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Halo 4
Forerunner
By: Phillips
The sequel to Halo 3


Chapter One
May 3, 2552; 0900 hrs
Unknown position
Rear portion of UNSC Vessel Forward Unto Dawn
Drifting though space

Spartan John 117, Master Chief, woke to Cortana's alarm stricken voice booming through the speakers in his MJOLNIR armor. "Chief….Chief….you need to take a look at this!" Chief pulled himself up out of his cryo tube and went to the opening of the cargo bay where he was awarded with a site almost as alarming as when he first meet with the flood on the first halo ring. Surrounding the "Forward Unto Dawn", A UNSC Frigate, were 30 plus ships, not human nor covenant. He ran back to the holo panel where Cortana's purple holographic image was displayed. "Who are they?" he asked. "Who are they? He impatiently screamed at Cortana. "I don't know." She replied. "I don't know but they don't appear to be hostile though." "For the moment they have stopped scanning the ship too." "Wait, hold on, new contact" "boarding craft, there heading right for us." Cortana warned. "I'd suggest you go and get your assault rifle re….." She started to advise but the Master Chief had already a picked his rifle up. He was already standing in the opening of the cargo bay when the ship shook. "You better get ready to show them who's in charge." Cortana said.

John dropped the clip out of his MA5B assault rifle to visually insure he had a full clip. He didn't like to rely only on his HUD's ammo counter when he didn't have to. "It was always best to be check visually", CPO Mendez had once told him and his fellow Spartans when they were training years back, "equipment breaks, eyes don't. Satisfied that it was full he moved into the hallway next to the cargo bay. The unknown troops had to enter though there if they were to get to the cargo bay. A series of dull thuds then echoed though the interior of the ship. "The boarders have cut though two doors and are heading for the last one before they are in your hall." Remarked Cortana. "Thirty Seconds…………twenty……….ten……….NOW! Chief shouldered his rifle and waited for the contacts to move in. As soon as the first creature entered the room he ran up to it and grabbed it to use as a shield. Then he noticed something…..something strange. The 20 armor suited aliens sat down there weapons. "What are they doing?" he asked Cortana. "It appears they are trying to show that they come in peace and mean no harm." She replied. "Try easing your grip and see what they do." Master Chief eased his grip on the alien and it slowly walked back toward the others. The aliens then exchanged some words between each other before turning to the chief and motioning for him to follow them. He started to follow when he Cortana's voice came on in his helmet. "You forget someone." She said sarcastically. "You know I wouldn't do that." He replied. Motioning for the aliens to stop and wait he went back to retrieve Cortana. He placed his hand on the holo pad and felt a well known cooling sensation flow into his mind. "Still spacey in here." Remarked Cortana but the Chief ignored the comment and left the cargo bay to catch up with the aliens. They were waiting right where he left them. From there he followed them through two more doors and into a large round boarding craft with thirty seats and instruction signs written in…….ENGLISH!







Chapter Two
May 3, 2553; 0900hrs.
Alpha Phoenix star system
Aboard an AB7F8 boarding craft
Moving toward Forward Unto Dawn

General Zahaw Hazzie looked around the large round boarding craft at his fellow comrades. They were in route to a highly damaged alien ship drifting toward their planet. His only intel was that their ships scanners only picked up one contact inside. There was no way of knowing what was going to happen. They had no idea if the contact a hostile or not, but they had orders directly for the President of Aerobe, the largest and most powerful nation on their home planet of Persephone, not to fire no matter what. If the contact fired upon them they were to retreat back to the Cruiser, "Haleakala", where the captain would decide whether to fire on the ship or tow it to the surface and deal with the threat later. If the contact was friendly they were to bring him back to the "Haleakala" where they would try to communicate with it. "Ten seconds to impact." Said the boarding crafts pilot, "Brace!" The craft collided with the ship with a satisfying thud, indicating that the craft was locked on. The cutting crew then got to work cutting though the hull of the ship. "One minute." Yelled the chief engineer. Hazzie took the moment to check his equipment. His MC7K assault rifle had a full clip of high velocity rounds, though not any good for this mission, he still like to be sure. He popped the clip back in his rifle just as the engineers finished cutting. He was the first to leave the boarding craft and he gave the all clear sign for the rest of his team to move in. The engineers moved up to the next door cut through it while the soldiers looked for anything to take back with them. The engineers cut though the door and the soldiers moved through and cleared the room. The door in this room was partly open and the engineers pried it open the rest of the way. The next room was clear but the contact appeared to be on the other side of the wall. Hazzie ordered his soldiers to shoulder their rifles but not to fire. Then he ordered the engineers up to the door to start the cut. Hazzie couldn't stand having to risk his life and the lives of his men by not being able to return fire. He had never been this scarred in his life. The engineers had just finished the cut when the two meter tall metallic green figure raced up and grabbed one of the engineers. The figure looked more machine then like a living creature. True to his orders Hazzie ordered his men to drop their weapons and bow to the alien in hopes it would release the engineer and follow them back to "the Haleakala". Just as he hoped the strange green alien released the engineer and looked at Hazzie and his men waiting to see what they would do next. Hazzie ordered his men to stand and he motioned for the alien to follow them. Seeing that the he understood their motion they started back for the boarding craft when the alien motioned them to stop and wait. The alien disappeared then returned a short time later. Hazzie had no idea what the alien went back to get because to him he didn't see anything different. Wasting no more time they headed back toward the boarding craft where the alien froze then boarded the craft.




Chapter Three
May 3, 2553; 0900hrs.
Alpha Phoenix star system
Aboard an AB7F8 boarding craft
Moving toward alien Cruiser "Haleakala"

Master Chief was completely surprised that the aliens had signs in English and Cortana didn't know what to do either. The aliens took a seat in the chairs and the ones he assigned the tag of engineer disconnected the boarding craft from "Forward Unto Dawn". It took a full 5 minutes for them to undo the lock. When the craft was free the "pilot" turned it around and headed back toward to the alien cruiser. Chief looked around and designated the alien in the seat directly across from him as the leader of this group of aliens. "Something strange is going on here" Cortana said into the chief helmet's speakers. "How do aliens, in an unknown star system, speak English?" "Maybe we should ask them when we get to their ship." Replied the Chief. Looking around the craft looked like it could be refitted to carry an array of equipment from thirty Orbit Drop Shock Troopers to one scorpion main battle tank. All 20 of the armored aliens sat staring at him in shock and awe. "Apparently they haven't seen anything like you before" Remarked Cortana. "but most of our own marines haven't even seen a Spartan before either." "Cortana, how large is the alien ship we're approaching?" the Chief asked. "It is about 1782 meters long, roughly the size of a covenant battle cruiser" She replied. "and from what I can get out of their battle network we are heading toward a cruiser called "Haleakala" but the rest of the network is scrambled with chatter about what to do with "Forward Unto Dawn". "Weapons?" Asked chief. "They've got eight 50mm. chain guns, four on each side, and 4 large Plasma Cannon like weapons at the stern of the ship." Replied Cortana.

"One minute till dock" called the pilot over the team COM channel. Hazzie were all still to awe struck and terrified at the same time to notice though. They had never seen anything like the alien before. Its green armor shined bright in the light of the boarding craft. It had a slight shimmer of what Hazzie thought to be some sort of shielding. The strange alien looked around as if he had never seen anything like the ship before. "Ten seconds." Hazzie called over the COM channel and signaled to the alien. Then the airlocks engaged with a hiss and the signal light came on indicating that they could safety come aboard.

The alien that that John designated as the leader of the group was apparently signaling him trying indicating that there were ten seconds before they docked. He heard a hiss and a signal light came on apparently signaling for the aliens and him to exit the craft and board the cruiser. When the aliens got onboard the cruiser they were surrounded by teams of robots who took off there armor. To the chiefs surprise they strange aliens looked almost human.

Chief immediately started feeling wobbly and started to run into things when six of the human like aliens ran up to him and helped him sit down. The aliens then started to take his MJOLNIR armor off when they quickly jumped back like they had been hurt. "What happened?" Chief asked Cortana. "I thought they were trying to hurt you so I shocked them." She replied. "It probably would be a lot easier to get in touch with them if you don't do that." Chief replied back. He then motioned for the aliens to start taking off his armor again then just as they had done the first time they ran up to him and started taking off his armor. They required very little help in taking off the armor but still required some help moving them around. After the aliens got his armor off and got a look at him they had surprised looks race across their faces. Master Chief then decided to try to communicate. "I mean no harm." He said. Then the alien faces went from partly surprised to scared.

Hazzie signaled the alien, then his own men to leave the craft and board the Haleakala". They all stood up and exited. When they got off several two foot tall robots swarmed around them and started taking off there armor. After they all had their armor off they looked at the alien and he seemed to be very confused because he was wobbling around and running into things. Immediately Hazzie ordered his men to help the alien sit down and start taking off its armor. Five of his men ran up to the alien and sat it down in a steel chair. When his team started to take off the armor a sudden shock jolted them. The alien acted surprised that they moved away and then after a few minutes signaled for them to come and take off its armor again. The same six men ran up to the alien and started taking off the armor. The alien helped them take off the armor and move it around. When they got off all the armor they looked at him and couldn't believe what they saw. This alien looked almost just like them. The only difference was his size. This alien was huge. Hazzie was the first to get past this, but nothing could have prepared him for what happened next. Out of no where the alien spoke in English, "I mean no harm."










Chapter Four
May 3, 2553; 1000hrs.
Alpha Phoenix star system
Aboard Aerobe Cruiser "Haleakala"
In orbit around Persephone


Master Chief and General Hazzie were walking toward the bridge of the "Haleakala" when the ship violently shook. "Pressure Hull breached on deck 1-5" boomed a voice over the ships intercom. "Get a containment crew down there now!" Hazzie started running and yelled to the chief "come on, we need to get to the bridge ASAP." Master Chief started into a run following General Hazzie. They ran though thirty large rooms and up six flights of stairs before reaching a door marked control. Hazzie entered a seven digit security code before the door opened. Inside the walls were covered with monitors showing views from security cameras inside the ship and navigation cameras on the outside. Straight ahead in the center of the room was the largest of the monitors that showed a planet twice the size of Earth. "Where are we?" Chief asked Hazzie. "No time for that now." Called the captain Yaw. "What hit us, who did it?" Demanded Hazzie. "Unknown, we've never seen anyone like them." "Come and take a look at this." Hazzie told the chief. "Do you know who this is?" "COVENANT" Chief replied. "It's a Covenant Capital ship. They must have followed me." "Followed you from where?" Yelled Hazzie. "The Ark" Replied Chief. "I'll explain later." "Fire half your weapons at the ship to knock out their shields," Recommended Master Chief. "Then you can hurt them."
Immediately following these recommendation two dull thuds echoed though the ship. "ETA on impact with enemy ship…..ten seconds." "Red glow generating around enemy ship" yelled out Yaw. "What do you recommend we do?" Hazzie asked Chief. "Take evasive action on my mark. 3, 2, 1…..mark." The Haleakala rolled to the right just as the covenant ship fired its plasma weapons. The weapons streaked past, missing the "Haleakala" by half a km. "They won't make the same mistake twice" yelled John. "Fire remaining weapons." "Firing" yelled the weapons officer. "First salvo impact…..now." Hazzie said over the intercom. The front view screen had changed from the planet to the enemy ship. The shields on the ships flickered and went out. Five seconds later the second salvo impacted the ship ripping though its midsection, but not before another plasma shot was fired. The captain of the "Haleakala" rolled the ship again but the plasma followed and impacted the ship on the mid decks. "Desks 6-10…….GONE!" cried the captain. "What was that?" Hazzie asked. "A plasma shell" Replied chief. "One hit can burn though a ship." "Weapons ready to fire" said the weapons officer. "FIRE" yelled Master Chief. The ship shook again as all weapons fired at the Covenant ship. Seconds later the Capitol ship ceased to exist. "All desks damage report." Captain Yaw yelled. "Decks 1-5: Hull breach contained. Decks 6-10: Gone. Decks 11-20 report minimal damage." A voice called over the intercom. "Boarding Craft inbound, ETA five minutes. "Permission to leave the bridge and get back to my armor?" asked chief. "Permission Granted." Replied Captain Yaw. The Chief left the bridge and ran back down the flights of stairs until he was back at the room where he first entered the ship. The small robot immediately surrounded him and started installing his armor. They had just completed installing the armor when Captain Yaw's voice boomed on the intercom, "Prepare to be boarded." The ship shook as the first craft made contact with the bay the chief was in. Master Chief shouldered his weapon and waited for the aliens to come out. First out were a group of Grunts that didn't see him.
Next out were two Brutes and a Jackel. John opened fire on the first of the Brutes and took him out before it had a chance to fire. The Grunts started running and shooting at anything they saw which happened to be each other. Master Chief then aimed for the second Brute just as it started to charge but without pulling the trigger on his rifle the Brute and the Jackel fell along with the only remaining Grunt. Chief looked around and was rewarded with seeing twenty UPDN troopers. "Thanks" said Master Chief. The troopers all nodded in acknowledgement. Master Chief and his new squad fought though the next six compartments killing another Brute, twelve Grunts, and six Jackels. In the seventh compartment though were two Hunters. The group of twenty-one men started walking into the seventh compartment not knowing what was in there. The first five men had entered before the first Hunter fired its fuel rod gun disintegrated the men. Chief and the remaining fifteen men fell back into the sixth compartment. "Fire low, and in small burst." Yelled Master Chief. The UPDN troops each though grenades into the next room. The grenades detonated in succession. As Master Chief looked into the room he saw one of the Hunters fall to its knees and die. The remaining Hunter screamed at the loss of his brother and charged at the group. All sixteen of the soldiers opened fire on the Hunter. Five meters from them the Hunter fell to its knees and died. After an hour of intense fighting Master Chief's group made it to the bridge but at a high cost, thirteen of the twenty-one that started had been killed. The Chief and his group held off the boarders from the bridge while the battle below raged on for three more hours then all the firing stopped until one last Brute raced up the stairs. The alien took hundreds of hits all over its body but kept running. It overran the troops at the door and ran for the Master Chief. It sailed through the air and tackled him but as the alien hit him Chief drew his pistol and fired one shot. This shot went right into the Brutes spine, paralyzing it. Master Chief stood up and aimed for the Brutes head and fired. It was the last thing the Brute ever saw. "All boarders neutralized." A voice stated over the intercom. "Status?" Asked Yaw. "Two hundred dead one hundred fifty wounded." The voice said. Enemy casualties estimated at one thousand.

Kerokee Zerrabee, a Covenant Brute, braced as his craft connected with the enemy ship. His boarding craft was the eighth craft to make contact with the ship. The Grunts were the first to exit to clear the room for him. His mission was to kill the green demon that had destroyed two of the halo rings and killed the prophets. This demon was responsible for more then three thousand deaths of his kind. After the Grunts cleared the room he exited the craft and began his search. He left the room and met up with a small resistance group. He neutralized three of the six enemies before the others ran fell back. He and his group of four Grunts, six Jackels, and one other Brute fought though the enemy ship for over an hour. They had just neutralized a group of two enemies when one of the other boarding groups mentioned that the "Demon" was in what the humans and new found aliens referred to as the "Bridge". His group was within two compartments of the demon and he couldn't wait to kill him. Hastily he made the decision to charge the "Bridge". He sent the Grunts up ahead into the next compartment and watched as they were obliterated by enemy fire. He then saw how many of his brothers had been killed here. Enraged that the demon had killed over fifty of his brothers, he charged ahead running up the stairs taking hits and still charging. He made it up through the stair well and was tackling the demon when he got shot and felt his legs go numb. The Demon had shot him in the chest with a high powered pistol. The demon rolled out from under Zerrabee then stood up and aimed the pistol in his face and fired. Zerrabee prepared for the impact of the projectile. The last thing he ever saw was the barrel of the demon weapon in his face.

Chapter Five
May 4, 2553; 0800hrs.
Alpha Phoenix star system
Aboard Aerobe Cruiser "Haleakala"
Landing at UPDN naval base

"Cortana? You haven't said anything for a while. Is something wrong?" Chief said. "No, I'm…….I'm fine…..I just can't believe that we've found another alien race or that a Covenant Capitol ship escaped from Installation 00. I thought all Covenant were wiped out along with the flood. If that ship escaped who knows if any others escaped. What if the some of the Flood escaped to?" Cortana stated. "If anyone else escaped they probably followed us to, but we'll deal with that problem later." Replied Master Chief. "For now we just need to find out where we are." A short time later Hazzie walked up to Chief and asked "What do you need to know?" The chief replied sternly asking "Where are we?" "We're at the middle of the Alpha Phoenix star system and that planet you saw earlier was Persephone or home world" "It is one of one thousand planets under our control" Hazzie replied. "Your control?" Asked chief. "United Planetary Defense Network or UPDN for short." Hazzie snapped back. "We control space out to two thousand light years out." "Now it's my turn." Said Hazzie. "Who are you?" Master Chief thought about if he should answer truthfully then decided it would be best to tell the truth. "I'm Master Chief, Spartan 117 John. I work for the United Nations Space Command, UNSC. I'm from planet Earth."
"Earth? Where's Earth?" Replied Hazzie. "Earth is my home world. It's near the Eridanus star system. You ever heard of it?" Said Master Chief. Hazzie replied: "No, never, but how do you know about our Ark and Halo Rings?" "Your Rings?" Yelled Master Chief.
"Your a Forerunner!" Yelled Master Chief running up to Hazzie shoving his pistol in his face. "If you a forerunner then why are you still alive" Chief replied as he put away his pistol. Thankful that Master Chief put away the gun Hazzie replied: "Thousands of Years ago we sent armies out far away from here to build the rings to contain the flood. Before the rings were fired some of us managed to enter some of our shield installations. We built the rings to contain the flood and if need be destroy it. Centuries ago we abandoned that region on space to avoid the flood but a small team was sent in to fire the rings and try to rid us of the parasite but they failed to fire the rings. We abandoned the region and hoped for the best. So why were you fighting the Covenant?" asked Hazzie. "For the same reason that you fired on them, only worse. The glassed several of Earth's colonies killing millions of my people. For years after that we fought the them off."
Just as Hazzie finished his sentence the Aerobe Cruiser touched down on the landing pad. Hazzie walked Master Chief to the exit of the ship. Along the way they passed piles of Covenant Bodies.
Outside on the surface of Persephone looked exactly like Earth. "Atmosphere is equal to that of Earth." Said Cortana.
Seconds later six Covenant Cruisers appeared out of pinpoint slip space jumps. And almost immediately began firing on the surrounding forerunner ships. "We need to get up there and board one of those ships. They may be able to help us get you home." Yelled Hazzie as he ran toward the Haleakala with Chief right on his heels.






Chapter Six
May 4, 2553; 0900hrs.
Alpha Phoenix star system
Forerunner Controlled Space
Space around Persephone

From the Bridge of the Haleakala Master Chief could see two destroyed Covenant ships and eight destroyed Forerunner ships. The Covenant were largely outnumbered at least ten to one, but were still racking up immense casualties. "Five minutes before intercept." Called out the forerunner AI. Hazzie and Master Chief along with one hundred other soldiers were going to board the largest other the Covenant ships and attempt to take control of it. They hoped to either find the coordinates for Earth or the Coordinates for the Covenant home world. In the two days since he had arrived and the Forerunners had declared war on the Covenant vowing to avenge their fallen comrades. "Two minutes," called the AI "You need to get to boarding craft twelve." Boarding craft twelve was the first of two boarding craft each with fifty soldiers preparing to leave the ship. Master Chief and Hazzie then run the rest of the four hundred meters to their boarding craft were fifty of their team members were already waiting. They each had a MC7K along with a high caliber M12 Pistol. Master Chief pick up his new rifle and pistol along with three spike grenades, and two frag grenades. "Prepare to leave." Hazzie called out. Master Chief sat down right as the craft disengaged from the Haleakala. Plasma torpedoes raced paced the two crafts as they raced toward the Covenant Cruiser that the Haleakala onboard AI had designated as the "Hassayampa". This ship had appeared to be in control of the remaining four Covenant Cruisers and was the only one with its shield knocked out permanently.
"Boarding Craft inbound." The Hassayampa's AI announced. "Impact in twenty seconds. They are to close to fire on without endangering the ship." "Send Hunt and Kill teams down to the lower decks to intercept the infidels," Ordered Captain Aadila, the Brute leader of the remaining Covenant forces. "but bring the demon to me." Aadila vowed to avenge all of his fallen brothers that the demon had killed.

"Impact in five, four, three, two, one……NOW!" Called out Hazzie. The boarding craft had just attached itself to the Covenant ship when the six engineers ran up to the door opened it and started cutting their way into the ship. Sixty seconds past before the engineers were able to cut though the ship's hull. As the 8 foot diameter section of alien alloy fell into the Hassayampa enemy fire started raining into the craft. Immediately ten of the soldiers were impaled by pink shards from an enemy needler which exploded after impact sending each of the soldiers into untold pain before finally killing them. Master Chief stepped into the line of fire letting his shields hits while the forerunners got out into the Cruiser to cover. A warning siren blared in his suits helmet as he step out into cover. He behind a wall for his shields to recharge before he stepped out and took aim at the three closest Jackels but before he could fire he was blown on his back by a plasma grenade. He hit the wall behind him with enough force to dent the two meter thick metal alloy. Three forerunner soldiers fought their way over to him. "Chief………you alright?" Asked Lieutenant Brozich. "That blast would have killed anyone else but he can take it." Yelled the second soldier before the Chief could answer. Master Chief painstakingly stood up and began fighting again. He crouched and looked over a crate, took aim at a cluster of Grunts and fired two short bursts. The rounds impacted six of the Grunts bursting their methane tanks causing them to suffocate. Chief then turned to face his team as the ship shook. The second boarding craft had arrived. "Sixty seconds till they can get though," yelled Hazzie. "Cover them."
The group moved over around where the other craft was attached, careful not to get in the way of the falling section of metal. As the eight foot section of metal fell away Master Chief looked over his cover. There were eight Brutes, twelve Jackels, and five remaining Grunts. The Jackels had their personal shields overlapping each other and were followed by the Brutes and Grunts. "Throw grenades over their shields." Yelled Chief. He and six of the Forerunner soldiers each lobbed grenades. They sailed though the air but were intercepted by half of the Jackels raising their shields up. This action left spaces in between the shields which Hazzie immediately took advantage of by ordering his men to fire in the gaps. Ten seconds of solid automatic fire followed the order along with three Brutes, two Jackels, and all five Grunts falling down dead. The remaining Jackels shields failed and the Jackels scattered behind cover leaving the Brutes out in the open. Master Chief and the Forerunners opened fire on the Brutes instantly killing three more. The last three Brutes became enraged and charged the team. Hazzie aimed at the closest alien's head with his pistol and fired one shot killing it. As the massive alien died it fell forward pinning Hazzie down under it. The other two aliens had made it to the group and were taking large amount of fire. They had already crushed three unlucky soldiers under their massive weight before one of them fell and died. The second one ran up and picked up the closest two soldiers pinning them up against the wall. The soldiers legs flailed for a moment then ceased as they realized that it wasn't doing any good. Both soldiers simultaneously pulled out their pistols and fired one blind shot each into their attacker. The alien dropped both soldiers and fell down backwards dead. Master Chief through a grenade toward the cluster of Jackels hiding behind a crate. The Jackels scattered but the frag grenade overtook them. Now only two Jackels were left. Both had fixed their energy shields but were no match for the group of eighty-seven Forerunners and Master Chief.
Chapter Seven
May 4, 2553; 1000hrs.
Alpha Phoenix star system
Forerunner Controlled Space.
Aboard Covenant Cruiser Hassayampa

"Regroup!" Yelled Hazzie. All the soldiers ran to Hazzie's position. During the battle thirteen soldiers had been killed. Ten when they first landed and three during the firefight leaving them with eighty-seven soldiers. Compared to thirty one Covenant deaths. "We need to find an access port so I can take control of this ship. You'll still need to get to the bridge to give me navigation controls but I can take stop the ship from firing from any access." Said Cortana. "We'll find one." Replied Chief. Hazzie divided the group into three groups. One group lead by Hazzie, one headed by Master Chief, and one lead by Lieutenant Brozich. Brozich lead his team of up the middle corridor, Hazzie down the left maintenance tunnel, and Mast Chief down the right corridor. "To your right Chief. An access port. Place me in and I can direct you to the bridge." Said Cortana. Master Chief looked to the right, found the access port and pulled Cortana.

"To your right Chief. An access port. Place me in and I can direct you to the bridge." Seconds later Chief pulled her and placed her into the access port. Information streamed through her. She immediately silenced all communications in and out of the ship. Although all the other ships were bound to already know about their presence. She placed her own encryption codes into the system to keep a Covenant presence in the system held back. She wasn't about to let a Covenant AI attack her again as she had on the Ascendant Justice. "Go down forward through five compartments and down five decks." She said into the Chief's Helmet speakers. As she watched Chief as his group ran through the hallway she detected enemy movement in Hazzie's hallway. Immediately she sent a warning message through a private COM link. "Enemy presence in upcoming passage." She said but feared she was too late because she heard automatic fire and screams as plasma shots hit soldiers. "We're under heavy fire Cortana. Is there anyway around this Corridor?" Asked Hazzie. "Negative," replied Cortana. "Lieutenant Brozich can be there to help in three minutes though." "Roger." Yelled Hazzie. Cortana switched her attention over to the middle corridor cameras and opened a COM channel with Brozich. "General Hazzie requires assistance," said Cortana. "proceed back down your corridor and enter the maintenance tunnel and down two hundred meters." "On the way." Replied Brozich. She then turned her attention to the Chief and his team again. They had engaged in several small fire fights since she left them minutes ago. "Turn left in one hundred meters and go down two more decks and you should be at the doors to the bridge. Only there is very minimal resistance, like there's nothing down here to protect. Just a small bridge crew of two Brutes and three Jackels. No other Contacts." She said.
"This ship isn't any better crewed then the Ascendant Justice back at the first Halo Ring. In fact its crew is smaller. There are twenty Brutes, six Jackels, and fifty Grunts left. That's barely enough crew to operate a small ship let alone a vessel of this size. There are also twelve engineers and no escape pods left. Apparently the majority of the crew either died and were ejected from the ship or abandoned ship."

"We're there," said Master Chief. "Open the doors Cortana. "Over ride initiated." Cortana replied. The doors slid open and the whole team opened fire on the bridge crew. Master Chief and the others opened fire on the small crew taking out one of the brutes and all three Jackels before they could activate their shields. The other Brute lobbed two plasma grenades which fell short of their target and landed in between Master Chief and the Brute. Most of the Forerunners had scattered in the halls when the grenades were thrown, leaving John and six marines to fight the Brute. The Brute went berserk and charged the team who opened fire knocking the Brute to its knees where it died.

Aadila and his small bridge crew of one other Brute and three Jackels went around the control room to the various monitors trying to locate the intruders which the first hunt and kill teams failed to take out and defend the ship from the surrounding enemy craft. Most of his ships crew abandoned the ship when they learned that the prophets had been killed, which lead them to the death because they had nowhere to run but also left the Hassayampa short handed. He was only able to send out six different kill teams, three of which had already been decimated by the infidels, the rest had just been ordered to return to the bridge to help defend it in the event that the aliens were able to locate it but shortly after the order was sent out they lost contact with one more team. He wasn't sure if the team was going to radio silence or if they to had been destroyed. "Contact." Screeched one of the Jackels just as the door to the Control room opened and a hail of bullets rained into the room. The trio of Jackels and his fellow brute went down in an instant. Immediately he knew he had lost but he through two plasma grenades halfheartedly toward the enemy. The grenades hit the floor half way to their targets and exploded. He then swallowed his pride and charged the enemy. He made only about twenty feet before he was gunned down. Aadila fell to his knees right where he stood and died.





Chapter Eight
May 4, 2553; 1300hrs.
Alpha Phoenix star system
Forerunner Controlled Space
Aboard Covenant Cruiser Hassayampa's Bridge.

Master Chief and his team were busy securing the bridge as Hazzie and Lieutenant Brozich searched the ship for any remaining Covenant forces. "Cortana, status of the fleet." Chief asked. "All Covenant ships neutralized, but at a high cost to the Forerunners. They lost approximately twenty-five ships during the battle." Cortana replied. "Hazzie's and Brozich's teams have cleared ninety percent of the ship and have neutralized all but three Brutes, and ten Grunts." "Any information on Earth or the location of the Covenant home world?" Asked Chief. "Yes and No. There aren't any coordinates for Earth but I do have so coordinates for a section of Covenant controlled space. I don't know what the coordinates are for but it might be worth investigating. With the Covenant slip space generators it should take about five days to get there." Cortana replied. "We'll talk with the Forerunners later about that possibility, but for now we need to get back down to the surface and get some explanations." Said Master Chief. Minutes later Cortana notified him that Lieutenant Brozich and General Hazzie had clear the ship of all known Covenant forces and were in route to the bridge. They had suffered twenty casualties in the fight, thirty-three since they boarded. "Hazzie, status update." Asked Chief. "Remaining enemy forces pinned in bunk room. Attempting to open the doors now." He replied. "All Engineers are rounded up on C-deck," said Cortana. "Hazzie and Brozich report all threats neutralized and are returning here to receive further orders "Have Hazzie to post half of his team in the engine room and bring the others here." Replied chief. "On it." Cortana said.

Hazzie and Brozich had just met up with each other after clearing the engine room by chased the Covenant forces into a small bunk room just off the armory. It was imperative that the enemy forces not make it to the armory or it would be nearly impossible to win this battle. The engineers from the boarding craft had hauled one of the plasma cutters down and were in process of cutting through the meter thick door when instead of falling out the locks released and ten grunts ran out of the bunk room. All of these Grunts were immediately gunned down. Five seconds later three high velocity grenades impacted the nearby wall just outside of the door followed by three Brutes who took aim and fired on the Forerunner Forces. Their high velocity grenades missing the group by a matter of feet. Hazzie and Brozich's groups fired on the Brutes. Each Brute had taken approximately over one hundred rounds each but seemed to not have noticed the wounds. All three Brutes became enraged and charged on the team. Out of nowhere three rounds impacted the Brutes in their heads, killing them. "Cortana, All threats neutralized. Returning to the bridge to regroup." Brozich said over the COM. The team started to head back toward the control room when Hazzie started to wonder why none of the soldiers claimed responsibility. "All Stop. Who was that?" Asked Hazzie but no one answered. "NOW! Whoever shot those Brutes report!" He yelled in annoyance. "None of us shot." Replied private first class Char Tom. "Then who did?" Hazzie replied mockingly. "Him." Was the only reply. As Hazzie turned and started to ask who "him" was he saw a figure standing almost a meter taller then Master Chief. A single Elite, stripped of his armor wielding a Covenant Carbine.

Hazzie and Brozich sat trying to decide what to do with this new contact while the team sat and watched in awe. "Should we warn the Chief and escort this creature there or should we just lock it up?" Brozich asked Hazzie. "Personally I don't like this thing but it seems friendly" Hazzie hailed the bridge over the COM to see what he was sup post to do with the creature.
"We've found a……..well………I don't exactly know what he is but it's not like the rest of the aliens. He actually helped us and now it wants to see you. What do you want to do?"
"Bring him up, but keep an eye on him."






Chapter Nine
May 4, 2553; 1500hrs.
Alpha Phoenix star system
Forerunner Controlled Space
Aboard Covenant Cruiser Hassayampa's Bridge.

The doors of the Bridge parted and standing their was an Elite and Hazzie and Brozich's Team. "Are you the leader of these forces?" Asked Quen' Phitemee. "Yes, I'm Spartan 117, John of the United Nations Space Command. Who are you?" "I'm Quen' Phitemee, former Imperial Guard of the Covenant. I only wish to aid you."

"We will rebuild, we will survive, but we will not rest until we know the truth about the chief and our lost comrades." The crowd rose up in approval and support for Lord Hood's war speech and his plan to rescue and return any and all UNSC forces to their homes no matter the costs with Earth being the base of command again. The first step to this plan was to locate and return John to Earth. "We have 200 ships dedicated to this task. The first battle group leaves in twenty-four hours." Was the last thing Hood said before exiting the room.

Two days later a dozen ships, under command of Captain Darren Jacobs aboard the groups command ship prowler Point of No Return, were well on their way toward the outer reaches of the remaining human controlled space. They had exited slip space any hour earlier to check for new orders and were re-entering when a large unusual void opened in front of the group engulfing them. The ships were been stuck in the void for nearly four hours, with no indication of when or if they would get out of it, when they unexpectedly exited and were immediately hailed from another human battle group waiting for them or at least they looked human but the ships were constructed in a fashion that Jacobs had never seen before. They looked smooth like Covenant ships but had the structure of a human ship. Point of No Returns new AI, Osen, sent a response and immediately received a response to prepare for a friendly boarding crew.

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