Author's Note: I do not own halo, halo is the property of Microsoft and 343 industries.

I'm kinda just putting this out there, waiting for reviews. I created this story just because It had been floating at the back of my mind and no one else had done it before(at least I don't think so). So I made this one night after school. No flames please.

Anyway, Enjoy:

Onboard the Covenant Assault Carrier Edge of Deliverance

Xavier POV:

Xavier had been an elite minor in the covenant for a little over a quarter of a cycle, constantly told what to do, what to think.

A new species had been found on the outer territories of the covenant. The prophets declared that they have desecrated sacred Forerunner artifacts and therefore must be destroyed without mercy.

He was told that the humans were weak, stupid, cowardly and honorless, unworthy of the Great Journey. They were heretics, blocking their path to salvation. He was told the war would be over in a cycle. He was told that war was glorious, that there was honor to be won, and he believed that.

His assault carrier had just arrived at a planet that the humans called "harvest". Their naming philosophies are as primitive as their technology. The planet itself was beautiful, though tainted by human presence.

Their pathetic ships were dwarfed by the Edge of Deliverance and its escorts. He barely believed that their ships could survive the vacuum of space.

Their ships were small and tainted with an ugly gray while moving almost exclusively with thrusters, They slowly turned to face them.

"Easy prey." He whispered.

" I can't agree more." A voice came from behind him.

He turned to see his brother, Xytamine, Adorned in his white armor.

A smile came over his face as he said: "Let us grind them into dust."

As the Covenant Assault Carrier Edge of Deliverance and its escorts loomed over the human ships, Xavier and his brother, Xytamine, shared a knowing glance. The anticipation of battle was palpable, and their spirits were high.

"Brother, this will be a glorious battle, one that will bring us honor in the eyes of the Prophets. The humans may be foolish, but they will learn the true might of the Covenant today." Xytamine continued.

Xavier nodded in agreement. He had trained for this moment for a long time, and the thought of finally engaging the enemy filled him with a sense of purpose. "We shall cleanse this planet of their presence and protect the sacred Forerunner artifacts, as commanded by the Prophets."

Onboard the UNSC Armstrong

Evan POV:

Ever since he had seen the covenant, he was terrified of the future for humanity. Their technology was far superior, the true scope of their empire was unknown, and fear always accompanies the unknown.

Worst of all though, They seem hellbent on the destruction of humanity. First contact went very poorly. It ended with the destruction of at least half of the fleet stationed on harvest. And he was there to witness it.

He was still in his bedroom, trembling at the mercy of his thoughts. Then, the door opened. A woman came to meet him: "You are needed at the armory, Battle Stations, The covenant is back!"

"It had only been a week, they were back already? This must mean they have better slipspace drives too, to think what other surprises they must have in store." He was taken out of his despaired thoughts by a pat on his shoulder: "Hey, you there?"

"Yes, I'll be there."

She then stormed off without warning.

"God, Please have mercy on us all." He said to himself.

As he left his bedroom, he took a look out at space through the bullet proof glass and saw purple monsters of death staring right at him with hungry eyes.

"This is gonna suck."

Xavier POV:

The Covenant fleet unleashed their energy weapons upon the human ships, tearing through their defenses like paper. Explosions lit up the void of space as the human vessels were reduced to debris. Xavier watched the destruction unfold from the bridge of the Edge of Deliverance, his hearts filled with zeal.

One human ship survived the initial volley, it had plasma burn marks all over it, while blue flames were lit up on every side of the ship.

Even so, it turned to face the coming fire.

A sparkle of energy lit up at the front of the ship. Then a golden beam flashed through the vacuum of space like lightning. It hit two of the Covenant battle cruisers. The first battle cruiser was ripped in half instantly, while the second had its main energy weapon disabled. Their shipmasters kept their shields down just to divert more energy into the weapons systems, in their hubris, they became oblivious to the threat.

The whole bridge crew of the Edge of Deliverance watched in horror and aw, they now knew they weren't invincible.

"Raise all shields immediately, and Launch Boarding parties on that ship, it is worthy of challenging the might of our warriors." Came the voice of the Fleetmaster.

"Worthy? Are they worthy?" This thought orbited Xavier's mind like an annoying pest. Not realizing he was standing there and looking out at the battle like a brick wall.

"You are not a brick, Xavier. I know that." came the voice of his brother.

"Let us engage them in battle!" came the roar of the entire bridge crew.

Xavier quickly made his way to the boarding craft along with his brother. The ship quickly took off, along with seven others.

It had been only a few units before the boarding craft punched a hole into the hull of the human ship. Adrenaline began coursing through Xavier, the thought of engaging his enemies in battle was invigorating, but also nerve racking.

Sensing his brother's discomfort, Xytamine said:"All warriors are nervous on the eve of battle, death is around every corner, stay vigilant and do not play the hero and get yourself killed, for my sake."

"Death brings glory to us all, and honor among our ancestors." Xavier retorted.

"We do not know, for no one has come back from it." Those words became stuck in his head, impossible to shake off.

The air pressure sealers hissed, and were soon ready to be opened.

Evan POV:

Evan watched in horror as the rest of the UNSC fleet was reduced to glass. All those men and women on those ships, all dead and forgotten.

As he gripped his assault rifle and magnum, he saw the Armstrong's MAC cannon come online, with fiery resolve it roared and bored a gaping hole through one ship while ripping the other in half. It was comforting, in a twisted way. At least they could fight back.

"Covenant boarding parties incoming, they're latched."

The sergeant began: "These alien bastards remind me of a six hundred year old quote, back when we all lived on earth: "To awaken a sleeping giant, and fill him with terrible resolve." That sleeping giant represents us, and what we fight for."

Those words echoed through the hallways of the ship, instilling resolve in every last member of the crew.

Evans ran as fast as he could, reaching the combat zone just in time to see elites jump out of the boarding craft and the sergeant getting his face blown off by a plasma shot at terrifying speed. An elite in red armor saw him and took aim, firing its plasma rifle at his head while he dove for cover. He felt the fiery plasma wiss past his head and heat up the surrounding air. He was pinned down and scarred, unable to do anything other than blindfire into the elite's general direction, he heard his shots helplessly bounce off the elite's shielding, he heard his fellow marines being gunned down, making him feel hopeless inside.

Then, he heard thunderous roars come from his right, followed closely by the sound of alien screams and thuds signifying their deaths. He turned and saw his savior. It was the woman from earlier, holding a sniper rifle.

"At least don't give them a clean shot." She said as another elite roared in pain.

"Sor-"

They were interrupted by a plasma grenade hurtling towards them, out of instinct, Evan reached out with his assault rifle to swat the grenade back. He succeeded, only to see the grenade stick to his weapon, out of options, he threw the assault rifle at the covenant. It exploded shortly after and sent an elite flying over his cover.

"Nice one." She said with a whiff of excitement.

Xavier POV:

"Major Grizo is gone!" Xytamine proclaimed.

Thunderous roars from human weapons made Xavier nearly deaf, though he could still clearly see a hole being blown through the skull of an elite right in front of him. Just then, he tossed a plasma grenade at the humans and duck in cover, only to see it return near his feet a second later, attached to some human weapon.

He wanted to scream, but before he could do so, his brother jumped in front of him and hugged him close and whispered:"Be Safe." The blast shredded through his brother's shields and burned his back, he collapsed to the ground a second later.

Feeling enraged from watching the humans harm his brother, he moved out of cover and fired at the human that was shredding through his comrades. Three shots hit the human, in the chest, in the right shoulder and in the left leg. It let out a scream in pain, which sounded strangely feminine. Do the humans allow their females to fight in battle?

"Weaklings" He snarled out the words without realizing that his shields had saved him from a flying projectile that would have hit his head.

Then, a human emerged from cover at incredible speed. He shot at it with his reflexes, hitting its shoulder once. But it didn't care, instead it hoisted the female on its shoulder and ran. Xavier gave chase without a second thought.

Evan POV:

I ran as fast as I possibly could, the plasma slowly but surely melting my right shoulder pauldron. Every part of me wanted to stop and take it off. But I couldn't, not with an elite on my tail. The pain didn't slow me down, it only reminded me to go faster.

I rounded a corner and saw through the glass escape pods being ejected, I hoped to god that there was still one more waiting for me…and her.

Even with my shot of adrenaline, the pounding footsteps quickly became louder and louder, dread slowly building up in the back of my mind. "What would happen if I was captured?" I thought, hoping the elite behind me would slip and fall over, It didn't.

My mind refocused on running. Then, almost like a miracle, I saw an escape pod still docked to the ship, my heart raced as I leaped over the railing and jumped into the escape pod. The doors closed behind me as I ran up to the controls with her still on my shoulder. The elite behind me rammed its face into the door, bulging it slightly. I helplessly searched for the launch button while the elite pounded on the door to no avail. Then a voice came over my shoulder: "T-The red one." It was so quiet I almost didn't hear it.

In an instant, I slammed my fist into the first red button I found. We were away, and more importantly, safe.

I sighed in relief before putting her in one of the seats and walking to the control panel to try and pilot this bird. My heart racing faster than what should feel possible.

Xavier POV:

I watched as the human that harmed my brother escaped my grasp, the only emotion I felt at that moment was anger. Then I remembered my battered brother and decided to check on him as quickly as I could. The humans on this ship seem to have retreated further inside.

I ran back to see my brother lying on the ground, his eyes closed and his armor charred and plastered with black marks. I ran up to him, and tried to shake him awake. It didn't work. My brother was dead. Then, a tear came out of my eye, followed by another, then another and another. I was crying, for the first time in my life. My family would be shamed for many cycles for this. Then, I heard laughter and turned to my brother.

"You are a piece of art, aren't you." he somehow managed to say while laughing.

"I have shamed my entire family."

"But no one is alive to witness it." Xytamine said reassuringly.

He was right, and that made me laugh with him.

"Don't do that again! I thought I lost you."

"You will learn to deal with it."

That Struck a nerve, and Xytamine quickly realized that and switched topics.

"Let us regroup with the rest of the boarding parties and finish this fight." He said in a commanding tone as he got up like nothing happened.

I moved to follow him, remembering the human who risked his life for another. Perhaps the injured human meant something to him, and one word came to mind. "Loyalty"

But this doesn't add up, the humans were supposed to be nothing but vermin, a parasite that infested a part of the galaxy. They were supposed to be Heretics incapable of feeling, incapable of…Honor.

Were we misled? Were we lied too?

Stop the heretical thoughts, Xavier. You will follow the prophets lead on the Great Journey and achieve salvation.

Will I truly?

Evan POV:

I desperately tried to pilot the escape pod, hoping to land somewhere with UNSC presence, but it felt like a futile effort. We were hurtling straight toward the north pole, dangerously close to the Covenant's landing site. My heart raced as I prayed that we wouldn't be spotted immediately.

As the adrenaline slowly wore off, a sharp pain in my shoulder intensified. The plasma had long since burned through my shoulder pauldron and dug into my flesh. The pain was excruciating, and it felt as if my arm were detached from my body.

I turned to the woman I had saved, grimacing as I reached to remove the pieces of armor that had been busted by the plasma burns. It was clear that the armor, while bulletproof, couldn't withstand the searing heat of a sun. I carefully checked her for a pulse, wondering if she was still alive.

"Please try inserting some biofoam," she whispered, her voice subdued but unmistakably alive.

Relief washed over me as I quickly retrieved a biofoam applicator from the pod's emergency kit. I applied the foam to the woman's wound, watching as it sealed the worst of the plasma burn and began to staunch the bleeding. She winced at the pain but remained conscious.

"What's your name?" I asked as I sat down next to her.

"Ellen Clementine." It felt like she was using the last of her strength.

"I'm Evan Rogers, nice to meet you." I said hoping that the horrible situation we're in would magically disappear, it didn't

"Thank You, for saving my life." Her words were filled with gratitude.

"Likewise."

"Prepare for atmospheric insertion and brace for impact." The onboard computer interrupted.

"I'll help you with that" I said as I fastened the seatbelt around her waist. I then walked up to the pilot's seat and sat down, hopelessly trying to lessen the inevitable impact. It felt like I could see my face reflecting off of the surface of the North Pole.

"Warning, the angle of approach is too steep. Air Brakes have been engaged."

"Stuff it." I muttered to myself and closed my eyes, wondering if I'll wake up again.

Xavier POV:

I was now moving towards the human ship's bridge, accompanied by my brother along with a lance of grunts and jackals. Lower beings in the covenant that are little more than cannon fodder. I wonder what Forerunners will think of them once they ascend to godhood.

Will we ascend though?

"I have a job to do, I cannot be distracted by such questions." I murmur to myself.

"What you say?" a grunt says.

"Close your jaws, or I shall bind them shut!" I retort with a commanding voice.

The grunt refocused on the mission and stopped talking. Then, he crashes into a door and falls on his methane tank.

"Clumsy fool, you gave us away!"

"Me-" He tries to explain, but gets his face bashed into the nearest wall, blood begins running down his face immediately.

"We are here, open the door." I say commandingly.

The jackals and grunts followed my orders without question and pried open the door. We were instantly met with a shower of flying projectiles. My brother held his ground and fired back, killing a few humans hiding behind their cover, his shields flared brightly but held. Half of the grunts were instantly gunned down, while the other half fled in terror. The jackals also backed away from the door into cover, unwilling of peeking out to fire at the humans, even with their shield gauntlets.

"Cowards!" I snarled, before popping out of cover and throwing a plasma grenade. This time, it didn't return to me. It blew up right at the human's feet. Their screams echoed throughout the hallways of the ship. Filling me with a strange feeling…pity.

The humans holding their ground have been eliminated, and we moved in to seize the captain. In the corner of my eye I saw a human in dark blue clothes holding some sort of weapon. Then, I heard a blast so loud my ears were about to burst. I fell to the ground, numb and pained. I couldn't hear the sounds of my armor beeping in warning. I instead felt purple blood run down my stomach, a horrible indication that I have been hit.

"Xavier! No!" Came the distressed voice of my brother.

"Take him." He says as I watched the human get tackled to the ground.

"You will pay dearly for this." My brother snarled.

"I'll die before I give you anything." The human said as he pulled out his pistol and shot himself in the head. Xytamine tried to stop him, but it was all in vain. The captain laid lifeless on the floor.

"I'll have something that might help." Xytamine said while walking towards me and holding a white canister in his hands.

"What is that? Is it human?" I asked, befuddled at my brother's intentions.

"It is human, and it will save your life." He retorted.

"I will not allow such heresy, leave me alone." I nearly yelled at my brother.

He held me down and pushed the human medicine into my wounds, my nerves flared. Then, the pain slowly started to recede.

"Healing is not the way of our kind." I said in disgust.

"That whole belief system is nonsense" He retorted again in frustration.

"You have ruined my honor."

"Honor means nothing when you're dead."

"I will transcend to godhood with it."

"How do you know?"

"I…what?" My mind was racing with heresy of the highest order.

As the human ship's captain lay lifeless on the floor, I couldn't help but feel a strange mix of emotions. My brother, Xytamine, had used human medical technology to save my life, something ingrained as heresy, something that defiled Sanghelli honor. but at this moment, I couldn't deny that human medicine had been effective.

Xytamine had tried to reason with me, challenging our long-held beliefs about honor and the path to godhood. It left me with a gnawing uncertainty, a seed of doubt that soon accompanied the rest.

Xytamine helped me to my feet and said:" Let us go and finish this fight, no one heard us."

Thankfully so, or else we'd certainly be branded as heretics.