He drove the M12 Warthog LRV a tunnel of Tsavo Highway, with Chief riding shotgun beside him. A marine was handling the machine gun behind them both. The soldier was a bit skittish and snapped the muzzle at any minimal change in the environment, ready to rain a whole tornado of bullets. Fitting for someone not enhanced like the Guardian or the Spartan, or not used to the field.

The silence was cut by Miranda Keyes. "Chief, Guardian. The Prophet of Truth has found the Ark. Our only chance of stopping him is a surprise aerial assault. Clear this sector of Covenant anti-air defenses. Make a hole for the Admiral's ships. Good Hunting. Keyes out."

Smallen mewled on his chest. The little alien did not understand the implication of the message, and Jake envied the hatchling in a way. Sometimes it was better to remain ignorant and not knowing of the imminent threat. This state of innocence better helped spirits, instead of scaring others.

The Warthogs emerged from the tunnel in a parking lot scattered with destroyed Warthog chassis and Marine and Grunt corpses. "Alright, we're here." He halted their vehicle on the left side and pointed ahead with a finger. "Scatter, Marines! Cover our advance!" They responded with either a battle cry or a 'Yes, sir!' before forming a perimeter outside the locked door. Jake took cover on the left and raised his magnum, Chief tapped a few buttons to open it.

The first section was empty, no Covenant in sight. A few marines followed them inside and looked around in confusion. The Guardian and Spartan thumped their way up a set of stairs. He immediately spotted a platoon of Covenant behind a door to the other locked section. "Get down!" He and John rolled towards anything to use as shield. One of the jackals snapped its maw shut, grunting in frustration at the lack of a kill. There were four of them on a rail, Chief's battle rifle and Jake's magnum were perfect to target their exposed arms and headshot them after stunning them.

The grunts were pesky little motherfuckers. Not because of their combat ability, but because of their seemingly infinite numbers. After clearing out the first section, the Titan peeked behind his shoulders. "You okay, buddy?" Smallen replied with a soft clicking of his mandibles. He took it as a 'Yes'.

Beyond an empty factory tunnel, the marines opened another set of doors. Two Warthogs were following the warriors, right on their tails. Opening it, they saw Lake Bed A, full of cruising Ghots and a heavy Covenant garrison.

Lord Hood burged right into the comms. "Kilo 23, this is UNSC Forward Unto Dawn. I need a sit-rep, Commander."

"Atmospheric disturbances is intensifying above The Artifact, Admiral." Responded Keyes.

"And Sierra-117 and the Guardian?"

"Moving as fast as they can, sir. I know they'll get it done."

Hijacking two ghosts as soon as they left the tunnel, Jake and the Master Chief used them to punch a hole through the Covenant line waiting for them. A grunt cutely yelled 'FOR THE GREAT JOURNEY!' and attempted to launch a plasma grenade. He was quickly discarded of with a burst of their cannon. Said grenade conveniently fell near a Brute, who was propelled about five meters in the air.

The Guardian had to admit, this universe's aliens were more comedic than the monstrosities back home.

They concentrated their fire on the Anti-Air craft Wraith. It imploded from within, as if the explosion itself started from the gears inside. A blue fire adorned the now useless metal around the tank, pieces of the turret flew down the canyon. The piece of junk couldn't be useful anymore. Smallen chirped. "Yeah. Explosions are quite the sight, mmmh?" He turned the ghost around and followed Chief.

"That-a-way, you two! Target destroyed. Move to the next area, over." Johnson grunted.

"Roget that, Sergeant. Over and out."

They noticed inside the next building a few jackals and some grunts up a pair of stairs opening fire on... someone. "I detect human biological traces. Watch out for where you shoot." Indeed, the Covenant were targetting marines over another closed section of the facility. The aliens probably desired to push through and conquer that part.

Not on their watch.

They firstly took advantage of the ghosts' firepower, annihilating the small shielded bastards on the base floor. Then they dismounted and headed for the upper one.

"Check your fire! It's the Chief and the Guardian! Flush 'em out, sirs. We'll nail them with the .50."

Rather unfortunate when a Brute Chieftain greeted them both with a gravity hammer in his claws. The mammal roared and knocked aside a few boxes, charging towards them with such thirst for battle. Chief, being the only one not carrying a living being, handled most of the work. He crouched down to avoid the second strike and elbowed the Brute. He then kicked him on the chest and sent him a few feet back.

Now dazed, Jake took the opportunity to shoot a still target. Pieces of his armour fell on the flour, clattering alongside whatever electronic equipment had been previously damaged. Chief finished the Brute by inserting a cartridge in his shotgun and placing the weapon right below his chin. A torrent of purple red blood gushed out of the wounded skull. The Brute fell on the floor with a loud THUD!

"We've made a hole. Hurry, before any more Covenant show up!" A marine yelled.

Down the next factor tunnel, the scanners showed another spike in Master Chief's vitals. He did not ask anything this time, rather he grabbed the Spartan by the shoulders and guided him to a corner where he helped him sitting down. "What's wrong?" The Spartan didn't answer, Chief tried to get up and ignored him. But the Titan did not have any of it, he simply pushed him down again and leaned in to whisper after barking orders to the marines. They scouted ahead and left them alone.

"What's wrong?" He asked again, this time drawing each word with a stern tone.

Chief stared at him, unresponding. It was only after a while that his shoulders relaxed and he finally talked. "It's Cortana." He waited for further information. "I am receiving... images of her. I'd dare to call them visions. She speaks to me, delivering strange messages. Pieces of longer sentences, perhaps. Maybe it's residues of our connection?"

"Unlikely. I've closely analyzed your technology and the chip. It's not possible. I'd say we keep monitoring these visions until we understand their origins." Ghost paused. "I've established a connection with Chief's armour. We should see what he sees... without risking a heart attack, that is."

No one laughed.

At the end of the tunnel there were four Mongoose vehicles, next to a rack of weapons. The marines rushed to take a seat, leaving the fourth one to Jake and John. "I drive." Said the Guardian. "Just try not to crush my back when you shoot or duck down. I've got a package, remember?" He pointed to the Eliksni hatchling hanging around his neck.

The next area looked like an arena that had seen many battles, mainly for the destroyed human settlements resembling security checkpoints scattered around. They had to take out the next Anti-Air Wraith. Their tactic closely mirrored that used on the Tsavo Highway: they got close to the enemy and let Chief use his newly acquired rocket launcher, but when the situation became too hot, Jake immediately retreated and came back when the attention was grabbed by another Mongoose.

It worked. They destroyed the tank and whatever else the Covenant threw at them.

"Both AA Wraiths have been neutralized... stand by. Something big, closing in your location."

A loud mechanical noise stunned the marines and alerted the two enhanced warriors. They slowly turned around and froze at the sight of a Scarab climbing the roof of the factory they previously crossed. It jumped in the arena. Dust raised from the impact, one unfortunate Warthog standing down where the monstrosity landed was destroyed.

They all scrambled away, opening fire on the Covenant spider-like machine.

"Its armour is too thick!" One soldier yelled.

"Remember your training, marines. Aim for the legs!"

They did just that. Three rockets were sufficient to shatter a good portion of its armour. Chief had obviously the better aim out of all the soldiers shooting. Three more and the leg was completely destroyed. They did the same for two other legs, the Scarab seemingly couldn't sustain such damage and stopped, rebooting or something.

Chief dismounted and climbed on one side, he searched for the core while Jake waited underneath the machine. He saw the Spartan jumping out just as the explosions increased in numbers. He drove away before the Scarab could implode directly above them.

Smallen chirped again in delight as the machine fell on the ground in many pieces.

This little guy will surely be a demolisher when he grows up.

The main AA Gun exploded, sending the upper section flying down the cliff. Chief, Jake and Thel 'Vadam (who joined them a few minutes ago from a Pelican) stood on the cliff side of the crater on the hill of the recently destroyed anti-aircraft emplacement. Multiple squadrons of Longswords streaked overhead, followed by three UNSC frigates, including the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn, Lord Hood's flagship. The Covenant fleet was hovering before them, with the Forerunner dreadnought centered below them at the center of The Artifact.

The Arbiter disengaged from the view to tilt his head at the hatchling. "So, this is what the Eliksni's young look like. They are not that different from our own." He reached out and stroke one of his finger claws in a spot between the hatchling's mandibles. The three heard Smallen purring more than they've ever heard before.

'Vadam chuckled. "Cute." He turned back to the cliff.

"All ships: fire at will!"

The Frigates engaged the Forerunner dreadnought. Their Magnetic Accelerator Cannons discharged in volleys, and explosions coated the Forerunner dreadnought's surface, but the ship remained unscathed. The Forerunner structure suddenly began to open like a starfish. The Forerunner dreadnought was lowered into the structure, an energy beam being focused on it. The beam of light growed thicker and expands, sending of a shockwave.

They couldn't see anything for a few seconds.

"This... is the way the world ends." Another vision of Cortana said.

A large glowing sphere of blue light soon appeared, centered by pitch darkness, in the sky above the artifact, and the vessels of both UNSC and Loyalist fleets are drifting in the air, disorganized. The large fins of the Portal were focusing energy on the sphere.

Lord Hood coughed. "What did Truth just do? Did he activate the rings."

"No, sir." Keyes responded, uncertain."But he did something."

Thel 'Vadam roared angrily beside them as the Forerunner dreadnought rose safely into the sphere, followed in close order by the rest of the Covenant fleet.

This isn't good.

"Sir! New contact, slipping in!"

The Indulgence of Conviction (he recognized the ship's scheme from the Arbiter's tales) emerged from Slipspace to the east of Voi, and hurtled just over the four. It was smoking with rancid fumes. The air was darkened and smog rose, veiling the sun. As the ship lost altitude and crashed to the ground out of sight, there was a flash of light and a deep rumbling was heard, followed by an eerie silence.

"What is it? More Brutes?" 'Vadam asked.

"Worse." They both answered at the same time.

The air was polluted with smoke and dust raising from the debris. Flames in the distance ate whatever material could be incinerated and naturally propagated as a result.

The Flood. Shit. He tightened his hold over the small Eliksni companion they had with them.

"Let's get going."

Comms were buzzing with chatter. "The Flood. It's spreading, all over the city."

"How do we contain it?"

"Find the crashed Flood ship, and overload its engine core. We either destroy this city, or risk losing the entire planet."

"Do it."

"Chief, Guardian, make your way to the crash site."

It was all too quiet. Jake aimed his Battle Rifle at all directions while Chief and the Arbiter scouted ahead.

"All squads, report!"

A shadow briefly appeared on the ground. Something had jumped over them.

"Multiple contacts, unknown hostiles."

"There are some powerful weapons we've not yet used."

He turned to Thel 'Vadam. "Wouldn't this be the right time to use highly advanced weaponry developed by your species? Especially if they can harm the Flood on a large scale?"

"The cost... would be high for this planet. It shall be our last resort, should the parasite get out of control."

Good enough, he supposed.

Backtracking to the hangar they left from, they saw various Flood combat forms falling from the roof. The marines were swarmed, the three watched the terrifying and sickening process of an organic being infected by the Flood spores. They generated more Combat forms as a result, which immediately turned to face them and unleashed ear crushing roars. The combat forms crouched on all fours and sprinted.

Here we go again.

He utilized the modified Battle Rifle to get rid of the small infectors on the ground. Once they exploded, they seemed to let some kind of dusty small particles in the air. When they were on the first Halo, he supposed those were the residues that would seek other life forms and infect them. Yet, he watched the Arbiter and some surviving marines behind them pass through said 'spores'. It confirmed that they weren't dangerous and could safely be inhaled.

Master Chief chose to open fire with his assault rifle on the combat forms. Unlike the units encountered on the first Halo, these seemed less inclined to be bullet sponges. They were disposed of more easily. He guessed this was a somewhat good predicament, yet if these Flood were less resilient, that would mean more numbers to accomodate for the handicap.

The Arbiter switched between his Covenant carbine and his energy sword. Either helping the Guardian in crushing the infectors or cutting through the combat forms.

He growled. "Quickly! Let us find their ship. Make short work of this abomination!"

The Guardian snatched a shotgun from the dead corpse of a soldier. "Chief!" He launched the weapon to John, who discarded his Battle Rifle in favour of the more appropriate tool to combat the Flood. Chief checked the ammo inside and the reserves he had with him. Nodding, he motioned to the marines to follow them all inside of the warehouses they previously crossed.

Howls and screams echoed in the distance, Smallen crooned in fright and Jake patted the Eliksni on his neck with a gloved hand. "Don't look, buddy. Don't look."

The path to the exterior of the warehouse was blocked by more Flood. I can't use my Super. But I can summon my grenades. Concentrating and squeezing his hand, he tapped into the Light: bright orange energy responded to its wielder. He focused the energy in a sphere and threw it in the mix of greenish zombies attempting to infect them all. The Flood screamed in agony, vibrating as one singular entity.

They finished the monsters off quickly and exited the warehouses.

Oh Traveler. The infection hadn't wasted time in propagating in the entire city. He could see in the distance flames and smoke raising from the ground. They couldn't induce a controlled detonation anymore, they had to destroy the entire city.

Although came the most important question. How could they get past all those Flood? With Jake not being able to use supers and Chief and the Arbiter being mortals.

Suddenly, multiple ships of the Fleet of Retribution appeared through a space bridge. "Hail, humans, and take heed! This is the carrier Shadow of Intent. We shall cover your advance by eradicating this wretched parasite! Clear this sector, and make haste!"

"Awesome." The Titan muttered. "At last your kind decided to join the party."

"And they shall not be alone!"

A burst of white light, and the familiar sight of a Fallen Ketch graced their eyes. Its arrival sent a small shockwave throughout the area. "This is Mithrax above the Ketch of House Light. We have fixed the damage in our ship and are ready to take a proper role in this fight."

Well shit. That's a grand entrance.

Rtas 'Vadum chuckled. "Yes. Help the humans in clearing this sector while we deal with the Flood. We will send a few pods as additional support."

Skiffs and Elite Pods landed on the battlefield at the same time. Although, he watched the Eliksni captains helping the Elite warriors with Darkness. They used Stasis to freeze any Flood coming too close to their position and they shattered the blocks of ice. The Elites blinked in astonishment at first, but quickly shook out of their stupor and roared in defiance at the combat forms, joining their new allies in massacring the enemy.

A Pelican advanced near the ramp they were watching the fight from. It turned around and opened its hatch on the back to reveal Mithrax himself. He was using his upper left arm to keep his weight balanced as the vehicle moved. As soon as he spotted the hatchling on Jake's neck his shoulders slumped in relief. "Praise the Great Machine!" He motioned to the interior. "Come on! Let my troops and the Arbiter's deal with this parasite. Lord Hood and Keyes will want an audience for their meeting with Rtas 'Vadum. We can be their neutral party in case hostile behaviours present themselves."

He hopped on the Pelican's ramp and offered the young Eliksni to Mithrax, who secured him in his lower right arm. Smallen closed his eyes and drifted off. Exhaustion from life threatening situations evident on his innocent face.

Chief and Thel made to follow suit...

"Chief, the Elites are looking for something. We didn't believe them when they told us."

"It's Cortana, Chief! She's on that ship! Find her, get her out!"

...but stopped at Keyes and Johnson's words.

The Spartan looked at the Guardian. The latter sighed. "Do what you gotta do, Chief. Just come back in one piece, alright?"

"Fear not, Guardian." The Arbiter stepped ahead and nodded. "I shall accompany him in this dangerous quest. The Gods are with us, along with the watchful eye of your Traveler."

One last nod, and the Pelican closed its hatch.

It wasn't a surprise when later on Chief returned, but Jake always knew that one fatal error in a mission could result in someone's death.

They decided to rendez vous in the Shadow of Intent. Rtas 'Vadum was floating in some kind of throne alongside his guards; around the table were Jake himself, Mithrax, Master Chief, the Arbiter, Keyes and Lord Hood. 343 Guilty Spark and Ghost were trying to interface with a piece of Cortana's memory unit she left for them to find in the ship's wreckage. Sometimes they bickered with each other on how to proceed with the appropriate codes and open the unit. It was... comical.

The Guardian glanced outside the glass. Thel 'Vadam explained how the only way to contain the infection was to... well, 'glass' the infected portions. This decision was approved much to the dismay of the humans. Although it was the only available option. Either the complete innihilation of parts of this planet, or its complete destruction by the claws of the Flood.

"Mmphf, this is revealing to be much harder than expected." 343 said.

"Just use the codes I've sent you!" Ghost angrily rebutted. "We just have to change the frequency and add more power."

"I'm afraid the encryption is going to require a different approach than the one you-"

"Oh, for the love of the Traveler! Just do it!"

"Shouting at me won't allow a faster resolution of the problem at hand. Especially if it comes from an over programmed AI with problems at handling simulated emotions."

"I'm a Ghost, you son of a bit-"

Rtas 'Vadum loudly cleared his throat. "Will it live, Oracles? Can it be saved?"

"Uncertain. This storage device has suffered considerable trauma. Its matrices are...highly unstable."

Hood stepped ahead. "Perhaps one of our technicians-"

"That will not be necessary." Interrupted the Sangheili.

A holographic projection of Cortana suddenly sprang up. "Chief! Guardian!"

"Success!"

"No thanks to you." Muttered Ghost.

"High Charity, the Prophets' Holy City, is on its way to Earth. With an army of Flood. I can't tell you everything. It's not safe. The Gravemind...it knows I'm in the system."

"It's just a message." Chief seemed disappointed. Who could blame him? Jake certainly was too.

"Let it play." Waved Rtas.

"But it doesn't know about the Portal, where it leads. On the other side, there's a solution. A way to stop the Flood, without firing the remaining Halo rings-" Suddenly, Cortana's skin lighted up. She clutched her head, gasped in sudden pain and collapsed onto the floor. "Hurry, you two...the Ark...there isn't much time." The recording ended, leaving a frozen image of Cortana staring at the two warriors.

"I'm... sorry." Whispered 343.

"No matter, Oracle. We've heard enough. Our fight is through the Portal, with the Brutes and the bastard Truth!" Roars of agreement were emitted by the other Sangheili in the room. Mithrax nodded and coughed in Eliksni at his escort, who joined the Eliksni in their proclamation of war against the Prophet.

Hood sighed. "Fine. We'll remain here. Hold out as long as we can."

"Did you not hear? Your world is doomed." Rtas descended from his throne. "A Flood army, a Gravemind, has you in its sights! You barely survived a small contamination."

The Fleet Admiral narrowed his eyes and pointed a finger at the Sangheili. "And you, Ship Master, just glassed half a continent! Maybe the Flood isn't all I should be worried about..."

"One single Flood Spore can destroy a species. Were it not for the Arbiter's counsel, I would have glassed your entire planet!"

Mithrax stepped between the two before things could escalate. "Peace! Peace! You are not enemies, not anymore. It's not about the survival of the human race, rather the survival of all species in the universe! I have barely a full contingent of Eliksni ready for duty in Vraskor's ship, with the losses in this recent battle." He placed a fist against his chest. "But we either join this fight or we all lose!"

Hood shook his head. "This ain't even your world, 'Kell of Kells'. You can't understand what his species has done to our own."

"My kind has performed unspeakable horrors against Humanity in our universe. We raided cities, villages. We massacred innocent lives. We fed on the corpses of those we killed. The cruelest among our Houses even found a sickening pleasure in torturing young humans. Children." Mithrax paused. "If we are to survive the Rings, we must all learn to live alongside our monsters. Because if Cortana is wrong, then the Flood have already won."

"Earth...is all we have left." He shifted his attention on Chief and Jake. "You trust Cortana that much?"

"Sir. Yes, sir." They responded at the same time.

"This is either the best decision you've ever made or the worst. Hell if it is, you two? I doubt I'll live long enough to find out which."

The Shadow of Intent powered its thrusters and began its journey at the other side of the portal, followed by eight Cruisers, a Carrier and the UNSC Frigates Forwards unto Dawn and Aegis Fate.

Soon after, the Eliksni Ketch full of warriors prepared for this upcoming battle raised too.

It was time to gather intel and track Truth.

Their prey would not escape.

Author's note:

If I had to estimate, we're three chapters away from the end.

Two to complete the campaign, and the third being the Epilogue. For those wondering, I have one last card up my sleeve for the Epilogue. It's gonna be cooool.

Stick around for that.