Hey all, woo! Here we go, the start of the Halo 4 storyline! This is the one i've been most excited about, and I have big plans for it. In fact, I wrote the first 2 just to get to this point!

In any event, a minor warning. I will be changing certain details of both Metroid and Halo, as well as the overall storyline. Minor details. This is just to make the crossover make more sense, since the two universes really arnt that comparable when you think about it. You have been warned.

Alright, enough out of me, lets jump into the next story in this timeline!

Chapter 1 – Vacations over

Green. All around her was nothing but green, vast trees and vegetation as far as the eye could see. In fact, the entire planet was nothing more than a huge forest now. With the exception of where she stood now.

Samus Aran stared into the distance, eyeing the alien vista, and sighed. She looked up into the gray, cloudy sky and closed her eyes, feeling the faint drops of rain land on her face. The rain was cool, causing her to shiver, as did the sensation of feeling the droplets fall down her cheeks. Her hair was damp, but that didn't matter. She took a deep breath, then turned her head to look over her shoulder, examining the statues that sat silent behind her.

The statues were worn, not surviving the test of time well, but Samus could recognize them all the same. The large stones were in the shape of birds, or rather, an ancient race of bird like people. The Chozo. She looked beyond the statues, to the rest of the temple she now stood on. The temple itself seemed like it was suspended in the air, save for a small land bridge. The walls were covered in ancient markings, texts lost to time. They told of a time when the Chozo battled against a terrible evil, of how they fought with all their might but lost. They told of a warrior, prophesized to rise up and defeat the evil, which the Chozo had locked away below. A warrior who was not Chozo, and yet was. A warrior in Orange armor.

She sighed, as she had several times since coming to Talon Four. She had hoped that perhaps she might find some guidance, something to at least direct her. But no, all that remained of her once powerful mentor race was nothing more than hollow memories and ghosts of her past.

She peered over the edge she stood on, staring down into the massive crater beneath the temple, an eyesore compared to the greenery around it. The Impact crater, Samus remembered it well. Within, had lain a monster the likes of which Samus had never faced before, a creature corrupted by the worst of substances. The Metroid Prime.

Samus had come to this world over one hundred thousand years ago, in response to a distress signal. She had found the world in turmoil, the ecosystem being thrown out of balance. Pirates and Bandits had camps set up in abundance, a hidden place for crime. She had set out to detain the criminals, as was her job back then, but she discovered something else. The Planet had once been a Chozo colony, with temples and ruins scattered across the lands. She had read the texts, the ones telling of her coming. She had also encountered something new to the galaxy, a substance of absolute evil.

Phazon.

She shuddered again, this time it wasn't because of the rain. She continued to stare down into the crater, unable to stop the flow of memories. They had been coming back to her in waves recently, and she was pretty certain she could remember almost everything now. The memories continued, with her defeat of the Metroid Prime within the planet, and destroying the Phazon it had created. If only it had been the only planet infected…

She stepped back, glancing around. She frowned to herself, feeling irritated. There was nothing here, nothing useful anyway. She began walking back to her ship, which lay in the forest just beyond the temple. She took one last look back as she entered the green canopy, soaking in its details. It may have been fruitless to her now, but it was still a part of her in a way, and she doubted she would see it again. She stared at one of the carvings on its outer wall, her eyes tracing the Chozo outline. She looked at it for what felt like forever, before turning away and entering the forest.

She trenched through the woods, the sounds of rain and forest life reaching her ears. Though it hadn't done her any good in regard to her search, she was glad to see the world she had saved had recovered, hearing the noises of the creatures that lived her. She arrived at her ship, which lay nestled in a clearing. A clearing, she remembered, which she had landed in last time, all those years ago. She jumped up onto, before sitting down. She had been cooped up inside the ship for weeks, and wasn't ready to jump back in just yet. This train of thought returned her to the present.

It had been four years since the events of Earth, and the Ark. Much had changed in that time, and Samus couldn't help but smile a little as she listed the changes off in her head. Humanity had begun to recover, and had begun reclaiming worlds. Samus had begun making a name for herself again, as an independent bounty hunter. She had detained dangerous Covenant and Insurrectionist leaders for the UNSC, and was quickly beginning to reach levels of fame she used to have. Human technology grew in leaps and bounds, due to discovery of Forerunner caches. One in particular, which was originally found by Dr. Catherine Halsey.

Samus had actually met the woman, after hearing how she had created the Spartans. Halsey was now a prisoner, having been charged with the kidnap and torture of children. She wasn't sure how she felt about that subject, and had tried to keep her opinions to herself. Halsey had been an interesting person to talk to, and more importantly, hadn't asked the usual questions people did. How did the armor work? What is it made of? When will you share it with the rest of us? No, Halsey had been interested in Samus herself, asking about her life before the Halo event, and about the Forerunners. She'd been happy enough to answer. In return, Samus asked about John.

She felt that pit in her gut again, the same one that showed up whenever she thought of him. It had been four years, and still, Samus had no clue where he could be. She had searched what felt like the entire galaxy, and yet there was no sign. She had journeyed across multiple worlds, some familiar, some new, still nothing. She had even returned to the Ark, which was now in a million pieces, but nothing remained to help her.

The sounds of thunder caught her attention, and she looked up at the sky. The sky was darkening, and she could feel the rain begin to grow in intensity. Not wanting to be caught out, she hopped off the top of her ship and walked onto the entrance lift underneath. She waited for it to retract inside, before stepping inside. She looked around her ship, checking to make sure everything was as she left it. The ship was pretty tiny in the scheme of things, larger than a Pelican, but not by much. It had three rooms, the main room where she did her flying and planning, a tiny bedroom to the right corner, and a tiny bathroom on the left. Samus heard the faint noises of dripping, and realized her hair was soaked, creating a puddle around her.

She made her way to her makeshift bathroom, a tiny little thing, and grabbed a towel. It was UNSC issued, and wasn't particularly soft, but it was free, and did its job. She deactivated the rest of her armor, exposing her zero suit. She realized, with annoyance, that water had managed to get underneath the suit. Grumbling, she removed it, using the towel to dry herself.

Deciding that putting the suit back on was too much effort, she hung it up to let it dry. Now naked, she walked back to the main section of her ship, which acted as her command center, her cockpit, and her little kitchen as well. Her feet padding quietly on the metal floor, she opened one of the little cupboard doors and pulled out a nutrients bar. Another thing the UNSC gave her freely, it tasted like garbage, but it did its job. Taking a bite, she padded over to her command console, a holographic table in the center of the ship.

"Adam, any news?" She called out, taking another bite.

Adam appeared on the sides of the table, looking as prim as usual. "Nothing. No unusual activity, nor any requests from the UNSC." He informed her, before chuckling. "How was the spirit quest?"

Samus rolled her eyes. "As useless as I thought." She muttered, before pausing. "Though, it was nice to see it again, in a way."

Adam nodded. "It's good to remember who you are." He then blinked, as if only seeing her for the first time. "You had better put some clothes on, you'll catch a cold with this weather.

She laughed. "Uh huh, that's your problem."

Adam groaned. "A.I don't experience that, and you know it."

"Keep telling yourself that." She chuckled, winking, before growing serious again. "Can you get a reading on the UNSC Infinity?"

Adam nodded, fading out as he went to work. The Infinity was a ship Samus had grown to become very familiar with. At over five kilometers long, the ship was massive, the biggest thing around. Even the likes of the Elites didn't have a ship that size. She had gotten to know its crew well, and had worked together with the infinity more than once. Its captain, Del Rio, wasn't her biggest fan, but he didn't bother her much as long as she got the job done. The second in command, Lasky, was a lot more likable. The two of them had been around each other a lot, and she was happy to have a friend. She had also worked with the newest line of Spartans, who were based on the Infinity. She knew a couple of them, but to her they were just soldiers in power armor, not the warrior John had been…

"Patching you through now." Adam's said, catching her attention. She took a deep breath, hoping that it would be Lasky on the other end.

A stern voice started talking. "Well if it isn't our favorite woman above the law." Del Rio said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Samus groaned.

"Captain Del Rio. Always a pleasure." She greeted, trying to sound cheerful. She was glad he couldn't see her face. She was more than glad he couldn't see her at all.

"Let me guess. You need supplies." He muttered. Samus gritted her teeth.

"Yes, I was going to ask permission to dock and pick up some supplies" She said, still trying to sound pleasant.

Del Rio groaned loudly on the other end. "You know, these supplies need to be used by real soldiers, not people who play at being one. Give me one reason why I should…"

Samus waited, the silence unnerving her. She had been chewed out by Del Rio many times before, but he'd never just gone quiet halfway thought. Another voice suddenly started talking.

"The Captain has to attend to a situation, I guess you'll just have to talk to me." Lasky said, his smile almost hearable.

Samus laughed. "Oh thank god. I almost felt like reaching through the line and throttling him."

Lasky laughed, before coughing, trying to sound serious. "So what can I do for you?"

"I need supplies, I was hoping to come dock on the Infinity." She said, suppressing a smirk of her own.

"Of course. I'll let the hanger team know you're coming." Lasky said. "This is good actually, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."

Samus blinked. "You can't just tell me now? Is it another job?"

Lasky didn't answer right away. "No, it's not. I'd rather discuss this in person, how soon do you think you could be here?"

"Uhh, I can be there soon. I'll head out right now." She said, still confused. Lasky said his goodbyes and ended the call, leaving Samus standing there. Adam re-appeared.

"Sounds like we'd better get moving, do you want me to plot a course for Infinity?"

She nodded. "Yeah, and could you fly for a while as well? I want to have a shower and such, I feel…pretty gross."

Adam nodded, vanishing. She felt the ship begin to start up, the gentle hum, the faint vibration of the floor beneath her feet. She moved to stare through the windscreen, watching as they rose through the storm clouds. Lightning danced through the sky in bright flashes, darting all around them as they rose. They soon cleared the cloud bank, the sky giving way to the blackness of space. Samus smiled, she always liked watching when they entered and left a planet's atmosphere. Something about the transition from space to sky made her smile.

"Weren't you meant to be washing your dirty body?" Adam's voice asked, sounding dead serious. Samus rolled her eyes and turned to the bathroom.

"Just making sure you weren't going to crash and kill me." She called out as she entered.

She didn't bother closing the door, just stepped in and turned the water on. The hot streams hit her back firmly, making her sigh. She never realized how much her body aches until she gets in a shower, the water seemingly removing her sore spots. She closed her eyes and put her face under, the hot water having the opposite effect of the rain from earlier. She washed herself within a minute or two, but couldn't bring herself to get out. So she just stood in the shower, enjoying the quiet, peaceful moment.

The Infinity stood out like a sore thumb in the black of space. Even though she'd seen it before, she still gulped at the sight. It was even larger than some ancient human ships.

"This is docking control, please state your identity and transmit identity codes." A voice called out over the radio. Samus, dressed in her now dry Zero suit and sitting in her pilots chair, transmitted the codes.

"This is the Bounty Hunter Samus Aran, requesting permission to dock." She said, before chuckling. "Come on Dave, you know who it is. How many other people look like me?"

"I'm just following protocol." Dave said stiffly, before pausing. "Everything checks out, proceed to hanger 4, crew will be waiting for you."

She directed the ship to hanger 4, guiding it through its shielded door and touching down on the floor inside. She didn't really worry about where she was going to land exactly, the hanger was large enough to store other massive starships. She was a small blip in comparison. She spotted the crew members who were going to re-stock her food and supplies.

"Adam, let them come aboard, but if they touch anything…you know the drill." She chuckled dryly, getting herself up. She made her way to the lift, activating her armor. She left the helmet off though. She liked to remind everyone that the scary bounty hunter was human like them, even if she had to put up with stupid flirts from marines occasionally.

The ramp lowered, hitting the floor with a dull thump. Samus stepped off, offering a smile to the deck hands that had her supplies. They smiled back, most of them having done this for her before, and began heading onto the lift, carrying boxes and wrapped packages.

"You just going to let them do all the work?" A voice called out, causing Samus to smirk. She turned and spotted Lasky heading her way.

Samus may have been a tall woman, but even then, Lasky was a short man. Most of the other members of Infinity dwarfed him, but he never seemed overly bother by it. He had his hair cut short, like all men in the UNSC, and his uniform was pressed and clean.

"Hey there Amazonian, how's life out in space?" He asked, extending a hand to shake. She took it, noting that her hand was larger. She didn't know if this bothered her or not.

"Pretty boring short stuff, had to come see you just for a laugh." She chuckled, letting go of his hand. Lasky glanced around the hanger, as if checking to see if anyone was looking at them. And of course they were, Samus noted. She was a pseudo celebrity on this ship.

Lasky lowered his smile. "Do you mind if we move to my office?" He asked. Samus frowned, but nodded. Lasky glanced around again, before heading for one of the many doors into the hanger area, Samus keeping step behind him. They walked though corridors, soldiers and crew stepping aside of the second in command. Though, there eyes were always on Samus. They stepped into a lift, Samus struggling to avert her eyes from the people inside, all staring at her.

They arrived at Lasky's office shortly after, quickly stepping inside. Lasky locked the door behind him, before moving to his office chair. He offered Samus a seat, before frowning, as if thinking on how to start.

"I'll just jump right to the point." He began. "Two days ago, the Infinity received a ping."

Samus nodded. She knew what a ping was, a noise in space. She got them all the time. She remained quiet, waiting for Lasky to continue.

"At first, we thought it was nothing. Just noise. But one of our analysts went over it, and discovered that it repeated, over and over. As well as that, it's constant, never changing in variation. We believe it might be a distress signal."

She frowned. "So, what? Ship crashed? I thought you said this wasn't a job."

Lasky looked at her, frowning. "The Signals coming from uncharted space. No humans have ever been where this is coming from."

She stopped breathing.

She struggled to find the words. "What…What are you saying Lasky?"

"You've been searching for him for almost five years Samus. I'm not saying it is him but…"

She swallowed. Could it be? The information was certainly promising, but she had been down this road before, and it never ended with her finding the Forward unto Dawn.

"Can I have the signal recording?" She asked.

Lasky nodded. "Of course. I wanted to do this for you because…well, I consider you my friend." He said, reaching into a drawer and pulling out a small storage unit. "The information's all on there."

She reached over and picked the unit up, looking down at it as if she could see the information now. But of course it just sat there, nothing more than a little metal shape. She looked back up at Lasky, his expression unreadable.

"Now I know you'll want to run off, but I was hoping you would stay for some food. The rations can't be nice, when was the last time you ate real food?" Lasky asked, returning to his joking demeanor.

She shook her head, standing up. "Sorry, you'll have to save the dinner date for later. I've gotta go." She said, making her way to the door. Lasky stood up.

"Wait Sammy." He said. She stopped. He only used Sammy when he really wanted her attention. She turned to look at him, eyeing his worried face. "Don't let this consume you, ok? I know you've been looking all this time, and I know you vowed to find him. But the chances he's alive are so-"

"Shut up." Samus interrupted him. "Right now. You don't get to tell me he's not alive. You weren't there, on the ground with him." She said, shooting daggers at him with her eyes. Lasky looked sad, but nodded. He looked down at his feet for a moment.

"Just be careful, ok?" he asked, looking back up. She was already gone.

She stormed across the hanger, people moving out of her way as she strode. The deck hands waved at her, but she only nodded at them, marching into her ships lift. When it had retracted, she moved to the command table, setting the memory unit down.

"Adam, get us out of here." She growled. The ship powered up, and began to leave the hanger. She looked over at the doorway she had come through, fully expecting Lasky to come running through. But he wasn't there, and for that she was glad.

They left Infinity, moving for deep space. Adam popped up on the table, frowning. He looked down at the memory unit, though only for a moment.

"What happened?" He asked. Samus folded her arms, not in the mood to talk.

"Nothing."

"What happened?" He asked again, his tone serious. She groaned, realizing he wouldn't let this go.

"We argued about John again." She sighed, brushing a hand through her fringe. Her expression changed then, going from angry to feeling like crying. This also made her mad, because it made her feel weak, and yet she couldn't help it.

Adam didn't say anything at first, just watching her as she slowly calmed herself. He looked down at the memory unit again. "What's that?" He asked, attempting to change the subject most likely.

Samus looked down at it, forgetting she'd placed it there momentarily. She picked it up, looking over it in her hand. "Something I was hoping you could look it. It's a distress signal apparently."

Adam's eyes widened in sudden understanding. "Of course, plug it in and I'll take a look."

She plugged it in, in a side port on the table. The information within flashed up off the table, various star co-ordinates and planet names flashing in front of her. Adam worked fast, sorting through the information till he found the signal itself. She stared at the series of words and icons that represented the signal. None of it made sense to her, but she did notice its repeating pattern.

"Adam, what can you tell me? Am I barking up the wrong tree?"

He was silent, leaving Samus's question unanswered. She was considering repeating herself when he gasped. "Samus, this signal is certainly from a UNSC starship. An older model too."

She felt her heart skip a beat, but she kept herself composed. "So? Could be any ship, how do we know it's the dawn?"

Adam smiled. "Because the signal isn't coming from the ship, it's coming from an A.I." He snapped his fingers and the words and symbols re-arranged on the screen. She still couldn't understand much of it, but one word immediately caught her attention.

"Cortana…" She said slowly, a smile growing on her face.

Adam nodded. "Yes. Cortana and I conversed enough that I would remember her unique signal from anywhere. It's fuzzy, and some code is written oddly, but it's most definitely her. And where ever she is…"

Samus beamed. "Have I ever told you how much I love you Adam?"

"You could say it more." He chuckled. "Did you want to make way immediately."

Samus nodded. "I've been at this for five years, let's not keep him waiting anymore." She pushed away from the command table and went to sit in her pilot's chair. She looked out into the vastness of space, smile still on her lips. "Just stay put Spartan, I'll find you…"

John shoved the kid, pushing him off the hill. It was recess at school, and that meant John and his friends would play king of the hill. And John almost always won, begging bigger than most of the other kids. As he watched his friends wrestle to try and get to him on top of the hill, he spotted a woman he'd never seen before. The school was fairly small, so he knew almost all of the parents, and this woman was not a parent. She waved at him, calling him over.

He ran over, ignoring the calls of his friends. He saw a name badge on the woman's shirt. It read 'Halsey'.

She smiled. "Hello John…"

"John! John wake up! I need you!"

John's eyes flicked open, the sounds of his name being called snapping him awake. His body tired and aching, he pushed against the Cryo door with all his might, the metal bending under the force. He pushed his way through, looking around at his surroundings. They were on the wreckage of the Forward unto Dawn, he remembered. They had been set adrift, and he had been placed in Cryo sleep, watched over by Cortana.

His eyes fell on her next. Her little avatar sat on a pedestal, eyes wide. She looked afraid, very afraid. He wasn't sure if it was a trick of his memory, but she looked a lot meeker than he remembered. Her big eyes looked up at him, a worried smile appearing briefly on her lips.

"John…Oh thank god." She breathed.

John nodded, moving over to the pedestal. He wobbled, still adjusting to his own movement, and was forced to grip the edge of the pedestal. "I'm here. What's wrong?"

Cortana stood up, looking around as if they were being watched. "I detected…something. It was some kind of long range scanner. It's not something I've seen before, human or covenant." She said, taking a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. John was certain now that he'd never seen her this worried about something.

"It's alright, we'll go check outside. It might be good to stretch the legs anyway, I've been asleep long enough." He said. Cortana looked at him oddly, her lips drawn tight. "What?"

"John, it's been just under five years." She told him. He blinked under his visor.

"Five years..." he muttered, letting that sink in. "And nobody's found us?"

"Well something has, but probably not something we want finding us." Cortana commented dryly, sounding like her old self. "Anyway, we should get moving."

John nodded, pulling her chip out of the pedestal and inserting it into the slot in his head. He felt the familiar sense of brief pain and a cooling sensation wash over him, before he chuckled. "Ready to get back to work?"

"I thought you would never ask." She replied, her smile easily imaginable to John.

He made his way out of the Cryo room, noticing the gravity had been turned back on. Cortana's doing most likely. Which brought John to an undesirable train of thought. Cortana had been left alone for five years.

"Are you alright?" John asked as he walked, each step growing more confidant. Cortana didn't answer immediately.

"Yeah, fine. Why?"

"Well, you were left alone all of this time. I just want to know you're ok." He replied, keeping his tone as monotone as possible. Truth was he was very concerned, but he didn't want to let her catch on.

"We need to take an elevator up." She told him, completely ignoring the question. John noticed they had entered a main elevator room, of which all four elevator doors were shut. Figuring there wasn't enough power to use one, he moved toward the closest door and began pulling. Slowly, the doors began to give way.

"Uhh, Chief be careful!" Cortana shouted, but he had already pulled the doors open. A huge vacuum began sucking all of the air out, and John along with it. He was sucked into the shaft, his body being flung around like he weighed nothing. He managed to snag apart of the machinery in the shaft, clinging on for dear life.

"Some areas of the ship are open to space." She finished. John looked down to find that the bottom of the shaft was indeed open to space.

"Right…" He grumbled, turning his attention back to moving himself up. He noticed another handhold he could use above him, and lunged. He secured his grip, before looking for another one, and jumping again. He continued this leap frog all the way to the top, or as high as he could go at least. He leapt for the edge of the floor leading into the next room, and slowly began pulling himself up. As he did, he noticed a faint shimmer in the air in front of him.

An Elite appeared out of thin air and began running toward him, it drew an energy sword, the blade flashing to life with blue, sizzling plasma. Instinct kicked in, and he twisted his body as it rushed him, using its own momentum against it. He moved his upper body out of the way, leaving a leg to trip his adversary. As the Elite lost balance, he shoved, pushing its already tipping body into the elevator shaft. It roared in surprise, but its roar was stolen by the air being sucked into space. John watched it as it was pulled all the way down, vanishing from sight.

"I thought we had a truce with the Covenant?" He noted, looking around to make sure there were no more nasty surprises waiting for him.

"A lot can happen in four to five years." She pointed out. "Anyway, the bridge is just ahead. I'd advise you be quiet, in case there are any more waiting."

He moved into the bridge room silently, each footstep carefully placed. He scanned the room with his eyes, immediately spotting an Elite fiddling with buttons and dials where the captain would usually stand. John slowly snuck up behind the unknowing alien, afraid it would turn at any moment. But the Elite was wrapped up in what it was doing, completely oblivious. John got as close as he thought was needed, and then he lunged.

The Elite shouted out in surprise as it sank beneath John's weight, but it only got out one cry. John snapped the creature's neck within seconds, the body slumping to the ground. John quickly scanned the room, in case any other Covenant he hadn't seen before were lying in wait. But the room was silent, empty, save for him. He turned to look at the controls the Elite had been fiddling with.

"Cortana, could you tell me what it was trying to do?" John asked, pressing a few buttons himself.

"Seems it was trying to do two things, actually. One was to raise the Bridges blast shields on the windows." She pointed out, causing John to notice that the windows did have large, thick metal plating over them. "And the second was…checking if there were anything life signs on board."

John took a moment to absorb the information, continuing to fiddle with the controls. "Maybe they are alone? Or part of a rogue salvage team?"

"Possible…" Cortana mused. John heard a click noise come from the control box, before a much louder sound resonated throughout the room. The blast shields began to retract, the sounds of metal on metal making John grit his teeth. He watched as the outside was slowly exposed, and his gulped when he saw what was on the other side.

Covenant ships covered the space around the Dawn, their huge bulbous bodies blocking nearly everything else from view. But beyond the sea of purple, John saw something else. At first, he thought it was a planet. But on closer inspection he realized it couldn't be, for the entire surface was composed of metal. It gleamed in the light of space, causing a very odd outline.

"Or there could be an entire Covenant fleet. Perfect…" She groaned. "Also, how did I miss us orbiting a giant metal planet?"

John shrugged. "Not sure. Wonder if Samus would know anything about it?"

Samus.

John had completely forgotten about her. All the memories suddenly came flooding back, of the orange clad bounty hunter with a mean streak. He couldn't help but smile as he thought of her foul language and easily riled temper. How had he forgotten about Samus?

John didn't have time to answer. A red beam of light shot out of the planet, heading right for the Dawn. Right for him. He prepared himself to move out of the way, but the beam was faster. John was surprised to find it didn't seem to be doing any harm.

Cortana gasped. "That's it! That's the scan I felt before."

John frowned. "There's still raises the question of who's scanning us. Forerunner?"

The scan stopped, the red light vanishing as quickly as it had come. Moments later, the entire planet made a large, electronic groan. Then, an entire section of the planet opened up, revealing that not only was it hollow, but there was light coming from within it. John also noticed it appeared to be pulling Covenant ships toward it. Then he felt the Dawn begin to lurch forward.

"Oh my…We need to go. Now!" Cortana shouted.

John didn't hesitate, immediately turning away and running for the elevator room again. He remembered that escape craft were a level below them. He jumped down the shaft he'd used earlier, grabbing a hand hold near the door below him. He pulled on the door, trying to get it open, when a grinding noise caught his attention.

The side of Covenant ship burst through the shaft behind him, effectively shopping off the section of the ship he was in. He tried to jump toward a more stable part, but it was no use. The entire ship began to fragment, no longer able to hold itself together. Losing his grip on his last hand hold, John was pulled into space.

John tried his best to avoid collisions. It was chaos, Covenant ships were being plowed into each other under the effects of the gravity the planet was exuding. John tried to grab some debris he floated past, but lost his grip, instead crashing into a chunk of Dawn hull. He bounced off, the hole of the planet growing ever closer. John spotted another piece of ship he could cling to, and tried to correct himself so their paths would intersect.

"Chief watch out!" Cortana suddenly shouted.

John saw the smaller chunk flying right at him, but had no time to dodge the little projectile. It collided with him head on, causing severe pain in his chest and head. He groaned, trying to stay conscious. His vison began to blur, and he struggled to move. He heard Cortana shout another warning, and barely had enough time to see the much larger debris speed toward him.

And then everything went black.