Prologue: Stefan Naughton

Reach was gone. It was a truth nobody wanted to accept.

The strongest beacon of hope humanity held onto in their dark days, even stronger than Earth in the eyes of some; now it was burned down, and swept away. The soldiers of the United Nations Space Command witnessed the horrors of it's fall firsthand, and they all knew what it truly signified: the tide of the war had changed, and they were now losing.

Many soldiers of the UNSC Army still held their ground on what they had left, fighting alongside the Marines to get their wounded offworld. Some of the remaining Marines had another task, an important mission aboard the UNSC Pillar of Autumn.

Nobody knew what the mission was, but it was the only extraction point left in the Asźod territory, and that's all that mattered. A Covenant armada was encroaching on the Autumn, determined not to let them escape; it came down to the Army to defend the approach, to give their lives in exchange for the those aboard the ship.

"Do you see anything?" asked Private Jackie.

"Nothing yet," Naughton replied, looking through a set of binoculars. "No readings or anything."

"God damnit," Jackie sighed.

"Do you want to fight that whole damn army?" Private Hillman asked. "You know you're gonna die, right?"

"I fucking know," Jackie sighed.

"Quiet, guys," Naughton raised his voice. "I'm watching."

The three Troopers were assigned to lookout at Point Leuctra, one of the few remaining UNSC outposts in the area. The latest intel reported that the Covenant armada was only a few hours away, but with the planet's satellite network destroyed, they couldn't tell for sure.

The tension of knowing they were most likely not making it off the planet was too much for poor Jackie, and as far as Naughton could tell: Hillman wanted to die anyway.

Can't say I blame you, Naughton thought. But I would prefer to live.

"The longer they take to get here, the higher our chances of getting out," Naughton said, hoping to ease Jackie's mind.

The Trooper didn't seem to lighten up much, there was nothing he could say to raise the soldier's spirits. He didn't blame him either.

Naughton pressed the binoculars into his face, his eyes burning as he held them open. They watched the horizon from the top of Point Leuctra's makeshift walls, which were really a bunch of barricades stacked on top of each other. They weren't the most convenient defences, but they got the job done.

Storms of sand and dust raged in the distance, growing larger as Reach's atmosphere deteriorated. Lightning of all colours flashed along the edges of the clouds. The rivers and lakes once scattered around the continent had completely dried up, there were barely any plants that hadn't shrivelled up and died. Naughton couldn't remember the last time he saw a wild animal. He imagined this was what Hell looked like.

"The Covenant have got to be staying ahead of that storm," Naughton said. "But I can't see them yet."

"They might be inside it," Hillman said with a shrug. "All that alien shit can probably withstand those winds. They're gonna drop on top of us when we can't even fight back."

Naughton sighed, Hillman was probably right. Covenant technology could withstand all kinds of natural phenomena, nobody understood how it worked. At least they can't withstand a few well-placed bullets.

"I need to go," Jackie said, his queasiness evident in his voice.

Naughton nodded, giving him permission to leave. The UNSC' Armys chain of command had completely collapsed, the number of commanders became increasingly small the further the planet deteriorated. Most of the soldiers at Point Leuctra were Privates; Naughton was only a class above them, but at this point he was officially allowed to tell them what to do.

"He better not kill himself," Hillman said.

"Shut the fuck up," Naughton replied. And that's an order.

The longer the Covenant took to get there, the more he agreed with Jackie. At this point he just wanted to get it over with.

Point Leuctra's makeshift wall rumbled when someone eventually came up the ladder. Naughton initially assumed Jackie was back, but a Trooper he didn't recognise made their way up instead.

"Naughton?" the Trooper asked, another Private.

"What is it?" Naughton said, keeping his eyes on the horizon.

"We need an extra hand setting up the defences," they said.

"Take Hillman. I'm staying on lookout."

"Sergeant Harding specifically asked for you, he didn't tell me why."

God damnit.

"Go find him at the ammo bank," the Trooper said, sliding back down the ladder before Naughton could protest.

Sergeant Harding was the highest ranking Trooper left at the outpost, meaning he was one of the highest ranking soldiers on the entire planet. Naughton couldn't imagine why he was requested specifically; there was only one way to find out.

"Hillman, take watch," Naughton ordered, handing the binoculars to Trooper. He took longer to accept them than he liked, so he pushed him up to the barrier at the edge of the wall. "Do not take your eyes off that horizon," he ordered. "If you see anything that even resembles a hingehead, you call out right away."

"Whatever, you got it," Hillman sighed, complying unenthusiastically.

Naughton slid down the ladder, and jogged to the ammo bank, praying the Private was actually going to listen to him. He didn't have a lot of faith in him, but they were all in the same shithole together, and that had to count for something.

Point Leuctra was a hastily assembled outpost in the middle of nowhere, and one of the last places with UNSC presence in Asźod. Chainguns and gauss cannons lined the walls, missile turrets were placed at the best angles to fire on any approaching aircraft. They had enough armaments to take on a Covenant army, but not one as big as what approached them. Dozens of Troopers staffed the outpost; most of them were hiding in the shade while they could, while wounded soldiers were being kept in air conditioned tents that broke down anyway from the immense heating of the atmosphere.

The ammo bank wasn't much more than a pit in the ground surrounded by sandbag walls at the back of the outpost. Crates lined each wall, most of them empty as munitions became scarce. Sergeant Harding was among the Troopers there, ordering them to move a pair of gauss cannons. Naughton was already out of breath when he got there. That better not be what he called me for.

"Private Naughton," the Sergeant called, spotting him almost immediately.

Naughton approached him as he beckoned him closer. A confused expression crossed the Sergeant's face, almost like he didn't even know why he called him there.

"The pelican from the Autumn is here," Sergeant Harding said. "With how things are looking, it's probably gonna be the last."

"What do you need from me?" Naughton asked.

"A Marine came with the dropship, he was asking about you," the Sergeant explained. "I think his name was Svenson, he's waiting by the dropship right now."

Matthew Svenson. Naughton knew the name immediately, he was surprised the crazy bastard showed up.

"I don't know what he wants," Sergeant Harding continued, "but whatever it is, make it quick. We don't have a lot of time left."

"Yes sir," Naughton replied quickly. "I'll be back before you know it."

Naughton turned away quickly, and jogged to the landing pad. The Troopers there carried their wounded to the pelican, so they could be brought to the Autumn to recover. He felt a little bad for meeting a friend there instead of helping them.

Matthew Svenson was the only soldier Naughton would have ever described as remarkable. A good shooter who worked well under pressure, and always followed orders. Naughton wasn't surprised he was still alive, but he had no idea what he was doing at Point Leuctra.

The Marine waited by the pelican, keeping his eyes on the ramp to the landing pad. He was visibly excited when he saw Naughton, quickly approaching and clasping his hand.

"Naughty!" Svenson said with a smile, it was the first smile Naughton had seen in a long time.

"Matty," Naughton said, less enthusiastically. "What are you doing here? How'd you know I was here?"

"Well, I didn't," Svenson shrugged. "I was assigned to stay with the pelican. This is the last outpost out here, so I figured I'd ask around for you. I knew you couldn't have died in New Alexandria."

The siege of New Alexandria was where Naughton and Svenson met, both separated from their units and having only one another to rely on. They owed each other their lives, having saved each other countless times from the Covenant's soldiers.

"That's very thoughtful," Naughton said. "But there's not much else out here, and we're not gonna be here for much longer. The Covies are already on our doorstep."

Svenson nodded, his hopeful demeanour fading away. He looked around and gestured to a corner of the landing pad where they could speak without being heard, a confusing gesture for the Marine to make. Naughton followed him anyway.

"You can come with me," Svenson said, lowering his voice. "I can get you on the Autumn, and we can both get out of here."

"Are you kidding?" Naughton asked, almost forgetting to lower his voice. "I can't leave now, the Covenant are almost here!"

"You're not gonna make it," Svenson said plainly, "and one soldier isn't going to make a difference here, not with what you're up against. We're gonna need everyone we can get if we want to hit the Covies back for this."

"That's not the point," Naughton sighed. "We're only here to hold them off so you can make it, not to win the battle. Any amount of soldiers makes a difference, and if I abandon my brothers here, that's one less person to keep them away from you. We need all the soldiers we can get."

Naughton understood why Svenson wanted to get him out of there, but he couldn't do it. Even though he wanted to survive, to keep fighting the Covenant, he could never leave his people behind.

There was much more to the Marine's story that Naughton didn't know, he could see it every time he looked in his eyes. He harboured a deep sadness that he tried too hard to hide. Naughton saw straight through him.

He didn't know what Svenson had been through, but there wasn't any time left to ask.

"If I go with you, there's a good chance neither of us make it," Naughton said. "I'd rather one of us get off this rock, and I'd rather it be you."

"Yeah," Svenson sighed. "I'm sorry, I'm just… scared."

Being afraid was something no soldier ever wanted to admit, Naughton thought he was better for it.

"Me too," Naughton replied. "But you have a chance at getting out of here, and I'll make sure it's a damn good one."

"Alright," Svenson sighed. "Give 'em hell, Trooper."

"You too, Marine," Naughton replied, clasping Svenson's shoulder.

The wind around them picked up in speed, blowing dust around the outpost. The storm was there sooner than expected, and Naughton knew what that meant. The Covenant armada was getting closer.

"Get the hell out of here," Naughton ordered, despite them being the same rank. If they waited any longer, the pelican wouldn't be able to launch.

Svenson said nothing in response, he nervously backed toward the pelican, eyes trailing up to the clouds behind Naughton. He didn't need to turn around to know what the Marine was looking at.

They're already here.

"Go!" Naughton shouted, grabbing his MA37 rifle from his back.

He turned to see the massive derecho of the dust storm, the round and bulbous silhouette of a Covenant battlecruiser hidden inside. It would be on top of them in a matter of minutes.

Naughton turned one last time to see Svenson board the pelican, disappearing behind the dropship's doors. He knew it would be the last time they would ever see each other.

This better count for something.

Naughton rushed back to the front wall, ignoring the blistering heat. Alarms blared as Troopers sprinted across the base, manning turrets and taking defensive positions along the wall.

To Naughton's surprise, Hillman had remained where he left him. He gripped a M392 DMR in his hands, his eyes focused on the alien ship that spelled their doom.

"Hillman!" Naughton shouted as he climbed the ladder. "What have we got?"

"I only see the cruiser," Hillman said.

The private was shaking, his face contorted with fear. Naughton decided against berating him for not watching the ground.

He took the binoculars back, and looked into the clouds of dust ahead of them. Nothing stood out, the binoculars weren't strong enough to see through the storm.

When Naughton turned his gaze upward, a flash of lightning revealed the silhouettes of more battlecruisers. He couldn't tell how many there were, but even one was enough to turn his blood to ice.

"S-sir, I think I see something," Hillman said. "Something's coming out of the cruiser."

Naughton scanned the frontmost cruiser's surroundings, Hillman was right. Dozens of smaller objects emerged from the sides of the cruiser. With the strength of the storm, Naughton wanted to write it off as debris; but he knew better than that

"Banshees incoming!" Naughton shouted at the top of his lungs, alerting every Trooper at the outpost.

As if he'd summoned them, a squadron of four banshees emerged from the clouds. The alien flyers swerved as their pilots fought against the deadly winds, and found their targets.

"Gauss cannons and missiles are hot!" Sergeant Harding shouted.

A gauss round cut through the air above the outpost, splitting a banshee in half. Hillman ducked behind cover while Naughton kept his eyes in the sky. Another shot from the gauss cannons missed the next banshee, but nailed it with a third. Five more emerged from the storm.

A volley of missiles were fired, each one tracking a different target. Three banshees were hit, the others evaded the incoming munitions. Ten more banshees emerged from the storm, followed by another dozen. It was unlike anything Naughton had seen before.

"This is real fucking bad," Hillman said through gritted teeth.

"Shut it, Trooper," Naughton said. "Give me your rifle."

Hillman didn't reply, causing Naughton to turn and see a confused face. I gave you an order, he wanted to shout, but there was no time to waste. Naughton pulled the DMR out of the private's hands, and tossed him the MA37.

"We're dead anyway," Naughton said. "Might as well go down swinging."

He looked through the scope, lined up a shot on the nearest banshee he saw, and fired as many bullets as he could into the connector between the aircraft's body and wings. The banshee flew off course, spiralling through the strong winds, and shattering into the ground outside the outpost.

Naughton had gotten familiar with the weaknesses of the Covenant's vehicles in New Alexandria; he had taken out many banshees in similar ways. Each flyer they faced had also been weakened from the storm; it was the only edge the UNSC had against their attackers, but that also meant the Covenant was desperate to kill them.

"Sir! We've got incoming!" Hillman shouted, the sheer panic in his voice frightening Naughton.

The sky turned green as the banshees fired explosive fuel rods into the outpost. Four of their missile turrets exploded, showering the outpost with burning shrapnel. An entire squad of Troopers was vaporised in a massive explosion.

"Get down, now!" Naughton shouted, pushing Hillman to the ladder.

The private slid down the ladder, and Naughton chased after him. As he turned to slide down, he saw more fuel rods heading straight for the wall. He let go of the ladder, and the wall exploded.

Naughton couldn't move, he could barely hear anything. He saw what he thought was Hillman, but might as well have been any other Trooper. Someone grabbed his collar, and pulled him across the ground.

He came to his senses when he was dragged past a pair of burnt corpses that used to be Troopers. There weren't any more explosions, he couldn't even hear the screams of the banshees; which was preferable to what he heard next.

The clouds parted, the Covenant cruiser roaring through the sky. The ground rumbled as if there was an earthquake with the speed the alien vessel moved, the sound splitting Naughton's ears. It was in a hurry. The Autumn must be launching soon, Svenson made it. The small moment of relief didn't last long.

Naughton felt the weight on his collar lighten, and a Trooper stepped in front of him. Private Jackie was back, carrying a satchel of medical supplies. The pain all over Naughton's body hadn't registered until he looked down and saw that he was covered in blood.

"God damnit," Naughton said, clenching his teeth.

"Sir?" Jackie asked. "It's not as bad as it looks."

"That's bullshit," Naughton cursed.

The heat bearing down on Point Leuctra fried Naughton's wounds. He was cut all over his lower body, jagged shrapnel stuck out from his uniform. The sides of his legs had been split open by debris. Whether the injuries were survivable or not, he was in the worst pain of his life.

Jackie gave him a shot of morphine to ease the pain, and bandaged up his legs. All it did was make his lower body numb.

"Save the supplies," Naughton grunted. "I'm not gonna make it."

"We're not letting you die, sir," Hillman said, his voice coming from behind.

An M6G pistol appeared in front of him, Hillman held it up and urged him to take it.

"Like you said, might as well go down swinging," the private said.

Naughton took the pistol, and made sure it was loaded. Jackie and Hillman pulled him into cover behind a pair of crates. He never expected to feel pride in a group of soldiers under his temporary command, especially the two idiots that were Jackie and Hillman, but he was glad they were with him while he went down.

He would have loved to be a real commander.

Bolts of superheated plasma flew through the air, cutting down a squad of Troopers next to him. The Covenant's ground force had arrived.

Dozens of grunts rushed over the pile of debris that used to be the wall, opening fire indiscriminately into the fortifications. Troopers shouted to each other, raising their voices over the sound of their guns while they called out targets, and cheered with each alien they killed.

Several grunts fell, spewing ribbons of blue blood across the wreckage. Naughton linked his pistol's scope to his eyepiece, using it to line up his shots. He narrowly missed a grunt's head with two shots, and nailed it with a third. The remaining five bullets in his magazine took down three more grunts.

Naughton searched through his ammo packs for another magazine, but the only pistol ammo he had was lost in the explosion. Grunts started to arrive faster than they could kill them, and Troopers were falling every minute.

"Hillman, I need ammo," Naughton said to the Trooper who was reloading his assault rifle.

Hillman reached for one of the packs on his belt, and produced a fresh magazine for Naughton. A storm of plasma rained down from the sky and onto the private, melting through his armour and tearing his body apart.

"What the fuck!?" Jackie shouted.

The bolts had just barely missed Naughton, the extreme heat they produced burning his skin anyway. He looked up to see a banshee soar past the outpost. The fading sound of the battle indicated that it was over, and they had lost.

That didn't mean they had to stop fighting.

Naughton reached for the magazine on the ground, and swiftly reloaded his pistol.

"We're going loud, Jackie!" Naughton said. "Make it count!"

The Trooper was terrified, but he did what Naughton said. He poured the magazine of his rifle into the oncoming horde of grunts, Naughton spent his ammo wisely, hitting each grunt he targeted in the head until he ran out of ammo once again.

The little aliens just kept coming, with no end in sight. When the Troopers caught their first glimpse of an elite, Jackie was dead within the next three seconds. The massive alien soldier raised it's weapon at Naughton; he closed his eyes, and waited to die. He would have preferred to go out on his feet, and to know that he had made a difference. Not all soldiers had that luxury.

Ten seconds passed before Naughton realised he wasn't dead yet, he opened his eyes to see what was going on. All of the alien soldiers looked to the sky in the distance, forgetting all about the last human soldier. Naughton turned to see what they were looking at, and glimpsed the Covenant cruiser that had moved past them, clouds of flame flowing out from it's heart. Explosions rocked the hull of the vessel before it crashed into the ground.

The Pillar of Autumn arose from the smoke behind it, blasting through the clouds and into space. Naughton couldn't help but smile, it was a glorious sight.

We won.

It was the last thing he ever saw.