New Mombasa

Year: 2552

Time: 3 hours before Covenant attack

Today was just another one of those days.

Today was supposed to be my day off, today I was going to head to the market to pick up some fresh fish for a nice dinner I had all planned out for myself. Now instead of that, I'm busting my ass trying to get to the clinic because one of the nurses contracted the flu and, as per usual, I was the only one on call. I love my job but God I hate my job. I missed the bus so now I'm running down the street so I'm won't be late.

My phone started ringing, sure enough it was the doctor calling. Trying to catch my breath at a crosswalk, I answered the phone, "Hello?"

"Dominic where the hell are you?" I swear he is so impatient,

"Sorry Doc, I missed the bus so I'm trying to make my way on foot now."

"Well hurry up, your shift starts soon and we just had a guy come in who cut off his finger and Tanner is the only nurse I have right now. There are other patients waiting right now so get here ASAP!"

Yeah that was Doctor Imbeke, a great doctor but a world class ball buster. I started working at his local clinic about six months after I moved to New Mombasa. I wanted to get a nursing position at the general hospital but apparently I was not able to meet their high standards. So there I was in another country, with not enough money to get a plane ticket back to the URNA and needing to find a way to make some money without having to sell everything I own. I had applied at 25 different pharmacies and clinics around the city before finally getting a position at Doctor Imbeke's clinic. Even though all I had was a bachelors in nursing and a four month internship at a hospital in Orlando, he still brought me on. Though I'm honestly not sure if either felt sorry for me or if he just needed anyone to apply at all.

With barely a minute to spare I had managed to make it to the clinic. When I walked through the front door Rachel, the receptionist, looked at me as if I was angel that descended from heaven.

"Dom thank god you're here!"

"What's the situation Rachel?" I asked.

"It's been hell; some guy came in with his finger cut off and then not 20 minutes later two guys were dragging their buddy in cause he was ODing and the hospital was too far away. Phillips doesn't get here for at least another hour so we been backed up for the last 45 minutes now." God the poor girl looked like she was ready to pass out from exhaustion.

"Alright give me 10 minutes to get ready then I'll let you know when to send the next patient back." She smiled like I had just told her she won the lottery.

"Thanks Dom, you're a life saver."

I smirked then said, "Well hold off on that 'life saver' title until we get through the day without anyone dying.

Covenant Battlecruiser Radiant Dawn

Year: 2552

2 hours before Covenant attack

"I am a tool of the Prophets, paving the road to the Great Journey."

"I am a sword of the Covenant, cutting down all who oppose our salvation."

"We shall set fire to the unholy, clearing the way for the faithful to the Great Journey."

This was the same prayer Kirsuus uttered before every engagement for almost her entire service to the Covenant. Her faith has never wavered once, for she was not only fighting for the salvation of her people and all other members of the Covenant, she was battling for the salvation of her very soul. Every enemy she cut down was her taking another step to her final goal; to walk the path of salvation on the Great Journey. The pain and scars she had endured in her quest were nothing but dust in the wind, for as long as she had faith, that would be her unbreakable shield.

This particular engagement had her especially elated because she had finally been promoted to the rank of Captain and would be given command of her own squad. Now she would not only prove her status as a true warrior, she would prove her effectiveness as a commander, which would all but guarantee her place on the Great Journey. Ten years of faithful service had all led to this.

"Kirsuus!" She was snapped out of her thoughts when her major shouted her name.

She stood at attention, "Yes Major!"

"Get your armor on and head the bridge, the ground teams are being briefed on the expedition."

"As you command, I will be but a moment."

As the major left she began equipping her new armor, checking each piece to make sure it was polished to perfection. Kirsuus checked the mirror to make everything was on correctly. Although it was a bit tight in the chest, everything looked perfect. She had no doubt that if her uncle saw her now, he would feel immense pride in how far she had come.

After arriving to the bridge, Kirsuus took her place among the other ground team captains in the briefing.

The Shipmaster of the Radiant Dawn began to speak, "Soldiers this is a most glorious day."

"Soon we will be arriving at an uninhabited world to reclaim a holy artifact of the Forerunners that is believed to be buried under the surface of the planet." This announcement brought cheers form all the commanders in the room since every Forerunner artifact that was found brought us ever closer to the start of the Great Journey.

The Shipmaster then continued onto the plan of action that would be taken during the expedition. "At the start, one half of the fleet will go into orbit to make planetfall where they will then begin moving supplies in and constructing fortifications. The other half of the fleet will patrol the system in case the humans stumble upon us."

A hologram of the planet then appeared and zoomed in on a part of one of the continents of the planet. The Shipmaster continued, "We believe that the artifact is located somewhere in this part of the planet and once we have established a presence we will be able to continue the search in earnest. Any questions?"

No one spoke, "Excellent, I will then leave our troop movements then to Commander Callus."

After the commander relayed where our ship's forces were to be sent, he then directed each squad's composition. I would be given command of five Unggoy, three Kig-Yar and my second would be a Sanghelli warrior. When the briefing was finally finished we were ordered to retrieve our weapons and form up with our squads. I had decided to take a reliable arsenal with me; a Brute Shot and a Red Plasma Rifle as my secondary, for ordnance I choose two plasma grenades and two spike grenades. And of course my final weapon, the knife gifted to me from my trainer after basic training. He gifted it to me at the end when I had bested him in one-on-one combat saying 'Always have this with you, it never runs dry.' It's stayed with me ever since then and I make sure it's perfectly sharpened before every battle.

I then made my way to the hanger to form up with my squad, they were being briefed by a Sanghelli I had recognized almost immediately.

"Lotan 'Sadomee, it is an honor to see with you again comrade!"

He turned to face me and responded with the same level of enthusiasm, "Kirsuus, the honor is all mine!"

We shook hands and sat on a crate together, "It has been some time since we have last fought together."

He looked me up and down, "And judging by your new armor, it seems you are to be my new captain."

I smiled from his statement, "Yes, my commanders have seen my strength as a warrior and have seen fit to give me command of my own squad."

He nodded in approval, "Well you have truly earned it, I can think of no one more deserving than you to lead our forces to victory."

I took great pride from his compliment, "Many thanks Lotan. And I feel after this engagement I will have assuredly secured my place in the Great Journey."

"I have no doubts there old friend, and I hope to join it with you."

After catching up with Lotan, I looked around the ship to see the rest of our forces. I brought this up., "This seems to be quite a large force we'll be going in with, any ideas as to why?"

Lotan pondered this as well. "Indeed it is, and I've heard other ships have close to the same numbers as ours. I suppose the Prophets have placed a great importance on the artifact buried here. I even heard from one of the captains that the Prophet of Regret himself will be overseeing the whole expedition."

This I found to be quite shocking. "One of the High Prophets will be here? This must be a truly momentous artifact we are acquiring, it could very well one of the keys to begin the Great Journey."

"I certainly hope you are correct because this war has begun to take its' toll on me."

I solemnly nodded in agreement. Lotan was not the fierce warrior he once was; when we first met he was already almost a decade older than I was and had already been in the Covenant army for 5 years before me, the years of fighting had taken their toll. He was missing an eye, even with his armor on you could see the scars from burns and shrapnel wounds and he had broken his arm five years back during a fight with a demon. And while his mind was still sharp, Sanghelli don't have the same endurance and strength as Brutes. The battle hardened Elite was living on borrowed time.

I grabbed Lotan by the shoulder and looked him in the eye, "But just remember this my friend, as long as we have faith in the Great Journey there is not a force in the galaxy that can stand in our way."

He chuckled, "Ha I couldn't agree more, but I'll let my energy shield take the first blow."

That gave me a good laugh, "Indeed, it never hurts to have a buffer."

"And with a trusted warrior like you at my back, I've no doubt I'll live to see the Great Journey completed."

I smiled after Lotan said that, knowing a veteran warrior like him would place his trust in me without question made my pride swell. I would ensure that his trust was well placed; through fire and sword I would crush all who stood in the way of my path to the Great Journey.

Author's Note: I have re-written parts of this chapter as I discovered, thanks to another lore savvy author, that said parts conflicted too much with the lore. I hope it will still be an enjoyable read for everyone.