Chapter 3: Halsey

Flashes of memories haunted Jan's mind. From the death of her father at the hands of Monster Ann and Thin Kinkle, to the Battle of Earth. Losing her comrades in battle through every corner of the world from Sydney, Australia to Cleveland. One of the final fights leading up to the Battle of Voi with her first encounter of the parasitic organisms known as the Flood. She woke up in a jolt, exhaling from the dream as Jan wiped the sweat from her forehead looking to see her teammates were asleep. She got out of bed and walked out the room Crimson was resting. She made her way to the observation deck, staring at the stars and Requiem. Yesterday's mission for Crimson consisted of assassinating Sangheili terrorist Parg Vol, a known associate of Jul M'Dama. Unfortunately, the terrorist of the Storm Covenant fled before Crimson could get the upper hand. Crimson was able to regain UNSC assets due to Vol's collection before being sent to distress call from Galileo base. Crimson served as the calvary to assist marine and army forces in defending Galileo from Covenant forces. Parg Vol was sighted in Galileo but fled again once the battle wasn't going into his favor. The main reason why the Covenant were there was before the data Crimson retrieved for Gargarin team. Fireteam Bull was assigned to guard the Gargarin science team on Refuge but there was an unfortunate change of events, the science team either missing or dead. There was something else they transpired in Refuge, regarding the death of Fireteam Bull.

"Aren't you a blast from the past." Jan turned and widened her eyes at the person behind her. He was a man with black hair and brown eyes wearing a tech suit. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Jersey? Jersey Morelli?"

said person smiled at her. "In the flesh." Jan embraced him in a small hug. "I missed you, too."

"Last time I saw you was..."

"In Mongolia trying to survive a big brawl with that Brute chieftain." he finished

"You're lucky he didn't take your head off." Jan recalled. "All you got out of it was a scar." she pointed at the small scar on his left cheek

"The same could be said about you."

Jan laughed. "There's some scars I have. Just not where you'll see them." she looked at him up and down. "So, you're a Spartan now."

"Yep. A recruiter was impressed with my skills as an ODST. They put me in with Fireteam Ivy and I'll been working with them since then." he explained. "Rani's on the team, too. She got in through a recommendation from her time with ONI as an analyst."

"We've come a long way, haven't we?" Jan replied. "The three of us are Spartans. And Kamal's a doctor."

"Yeah. I know my old man would be proud of me right now." Jersey noticed the sorrowful expression on Jan. "Oh, shit. I'm sorry. I probably brought up a bad memory for you."

"No... it's, it's fine." she assured him. "I just needed to clear my head. Coming out here to look at the stars helps."

Jersey stared out into the stars and the shield world. "Hard to imagine, is it? Feels like decades since we shut down that Forerunner artifact back on Earth." he recalled from his memories of Jan, Kamal Zaman, Rani Sobeck, and Durga. "Now, we're Spartans. Not exactly what I thought the future had in stored for us, you know."

Jan sighed. "Almost a lifetime ago."

"Yeah." Jersey looked at his watch. "I'm gonna head back to my cabin. It was nice seeing you again, Jan."

"Take care of yourself, Jersey. And tell Rani I said hi." Jan added

"Tell her yourself next time!" he yelled back as he left Jan alone on the observation deck

The next day, Fireteam Crimson are in the mess hall enjoying their meal before their next mission. They decided to do so after their war games training and a couple of sparring match. It was in order to pass time as their armor were getting repaired after the attack on Galileo Base and their assassination attempt on Parg Vol. Kevin spotted men and women walking by, wearing what appeared to be a mixture SPI and ODST armor. The initials SDFR on the center of their chests as they passed some personnel.

"That's new." he said observantly

Nat noticed as well. "That looks like SPI armor, but it's different from the previous armor versions." she looked to Benji. "Do you know what they're wearing?"

Benji slightly glanced. "It's mk3 SPI armor, ODST variant. The UNSC must have requested the SDFR to assist forces here."

Jan glanced at Benji, then the two soldiers. "What's the SDFR?"

"Space Defense Force Reserves. A military reserve group with Gen. Hughes at the helm of it." Benji stated. "They formed after the war with the Covenant. Mostly consists of ODSTs, former colony militias, and citizen soldiers."

"Why are the majority of them ODSTs?" Jan asked

"There's talk of the ODSTs being decommissioned since most of them are integrating into the Spartan-IV program." Benji stated to his team. "This is also a chance to get the reserves combat ready for any kind of attacks due to the Covenant War. Attacks from Covenant and Insurrectionists. This is done out of necessity and preparation. There are still some ODSTs who prefer the traditional armor."

"Since their armor is mk3, I'd wager Mirage collaborated with the same people involved with Mjolnir had shielding inside the armors this time." Kevin deduced, receiving a nod from Benji

"Mirage had taken note of Jiralhanae power armor the Brutes used on the Battle of Earth and upgrading them into SPI armor by studying Mjolnir armor. It's not expensive but it's close enough." Benji explained. "It'll be able to protect them, but shields have a slow recharge. They also have grapples attached to their wrists and increases physical attributes."

"Doesn't seem to be much." said a voice from behind Crimson. They turned to two members of Fireteam Majestic holding food trays, a five-man Spartan fireteam. "This table taken?"

Kevin turned back to eat his food, while the rest looked at them. "What do you think?" the two members, Paul DeMarco and Anthony Madsen of fireteam Majestic sat beside Crimson regardless

"You tell me." DeMarco coyly replied

Nat stared in annoyance at DeMarco and Madsen. "Is there a reason you boys are sitting here?"

Madsen grinned at Jan and Nat. "I don't know. Maybe we thought you might want some company." he said

Jan scoffed. "No, thanks. We're fine."

"So, you say." DeMarco leered at Jan's chest while he took a bite from one hand, as he slowly touched her arm with the other. "Why are a pair of ladies like you and your friend here with this sad bunch of saps? You could transfer yourselves with us. Pretty sure we could watch your backs more than these boys."

"DeMarco, right? If I were you..." Kevin glanced at him for a quick second before finishing the last bite of his meal. "I would make sure those eyes of yours stay glued away from my teammate's chest."

DeMarco scooted toward Kevin, narrowing his eyes at him. "Is that a threat I hear coming from your mouth, Crimson?"

"A threat from me? No, I'm not the one you should be concerning yourself with." DeMarco felt a strong grip on his hand, as they looked to see Jan squeezing his wrist with strong force. "But her on the other hand..." she tightened the grip once more as DeMarco was struggling through her hold. "It's more of a promise from her than it would be for me."

Benji looked ahead of them as Jan released her grip on DeMarco's wrist. "Commander Palmer?" he queried

DeMarco and Madsen stood attention and saluted. "Commander on deck!"

Palmer folded her arms, staring at DeMarco and Crimson. "Am I interrupting something here, DeMarco?"

"No, ma'am." he replied

"Your next mission awaits. Prep your team." she ordered coldly

"Yes, ma'am." DeMarco and Madsen took their trays and left the mess hall

Palmer turned to Crimson. "The same goes for you too, Crimson. You have a new assignment."

"Just waiting on our armor maintenance to be done." Kevin stated to Palmer. "We'll head up there once we finish our meals, ma'am."

"See to it, Spartans." Palmer said leaving the mess hall as two more members from Majestic appeared

"Looks like we got more of Majestic coming our way." Benji said to his teammates

Nat also looked ahead, eyeing the two. "Are they another pair like DeMarco and his plus one?"

"We're about to find out." Kevin replied

"Spartans Gabriel Thorne and Tedra Grant." One of them with military cut dark hair introduced. "On behalf of Majestic, we'd like to apologize for our leader making an ass of himself."

Jan nod and gestured. "Nothing we couldn't handle, but we appreciate the apology." she said gratefully with a smile

the short haired redhead smiled. "You're welcome." she replied

Kevin stared at the two Majestic members. "You two aren't like the other Regs we come across. Most of them act too cocky and arrogant for their good, they end up losing their cool when shit hits the fan." he said

They looked at Kevin with confusion before Grant asked. "Regs?"

"Regulars S4s." Nat explained. "Most Spartans from this generation of the first class are Regs except for a few Hoplites. Then there's the second class which consist of the very few you see before you today. And the third class with most of the regulars."

Thorne raised an eyebrow and sat down as he asked. "Hoplites? What are you talking about?"

"In 2539, there was a secret project called the Hoplite program." Kevin started to explain as the two turned to him. "The goal of it was to train kids in tactics and strategy, then teach them how to fight as soon as they hit puberty. When they became eighteen, they were conscripted into the military. Most of the previous classes of Hoplites were killed but a few of them are still alive today. There are still a lot of those in the current class that are still breathing. Some of them could be here or any UNSC ship out there in the galaxy." he explained

"So, you're Hoplites." Thorne concluded

Jan shook her head and let out a small laugh. "No, not exactly."

Kevin looked to them and asked. "Tell me something, what do you two know about the Orion project?"

"First attempt of a super soldier before the Spartans based on what we've heard so far." Grant stated

Kevin nodded. "After the Spartan-IIs and soon after Spartan-IIIs, these Orions were called Spartan 1s. We're children of the first-generation Spartans, so to speak. Spartan 1.1s." he concluded

Thorne looked at the four of them with a stunned expression. "You're part of the 198th."

Crimson showed surprised expressions on their faces before they regained their composure. "So you know about us, then." Benji said in a curious tone

"Only rumors about an army of young teenage soldiers who survived the Covenant invasion on Earth." Thorne replied. "Story goes there were only over fifteen hundred of you when the invasion happened."

"And today, we just confirmed to you those rumors are true. Congratulations, you got to meet the myths in the flesh with your own eyes." Kevin responded as he and Crimson stepped out of the table holding their trays. "We got a mission to do. Nice talking to ya. One more thing, Commander Palmer just informed your team on another assignment. You better go meet up with them."

Thorne looked ahead practically speechless. "Uh... thanks."

"Who were they?" Grant asked looking at the team leaving the mess hall

"Fireteam Crimson." Thorne answered for her

A pelican flew toward the Two Giants destination, landing at the base of seaside tower. Command called the site: Valhalla. Given the name of the Norse afterlife considering the deaths of UNSC and Covenant forces. Where either one side came out on top or another, Crimson intended to be the victor. Crimson armed themselves as they loaded them after reaching their destination, nodding to each other that they were ready. In that moment, a holographic projection of Commander Sarah Palmer appeared before them.

"Crimson, this is a straight-up rescue op here. You're aiding Mountain squad, a joint Spartan-Marine science attaché that got shot down following your mystery signal." Commander Palmer informed Crimson through their communications link. "As of last transmission, they're under heavy fire. We'll land you as close as we can, then double time it to their position."

"Ma'am, consider it done." Kevin declared

"Miller, paint Mountain's last known location for Crimson. And..." static replaced Palmer's words over the comms

"Commander?"

"Crimson, do you read?" Palmer responded distorted with static

"Commander? Miller? Respond, over."

"Our signal-" Miller was cut off by static

"Comms are down, people. Seems we're going in blind for now until otherwise." Kevin stated to his team

Nat shrugged her shoulders. "I knew this wouldn't be an easy op. Then again, nothing ever is with us." she said, opening the doors

Crimson was locked and loaded as they hopped out of the pelican, their feet hit the ground on impact and ready to move. They headed Mountain Squad's last location, running at an accelerated rate as they spotted a downed pelican with two Spartan-IVs in gray and yellow armor. Kevin threw out a frag grenade as it exploded, scattering Grunts and damaging an Elite's shield before Jan tripped it on its feet. She took the opportunity to stab her combat knife at its throat. Benji sniped out Jackals carrying energy shields and plasma pistols.

"Look!" One of them shouted, identified as Spartan Scott Macrae

"Holy shit! Man, are we glad to see you!" the other Spartan identified as Fredric Zurenia exclaimed in relief

the two Mountain teammates appeared Crimson. "I don't what we'd have done if you hadn't shown up."

"Status report!" Jan ordered

"Covies have a signal jammer set up over there. We didn't know if Infinity heard any of our distress calls." Zurenia explained

"Hell. Now that we got back-up, I think we can take it." Macrae said, his voice filled with confidence

Zurenia pointed off in the distance. "Covenant jammers are behind those shields."

Crimson alongside Spartans Macrae and Zurenia of Mountain squad advanced on the shields. They were met with heavy fire from Elites and Hunters, firing fuel rod explosions at the six Spartans as they took defensive countermeasures. Jan brought a hard-light shield from the fuel rods with Macrae and Zurenia behind her, opening fire on a small group of Grunts and Jackals. Nat blasted the Hunters with an M41 SSR MAV/AW missile launcher while Kevin made a dash for the jammers as Benji sniped off an energy shield wielding Elite. Kevin set up a detonation charge as he ran away from the jammers before an explosion destroyed the signal jammers.

"Shield's down."

"Jammers are down." Kevin opened up his comm link to contact Command. "Infinity, this is Crimson. Do you read?"

"Crimson, there you are! Looks like we finally reached you." Palmer said. "Good work pulling Mountain out of the fire."

"Couldn't have done it on our own, Commander."

"As long as you're there, Crimson, you can help Mountain complete their mission." Palmer ordered. "Infinity science wants a look inside one of those towers. Get those shields offline while I'll go round up our resident signal expert."

Crimson and Mountain advanced at the tower set up via waypoint. They took defensive positions as they observed the perimeter before Zurenia and Macrae advanced ahead before Crimson. Crimson kept their fingers on the trigger as they tread carefully with the utmost caution, unsure of what they would encounter. Just then, they heard a sound as they quickly look to see a plasma mortar hit both Macrae and Zurenia. Macrae was wounded while Zurenia managed to find cover from the blast but before he retaliated, he was stabbed with an energy sword from behind. He gurgled as he looked down to see an energy sword pierce through his chest as the attacker was an Elite zealot. The zealot tossed Zurenia's body aside while Macrae attempted to aim his weapon at the zealot. Unfortunately for him, he never got the chance as he was hit by plasma fire and died instantly. The zealot snarled at Crimson and roared as some of the Covenant force in the tower advanced on Crimson's position, while the rest stayed to defend the tower.

Kevin put his marksman skills to use as he fired his assault rifle at the incoming Covies, taking them down one-by-one. Jan charged forward, shooting as Benji took out the snipers and Grunts along the way. Nat followed suit tossing a grenade that took out a couple of Grunts and Jackals in the process, dodging a strike from an Elite wielding an energy shield. She lunged her rifle butt across the mandibles which only irritated the Elite as it grabbed Nat by the neck, getting to plunge the energy sword into her chest. Kevin distracted it by taking down its shield before shooting its knee, giving Nat to slam its body to the ground as she killed the Elite with her knife. The Wraith that killed Macrae and Zurenia began heading toward Crimson as Benji manage to kill an Elite on the turret. Kevin and Benji used their thrusters to get out of the incoming mortar fire.

"Someone take care of that Wraith!"

Benji ran directly toward the Wraith as it charged right at him. He leaped away from the Wraith's ramming speed, quickly sneaking behind it to leave a grenade inside and moved away before it exploded. The explosion took out the Wraith as Benji took out his DMR flanking Elites and Grunts as he took cover. Jan ran in to assist as an Elite charged at her with an energy sword. She jumped ahead of it, landing on its back as she stabbed it across the neck twice before energy sword wielding Elite ran to take her life. She quickly glanced and spotted it heading her way as Jan dropped down, causing the Elite she attacked to be impaled by the other's energy sword. She took the dead Elite's energy sword as she swiped her legs against the Elite's, causing it to fall before she plunged the energy sword into its chest.

"Shields are down. Infinity command, this is Crimson. We have casualties." Kevin informed as Nat pull out the dead Mountain squad member's dogtags. "Last two members of Mountain squad are KIA."

"Damn it..." there was a pause before Palmer continued. "Good work, Crimson. Bringing our expert online now. She likes to take charge, but my advice is you ignore as I'm the one signing your paychecks."

"Oracle, patch us through." Jan said to the AI

"Patching you through now. Are you there, Doctor Halsey?"

An elderly voice was heard through the comms. "Yes. Have they reached the location of interest?"

"We're on our way now." Kevin assured

Crimson formed up and headed inside the Forerunner tower. Their eyes observing the entire area through their VISRs.

"What should we be looking for, Doctor?" Benji queried

"Your armor sees enough, Mr. Wong. I'm watching the environment scans."

Kevin asked. "Do you see anything of interest?"

"There. That location. I need a closer look." Halsey said regarding Jan's location as she moved closer to the object in question

"Crimson, get close. But don't touch anything." Palmer ordered

"It is either the source of the signal we're tracking, or it's the destination. I suggest activating it and finding out." Halsey suggested

Jan shrugged. "Here goes nothing."

Jan activated the tower as the tower shook, knocking the fireteam to the ground. They quickly got up as they grabbed their weapons and run out of the tower. They looked to see tower itself fire a flare into the air.

"Interesting." Benji replied in curiosity

Nat gasped. "I'll be damned."

Kevin looked up as well and asked. "Doctor Halsey, what are we looking at here?"

"Oh my! I'll need Roland's cycles for translating, but it looks like navigation data. Communications protocols. This is going to take some time to sort through." she stated

"Crimson, Covenant drop pods inbound!" Oracle warned

"We could go back to Mountain's pelican. There was still some armaments left last time I checked." Nat said to the group

"They also had turrets from the pelican deployed we can use. Just need to bring them online." Benji added

"Good. We can do both." Kevin glanced at Nat. "Nat, you're with me on getting that ordinance from the pelican." he then turned to Jan and Benji. "You two get those turrets online."

Kevin and Nat make a dash for the crashed Pelican, laying down suppressant fire at Grunts, Elites, and two Jackal snipers. They quickly shot the Grunts and Jackal snipers, leaving the Elites to deal with. Nat tossed out a frag at one of the Elites who evaded the fragmentation explosive, giving her the opportunity to shoot it once it's shields went down. She took the others shield once the Elite was in her direction as Kevin decided to run toward, combat knife in hand. He lifted the Elite and slammed it into the ground, stabbing it upon impact. More Elites and a pair of Hunters came in retaliation but were taken down by the operating turrets.

"All turrets are operational." Benji informed his team

The turrets opened fire on the Covenant force, taking them one-by-one while Crimson began mopping up the rest. Nat dealt with the Hunters by hurtling missiles at them, taking out a group of Grunts and two Elites. More Covenant forces were wiped out as Crimson reign fire on the remaining Covenant, shooting them down instantly.

"More Covenant forces inbound, Crimson." Oracle alerted the team

"These guys aren't giving up. It's time we even the odds for a change." Jan interjected

"Eyes on the sky, Crimson!" they heard Palmer say on the comms

Three pelicans approached Valhalla, swooping in and deposit HRUNTING/YGGDRASIL Mark IX Armor Defense systems. Their designated name was one word: Mantis. Crimson took this as an opportunity to hop onboard the mechs and unleash hell on the Covenant forces. It was not just the mechs that were being dropped off, as pelicans dropped out warthogs with army and marine soldiers. ODSTs in mk3 SPI armor were also deployed getting into formation. A pelican flew by as four Spartans landed on their feet. These Spartans wore green and white armor. One of them wore an ODST helmet with a Soldier torso variant while the other wore full Tracker armor. The last two wore full Deadeye and Protector armor. Once they took off their helmets for Crimson to see, as they approached the fireteam. Jan knew the first one to be Jersey Morelli while the second one was an Egyptian woman she recognized as Rani Solbeck. But the other two merely took Crimson by surprise. The third member was a blonde with gray eyes and the last member had dark hair and brown skin.

"Long time no see, guys." the blonde said to them in her Eastern European accent

"Krista Jensen?" Jan said

"Manny Singh." Benji also said shaking his hand. "I never we'd see a pair of Hops. Least of all, you two."

"Hello, mates." Manny said in his native Australian accent

Jan looked at the fireteam and asked. "What are you all doing here?"

Jersey pointed his thumb at the reinforcements behind them. "Command wanted us to accompany these ladies and gentlemen for their rite of passage. There's also a tip that Parg Vol is on his way here after he fled."

"Why is he heading here?" Kevin asked

"We took over his base at the Forerunner structure designated: Fortress. The slippery bastard fled before we could nail him." Manny stated to Crimson. "No doubt he's coming here for retribution with your encounter in the Quarry."

Nat locked and cocked her battle rifle while she had her missile launcher on her shoulder. "Let's give him a warm Spartan welcome." she declared

Fireteam Ivy put their helmets back on, arming themselves for a fight. "How do we want to do this, Crimson?" Rani asked fireteam Crimson

"Forces on the South tower. If all else fails, you fall back at the North tower. This is a fight to the death here. Make sure the Covenant stay dead." Kevin ordered at the Army, Marine, and ODST forces. "Understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!" they all shouted

"Get in defensive positions and get ready!" Krista also ordered. "Spear and Arrow squad, battle stations on the South tower. Hammer, go to the North tower with Hatchet squad. Sword and Shield squad, you're with them." she concluded pointing at Jan and Kevin

Spear and Arrow squad took positions at the South tower, with Hammer and Hatchet squad at the North tower. Benji and Manny serving as a two men sniper team on the middle separated between the two towers. Jersey, Nat, Rani, and Krista manned the Mantises. Jan and Kevin were accompanied by Sword and Shield squad as Covenant drop pods deposited Covenant forces. Covenant Phantoms also flew by dropping reinforcements as the firefight began. Both sides were relentless, fighting to the last at each breath they took. Warthogs drove with machine gun turrets firing, ramming a few Grunts and an Elite in the process. Hunters Swatted two of the Warthogs as a Covenant Phantom dropped down a Wraith, taking out a portion of Spear squad. Nat and the third of Ivy took notice, taking out the Hunters bombarding the survivors with fuel rod explosions. Jackals and Elites charged forth at the survivors before being shot by the two Spartan snipers. Jan and Kevin rush to their aid but spotted after they took out a fraction of Sword.

"We got Banshees! Get to cover!" he ordered Sword squad as they took cover behind a large rock. "Nat, Ivy. Lay the hurt on these bastards."

"We see 'em, Morales." Jersey said as the Mantises opened fire on the incoming Banshees, destroying them

"Leave me one of them, Morelli. I got an idea."

"What- You can't be serious right now."

"Jan, when it comes to flying..." Kevin paused, shooting a Elite in the face after its shields dropped. "I'm always serious."

"I'll cover you."

Kevin spotted a Banshee flying low their way. "No need."

Kevin used his inhuman speed to catch up to the incoming Banshee as he jumped on top of it, the Banshee pilot attempting to shake him off to no avail. He got the Banshee to open allowing him to plunge his knife at the Elite, kicking it off the Banshee as he took control of the fighter. He flew and took fire at the other Banshee, blasting them away as three more broke out of position. They circled around and retaliated, leaving Kevin to evade the incoming fire as Nat and Krista laid down some fire to cover him. Jersey and Rani shot down a Wraith giving Shield squad trouble. Nat and Jersey's Mantises were hit, in critical condition as a Phantom flew by aimed at them. They quickly dispatched after it unloaded Covenant forces, destroying the drop ship. They were now out of ammunition as Nat and Jersey jumped out of their Mantises, escorting survivors from Spear and Arrow squad. Rani and Krista realized were out of ammo and joined Nat lending Benji and Manny support, with Hatchet assisting them. Their mk3 SPI armor the ODSTs wore being advantageous as their shields were protecting from enemy fire.

One of them even shot out their grapple on a Banshee flying near their vicinity as he planted a grenade inside the cockpit and leaped off. It exploded as the ODST rolled over with his shields absorbing the impact of the fall. Another ODST used her grapple to get the jump on an Elite from behind, repeating stabbing it until it was dead. She also ran at faster than human athletic speed to avoid incoming plasma as she tackled a Jackal before snapping its neck with her bare hands. She was hit with needlers and a shot from a plasma pistol as her shields were down, only for Benji to snipe off the Jackals firing at her. Manny suddenly turned behind him and fire at his sniper rifle, disrupting an Elite's cloaking as he killed the Elite with another shot.

"Crimson, Ivy. I am receiving Covenant chatter of a cruiser heading your way." Oracle informed to the two fireteams

"You got to be shitting me." Jersey muttered

"Oracle, we're going to need a bombardment for that cruiser. Which frigate is closest?" Benji asked while snapping a Grunt's neck

"UNSC frigate Deliverance is closest in the near vicinity."

Benji dodged the Elite's slash as he kneed it across the mandibles, firing a few shots off his pistol magnum at its chest and head. "Get into contact with Infinity and tell them we request a bombardment on a Covenant cruiser heading at our location."

"Right away."

"Attention, Fireteams Ivy and Crimson! This is Dagger squad! We just spotted Parg Vol fleeing the area."

Nat destroyed a Ghost operated by an Elite. "This guy is really starting to piss me off." she replied in annoyance

"We need to deal with that cruiser before anything else." Kevin said, fending off some Jackals and Elites with Jersey and Rani

"That problem is already correcting itself, Crimson leader." Oracle stated

"Commander Palmer, this is Captain Shane of the UNSC frigate Deliverance. We're on station." said the Captain of the Deliverance

"Fire at will, Captain." Palmer ordered

The remaining forces look to see the cruiser's beam getting brighter and brighter as it drew near the site. Suddenly, a missile streaked across the sky and struck the cruiser, causing it to port side away from the Valhalla site as a loud crash of explosions could be heard in the distance. The majority of forces cheering as they won the battle alongside the Spartan fireteams. Pelicans flew by, ready to extract them as Ivy carry the wounded and took the tags of the dead. Crimson helped them along the way, before getting onto their pelican and took off.

"Attention, Crimson. I have received information that Parg Vol is not far from here. He is on his way to the designated site: the Gate." Oracle informed as Crimson looked at each other, before nodding in agreement

"Pilot! We're gonna make a little detour. Take us to the Gate." Nat ordered

"Roger that, Crimson." the pilot responded

Crimson headed to the Gate to pay Parg Vol a courtesy visit. None of the Covenant stationed there remained alive. Parg Vol was decapitated, and their defenses were shut down marking Crimson as the victors of the day. This did not mean it would go unnoticed as the Covenant sent phantoms in retaliation to eradicate them for killing one of their leaders. Luckily, Broadswords had taken care of the phantoms and Covenant forces there before Crimson left the Gate and headed back to base. Once they returned to the Infinity, a round of applause was heard after their assassination of Parg Vol. Crimson walked by the crowd, being congratulated on a job well done as they shook some hands. Crimson stopped when they were approached by Captain Tom Lasky and Commander Palmer.

They saluted. "Sir." they said in unison

"Well done, Crimson. On behalf of the UNSC and everyone here in the Infinity, we thank you." he said

"It was nothing, sir. Just doing our jobs." Jan added

"Don't be so modest, Crimson." Palmer said. "You did everyone a favor by removing the UNSC's pain the ass."

"There's something else we have to discuss, Spartan Morales." Lasky said to the Crimson fireteam leader. "But for now, this calls for a celebration for you and your team."

Crimson enjoyed in the festive celebrations over Parg Vol's assassination. They were congratulated by UNSC personnel on the Infinity. Fireteams Ivy, Castle, and Domino offered their congratulations. They receive thanks for Thorne and Grant from Majestic. They also got to meet Fireteam Apex consisted of four Spartans who use to be colony kids from Meridian trained by Owen-B096 when the Covenant invaded the planet. They joined the Spartan IV program in late 2553. After the celebration, Crimson decided to retire for the night by entering the War Games simulator and head to their barrack for rest. However, Kevin went over to discuss a matter with Captain Lasky. Little did he know, he would also meet with Commander Palmer who waited for him to arrive. Lasky played a video recording of fireteam Bull's assignment on Refuge as security for science team Gargarin. It showed the fireteam fending off Prometheans but it revealed to them something else, one thing the three people in the room did not except. Native beings on the shield world before the inevitable death of fireteam Bull from Prometheans, before they turned their attention to the hologram. A holographic projection showed a creature standing five meters tall. Above each hand, they possessed two bony spikes alongside its cyclopsian features and elephant-like feet. screen showing an autopsy of its thick gray skin being dissolved from Forerunner weapons.

"We know that's a Sharquoi from the files we have on them." Kevin said. "But these other three..."

The hologram projection shifted to three unknown species. The first alien corpse had protrusions of bone-like armor extrusions on its arms, legs, and head, safe for an exposed area showing its dead black eye. Its sharp claws and talons wore covered in bone-like armor similar to the rest of its body. The second corpse was chitinous and insectoid with six eyes, tripod arms and legs. They also had two small arms underneath their arms with attachments done on its body. And the last alien resembled the Guta due to its tusks on its face but were at nine feet tall, despite the dead alien's wide size. However, it had fur covering its body except for the arms and legs. There were also stunted horns on its forehead.

"Oracle, what are we dealing with here?" Captain Lasky asked the AI of Fireteam Crimson

"They are a biomechanical species engineered by the Forerunners. Their purpose was to serve as common workers but were later repurposed by their creators to combat the Flood after the Forerunner's first encounter with them." the AI stated. "They realized their workers had a resilience the Flood like the Sharquoi which made the perfect tools. The first race is known as a Pytauri. The second is an insectoid race called the Q'lin. And the last race that resemble a likeness to the Guta are Raloka."

Palmer huffed. "Seems like everything on this shield world's trying to kill us." she muttered under her breath. "Covies and Prometheans weren't bad enough?"

"It is through Covenant communication chatter; I discovered these natives are also a problem for both the Covenant and the Promethean forces here on Requiem." Oracle stated to the three. "They appeared to be indiscriminate with either side. It would appear they have no allegiance whatsoever. We can assume science team Gargarin accidentally released them from captivity on Refuge."

"So now we know these things aren't on anyone's side." Kevin began to stroke his chin as he eyed the weapons the deceased natives had in their possession. "But one thing I don't get is how they were about to get their hands on some of these weapons. Maulers, Spikers, a modified Brute plasma rifle with Forerunner tech that emits a pulse to damage energy shields."

"My theory is that of a possibly. One that would suggest a Covenant ship, perhaps a small fleet arrived here before the Master Chief and the Covenant here." Oracle hypothesized bring up an image of an IFF tag. "Based on the tag information Crimson found on Refuge, they were able to arrive due to a surviving captive from In Amber Clad. This was no doubt how a small Covenant fleet arrived here before any of us. In regard to Forerunner technology, only humans are able to activate it hence our involvement with the Halo rings. These beings created by the Forerunners have been known by many names but there is one word that fits them. In human tongue, they are known by one word... Forsaken."

"Oracle, I want you and Roland to find out what you can." Lasky ordered. "Any intel would be invaluable if we ever come across the Forsaken. I want us to be ready for a fight."

"Of course, Captain Lasky." the AI complied. "We will alert you if we have discovered anything of importance."

"Captain, I request we get all hands from our best and brightest science teams on this. Even Halsey's." Kevin suggested, prompting Palmer and Lasky to glance at each other before turning to him

"That's above your pay grade there, Morales." Palmer said, denying the request. "We can't freely trust the mad scientist. She's a war criminal after all."

"With respect, we need her." Kevin insisted in a firm tone

"You know she was locked up for a reason." she retorted

"I'm well aware of that, Commander. But what is the point of having the smartest brain on the ship if we can't even use her?" Kevin interjected. "With Glassman either dead or captured on Requiem, we're out of options here."

"Your preference has been noted, Spartan Morales. Dismissed."

Elsewhere, on the Infinity, Dr. Halsey is inside a lab piling notes on her table. She also had data regarding fireteam Crimson's mission at Two Giants, or as UNSC personnel called it: Valhalla. There was also the matter of the artifact brought onboard the Infinity before her arrival. A knock on the door was heard from behind her.

"I am rather risky, if you don't mind..." she trailed to see a Spartan-IV in crimson armor with a hooded AI shown held in hand

"Doctor Halsey. Mind if we talk?" the AI said to the woman who created the Spartan IIs