and the creature growled slightly. It then looked up towards her. It fired at the Spartan with its assault cannon eye beams. Linda rushed back to avoid the attack, but she now knew she had hurt the creature.

At that moment, the shuttle arrived again and opened its doors wide. Jacob stood in the doorway and pointed it down at the monstrous husk. He was shocked by it of course, Miranda's description didn't do it justice, but he wasn't about to be deterred by the appearance of the creature.

"Time to give this thing a taste of the Arc Projector," he declared.

He hefted the massive weapon up and charged it up. He then unleashed the fury of the electrical blast, striking the Plague Spreader along the side. The beast, screaming in agony, now turned to the shuttle and fired another beam at it. The shuttle was able to dodge the attack, but this sent Jacob tumbling into the back of the craft.

But Jacob's attack had done more than just injure the creature. It gave the Master Chief, who was running back up the slope to the main doorway's deck, an opening and an idea. He noticed that when the electrical arc had hit the Plague Spreader, the top of its head began to pour out green fumes. Given what he had seen Linda pull off just moments earlier, a plan was now forming in his mind.

He just needed to get a closer look.

He raced forward while the Plague Spreader was distracted, blasting and punching away any of the Covenant husks that got in his way. His shields absorbed the electrical blowback from the husks for the most part, he ignored the pain otherwise. He wasn't about to let them slow his momentum down, not with what he had in mind.

Chief used a cargo pod that was on its side to launch himself into the air and land on top of the husk monster's body. One of the tentacles lurched up towards him, but he sidestepped away from it as it lunged at him. He grabbed the tendril in his hand, pulled it up and then fired his assault rifle into it. The bullets ripped the tentacle apart and Chief tossed it away as the creature screamed.

The Spartan then aimed his weapon down into the green glowing circle. The attacks did indeed seem to wound the Plague Spreader greatly and green flames erupted from the creature's body, but it didn't die. Instead, it slammed down onto the floor, shaking the Master Chief off of him. Chief fell to the creature's right and rolled away to avoid a tendril that tried to crush him.

The creature's tentacles suddenly moved back into the Control Room entrance way. Chief only saw a glimpse of what was happening, but he soon realised the full extent of it. The elites who had sacrificed their soldiers ended up having their deeds repaid in full. The two Covenant officers soon found themselves impaled by the enraged creature's tentacles and were quickly transformed into husks.

Thankfully, they weren't Reavers when the beast unceremoniously dropped them on the floor. They returned much like the others, their bodies warped, surging with electricity and their weapons grafted to their arms. Chief ducked into cover as the former elites now fired on him shortly after spotting the Spartan

He made it behind a cargo pod just in time, pulled out his pistol and opened up on the elite husks. He caught them twice in the chest, before the Plague Spreader attempted to impale the Master Chief again. The tentacle rushed to stab the Spartan, but it was suddenly shot clean off just as it closed on him.

"Still got your back, John," Linda told him over his private channel.

Another shot from the Widow fired into the top of the Plague Spreader's head, enraging it further. This gave Chief a moment's pause to deal with the elite husks. The monstrous creatures continued to fire on him, but Chief wasn't about to let himself be beat by these warped versions of the familiar Covenant Officers. He jumped up and began to strafe the elites as he moved. He kept moving, running as the plasma bolts chased him, he fired two shots as he dove to the cover of another Cargo Pod and both bullets found their targets deep in the heads of both elite husks.

Chief landed behind the pod as the Plague Spreader tried to fire needles at him. Its shots instead embedded themselves in the pod.

"I am not even sure how you managed that," Cortana told him. "I just want you to know, that all these near death-experiences are taking a bit of toll."

"That's just something you're gonna have to learn to accept working with Spartans," he informed her.

Shepard wasn't about to sit the fight out, however. He turned to Tali, as they both hugged the side of the tower's wall.

"Get Chiktikka out there, I'm going in," Shepard told her. "They hit it high, I'm gonna try low."

"Why? That's insane," Tali told him.

"Trust me, I got a hunch about this," he explained.

Before Shepard could move though, Tali held him back for a second.

"Whatever you're doing... just... be careful, alright?" She asked him pleadingly.

"Relax, this is me," Shepard reminded her.

"Yes, that's why I'm insisting that you be careful," Tali replied, somewhat cheekily.

"Don't worry, I'll have Chiktikka watching me, after all," Shepard added.

He placed a hand on the side of her face affectionately before he charged off. Tali unleashed Chiktikka and sent her to follow him.

"Go protect daddy, little one," she whispered to herself.

The little drone rushed out towards the beast alongside Shepard. The Commander fired excessive rounds from his shotgun at the beast's eyes as he closed in. One of the tentacles tried to move on him, but Shepard blew it apart as it closed. Then, biotic energy resonating through his body, he charged forward slamming face first into the creature.

The attack disoriented the Plague Spreader, but it had sense enough for an attempt at crushing the Commander with its shield arms. Shepard rushed under the creature as it tried to stomp on him, lying flat on his back once he got under. The Plague Spreader tried to move, only for Chiktikka to fire a blast of electricity into the Husk's green glowing eyes.

The Plague Spreader roared in anger and zapped the poor drone with a powerful eyebeam attack. The eyes sparked with energy, nearly burning up as the beam died down. The Plague Spreader had now forgotten about Shepard, who had managed to get under the beast. There, he found a similar glowing circle beneath the monster.

As he suspected, the thing they had all been shooting at up top was simply the intake valve. This was the exhaust valve, expelling energy to create a form of lift for this massive thing. Like a hovercraft, but one that worked on mass effect fields exclusively. Apparently, this thing was so heavy, it needed the extra boost.

Shepard fired up into the exhaust portal at point blank range with his shotgun, blowing the energy source apart. Shepard quickly tucked and rolled away as the massive creature dipped low and fell upon the ground. It began to crawl about, using its shield arms, firing wildly at anything that moved in front of it.

Chief realised it was now or never. He needed to kill this thing before it revealed anymore surprises. At that moment, the shuttle returned and hovered over the Spartan. Jacob leaned out and saw the Master Chief below.

"Take this, Chief!" He shouted down at him. "Waste that thing!"

He tossed the Arc Projector down to him. Chief caught it and made his way towards the downed Plague Spreader.

The creature was still thrashing about with his tentacles, but Chief avoided them and managed to get back on top of his quarry. He charged up the Arc Projector, pointed it down into the beast's skull and let loose. The electrical shock reverberated throughout the monster, blowing out one of its green eyes in a terrible explosion.

"I think we should get off this thing!" Cortana warned.

Chief obliged and rushed off the dying monster. Just then, however, one of the tentacles wrapped around his leg. He tried his best to shoot it off with his pistol, but it seemed to be taking far too long to cut through. Just then, Shepard raced up, pointed his shotgun at the tentacle and fired cryo ammo at it. The tendril froze solid and Chief's next shot broke the tentacle apart.

Shepard grabbed Chief hand, pulled him up and raced with him inside the doorway. Seconds later, the husk exploded in a plume of green fire. Pieces of itself fell all over the deck and both of the men had to dive to avoid the tumbling debris and body parts.

After about half a minute of resting on their stomachs, the two raised their heads up.

"Did the originals do that too?" Master Chief asked him, slightly out of breath.

"Sorta," Shepard replied. "But never that big."

By the time the two were sitting back up, the rest of the team had joined them. Tali hugged Shepard tightly when she saw him and Linda helped the Master Chief up to his feet.

"Please tell me no more crazy stunts like that for the rest of the day," Tali beseeched him gratefully. "I don't think I can take anymore near heart attacks."

"Sure thing," Shepard promised. "I think I've met my quota for... well, the week, I imagine."

Shepard got to his feet and faced the group as a whole.

"Alright," he began. "Buck, you and the Marines watch the front. Tell Colonel Holland we're in. Mordin, see to the wounded. Everyone else, let's take a look deeper inside this place."

---

The doors opened wide to reveal a massive atrium. A see-through walkway spanned across the bottomless gap as a holographic image of Halo and the gas giant it orbited hovered over it all in the center of the room. It had an almost religious feel to it, the way the walls were designed and the display above their heads all seemed to suggest it held some important significance. The fact it appeared to be in a temple also suggested it.

But they weren't here to admire alien architecture. The team approached the central control console at the end of the walkway which was positioned in front of the holographic display. Chief walked up to first, looking it over intensely.

"That terminal, try there," Cortana suggested.

Chief did as asked and placed Cortana inside the port, pulling her out of his head once more. Once inside, the console flickered brightly for a few moments before Cortana's form appeared on the console, her avatar far bigger than he or anyone else had ever seen previously. She seemed have a great big smile on her face, her hands held to her hips.

"You alright?" Master Chief asked her.

"Never been better," Cortana replied jovially. "You can't imagine the wealth of information! The knowledge so much so fast! It's glorious!"

Her intoxicated look was a bit off putting, but Chief didn't intend to let her excitement get in the way of why they were really here.

"So," he began, trying to get her back on track. "What sort of weapon is it?"

Cortana looked back at him, seemingly perplexed.

"What are you talking about?" She asked.

"Let's stay focused," Chief calmly explained. "Halo, how do we use it against the Covenant?"

"And possibly the Inquisitor," Shepard added. "The sooner we get rid of him the sooner we won't have to worry about more husks popping out of the wood work."

Cortana just shook her head in disappointment at the questions.

"This ring isn't a cudgel, you barbarians, it's something else. Something much more."

Shepard looked taken aback by Cortana's comments.

"Barbarians?" He said looking to Chief.

"Don't ask me," the Spartan replied.

Tali approached Cortana cautiously, a look of concern in her eyes.

"Cortana, I know you must be really excited to learn about this place, I am too," she tried to assure her. "But we really need to figure out-"

Cortana put her hand up and shushed rather abrasively.

"The Covenant were right, this ring is Forerunner," she said aloud. "Just give me a minute to access."

As Cortana did so, Shepard took Tali aside.

"What is going on?" He asked.

"Cortana is based off of Halsey's brain patterns from her cloned tissue," Tali tried to explain. "It's only natural that since she is an expert on Forerunner artifacts that Cortana would be too."

The AI suddenly stopped her little hacking spree and looked to the overall group again with a sense of delight.

"Yes, the Forerunners built this place, what they called a fortress world in order to..."

Cortana suddenly stopped again, just when it seemed they were about to get to the matter they had come here for. Her look of excitement turned to one of dread, her smile fading.

"No, that can't be right..." she said to seemingly no one. Suddenly she rushed her hands up to her head and clutched her hair tightly. "Oh those Covenant fools! They must've known! There must've been signs!"

"Slow down," Chief told her, now just as confused. "You're losing us here."

"Process it slowly, Cortana," Tali told her. "Let it come."

Cortana composed herself more readily and finally started to explain.

"The Covenant found something on this ring, something buried, something horrible and now... they're afraid."

The AI's words struck a chord with everyone. What the hell would scare the Covenant? As everyone looked to each other, waiting for someone else to speak, Chief spoke up first.

"Something buried?" He said baffled at the implications or Cortana's words. "What...?"

But Chief wasn't able to finish his sentence, Cortana's eyes widened into a frantic panicked stare and she looked back at the group in abject fear.

"The Captain, we have to stop the Captain!" She shouted.

"Keyes?" Chief asked, growing even more confused by the second along with everyone else. "What does-?"

"The weapons cache he's looking for its not... we can't let him get inside!" She insisted as she cut him off once more.

"I don't under-"

But again, Cortana wouldn't let him finish, she cut him off once more.

"There's no time," she stated urgently. "All of you, get out of here, find Keyes stop him!"

Chief wasn't sure what was freaking Cortana out so much, but he had never seen her this visibly disturbed. He decided to listen to her and took off, Linda following him. Miranda, Kasumi and Shepard did the same. Only Tali remained behind, looking at the AI with deep concern.

"Cortana, what is going on?" She asked. "What did the Covenant find?"

"I'll explain when you come back, Tali," the AI insisted. "There's no time now! There's too much to go over and Keyes is in danger! I have to seal off this room, no one can get inside. I need to stay, but you can't. Now go!"

Tali finally obeyed reluctantly and chased after the others, Cortana's final words punctuating in her mind as she fled.

"Hurry!" She pleaded. "Before it's too late!"

---

It could feel air, it could feel sun, it could feel the heat and the cold. It felt all of these at once.

The failure of its jailors was now complete. It was free. It was out. The tomb doors had been pushed aside. The grave at last breached. Countless millennia, millions of cycles, eons of starvation... and now... free.

Free to feed, free to consume, free to spread. And this time... nothing would stop it.

---

AN: And I am instantly reminded of the scene in Evil Dead when dead glasses dude says "He's Coming."

Well, this has been a bit of a pain, but I managed. I got this chapter done. I've decided to not split this one up despite its size, mainly because I'm tired of doing that and just in case I'm unable to get the next chapter done for awhile this should tide you over for, however long it takes me to get another one out. It's unfortunately going to take awhile because, school work and other things, you know, life. I'm still working on the story, but this pace had been insane and I need to slow down.

I hope you enjoyed the Plague Spreader and congratulations to Godzilla Master once again. Don't you worry, the second entry the Thunder Backs will eventually premiere... just not today. Hopefully its inclusion will sorta count towards things as my Halloween chapter as I included two freaky ass monsters this month now.

Next chapter, the dam breaks, containment fails and this story will finally live up to its secondary horror genre slate. Please review, check out/update the TV Tropes page and look for my further comments on this chapter on my profile.