"Combat teams Sierra through Victor, prepare for evac."
When he lifted his finger off the intercom button, Captain Jacob Keyes exhaled before looking back to the empty bridge behind him, say for his personal security detail.
That's the last of everyone hopefully.
Just need the all clear from Silva and his ODST's before I…
Well, if Chief and Cortana have made it out, I know I'm going to get an earful from her.
He chuckled to himself.

"Captain, are you ready to head out yet?"
One of his men called over, glancing at the Cap tain while his rifle remained trained onto their exit.
A second later the man quickly added.
"Sir."

Keyes could clearly tell he was on edge, even though the path from the bridge to the lifeboat was the only one they were able to traverse.
That still didn't prevent primeval survival instincts toying with the idea there could be a chance a random Covenant boarding party successfully forced their way in.
He had floated the idea to prevent such breaches by having all other entry points sealed shut or have the surrounding corridors leading to the bridge vented of atmosphere, but that would take too long and require many more additional hands, something he was strongly against.
He was short for time and needed everyone off this ship to survive if they stood a chance, those who remained by his side included.

"Not quite yet son, just hold your horses, we've still got troopers aboard. But not for long."
Keyes answered reassuringly before reaching for his earpiece.

Meanwhile within the Autumn's engine room.

Major Antonio Silva's eye's surveyed the sight before him one last time as he heard the boots of the remaining men and women he led heading straight for their intended exits off of the Autumn.
He felt nothing but pride for them as they had been able to fend off waves of Covenant from gaining access to the engine room.
So much so, their corpses provided additional cover for even more swaths of Covenant dumb enough to even think they could get past his defenses…
And so generously donated themselves to the cause.
With luck, they'll provide enough of an obstacle so that they can't tamper with the reactor.
I just hope we've bought enough time for the Captain-

"What's your status Major?" His thoughts were then cut off as heard the illustrious leader himself through his earpiece.

And speaking of which.
"Status is green sir, my troopers are moving out and headin' for the drop pods."

"Excellent, give me a call sign when the last pod is away." The Captain told him.

"I'll make sure that last pod away is my very own sir."

"Excellent. Oh and Silva."

"Yes sir?"

"Give 'em hell." Keyes ordered with strong resolution.

"It's what I do best sir."
Silva answered as he took one final look, before he too vacated the engine room.

By the time he made it to the aptly named hell's waiting room, all but one of the Human Entry Vehicles remained.

"I thought I told you troopers to get going!"
He yelled in the empty section, just as a means to psych himself up before climbing into his pod and strapping himself in.
After fastening gear, guns and ammo, he slipped his helmet on before touching his earpiece once again.
"Captain, this is Silva. I've made it to my drop pod and will begin my descent."

"Copy that Major, and if I don't make it… I can count on you to take point."

"Affirmative."

"Captain Keyes, signing off."

Silva took one last large breath of air before getting ready to seal his pod's hatch.
"Goodbye Autumn, hello to anywhere else but here!"

And with that, the hatch closed, the alarms whirled to life before the familiar sound every trooper heard before they lived by their title.

Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Boop.

The clamps released and the final drop pod was sent away.
With some engineering and a lot of luck, it would land relatively intact.
Just like it did the dozen or so time's I've done before.
SIlva thought to himself.

Whilst aboard the Seeker of Truth.

Thel stared at the hologram of the vessel as it continued to receive blow after blow, both by plasma lances as well as the leeches clamping onto the structure.
Yet it still held on.
However the sight of the small blips that were the escape pods were now decreasing. It was a sign that either those that were still aboard trying to flee had been killed before they could make it, or that there were no more escape pods left and the crew had evacuated.
His nerves were not at ease as he noted even smaller blips appear to be rapidly launched from the human ship.
He needn't even consider what it was, knowing full well that their imps, though could be easily dealt with compared to one of the demons, they still put up a fight, and they often entered the battlefield in similar method to the Covenants own special forces, a single occupant drop pod, though the human design being larger and inferior.

Stewardship was annoyingly lamented by the news, but didn't say much else.
However, Thel's own inclination for combat told him something wasn't right.

Back aboard the Autumn

"Alrighty then, that's everyone."
Keyes muttered to himself as he tapped in several commands into the console of the Autumn's flight controls.

"Sir?" The same marine asked in confusion, watching as Keyes strolled away from the main console, descending to one of the two chairs situated at the very front of the bridge before seating himself.

"I hate to do this but… " Keyes paused as he placed one hand on one of the manual controls and the other hovered over the console which displayed the word 'override'.
"I'm going to need you and the others to hold on to something."

The marines' mouth faltered, lost for words, until it clicked, his hand immediately went for his own earpiece, calling out to the rest of the security guards that kept tabs on the very last escape pod designated solely for them.
"Guys, Captain's giving us orders to hold onto something, I think you can guess what's about to happen."

"HANG ON!"
Keyes hollered one last time as he engaged manual override of the Autumn's flight controls, and pushed them as physically far as they would go.
And with it, the ship lurched as the thrusters went from a gradual steady stream to generating a long set of tails of blue gasses several metres in length.

Aboard the Seeker of Truth

Thel could only watch as the holotable displayed the human ship no longer appearing to idly move at a standstill, no the readings given off by the vessel suggested it was engaging to maneuver… directly towards the ring.
It truly was a spectacle to behold for those in the fleet that were able to bear witness.
For Thel however, one thing coursed through his mind as he turned to his crew and signalled for the rest of the fleet to obey the next set of commands.
"Open fire on the vessel!"

"DISREGARD THAT ORDER AT ONCE!"
Stewardship sharply protested. His words tragically came too late, as volleys of plasma torpedoes fired from several cruisers in the last ditch attempt to halt the ship.
Now faced with a moving target, one or two torpedoes failed to even graze the vessel and continued their path.
"YOU WILL DEFILE THE SACRED RING!"

Even with such a beating already taken, the Autumn's structural integrity held.
It was that very reason why the ship had been chosen to be outfitted with the most advanced tech the UNSC had, but even then, Keyes knew she wasn't quite cut out for such a brute-force re-entry.
He was sure that any Covenant fighters that were roaming directly in front of the Autumn's path would have ended up like bugs on a windshield.
Guess the bastards get what's coming to them.
His only thoughts were that of speculation as the ring drew nearer.
Since the moment they dropped out of slipspace and caught sight of the ring, everything told him the Covenant had some regard for the megastructure.
They had every opportunity to destroy the ship, but they didn't.
Once people were off the ship, the lifeboats were being assaulted before they could make it a hundred meters from the airlock.

It's clear they don't want us anywhere near the ring.
Years of command told him there was only one way he'd effectively ensure the safety of the remaining evacuees.
Now with such a large target heading for the ring, surely the Autumn would provide greater attention for the Covenant than the lifeboats as well as the even smaller drop pods.
If at least one of Cortana's flight paths would allow for a landing (irrelevant of how safe it was) where the Autumn made it in one piece, the survivors had the necessary supplies to mount some sort of defence and maybe even a counter attack.
If we're going to be here a while, we'll need them.

For a few seconds, the entire front section of the Autumn was engulfed in fire as its titanium-A alloy did its best to dissipate the heat of re-entry as the black of space shifted to a familiar sky blue.
Once the torrent of flame was over, he could see nothing but green.
The ship was still coming in too fast, but at least now he could hand the controls back to the autopilot.
Keyes then pushed himself out of the chair, managing to keep his footing as the turbulence battered the ship, the marine he spoke with kept pace like a shadow as the pair made a dash for their exit.

"Right, sorry I've kept you all waiting as well as probably made half of you lose whatever you last ate, but I think it's high time we get off the Autumn.
What do you say?"
He jokingly asked while looking between the men with him.

"Sir yes sir." They simply answered in unison.

With that, half of the marines entered the lifeboat followed by Keyes and finally the remaining men climbed in shortly after, the airlock shutting behind them, and with a burst of thrust, the final lifeboat was sent away.
The only living things still aboard could only pray to their gods that, when the vessel they rode in on eventually touched down, the landing itself would result in a quick and painless death.
Otherwise, it was gonna hurt like one hell of a bitch.

Silence, that's all there was.
The vacuum of space was known for that property.
It also permeated not only within the control room of the Seeker of Truth, but the many sections of the fleet where they were able to witness the display… the Human ship successfully blazed through the blockade and had now entered the protected zone of the sacred ring and was on a direct course to land on its surface.
None dared move a muscle or flinch, some felt burning anger, others great sorrow, but none could culminate in the emotions Thel Vadumee experienced.

"What have you done?" The dismayed ire from the Prophet of Stewardship's words were slowly and effortlessly uttered.

Thel remained speechless, still looking at the holotable, the display showing the possible location on the rings surface where the human's ship may land.
Even as his focus was intent on the table, his fists balled up, he was sure the rest of his crew mates could hear the slight cracking of his knuckles, they were clenching that hard.

"What have you done!"
Stewardship reiterated, slamming his own fist into the armrest of his gravity throne.
"Do you have any idea what you have done!
The humans will surely bring strife upon the pristine beauty of the sacred ring.
All because of your actions."
He paused for a brief moment.

"You have failed both to your kin, and by the title of Supreme Commander."
The crew affixed their attention to the holy leader, as not one of them could ever recall seeing him in this angered state before.
"What have you to say for yourself?"

Thel gritted his mandibles together, his eyes narrowing before spinning around to meet with the Holy leader.
"I failed…!"
He bellowed in defiance with a deafening roar.
As he went to take a step forward, Stewardship's honour guards, who had stayed at ease behind the prophet, moved with swift haste to shield the holy leader, weapons brandished at the Supreme Commander.

Thel didn't relent, his eyes still locked with Stewardship as he pointed a finger at him.
"I have done everything you have asked of me while you took control of my fleet.
It is you, not me that has caused many a life to be squandered by boarding the ship.
You allowed the humans the chance to fire off several volley's at us from their most powerful weapon.
It was your idea to create a blockade that allowed that weapon of theirs the ability to destroy four of the cruisers that were under my command!

A feat that could only have been achieved by the humans successfully with their MAC if, and only if they are able to hit a target that is relatively stationary, or as demonstrated by your tactical abilities, to have my cruisers lined up!

Had I not intervened, the Truth and Reconciliation would have joined them.
Had the ships been ordered to move and attack, then and only then, could the humans have been stopped on their path towards the sacred ring!"
Thel took a second to look to his crew, heavily exhaling before returning to the Prophet.
"The blame for what has happened here falls upon you alone… Holy one."

Stewardship slightly lowered his head, his eyes not once leaving Thel as he raised a hand to silently signal his honour guards to stand down.
How tiresome. Such a high ranking Sangheili forgetting to realise his place in the hierarchical order. Perhaps he lacks faith in the gods and only seeks conquest, like the rest of his species.
He thought to himself.

As he was about to open his mouth to speak, one of the crewmates broke the tense silence.
"Noble Prophet."
Both leaders violently glanced over to him, the honour guards shifting their positions on instinct.
Despite the sense of accidental execution for even speaking aloud, the major proceeded.
"I'm receiving a message from the Ascendant Justice."

In that instant, Stewardship's eyes softened slightly, a sly smile crept up as he gradually glanced back to Thel, addressing the crewmate while holding his stare.
"Oh, and what does the Ascendant Justice have to report?"

The crewmate answered with hesitancy.
"I do not understand, they simply tell me to report to you they have… located the Silent Cartographer?
They then add that, whilst they cannot glean information of the whereabouts of the Control Room, they have, however, been able to ascertain, if their translations are correct; the location of a cache that holds a great destruction upon the galaxy."

Stewardship nodded to himself before beckoning his honour guards to follow as he moved his gravity throne to leave.
"Is that so?
Well then, inform them I shall return to the Ascendant Justice to go over the translations personally, any further details they obtain from their findings are to be directly relayed to my ship."
He said as his escort started to walk him out of the control room.

"What was the meaning of that transmission?"
He heard the Supreme Commander's voice from behind him ask but not before another heavy step was taken.
"What did he mean by the Cartographer?"

Stewardship casually inhaled as he spun his throne to face Thel, all the while his devious expression remained as he spoke.
"Well commander, had the human's arrival not been so prompt, I would have informed you that your expediency was a long one… twenty days to be exact."

Any anger permeating his body at that moment, dissolved away by those words as Thel stared in abject shock, the crew matching their leader with similar stunned features and feelings of confusion.
How could that be possible?
Covenant cruisers were some five hundred times faster than the fastest human ships, yet somehow… Twenty days were unaccounted for.

Stewardship went on.
"I was almost certain you and your entire crew had somehow perished along the journey from the human planet, or even before the jump into slipspace the Seeker of Truth had, by some odd chance, met the same fate as The Long Night of Solace.

So, in lieu of your absence, I had, as I informed you once I arrived here, enacted the Holy Reclamation Order.
Part of that order requires the immediate exploration of the rings' surface.
We commenced the initial expeditions in a matter of hours after exiting slipspace.

In that time we had also conducted many scans of the ring and found several points of interest, and as such, established temporary bases or used existing structures for more desirable fortifications.

The time during your absence was well spent, and we have achieved a strong foothold, so much so, I required as many troops to safeguard many key locations, the Cartographer being one, and if the gods smile on us, Halo's control room.
As for those four cruisers that fell to the humans, they were only half staffed…
Now if you are through with your little inquest of what I've achieved, I shall return to the Ascendant Justice."

With that, Stewardship turned his gravity throne and slowly moved to leave, Thel's voice once again coming from behind.
"What about the humans?
What shall be done to purge them from this ring?"

The holy leader stopped once again, his honour guards looking back, this time however he did not bother to face Thel while giving him his orders.
"I will undertake the continuation of uncovering the secrets of the ring, and that will require most of the fleet for that task…
But you are correct, the humans need to be dealt with.
I will grant you full command of the entire crew aboard the Truth and Reconciliation, afterall, it was your orders of cowardice that warranted the ship to withdraw in the first place."
Stewardship didn't need to turn to know Thel was burning with rage, but before leaving added.
"Perhaps, if you can amass something in the way of progress, maybe, just maybe, you may have use of any resources and command any number of troops that aren't being directly allocated to the ring's exploration."

For a short while, the control room was left in a state of pure stillness, Thel staring blankly at the exit Stewardship had departed from.
"Send a transmission to shipmaster 'Ravamee', dispatch all aerial vehicles docked within the hangars of the Truth and Reconciliation so as to begin scouting the surface for any surviving humans."
He ordered in a vexed tone, leisurely traipsing to the exit, coming to a halt and glancing back to his crew before leaving altogether.
"If I am needed urgently, I will be in my private chambers."

From the moment his pod entered the ring's atmosphere, Silva stayed as rigid as possible, even whilst the inside compartment was slowly broiling him alive, shortly after the material that made up the heat shielding burned away.
He could say for certain this would have to be his most unique landing he'd ever had the pleasure of doing, the fact it felt no different to any other drop was somewhat ironically comforting in some small way.
Those thoughts were then put aside as his pod chimed to life as the sensors indicated the parachute had automatically deployed to aid in the deceleration, but despite that, Silva almost received whiplash as the pod made a tremendous impact as it touched down.

Luckily for him, his HEV landed intact, sitting upright on a relatively flat section of terrain.
Who knows how many of my troopers will get the same treatment?
A second later, there came a short hiss as the hatch creaked open before the explosive bolts activated, tossing said hatch a few meters in front of him.

After fiddling with the harness, Silva jumped out of the pod, retrieving his side arm and assault rifle before making a break for a nearby cluster of boulders that would provide adequate shelter so he could get his bearings.
Glancing down at his rifle, he noticed that the inbuilt compass needle on the ammo counter pointed westward and as his head followed that same direction, he could see the nearby gas giant shining through.
Guess the planet's strong magnetic field provided as good as a reference could get.
That was some small bit of good news at least.

He didn't contemplate for long, several sonic booms filled the air, and as he stared upwards, his eyes caught sight of a dozen or so lifeboats soaring overhead, then disappearing just as quickly.
The major was left smirking to himself from behind his visor.
Despite being the last ones off, he and his troopers still managed to touch down first.
They had to, the next order of business-

"Major Silva, this is Wellsley."
Silva jumped at the sudden voice which echoed in his head, or more accurately from the inbuilt speakers in his helmet.

He calmed his nerves quickly before answering.
"Ahm, Wellsley, completely forgot you took a piggy back ride with me.
I've gotta say, you picked a fine time to speak up."

"My apologies for not saying anything sooner."
The dumb AI based on the Duke of Wellington from the early nineteenth century replied before continuing.
However, whilst making your descent, I've been analysing the topography of the artificial construct and have located a suitable position by which we can establish a permanent base of operation.
It would appear to be a butte, the formation provides a clear view of all surroundings.
And just to add, although I'm speculating, it seems to have a built structure that seems to dig into the lower section of the natural formation."

"Well what's the downside?" Silva asked, already getting the feeling it wouldn't be a cakewalk to get there.
Free real estate like that doesn't come without some sort of caveat.

"The Covenant already have control over the area, and as such is heavily guarded."

"Figures as much."
Silva muttered to himself while still scanning for any possible hostiles.

Wellsley mentally checked off establishing a base off his list as he moved to the next critical intel on his itinerary.
"In other news, it would seem Cortana made it off the Autumn before we did, and my guess is that she is aboard one of the lifeboats we saw some few minutes ago."

"That is good news at least."
Silva responded earnestly.
Having both AI's would prove a greater chance at hitting the Covenant harder with them to assist in tactical data.

"It would only be the most likely case, the Master Chief is safeguarding her after all."
Wellesley may not have been as advanced in comparison to Cortana. But, he still was able to understand that surely the news that one of the few Spartans on the Pillar of Autumn had made it out alive would elicit something of a positive reaction from the commanding officer.
Silva, however, said nothing, still intent on scanning his surroundings.

"Sir?" Wellesley eventually asked.

"How many of the troopers survived?"
Silva's authoritative voice questioned, his hands gripping the rifle a little more tightly.

"Straight to business I see.
From the total two hundred personnel that make up the battalion, I detect approximately one hundred and sixty two, of course those numbers could be off with such limited scans."

As if the previous conversation never happened, Silva replied with a more devoted tone.
"Well then let's see if we can group up and make it to that butte."

"I took the liberty of relaying the information to all personnel that make up your battalion sir."

"As much as I appreciate it, leave the orders to me, Wellsley."

"As you wish, I'll mark the location on your visor."

"Thank you, now let's head out and see if we can't shake things up in that humble little abode."
With that, Silva made his way in the direction of both the newly designated Alpha Base and hopefully reunite with his teams.

It was only six or so minutes for the group of eight in the lifeboat to reach the surface, but once entering the ring's atmosphere, time for the descent felt long and drawn out.
The girls immediately held onto their harnesses for dear life the moment the craft started to shudder, creak and groan under the shear stresses exerted on all sides.
What was a dimly lit capsule devoid of sound, had now been filled with the noise of loud roaring accompanied by bright orange light, allowing everyone to see just how terrified the person opposite them was.

Guess this is how the clothes in the tumble drier feel.
Yang thought to herself as she clung onto her harness.

And yet, while it seemed they were going to burn up before ever reaching solid ground, the bumblebee's pilot remained composed.
She was in her element, and lucky for those joining her for the ride, she knew her machine like the back of her hand.
She was trained for low to no visibility flights, and currently the ring's weather was just peachy.
All she needed to do was watch the readings and wait it out.
Just a few more seconds…
She had to get it just right.
Too soon, she'd risk expending the fuel, which might not be enough to soften the landing.
Too late… well, it doesn't take an Einstein to figure it out, hell, even one of the Pelican pilots could work out the consequences of a delayed reaction…

Click.
That was the signal.
Instantly, her heart began to race, springing into action as her hands danced on the controls to ensure they'd all make it out of this in one piece.

"Engaging retro rockets now!"
She hollered, either because it benefited the others knowing she was actually trying to land the craft, or it simply was instincts telling herself to vocalise her actions as she carried them out.
There came a rumble, as the passing air currents were then replaced by a roar of said retro rockets from the bow, the craft noticeably shuddering twice as much as before.

The pilot stared at the readings as she placed a hand onto another switch.
The fact the instruments remained quiet and not flashing in my face is a good sign, or it could be that particular feature is broken.
"Okay… Airbrakes deploying in three... two… one."

The others listened once again, this time the sound coming from the rear and as the girls looked, a large metallic parachute unfolded before rapidly opening up fully.
It put them at some ease, feeling like the craft was in fact slowing down to a degree, they felt even greater comfort as they heard the pilot from the front.

"Hold tight people, touching down in less than two minutes."
With those words working their magic, time appeared to return to its normal pace, the terrain below gradually creeping closer and closer into view.
And, as those exact two minutes elapsed, the occupants were jerked sideways in their seats as the craft landed belly side down with a medium thud, lightly skimming along the grassy surface for a second or two before becoming embedded into the ground as it came to a complete stop.

Yang stirred and groaned, feeling like she had finished an intense game of dodgem cars, shaking her head as her eyes tried to focus.
Upon seeing clearly, her attention immediately moved to her younger sister, and she too mimicked the blonde's actions in her seat.
Safe if not a little more disorientated.
Yang quietly let out a breath she hadn't realised she held.

The sound of the others coming to followed shortly after, providing a greater sense of relief, afterwhich the pilot's concerned voice came from the front of the lifeboat.
"Roll call. Everybody alright back there?"

Kappus shifted in his seat as he wrestled with the buckle of his harness.
"Yeah, no worries back here."
Once he felt the buckle release, he added.
"No thanks to your hot flying."

"Always a pleasure when you fly with Emmerson-air."
She happily scoffed without turning back to face him.
"Where it's nothing but a first class trip all the way down."

Soon all occupants in the craft unfastened their restraints before moving in their seats in order to both get feeling back in their extremities as well as making sure nothing was broken or any other serious injuries were sustained upon landing.

Kappus swivelled where he sat, addressing the rest of the group.
"Alright, anyone injured or unable to fight?"
The others looked between one another before shaking their heads, seeing this, he went on.
"Then in that case, we need to get moving.
Chances are the Covenant have already triangulated our escape pod's position and are mobilizing a scouting party to finish off anyone who survived the landing.
So, unless you want to greet them with the utmost courtesy as humanly possible, grab whatever you can salvage from the lifeboat and let's get out of here while we've got the chance to breathe."

Ruby, seeing that she was closest to the rear of the lifeboat, moved to stand for the door release, however, she felt a hand rest on her shoulder.
She turned, expecting to see her sister before telling her she was fine, but instead found herself looking up at Kappus.
"Bisenti and I will take point, we'll go out first to check the coast is clear, then you four follow.
Okay?"

He could already tell the young teen was about to protest, so it felt quite refreshing that he needn't bother to go back and forth with her, as she simply nodded in response.
He knew what he was doing, and she did as well.

With that, Kappus and Bisenti moved to the rear of the lifeboat, flicking the safety's of their rifles off before nodding in confirmation.
Bisenti pulled on the release mechanism for the door to slide open, then stepped out of the craft, Kappus following right behind him.

The others watched from their seats as the two men walked several meters away.
From where the girls sat, their limited view allowed only the sight of a pair of marines and the ground beneath their boots.
They watched as the men scanned the surrounding area with their rifles, after a few seconds, Bisenti lifted his head, looked upwards before lowering his rifle and tapped Kappus on the arm, all the while still looking up.
Kappus turned to his colleague, ready to fight, but as he followed where Bisenti looked, he too seemed to bring his weapon to his side.

"Should we be worried about what got those two's attention?"
Yang asked without looking back at the others.

"Maybe we need to go out and help them?" Ruby responded wearily.

"Not a bad idea, plus, beats being cooped up here for however long until those two decide to let us know it's safe to come out."

The girls looked back to the remaining occupants for any signs of objection, and as no one shook their heads, they raised their salvaged alien weapons and exited the lifeboat vigilantly one by one.
Ruby filed out first, eyes not once leaving the sight of the two men in case she needed to advance with her speed the second they were attacked.
Weiss on edge, images of a squadron of those fighters soaring overhead flashed in her mind.
Blake, her ears peaked up listening for the slightest disturbance that wasn't caused by their own footsteps treading on the disturbed soil.
Yang covered the rear, both for her teammates and potentially the open door of the lifeboat.
However, as they closed in on Kappus and Bisenti, the warmth from the rays of the sun was enough for them to survey the area, and as they did, that's when they saw it… they too had become enamoured.

While making the journey from the ship the marines referred to as The Autumn, to the surface they stood on, they knew what they had seen sitting in the blackness of space, and could imagine what a ring shaped structure might look like once they landed onto it.
Yet, it was another thing to be seeing it close up and in person.
For one, if you were to look along the horizon, the scenery itself was almost indistinguishable from home, trees dotting the landscape which grew atop a grassy carpet blanketing the ground, it could have been easily mistaken for one of Vale's forests.

Going beyond the horizon, that was where the similarities ended, and the true spectacle was something else to behold entirely.

From where they stood, the further they gazed on the land beneath them, the smaller it got. Yet, instead of disappearing from sight as it reached beyond the typical horizon, the terrain stretched upwards, curving past the height of the horizon, above the clouds and into the sky.
It was hard for them to resist the urge to follow the entire stretch of the ring without taking your eyes off it, which could not be said for the youngest girl present.
Ruby followed the length of the ring as it arced upwards, almost losing her footing as she pulled back without turning around to see the ring coming back downwards and making the ground below them.

"It's safe, you guys can come out."
Yang called back to the lifeboat, remembering they weren't the only ones who wanted to know why Bisenti and Kappus didn't say anything.

Hosky flicked the safety of his rifle off as he ambled through the small corridor and out of the escape pod, Fitzgerald was in the process of doing the same, until he heard the bumblebee pilot from behind as she climbed out of her chair.
"Hey Fitz?"

"Yeah Emerson?" He calmly said while looking back at her.

"Where'd you even find these four anyway?" She asked, leaning in to whisper.

Fitzgerald's fingers thrummed on the grip of his rifle as he thought of a response.
"Bit of a story, we just kinda ran into them.
And as to where they came from before that?
Well… we're still trying to work that out too."
He merely answered as he stepped out of the bumblebee.

Still somewhat confused, Emerson chose not to press the question further, instead nodding silently to herself as she grabbed the emergency supplies and her pistol from under her seat.
She'd have plenty of time to find out about their 'interesting' allies once they were safe and as far away from her lifeboat as possible.

And as the remaining pair joined up with the rest of their cohort, Emerson was stunned whistling at the impressive scene.
"Well would ya look at that, ain't that a sight.. I guess the only thing that could possibly make this better would be a choir of angels to accompany the view."

The group then snapped out of their awestruck trance by Kappus clearing his throat before speaking.
"I know we have a view of something spectacular, the likes of which we all have never seen before in our lives.
Chances are we're gonna be here a while.
So we've got plenty of time to soak it up later.
Right now however, grab what we can and let's get out of here.

On the Seeker of Truth

A Sangheili with the rank of Ultra strolled through the corridors with one thing on his mind, his boots clattering with each step.
Those of his kin he passed stepped aside and bowed their heads in respect, whereas the Unggoy either moved out of fear, or were too taken aback to comprehend the interaction, bumbling about instead of giving him right of way.
It mattered not what obstructed him, either way, he knew something was off, even before he stepped through the doors of the control room.

He observed many a hand working, yet lacked the most crucial of instruments to any fleet's crew.
"Where is Supreme Commander Vadamee?"
He asked, his voice without conviction, but the weight of his authority was clear to all present.

"The Supreme Commander took leave to his quarters, requesting not to be disturbed unless only by great matters of importance."
One of the closest crew members responded after turning his head to face him.

Thel had occupied his chambers for what felt like a few minutes before he heard the chime of his door as the rim around it flashed red, signalling to whoever was on the other side they had no access beyond that point.

"Who is it?"
Thel called out from where he sat.
Normally he would have simply allowed passage, or at the very least, walked up to the door as opposed to yelling from where he was like some juvenile.
But given the mood he was currently in, he didn't care how he behaved in the privacy of his chambers.
It was expected of him to maintain order, but even the greatest among them needed some time to themselves, whether to think, rest or in Thel's case, just to be alone.

"It is only I."
The voice that greeted him on the other side of his doors was one belonging to a Sangheili of great loyalty.

Thel sighed as he got up and moved to the control panel, pressing several symbols on the holographic display to grant the newcomer access.
A second or two later, the light around the doors shifted from red to white, before flickering and chiming open.

The two warriors stood eye to eye assessing one another before Thel spoke.
"Rtas, why do you seek my counsel?"
The green eyed Ultra slightly tilted his head, his own mind going over the thoughts as to why he was here, ultimately one reason triumphed over the others, deeming itself the most important.
"I did not come for your counsel. I simply wish to check on you, old friend."

Thel somewhat scoffed at the remake, though his eyes did not hide the smallest hints of gratitude as he turned back to his quarters, Rtas crossing the doorway to follow, just standing in front of them after they shut behind him.

He watched with arms folded as Thel began to slowly pace back and forth, his mind obviously clouded by the mundane action.
"What is troubling you?"

"You are aware of what has taken part in the last hour or so since we dropped out of slipspace."
Thel answered, resuming his pacing afterwards.

"Indeed, in fact, I doubt even the talk amongst the lesser races haven't been about the discovery of the Holy Ring."
Rtas responded, glancing over to the pristine alta in the corner of the room, which housed a miniature hologram of several iconographies of the Covenant faith, Halo being the largest on display.
He as well as a handful of others, were well aware that Thel did not actively practice his faith beyond that which was expected in public.
He was a leader, tactician and warrior first and foremost.
Leading in servitude of the Prophets was part of his way of carrying his devotion to the Covenant, rather than to the gods by which they prayed to.

"And what about the attack on the fleeing humans?"
Thel drawled, craning his neck to look over to Rtas, who appeared to think over the question before answering.

"Words have been uttered of the event.
Though this is not the first time they have slipped through our grasp… and even as they set foot on the ring, we will gladly follow them down and quell every last one of them to ensure it remains untouched."

"The Prophet of Stewardship doesn't hold himself accountable for his failures, he allowed it to happen…"

"And what if it were the Prophet of Regret who conducted those actions instead?
Would you still be defiant in what you knew to be reckless?"

Thel said nothing, instead continuing to pace the room, though he finally answered.
"The Prophet of Regret earnt my trust to lead, it is his ability to lead that allowed him the title of Hierarch, which he carries with honour. Stewardship is not even a fraction of Regret.
You know this to be true as much as I do."

Rtas simply nodded.
"So why exactly are you here?"
He then added after the moment passed.

"Can I not be allowed to vent frustration on my own?"

"You can, but as we have established, the humans persist, and you should be commanding all that we have here to exterminate them. Once and for all."

"Do you not think I would not have done that already if I could!"
Thel snapped as he whipped around, before taking a second, sighing and returning back to pacing.

"I cannot. I have been confined to lead a handful of troops, the Truth and Reconciliation and its crew being that asset under my command.
The Holy Reclamation order imposes Stewardship's control over the rest of my fleet as they continue to search the ring, inside and out.

Rtas, who had been nodding up until this point, halted, his mind going over what he had just heard.
Continue… that can't be right?
He then slowly lifted his head to look at the Supreme Commander, who watched as he connected the dots.
"What do you mean by 'continue'?"

"Our journey, in the pursuit of the humans.
Do you remember the Seeker of Truth making an early exit from slipspace?"

"One simply cannot ignore the transition from slipspace to regular space.
So to answer your question, yes, I can recall the moment."

"Rtas, when we left the unknown system to arrive here, the Prophet of Stewardship told me that our absence from the rest of the fleet lasted nearly as long as it took for the humans to arrive.
Twenty days.
In that time, the Holy Reclamation order as well as our extended travel through slipspace has allowed the Prophet the free rein he has desired to do what he pleases in order to learn from the ring."

For the first time since he arrived to consult Thel, Rtas stood in confusion, his own voice heightening as Thel did minutes ago.
"But surely the humans would be of greater concern than the continued exploration?
And if the Prophet already has troops on the surface of the ring, pulling them away to deal with the humans while they are weak, scattered and ill equipped would prove to be ideal for us to strike.
The longer we remain idle, they have the time to regroup, mobilize and form some resistance."

"You are correct about that."
Thel simply answered.

"What do you plan to do about it?"
Rtas questioned, his fists slightly clenched.

"What can I do?
The Prophet has a firm hold of my troops."

Rtas thought for a minute, before answering.
"His phantom is still in transit between vessels, is it not?"

"It is, but what does that have to do with anything we've discussed?"

"While he is unable to communicate orders to the rest of the fleet aboard his phantom, you could order non- essential units exploring the ring that are relatively close to where the humans will land.
Send out any reconnaissance teams aboard the Truth and Reconciliation and then have those under Stewardship's command at the ready to provide support to those teams if need be.
You won't be going against Stewardship, but at the same time, you also will be able to fight back against the humans with more force than you have been initially granted.
You know as much as I do that if the rest of the fleet were aware of the situation, they would rather be allowed to explore the holy ring once the humans have been dealt with."

"It's times like these I am reminded why the rank of Ultra is bestowed upon you."
As Thel moved for the door, Rtas placed a hand on his shoulder, looking him in the eye as he spoke.

"Before we return to the control room, I must ask of you two questions."

"And what might they be?"

"You mentioned before how we exited slipspace early.
The time we had spent whilst in between trips through slipspace, what exactly happened?
I have heard rumors of a scouting party being deployed to a nearby planet after the ship indicated some activity.
Only for that scouting party to then come across what has been described as beasts of pure darkness."

"Those rumors are quite true, you see, because of the humans returning fire on us as they fled, the damage they-"
Thel's words suddenly became caught in his throat as it hit him.
Oh I have been foolish.
How could I have not seen this sooner?
The Prophet's meddling, the human vessel passing undisturbed onto the ring, all things that had made me forget…
There had been signs, it only made sense-

"What is it?"
Rtas' voice snapped Thel from his thoughts.

"You were aware of the major sweep I ordered to be carried out not only in every section of the Seeker of Truth, but also within each cruiser of the entire fleet?"

"I conducted the sweep myself. And that was actually going to be my second question."
Rtas answered, though he had to admit, a little odd overseeing the hunt and destroy for what appeared to be an impossible target, though not improbable scenario; humans aboard the cruiser.
But he still followed his commander's order nonetheless.

"One thing has plagued my mind. But with what you have asked about, our brief sojourn before arriving here and talks about the planet we observed…
I think I now know why."

"You know why?
'Why' what exactly?"
Rtas questioned, still somewhat lost by his leader's words.

"Four young human females, unlike any we have ever encountered before, were spotted while attempting to escape by means of one of our leeches.
Unfortunately they managed to evade capture and successfully disembark unscathed, most likely during the engagement with their vessel .
It was for that reason why I ordered the survey of all sections of our ship as well as the rest, in case more happened to be concealed.
Now I realise.
What if those four were the only ones to be aboard the Seeker of Truth?
All because our ship alone had been separated from the fleet.
What if they were able to arrive here as a result of sneaking onto the same phantom I had sent to scout that planet?"

Silva wasn't much for conversing with artificial intelligences.
Especially one like Wellsley, who had the occasional tendency to behave and act as if it were the second incarnation of the figure it was based off of.
In Wellsley's case, being Arthur Wellsley, meant he sometimes talked of grandiose endeavours he 'personally undertook' as analogies while suggesting battle tactics against the Covenant.
But still, he'd take talk from the AI if it meant getting to his troopers sooner as well as avoid the eventual Covenant searching parties that were most likely en route to each and every last one of their escape pods.
He trekked along the terrain for fifteen or so minutes before it started to incline, he came to rest after reaching the top of the hill.

"So that's our target?"
Silva questioned as he got down on one knee, so as not to be too exposed. His visor zoomed in on the butte, the orange waypoint honing on the natural landmark.

"It is indeed Major Silva. Now, with the odds that we are up against, I feel it only appropriate that the current objective reminds of the time I led the assault on the fortress of Seringapatam."
Wellsley went on, though Silva kept his focus on their soon-to-be command centre.

Though some distance away, Silva was able to make out several distinct objects, standard ground and air vehicles, hell, they had set up their manned anti-personnel turrets. Standard stuff really, but that didn't make it any less of a challenge.
Unfortunately for the Covenant, he liked a challenge, and even worse, so too did everyone of his ODST's.
But the more he looked the more he noted the butte actually appeared to be level with the rest of the surrounding area rather than a free standing formation.
What was even stranger, were the several structures already in place, none of which matched Covenant architecture.

"You weren't there to assault Seringapatam. And if I recall, the real Arthur Wellsley suffered injuries after a failed initial surprise attack.
Silva replied after setting his visor's magnification back to normal, his eye's landing on a new green mark that appeared southwest of the butte.

"What am I looking at here Wellsley?"

"That would be Lieutenant Mckay and her platoon, if their CNI chips are working correctly that is."
Wellsley simply responded.

"Are we able to send a short wave transmission to them from here without alerting our guests on the hill?"
Silva asked while switching his VISR once again to see his men and women highlighted in green to contrast the black surrounding their cover.

"It is a safe order sir, but I recommend you keep it brief."

Silva nodded, his hand going for his earpiece afterwards.
"Mckay, I leave you and the platoon alone for twenty minutes and what do I find, you lot having a leisurely siesta."
From where he was situated, he could see Mckay jolt at the sudden radio chatter before he heard her reply.

"Huh, never thought I'd actually be happy to hear from you again sir, but I'm glad you made it out in one piece."

"The feeling is mutual, Lieutenant."
There was a brief pause, both officers silently paying homage to the ones who weren't as lucky, one way or the other.

"Alright, we can have the chance to be all mushy together once we claim that butte up ahead.
Right now we need a plan of attack."

"Already ahead of you with that sir."
Mckay's voice acknowledged from the other end of Silva's earpiece.
"From where I'm positioned, B and C companies are ready to go, right beside me.
And from where you're situated, if you head eastward, A and D companies report they have a good line of sight of the troops that make up most of the Covenant's defenses."

"Mckay, I like the way you think."
Silva replied, almost too excitedly, his thoughts hard at work as to what his second in charge had in mind.
"Let me guess, we'll form a distraction against their main defenses, while you move from the other side and all parties converge-"

"Leaving no escape for those Covenant bastards, and their fancy toys are ours for the taking."

"Alright people it's time to get to work, Mckay, slowly move your troops up so that once you hear us engage, you can immediately hit them from behind.

"Copy that."

"Radio silence until I group up with A and D company, then we move for the butte.
Silva out."
Once he lifted his hand off his helmet's comms, he directly spoke to Wellsley.
"Manage to find the other companies where Mckay said they were?"

"I have, head due east, I'll mark the location once you get closer."

"Well then Wellsley, strap in, sit back and enjoy the ride."
With that, Silva got back to his feet and began making his way to the rest of the east side companies.

Hello boys, I'm Baaaaaaaaaack...

Anyway references aside, first off, I want to say thank you to Bocazaz 117 and Project 0mega for their concerns, I am fine and well, and I have not forgotten this story.

In fact i've been writing this chapter for a while, originally I thought I would be able to write the whole thing and then split it into two chapters, but at the rate I'm going, it might end up being four in total (ie Chapters 4-8 would reflect the level Halo).
So i've decided to give you this while I continue, considering it is a decent place to cut off as more things will happen.

Also, I know I said Chief was going to appear, and he will, of course he will, it's just a matter on if it's the next chapter or the one after.

I will say that I am someone who takes his time to write a story.
Am I a perfectionist, not really, will I be happy taking as long as I need to to write something I feel will flow without being weird then my initial draft, yes.

In recent news, Halo Infinite's fifth season is underway and its not to shabby, I like the new map in the Blamite mines.
I have also been doing the OSRS trailblazer IV so that has taken my time recently, luckly the game has AFK actions so I can write at that time.

Anyhow onto the reviews:

ikusatunagi: Glad you liked it. Your patience will be rewarded, I think that once I have it actually put on paper (the ideas remain fresh in my mind) you'll like the interactions as a whole one team RWBY gets to meet the rest of the surviving UNSC personnel.

Shadow Walker of Fire: "Did I?" lel, but nah seriously, what you wrote for the review inspired me to write that line Emerson says when noting Halo's scenery.
So my thanks goes to you.

NativeVenom: Indeed, this is going to go between book intense and game intense. And as for the Flood... well it might be a while away, I have jotted some stuff down and though I don't want to spoil anything, there is someone I have in mind on RWBY who is going to experience what we experienced when we first played 343 Guilty spark.

GothmonOnslat: Fun is what I aim to do. Thank you for the suggestions, out of the two, I would have to agree that they were the ones that stood out to me as well.

Side Note:

Everyone reading (new and old), don't be afraid to cast your vote as to my elite OC name (found at the end of chapter 3) or submit name yourself- though I might not pick it as I would rather not take an idea away from anyone if they want to use their own elite OC name for any story they write.

bocazaz117: (removes cigarette and replaces it with a cigar) Alas the fate of some might be set in stone, their legacy will carry on as they did not come out of that howling night. But that isn't to say they won't go down without a fight.
Thank you for your words, I am happy to write something that feels real.

Guest: Criticism is criticism, and you my fine fellow have given me a valid one at that.
I completely agree and while I try to do my best, I'll be honest, the way i write my stories is that I type it up in google docs.
Then when I'm ready to publish, I copy and paste it into a word document (Word 2007) then I will upload the document onto Fanfiction.
Once that is done, I will manually edit the chapters format how it looked when I wrote it orginally and try to align the spacing as the format somehow gets messed up even after uploaded.

In chapter three I decided to skip step two and just go copy and paste, but that was even worse.
Fanfic also does a weird thing where if you try to space sentences/paragraphs by two or more lines, after saving, it instantly brings them back to being at max one space.

On top of that, usually by the time I've finished everything, it's already 2am in the morning when I'm done and I just want to get it out (like the same feeling of I want to end a multiplayer game on a win kinda feeling).

Finally there is also the issue of how people read the chapters, either on their phone with the app (which is what I judge how the format will look like), tablet or computer(what I see while writing), or if you're like me and just have the app and use the text to speech option.

Thank you all the same, I will try to fix what I can in newer chapters, and I implore you to continue to note any discrepancies in the formatting when they appear.

255522f: The wait is over, until it is again ;)

Bocazaz117: This part is ready... now do what you will and enjoy the wait

Bocazaz117: I am okay, you and the rest of the readers reading this is the support I need, I do this for my own personal enjoyment and above all else, this will not die, I will see this through.

Project 0mega: As said before, things are going well (unlike on instillation 04) work is what takes most of my time. I hope it continues to stay engaging and will only keep you reading until it is finished and then to the next installment.

Oh and before I finish off I must mention one thing, since October 22 or so, Fanfic somehow has stopped alerting me to any new comments posted or even who is reading fics (for some reason I had thought that no one was reading any of my stories), I have not seen anything to suggest the issue is being resolved, but that wont stop me from writing.

With that, I've said all I need to, and for once am finished writing this at a time before midnight ( about a quarter to eleven).
I'll try to get the next chapter out before new years, but that is not a guarantee.

Anyhow, Thank you and I'll see you in the next chapter.