It is the year AD 2557. For more than three decades, the Human race engaged in a state of total war with the alien Covenant. The first sixteen years of warfare saw Humanity pushed to the brink, their technological and martial prowess outmatched by the Covenant's. Hundreds of Human Outer Colonies were glassed in those dark decades. The tides eventually changed with the discovery of the Mars Archive in 2541, occurring entirely by accident. The hybridization of Mass Effect and homegrown technologies was the largest scientific endeavor of the decade. The UNSC's fleets, under the leadership of Admiral Cole, earned their first true victories in the coming years, leading to the capture of several Covenant starships. In those years, the distinction between the UNSC and the Human race disappeared, with the UEG dismantled. Mankind would be fully committed to survival and victory in this genocidal war.

Mass Relays leading far away from the Covenant advance were mapped, with Humanity gaining a refuge, a Haven, from the alien horde. Taking inspiration partly from the Soviet Union's actions during the Second World War, Humanity began a mass evacuation of the remaining Outer Colonies and whatever industry remained there to the new Haven Sector. The abandoned Outer Colonies were then turned into fortresses to delay the Covenant forces.

Prowlers then probed the systems thought to have a Covenant presence, deploying NOVA bombs whenever feasible.

Eleven billion Humans and nine billion Covenant aliens have died in the brutal and bloody conflict, with the death toll all but guaranteed to climb higher.

Now, sixteen years after Humanity began pushing back, the battlefront has solidified. A tense stalemate exists, with Covenant fleets being brought to the front, and Human fleets being churned out as fast as humanly possible. Skirmishes on the militarized Outer Colonies, now renamed the Fortress Holdouts, constantly remind the Human race that the war is not over- not by a long shot.

In search of new avenues of attack, and to showcase the worthiness of the Jiralhanae Brutes, the Covenant's new Scout Fleet, under Brute control, are deployed. At the same time, the UNSC Prowler Sargasso is deployed to investigate a Mass Relay near the frontlines, dangerously close to the suspected location of the Covenant fleet bases.

It's an all around powder keg, and the puniest lighted splint is all that is needed to set it off.

Continued AN: It's short, but that's because this technically isn't really a first chapter, more of a teaser. Leave a review if you want, follow if you desire, and favorite if you like it. Now, I'd like to point out that is IS NOT 'The Reclaimer Effect.' I'm aiming for something different, and hopefully something that you guys will enjoy. I'd also like to point out that this is AU. Very, very AU. Halo actually didn't happen, so there's going to be no Forerunner influences for the foreseeable future.

Like 'The Reclaimer Effect', I won't be posting the Timeline on this fic or do an infodump. There will be a Codex/Encyclopedia for that.