Fan Fiction Inspired by Halo

The Long Ride Home
Date: 8 April 2002, 7:52 am

       "...NO. I think we're just getting started."

      It was only about ten hours ago that the Master Chief had uttered those words. After what seemed forever, the Longsword's engines finally cooled down enough for him to attempt a hyperspace jump to the nearest colony. He had to warn his superiors of the threat he barely escaped. With him was the advanced AI construct Cortana. She had massive amounts of information regarding the Covenant, their technology and tactics, as well as their various military strongholds. She also held the knowledge concerning Halo, its use, and the way it worked. All this time drifting in space gave her plenty of time to think and plan. She looked over the chief as he slept. He was exhausted, after almost 4 days of fighting, he had a right to be.
       Warning signals flashed on the main screen. A huge vibration shook the vessel, and Cortana alerted the Chief.
      "What's going on?" He asked, looking at the screen.
      "We've been thrown out of subspace, Chief. That's not all, I'm picking up movement." Cortana continued, "Don't know where, but I am reading energy signals that are concentrated and moving in formation. It's..."
      "Covenant." The chief cut her off as he resnapped his helmet on. "What's our defensive options?"
      "We've got 6 Shredder missiles, three ballistic splitter rounds and two rapid fire 120mm cannons with only about 540, no, 538 piercing rounds in each drum. Plus a couple of decoys and fragmentation charges." A beeping alert could be heard. "Chief, they're within our missiles' range, suggestions?"
       He loaded his assault rifle and pocketed his pistol.
      "Start launching our frag charges. They were cloaked and appeared within our range and out of theirs. They could've shot us down by now but didn't.
      Just arm the cannons just in case though." He put the Longsword into manual.
      Explosions appeared after short bursts of azure and aqua streams of light touched the frag charges.
      "Chief, they're firing!" Cortana yelled as the covenant fighters closed in. "4 Covenant bogies on our six, chief, and 3 on our heads up."
      "I see them." He immediately began firing on one of the oncoming fighters. They took evasive maneuvers as he followed one until it was shot down. Simultaneously, multiple plasma bursts hit the Longsword, knocking out the engines sending it into an uncontrollable tumble through the space.
      "Engines are out, Master Chief!" Cortana told him, as he looked at the monitors.
      "It's going to be a long ride home."

      As the Longsword spun uncontrollably, Cortana suggested various courses of action for the situation.
      "Our back up engines are still capable of flight. Analyzing.....activating....our vessel is now stable."
      As soon as she said those words, the Chief immediately sprung into action. The fighter was still sustaining blows as he launched two shredder missiles into the squad of covenant fighters, blowing them apart. He looked at his radar as it came to life, beeming red with more hostiles, multiplying as bacteria do in a petri dish. Suddenly a huge cruiser came into view, with two others and then a third following not too far behind.
      "Chief, we're surrounded. There's no way we can fight against four covenant fighters, let alone four cruisers..." The Spartan II, Mark V Cyborg slowly looked at her. The inability to see his eyes made him even creepier.
      He looked at the cruisers, and two huge beams of green light reflected off his visor as the rounds of accelerated energy sped towards them. He took Cortana's crystal from the computer board, and put her onto his helmet. The two energy blasts hit their ship, and the Chief was knocked to the floor.
      "Chief? The Longsword's systems have been disabled!" Cortana told him, as he got up off the floor.
      "What else are we capable of?" He responded immediately as sparks came off the main frameboards on the pilot's dash.
      "You can very well see what control we have left...Chief! The Covenant Commander...he's...hailing us?!

The Long Ride Home 2: Luthos
Date: 10 April 2002, 7:47 pm

     "Every system is offline, offensive and defensive, everything except life support." Her chatter was beginning to sound repetitive to him. All that he could hear was one plain and simple message, they were stuck-sitting ducks in the middle of a Covenant fleet. He looked out the window, and saw a couple of energy grapplers attaching to the hull of the Longsword fighter.
     "What's the commander got to say?" The Master Chief wanted to know exactly what their situation was.

     "Hold on, they're planning to board us. They're asking us to surrender." The Longsword's main hatch began to open."Chief, I don't think they're going to take us prisoner."
     "That's what I thought..." The Chief said, readying his rocket launcher that he kept from the Pillar of Autumn before he had dusted off. He aimed it at the doors as they were opening.
     "NO CHIEF!! THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!!" The AI yelled, but it was too late. The Chief launched a rocket into the midst of the silver and gold grunts. The explosion caused the hull of the vessel and the boarding craft the covenant used, to shake.
     The Chief saw something in the smoke, but not in time. The jackhammer was knocked from his hands before he could react. He was immediately surrounded by four grunts, and two Elites, as for the entity that knocked the rocket launcher from his hands, it revealed itself. The uncloaking silver Elite was in charge of the small crew.
     "Surrender yourself human! Our high command wishes to speak with you!"
     The Spartan warrior was confused, he thought that he and Cortana were dead once the party boarded. The Elites put some energy bands around his arms and thighs which caused an electrical discharge. His shields degenerated, and wouldn't recharge. He was in their shackles.
     What were they doing? They should've killed him, or at least that's what he thought. It wasn't normal that the Covenant took prisoners. He was brought onto the boarding vessel, and seated in between the two Elites that had surrounded him. The silver Elite spoke something back in their language, and the boarding craft jerked forward to the nearest cruiser. As he sat there, he saw the Elite next to him speaking in their tongue, and holding a holopic of another Elite soldier.
     "What are you looking at, human?!!" It yelled at the chief as it elbowed him in the side of the head. The silver Elite piloting the vehicle disapprovingly cursed the warrior.
     "Do not injure him, Rajihn, you fool!"
     "Seems like you might've killed a relative chief. Interesting sign of emotions. I think it was piloting one of the Seraph fighters you destroyed before."
     Go ahead and cry your eyes out, the Chief thought to himself. There had to be an amends to the loss of his brothers and sisters. This was just the beginning.
     The Covenant cruiser was now about 50 meters and closing, as it's shuttle bay energy barriers shut down for the vessel to land. As it landed he saw that the cruiser had almost the same look as the Truth and Reconciliation. They landed, and he was led off the vessel. The two Elites ushered him forward, while some grunt medics came and carried the injured grunts away. One of the grunts squealed, then a plasma rifle went off. The chief looked, and saw an Elite standing over the bodies of the injured grunts.
     "They are weak, slay them. May their honor please the gods."
     The rest of the grunts put their claws on their chests, then fired their plasma rounds into the heads of the other injured grunts.
     Rajihn pulled the chief, and pushed him on. The silver Elite in charge of them was ahead, leading them to their destination. As the Chief walked on, he saw the other Elites patrolling the hallways, jackals with their birdlike movement staring at him wildly, and the occasional grunt sleeping on the job-only to get kicked awake by an Elite. They seemed to get busy as the chief walked on deeper into the ship, and Cortana tried to find out why.
     "Looks like they're working on some sort of Project or doing research. Either way, they're really busy."
     It actually looked like they were preparing for an offensive to the Chief. He didn't know exactly why, but all this hustling made him nervous.
     "Analyzing.....I can't hack into their battlenet. They must have a block that I haven't seen yet, or, they know of my interceptive capabilities."
     The Cyborg and their escort walked on. They brought him to a room with many smaller rooms with energy shields as doors. It was their prison cells. One of the barriers came down, and the Chief was thrown into it. Rajihn the Elite spoke.
     "Our commander will speak with you soon human. Do not make yourself comfortable." He turned around, and there was the silver Elite standing behind him.
     "Carry on Rajihn, go make yourself busy. As for you human, we shall feed you in due time, right now you will meet the commander."
     "Dumashilon! Is the human there?"
     "Yes commander, he is in the cell, ready for your arrival."
     "Pleasing to have this knowledge, you are released from duty. You may go and acquire sustenance for your hunger. Commander out."
     The Chief sat there, and the three Elites left. He was already planning an escape route from the ship. First thing he needed to do was find a vector towards the nearest colony, away from any possible danger. He would need a Covenant vessel for this. The reason was simple, he would be just as fast, if not faster from a head start, if he took one. Cortana could help him to pilot one.
     After ten minutes, the automatic doors that led into the prison room opened. He heard the ominous thumping march of creatures that were all too familiar.
     It was the Hunter species. There were six of them, all in perfect formation. One of them shut down the energy barrier to the Chiefs cell, and they all marched in, and surrounded him. This was it, he thought. They all stood there, and charged up their fuel rod cannons. The eerie green glow from their weapons lit up the small cell. Two of them moved to the side, and let another being pass. It was an Elite, with elegantly ornamented gold armor. He walked in, standing to a stunning 9'6", and with a silk like cloth with small, twisting silver chains attached, around his neck. It went down all the way to his hip, and seemed like a dark cape. His menacing jaws, sharklike in appearance, and firey eyes reflected off the Master Chiefs visor. He now stood face to face with the Master Chief.
     "The human agenda is secondary at this moment. There is a far greater threat to the Al'djur race. It is a pestilence, a plague, a menacing race of cannibalistic creatures known as the flood. We here, the Covenant species of this fleet, come to you with a proposal. You alone survived the onslaught at the Halo, and destroyed our beloved, and formidable armada there.
     We now know the Angel of Death has been loosed, and ask for a truce. We ask that you be loosed for us, to wipe this disgusting race, from existence. For that, we shall spare your life aboard this ship. We shall exchange knowledge, so that we too, may cure the galaxy from this disease. It is the will of the gods, and it must be followed. I am Luthos, the high commander of the fleet Kir'dun."
     After the Commander's little speech, the Chief liked his situation more. The once hated enemy needed him. It needed his help. He liked the idea that they asked him, to so called 'cure', this disease. They were going to give him knowledge, which was another thing he liked. But the one true thing he liked, the best part of the whole speech, was that he was the Angel of Death to the Covenant.

The Long Ride Home 3: Just Like Chicken
Date: 19 April 2002, 9:49 am

     The Commander Luthos, Continued.
     "We shall equip you with our latest technological advancements." He put his right hand up."Stand down, he must trust our word for the time being."
     The green glow from the Hunters' guns died down, and they stood up to their full height. Four Elites materialized as they lowered their plasma rifles. This commander had a heavy guard. He must've been important.
     "Make no mistake human, we still have a mission ordained by the gods." He motioned for the guard to leave. He walked out, followed by the Hunters, and then the Elites, who slowly activated their cloacking functions. The energy barrier reactivated.
     "How did the flood escape Halo?" He didn't know the answer, he didn't even think about the question. But Cortana was on track, where were the flood, and how did they get there?
     "Chief, I found a way to get on their battlenet. Something's wrong."
     "What is it?"
     "Everything the commander said, it's totally incompliant with his superiors' orders."
     "What do you mean Cortana?" Now this was interesting,an entire Covenant fleet going renegade? Or were they just being insubordinate?
     "Well Chief, I'm reading into their data logs, and their High Priests, have decided that the human menace, should be taken care of first. But our Luthos, along with a great number of others, see the flood as the immediate threat. They're terribly afraid of them. The result was a split in the Covenant leadership into two factions: one that zealously pursues the destruction of mankind, and the other, which wishes to get rid of the the flood first."
     Now the Chief knew what he'd gotten into. He's in the hands of an enemy who is fighting on two different fronts. This was good, REAL good. It meant that they were not only killing each other off, but were killing off the flood.
     "This split in the Covenant forces was very unexpected. But we can use it to our advantage."
     She was right, the Covenant would be distracted. That could give him the chance of escape. But there was still one more thing to take into consideration. They wanted to 'exchange knowledge'. That meant he had an extended stay. Getting Covenant technology for study was important. Every little thing humans could learn was help.
     The energy barrier to his cell deactivated. Four Elites materialized like before. One of the silver armored Elites came before him.
     "Come, Cyborg, your meal awaits."
     They surrounded him, and brought him through a few corridors before arriving to their mess hall. A few grunts curiously came up to him. He looked down at them with a sudden movement. It startled them, causing them to jump and scurry off and away yelling,
     "Ahhh! The Angel of Death! He looked at us, AAAhhh!"
     The seating arrangement was simple, every species sat with its own kind.
     Rajihn served him his food. Some of it caused some concern for the Chief, as the ingredients flashed on his HUD.
     "I can't eat this." He said, pushing it away. "There's poison on this food, it'll kill me if I eat it."
     The Elite growled at him, tasted the food, and spat it out in surprise.
     "Grrraaarrr!! This is Um-joul! Who put the Um-joul on this?!"
     A couple of Jackals could be heard laughing.
     "You two, come before me now!!"
     The Jackals hesitated, then reluctantly came to the Elite. He back clawed them across their faces.
     "It was merely trickery sir, we just wanted to amuse ourselves at the human's expense."
     "Foolish animals! This spice is a poison to his body, detrimental to his health and anatomy. Besides, it is one of YOUR kind's disgusting spices on my kind's dish!"
     "We apologize sir, we concluded that he could not die from mere food. The possiblity of Death's Angel dying was not in our thoughts. We gambled at the idea, sir."
     He dismissed them both, and the entire mess hall resumed its usual clatter and noise of creatures feasting. The Elite got another dish, an Elite's specialty, it was anatomically and molecularly sound for the Master Chief. It was a glowing deep brown and beige dish, with chunks of brown objects mixed with the seemingly noodle like food. At a closer inspection, the Chief realized that the food actually reflected off of other things in the environment, otherwise, it was transparent. He removed his helmet, and caustiously took a bite.
     "So Chief, how is it?" Asked Cortana in a playful voice.
     "It stung like a spicy food at first, but the burn didn't linger. Besides that though, it tastes like, like..." The Chief took another bite to reconfirm his observations. "It tastes just like Chicken."

     After the Master Chief finished his meal, his 4 Elite escort brought him to a small, dark conferencing room. It was about the size of his jail cell, but was rounded more. Then from the shadows a deep, resounding voice, that had echoes, started to speak.
     "Cyborg, we are the Council, Tactical Planner of Operations for the Fleet Kir'Dun. We are now heading for what is believed to be a Flood infested military installation. We have observed and gathered data regarding the flood and their behavior, from the little bit of recording from your vessel's VIDCAM before you abandoned its station."
     He didn't know that they captured the Longsword. It's a good thing that Cole Protocol caused the purging of its navigation data, or else everything hat happened to him, would be for nothing. He would've lost.
     They began playing the VIDCAM's recordings on a holoscreen before him. It was the same chaotic sight he had seen before boarding it, on the Pillar of Autumn.
     It started out with snow, then an explosion triggered its auto record activation system. The hangar came alive with movement. Flood warriors were getting shot by Shade guns, only to return fire ten times over. Swarm after swarm of flood warriors filled the hangar, firing rockets and plasma rifles, or whatever their host had been carrying. An Elite was seen flying through the air, as a result fo three flood warriors smacking him with their whip like limbs, and grunts trying to run away were instinctively chased down and mercilessly slain. Then he saw a Warthog at the far end coming in through an access tunnel. It was himself, and he stepped out of the vehicle once it stopped. Everywhere he looked were explosions, rounds of plasma or machine gun fire. He shot an oncoming infected Elite with his shotgun, after a few warriors, the gun went empty. He immediately switched to his rocket launcher and shot it at a group of the flood. He boarded the Longsword and it began to lift off. After he left the hangar the recording froze.
     "What is it about this weapon that makes it so effective against the flood?"
     The holoscreen showed the shotgun up close, rotating. Then a flash from the recording showed how each shot took out the flood. Each warrior that confronted the Chief immediately went down from the gun's discharge.
     "The Council demands knowledge, regarding the technology for this weapon. How does it work? What does it fire? Explain cyborg."
     The Master Chief thought about the situation. He wanted to know exactly where he stood in the scheme of things.
     "What if I don't tell you?"
     "It is unacceptable. You shall give us the answers we demand, or we shall easily slay you. Then we shall derive the knowledge from your 'AI Construct' from within your helmet."
     "She won't have any answers once you kill me."
     That statement was followed by a few moments of silence. He was right, Cortana contained a self-purging sequence that initiated once his life signs had ceased to exist. He knew that they must've known this. He had the upperhand in this argument.
     "Very well. The Council has decided the terms of knowledge exchange. You shall give us information, and we shall free you. Of course, your freedom will only mean that you are to be enlisted into our forces. There are no passengers on a Covenant BattleCruiser, only warriors.
     The energy bands around his arms and thighs were deactivated. His energy shield was recharged, and they gave him another battery cell for a more powerful shield.
     "We have provided you with a stronger defensive shield. You now have the priveleges of a covenant warrior. It is now your half of the bargain that must be paid."
     An hour went by, as he gave them the details of the shotgun, what exactly the shells had inside and how much power it gave. He was dismissed after that.
     Four Elites in silver armor came to him, surrounded him and led him to a locker room where other Elites were suiting up, and charging their shields. As he walked by them, they would all snarl and snap their menacing jaws at him.
     "Warriors, we shall engage an enemy which have taken our fallen brothers' bodies and possessed them in an attempt to wipe us out."
     The voice was none other than Luthos. He was on the ship's intercom system.
     "What we must do also includes our responsibility, and duty to achieve all means possible to complete the objective at hand. With this in thought, our captive human has provided us with a weapon concept that can kill a Flood warrior in a single round. You shall holster your standard issued weapons to be replaced by a weapon known as a 'shotgun'. Details on its use and how to work its functions shall be provided en route to the military installation. The human shall fight by your side in this mission, so do not kill him. May the gods be with you, fight with honor!"
     After he finished his speech, the Elite warriors lined up in two long rows down the locker room. One of the silver Elites grabbed the Master Chief and put him in a spot. The two rows moved as one, putting their arms to their chests, and then roaring.
     "For duty, for honor, may the gods be pleased!"
     "Chief, I am reading a couple of other Covenant Cruisers contacting the commander. They don't seem to be in a friendly formation."

     Sixteen round vessels appeared in deep space, a couple hundred thousand kilometers from the Kir'Dun Fleet. The commander of that group asked to speak with Luthos.
     "Luthos, I am here to reason with you, old friend. Come, stop this campaign of yours. We have captured and slain the other traitors, and you'll follow in their fortune if you do not surrender the fleet at once. I promise, you'll be reinstated to full Command and resume the pursuit of the human race. Just surrender yourself, or die."
     Luthos snarled. He looked the advesary in the eyes on the panel in front of him.
     "Garun, if I am to die today, rest assured, it is not in vain. Others would surely take arms and carry my legacy, to destroy the monstrosity known as the Flood. The scourge of the universe multiplies at this very moment, and if they aren't destroyed now, they shall indeed consume our homeworlds. Why oppose me brother, if I pose no threat? Let me be, as I shall resume my duties once the ordeal is over. Our work can be divided so as to complete mulitple objectives. The humans are almost completely wiped out, then why pursue my allegiance to its cause, when you know it's already there? Leave me, I plead with you. We are brothers, and should not fight under the same gods of which we worship. If not, you shall face a death that even you could not envision."
     "Luthos, you fool! You and your other renegades shall surely meet your end!"
     After the talk, Luthos signalled to his weapons commander. Immediately, the control room was full of movement.
     "This vessel is to be alerted to full combat status. Arm our main Plasma Cannon. We will to not be denied our mission!"
     Again, the commander Garun, spoke to Luthos.
     "Luthos, don't be foolish! I'll destroy you! We outnumber your forces, and reinforcements are on the way! May your blasphemous ways carry you to hell!"
     The commander went offscreen as dim, hazel lights set the mood for battle in the control room. The battle fleet was filled with the movement of creatures rushing to their stations, their Seraph fighters or their dropships.

     "Cortana, what's the situation?"
     "There are 16 covenant vessels 30,000 kilos at our current 12. We're about to engage in battle. First attack should occur within 15 minutes."
     "Come with us human, our mission remains to be fulfilled."
     The silver Elite guided the Master Chief to wait with another Elite unit, on a platform in one of the hangars. As he looked on, he saw the Seraph fighters disengaging their magnetic clamps and hovering into formation within the hangar. An automatic door revealed stars and space, and the first four fighters shot out, followed by another group. Grunts and Jackals began boarding their Bandits, surprisingly, without any Elites. Rajihn, came to the Chief and growled at him.
     "Follow, Cyborg, this way."
     He was following a line of about 200 Elite warriors, all with a new weapon in hand. It had a long barrel, cylindrical in shape, and with the silver-blue sheen of a plasma rifle. It was the Covenant version of the shotgun. The weapons were handed down, and he finally got one, along with a magnetic sac for his hip. It contained 120 more shells for the gun. He looked at each shell, and was overtaken by the Covenant's improvisional skills. They managed to fill each one with the same metallic shards found in needlers. The casing was transparent, and the inside glowed with an orange substance that made the shards to float around in it. He pressed a button, and the barrel flipped open a latch, revealing the slot to insert each individual shell.
     "They made it exactly as I showed them. All that's needed now is if it works."
     "Genius, I wonder how much energy output each shell contains? Alert! The other fleet is within firing range, hold on to something Chief."

     "FIRE!!"
     The ship let go a burst of blue and white plasma streams. One of the other destroyers attempted to dodge the shot. It moved the side, but not fast enough for the tracing plasma stream. The shot curved and went right into the middle of the ship, causing the shields to die down in a flicker. The other shot followed it, and melted the entire hull, as it penetrated through. The explosion sent a wave of energy, along with its debris, in all directions of immediate space.
     Instantaneously, blue and green streams went back and forth between the Renegade fleet and the Battle group. Some ships dodged their enemies' fire, weaving side to side, or up and down. Some weren't lucky, and felt the white hot energy for a second, only to explode.
     After a few seconds, the firing ceased, only to recharge their cannons. Every vessel had a glowing white light concentrating on the front of it. From far, it looked like a bunch of small stars glowing in the distance.
     "What is our status, Poruin?" The commander was waiting for the bad news.
     "We lost three ships sir, all destroyers. A cruiser lost power from a hit, and is sitting dead in space. Their boarding crafts are heading our way, requesting permission to board us sir."
     "Send out our fighters to escort them here. I want four squadrons in flight, send them with a stealth Assasin, they are to go to the outer rim of our enemies' formation. Fire the main cannon on their commanding vessel when ready."
     "Sir!" The Elite pushed some commands on his holopanel, and continued his work.
     Another episode of the blue, white and green streams of energy filling the space between both parties continued. Luthos' ship moved up from its lateral position, barely missing a plasma stream. The intense heat caused the vessel's shields to shimmer.
     "Commander, our fighters our prepared to engage an enemy warship, the stealth Assassin is armed as well. Suggestions?"
     Luthos thought out a strategy in a split second.
     "Have two squadrons attack Garun's ship, when the Stealth Assassin has a chance, tell the crew to destroy it. Let the rest of the squadrons get rid of any opposing threat in the vicinity of the vessel."
     The renegade fighters did exactly as told. Garun's flagship had faced off with the two squadrons, distracting it from the small vessel known as the Stealth Assassin to come up behind it. The ship was smaller than a cruiser, but had abundant power for cloaking, pinpoint maneuvering, and charging its main cannon all at once. This gave it its deadly advantage. It was also capable of deepspace travel on its own, which is why it was usually used as a scout. It slowly materialized behind the Flagship of Garun.
     "Commander Garun, stealth assassin armed and behind us sir! They are preparing to fire!"
     The commander could do nothing, at this range, it was too late.
     "GRRRRAAAAAARRGHHH!! Traitors all of you!!"
     His howls weren't heard as the ship was consumed with fire. The plasma beam had entered the main reactor of the vessel, and caused an immediate explosion thoughout the ship. The erupting explosions were as geysers, ripping through metal and space. Immediately the Stealth Assassin was faced with two destroyers and three cruisers. The ships turned around and faced the ship, and began charging their cannons. This was the stealth assassin's cue to leave. It went into cloak mode, then it pinpoint manuevered out of the enemy formation.
     "Dominus, contact the Assassin, tell them to move 300 kilometers toward us. Initiate a lock on the destroyers, and tell the rest of our company to do likewise. Fire when ready."
     The Assassin did as was commanded, and then a plasma beam shot past it to one of the destroyers that was pursuing it. The ship spun uncontrollably into another, causing the other destroyer to release its charged energy into one of the battle cruisers. Three ships went up in flames. The Assassin continued its course, until it was within the docking bay of Luthos' ship.
     Suddenly the Kir'Dun were face to face with their enemy. Each cruiser and destroyer and carrier used pinpoint manuevering in slipspace to close the 30,000 kilometer gap. This made them merely a thousand or so kilometers from the Fleet. Luthos didn't like this, it was dangerously close, and he still had to get out of there to the military installation.
     "Dominus, prepare for speed travel to military installation, Vilo. Inform our brothers of the manuever. I want to leave within three clics."
     The ships fired at each other furiously, causing floating behemoths of sparks and blazing balls of fire. Seraph fighters chased one another, spilling rounds of small azure bursts of energy at each other. Some that were shot down went careening into other fighters, or their mother vessels. The spectacle made small sparks and flashes on each Covenant ship this would happen to.
     "Sir, I am reading another incoming fleet. We only have five or six vessels left sir, and they have about seven or eight here already.
     "Let's move on."
     The renegade fleet, now only consisting of a mere five or six ships slowly dissolved and disappeared into space. The remaining enemy of the Kir'Dun regrouped and attempted pursuit. They didn't have a lock on any of their prey, so they ended up galaxies or planetary systems away. The reinforcements came in to a space field of flames and a few fighters still in combat. One badly damaged cruiser, contacted the leader and informed him of the incident.

     "Cortana, what just happened?"
     "Analyzing...We're now in orbit around a military installation once occupied by the Covenant. The Council is deciding on a course of action, one to deal with the Flood, and another to regain control of the station. We were in one rough battle chief. They lost six ships altogether: two cruisers, three carriers and a destroyer. The Kir'Dun are susceptible to invasion by another opposing fleet, since they have little to no individual fighter protection."
     Ten Bandits lined up to the platform that the Chief and the Elites were on. Their side hatches opened, and the chief followed the other Elites aboard one of the crafts. He sat next to Rajihn, who, it seemed now, was his watcher.
     A deep, gruff voice came over the craft's intercom, detailing thier mission. As he began to speak, holoscreens with a map of the installation lit up in front of the soldiers.

"Entry point is here. Mission objectives:
Make your way into the central part of the installation.
Find the head, destroy it.
Find the right hand, destroy it.
Find the heart, destroy it.
Extraction point is here. Delay in the mission results in abandonment.
Death is honorable, cowardice displeases the gods.
10 clics and closing until arrival of entry point"

     The holoscreen turned off. The Bandit was now entering vaccuum. Its engines roared to life as it proceeded toward the installation. The Master Chief wanted to see what it was like, for it was the first time he'd see a Covenant military base.
     "Did you get all of that Cortana?"
     "Yes Chief. I now have the entire base's structural data within my memory. Already developing a route of escape. I am now hacking into the installation's network. Chief, defense turrets are locking in on us!"
     A rain of explosions showered around as Bandits took shots from the point defense systems of the military installation. The Flood had found a way to control the base's systems. The Covenant dropships continued to take punishment.
     "Take this human."
     Rajihn handed him a cell that was transparent. He attached it to his thigh, and went into cloack mode. The Elites around him did likewise. A loud explosion shook the craft as a voice came on again.
     "Three clics until arrival of entry point. Prepare for battle."
     The vibrations and bumps were getting more intense. Suddenly, latches in front of the Master Chief let a small puff of air out as the hatch began to open. The other Elites had already landed and were making their way into a large building, firing on creatures in the distance. The Bandits lifted off, being released from their burdens that they birthed on the land. The Elites made their way across the brown sands of the landscape, toward their target. It was moonbase, with structures that resemble those to Halo. In the distance, the Chief could barely make out a round purple whale like vessel. He had no time to stare at it, he was in the middle of battle.
     A couple of Banshees flew overhead, giving some good air support, and ground assault was enhanced by a couple of wraiths. Something made the Chief feel uneasy as he took cover from the oncoming fire from the flood. The flood warriors were tossing grenades, dodging fire, and taking cover. A flood warrior jumped up on a dirt mound and motioned, causing a bunch of them to follow him towards the Covenant forces.
     "Chief, why are you slowing your advance?" Cortana obviously didn't see what the Chief saw. They were behaving differently, so much that the Master Chief couldn't help but notice.
     "Because they're using battlefield tactics."

     These Flood warriors were moving methodically, advancing closer and closer to the Covenant positions. Six Banshees had been shot down, and two wraiths destroyed.
     "This is ground assault forces, repeat, ground assault forces to mother. We request reinforcements, these creatures have fortified themselves well."
     The Chief knew how they were moving. It was very familiar to him. They had the same formations he had seen in battle countless times. It was Covenant. He tossed a few grenades around the ones who were leading the others. Other Elites moved in, clearing their hiding spots and going berserk on the creatures. There were only about 70 Elite soldiers left. Then 20 dropships delivered another load of troops. They were jackals and grunts, attempting to flank the monsters. A huge explosion sent hundreds of flood flying from the back of the immediate fronts. Elites had gone in, cloaked, and set of explosives with plasma mines and the such. Plasma mortars created gaps between the flood ranks. But it wasn't enough to hold them back. Hundreds upon hundreds came rushing out of the distant structure. Shots were everywhere, it was all out war. There was a river of Covenant dropships washing down from the fleet in orbit, dropping off troops into the battle. The Chief was now only a kilometer away from the structure, and saw its exact height.
     "Cortana, pinpoint the nearest mode of transportation for me."
     "Will do Chief. What are you planning?"
     "I'm thinking about getting into that complex. It must have vital information on the Covies and their homeworlds. We could possibly even get a nav. log or something."
     "There, that Bandit is dropping off a couple of Banshees."
     "Thanks Cortana."
     "Chief, I don't think the Covenant are just going to let you use it."
     "I wasn't going to ask for permission."
     An explosion sent the Chief hurtling to the ground. A flood warrior jumped in front of him. He pulled the trigger to his new gun, and a large burst of energy with little white sparks sent it flying.
     "This version of the shotgun is a lot more powerful than my version."
     He moved on, and saw the Banshees. A couple of Elites were fighting off the flood, which kept them from piloting the vehicles. He slid down the dirt mound he was on, and began to sprint. He covered the 400 meter distance within 48 seconds. One of the silver Elites saw him and charged.
     "Human! What are you doing?!"
     The Chief shot him twice, then turned and shot a flood warrior. The flood continuously attacked the chief, only to be killed by each and every one of his shots. He killed at least 30 of them, but their relentlessness was too overwhelming. Thousands of flood warriors littered the landscape in front of the 200 story structure, and more continued to pour out. The Covenant forces were intent on recapturing this military installation, so they continued to send dropships with troops and supplies.
     The Chief climbed in the Banshee and immediately took flight. Banshees beside him that were already in flight, were shot down by the Fuel Rod Cannons some of the flood were wielding. A huge bright stream of plasma flew at the Chief. He dove to the right, as it passed him and struck a Bandit, causing it to crack in half and expose its passengers, spilling them to their deaths. He then pulled straight up. As he was climbing, he heard the radio transmission in the Banshee speaking with an Elite's voice.
     "Banshee unit ----, need support---- where are you headed?! What is your destination? Come back, you coward! We need support at-----immediately!"
     He continued upward, passing falling Bandits that had become huge fireballs hurtling into the grounds below. They were still being shot down as they entered the moon's artificial atmosphere, by the defense turrets on the structures littering the base. The falling crafts caused the climbing Banshee to shake.
     He looked over the horizon, and saw the purple object more clearly. It was a Covenant Cruiser.
     "Cortana, is that vessel up and running?"
     "Analyzing...I don't know Chief. The signal is too far off for me to tell. It's 100 Kilometers from here, approximately. Let's plan on trying to sneak into that huge structure first. The battle down below is really drawing the flood from the complex."
     "Just searching through my options Cortana."

     Rajihn had been keeping an extra eye out for the Chief, but lost him in the midst of the battle.
     "Grrrroooaaarrrr!! Disgusting aberrations, die now!!"
     He pulled his trigger, and shot a flood warrior in the chest, blowing it apart. He shot a couple more, then saw four Hunters on a small hill being flooded on all sides. He signaled to nearby Elites, and immediately ran to aid the beasts. A couple of Jackals were also alerted, and started blasting their way up the hill through the infestation. Within five minutes, fourteen Elites, and six jackals surrounded the Hunters giving them close range support. After they regrouped, he set up a hedge around them with the Jackals and their shields. He then ordered the Hunters to fire 35 meters in front of them.
     "There, now!!"
     Three huge beams of energy from each Hunter burned down about 40 different flood warriors. Others were sent flying from the blasts. A few of the flood that made it, were taken care of by the Elites. The pounding by the flood ended momentarily, as they turned around to regroup behind some dirt mounds. Then they spread out, as more flooded the area, and surrounded the Covenant on their spot, to continue fighting.
     "Jackals, hold your positions, do not let any rounds get past your shields!"
     Rajihn found himself the momentary leader of the small crew. They were being assaulted on all sides. Some Elites in distance saw the commotion from a couple hundred meters away. They immediately came together to assist the hold. As the forces on that hill continued to grow, more and more bodies from the flood piled on that hill. The seen was of utter chaos. Firefights within the flood and Covenant lines, on the outside and everywhere.
     "Warrior! State your situation!"
     Rajihn explained to a Red superior Elite what he was attempting to do with the small defensive position.
     "Ground assault crews on their way, Al'djurian. Hold the position."
     "Sir!"
     The Red superior went off the transmission. Then a couple of blue blasts killed off some of the flood hiding in their spots. There were two Wraiths in the distance, moving at top speed toward Rajihn and his band of fighters. Only a mere hundred meters away, they were escorted by six more Elites,four more Hunters and an array of jackals and grunts.
     As more forces let off the dropships, they came from behind to get the Flood that were flanking Rajihn and the others. The flood had been dried up, at least in the Covenant lines. Now they only had one front, which made it simpler for combat. Still, more and more flood rushed in, swallowing some of the unfortunate who were within their lines. Elites went down, one by one from the plasma rifles the putrid creatures held. Some tossed grenades behind the Jackals, causing them and a few Elites to go flying limply in death.
     "Elites, fire at our flanking enemy!"
     Rajihn set the example by turning and tossing a few grenades at the monsters trying to come in behind them again. The remaining flood discontinued their attempts to try and flank them. This made Rajihn quiver for a second. He saw that these creatures were smarter than expected. Nothing got any easier for the Covenant. In the horizon, the golden brown sands were moving as one huge blanket. It was the brown and beige color of the flood, moving closer, and camouflaged with the moon's grounds. They would cover the kilometer and a half, by a mere five minutes. Then one of the Jackals began to scream.
     "I see big guns! Big guns on those creatures!"
     He pointed to a bunch of the flood, carrying fuel rod cannons and plasma mortar cannons.
     Bandits continued to unload more troops, an endless belt of purple delivering death, or perhaps life, to the flood. All in all, there were over two thousand Covenant forces covering the grounds, inching their way forward, a hundred meters at a time. Then blasts of blue, firey plasma landed within the Covenant offensive. It took out nearly a 100 of them. Some lay wounded, with boiling sores from the heat. Others had caught fire, and remained in their frozen forms, ashen statues of intense heat and energy. An Elite began to yell at the top of his lungs to his forces.
     "We must destroy the creatures armed with those weapons!"
     He was silenced with a smoltering blast of aqua light. Rajihn felt the intense heat, as he was very close to the blast. Another Golden Elite came and took his place, resuming the commanding position.
     "Your work is worthy, we shall lead this group now. The gods are pleased with you, go and return to the fight."
     He ordered for the Wraiths to position themselves 50 meters either side of the hill. The Hunters stayed up top, helping to clear the lands ahead up to thirty meters with fuel rod shots. Another blast of liquid colored energy hit the hill. Three of the four Hunters were immolated, while the fourth's armor had melted some. Rajihn saw a Hunter's fuel rod cannon, and tore it off the arm. He mounted it on his shoulder, and raced up another small dirt mound that was 15 feet high. The orange blood dripped on the Elites armor, and down his back.
     "Your existence ends now, demons!"
     He arched the cannon towards the sky, aiming it in the direction of the mortar cannons. He jerked, and the green stream went up and curved down, into the floods' cannons. One of them exploded causing a huge wave of energy discharge. After the blue mist of the gaseous explosion dissipated, there was a huge gap where the flood had once been in that position. Little blue flames littered the area, and black, burnt bodies lay on the ground. He had killed at least 50 of them.
     "Wraith unit Jules, fire now!"
     The howling sounds of the accelerated energy from each Wraith arching up and into the other mortar cannons were deafening. No other sound filled any warrior's ears, except that of weapons firing, warriors screaming from death, or Banshees and Bandits crashing to the ground.

     "Three hundred meters, Chief."
     He was headed to the top of the installation. Once there, he'd work his down. He had an obligation to fulfill his purpose for living. He had to find the Covenant homeworld, then get a cruiser, damaged or otherwise, back to UNSC for study. Like Keyes had said before. The Spartans were the last real hope at achieving some sort of long term victory. He was indeed their last hope at finding any real intelligence. It was two days since Halo, and a week since the fall of Reach. He still had a mission to fulfill. He still had to win.
     "Chief, reading some movement up ahead."
     Turrets on the structure began to fire on the Banshee. The Spartan dove and barrel rolled to the left, dodging numerous shots. The turrets continued to chase him down, when one of the purple rounds hit the right side of the flying craft. Before he climbed above one of the structure's landing platforms, he fired away at a few of the turrets.
     One of them caught fire, and exploded. His Banshee now had multiple plasma scoures from the turrets. It started to lose power and plummet toward the huge grey monolith.
     "What are you doing?! We're going in fast!"
     "I know that."
     As the Banshee closed in on the structure, it started to catch fire. He manuevered it to one of the platforms,similar in appearance to those found on Halo. The purple haze of the plasma fire reflected off the Chief's visor as he looked on the Banshee's monitor. He opened up the hatch before it crashed, and fell 15 feet to the ground. He landed just as the vehicle made a resounding THUD and exploded, and rolled from the turret gunfire.
     "Cortana, nearest opening, now!"
     He was dodging, strafing and diving to avoid the oncoming plasma beams from the turrets. They had a 360 degree rotation and movement, enabling them to shoot at any angle. The heat from the blasts created holes on this rooftop platform, metal was orange hot, with some of it dripping down from the rims.
     "There's a small ventilation shaft 15 meters at your two o'clock. It's open, so I suggest you enter through there."
     "Thanks Cortana."
     He saw the opening, ran as fast as his adrenaline and MJOLNIR armor could allow, and dove straight in. The vent went down 50 feet before it ended into a huge room with catwalks and computer holopanels. As he fell, he activated his magnetic devices on his hands and feet. Just before the end of the shaft, he attached himself to its sides.
     "Whew! That was a close one, Master Chief!"
     "What is this place for Cortana?"
     "Analyzing. The flood have totally taken over the installation."
     "That's obvious."
     "This particular place is the structure's main defense room. This is where they control the turrets on the moonbase and this building. The Covenant call it VILO. It's a highly important military installation that has been overlooked by them in their religious fervor to wipe out the human race. I believe that it's actually guarding one of the Covenant's homeworlds. Not sure which species, but we're pretty close to finding out."
     He looked down and and saw them. Hundreds of floodlings and warriors, busy at work on different holopanels. Then he saw IT. It was a huge, swelled up flood, its tentacles supporting it from teh ceiling. It had the body of an Elite, with some of its golden armor still attached. The body was deformed and twisted, and reminded the Master Chief of the way Captain Keyes looked on Halo.
     "That's 'The Right Hand' the Covies were talking about Chief."
     He was still hanging sideways by his arms and legs, looking down.
     "So what's the plan?"
     "I'm going to toss a few grenades by the entrance. It should distract them. Then I'll cloak and kill that thing."
     "What are you going to do about the escape?"
     "I'm not going to leave. I'll stay and wipe this room clean. I'm sure we could find something important to use here."
     "Alright. That walkway right there goes across the length of this room. This place is very large. It's 600 meters long and 400 meters wide. The catwalks all cover the actual depths of this particular half of the structure. You miss it, Chief, and down you go-more than 200 levels straight down."
     She was right. He tried to use his zoom function, and still couldn't see far enough down into the huge tunnel. As an added bonus, the catwalks had no railings, making it easier to fall off.
     "Time to make some friends."
     He tossed a couple of grenades by the exit. The explosions sent the creatures flying off the catwalk, or burned them to redeath. The floors were living with movement, as teh parasitic creatures raced to the area the explosions occured. He disengaged his magnetic hold, and quietly dropped to the catwalk. He activated his cloaking function on his thigh, then slowly moved toward "the right hand".
     "Hurry Chief, before they find out you're here."
     He pulled out his plasma shotgun, drawing closer and closer to the hanging sac of deformity's child. Then the ripples of his camouflage caught its attention.
     "Alert! They are now rushing over here Chief. They'll be all over us in ten seconds!"

The Long Ride Home 6: When Hell Is In Your Face
Date: 24 April 2002, 6:29 pm

     Rajihn was now safely 100 meters from the battlefront. He had gone to get more ammunition and grenades from the ground assault supply crews. He had also gone back because he needed to report to his superiors.
     "The human has run off."
     Dumashilon fired up with rage. Over the sounds of explosions and vehicles moving in to kill more flood, this statement rung in his sound receptors a thousand times.
     "When did he escape?! Why didn't you watch over him?!"
     "With all due respect, sir, I was in battle. He could have been slain for all I know. Why should I care for that blasphemous being anyway?"
     With that finishing statement followed a huge claw smack across his jaws. Dumashilon growled and yelled at Rajihn.
     "Fool! You had better pray he has not been slain! He was our peace offering back to appease our elders once we reclaimed this installation. He had better be alive! Go, take a vehicle, seek him out among the dead or wounded."
     "There is a battle that must be fought!"
     "You have your orders, warrior!"
     Rajihn grit his sharp teeth, then turned around and headed toward a currently occupied ghost. Dumashilon continued transmitting messages to the battlefleet.
     Rajihn went up to the ghost rider, and kicked the unaware Elite off.
     "What are you attempting, fool?!"
     "SILENCE, I have no need for ranf at this moment!"
     He rode off into the battle field. The flood had been pushed back, with the advancing Covenant forces. The golden brown sands had patches of melted dust and vehicles still sparking with small blue flames. Dirt had been turned to glass, from the intense heat of plasma grenades and blasts. The light from the moon's distant sun reflected off these rugged mirrors into the Elite's eyes, as he flew by exploding comrades, mortars and other things that happened during battle. A flood warrior jumped at him while firing from its rifle. He shot it up and burned holes through its rotting flesh.

     Back in orbit, Luthos was busy with a few of his advisers, and the Council, on the battle's status.
     "We are advancing further to the main facility, sir. Once there, we shall be able to eliminate the flood's occupation."
     "How are the casualties?"
     "We are dying, sir, greatly. But their numbers are falling rapidly, more so than ours."
     "Pleasing."
     "My strategy calls for a decisive landing on the top of the main facility. I shall dispatch a vast number of our grunt and jackal special forces."
     "Very well, Council. If that is necessary, let it be so."

     "Hmmmm. If that is done, we shall be able retake our defense system. We believe it is currently being controlled by the 'right hand'."
     "We must destroy the 'head' first, sir! It is the one controlling their strategic standpoint, and it is the one responsible for causing our base to move on its current course."
     "Yes, you are correct, but the 'heart' is beating with life. That is our main objective, its destruction!"
      The room went into an uproar between the four individuals. Luthos put his hand up.
     "Silence! Council is our planner. In the end, his ways are made first. Luthos to Dominus."
     "Go ahead commander."
     "Dispatch the six Shaddaik companies. Let them prepare for an extensive landing. Council takes their lead."
     "Sir, your command is life's breath."
      Within 30 minutes, twelve dropships filled with grunts and jackals, left each hangar of each cruiser and destroyer, on their way to the tall structure's rooftop. Their mission was explained on the way down. They were to enter through the structure's 500 meter round elevator, and descend until they found, "the right hand". Some of them were trembling with fear, they weren't experienced with fighting the flood. The recordings they viewed left them terrified with the monsters' animosities. The Bandits' intercom spoke.
     "Prepare for battle."
      The first few dropships that opened their hatches had already been fired at, allowing others to land their crew amidst the confusion. Still, the defense turrets took out six or seven of them, creating fireballs of twisted, melting metal. The rooftop was being littered with the fallen Bandits and bodies. Smoke billowed toward the artificial atmosphere. Some of the Bandits' gunners attempted to take out the turrets, only to be killed. Finally, one of the turrets exploded, and its huge gun cracked in half, and landed on the troop of grunts. Once the landing had been completed, the turrets began to concentrate on the rooftop. Purple, hot blasts of energy turned grunts and jackals to piles of ashes, or melting skin and boiling blue blood. The Kilometer long by 2 Kilometer wide structure rooftop was now a warzone. Some of the unwitty doglike animals fell through the holes the turrets had punched into the platforms.
      The jackals and grunts made their way to the elevator platform. As soon as the remaining force was on, it activated. A huge circular disk began the descent, carrying a load of more than 600 grunts and jackals.

      The Chief quickly took out 30 shells from his side sac. He activated a plasma grenade and stuck the shells on it. He tossed it 50 meters behind him, causing it to stick to one of the warriors. The explosion caused the shells to go off, which killed even more of the flood swarm. There were still about two dozen or more of them, and it was a narrow catwalk.
     "They still aren't finished off! I'm reading communication in this facility's systems. It's calling for backup Chief! Kill it and hurry."
     "Cortana, how many can you count?"
     "I'm reading 37 flood warriors. The infection forms are numerous."
      The Master Chief laid some cover fire. They went down in twos. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough ammo to take them all out. He felt for his hip, luck was on his side. There was one grenade left. He tossed it, and hit the floor. The explosion sent a shockwave causing aerial bound flood. Then something fell from the oozing blob of infected flesh. It was a plasma saber.
     "Chief, the right hand is starting to become really active."
      He saw it moving around, hitting different commands on the holopanels in front of it. He grabbed the plasma saber, activated it, then jumped up into the air toward the green monstrosity.
     "HHHUUUAAARGGGH!"
      The Master Chief brought the glowing blade down. It burned clean through the 7 foot, round glob of rotting goo. As it went down, the Chief cut it in half.
     "Not picking up anymore activity, it's dead."
      He turned around and ran through a few of the remaining warriors. He sliced them, one by one, as the floodlings popped when they touched his shield. He saw his shield gauge on his HUD going down. He had to escape this place to recharge.
     "Chief, there's an elevator shaft to the left of this upcoming intersection."
      He didn't want to leave yet. A catwalk up ahead connected with the one he was on, making a 'T'. He quickly turned right, with the flood behind him. The catwalk was only about a foot thick, so the Chief cut across it, leaving a line of red hot, dripping metal. He continued as fast as he could for about another 15 meters and waited for the flood.
     "Chief! What are you doing?! More of those creatures are on their way up!"
      He ignored Cortana, but she was right. He looked over the ledge, and saw movement on the catwalks below that had the same form as the one he was on. He waited for the remaining warriors and floodlings until they were a mere 5 meters away. He cut another hot line across the floor, and the piece they were on, went down under their weight. It fell on the other catwalk, 30 meters below, killing the other flood that he had seen before.
     "Well done. Now let's get to work."
     "Tell me everything that we could use."
     "Sure thing."
      He jumped over the gap that he had made, and walked up to the computer holopanels. He cut the tentacles that had been attached to them from the creature he killed. Everything resembled the technology found on Halo. The light fixtures, the holomonitors, everything. What's the Covenant's connection to Halo? He didn't care about that right now. He placed Cortana's crystal in the computer's connection slot. It seemed that the Covies had their form of AIs as well.
     "Wow, it feels like I've been here before. Analyzing. This place goes deep within the moon Chief. We're only on the surface. It was once inhabited by a huge number of Covenant forces, until the flood invaded. They weren't prepared for them, and were infected rather quickly."
     "What can you tell me about its systems, what makes this thing run? Where's the Covenants' homeworlds, and how do we get there?"
     "I can't answer that. This merely controls the moon's security and defense systems. I can give you a visual on the whereabouts to the control room though. I've also set the system to flood control."
     "So where is the control room? And what's the quickest way there?"
     "The control room is 400 levels down. The fastest and safest way is the elevator."
     "So how did the flood get here?"
     "Can't answer that. All I know is that there was a huge security breach 6 kilometers from here. The battle cruiser, wait a second."
     "What, what's the matter?"
     "It was one of the battle cruisers that was orbiting Halo. The Mist. I thought that they had been destroyed on the ring, but they managed to escape. The flood took control of the ship, and used its nav. data to get here. They shot a hole into the moon, and crash landed into it. That's how they invaded the base."
     "So this entire moon is one huge base?"
     "Yes, it was inhabited by a large number of Covenant forces. Special ops, scientists, you name it, they were here. That means that either some might've escaped, or every covie here has been infected."
      That was a scary thought. The flood could infect at a fast rate if they did that to a large number of hosts in a day.
     "All right. I suggest we help our enemy a bit Cortana. Let them in, open every locked door in the base, and the main entrance. They can help and exterminate this little, infestation."
     "Opening the main entrance. Stationary guns are going haywire. So many flood throughout the base are causing them to fire at a constant rate. Let's move though. I'm sensing great activity in the control room and engineering. Maybe we can find more answers there."
      He removed her from the monitors, and placed her crystal into his helmet. A couple of nav. points popped up on his screen with the explanation of each.
     "The nav points mark where we can find the control room and engineering. I've also marked the flood's entry via the Mist. Let's get on the elevator."
      He quickly moved to the huge automatic doors. The elevator had been activated already, because there was a humming sound coming out of it.
     "Chief, large amounts of movement! Be careful!"
      He activated his saber, and picked up a nearby plasma rifle. He activated whatever was left of his cloaking cell, and got into a crouching position. His motion tracker was off the wall.
     "If you make it out of this one, it'd be a miracle."
     "If I die, or get infected, remember to purge yourself."
     "Hope that won't happen, but I'll do it."
      The humming sound from the elevator shaft ended, with a high pitched metallic scratching sound, followed by a rush of air. The huge doors split in two, and slid to either side.
     "AAAAhhh! They're all dead!"
     "Gaahhhh, shuttup!"
     "Wha-what happened?!"
      The Chief got up. He decloaked himself, scaring the army of jackals and grunts.
     "OOOOOHHH NOOOOO!!"
      One of them were so startled that it jumped and pulled the trigger to his gun, killing a nearby grunt.
     "Angel of Death?! What are you doing here?!"
      A golden clad jackal stepped forward. He was the troop's leader.
     "How did you enter this place?"
      He just stared down at the birdlike creature, not saying a word.
     "No matter. Nikio to Kir'dun. Repeat, this is Shaddaik company 2 to Kir'dun. We have successfully entered VILO's guard room."
     "What have you, shaddaik?"
     "We've entered and found the human here. He defeated the flood found within, and has destroyed the right hand."
     "Ahh, the human you say? Pleasing, he has done us a favor. Do not let him leave from your sight, he is not to access any important components of our base."
     "Understood."
      The Chief heard the entire conversation, thanks to Cortana's interception of the signal.
     "The high commander is pleased with your performance human. Unfortunately, you are not to leave our sight. Companies 3, 6, and 9 to the controls. We are going to monitor the base until further orders are given."
      The Master Chief didn't want them to mess up what Cortana had started. The automatic sensors were better than the stupid animals' watchful eye. Still, he tried to reason.
     "I've already set the base's systems to automatically kill the flood. I suggest we go to the first level and assist the ground forces by outflanking the enemy."
     "Silence human! You shall not deter from our leader's wishes."
      He grabbed the jackal by the throat, and lifted him nine feet into the air. The jackal's terrified gaze stared back at him, as he stared into the visor of the Master Chief.
     "I'll kill you, and the rest of your friends. I've already defeated the flood, and your precious armada before, single handedly. I am getting off this base, and no one is going to stop me. Am I clear?"
      He looked at the army of grunts and jackals. They were terrified of him. Perhaps even more so than the flood. He destroyed an armada, and thousands of flood already. Everywhere he walked, death followed. He dropped the jackal to the floor.
     "Leave only about a hundred of this group here. They can monitor movement and keep the rest of you posted. I'm going to open up the flood offensive for the rest of the ground forces to move in. Then I'm going for the control room."
      He calmly walked past them, took one of the grunt's weapons, and grenades and activated the lift. As the elevator began its descent, he ordered the jackals to form a perimeter, and surround the entire troop. They obeyed, moving as one, yellow and white shields popping up one over the other around the entire group. It was an ancient formation, one used by the Spartans, then the Romans. He had remembered from his days in school.
     "Chief, what now?"
     "I'm going to secure the main access on the first level. From there, the Covenant should be able to make it in and take over from there. During their entry, I'm going to the control room."
     "Good plan. Only one slight problem. Flood have secured the base. There's thousands of them, pouring out from the barracks. Even with the base's defense systems, it's going to be one tough fight."

      Rajihn had been battling on the front lines for an hour. He grew weary of it, and not finding the Chief only fed the flames of his temper even more.
     "All Al'djurians, the human has been located within the base. He has destroyed the right hand. Prepare for full advance."
      This transmission made the Elite to go wild. He pulled full throttle, on his ghost, as he sped right through the flood ranks. He wanted to be the first to enter the base. Over and down sand hills he went, splattering the fighting parasites. Purple blasts from the building killed hundreds of the creatures, helping to cut a path for the Elite, as he himself avoided the plasma shots.
     "Alert to Al'djurian units 13, 15, 22, 31. Advance from current positions. Repeat. High command has spoken, warriors. The human must not access inner base."
      As Rajihn continued toward the enormous, foreboding structure, the whipping sound of flood could be heard as he flew by them. It was large, dark grey, and growing up and out. He was closing in on it, seeing dropships that had fallen littering the grounds in front of it. Enveloped in flames, each one was a testimony of the floods' deadliness.
     "Al'djurian units 18, 34, 37, 42, use all force necessary to enter the base."
      He saw some Elites and a Hunter being picked off in the distance. The Flood had them pinned behind the wreckage of a downed Bandit, and two Banshees. He started blasting the moving heaps of rotting flesh, leaving them smoltering with intense heat. As he rode past them, he sprayed an array of the plasma shotgun's shells. Each white spark hit numerous warriors, tearing into their infected bodies.
     "Al'djurian units, prepare for heavenly support."
      The screeching sound of ten Seraph fighters entered the moon's atmosphere. A plethora of napalm in the form of aqua colored fire sent plumes of dust and limbs flying skyward on various areas of the battlefield. The areas of contact were filled with blue flames and darkened, glistening sands. The attack merely caused the flood to intensify their onslaught, since they began to advance on the Covenant's well held positions.
      The river of purple dropships never ceased. A thin line could be seen as the Bandits continued to carry down their future potential enemies. But as quickly as the Covenant unloaded, they were killed. The flood had taken over an outpost, using the Shade stationary guns and a stolen Wraith to kill off the Covies.
     "To all units--- fight to---- death!! We shall ---die with honor! Demons----shall----AAAAArrrrgh!!--"
      Rajihn recognized the speaker's voice. It was his commanding officer, Dumashilon. His unit was overrun and killed. It angered him to know that he is the sole survivor of them, and was there but a few short hours before. He should have died with them.
      The few Elites he assisted before had been killed. The flood overwhelmed them, and had taken their lives. The Hunter managed to get on top of a fallen Banshee. It was attempting to use the slight height advantage to ward off his attackers. Using his shield to keep the maruading creatures at bay, and letting them have his weapon's wrath, he was successful but a few moments longer. They then let him share in his unit's fate.
     "GRRRRAAAARRGH! You shall perish, you hell sent spawn!"
      He drove through another bunch of the creatures, hearing the CRUNCH and CRACKLE of bones and twisting, taut muscles being snapped or ripped. Their green blood dripped off his armor, along with the orange and blue blood of his allies. His ghost had taken sever punishment, sending sparks to sputter out its numerous cracks. Green glops and chunks of flesh hung off it as well, giving it the look of a speedy, rotting flood warrior mixed with a machine.
      FWAAAKOOOM!
      He had gotten too close to a turret's blast. The energy sent his vehicle, now ablaze, spiraling in hoverflight, through the air. It finally came to a crashing halt into the sand, causing him to be thrown upon impact, landing 30 feet away. He quickly got up, vision still a blur, and instinctively readied his plasma shotgun. The flood in the immediate vicinity were drawn to his life signs and movement. He saw mulitiple targets, since his sight was still impaired at the moment. It didn't matter though, so he made the first moves. He threw two grenades behind him, killing off ten of the hated creatures. He concentrated his aim toward the ones in front of the structure. One by one they went down, only to be replaced in threes or fours, fives and sixes or maybe more. They seemed endless, he would surely meet his end soon. He took out his plasma saber, a last ditch effort to survive. It was also a last course of action for him-lower level Elites didn't have an extra battery cell to wield these weapons. The result was the loss of an energy shield, making them even more vulnerable.
     "CAUK! Roooaarr! Get-CAUK!-away from me!"
      He sliced away at the oncoming monstrosities. Back and forth, side to side, were his swiping patterns. With each swing of the saber, went flailing limbs, half torsos, or a cut off weapon. He jumped up and forward over the wall of the contagion. He stumbled over a dead flood's body, fell and rolled over, got back up and continued to run. His wobbly movements were physical proof of his condition. Purple blood dripped down his neck, coming from his jaw. He'd been coughing it up since he crashed, having each slimey hack filled with his life sustaining fluid. He ran, with his legs dragging and feet heavy, into the military complex. He saw two huge blast doors. They were the cold guardians to the elevator.
     "Al'djurians proceed advancement. Death is salvation, fight with honor."
      He was sick of the transmissions. He wanted to hear about more troops that were assisting the effort for the reclamation of the base. He wanted to hear how the flood were being defeated. He did not, however, wish to hear about death, he was almost there but was not in the mood to face it. Only twenty meters remained. His arm was heavy from swinging his saber, non-stop, and exhaustion began to set in. He choked in every breath he took,and caughed it out before he could absorb the gases into his respiratory system.
      Rajihn, was an 8 and a half foot tall, mess of flood remains and his own blood. His wounds were opening from each lethal slash from a flood warrior. He made it to the holopanel that activated the call for the elevator.
     "Al'djurian units 15,31, 34, 37, 42, 18, and 22 report. Al'djurian units 26, 39, 44, 51, 52 and 54 prepare for full advancement."
      He switched the weapon to the other hand, his right arm was covered in his own blood, and was weak with weariness. He cut through seven more of the flood warriors, before their numbers overcame him. Two of them clubbed him in the stomach, then the chest, sending him 6 feet through the air into the blast doors. The blows were too much now. He couldn't stand up, so he just got on a bended knee, and pointed his saber straight up.
     "For-CAUK!-honor and duty-CAUK!-may the gods be-CAUK!-pleased."
      The flood surrounded him, slowly advancing. They were aware of the fact that his weapon could easily dispose of them, and took precautions before attempting on infecting him. The green glow reflected off his face, as he stared his enemy in the eye. They began to morph into demon like entities, former angelic beauties, deep brown in color, with huge arcing wings. They breathed blue flames, with purple and blue blood oozing from their eyeless sockets. He began to see their afterlife forms, he believed. He was really hallucinating.
     "Oh Novirion! Take my breath from me!"
      Just as he said that, he heard the sounds of beautiful instruments. The blast doors opened, revealing to him a bunch of imps, with yellow and white shields. Then he saw 'him', the stealer of life. His eyes burned with flames of white fire. His huge wing span overshadowed the vast imp army. He raised his flaming sword, and roared a command to his followers.
     "ATTACK!"
      Blue smoking orbs of energy fell 10 meters in front of the line of grunts and jackals. The mass of flood warriors dropped in their tracks, from rounds of shotgun shards. The grenade explosions shook the area, as the vile creatures took flight.
      The Master Chief saw the fallen Elite, he was still on one knee, bleeding profusely, with the saber blade up. He ran up to him, and pulled him behind the deep cover of the Shaddaik forces.
      The Angel of Death, coming to him, in his dark, macabre glory, made Rajihn tremble with fright. He knew now that he was not prepared for the afterlife, and now he'd have to suffer for a season under this supernatural being. The Angel of mystery and fear's inspiration, shot a huge flame from his left hand as the green flaming sword sliced another demon in half. The flaming eyes now looked straight at him. A hand reached down, grabbed him and lifted him off the ground.
     "Chief, his life signs are low. Better get him behind the lines of conflict."
      He picked the Elite up by the shoulder with one hand, and jumped up and over 50 or so grunts and jackals, duking it out with the flood. Their numbers gave them a chance to survive against the flood as the Chief attempted to wake the wounded Elite from his dazed state.
      "Tell your superiors I've secured the first level as well as the security controls to the base. It's safe for a drop on the top level of this facility.
      The Elite awoke from his self-beguiled mindstate. He gave the comm. device to the Chief.
      "Perhaps, there is use for you yet human ...ugghhh."
      After that, he fainted, and dropped to the floor.

The Long Ride Home 7: Deja Vu
Date: 8 May 2002, 12:29 am

     The Covenant forces began to push even further toward the structure. In spite of the flood's sudden burst of momentum, the Covies were able to build up some of their own again. The Chief's advice began to show its strategic importance. Elite forces continued landing on the rooftop, and they moved down to assist the now dwindiling Shaddaik company.
     The flood showed signs of desperation as they sensed their losses skyrocketing. The flood were a collective, acting as one. Each warrior merely an extension of their core, their leader's thoughts, manifested into action. They only had one impulse, destroy and infect that which was other. So while they were feeling cornered, they would start to attack non-stop. Piles of bodies mounted before each covenant species' eyes, resulting from their erratic behaivior. Thanks in part to the structure's defense systems, and continuous bombardment, the flood's numbers on the moon's field had dropped to a mere 500 or 600 warriors. It was a superficial victory, for the moon's vast interior corridors hid countless amounts of the creatures, and that's where the true battle would occur. Still, the finality to the 10 hour conflict came about when the remaining horde of infectious bodies, retreated within the base.
     The Chief, had been battling in the 'lobby' of the base for 2 hours already. The continuous blasts from grenades and plasma shotguns, numbed his ears with a ringing sound. 45 Elites had joined in the melee, raining hot blasts upon the monsters. Green, blue, and purple blood flowed like streams from the bodies of the fallen combatants through the floor. The fluids fromed puddles all over the place, making it slippery to manuever and hold one's ground.
     In a sudden movement, the flood turned around, and went rushing into a nearby tunnel. It was 200 meters wide and 100 meters high, perhaps to bring equipment to the inner parts of the base. The retreating mass created thunderous rumblings on the metallic environment. More came in, as a herd of elephants throught the main entrance, and followed the rest. Their behavior had become so unpredictable that the Covenant were startled or awe stricken, staring with expressionless gazes, not knowing whether to pursue or await orders. The aggressive nature of the elites made the decision clear. They chased the creatures, shooting all they had, lobbing grenades and cursing in their tongues.
     "Assault units. Do not pursue the enemy. Await further orders."
     The Master Chief didn't know what the flood were doing. He knew that they were behaving with slight intelligence, but now it was getting out of hand. These creatures had a will to survive.
     "Where are they going Cortana?"
     "This tunnel traverses throughout the base. But others break away from it, leading to various barracks, hangars and supply rooms. I suggest you stay put for the time being. Covenant are planning for another offensive, but not yet. We should be able to work our way into the control room once they get started. In the meantime, try to stay low, don't bring any attention to yourself."
     Two Golden Elites came before the Chief. They were making sure he was okay. They didn't want their only lead to the human's homeworld killed. The rest of the elites, bloodlust still running through their veins, growled and stared the Chief down with ferocious eyes, wanting him to join in their comrade's fates.
     "You have strayed from your assigned position human. You shall not disobey our commanding officers again, or you shall be imprisoned."
     They put him into another unit. Rajihn was brought to a camp outside the structure, where others that were wounded were being treated.
     "I am your commanding watcher now human. I am Epslin, and you shall not leave my sight."
     A huge roar was hear throughout the field. Immediately, 1500 elite forces lined up in two long rows, facing each other. Grunts and jackals lined up in groups of fours, and hunters were seen lining up every 60 or so elites. Banshees flew over head, still scouting the grounds below, on the lookout for any remaining flood. Wraiths patrolled the area, and shade stationary gun emplacements turned on their axis, still on the alert for any potential danger. Sounds of plasma shot echoed in the medic camps, as the covenant killed those deemed to weak for use, or those feared to be infected and turning.
     "Chief, more chat on the Covenant battlenet. Luthos is ordering an assault on the downed frigate about 100 kilometers from here. It's the one we saw from the rooftop, before. They believe the flood might be repairing it for interplanetary invasion. They're not going to make the same mistake as the armada on Halo."
     "So we're the assault team?"
     "No. We're going in through the tunnels below to the control conduits for this moonbase. It's currently on a course to one of their species' homeworld. Their intelligence reports state that the 'head' is in there controlling the moon's controls."
     "So then I'll be able to enter the control room uninhibited. Give me a layout once we get into that supply tunnel. They'll be busy with the flood."
     The Covenant forces on the field rested and ate for a while, taking inventory and reloading weapons. Wraiths hovered up and down sand dunes and hills, patrolling the perimeter. The grunts were an occasional nuisance to the Elites and the other species camped about, as they would be kicked or thrown from time to time after being yelled at. The Master Chief had become the topic of discussion among the warriors. Although they were disgusted by his presence, they still couldn't help but respect the fact he had taken on hundreds of flood, and managed to destroy the right hand. But his accomplishments didn't stop there. He was able to control the base's defense systems to destroy the flood. He then proceeded to outflank the vile creatures with handful of the lower level species. They acknowledged him as the angel of death.
     "Angel of Death? I'll kill him myself! That devil should not recieve reverance of any sort!"
     "Garon, you are indeed ignorant of the evidence at hand. He has subdued our enemy in two battles, you nearly came to your demise today!"
     "Liar! I fought valiantly in our battle, you hold your tongue Fin'lar!"
     "Ha! I needed to drag you to safety! You were about to destroy yourself-learn to use your weapons before you fight!"
     Their natural pride got the best of them. It caused them to fight, spilling their food and drinks on the ground around them. The Chief saw the scuffle, about 20 feet away. Epslin gave him another cloaking cell, as well as another fuel cell for a more powerful shield. He attached them to where they needed to be.
     "Those two fools are the main reason our forces fall at your kinds' feet. Worry not, human, soon we shall rid our army of that stupidity, and make it easier to kill you and your brethren."
     Cortana was reading an intense rise of temperature from the Chief as the Elite walked away laughing heartily.
     "Chief, don't let him get to you. You should know better."
     She was right, his training had taught him to set aside emotions. But for some reason, he couldn't stand for the mentioning of his brethren. He took that meaning as a reference to the rest of the Spartans. The elite stopped in his steps to turn around and say something.
     "Are you familiar as to what our high commander has ornamented himself with? Let me place the wording in your terms. He is a collector of one's, eh, most treasured gift."
     He put one of his hideous claws to his forehead. The Chief tilted his head in a puzzled look. He continued to eat his rations and drink the beverage, not caring about what had just happened.

     Luthos had 2 destroyers assemble themselves in front of the frigate's position. They were 1000 km in orbit from the vessel. it was docked in one of the moon's four hangars. It had been damaged in battle with the UNSC during the assault on Reach, and returned there for repairs. It also had returned a secret cargo.
     Luthos knew that a frigate of this size would carry a huge invasion force. He wouldn't let the flood have a chance for escape.
     "All vessels, on my mark."
     The two destroyers had two bright lights collect on their sides and then to the front. The two ships' concentration of energy made the immediate space turn a light blue.
     "Destroy it."
     The plasma beams shot forward simultaneously through space. They curved downwards, as was needed to keep on their target, since the moon was rotating. Its shields gave, and the metal sizzled away, orange and red hot holes getting larger as the energy from the plasma ate its way through the ship. It then gave an explosion that caused the surrounding moon's surface to crumble and creating a crater.
     "Dominus, retrieve knowledge."
     "It is destroyed, my commander. The filth have no vectors of escape."
     "Pleasing. Alert ground assault. They are to advance into the base within two turns."
     "Sir! It is made so!"
     The explosion was felt throughout the base. Its shockwaves tremored throught the core and to where the Covenant landing had taken place.
     "What was that, Cortana?"
     "They destroyed the frigate docked in the hangar 100 kms from here. Luthos has ordered another advance into the base within two hours."
     "How many are patrolling the structure's entrance?"
     "Don't bother Chief. Instead, wait until we start the assault. Once in the tunnel, there's plenty of side passages, that I've mapped out, leading toward the control room."
     He then heard a huge explosion, followed by many rounds of shots. He looked up and saw a banshee shot out of the sky. The flood had rocket launchers. He saw more of them with human weaponry. It started agian, the battle. He locked and loaded his plasma shotgun, and moved out. He saw a Banshee still unused nearby. He boarded it, as Epslin came running to him after he saw that the Chief had again taken off in the middle of battle.
     "Human! Return at once or I shall slay you!"
     The Chief turned the Banshee, and faced the elite. He shot him continously until he fell to the ground. The he went into the base, on his way to the tunnels below.

The Long Ride Home 8: Fallen Brothers
Date: 3 June 2002, 11:09 pm

     The Covenant forces began to push even further toward the structure. In spite of the flood's sudden burst of momentum, the Covies were able to build up some of their own again. The Chief's advice began to show its strategic importance. Elite forces continued landing on the rooftop, and they moved down to assist the now dwindiling Shaddaik company.
     The flood showed signs of desperation as they sensed their losses skyrocketing. The flood were a collective, acting as one. Each warrior merely an extension of their core, their leader's thoughts, manifested into action. They only had one impulse, destroy and infect that which was other. So while they were feeling cornered, they would start to attack non-stop. Piles of bodies mounted before each covenant species' eyes, resulting from their erratic behaivior. Thanks in part to the structure's defense systems, and continuous bombardment, the flood's numbers on the moon's field had dropped to a mere 500 or 600 warriors. It was a superficial victory, for the moon's vast interior corridors hid countless amounts of the creatures, and that's where the true battle would occur. Still, the finality to the 10 hour conflict came about when the remaining horde of infectious bodies, retreated within the base.
     The Chief, had been battling in the 'lobby' of the base for 2 hours already. The continuous blasts from grenades and plasma shotguns, numbed his ears with a ringing sound. 45 Elites had joined in the melee, raining hot blasts upon the monsters. Green, blue, and purple blood flowed like streams from the bodies of the fallen combatants through the floor. The fluids fromed puddles all over the place, making it slippery to manuever and hold one's ground.
     In a sudden movement, the flood turned around, and went rushing into a nearby tunnel. It was 200 meters wide and 100 meters high, perhaps to bring equipment to the inner parts of the base. The retreating mass created thunderous rumblings on the metallic environment. More came in, as a herd of elephants throught the main entrance, and followed the rest. Their behavior had become so unpredictable that the Covenant were startled or awe stricken, staring with expressionless gazes, not knowing whether to pursue or await orders. The aggressive nature of the elites made the decision clear. They chased the creatures, shooting all they had, lobbing grenades and cursing in their tongues.
     "Assault units. Do not pursue the enemy. Await further orders."
     The Master Chief didn't know what the flood were doing. He knew that they were behaving with slight intelligence, but now it was getting out of hand. These creatures had a will to survive.
     "Where are they going Cortana?"
     "This tunnel traverses throughout the base. But others break away from it, leading to various barracks, hangars and supply rooms. I suggest you stay put for the time being. Covenant are planning for another offensive, but not yet. We should be able to work our way into the control room once they get started. In the meantime, try to stay low, don't bring any attention to yourself."
     Two Golden Elites came before the Chief. They were making sure he was okay. They didn't want their only lead to the human's homeworld killed. The rest of the elites, bloodlust still running through their veins, growled and stared the Chief down with ferocious eyes, wanting him to join in their comrade's fates.
     "You have strayed from your assigned position human. You shall not disobey our commanding officers again, or you shall be imprisoned."
     They put him into another unit. Rajihn was brought to a camp outside the structure, where others that were wounded were being treated.
     "I am your commanding watcher now human. I am Epslin, and you shall not leave my sight."
     A huge roar was hear throughout the field. Immediately, 1500 elite forces lined up in two long rows, facing each other. Grunts and jackals lined up in groups of fours, and hunters were seen lining up every 60 or so elites. Banshees flew over head, still scouting the grounds below, on the lookout for any remaining flood. Wraiths patrolled the area, and shade stationary gun emplacements turned on their axis, still on the alert for any potential danger. Sounds of plasma shot echoed in the medic camps, as the covenant killed those deemed to weak for use, or those feared to be infected and turning.
     "Chief, more chat on the Covenant battlenet. Luthos is ordering an assault on the downed frigate about 100 kilometers from here. It's the one we saw from the rooftop, before. They believe the flood might be repairing it for interplanetary invasion. They're not going to make the same mistake as the armada on Halo."
     "So we're the assault team?"
     "No. We're going in through the tunnels below to the control conduits for this moonbase. It's currently on a course to one of their species' homeworld. Their intelligence reports state that the 'head' is in there controlling the moon's controls."
     "So then I'll be able to enter the control room uninhibited. Give me a layout once we get into that supply tunnel. They'll be busy with the flood."
     The Covenant forces on the field rested and ate for a while, taking inventory and reloading weapons. Wraiths hovered up and down sand dunes and hills, patrolling the perimeter. The grunts were an occasional nuisance to the Elites and the other species camped about, as they would be kicked or thrown from time to time after being yelled at. The Master Chief had become the topic of discussion among the warriors. Although they were disgusted by his presence, they still couldn't help but respect the fact he had taken on hundreds of flood, and managed to destroy the right hand. But his accomplishments didn't stop there. He was able to control the base's defense systems to destroy the flood. He then proceeded to outflank the vile creatures with handful of the lower level species. They acknowledged him as the angel of death.
     "Angel of Death? I'll kill him myself! That devil should not recieve reverance of any sort!"
     "Garon, you are indeed ignorant of the evidence at hand. He has subdued our enemy in two battles, you nearly came to your demise today!"
     "Liar! I fought valiantly in our battle, you hold your tongue Fin'lar!"
     "Ha! I needed to drag you to safety! You were about to destroy yourself-learn to use your weapons before you fight!"
     Their natural pride got the best of them. It caused them to fight, spilling their food and drinks on the ground around them. The Chief saw the scuffle, about 20 feet away. Epslin gave him another cloaking cell, as well as another fuel cell for a more powerful shield. He attached them to where they needed to be.
     "Those two fools are the main reason our forces fall at your kinds' feet. Worry not, human, soon we shall rid our army of that stupidity, and make it easier to kill you and your brethren."
     Cortana was reading an intense rise of temperature from the Chief as the Elite walked away laughing heartily.
     "Chief, don't let him get to you. You should know better."
     She was right, his training had taught him to set aside emotions. But for some reason, he couldn't stand for the mentioning of his brethren. He took that meaning as a reference to the rest of the Spartans. The elite stopped in his steps to turn around and say something.
     "Are you familiar as to what our high commander has ornamented himself with? Let me place the wording in your terms. He is a collector of one's, eh, most treasured gift."
     He put one of his hideous claws to his forehead. The Chief tilted his head in a puzzled look. He continued to eat his rations and drink the beverage, not caring about what had just happened.

The Long Ride Home 9
Date: 20 June 2002, 12:48 am

      The appearance of the flood with rocket launchers and assault rifles was confirmation that they had indeed escaped the Halo installation. The Chief had just dodged a missile by a mere hairsbreadth. They had gone and gotten backup for another fight with the Covies.
      "Let's try and get to that ventilation shaft Chief. It's marked by the nav point. Hurry, we haven't got much time before another Covenant invasion force catches us."
      He saw the shaft. It was 50 meters above the tunnel floor. The Banshee crashed into the grating and landed inside the 15 foot high by 10 foot wide shaft.He could still hear the echoes of battle reverberating throughout the metallic workings of the Covenant structure. Turning on his flashlight, he proceeded cautiously down the long shaft. Cortana's download showed him that there were no flood within the entire network of the vents. This was another surprising behavior change to the Spartan Cyborg.

      Luthos was now preparing to dock and land his fleet on the moonbase VILO. Although the ground assault force was being attacked once again, it was only a matter of time before the flood were wiped out.In the wake of the Mist's destruction, a secret team was dispatched to destroy the " heart."
      "Dominus, send out a squadron of seraph fighters to bombard the cannibalistic filth. Also have the strike force we deployed to the "Heart," give us knowledge on their current status."
      "Sir, your word is made so at this very moment."
      The Kir'dun began to enter the moon base's artificial atmosphere. Each and every starship shook and vibrated, as they descended on the moon's surface.
      "Dominus, have the destroyer, The Keep, ready it's weapons. We're going to pull back the ground assault, and consume the rest of the flood with our fire."
      "Sir!"
      A holopanel displayed The Keeps Captain as he spoke.
      "Our weapons are ready commander."
      "Fire on my count."
      Small sparkles of light dotted the side of the destroyer's hull. It was going to rain its Firey heat in only a few minutes. The Covenant forces below began their temporary retreat. They knew that lingering to battle the flood would mean instant death in a short time. The Seraph fighters had napalmed a decent number of the beige fiends. But it seemed that they had prepared themselves well for this round. The base's armory withheld a small number of Wraiths and turrets. The flood found a way to pilot the hovering tanks and carry the turrets topside. The result was catastrophic, for the Covenant. Although they had done their tasks well, Seraph units found themselves shot down quite frequently.
      The Bandits had picked up a good number of the assault force. Any who weren't fast enough to board one were left behind to share in the fate of their enemy.
      The order was given. The Keep let several hundred energy beams hit the floods' positions. The accelerated heat boiled the turrets and Wraiths,destroyed the creatures and left deep, 20 or 25 foot craters within the ground; smoldering hot as the sand around it turned dark brown and black shiny glass.Luthos let out a grin of satisfaction.
      "That should have pushed them away for now. Let us land on the roof of structure 09. I shall be going in myself."
      "Sir, what are your intentions?"
      "My Al'djurians need their leader to join in the fight. They must see their leader is not a coward."
      His cruiser came down over the structure. The rest of the fleet settled down around it, hovering 150to 200 meters above the grounds. The invasion had begun in full force.
      The teleporters from the cruisers and destroyers dropped thousands and thousands of Covenant warriors.The skyline between the starships and the ground was littered with small specks of individual warriors amidst the purple haze of the teleportation devices.Seraph fighters flocked the air in fours, patrolling for kilometers all around. Luthos saw his fleet, and the armies he commanded on the holopanels of his brig.
      "We shall take back this base. Our leadership shall be pleased."
      "Sir, reports indicate that the human has escaped our watch again."
      "WHAT?!" Luthos was now fed up with the Master Chief's elusiveness. He made up his mind about how to deal with the cyborg now, even though it was against the Council's advice.
      "Alert all of the commanding Al'djurians. The human is to be slain on sight. He has eluded watch twice now.It is clear that he is following his own agenda, and we must now allow it. If he uncovers the secrets within the base, he will surely foil my purposes. No human is going to make me appear as a fool to our leadership."

      The Master Chief had now made his way down through several small elevators. The battle above had shaken up the rooms and various barracks below. He encountered little flood activity, mostly in the mess halls, and had found some laboratories. The map on his hud showed him that he was on sub-level 108. Cortana had told him that the control room was on sub-level 150. There was something else that the Chief wanted to see though.The map displayed a detailed depiction of every level of the base. Except sub-level 140. It was empty.
      "Cortana, why isn't that level displayed?"
      "Don't know Chief. The layout that the Covies had,label the area as classified. Only certain Covenant leadership and scientists are allowed in."
      "Is it sealed up?"
      "What is it, are you trying to write a book now?"
      "Just answer the question."
      "No. It's not even acknowledged as a place on this structure's schematics. According to the maps normally used, there's only 399 levels. This one is totally skipped over on elevator access."
      "How do we get in there?"
      She marked a path from his current position to a shaft that went straight down and through every single level to the bottom.
      "It's the quickest way, Chief, I'll give you that,but it's highly dangerous to just drop down."
      "We'll be all right."
      He made his way through the vent/corridor to the downward shaft. It was dark, with a soft glow illuminating certain spots on the way down. He asked Cortana to mark the level with a nav point. Then he jumped.
      "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! YOU MIGHT AS WELLHAVE JUST SHOT YOURSELF AND SAVED ME THE GUT WRENCHINGPAIN, in a matter of speaking."
      A green glow lit up his visor, and his body, as he activated the plasma sabre. In an instant he stabbed into the wall, slicing a long orange line into it as he continued his plummet of 108 levels. His gloves and soles of his feet hummed with the sound of magnetism as he attached his limbs to the wall at the same moment. Intense heat was felt as friction built up between the magnetized hands, feet and the metallic structure. Sparks were flying everywhere, as electricity started to course through the metal wall.His hud's nav point rapidly neared him, counting down from 50 meters, 40 meters...
      "You are one crazy M---"
      Her words were cut off as he jerked his hand sideways, putting a sudden pull on his weight toward a grating. His one ton MJOLNIR crashed through it, and rolled a couple of hundred feet before slowing down.After a few seconds, he got up, shook his hands and dusted himself off.
      "Is this the place?"
      "This is a vent. Continue forward, there should bean opening somewhere near."
      She was right. He turned on his flashlight after his shield battery recharged, and walked until he came upon an opening to a corridor. Nothing bleeped on his motion tracker, so he readied his shotgun and was about to step off. Then he saw something huge move with a sort of uncoordinated berth.
      "A Hunter? Down here?"
      Then the clanking sound of its armor accompanied by the unmelodious scraping noise from its shield told the Master Chief otherwise. In the limited amount of light from his helmet, he saw greenish brown blood oozing forth from the creature's position.
      "An infected Hunter."
      Oh Cortana, how absolutely pointless your comments and observations at this moment are, thought the Chief.A huge green light shined forth from the creature's right arm as it charged its fuel rod gun.Instinctively, the Chief dodged its line of fire.
      "You've got to disarm the creature, then finish it off with your weapon, Master Chief!"
      The creature jumped up into the air, ten feet,maybe more, at him. Its left arm a mix of mangled flesh, metal and newly formed tentacles.
      WUMP!
      The huge left arm laid a blow to the Cyborg's chest, knocking out his wind. He coughed up saliva and some blood, while he tried to regain his breath. He saw from the corner of his eye as the creature went to give him another swipe. He activated his plasma sabre, and held it up.
      "Good move, Marine."
      Greenish brown blood splattered all over the place from the open wound in the side of the infected Hunter.But wasn't done attacking yet. Another bright glow lit the area up, and the blast ensued. The Spartan warrior was sent six feet, into a wall, and knocked down.
      "Are you all right?! Chief, answer me!"
      He got up, vision still hazy, and jumped to the right just in time to dodge another blast. He ran up to the creature, and emptied out his entire clip of plasma shot rounds into it. The Hunter/flood warrior was a behemoth of rotted, mangled flesh and oozing blood. The Chief activated a plasma grenade, and punched a hole into the creature. He sliced off both legs and ran in the other direction. The blast sent dozens of pieces of the creature in all directions through the air, as well as a good shower of its blood.
      "Well, that takes care of that."
      "What's down here that's so important, Cortana?"
      "There should be a door somewhere around here,look there on the wall."
      He looked at the wall, raised his hands in the air and shook his head.
      "Thanks, I think I found it." He had a little hint of sarcasm in his voice.
      "Found what?"
      "The wall."
      "Why don't you try touching it smart ass?"
      He put out his left hand, and a panel lit up,uncloaked a blast door, and lit up the corridor. He pressed another function, and the door opened.
      "There, let's go in and find something useful.Over there, place me into the AI connection slot. The Covies seem to have use for AI constructs as well it seems."
      He locked the crystal in. Immediately after,Cortana stood up on the control panel with a million alien symbols running through her body.
      "What did you find?"
      "This place is a laboratory."
      "What kind of laboratory?"
      "It's for...oh no...I can't say. I...I...I'll show you."
      The Chief wondered for a second what was wrong with her. He then remembered how she was a construct with the personality of a civilian. It was the obvious reason for her behavior.
      Six doors slid open behind him, all with a glass tube within them. An energy bed floated beside the tube. Then he saw something that made his stomach tingle. In each cell, was MJOLNIR armor, hanging on the wall. But the suits were empty.
      "I read some life from each of them Chief, but they're all very faint. The sustenance fluid has kept them alive, for I read numerous internal wounds.But..."
      He held up a finger issuing her silence. He walked up to the cell closest to him, and saw the bodily figure floating limb in the fluid. As he passed by the MJOLNIR, it read on its back-BLUE TWO-as he saw it from the corner of his eye. He continued forward,and could make out the figure little by little. She was slim, and pretty. Her hair flowed in the liquid across her face as he stepped to get a closer look. He placed his hands on the glass, after removing his helmet. He uttered one word that seemed an eternity to make out. It was like a freight train blaring through a silent neighborhood, as he choked out the person's name.
      "Kelly."
      "They were captured on REACH, and kept alive for interrogation. These Covenant bastards. They wouldn't let a human have even the basic of rights. The right to die. I can try and revive them, but..."
      "Do it Cortana! I want to see them moving, at least with one last breath before I depart. I want to let them know that we won. I want to let them know we are winning. I want to let them know, how we're going to win."
      "If I drain the sustenance fluid, there's an 80percent chance they could die from their wounds."
      A tremor shook throughout the room that made the Chief lose his balance for a second. He looked at Kelly one last time, then closed his eyes as he made his decision.
      "Go ahead. Revive them."
      "Countdown to fluid drain initiated, tubes will be flushed in ten seconds...9..8..7..6..."
      The countdown continued as he watched the fluid go down. It was only a matter of time before they would come to life, or meet their final end in the peace of knowing their lives weren't wasted.

The Long Ride Home 10 - The Awakening
Date: 29 June 2002, 10:06 pm

      Rajihn awoke to find himself aboard a Covenant medical treatment vessel. There were five in formation, creating a half circle, then one leading them giving it the formation of a ring with an arrow shooting through it. They were only three times the size of Bandits with a silver blue sheen. The haziness of his vision gave way; and a grunt gave him something to drink.
      "G-good to see you're okay!"
      Rajihn snapped his jaws at the animal. He didn't really care much for them, or the jackals. although the lesser species served with the Al'djurians, they were too stupid to realize their own slavery. Rajihn had remembered the history texts talking about how the Al'djurians had captured and enslaved the grunt species on their homeworlds. They farmed them on Al'djuria, genetically enhancing their brain power throughout the generations. Over a hundred years of treatment, and the little beings were still stupid. Oh well, it wasn't his place to value who the priests declared as the chosen tools of the gods.
      "Where are we? Why am I not suited for combat?"
      He looked at himself, as he interrogated the blue skinned scoundrel. Rajihn had just realized his armor was taken off. In war, unless you were being promoted, your armor never came off for the Al'djurian warrior.
      "Answer me now, or I shall slay you here!"
      The grunt ran off, fast enough for Rajihn's attempt to grab him to fail. He got off his hovering energy mat, and it shut down after he stepped away from it. A red armored Elite stepped into the space where Rajihn stayed. He bowed his head as is customary for respecting the leadership.
      "Warrior, though you may have let the human slip through your claws, our leadership has decided to give you a second chance. Your new armor awaits you. As a reward for your honorable bravery, you are promoted. You shall also be reassigned in a moment."
      "Aye sir."
      The Elite walked out. Five minutes later, Rajihn was equipping the new suit. After he put it on, his optically enhanced retinal HUD and com device came to life with the voice and image of Council.
      "Rajihn, your warrior spirit has inspired many. But your failure to keep watch over the human has not let our gods smile upon this day. Of course, there is a way to make an amends for your shortcomings. Our high commander has ordered for the human's execution upon sight. But his ambitions fall short of consideration for our fleet. The human is our key to destroying the flood, as well as bringing us back into favor with our beloved brethren. I order you, to capture this human. Do not slay him, but render him immobile. Do so before the others find him. I will be with you through the journey.
      Rajihn took all the information in, gave a deep breath, and growled. The enemy was creating situations that made his existence more complicated. Then he remembered how the human had rescued him from the clutches from something far more disturbing than death.
      "Elite Al'djurian Warrior Rajihn, are you willing to perform the task? If not, I could find another more suitable, but I shall deem you infected, and have you slain!"
      Rajihn shut his eyes. He grit his teeth, and breathed out the answer.
      "I humbly accept."
      "Pleasing warrior. There is a Banshee unit currently docked in Bay 7."
      "To whom does the vessel belong?"
      "It matters not, warrior. Go, claim it. We must be on our way, before Luthos gains knowledge of my escapade. I shall bring you to where others are waiting for us."
      Rajihn was puzzled for a moment.
      "I ask you for knowledge, Council. Please, tell me. What do you mean as in 'others'?"
      "I shall tell you now, dear Elite, that I am not the only one who holds these views of our commander."
      He walked down the extremely narrow corridor out of the medic station, and proceeded to docking bay 7. He saw the Banshee, magnetically attached in between the walls that made a 'U' to the outside. The bays were mere openings where small vessels could unload their passengers. He stepped in quickly, and flew off.
      He saw the black craters in the sands below, on the moonbase. Alot had taken place while he was inactive. The huge Covenant cruisers covered the air, hovering hundreds of meters above ground. Bandits and Banshees flew all over the place. Wraiths, Ghosts and troops littered the sandy dunes, in formation toward the structure. And yet above it, hovered Luthos' vessel.
      Rajihn landed where the Council had indicated. There was a large group, mostly Elites and Hunters, standing in formation facing Rajihn as he got out of the Banshee.
      "Council, what is this?"
      He saw a golden Elite armored warrior walk toward him. It was one of the commander's Lieutennants.
      "How convenient. The warrior who was saved by the human to lead us into favor with our brethren."
      "Hold your tongue Lt. Sarrion! He is one I can trust. Even through his ambitions and betrayal, a true Al'djurian warrior follows the code of Lulok. This one is indebted to the human with his very soul, and therefore would not falter from his given task. He is one that would not slay the human, even when the likelyhood of survival wanes."
      "You choose such an unworthy warrior, council. I will not let an Elite of lower rank command me!"
      "Swallow your pride fool! For it is I who commands you from this point on, not he! Rajihn is merely a representative, a physical manifestation of myself, the leader of our search party."
      The Elite growled and resumed his position within the formation. Rajihn felt a fear run through him, for he knew the nature of his kind. When the chance was given, the Elite would surely find a way to get Rajihn out of the picture. He felt within his heart the turmoil of code and obedience. Whether he was to obey the word of Luthos, and slay the human, or follow his code, and keep the human alive. Oh well, all he knew was that Council had just ordered him to perform a duty. That is all he needed at the moment. Council gave a final briefing.
      "As is known throughout the fleet, the human is within the base. He has within him knowledge to take command of it, or destroy it. His heading is in no doubt, the control center within VILO. It is there that the 'head' is most likely to be, so we must make our way to it softly. Our fellow warriors would impede our progress if they knew of our intentions."
      The Golden Elite stepped out from the ranks, barked an order, and ran into a nearby Bandit. The entire group did likewise, taking up seven Bandits, as they took to the airs and headed toward the structure. Rajihn took the lead in his Banshee. Suddenly, a transmission came in.
      "Warrior, state your heading and intentions!"
      The Al'djurian on the other side was Luthos.
      "Commander? Forgive me, I...I was ordered..." he was cut off by Council.
      "Luthos? You were charged with the task of capturing humans for our cause. When word of the flood outbreak reached your ears, you decided to take it upon yourself to destroy them. The decision to slay the human is unacceptable. I, and others in the fleet, have agreed, that you are not considering their well being. That human is the only hope to gain redemption from the death that awaits us from the rest of the Covenant. I plead with you now, let us pass, and capture the human. The Flood are certainly in our second objective, but our mission now is the human."
      "Council, you have betrayed me. The destruction of the flood comes first and foremost! I have no time for your sentimental decisions. With the filth's downfall, our brothers would surely forgive us!"
      "Luthos, let us be! Our paths are different now, but shall merge in the end!"
      With that, came the sounds of turrets blasting, plasma mortars tearing the air, and the screeching sound of Seraph fighters. The posts down by the structure's entrance started blasting away at the Bandits. The dropships returned with plasma fire of their own. They rolled and turned to avoid fire from their former comrades.
      "Council, I hope this bloodshed are the signs toward our future convergence!"
      One of the Bandit's columns blasted with a firey loudness. It broke open, spilling out its inhabitants to the ground 80 meters below. It spiraled as a fireball, making the smoke that came off look like a long, snaking beast of the air. It hit the sands below, sending the soft dirt in all directions, as the other column opened up. The Elites that survived the crash, along with two Hunters, immediately took cover from the turret blasts.
      "We have bee----own----need assistance!"
      An Elite cried from his seat, as others bowed their heads, and put their claws on their hearts.
      "The Elites below need our help! We mustn't abandon them!"
      Rajihn heard his comment. He just shut his eyes and told them with a loud voice.
      "There is nothing we can do for them. We must leave them to fight off our other brethren."
      Suddenly, the screeching sound of the Seraph fighters filled the air again, this time, alot closer.
      "Bandit units, prepare for Seraph attack."
      The Bandits turned their guns from the targets on the ground to the flying fighters. Plasma rounds flew back and forth from the two parties. Four Seraph fighters picked off one more of the Bandits, sending its firey purple body crashing to the sands below.
      "All units, concentrate your fire upon one fighter at a time!"
      Rajihn caught one passing by him with a fuel rod blast. It spun violently, and tipped the wing of another, sending them both into the structure's wall.
      "We are near the entrance to VILO'S tunnel system. The fighters cannot pursue within its confined space."
      The fighters continued their pursuit until Rajihn and his Bandit units disappeared into the structure's main access tunnel. Each Elite's apprehension died down after they knew they were basically clear.
      They all looked at each other, and bowed their heads as they let a quiet moment pass in memory of fallen friends-and former friends. The only sound made in their journey was that of the loud hum of the vessels as they made their way down the enormous, downward spiraling tunnel.
      "Council, I shall destroy your existence, if this human is found slain!"
      "Fret not, warrior. He is alive, his history is evidence of it."
      As they flew on, small groups of the flood warriors shot at them. The turrets disposed of them easily, mostly ignoring the non-armed creatures whenever they jumped in the air. They continued on, as the soft blue glow gave way to a greenish brown fog and overhanging bulbous sacs that burst forth with floodlings, filled the tunnel. The humming soon faded, as each of the Bandits flew into the dark, dank fog.

      Luthos was enraged that the Council had betrayed him. It was now clear that he had to act fast, before things got out of hand. Upon opening up a comm channel to every warrior, he gave his speech.
      "Our cannibalistic adversary's demise is at hand. The prize in which we seek, the honor and prestige within our beloved Covenant shall come into fruition with the realization of our victory over the flood. We are now going to the interior of the base, where our destiny awaits us. Come, my warriors, fight with honor, and with the zeal of martyrs, as we destroy the uninvited inhabitants of our strong moonbase!"
      The sounds of each Elite cheering and letting out their gutteral roar was deafening. All over, each Elite's bloodlust increased significantly. Luthos stepped onto the elevator platform, along with his escort and went down into the structure.

      Master Chief remembered hearing a recording from his Spartan warriors on Reach. They were under heavy attack, defending Reache's last line of defense, the batteries of the super MAC guns.
      "Sustenance fluid has been drained. Picking up internal wounds in Hazel, Joshua and Glenn. Broken ribs and a torn ligament in Kelly. Jake's lower spinal column is fractured. Dana is recuperating quickly. I'm attempting to inject an unknown Covenant medical fluid into them. Should I procede?"
      Master Chief didn't think twice. He just wanted to save them.
      "Yes, do everything possible."
      "Injecting fluid now."
      Joshua and Jake began to show signs of life, while Hazel began to convulse. They all coughed up the fluid, mixed with their own blood. Except kelly, she just wouldn't move.
      "Joshua of Red team and Jake of green team are both coming around. Hazel is reacting to the fluid, it's a mixture of unknown proteins and coagulatives that is doing some good for her. Glenn is slowly coming awake. Kelly is unconscious. Reason unknown Chief."
       A beeping sound came on from the command console. Suddenly, each Spartan's tube began to fill with a gas, as each of them coughed and gagged for air. Kelly still wouldn't move.
      "Cortana, what's happening?"
      "There's an automatic termination procedure, that if the Spartan's were rescucitated without authorization, they'd be killed. I'm attempting to override..."
       The Chief sprang into action. He ran up to each and every containment cell, and broke open the glass tubes with the butt of his gun. He pulled each of the warriors out one by one. Cortana had millions of alien numbers and symbols running through her body as she shut each cell with an energy barrier.
      "Kelly!"
      She was the last one Chief ran to. He grabbed her, right before the energy barrier activated. A few seconds later, a bright blue light filled the room as the gas ignited. The glass tubes were melted, along with the wires and the wall around it.
      "Kelly, wake up." He cradled her in his arms for a few minutes. The others were still trying to stand up. Dana crawled over, in her puking state, and tryed CPR. Chief could only count on luck.
      "Come on! 1-2-3-4 and..."
      Kelly jerked, and went into convulsions as well. She spat out fluid, and began coughing. It was a relief for the Chief, to see his Spartans alive. He immediately picked her up, and put her into her MJOLNIR armor, and connected her neural implant. In five minutes, she was moving, although clumsily, but moving.
      "Good...good to see you...sir...I...thought I was..."
      "It's fine now blue two. Just try and relax. The armor will keep you moving, to minimize the damage potential to your ribs and your shoulder."
      The rest of them instinctively tried to stand up and salute the Chief. They didn't realize that he was there, or was the one that saved them. He saluted them, and gave them the order to stand at ease, if they could.
      "Needless to say, you aren't on any UNSC vessel at this moment. You have been captured by the Covenant for reasons unknown, and are in the middle of something far more perilous than the human-covenant war. We're on a military moonbase of the Covenant known as VILO, and are about to fight off against one of the most vile creatures that both of our kind have had to ever face. Cortana, give them an update."
      Cortana gave them a heads up once they had their suits on. They still moved slow, and occasionally had to remove their helmets to throw up. Still, they moved as one, and the Chief wasn't more proud of his team of Spartans ever. They had overcome difficulties of unimaginable preportions.
      "Chief, there's a munitions case around here somewhere. They need to stock up on weapons before going out. There's also battery units that they can recharge over there, under the casings."
      He lifted some Covenant crates, and pulled out some energy crystals that refilled their shields, and overcharged them. They found the munitions case, and pulled out a good amount of grenades, plasma rifles and Glenn pulled out a fuel rod gun.
      They all moved out into the hallway, proceeded into a nearby elevator, after observing the pieces of the blown up infected Hunter. The blast door of the elevator closed, and all seven Spartan cyborgs went down.

The Long Ride Home 11: Head Problems
Date: 30 October 2002, 9:14 pm

      The green fog within the inner corridors of VILO had gotten too thick for Rajihn and the rest of his Elites to continue on. His Banshee started to slow, and then landed itself on the corridor's floor.
      "Attention, loyal Al'djurians. Our quest has been impeded by these unforeseen growths. We must now make our way to the 'head' on foot. Arm yourselves and prepare for battle.
      Each Elite's apprehension grew significantly, as the massive amounts of bulbous sacs that grew from the floors and walls, burst open with floodlings.
      As soon as the Bandits touched down, the Elites and Hunters poured out from their positions, and began their onslaught against the flood.
      Bright green-white beams streaked across the air, 20-30 meters in front of the Covenant warriors. Plasma shotgun blasts took down warrior after warrior, as each one confronted its enemy.
      "Council, guide me on this path, we are blinded by the cloud given off by these vile creations."
      A mark went off in his HUD. They were approximately 300 meters from their destination.
      "Elite warriors. Give our Hunter brethren your close battle support, let no flood warrior enter within five meters of him. Hunters, make the way for our walk to be cleared."
      The covenant assault force gathered around into one body of 100 or so warriors. The green blasts from the fuel-rod guns were concentrated now, plowing a path for them, while taking down the 25 foot tall bulbous growths like trees in a forest. Everywhere, dead rotting flesh flew, either to attack the Elites or from their blasts. The glittering flashes lit up the dark corridor in its yellow-green fog.
      "All warriors, proceed forward!"
      Rajihn's voice created a bloodrush within the veins of his fellow warriors. They rushed forward with a renewed zeal as soon as they heard him over all of the chaos that was taking place.
      As the Elites moshed forward, bones crunched, blue-white sparks filled the air, and flood warriors were thrown all over the place. In the melee, Rajihn could not help but wonder what exactly was so important about VILO that the human had to be captured before it reached the control center. His shields flickered from a flood warrior's tentacle attack. He hit it twice with his gun, then shot it away.
      "GGGRRRRAAAAAAAHHHH!!! These creatures are countless!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.
      Suddenly, he heard the sound of a shrieking, agonistic yelp from one of his fellow warriors. He looked and saw to his right, tentacles protruding through the chest of one of his Elites. The floodlings from which these wretched tendrils came, deflated as the wiry limbs pulsated and glowed a dim yellow. He watched with frightening revelation as his fallen comrade began the blasphemous transformation. The Elite reeled as the poisonous juices flowed through his veins. His bones and flesh stretched and twisted, as his armor popped off his body. His skin began to turn pale and green, as it immediately rotted from the touch of these tentacles. With a gutwrenching movement, that would shake a seasoned warrior, the head and neck stretched upward and backward. His hands and arms grew outward into something other than what their gods had intended.
      Rajihn felt a gurgling within the pits of his stomach. He aimed his weapon at the new flood warrior, and shot it. He looked away in fright and disgust, then continued on toward the mark in his HUD.
      "Hunters, the destination await us, plow the way forward with the strength our gods have given you!!"
      The huge, lumbering bulldozers of armor and orange flesh drove forward, blasting away and attacking with their shields numerous creatures. As the last blasts of plasma cleared away the yellowish- green fog, two huge arched doors of metallic alloy came into sight. Blue lights lined the side, along with the slime and blood of both species, dead and undead.
      "All Elite warriors, let us race forward with greater speed."
      The group ran forward, hustling and bustling their way through and around each other, and fallen bodies. Suddenly, as Rajihn and those loyal to Council were about to open the doors, the ground beneath them began to rumble. Just as soon as Rajihn barked his last order, the floor opened up, and swallowed the whole, now panicked, crew.

      The elevator platform came to a screeching halt. It was intended to carry maintenance and cargo, so when it came to a stop, there was a strong sudden jolt.
      Kelly was still getting accustomed to the suit again, after being so close to death. Glenn was busy figuring out how to fire the fuel-rod gun he had taken from the downed infected Hunter. Joshua and Hazel from Red team were still in shock, trying to process the information the Chief had given them. The last thing they remembered was being overtaken by the covies on the Planet Reach. Dana just finished giving Chief a heads up on Kelly's status.
      "So our mission now is clear. We have to destroy this installation, capture a covenant vessel, and return to UNSC headquarters so we can devise a plan to defeat the Covenant."
      He readied his plasma shotgun, and the others readied their weapons. Cortana gave them some last minute details. The shaft doors opened.
      "Blue-two, are you motivated?"
      She looked up at the Chief, wincing with pain. But whenever she looked at her leader, an overwhelming sense of hope welled within her gut. She remembered all the times they had come through together. He had just rescued her from her recent imprisonment, there was no way she was going to let him down.
      "Sir."
      "I need you to lead off across the way. Hold off your position until signaled to attack. Take these."
      He handed her two frag grenades.
      "We will move as one. Our shots will meet their marks, and we will win." He pointed at the spot Kelly needed to be."Go now."
      Kelly jumped out of the elevator, rolled and got up, and ran across what seemed like a gooey-slime filled floor behind some fallen rubble. She kept her eyes open for the movement that she could barely make out behind her.
      The Chief waved to Glenn, hid behind some rubble, and pointed in some direction. The others all took positions along the hallway walls and floor, aiming their weapons in the darkness. He spoke into the comm. link.
      "Lights on."
      In one movement, their headlamps flashed on. The area was filled with light, and shined immediately upon numerous flood warriors moving about, as if having a purpose.
      "Bombs away."
      That was kelly's signal. She tossed the grenades at different angles, blowing away about thirty or so flood warriors. At the same time, Glenn charged up and blasted away a huge line of the creatures. Instantly, the darkness of the hallway was lit up with plasma fire, green blasts and small flames. Flood warrior went down following the sound of each blast. Some managed to get up and whip the Spartans with their vine like appendages, causing a sudden flicker from their shields.
      "Move forward."
      With a harmonized, almost fluid motion, the Spartan cyborgs, led by Master Chief, surged forward to what seemed like an intersection in the hallway.
      "Which way Cortana?"
      "Follow the nav point Chief. We should be there any minute."
      A nav point went up in all their HUDs. Just then, a rocket shell whizzed past his head.
      "HIT THE DECK!!"
      An explosion ensued two seconds later, sending a ball of fire upward and across the ceiling. The flood warriors now had weapons, and let the Spartans know it.
      They returned the firepower, sending the flood wherever creatures of that kind belong. After Glenn blasted away the flood with the rocket launcher, he took it and hoisted it onto his back. Hazel was knocked off her feet when two of the warriors hit her across the abdomen and chest.
      "Come, let's advance forward."
      The Chief picked her up onto her feet. She resumed her fight.
      "Green leader, give us some breathing room!"
      Glenn blasted away through rows of flood warriors, creating what looked like a green spear going through the body of a rotting-beige animal.
      They finally broke through the living wall of the creatures, and entered into a large, round room. It was circular, it's catwalk going around the entire circumference of it. In the middle was a small platform, with a bridge leading out of it to the circular catwalk.
      "There it is Chief."
      In the middle were different holopanels, each with their own holo-screens, displaying numerous things. And hanging from the ceiling was another, garganteous, pulsating sac, with rope like tentacles to support it. It had small 'fingers', moving methodically over the holopanels, punching in different commands.
      The flood warriors did something, again, uncharacteristic of their usual behavior. They weren't attacking.
      "Destroy every last one of them." The Chief led by example, running up to the nearest warior and shooting it.
      The others soon followed, and did the same. The now stationary warriors went down, until Cortana yelled at the Chief.
      "Cease firing!" Confused, he called the order to his soldiers. It sent them almost into shock, how could he order such a thing? Still, without question, they obeyed.
      "The...the head!! It's communicating with me using the Covenant network!"
      Now he was really perplexed. The huge crowd of the flood warriors opened up to let the Chief and his six warriors pass. They walked down the bridge, guns ready and aimed, into the middle. The huge pulsating sac still working away on the command consoles.
      "It's saying, it is not the enemy. The Covenant are. Now it's giving me about a trillion things that I can't translate quick enough to tell you but...oh my God."
      A huge image popped onto the big, holoscreen. At first, he blinked to take another look. But, sure enough, the image stood there. Each of the Spartan warriors stared at it, trying to keep their bearing. But nothing could remedy the dizzying, heart sinking feeling that ran through their spine, and into their stomachs. Nothing could keep Master Chief's blood from becoming so cold that it made his body fell heavy.
      "Those bastards. Those Covenant bastards."
      The Spartans all looked at the Master Chief, wondering what their next order would be. They were as confused as he, and as hurt. The image reflected off his visor.
      "Earth." That's all he could mutter. After all his training, and years of harsh battle, nothing scared him and left him with a sense of hopelessness than this. He mustered all his strength just to move his lips, and say that word.
      IT'S OVER, he thought. The Covenant found Earth. Even though he and many others hadn't actually come from there, or stepped foot on it, something in every human told him, that no matter what, Earth was home. Earth, was the birthplace of humanity.
      "They've found Earth."
      Suddenly, their anger swelled up their chests. Their existence came with newfound importance and purpose. The war has now gotten desperate. Cortana continued to translate.
      "The 'head' says, our fate will soon be sealed. It says that, in order for the Covies to be defeated, we should be one."
      One? As in allies? Things were now going off the wall. How were they going to actually ally themselves with a being that thrives off the death of other sentient beings?
      "And be part of the guaranteed victors over the Covenant."
      "How exactly do we become 'one'?" There was movement behind them. The Spartans began to feel uneasy, and reloaded their weapons. The gap between them closed, as the flood warriors surrounded them. "That's the catch. To put it in it's own elegant way, we must become a part of the collective." The small wires on the chests of the flood warriors began to squirm about as the low, weird sounds characteristic of the creatures filled the air. "How is that done?" He already knew the answer, but wanted time to make sure his Spartan warriors were ready. "By making ourselves the sacrifice." At that, all the Spartans cocked their weapons, aiming at the sac, as if on cue. "Tell it, we'll pass." Then, in one instant, they fired away at the sac. Two rockets and a fuel rod blast later, it fell, melting and burning away in flames, toward the control room's floor. "We need to destroy this base Cortana." "I'm already on it Chief. You do your job and keep us alive." All at once, the flood began their attack on the seven Spartan cyborgs. Glenn made a path for them again, leading through the bridge and onto the circular catwalk. The bridge itself was starting to take its toll from all of the plasma blasts and weight. The melting burn spots on the bridge created holes, making the Spartans wary of just running through. "Team, listen up. I know you're running low on ammo. Stay in line behind Glenn. Shoot only when directly threatened." A bunch of lights went off in his HUD to acknowledge his order. The battle's casualties were building up. Every one of them had to wipe their visor at least once in order to get the muck of the flood warriors off them. "We've got 25 minutes before this moonbase goes up Chief. Find a ride, and get us all the hell out of here!" "Sir, the bridge-look!" As they came to the end of it toward the circular platform, it began to shudder, and squeal as it buckled under all their weight. One of the energy support beams shut off, with a spark that left behind a mist of small blue flames floating in a diagonal line where, just a moment before was bright and humming with life. "Everyone, interlock arms!" The seven Spartans did so, and Glenn grabbed the edge of the platform. Looking like a huge, human chain, they hung, as the bridge they were just on, tilted, and then plummeted to the floor below. Their shields flickered intermittenly as the flood warriors whipped them upon their descent. One of them wrapped its tendrils around Dana's boot. She kicked it in the chest, and watched it fall, along with the others, and disappear into the the hazy-fog. "All right, everyone pull up!" They did, but it was in vain. Soon after they began to climb up each other, the platform cracked, and fell. They fell with it, and disappeared into the green-yellowish fog.

The Long Ride Home 12: Home Is Where The Heart Is
Date: 6 January 2003, 6:45 pm

       Luthos had just been updated on the status of VILO. It seemed the moonbase was beginning to collapse in on itself. To make matters worse, Cortana had tampered with the moonbase's systems to cause a self-destruct sequence. And yet, above all that, Master Chief reawakened the captured Spartan cyborgs. Luthos' picture of retaking the base began to slowly go up in flames. His own officers in command began to question his authority.
      "Commander, I must implore you. We all plead that you reconsider this campaign and lead us all back into good favor with the rest of our brethren. There is word that they have found the homeworld of the humans, and that a grand invasion is underway."
      "Yes, my Commander, it is truth from the knowledge that we speak. All we ask is that you end this foolish planning and reassure our admittance into the Covenant. The Kir'Dun will rise again in time, as a revered fleet within the ranks."
       Luthos turned to them, and let out a grin. He looked at the communication console that was used as a means to keep in touch to authority when the armies invaded a place. He then looked back at them again. The officers began to choke.
      "Foolish planning? You are calling me a fool then, are you not?" He walked casually to the officer." You are right."
      "Sir?"
       Luthos grabbed the Elite by the back of the neck. The others didn't know what to think, so they just watched in uneasy expressions.
      "I'll contact the leadership. We shall be off this place immediately."
      "No need for that Commander, I have already called upon them to come and assist our effort to be off. They should be here for talks at any moment."
       Luthos only smiled. He turned around and spoke to the other officers there.
      "This here, brothers, is one worthy of promotion. You shall all wait here until I order otherwise. As for you..." he wrapped his arms around the Elite. "...come with me. Because you have the qualities to lead this fleet, you shall be the first to witness dimplomacy in the airs."
       They both climbed aboard a Bandit. It began to ascend vertically, and then spirally, toward the flagship over the moonbase's structure. The officer was now becoming glad in all he had said and done. Luthos kept his grin.
      "So how much time has passed since you called upon the Covenant leadership?"
      "A few minutes before our discussion, Sir."
      "And when did you believe my plans became incompotent?"
      "Oh, sir perhaps when the human escaped our captivity and watch, sir. It has never been found for you to lose your watch on any of the humans, sir."
       Luthos' smile slowly faded away. It was replaced with a hateful snarl, teeth showing. He then grabbed the Elite, detached him from the seat and opened the hatch.
      "S-sir! Please, I do not understand!" The officer looked down, and saw the Covenant forces like little bugs now. The wind and height were both dizzying.
      "Oh, come now Velonius. You are a more suited leader for this fleet..." he bore all his sharp teeth at the other Elite. "...NOW LEAD!!"

       The other officers didn't know what was going on. But they knew that Velonius' ride up would be his last. They were at the main entrance to the structure. The huge arched doors were open to the sandy fields of the moonbase.
      "Do you believe the Commander shall indeed order our forces from this now wretched stronghold?"
      "I believe so, but Velonius shall not leave. I spoke with him before hand, and warned him to appease the Commander first."
      "Truth in its entirety, you speak well. But the commander has been in dire need of..." All of them became silent for a second. They could hear the sound of a loud, deep, screaming voice, coming closer, and closer...
      "AAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!" SPLAAAT!!
       Velonius' body burst into a thousand pieces in every direction, just ten meters from where they stood. His left eye found its resting place on one of the officer's shoulders. Purple/lavender blood left its mark on the others. The officers stood there in shock.

       Rajihn was awakened by the Council's voice. He was dazed and aching. He tried to focus, but the fog was thick now. He tried to come in contact with the rest of his crew. There were a few life signs left that were strong. All others had either died from the, or been wounded and caused their signals to slowly fade. The fall, he though. He now remembers yelling at the top of his lungs, along with the others, that fell when the floor caved in.
      "How far down are we?"
      "We are deep within the recesses of the base Rajihn. The creatures have begun their second phase of propogation. They are now beginning to poison the air with their vile spores, thus the cloud that hangs over us."
       He was finally able to see through the fog. They were all within a huge, cavelike tunnel, overhung with those bulbous growths now. The eerie glow from these 'trees' made a dim green light throughout the area. As zombies rising from the grave, the Elites and Hunters slowly began to stand up.
      "Ready your weapons. Slay our brothers who are susceptible to the blasphemous enemy, and save them from the fate that awaits them."
       Shots rang into his ears from every direction at once. He could also sense movement-and it wasn't his crew.
      "Prepare for battle!!"
       Just then a downpour of flood warriors dropped in on their parade. The bewildered Elites and Hunters could only retaliate once they were attacked directly. A flood warrior appeared from the fog and whipped Rajihn across his skull. Had he not been wearing his armor, he would have lost his head. He shot it quickly as he overcame his sudden dizzyness.
       Green beams of light streaked overhead, exploding a couple of meters from the group. The intense heat from the plasma burned through some of the fog, causing it to clear up a little.
      "My dear Hunters. Fire across the air, it is burning these 'spores' as Council has named it."
       Fuel-Rod guns went off, creating what seemed like a bubble of fresh air in the dense smog. One of the Elites growled as he was dragged into a crowd of the flood. Rajihn threw a grenade into the group.
       After what was about ten minutes, the last shots of the small conflict went off. As quickly as they had come, the flood receded into the darkness and hiding places within the cavern.
       Rajihn was able to get a head count. Only about 50 or so of them left.
      "As one body!" They all got into their formation. "We have our orders. Let us continue on and find the humans!"
      "The change in the air is evident. The flood have begun to grow their way of multiplying over our moonbase. We must find the 'heart' quickly, for it is near the end of our time here. If we do not find it, the human will, and then he will flee. We must capture the human, Rajihn."
       The flood had immediately begun work on their cavernous dwelling within the moonbase once the captured Covenant vessel, Mist, crash landed there. They honeycombed the moon, and then attacked the Covenant, easily overtaking the mere 2000 or them. It housed scientists and a few soldiers, but it was mainly a research base. It was so discreet that only a few fleets were to respond if any beacons dispatched to them. The Kir'Dun, headed by Luthos, was made entirely for them. But orders were orders, and Luthos' final orders from the leadership of the base, was to capture and return any of the remaining Spartans within the humans' army. Luthos instead had disobeyed them in returning, for his deep hatred burned, along with his ambitions, against the flood. He made it a personal obligation to return and wipe them out.
       Rajihn had no cares about Luthos' ambitions from the start. He had already been wounded on Reach, due to Luthos' insubordination in one battle. Now he was going to die, a renegade no less. It saddened him to know that his afterlife wouldn't be so grand because of this incident. This was only further proved by the presence of the vision he had, with the Angel of Death.
       WHACK!! A dull, metallic thud hit the ground. The party turned around, seeing one of the Elites, facedown with blood foaming at the mouth. Something moved.
       WHOCK!! Another Elite, down on the floor. This time Rajihn felt chills run up his back.
      "All Al'djurians, back to one another, lowered down now!!"
       The Elites got into a tight circle and crouched down, aiming their weapons forward.
      "Fire your weapons!"
       Shots fired in every direction. Some flood warriors materialized, as the shards blew on their chests. They had cloaking abilities. There was a loud explosion.
      "Rajihn! The 'head' has been destroyed. We are within the control room, and above us are...the humans!!"
       Humans? Rajihn tried to make sense at the last bit of information. They were supposed to be after one, not a whole crew.
      "Council, what other humans are with the Angel of Death?"
      "Continue on, Al'djurian. You are in the midst of battle. Let not these things trouble you."
       Just dim, the dim, eerie green glow, was being replaced by a bright, orange yellow light. A huge fireball feel down, and rolled, leaving a blazing trail of flames in its wake. Another downpour of the flood came a few moments later, and the two sides were back at it. The flames spread throughout the cave and onto the bulbous growths. Rajihn and his Elites began to get seperated.
      "VILO shall destroy itself within the next half hour! The human's computer has initiated it!"
       How was it possible? The human couldn't possibly manipulate Covenant technology that advance on this base. Rubble and metal beams fell down from the darkness above. Chunks of rock and granite pummeled and landed on characters at random from both sides. Rajihn ducked and rolled from one such, bomb.

       The Spartans fell, and didn't know for how long, because of the thick fog. Finally, one of them hit some slick, oily surface that covered soft dirt, and rolled down it to level ground. The others landed in the same manner, some of their shields flashed from the hard impact. Master Chief quickly reacquainted himself with his surroundings, hearing gunshots and seeing movement near and around the fire, just 20 meters from their position.
      "Chief! This place is crawling Sir! The covies are fighting, but their in our way!"
       The Master Chief looked in the directin Jake was pointing, and saw an Elite he recognized. Rajihn had just taken out a flood warrior and dodged some falling rubble.
      "Let's move! We haven't got any time before this place goes up!"
       He led the group, dodging falling debris and firing away at the oncoming flood.

      "Rajihn, take heed! The human walks with the others in the direction of the heart. Follow him, for their idea is that of escape."
       The Elite looked at the Spartans. He Shuddered at their presence. Two of them were bigger than him, and the others were quick, and nimble. They rolled, jumped, and dodged falling rubble gracefully. He could only imagine what seven Spartan warriors could do, if only one destroyed an ancient weapon, along with an armada.
      "All Al'djurians, follow me!!"
       His bellowing roar made the Chief and his Spartans look back. They saw the oncoming covies.
      "They won't kill us, they're intending on capturing us Chief."
       Jake's voice came on the comm channel.
      "Good, then let's kill some covies!"
      "No. Let them follow us. They'll keep our flanks cleared by doing so. Move out, DOUBLE TIME!"
       They sprinted on, passing falling debris and exploding bulbs of ooze and floodlings. They ran until they came upon a huge hole carved into the sandy subterrain of the moon. They instinctively switched on their headlamps as they ran through.
       Rajihn and his Elites and two Hunters chased them frantically. Flood fell on them from all directions. Whatever flood warriors didn't die from the Spartans, vented their frustration on the Covenant Elites. Rajihn and his crew punished them accordingly.

       Both sides emerged into another, huge cavern. It was aglow with the flood's trademark eerie green color. The source of the light came from the hanging pulsating sac, this time much larger than the others. It hung 20 meters off the sandy ground, and ascended to 100 meters high. It was at least 75 to 100 meters round, and oozing out a slick oily substance through its shiny skin. Every few seconds, a puff of a greenish-yellow gas would vent out from numerous holes on the upper half of the abherration.
       The seven Spartans, along side the Covenant Elites were frozen in awe for what seemed forever. Totally oblivious to each other, they stared at what they had finally been able to utter from their mouths.
      "The Heart."
       The pulsating started to become more and more frequent. It started to twitch and twist on its numerous vinelike tentacles that kept it suspended above ground. The Spartans and Elites were startled, and took a step back. The 'heart' continued its erratic behavior, until the tentacles ripped themselves from the cavern, and uprooted from the sands. The pulsating sac fell those twenty meters, landing with a loud, echoing, thump. Dust and gaseous fog flew everywhere from the epicenter. The shockwave threw the two other species flat on their backs. Immediately afterwards, the flood washed over them, whipping, clubbing, grabbing, thrashing and stomping them.
      "Chief!! Sir!! Our shields won't hold up much longer!!"
       He knew this was true. His shield gauge was going down rapidly, and they were low on ammo. The timer for the base's self-destruct was now at 18 minutes. He was running out of options. Then he saw where the flood were coming from.

       Rajihn was trying his best to kill the creatures, but they were overwhelming both him and his Elites.
      "Council! How are we to defeat these creatures? And what do you plan, on getting us from this place?"
      "Retrieve he human, Rajihn. That is your duty."
       He saw the Master Chief running full tilt toward the Heart. His Spartans weren't far behind.
      "All Al'djurians, capture those humans!"

       Master Chief leaped over a score of the flood warriors, and smacked into the awkward leviathan. Its pulsating waves caused him to move in unison with their rising and lowering crescents. The slick oily covering made it difficult for him to climb.
      "We need to get to those tendrils at the top. Once we destroy that, it'll die off. That area seems to be controlling it."
       He punched hole after hole into the thing, grabbing, then pulling himself up. Three of the Spartans stood their ground near where the other four had begun their ascent. Dana saw a body-sized, spiral shape, open up like a sphincter. Out of the opening came three flood warriors, covered in a mucous-like substance, crawling toward her sideways. The sight made her want to puke.
      "Chief, you need to hurry, we can't hold out much longer. The moonbase is going up whether we get out or not!"
      "Glenn, can you stand your ground for another ten seconds?"
      "-Sir!- Yes I can. But be informed, it's getting hot down here!-"
      "Acknowledged. Dana, Joshua, Jake and I are almost at the top. When I destroy its sensory organs, we're going to need a path leading out our 10."
       A blip went off in his HUD. He could see the writhing tendrils, hundreds of them each about a foot and a half thick, and ten feet long. They were tipped with a tint of red, and split at the ends into two. They looked like snakes' tongues moving about in the air, in search of their next prey. More of the yellowish-green fog hissed from its numerous pores. He was now about one good jump up from them.
      "Joshua, toss up your rocket launcher."
       The Jackhammer flew up into the Chief's right hand.
      "Cover me, I'm going to kill this thing."
       The other three clung at different angles, shooting at whatever flood crawled afer the Master Chief.
       The Chief set his sights on the area with all the sensory tendrils jutting out. He searched for its core. He found it, its soft spot, and now it was time to put it down for good. These flood creatures, as he observed were weak in that area. When they were shot there, a small spark would ensue, and the creature would go down.
      "There." He saw it, a large, oval-shaped spot pulsating rapidly and glowing a dim green light.
       He aimed, the retacle turning red. Two projectiles shot off. The creature sensed the danger, and placed a tendril in its path. It blew upon impact, rotted flesh and blood everywhere. The other rocket passed through, unscathed, and hit the organ. The oval wrinkled inward, then blew out, sending sparks, bone fragments and flesh, ablaze in all directions. The tendrils writhed for a few seconds more, then dropped limply against the sac. The rippling waves slowed to a stop. The glowing ceased, and the flood warriors that were in mid-exit of the spiral openings, became stuck.
      "Sir? Are you ready to leave yet?"
      "Let's get out of here."
       He slid down the side of the sac, blasting away at the oncoming flood. He and the three that climbed with him, landed beside Glenn and the other two. Then the heart began to move again. It began to swell up, and pulsate alot more this time. The vents sucked in air, then closed up, to then repeat the cycle, over and over again.
      "Oh no." Master Chief knew exactly what it was doing. The only other flood cerature that behaved this way were the infected grunts, that became carriers of the floodlings. When shot, they would swell up and explode. The heart was doing exactly that.
      "Let's get to the nearest exit point and hit the deck!"
      "Marked one already Chief! Only 80 meters from it."
       They bolted for the red nav. point in their HUDs. Jumping, flipping over and charging through tide after tide of the flood, the seven Spartans pressed on. Rajihn and his Elites just then, from nowhere, seemingly, intercepted them.
      "Humans halt!"
       Rajihn pointed his gun at the Chief. The Spartans raised their weapons. The Elites raised their weapons. A flood warrior jumped at the Chief. Rajihn shot it in mid-flight.
       From the corner of his eye, Glenn saw a score of the flood warriors about to pound the Elites. He killed them with a fuel-rod blast. The Spartans and Al'djurians stared each other still. The Elites snarling and snapping their jaws. The Spartans taking beads on their targets' heads, and then planning where to send the next shot immediately afer.
       Another flood warrior jumped toward an Elite. Dana stopped it in its path. The Elites and Spartans stood still, shooting at any flood that came within their range, saving each other's enemy.
      "Chief, we haven't got much time for this. Get us the hell out of here!"
      "I know Cortana, we'll be fine."
      "Rajihn, capture the humans, and let us return to the surface as victors."
      "Do not be foolish, Council. We are in no predicament to take prisoners. We need all the arms we can enlist."
       With that last phrase, came the sound of a thousand bones, flesh and stones, breaking, cracking and stretching. The Heart was almost near its breaking point. The ground began to shake. The Elites and Spartans looked up at it.
      "I'm leaving now. They're going with me. I'll leave you here to decide what to do."
       John 117 motioned to the others, and quickly took off, moving swiftly between the ranks of the Elites and passed them. Rajihn ran quickly to catch up with the Chief.
      "You are cunning, and I have seen your works, human. Give me knowledge, how do you plan on your escape?"
       Rajihn shot a flood warrior, clearing a path for the Chief. The Spartan was cautious in talking anything with his enemy. His instincts screamed to kill him. But he knew that his this group of the Covenant were a help for now.
      "That opening ahead leads up into the tunnels. We're going to ride the main elevator, once we get to it, up to the roof. From there, we're going to take Luthos' vessel."
      "-Very clever human.-"
       Master Chief recognized the voice. It was Council.
      "-Our forces up there are waiting to slay you and your brothers."
       Ten minutes were blinking on the Chief's HUD. Cortana spoke.
      "Phase 1 of the self-destruct sequence has been started Chief. The base's infrastructure is failing. We better get out fast, or we'll be entombed!"
      "Council speaks truth human. Luthos has begun the cleansing of our base, with the Kir'dun. They are thousands strong, and bent on your death. Do you reconsider, or have you lost your senses?"
       The Spartan looked at the Elite, without pause in pace. Rajihn couldn't understand how this human could simply face such a threat and...then again, he was the Angel of Death.

       The two parties reached the structure's main tunnels again, still being chased by the flood. An explosion shook the huge tunnel.
      "The Heart must've finally exploded."
       A metallic scratching sound of stress rattled the Master Chief's teeth. The tunnel floor began to twist and turn, popping apart the interlocking patterns of its metallic tiles. Rajihn saw his Bandits, still hovering in the place he and his Elites left them.
      "This way human! You are to follow me!"
       The Elites took the lead with Spartans close behind. Huge pieces of the tunnel began to break apart, due to the stress incurred by the heart's explosion. The many bulbous growths no longer glowed or pulsated. They boarded the Bandits, now only filling two. The Spartans all sat in the same side of one.
      "Let's get out of here."
       The Bandits lifted off, turned around, and flew up the network, blasting away any flood remaining.

      "Commander, the humans have destroyed the Heart!"
      "They live?!"
      "Yes, my Commander. The traitorous Rajihn and the Council have them in their Bandits, alive as well. They are on their way here."
       A grin shot across his face. He was pleased about something.
      "VILO is soon to be destroyed, Commander! Shall we withdraw our forces?"
      "No, Nilona, prepare a group to capture those humans, they have done us all a favor. Our forces may have been infected in any case. Council has done well, it is pleasing to have this knowledge."
      "Commander? The traitorous Council?"

       The two Bandits reached the lobby, and immediately took out the score of turrets that lined it. Four Banshees took flight, and rained white-blue blasts on the dropships. They dodged the shots and returned fire, blasting them out of the air.
      "Prepare for battle, Al'djurians!"
       Elites on the ground, twenty in all, along with four Hunters, began firing at the dropships. One of them were hit in the aft section, blowing the compartments apart. They hit the ground and lit up with blue flames. The Elites jumped out and began firing at the others, trying to fight them off.
      "AARRGGGHHH! YOU SHALL DIE LUTHOS!!"
      "-I believe not, my young Al'djurian warrior.-"
      "Chief! I'm picking up energy signatures on the seats."
      "-Luthos, the humans have been captured, initiating shackles.-"
       Energy bands held the Chief and the Elites on Rajihn's Bandit to the seats.
      "Council? What is this? You...you betray me?!"
      "-Tis a simple matter, Al'djurian warrior. You merely followed command. Of course, it was in a rebellious action. Therefore, you must pay your dues.-"
      "I WAS FOLLOWING YOUR ORDERS, COUNCIL! YOU ARE THE TRAITOR!"
      "-It is impossible for artificial Al'djurians to be a traitor.-"
       The Spartans all looked at Chief for their next line of action. They began to worry. Chief hated them being worried.
      "Cortana, what can you do?"
      "I've already begun hacking into their computer systems, Chief. The Bandit's been customized, and under control of the Council. Everything's incredibly encrypted. I have to go in. Wish me luck."

       She traveled into the Cov.net, through numerous alien data pathways, trying to make connections and disconnecting commands all at the same time. A virus began to upload into her programming, but she fought it off. She saw an opening in the communication program, and she went through until she hit a block, sent by the Council. She decided to lure him out. She opened up her databank, holding valuable information on Halo, then her findings on VILO. The Council became curious, and started a download/intercept program. She shot ahead, and saw him. Council was levitated amongst billions of Covenant symbols and numbers. Before he realized she got through, she initiated a rewriting of the download, filling it with the same coding used for VILO's self-destruct sequence. Because the symbol's were similar to what he had been downloading already, he didn't realize what she did.
      "What?! What are you doing here human?"
       He stood there, floating in this cyberspace. He had the body of three Elites and muliple heads, morphing in and out of his body. She sent the coding into him, with some miscellaneous information she retrieved on Halo.
       He tried to purge the download, but it was too late. He started to break apart, numbers and symbols going haywire, cyberspace turning into streaks of white and purple lightning.
      "Immm-poooosssiiiiblllle!!"
       He disappeared in a brilliant white flash. Cyberspace was now white with with two Covenant symbols, translated as saying: PROGRAM REWRITE? Cortana input:NO. She exited his now void program layout and started to break at his lock-up program. He had made sure it would be difficult, since each individual's codings were different and vastly encrypted.
      "Chief, I've got some good news and some bad news."
      "Spill it Cortana. We're getting close to elevator platform, can you get us out?"
      "Well...I defeated the Council AI. The bad news is that I'm only going to have enough time to unlock one of you Spartans."
       That last phrase struck at his heart. He promised himself that all of his Spartans would make it. He was helpless again. He thought long and hard. He chose Kelly, she was quick, the fastest one there. She could easily out manuever the Covies and board a Covenant vessel and make an escape.
      "Kelly, get ready..."
      "Sir..." She looked at him, hesitant of what she had to say."I can't go."
      "Blue-two that's an order..."
       They all looked at him. Glenn gave his mind.
      "Sir, you have Cortana. You can take control of an enemy vessel, and use it to track us. Remember what our mission objectives are. You have to go, sir."
       The energy bands around his arms and feet shut off. They all blipped on his HUD, signalling acknowledgement of what had to happen now. A rock built up in his throat.
      "I'm interfacing with the controls, we'll be by the elevator platform soon."

       Luthos saw the dropship make a sharp turn toward the elevator platform.
      "Council, speak to me. Why have you deviated from your course?"
      "-BEEEP. I'm sorry, the party you are trying to contact is no longer available."
       Cortana's voice infuriated him more than he already was.
      "The human construct. What have you done with Council?!"
      "Humans, Covenant, AI's, you boys are all the same. Easily wooed by a woman's touch. Too bad mine was deadly, in a matter of speaking."
       He saw a nearby Ghost, and hopped on it. He charged after them. The flood had resurfaced again, harassing the Covenant in the area. Elites struck blows on the creatures, Grunts flew about, and Hunters and Jackals attacked and peppered the viral subjects with bolts of intense heated energy. Luthos dodged a hot blast from a fuel-rod gun. His shield flickered from the intense heat.
      "I SHALL SLAY YOU HUMAN!"
       Foam built up at the corners of his jawas. With one hand piloting the Ghost, he activated his plasma sword and began slicing any flood he came across. He accidentally ran over some Elites, but he didn't care.

       The Bandit's side hatch opened, revealing the platform, covered with debris and dead bodies. Master Chief looked at his Spartans. He looked at Kelly.
      "Go sir. Win this for all of us."
       He jumped onto the platform, rolled and ran for the activation console. The Bandit immediately twisted around and resumed its course that Cortana broke for the moment.
      "Can you track where the dropship is headed, Cortana?"
       An explosion shook the elevator.
      "Yes. It's going to the Covenant cruiser, The Breeze of Zeal. Their going to be held in the brig of it. Maybe when we get off we could..."
      "No. We have to fulfill our mission. We must capture and bring back a Covenant ship to ONI."
       The elevator gave a screech and jerked. Just before it started to rise, he caught a glimpse of Luthos on his Ghost, flying toward him. The elevator started to ascend. Luthos rode his Ghost, until it was about ten meters from the elevator. He jumped out, momentum carrying him to its rim. He hit the edge and grabbed on. The Ghost continued on, flying beneath them into the darkness of the shaft. He pulled himself up and rolled sideways inward before the edge of the ceiling caught him.
      The Chief aimed his weapon. He pulled the trigger, and it gave a dull click. It was empty. He stood there, explosions ringing around him, huge chunks of stone and metal blowing off the walls, some landing on the platform.
      Luthos rose, staring ahead at the Spartan. Master Chief stared right back. An explosion sent a ball of flames and sparks to land behind the Elite. Huge chunks of rock landed behind the Chief, ablaze with bright orange flames. Luthos activated his plasma sword. Master Chief did the same. A blue-green color reflected off his visor as he stared down his enemy.
       Flames surrounding them, explosions shaking the platform and rocks and debris raining harshly upon them, they stood there. They both had an understanding. They both nodded their heads in this understanding. They both understood, that at the top of this structure, there was going to be only one, left standing.

The Long Ride Home 13: Home At Last
Date: 14 July 2003, 1:09 AM

"I'll slay you right where your feet have been planted, HUMAN!!"
Luthos charged at the Chief full tilt, activating his plasma saber. The Spartan did the same. He drew a half moon in front of him, and got into his warrior stance. It had now gotten personal with the John-117, as he saw his fellow Spartans get carried off into another Covenant ship to who knows where. He had to win, and it wasn't just for the human race either. He had to win, for his Spartans. He had to win, for himself.
Luthos brought down the energy sword to the Chief's head. Master Chief did an upper block, and kicked the Elite in the chest, sending the adversary backwards. An explosion sent shockwaves that shook the entire elevator platform. Luthos stumbled a little to his side, and regained his balance. Master Chief used that momentum to propel himself at the Elite. He attempted a horizontal slash followed by a forward stab, only for the first to be blocked.
"You have cost me victory on this much needed base, human! I shall have your skull on a mantel!!"
"Try and take it from me."
Another explosion sent debris littering the elevator platform; huge fiery boulders and small metallic shrapnel fell with it. Some of it pinged off the Master Chief's helmet, causing his shield to flicker for a moment. Again, the Elite charged at him, this time swinging his plasma saber in wild movements. Master Chief jumped to the side, rolled and stood back up. He jump kicked Luthos in the side, sending him to stumble and then trip over a small rock that was burning in flames. Luthos let the Chief come within his arms' length before round housing him in the face. The blow sent the Spartan warrior spinning and hitting the deck with uncontrollable force. Luthos rushed over and kicked Master Chief in the side, causing him to roll over. The Elite brought down the saber again, and again had it blocked by the Chief. John brought both his feet up against the Elite's chest, and threw him back several feet. He jumped back onto his feet and ran at the Elite to try and get a rush on him the time of his bewilderment.
Suddenly, a huge whine cracked the air, and the elevator shaft's energy elevating coils began to dim and slow. As that happened, the platform seemed to slow its ascent. Both the human and the Elite stared around, wondering what was happening. As explosions shook them every few seconds, they looked up, seeing the reason for the amount of commotion.
A crack could be seen, far off, growing on the structure, splitting it in half. It grew and opened, like a mouth, until all the floors within were visible. Master Chief and Luthos stood there, on the slowly ascending platform, as the great wall began to split in half. They stood in amazement as half of that wall moved away from them, slowly at first, and with a huge scream as though it were a wild animal being slain. The slow movement of its breakaway began to accelerate, rapidly bringing down the roof, until the Chief and the Commander saw it falling down below them. The energy elevating coils on the structure's standing half began to relight with new life, once again bringing the elevator up as it was doing before.
The fall of half the structure was cataclysmic to all the Covenant and flood battling down below. The fall sent shockwaves and dust up covering all combatants and burying them under metal and soft dirt for miles all around. To the Chief and Luthos, now near the top, the scene looked like someone had dropped a huge rock into tranquil water, causing enormous waves forth for miles. They could now see the air and space with all of the Covenant vessels in formation. Seraph fighters were still strafing enemy flood positions and Banshees peppered them with intense blasts. There was still a stream of drop ships from the Covenant carriers and battle cruisers. All the hustle and bustle of the battle waging on did not keep the Master Chief and Luthos unaware of their task at hand.
Luthos drove forward and did a double side swipe at the Chief. John backed up and sidestepped and then drove his saber into the Elite's. The two energy swords caught, and the two of them stood there face to face. Luthos snapped his menacing jaws repeatedly at the Chief, while the Chief merely held his ground. Their strength was not equaled though, and Luthos kicked John in the right knee, weakening his stance even more before elbowing him in the face and then kicking him in the chest plate. The blow had not been shielded, since the heat from their swords had deteriorated both their shields. Luthos quickly stomped the chief on the chest over and over again, causing his armor to dent inwards a little. He brought his energy sword straight down to the human, but the cyborg rolled over and avoided the potential deathblow. The plasma saber stood stuck in the platform, enabling the Chief to kick the Elite backwards.
"Chief, your armor has sustained intense damage to the main gel system. You may experience some difficulty moving like before. I'm going to try and fix it."
Cortana was right, he felt his armor getting heavier and sluggish. The layer of gel that adhered the suit to his body began to leak, and spray through little cracks in his rib area. He coughed up blood, as he tried to get up on his feet. But his suit got heavier and heavier, until he was almost stiff.
Luthos saw this, and took advantage of this time of weakness. He ran over and kicked the Chief in his side, knocking him over. Explosions made a huge amount of boulders to fall down, ablaze, and bounce off the elevator platform to the abyss below them. He roared at the Chief, as though he knew of his impending triumph.
"You need knowledge, human. We Al'djurians are a superior race that has been given the task of exterminating you humans from our universe. You may believe that your clever ability to steal and build upon our technology enables you to defeat us, but that is not so. You see, human, it has happened on numerous occasions that others like you have felt the swift hand of defeat."
Others like me? He thought about his Spartans on Reach. That meant that Luthos was indeed one of the key players in the fall of the colony world. His rage was building inside him even more.
"There was one foolish human who rose up against me. He was easily disposed of. Then others followed, and I killed them all the same."
He played around with the silver chain like links that hung around his neck. He unhooked them, and threw them down on the floor in front of the Chief's face. The Master Chief opened his eyes in great anger.
"Here's the proof, human!" He snarled at the Chief hideously, kicking him again to his side.
The silver chain links had small names engraved upon them with serial numbers and bar codes. They were the neural implants of his fallen Spartan brothers. This was enough, thought the Chief. The Elite had gone far enough, and now it had gone beyond evil, it had gone to cruelty. A neural implant had a self detonating charge once the brain's cells had gone into a state of apoptosis, or cell self destruction when someone dies. So in order to obtain a whole one, the individual had to be alive while the neural implant was removed.
The Elite laughed cruelly as he continued stomping John in the chest and ribs over and over again. Finally, as Luthos saw that they were nearing the top, he brought the plasma saber up, to deliver the final blow.
John was dazed, bleeding, and weak. He heard the sounds of a bell, Chief Mendez motivating him and his other Spartans, and Kelly and James both laughing as children, back in the training grounds. He could hear Cortana yelling something in the back of his head, but he couldn't make out what she was saying. As he looked up, he could see the plasma saber coming down on him, the Elite laughing and mocking him. Tears welled up on the corners of his eyes as he rolled his head to the side. It was finished, he thought. I lost; I lost for everyone. It's all over, the mission, the Spartans, Earth. He saw a quarter flipping over in slow motion down from the air. It hit the elevator platform once, twice, BOOOOOOM!
"What!?" Luthos stumbled backwards as another explosion now shook the entire elevator disc.
Chief laid there, still staring at the quarter, still spinning on its side. It slowed down, and finally fell flat. Heads. Suddenly he could hear Cortana screaming, and the quarter disappeared.
"MASTER CHIEF, MASTER CHIEF!! WAKE THE HELL UP!! WE STILL HAVE A MISSION TO FINISH!! I'VE FINISHED FIXING YOUR SUIT'S MOVEMENT MECHANISMS! SO GET YOUR ASS UP AND MOVE!!!"
His daze faded away, and as he blinked to get more focus, a plasma grenade lay where his quarter had landed. It was on the body of a dead grunt, and there was only one left. With all his might and will, he rolled sideways, avoided Luthos' swing of doom, which left a burn mark where he had just been. He grabbed the plasma grenade and threw it at Luthos' unsuspecting face.
"Eat it, now"
"THIS IS IMPOOOOSSSSIIIBBBLLLLLEE!!!!"
The Master Chief rose up, flames all around him, and ran to the Elite. The glare from the flames made wings on the Chief's shoulders in Luthos' eyes. The visor reflected the flames, and made it look as though they were the face of the human.
"Ooh....my gods nooo...plleaassee...deliver mee...please, deliver me, don't let it take me..! Don't let the Angel of Death TAKE MEEEE!!!"
Master Chief Spartan warrior John-117 drop kicked the Elite in the face one last time, sending him off the elevator platform to the buried masses below. A few seconds in the descent, the grenade went off, and Luthos' headless body joined his brothers, in whatever afterlife their gods decided for them.
John huffed out and coughed some blood, regaining his composure, noticing that the countdown was now to five minutes before VILO went up. He couldn't believe he had come through this incident. He thought he was dead. This achievement suddenly made him feel as though invincible for a moment. Then his task at hand helped him to regain his focus.
"Jeez, Chief, that was real close. You're going to have some amazing stories to tell your grandchildren someday, if we're around that long..."
The elevator platform finally made it to the top. On the standing half of the structure's roof were smoldering Covenant bodies, melted turret emplacements and dead flood. He made his way past the scenery and got onto the energy platform that transported troops and supplies to and from Luthos' ship. He raced inside the Covenant's Kir'dun flagship, to the bridge. After killing off a small skeleton crew, he put Cortana in the control holopanel consoles. The ship lit up and moved with life.
In orbit of the moon base was another Covenant fleet. They began attacking the renegade Kir'dun, all of them unaware with what was happening on the base. Seraph fighters engaged each other in battle, spilling countless amounts of plasma blasts on the others' target. The night was filled bright, blue and white streaks of energy as the Covenant fought each other, some destroying their target's vessels, others just absorbing the energy and displacing it with the shields. A beautiful display of purple and indigo flashes could be seen, as this terrible battle ensued. Each ship's Captain bent on the destruction and death of the other.
Cortana flew the stolen Covenant battle ship past enemy lines and undetected, thanks to the stealth capabilities of the ship. She could hear the rattle of communication between the two sides, cursing each other and yelling orders to their subordinates, all without knowledge of their coming end.
"Better hold onto something there Chief, I'm about to try something." She initiated a sequence of numbers, inputting data of coordinates so that the ship could go into slipstream and go to the nearest UNSC command post.
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to get us home, Chief."
Home, he thought, where was home? Reach was destroyed, and so was the colony world he was born on.
Master Chief felt a tingling feeling throughout his body. His boots became magnetized to the deck, as the lights in the bridge went from the trademark blue and violet to a deep purplish red. Warning sirens pulsed throughout the ship, and then it, with the Chief, vanished in a brilliant deep blue flash of lightning and energized gas. Light mists of blue particles were left behind in place of the battleship.

VILO's internal systems detonated. The moon crumbled inwards, while fire and fiery gasses blew outward. The death of the moon base sucked all ships into it, destroying everything and everyone, on the moon, or in orbit. VILO was destroyed.

2155 Hours, October 2, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
UNSC Destroyer Icarus, location/ en route to rendezvous with
Defense fleet of colony world Lobo-208.

"Okay, Lieutenant Perkins, what's the update from Rear Admiral Davis?"
"Sir, the Covenant has sent in a strike against the Colony world. He believes that there must be some important activity going on, since we're only two thousand light years from Earth. They've positioned themselves in an attack formation, and they're jumping from these coordinates in threes."
Captain Ternopolis looked at the tactical grid on his bridge. He knew that his crew was nervous by the way they moved. Short and choppy gestures, some of them wiped sweat off their faces, others moved with a quickness only seen in a fight or flight kind of situation. The Covenant war machine was narrowing in on Earth. They had inched their way forward, colony system after another. The fall of a major colony research base brought many hopes of the authorities of halting some of the Covenant advance crashing down.
Even with the stolen technology the humans had gained from the renegades who subdued a Covenant cruiser within an asteroid field was still not enough to supplement all ships of the human fleet with even a taste of it. Some ships that were being built had a new network of weaponry, which was a mixture of the MAC cannons they already had and the plasma torpedoes the Covies used. Captain Ternopolis wished he had a ship like that, but the UNSC high command believe in reserving these new ships for the inevitable attack on Earth, that many of them think is coming very soon.
"Lieutenant JG Watkins, this is the Captain. Make sure you have all the missiles and nukes armed. Bridge to Docking bay two."
"-Aye sir-"
"-Docking bay two, what is it Captain? -"
"How's my nuclear armed Longsword coming?"
"-It's ready to go sir, all it needs is a pilot. -"
"Very well. Poseidon will take care of that."
He knew very well that Poseidon was well capable of piloting the small ship and carrying out tactical guidance for the Destroyer at the same time. A new brand of AI was forming. The unique thing about these AIs was they were being created by other AIs. Not only did these computer constructs get smarter with every new situation, but they also tried to have a personality. This was something that Captain Ternopolis didn't appreciate.
"I've started the routine warm up of our MAC cannons sir. Soon they shall feel the wrath of a real god!!"
"Can it, Poseidon, just make sure we get to our rendezvous point, and get me a comm. Connection with the rear admiral."
"Aye sir, will do."
The Destroyer was making its way to the defense formation, 72,000 miles from Lobo-208's orbit. He could now make out the fifty-three ships that were there. He picked out a spot in the formation and ordered his piloting crew to get into it without any fray. On the tactical grid blipped many small crescent shaped formations, sixteen in all, with three ships in each. It was obvious who they were. Seeing them sent chills up his spine. Any seasoned Captain was a Captain who survived one encounter with a Covenant battleship. He survived and overcame two.
"Good evening, Captain Ternopolis. As we speak my AI is uploading the latest from the front. It seems that the Covenant have an idea or know where Earth might be. The UNSC high command has deemed colony worlds Lobo-208, Zarconis and Dubois, as well as Donovan-6 in Troy system as important strategic standpoints between them and Earth. Ships from all over are being called to these places within the week. I plan to release our Longswords once the bastards come within the system. All ships are ordered to start the preliminary process of the Cole protocol, and arming all nuclear weapons they have on board. I hope you the best Captain."
"Aye sir, I the hope for the best sir."
The ship's lights turned red, confirming the status of battle. The Marines onboard began boarding Pelican dropships, preparing to board any enemy vessels for capture.
A blast went off from one of the ships from the fleet. In the distance, a Covenant ship spun on its axis as two hundred missiles hit it. Flames engulfed it, as it spread into a million fragments. Two others released their payloads of plasma torpedoes to the human fleet. The targets released their magnetically charged projectiles and numerous missiles. The plasma melted right through both their hulls, and blew the engine rooms apart, immediately destroying them. The Covenant had gotten smarter, and they knew how to aim, making it even more dangerous than they already were.
The sixteen formations were on the human fleet in no time, and the two sides were attacking the each other immediately. Plasma streaked in the space to the human ships, while nuclear-armed Longswords detonated alongside flashing shields of Covenant battle cruisers. Seraph fighters and Longsword interceptors and attack ships engaged each other, little explosions filling the space between the two parties.
"Hurry up and get us there Poseidon, we need to help out any way we can."
"Sir, I can only get us there as fast as this ship can go while keeping the MAC cannon hot sir."
Just then an alarm went off warning of an incoming attack. A Covenant warship lit up the main view screen with its weapon charging. Captain Ternopolis stared wide-eyed at the beautiful yet deadly metallic creature.
"Well, maybe we can get there faster..."
Poseidon let out the MAC projectile with about three-dozen missiles. The Covenant ship spun once from the MAC cannon's hit. The missiles hit along the side of it, making small flames to start spewing from it. The Destroyer charged another MAC round, but moved into a different position in order to be out of the line of fire from the enemy.
It was too late. The streak of white-hot energy flew straight and true toward the Icarus, hitting it on the ventral part of it, slicing into it numerous decks and almost to the core. The ship's lights flashed on and off from loss of power and the amount of radiation from the blast.
"Poseidon, release the Longsword and destroy that bastard!"
"Already on its way sir."
Three units of Longsword fighters accompanied the payload to the enemy, dodging enemy fighters and engaging them to protect the important weapon. After about five minutes, a white blast filled the screen, and engulfed the Covenant battleship.
"Enemy destroyed sir." A sigh of relief wiped across the Captain's face.
"Good, assess the damage and prepare to get us in fleet formation."
Another alarm sounded. There were two Covenant ships on screen now. One with its weapon charged, the other incoming rapidly. The blood from the Captain left his face. Everyone on the bridge froze in disbelief. On the tactical grid blipped the remaining human force, about 12 ships left. The Covenant still had 27, and 5 inoperable but still flight worthy. Smoldering debris and exploding ships filled the Captain's view screen now, some of the disabled ships tried to get away, only to be destroyed by the Covenant vessels. A final order was given by a Commander; the rear admiral had been killed. Everyone alive and ready to fight was ordered to regroup. White flashes filled the screen, nuclear blasts still going off in the distance. Some Covenant ships exploded, others just flashed in their brilliance and let the attacks roll off their hulls.
"Bring us up and to the port there, Poseidon. Starboard thrusters on full."
The Covenant ship was now within firing range. Captain Ternopolis had taken a very mortal hit already, and didn't know if the ship could handle another. Their belly was now going to be the target of the blast, hoping that it would buy the crew some time to get out.
"Sir, there's a gravitational signature coming from our rear."
"On screen there Lieutenant."
"Aye sir."
Another Covenant ship showed up. The crew stood open mouthed and scared. They knew their end was here.
"Ensign Roberts, have the data logs been destroyed?"
"Yes sir."
"Lieutenant Perkins, have engineering run us up on power."
"Sir that would destroy the ship in a nuclear explosion sir."
"Exactly, might as well go out with a bang people."
The new covenant adversary charged up its weapon, white-blue lights shimmering alongside its hull. The other two continued their course, and the one that had its weapon charged, let fly its plasma torpedo.
"Brace for impact people, here it comes."
The white-hot streak drew closer and closer, inching its way toward the belly of the Icarus. Behind them the third Covenant attacker drew evermore closer, to the point of ramming.
"What the hell are they doing? Everyone, get ready..."
The new attacker flew right over them, and to the front. The gravitational pull was so great that everyone onboard felt a few seconds of weightlessness. The new attacker let fly her charged up plasma. The other's torpedo hit it on the face, activating its shield as it flashed blue and purple. The energy was displaced greatly, since the shield of the new attacker was strong. The attacking Covenant ship was blown to bits by this new mysterious attacker. The other Covenant vessel saw its sister vessel get blown to bits. In bewilderment its plasma torpedo was not fully charged when released, causing it to suck back into its weapon port. The flash of light was green, then indigo then white. It blew itself in half, causing it to float adrift in space ablaze and spilling its crew into vacuum.
"What the...?" Captain Ternopolis could not believe the turn of events. He did not know what to make of this. The Covenant ship turned on its axis toward the Icarus.
Let it end already, he thought. He then heard something that sent silent joy throughout the entire crew.

"Destroyer Icarus, this is Construct Cortana aboard a stolen Covenant Vessel. I have with me important ONI material here."
"-Read you loud and clear there Cortana. Whose captain of the vessel?"
"This is Master Chief Spartan warrior John-117. I have important information, Captain, for the high command in the UNSC."
"We can take anyone if you want Captain, our docking bays are ready."
"-Aye, Cortana. I have a dead ship, and have ordered her abandonment."
"Aye Captain Ternopolis."

It took twenty minutes for the entire crew from the Icarus to board the vessel. The Covenant force had already destroyed all the human ships, and was on their way to glassing Lobo-208. It was a miracle that Master Chief and Cortana hadn't been picked up yet, but they weren't counting on their good luck anymore. They needed to get out of there and warn the UNSC about the fact that the Covenant had found Earth. Cortana punched in a few coordinates, and the ship's lights dimmed to a deep purplish red. The new, human inhabitants felt chills as they were sucked to the decks. A tingling feeling ran through all their veins, as the ship sped forward.
"Well, Chief, what have you got to say now? We've defeated and outwitted another Covenant fleet, and you've also completed the objective you set out for over a month ago."
She was right, but all he could think about was his Spartans, how he had been with them and all in one moment, had lost them again. But there was one thing that now could at least let a glimmer of hope shine from.
"We're going home."

The Long Ride Home by Joshua Barreto