Ok all, let's see how Atlas reacts to the Covenant


Alt walked with his back straight and his head held high as he stepped down the ramp of the Pelican, stepping onto the one of the many hangers of The Shadow. Admiral Parangosky's personal flagship, he didn't know why he was being brought here but it had to be something big. After an hour of digging himself out of the rubble that Jacksons explosion put him under, Serin was there and ready, telling him that it was time to go.

Needless to say that he was not happy about it, it felt like he needed to do more for these people, or at the very least speak with the governor to... discuss his policies regarding the colony but apparently it wouldn't matter. When he told Serin about what he wanted to do, she made it clear it wouldn't matter because the governor was dead, there was a gas explosion under his office.

He didn't believe that for a moment but back then he didn't care, he would be lying if he said he didn't want to kill that guy. He didn't know if he was going to do it but the fact that he really wanted to was enough to surprise him, he's never really wanted to kill someone before but this guy really got under his skin. He shook his head slightly, that didn't matter now at least. The guy was dead and he was rushed here as fast as he could move.

Serin walked behind him as he moved out of the hanger and down the hallways of ONI's flagship. Though he didn't look like it, his mind was racing a mile a minute. There were only a handful of things that could be important enough to drag him away from a mission he was in the middle of, and he didn't like it.

"Are you alright?" Serin asked from beside him as she looked up from her data pad.

He gave her a side glance "why wouldn't I be?" he asked back calmly.

"You've barely spoken since we left Cassidy III. What is it?" she asked calmly as they walked.

He considered telling her the truth, that he didn't like how much he wanted to kill someone, but he knew that it would be pointless, she was Spartan raised, she wouldn't care about the humanity he thought he lost with the idea of wanting to kill someone just because he wanted to and almost nearly doing it. He looked over his shoulder to her for a moment and their eyes met, he opened his mouth to speak but before he could the doors they reached opened and the two walked in to see a large conference room that held a large circular table.

Every seat in that table was filled expect for the small gap that was big enough to allow someone to walk through and would allow someone to stand in the middle of the table, giving everyone sitting down a clear view at him. Parangosky herself was sat in a middle seat and she was surrounded by many other faces that Alt didn't recognize. Ok, the nervousness he was feeling before has now gone up quite a bit as it was becoming much harder to deny what the reason for him being here could be.

All the heads turned to face him as he entered and without a word, he knew what he had to do. Walking forward, he stepped past the hole in the table and stopped when he was in the middle of it, and everyone surrounded him. He looked directly at Parangosky who sat in front of where he stood "The Atlas contingency has been activated" a voice to his side said.

"Location?" Alt asked calmly as he placed his hands behind his back.

"Harvest" Parangosky said as three large screens behind her on the wall turned on and he looked up to see three different views of a lush green planet "a population of three million people. An outer Coloney agricultural world that has very little in terms of political tension" she explained to him before another voice on his left spoke up.

"On February 3rd /1423 hours, the planet went completely radio silent. As per the protocol a battle group was sent to investigate. Only for us to lose contact with them as well. But just before we did, a slip space probe was sent that gave us this image" as the voice spoke as a small barely, almost static image appeared in front of him, and his mouth nearly dropped in shock. It was difficult to make out completely but there was no denying that it was a ship of some kind "along with images of the planet" Turning his head back to the screens his heart skipped a beat, the entire planet was on fire. There was no longer green and blue, it was just red and black. Whoever these things where, they just torched an entire planet "we are assuming that all three million lives have been lost and the colony has been damaged beyond any type of retaking"

Alt turned away from the screens and faced the Admiral "do we know if these are my people?" he asked.

There was a notable tension in the room as he asked that question, Alt always knew what he was. It was something his dad always made sure he knew and understood, something he was grateful for. Parangosky just stared at him blankly, then she did the last thing he expected from her, she just gave him a small shrug "we don't know" was all she said honestly.

"We have to pray that they aren't" a voice from behind him added "if these are your people then this war is already over"

War. Such a small word that can place such a weight over him and he guessed everyone else as well. It was true as well, Atlas for all intense and purposes was at the moment an unstoppable killing machine, he hated being called that but it was true. Humanity still had yet to come up with something that can keep him down, if these aliens where his people then they wouldn't stand a chance and that's forgetting that powerful ship they seemed to have.

"Humanity will fight back" another voice continued "it's now been proven that we can't do it through the power of ships. We need something more, the Spartan program are being briefed as we speak. We cannot risk that chance that you are not enough. You'll go in together"

"Go in?" Alt asked as he turned his head to face the voice that just spoke. He turned back to look at Parangosky as he responded to him.

"We cannot simply wait to see what they do next" she started to explain for him "they attacked us, we must retaliate. Due to our deep space probes and long-range scans, we believe that ship is heading for the Chi Ceti IV. The Spartans are en-route to the system, taking their time due to Halsey bringing along her latest project. Before they arrive they'll be stopping off within the Brush system on the UNSC Commonwealth. You'll be joining them and taking command for the infiltration mission"

Alt tilted his head at her, not knowing whether or not he heard that right "ma'am?" he asked with a tilt of the head.

"You will be joining them and taking command of the Spartans for the purpose of this mission" she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms "you've done good work for ONI and the UNSC. You've brought four worlds out from insurrectionists control without a single UNSC life taken in the processes. If you were a regular solider, you'd be near the rank of Admiral for that. But we can't give you too much power to quickly, though that doesn't mean you will not be rewarded for your work" her head turned to the side and she gave a nod. The sounds of footsteps were heard and Alt turned his head in time to see a well-dressed man walk forward, past the hole in the table and towards him carrying a small velvet box. Stopping just in front of him, the box was opened and his eyebrows rose at the sight "Well done Sergeant" her voice echoed throughout his head.

He turned around and faced the head of ONI, giving her a salute "Ma'am!" he said with a strong voice and straight back "I'll leave immediately" he added before turning around.


He read the reports a dozen different times, going over every little detail as they flew towards their destination. As of the moment, he and Serin where sitting side by side on the Pelican as they moved from the ship they were just on and towards the UNSC Commonwealth, ready to meet up with the Spartans and see if they could intercept this alien ship "All hands, prepare for boarding procedure" a voice from above them said.

Serin lowered her data pad and brought the protective clamp above the seat down in order to strap herself in place. Alt on the other hand remained where he was, not even paying attention to the voice as he still looked at the reports in front of him, trying to go over everything in his head. Every advantage they could have and every plan they could use if they met them on the field again. Alt wasn't religious, not even close but now he found himself praying to whoever would listen that these aliens would not be his people. If that where the case then Parangosky was right, this would be over before anything could be done.

He almost didn't even notice the dropship jolt as it landed in the hanger of the Commonwealth. Though he stood up when Serin did as well. The ramp of the ship lowered and Alt felt a small smile come onto his face as he saw someone waiting for him. John 117 was standing with his back straight and his hands folded behind him, he wasn't wearing a uniform but some type of thick black body suit that clung to him tightly. Walking down and stopping just short of the Spartan, they both gave the other a salute "John, good to see you again" Alt said as he lowered his hand and reached out with the other.

"You too Alt" he added reaching out with his hand and shaking Alt's "congratulations on your promotion" he added as a high ranking solider came over towards the two, based on the ranks on the man's shoulder, he was the captain of the ship.

"Sir" Alt said as he brought his hand right back up as he heard Serin step in behind him.

The man returned that salute before speaking "Sergeant, I'm captain Walus. I've been told that you're going to be leading the Spartan team while we try and find these alien bastards" he added with clear anger in his tone.

"Yes sir, if the chance presents itself we'll attempt a boarding action" he spoke with such a certainty that no-one could try and claim he was joking.

John gave him a sideways look but didn't speak for a moment as Walus' eyes widened at the statement "I see, I'll do what I can to ensure you get your chance" he added.

"A boarding action?" John asked as the three watched him leave.

"It's the logical choice" he said as he started to walk out the hanger, using his eyes to see the direct path he would need to take "how many Spartans did you bring?" he asked as the three walked.

"Myself and the rest of Blue Team" John answered back quickly.

"That's it?" he found himself surprised by how few of the Spartans that were brought along.

"Yes" he nodded "I didn't want to risk every Spartan encase this ended badly for us" he explained and Atlas found himself agreeing with the assessment. It wouldn't hurt to plan ahead in a situation like this. It was a depressing thing to think about but it was true.

Walus brought his hand up to his ear and nodded calmly "we're needed on the bridge" he said to the three "the ships been spotted again" the news got the immediate attention Alt, John and Serin. All three shared a glance with each other and started to walk towards the bridge of the ship as they followed the captain. Though Alt did see John reach up to his own ear "Sam, get everyone ready. On the double" he added before he lowered his hand and they all walked together.

The walk was done in silence, but to Alt and Serin, it was very clear that every single one of the crew members were nervous, maybe even outright terrified would be a better word to use, as it was clear they all knew what they were investigating. Being completely honest with himself, Alt liked Walus a little more for that, he suspected that most other captains wouldn't be telling their crews about something as huge as this. John of course, he noticed didn't give any of the other crew members a second look, either it was because he already knew how nervous they were, or he simply didn't notice. They reached an elevator that would take them up to their destination.

The doors opened and they were met with the standard UNSC frigate bridge, nothing they all haven't seen a dozen times already, dozens of different personal were working at their stations, large clear windows gave a good view of the ships front and the walls on either side where more terminal screen then wall. Though one thing did stand out that caused Alt to let out a heavy sigh and Serin to narrow her eyes without her even meaning too.

Standing just behind the bridges primary radar system with her hands behind her back was one Catherine Halsey. The three walked up to her and while John was more than happy to give her a salute, Alt and Serin kept their hands firmly down "Ma'am" John said as Walus moved forward to stop right beside one of ONI's chief scientists.

Halsey seemed to be fine with not turning to John who simply lowered his hand and instead tilted her head towards the captain but not outright looking in his direction. Something Alt and he suspected ever Serin could understand when they saw what she was looking at, the same static image of a ship could be seen on the screen but this one looked different to the other that he was shown "There it is again" she said.

Walus took a step forward and looked at the dozens of different lines of text next to the image "Doctor that puts are ghost at eighty million klicks" he commented as he turned back around to look at Halsey "and I don't concur that it is, it would take an hour to get within weapons range" he added.

"It's the ship" Alt said before anyone else could, the others all looked to him as he stepped forward, closer to the screen "Just look at it" he said to the captain "yes, there's a bit of static but there is no way that's some asteroid. As far as we know this ship not only wiped out an entire battle group on its own but it could have ended the entire planet of Harvest as well" he said to everyone, choosing to ignore the narrowed eyes that the doctor sent him.

At least that was before she started speaking "We have no proof that this one ship is capable of wiping out an entire planet" she countered crossing her arms at him.

He opened his mouth to retort but it seemed Serin beat him to it "until we know for a certainty what the enemy is capable of, protocol dictates that we assume worst case scenario" she listed as she looked up from her data-pad.

Halsey turned to look at her, ready to retort but her eyes narrowed in confusion as she looked at her. It was clear that she recognized her from somewhere, but she was unable to place her, something that annoyed Alt to no end "Serin" she said with wide eyes before she was able to compose herself, which seemed to get easier as she saw the rank and badge on Serins shoulder "I didn't know you went to ONI" she commented.

Serin didn't even try and hide her narrowed eyes "yes, I didn't expect you to keep track of me" slight dig there but Alt couldn't ask her to be friendly to the woman.

"Now is not the time" Alt interrupted the two before something worse could happen "we have to get ready for a fight because encase you all somehow didn't notice. Whoever these beings are one thing is clear, they are far more advanced than we are. So, if we can see them..."

"Then they can see us" Halsey added interrupting him, as she looked out the window with more concerned eyes.

"We can't see them" a new voice said from behind them and Alt turned to see one of the crew members who was working on the console turned around to look at the group "we've lost visual and radar location" he added before he turned back to the screen.

While the others all still processed that information, Alt's mind began working as fast as it could, not only coming up with all the reasons as to why the ship would suddenly vanish to all the different plans he would need for all those reasons and when he had as many as he could think of, he did the data analysis in his head, trying to think of the most likely to occur. His eyes widened when he reached his answer, he took a couple of steps forward "Hall hands! Battle stations! Sound general alarm!" he shouted to all present. Maybe it was loudness of his voice or the commanding presence that he's been told he had, he didn't know. But he was grateful for it at this same.

A bright blinking red light came from the ceiling and the entire bridge started to pick up its pace "red alert, red alert. All hands to battle stations, this is not a drill" a heavy synthesized voice came from the ships com system. Normally, Atlas would have been more careful about overruling someone's authority, especially on their own ship but he couldn't take any chances here "Get the anti-missiles rail guns up and running!"

"Yes sir" a voice from the side "charging up rail guns" he added "awaiting targeting solution"

"Atlas! What are you doing?!" Walus shouted as he marched forward, clear with the intent to take control of his ship back. However, before he could so much as place a hand on his shoulder the primary view screen for the bridge turned red and a 'proximity alert' message came up for them all to see.

'I hate being right' he thought to himself as he thought up the next logical choice of actions "forget the target solution!" he called out for everyone to hear him "prepare the rail guns for a widespread broadside blitz" he knew that was not news anyone wanted to hear but it had to be done

"Sir, are you sure?" turning his head he saw John step towards him.

Alt looked back at the Spartan, it was a fair question. It needlessly risked the loss of a lot of ammo and could leave the ship open while a reloading takes place but if his theory is right then it was the only thing they could do "I am" he added.

"Slip space portal opening up!" Walus shouted and everyone turned to look out of the front window. It was true, a large slip space portal opened just off the ships bow. And from it came a much large and easy to ship alien craft. The thing was large, that much was clear to see but as time slowed down for everyone expect Alt who kept staring calmly out of the window, committing everything he saw to memory. He could see the different purple colours that the ship had and of course its design. Nearly all the ships in the UNSC navy were designed so that the ship is basically built around the primary weapon of said ship, which is the main reason why they're so blocky.

This ship on the other hand was smooth and bulbous by comparison which makes finding out what kind of fire power it carries all the harder, slowly time started to speed back up and Alt was the first to act "PORTSIDE TURN!" he shouted and crew was able to react to him and soon all started to work. The alien ship completely exited the slip space portal and moved towards them, the smaller UNSC ship just barely getting out of the way of being been rammed by it.

Which was the moment Alt had been preparing for "Fire all broadside railguns!" he shouted as the exact centre of the ship alien ship moved past them. Halsey immediately ran towards the nearest window to see what would happen, John did too though he was much more reserved about it, despite the danger they were all in.

Alt on the other hand didn't need to, he looked right through everything and everyone "first volley away!" a voice called out and the ship shook as the weapons began to fire. He watched closely as the rail guns fired their payloads directly at the enemy ship. He watched closely, wanting to see what would happen but he felt his heart grow heavy as just before the round could hit the armour of the ship, they were stopped by a grid of yellow hexagon patterns.

"Energy shields" Halsey spoke "that's... amazing"

"Terrifying" Serin corrected as she moved over towards the lead terminal "INCOMING!" she shouted and everyone moved to hold on to something.

Alt didn't need to but that didn't mean he was happy with the immediate response from the aliens who fired their own barrage of weapons at them "Get the missile..." Alt tried to say before the smaller frigate was hit with whatever they fired.

The entire bridge shook and many failed to stay on their feet "Sir, direct hit, multiple hull breaches. We lost decks, four-to-seven"

"Get the missile torpedo's a targeting solution and prepare the MAC!" as he shouted his commands, he turned around and looked at John who was still standing strong and being used by Halsey to stay standing "you two, get down to the cargo hold and start whatever this next project of yours is. GO NOW!" as he shouted that last part, he knew that Halsey would protest and want to see more of this but they couldn't risk that they wouldn't just be wiped out here and now. Seeing the direct order being given, John placed his large hand on Halsey's arm and dragged her away, she of course not wanting to leave but knowing that she had little choice here.

"Bring us around!" Walus ordered the crew as he moved to stand beside Alt. The order something Alt didn't want to argue against, knowing that they had little choice in the matter, at least when it came to the MAC. The magnetic accelerator cannon. The ships primary weapon and unlike everything else on board, it was an unguided projectile, meaning that the firing solution would need to be perfectly aligned in order for it to it, if it did manage a hit then it would be the most powerful weapon they have on board, minus the Havoc of course.

Once the ship was facing the right direction, it only took the dumb A.I a moment a make sure everything was ready, then from the long snout of the frigate, the large metal slug was fired. The entire ship shook as the MAC round left the barrel and flew through the space between both ships, however much it his disappointment, the yellow shield simply held it back. He didn't even get a moment to think of what to do before the alien ship launched another volley of what he could only assume was their own type of ship-to-ship missiles.

"Get the rail guns targeting those missiles! I don't want them hitting us! And fire the MAC as soon as able!" the orders left his lips as the ground shook again, he didn't want to think about the number of lives that were being lost due to those damn missiles.

"Firing!" someone shouted and the ceiling above them rattled as the MAC let loose another shot. Alt paid close attention to the round as once again it moved right towards the alien ship, only this time, it made an impact.

Alt looked as close as he was able and he could see that the alien shields still stayed up and fared up when the MAC hit, there was no doubt in his mind that the entire larger ship tilted as if it were struck and he could have swarm he saw small explosions around the impact area, he made a small mental note to keep that to himself for now and commit it to memory so he could use it later when writing up his report. Unfortunately, as the MAC hit, the ship fired another volley and even though the rail guns got a couple of them, it wasn't enough.

As the volley hit the ship, Alt had to reach out and grab Serin to prevent her from falling over, something she didn't fight against and made sure her own grip on him was solid. The lights of the bridge went out and were replaced by the red emergency lights "Why aren't we firing!" Walus shouted as the MAC system stopped firing.

"The MAC system is destroyed captain" a voice called.

Once again, Alt found himself going over all the different options and plans that they could use to get out of this situation "how many nukes do we have?" he asked the captain, who turned to face him.

"A detonation at this range would destroy us as well as them" he warned them.

"No" Serin spoke up loud enough for them to all hear "whatever tactics these aliens are using, so far they've been unnecessarily vicious. They didn't have to take that second MAC round but they did, from we saw they were fast enough to get out of the way. In my opinion, if we threw something at them, they'd challenge it, they're trying to send a message" she explained.

Alt had to admit, even though Serin wasn't a Spartan anymore all that training and education didn't go to waste at least, that was the thinking of someone who's known nothing but war and understanding the enemy. Which is why Alt didn't get that, sure he's been taught at lot but he's also had pieces of a somewhat normal life.

Walus looked at her in deep thought for a moment before looking back at Alt, who himself just gave him an uncertain look, not a 'it won't work' look but more of a 'it's our only shot' look "Long Sword squadron delta, get those ships into the black boys" he said turning back to the front of the ship "buy us some time" he added.

"Rogar that sir, we're on our way" a male voice replied over the radio.

"Arm the nuclear warhead" the captain continued "proximity detonation, one hundred meters"

Only took thirty seconds for the jets to be launched from the hangers and three Long Swords flew towards the enemy ship, Alt didn't show it but he was nervous about this. If the Nuke failed, then this fight would be over and there would be very little he could do about it. One of the many different screens on the bridge gave a clear view of the three ships but he didn't need it, instead he kept on watching with his own eyes and hoping for the best.

When the ships got closer they fired their weapons at the larger vessel, for all the good it did, the alien vessel fired its own weapons at them and when the UNSC missiles struck they were stopped by the same shield but the Long Sword lost one of its own "Fire!" Walus shouted and the Havoc class nuclear warhead shot out from the frigate and towards the alien.

The Havoc was designed in such a way that it would hit its target quickly and not be shot out of the sky before it would be too late, meaning that when it launched, it did not take long to go completely past the fighter jets and towards the alien ship "3...2...1"

A blinding flash of light filled in the front windows of the ship completely and everyone on the bridge apart from Alt shyed away from the light while he just starred at it, not being affected in any way. The whole ship jolted for a moment as the shockwave from the nuke hit them, but the frigate was able to stand tall.

"Someone, get the power back up and running" Walus ordered everyone and they began to type back on their consoles again.

"Sensors and Rader coming back online sir, so signs of the Long Swords. They're KIA. Enemy ship... intact sir" the man said with a delay in his voice, clearly struggling to believe it himself.

"Shit" Walus cursed to himself.

"It is moving off now sir, best guess would be to make repairs" the man added.

'There was only one option then' Alt thought to himself as he went over everything he just learnt, whatever this ship was. It just took the force of the most powerful weapon onboard this ship meaning that nothing this ship could do would make a difference, they had to try something else and only one thing came to mind. The nuke may have been able to force a retreat, but the thing was still operational, and it looked undamaged. Meaning that they couldn't risk firing another as it could have the same result. At least from where they are now.

"I'm heading to the cargo hold, disassemble to second Havoc. Leave only the portable warhead behind" As the words were spoken, everyone who remined on the bridge turned to look at him, even the thickest headed of solider could guess what he was going to do with a nuke that could only be carried somewhere.

"Atlas" Walus said as he looked at the alien "are you sure?" he asked with his hands behind his back.

"It's the only option" he said back calmly as Serin made her way towards him.

Walus stiffed before he straightened his back and nodded "understood, we'll get it ready for you" he said with a promised as the doors to the bridge opened and the two left.

"Serin, I need you to keep an eye on the radar" he told his... partner? It sounded better then handler "the second that ships start to come back I need to know about it" the two walked quickly down the corridors and towards an elevator that looked like it shouldn't be working at all.

"I'm already doing it" she said as she gestured to her data pad "are you sure this is a good idea?" her voice was as confident as it's always been but Alt could see the nervousness in her tone and body language. He couldn't blame her, he wasn't even trying to hide of scared he was right now and he had no plans to. No part of his training was based on controlling one's fears, it probably should have been but ONI thought that it wouldn't be the best idea considering that he's an alien, they had to be very careful when it came messing with his mental cause they had no way of knowing what kind of effects that would have.

"It's the only option" he said as the two started to make their way down "if we retreat then two things will happen. We make it back with very little to show for it or they run us down before we have the chance. We have to make this worth something, we need to get onboard that ship" just before he finished talking the doors that led to the large cargo hold opened up and gave them a view to whatever it was that Halsey had been doing.

It was not what either of them expected. Halsey herself was standing in the in the middle of the hold surrounded on all side by five very large individuals, all of which wore large and bulky green Armor that completely enclosed their entire body's and had a golden visor around the helmet. Behind them all and up against the wall where two machines that Alt couldn't recognize but he assumed where used to put the armour on in the first place. When the two stepped inwards, all their heads turned to look at them "Ah, Atlas" Halsey started "I trust that since we're still alive the alien ship was bested" she spoke.

"We had to fire a Havoc warhead which hit directly but the enemy vessel is still there but retreated, Walus seems to think it's starting repairs but since the damage was very minimal we assume that it's shields are simply recharging" Serin spoke for him as the two neared, she wouldn't have normally needed to, but Alt was too busy looking over the armour "we do have a plan though, risky one"

"Risky is the only option we have" one of who they could make the very logical guess that were the Spartans said as they stepped forward.

Alt looked at the 117 on the upper left breast of the armour and knew that was John "So this is what you were working on" he said to the doctor who simply nodded, going back to her data pad.

Knowing that he wouldn't have a conversation with her he turned back to John "I'm sorry that you won't have time to train with those suits properly, but we're running out of time"

"We understand Sir" Sam said as he took a step forward "and we're always ready"

Before anyone else could continue, Kelly stepped forward as well "not... all of us" she added giving Alt a pointed look.

Alt himself looked back at her confused by what she meant but before anyone else could say anything, all the Spartans turned and looked at Halsey who has yet to look back up from her data pad. The starring went on for a good ten seconds before Serin decided to speak "Doctor!" she said quite loudly in order to get the woman's attention, which seems to have worked as she finally looked up "is there something you want to tell us?" she asked.

The older woman gave a small eyes roll as she turned to Alt "on the orders of Parangosky" she started as she started to walk away from the group and towards the machines that where up against the walls "A different type of amour was made for you" she gave him a pointed look as she started to type away on the furthest right machine's console "you need to put on of those on first" she nodded her head towards the far side of the hold and Alt looked to see a bunch of UNSC containers and when looking through them he could see that there was a bunch of tight black skin suits that the Spartans where all wearing. Knowing that time was of the essence Alt sped forward and in the span of just one second he was back standing in the exact same place, only now all of his clothes where in a neat pile on the floor and he was wearing the same type of clothing John was back on the bridge.

Either it was the seriousness of the situation they found themselves in or all of them being too be worried to care, no-one blinked an eye at his speed and he just waited there calmly. Halsey gestured to the machine and Alt stepped forward and placed his feet on the designated area on the base of the machine "the Mjölnir armour is a masterpiece of engineering" Halsey started to explain as multiple arms extended from the machine, each one of them carrying a different piece of armour. Looking down to the ground, Alt could see what looked like two half-built boots that were waiting for him. He stepped forward and each one closed around his feet. Then the pieces came onto his legs and worked their way upwards "The outer shell is a multi-layer alloy of remarkable strength. The inner structure is compassed of a new reactive metal liquid crystal that is amorphas yet fractally scales and amplifies force. The armour carry's an advanced onboard computer that is supposed to link into the user's neural interface to track real time battlefield information"

Alt looked to the right and saw an extended handle that he was clearly supposed to grabbed onto, he did so and looked to the left to see another, he reached out with his left hand and when he did he found himself lifted off the ground and a chest pieced pressed up against him that connected with another on his back. Different pieces of armour started to be placed around his arms and worked their way up to his shoulders "of course most of the amours features would not be available to you, due to no neural interface being available" wasn't that a pain in the ass for her. The standard UNSC neural interface was to be fair a very impressive piece of tech that would allow a solider or agent to directly connect to different types of tech, like ships, vehicles, or even A.I. in this case, the amour.

Alt doesn't have this, the most primary reason being that getting one would require a hole being drilled into the back of your skull, something that wouldn't work on Alt for obvious reasons. Halsey started to walk forward until she stood in front of Alt as the last pieces of the armour where being placed on "personally, I was against giving you this armour as I didn't see it as necessary. Your own skin is tougher than the outer shell, it won't be able to increase your strength and without the neural interface you will be unable to use the computer systems. Or the hydraulics, which are needed as all together it weighs one tonne in weight, at least that shouldn't make too large a difference to you" moving to the side she reached out and grabbed a helmet that was being held by another robotic hand. As she did, all the mechanical arms of the machine started to pull back and Alt had a moment to take a step forward "as of the moment, or until we know more about your biology. All the armour can do for you is add a minimal amount of extra protection but protect you hazards such as gasses, poisons and the vacuum of space"

'Ok, that's pretty useful' Alt thought to himself as he reached out and grabbed the helmet. As he did, he couldn't help but look down at himself and the first thing he noticed was that his armour was different from the others. While all the Spartans in front of him had a green colour that was mixed in with a golden visor, along with their Spartan numbers on their upper right breast. Alt's armour was a dark blue all over and when he looked down to the helmet, he could see that the visor was a deep red, on his own upper right breast was a large 'A'

He looked over to Serin who gave him a blank look though there was a very small smirk on her face as she did, so she didn't know about this but she was quite amused by the design. Quietly shaking his head to himself, he reached up and placed the helmet on his head. The air pressure was quickly sealed and all the heads up displays where coming online, though he did see multiple red light warning due to him not being connected to the systems completely. Thankfully that should be too much of an issue at the moment, everything else seemed to be working just fine.

"Serin" he said to her partner with a new synthesized "get back to the bridge, monitor the situation and make sure we have a pelican ready, doesn't matter which one. It won't be coming back. Just make sure that Havoc is onboard"

"Understood" she said before turning to leave, making her way back to the lift.

"Spartans!" he said a little louder causing a multitude of loud bangs on the floor as they all stood to attention "I trust you all have your weapons" he added.

"Sir!" they said all at once.

"To the hanger" he spoke as he marched forward, all other following closely behind.

The sounds of their marching footsteps could be heard by everyone and all who saw them quickly moved to the side and allowed them to pass. Alt had to admit, this armour felt good to were, not to constricting or anything. While he was still a good head shorter than the other Spartans that didn't mean he didn't feel a little amount of pride as he led them forwards, he doubted he would get to do this much. After all, John was technically a higher rank then he was but Parangosky gave him battlefield authority over this mission.

They continued to walk for a few minutes until they reached the hanger, as soon as they doors opened for them, the personal immediately started to head out, expect for one. A lone marine stood in front of the ramp of the Pelican and looked a little nervous as they approached, which was fair enough, who wouldn't be a little worried as six massive, armoured figures walked right towards you.

"Sir!" the man said with a salute as Alt stopped in front of him while the others all moved around him and onto the ship "the ship is fully fuelled and ready to go. The warhead is onboard and primed" Alt looked over the man's shoulder and saw a large create in the middle of the ship which Linda was opening up and inspecting "it's ready for radio detonation and manual sir" he finished.

In other words, if it didn't work out then at least they could take the ship down with them "good man" Alt said as he stepped around the marine and moved up the ramp, pressing the bottom on the wall and closing the ramp behind him. He didn't need to look forward to seeing that John and Kelly where in the front of the ship and starting it up.

"So, what's the plan?" Fred asked as Alt made his way over to the nuke to make sure everything was in order. Thankfully it was and there was little issue. The warhead itself was small and compact, something could fit onto the small of his back while the detonator was a little smaller than a pistol.

"That ship had thrown out whatever we hit it with" he started, making sure that his helmets speakers where on as the radio he had wouldn't be able to connect to the others because Alt had no way to make because of his lack of a neural interface so that means talking out loud "even the nuke missile, so we're going to need to try something else"

"An insertion" Linda said as she looked up to the ships overhead racks and pulled down a sniper rifle. While she did so, the ship rumbled slightly and he didn't need his hearing to know that John was going over the final checks now, soon they would be flying out of the ship and into the void.

"How would that work?" Sam asked as he and Fred both gathered their weapons.

He didn't need to explain that he would be asking about the ships shields, or turrets, or radar systems and god only knows what else "the Pelican is only going to get us so far, when we're close enough. We jump right for the enemy target, I'll time it right so that at the base speed we can fly through space is just a little faster than the pelican. The enemy weapons won't be able to fire due to the shield being up so small sections must go down in order for the weapons to be fired, when they do fire at the Pelican" he started to explain.

"We'll be close enough to get through and land on board" Fred finished for him.

"Exactly" Alt said as he moved towards the front of the ship, the nuke held calmly in hand. As he reached the two pilots chairs, he could see that the alien ship was getting bigger and bigger. As much as it terrified him, he amazed by it all. It took two MAC rounds and a nuke but it only looked slightly damaged, the only sign that it was in a battle was a very small hole on its left side "you hear everything?" he asked them.

"Yes, and you're crazy" Kelly said from the elevated seat.

"It's the only option left" he quickly said back "I'll fly from here, get with the others and get ready to jump"

Despite the uncertainness of the mission or what they were about to do, the two Spartans quickly moved up from their seats and moved. Kelly stepped down on his left and moved back to the seating area where all the troopers and marines would normally go. John stepped out on to his right and before he could walk past Alt. The alien held out the nuke in front of him, John stopped and looked back at him "I'd carry it myself but I won't be able to turn on the magnets needed" he explained "keep it safe" he added as John took bomb and walked forward, placing it onto his lower back, the armour quickly magnetizing it to him.

He looked back out the window and sat in the pilot's chair, as of the moment. He wouldn't be able to pay attention to anything else around him, he would need all of his attention on the many different calculations he would need to go over in order for this to work. Placing his hand on the lever he pushed it forward and the Pelicans thrusters went into overdrive as it shot towards the larger ship. Using his eyes he was able to get a much closer look and he could see that the large weapons on the ship started to turn towards him.

He reached up with his left hand, flipped a switch and in the back of a ship where all the Spartans stood, a red light lit up on the ceiling. Taking the signal they all formed up in front of the ramp and got ready, the small thrusters on the backs of the armour flaring up as they got ready.

Alt could see what they were doing, he could see the weapons move and he could see them powering up. He moved the controls and just as the massive weapons on the alien ship fired, the Pelican dived and flipped as a means to get out of the way. Alt's mind taking in every weapon that was aimed at him, how large the blasts coming towards him was, the speed in which they travelled and if they were capable of tracking him through space.

The Pelican moved with no pattern for purpose, it's only goal was to get close enough to the other ship and not get blown up in the process. In the back, the Spartans tried to stay in one place, having to lock their feet to the ground in order to not get dragged around too much. The ramp lowered but all the Spartans could see was the stars, the planet below them but every couple of seconds they would see the almost completely white blast that had been fired from the alien weapons just narrowly miss them "Ready!" Alt shouted from the cockpit and they all bent their legs "I'll join you in a moment!" he added before the red light turned green and they all jumped.

As Alt flipped the switch, giving them all the signal that they need to jump. He did an immediate turn which almost acted as a force multiplier to the Spartans who jumped out but they were also flung out as well by the momentum of the Pelican turning so quickly.

Now was the really complicated part, as of the moment, the Pelican was still moving forward but it was spinning around like a disk as well. Something that Alt had no intention of stopping as it would help it evade the cannons or torpedoes or whatever the hell that ship was firing at them. Stepped away from the controls he around to the back of the ship, something that proved to be a lot harder than he thought as even with the ship's artificial gravity helping him.

As he slowly made his way to the seat area, he shakily moved to the container that housed the nuke and reached forward, grabbing the detonator. Placing it on his hip where a pistol would go, thankfully it seemed the amours more independent systems where able to tell that when the user places something the size of a pistol where a pistol should, it just did that on its own. He took a couple of steps back until he was up against the back wall, he pressed himself up against it and lifted one leg, like he was about to leap from it.

Which was exactly what he was about to do, for the next few seconds Alt did nothing but look outside of where the ramp use to be. With the Pelican still spinning wildly, the outside few became a blur to almost anyone else but Alt was different. With his mind and eyes, he was able to see past the white streaks of the stars and the purple blob that the alien ship was, he was about to tell that the ship came into few every zero-point four seconds. He started to think about the speed in which he would have to travel in order to catch up to Blue Team, which part of the ship he would have to hit in order to get past the shield and of course. Make sure he survived the next bombardment that was about to his time.

With himself no longer at the controls, it would only be a matter of time before it would be hit, of that fraction of a second it would take to see the ship, Alt would make out where all the weapons were aiming and their trajectory. It was one of the cannons that where on the ships starboard side which seemed to be locked on to him better than the others and when it fired, he was able to tell that this one would hit. Meaning that he has around six seconds to move.

Doing the last of the math in his head, his knees bent just a little bit further and he felt his muscles contract. Then he moved. His powerful legs bent the metal under and behind him and he shot forward. As he left the ship behind him and moved towards the alien one, he only narrowly got out of the way of the large blast that came from the many different weapons, hitting the pelican directly.

Now that the ship was destroyed, the weapons would stop firing as the Commonwealth would be too far away to warrant immediate attention. Thankfully he was moving much faster than another would and as he got closer and closer. He could see blue team just as they went past the shield wall and he joined them just in time before the shield once again closed behind him.

There was a moment of silence amongst them all as their feet hit the outer shell of the alien ship and they surrounded the impact hole that the MAC round caused. Though Alt had to kneel down in order to grab a piece of the splintered metal that was sticking out of the hole in order to not float away due to him not being able to activate his magnetic boots "Everyone ok?" John said to them all, thankfully even if Alt couldn't turn on his own radio, it picked up John's signal and immediately put it through his own helmet.

They all gave him a thumbs up, then as one they all turned to look at Alt, no doubt waiting for him to give the order. He himself didn't do it just yet, instead he looked closer down to the hole that seemed to lead into a type of hallway, and that was all he could see. It seemed that he was hoping for too much, the walls of the ship seemed to have a small layer of lead in them which prevented him from seeing through it completely. His mind flashed back to the Commonwealth and all the damage it caused, then to the reports of the battle group that was sent to investigate and of course, the planet of Harvest, three million people all dead and a planet that would not be sustaining life for a long time.

His eyes narrowed as he came back to the moment and starred at the hallway under them "let's go" he said with a low tone as he jumped into the ship. Their mission, destroy this ship and anyone who gets in their way.


Ok everyone, I know that's a pretty good Cliff-hanger but don't worry, I'm ending it here so the mission will have a lot more detail. So what did you all think of the first interaction with the Covenant? I know there are some differences from the 'Fall of Reach' where I got most of this lore from and I do recommend you see. You don't need to pay, the whole things on Youtube for free.

Anyway, one thing I did want to add is that even though I'm a huge Halo fan. I don't really know a lot when it comes to the early days of the Human/Covenant war. So if there's any source material you know that I should look into or if any of you just want to come out and say 'oh, this battle was important' or 'this is where the main characters come in' or something of that nature I am all for it.

Anyway, let me know what you think in the reviews down below and I'll see you in the next chapter.

Next Story Update: A New Guardian