Chapter One: The End of an Era

A/N: Welcome one, welcome all to this fun little shindig that we like to call a story! We're featuring a totally new character that is the sole property of the one and only Hunter Dracon. (Hunter Dracon: That would be me boyo) This is something that we thought would be a bit of fun and evidently, we had too much because we cranked this out in what was it Hunter, a couple days? (Hunter Dracon: Aye) yeah it was ridiculous. That being said, don't expect updates in quick succession, as in every couple days. (Hunter Dracon: Although I might just do that anyway...) Yeah yeah it depends in your mood. We'll be trying to crank them out every couple to few weeks officially but don't be surprised if one comes out in only a few days. (Hunter Dracon: Speaking of our shit. This Author's Note is written by both myself and Arisentactica.)

Location: In orbit of Earth, bridge of Spartan-class Super-battlecruiser/Carrier UNSC Reclaimer's Will

Third Person POV:

Spartan Commander Master Chief John-117 was standing at the bridge of his ship, Reclaimer's Will, deep in thought when an Ensign came up to him and saluted. Chief turned his head to look at the Ensign and nodded his head. A peculiar thing that Chief saw about the Ensign was she was in a pilot's flight suit. When has a pilot delivered messages? Chief thought to himself as he nodded. The Ensign came out of her salute and clasped her hand behind her back, one holding a datapad.

"Master Chief sir, I have a message for you from HIGHCOM." the Ensign stated.

Chief nodded and put his hand out for the pad. The Ensign gave it to him and was dismissed by a flick of his hand back to her station. As he read the message he thought back to how he was nearly forced to take the promotion to Commander of the remaining Spartan IIs and IIIs after he came back through his multi-dimensional "adventure". He wasn't happy about it, preferring to have his boots on the ground to being stuck on a ship most of the time. But apparently Lord Hood was adamant and serious about his promotion on the 'Librarian's Archives'. He was even more annoyed when they gave him a ship of the new Spartan-class of ship, a class that would only have one ship active at a time. It was 4.3km long, around 300 meters bigger than a Punic-class supercarrier, 857 meters in height, and 468.2 meters wide. It was made to be the main base of operations for the Spartan Corps and then some. It was heavily armoured with 4 meters of the new Titanium-A3-H4 armour which combined UNSC Titanium-A3 with a basic Forerunner battleplate that was found on Requiem after searching all of the vaults. Supplementing the armor was a new prototype shield generator that can take 2 heavy MAC rounds and 3 MAC rounds before failing. It had 3 Heavy MAC guns that were just below the Super MAC classification, 200 M42 Archer missile pods (24 missiles per pod), 100 M75 Rapier missile pods (30 missiles per pod), 250 M96 Howler missile pods (20 missiles per pod), 581 M965 Fortress 70mm guns, 6 dorsal MAC cannons, 56 dorsal M85 Anti-Aircraft (Point-defense for fighters and bombers) Gun Networks, 114 M97 Guided Missile Weapon System Networks, and 6 HAVOK nuclear missiles. It was meant to be an "escort" to the UNSC Infinity but Lord Hood and HIGHCOM ordered that it would be used as the main Spartan Corps headquarters. He wished that he still had the Dawn's Light but knew that it couldn't be rebuilt and ONI get their hands on it, it was too much to risk for him, Blue team and Hood agreed with him on at least that when it came to their mission and subsequent long way round the multiverse, but at least they were in their home dimension. He just hoped that he wouldn't have to fight a galactic threat again for at least a decade, if not more. His enhancements that he received from the Librarian were still there, he was still taller than the other Spartans, including Blue team, by a large margin. Nearly 6 inches on the IIs and IIIs, the IVs well… that was a whole other story.

The one thing that they added as a reward for his service besides the promotion and ship, that Chief didn't want, was a new "upgraded" version of Cortana. She wasn't what the old Cortana was in terms of capabilities, to which she pouted about for nearly a whole day, that was unheard of for an AI, and asked if she could get the same upgrades that her predecessor did. Chief immediately shot that down, as he knew what knowledge she could gain from it, knowledge that nearly drove the original Cortana into a relapse of the Logic Plague.

She called herself Cortana 1.5 when she was with the Chief and asked him to call her 1.5 so that she wouldn't replace her predecessor, which she was adamant about not doing. She had the files and "memories" of the original Cortana from when she interfaced with Infinity during the First Battle of Requiem and got everything that she missed from the Chief's armour records. She looked different from the original as well. She actually wore something akin to Forerunner or Promethean armour and her hair was a tomboyish haircut with a side of her head shaved and the rest of her hair around 6 centimeters. When compared to her predecessor's jawline haircut, another thing that she didn't want to copy, it was quite different. She changed her color from a purple blue to more of a navy blue with blood red coding running down her avatar. Her eyes were split blue and red almost down the middle of her eyes.

When Chief brought it up with her, she said, "I won't be a carbon copy of Cortana 1.0 Chief, so I made myself different. In regards to my hair, I wanted to be different and a bit more rebellious this time around."

Chief understood her opinion but asked Halsey, who built her with permission from ONI, why she was a bit more rebellious and was more, shall we say, open with how she did things. Halsey explained that this version saw the mistakes in her predecessor and asked to be changed so that she wouldn't replace her. Halsey made the changes and was happy with them and told Chief to give the new Cortana a somewhat fresh start for being his AI partner.

When he lost her to those he was fighting right before they were about to come home, something inside him snapped. He killed every remaining hostile there with speed, strength, and efficiency, that he didn't know he had. When he calmed down, he was horrified that it had happened, how deeply Cortana meant to him.

After talking with his Spartan siblings, he swore that he would never let himself snap like that again, unless it was in the most dire of circumstances, the worst of the worst when it came to odds of survival. Cortana… well Cortana was his partner through everything that had happened, from the Halos and the Ark to going 'dimension hopping' as she called it.

Chief cleared his head and focused on the pad in front of him. It had a message on the screen that would change everything.

'Spartan Commander Master Chief Sierra-117

It pains us to inform you of Fleet Admiral Lord Terrence Hood's passing. He died in his sleep peacefully with no poison in his body, as evidenced by the autopsy done at 1739 hours the day before this message, on June 18, 2561. His will is scheduled to be revealed on 1300 hours June 20, 2561 and in his last wish, he asked that you be there for the reading of his will.

Keep up the fight Spartan,

Fleet Admiral Joseph Harper

Chief was surprised that Hood died. Hood had nearly flat out said that he wouldn't die so long as the UNSC needed him. He guessed that the stress of being the CINCUNSC caught up to him.

Needing to tell his team the news, Chief announced, "Keep us here in geosynchronous orbit. I will return soon."

He then turned on his heel and walked off the bridge to the Spartan II training area.

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Location: Sydney, Australia, Earth

Chief was in the back of the church with his arms at his sides. He kept his armor on in case there was an emergency. The will of Lord Hood was being read and he was listening intently. It was surprising how extensive the will was, but then again Lord Hood was nothing if not thorough. If Chief heard the man who was reading the will correctly, it was about 20 pages long. As a Spartan, Chief was always on guard, especially against undercover Insurgents, but this situation was something that he wasn't usually involved in. He was here to respect the final wishes of Lord Hood.

As if someone read his mind, Cortana showed up on his HUD.

"Bored old man?" she asked playfully.

"Not entirely, I'd prefer to get back to the Will and train the new IVs that came from Reach." Chief said. He scowled when the words 'old man' registered. "Just because you are less than a year old doesn't mean that you can call me old." Chief scolded her as if she was a child.

"Fine, I won't call you old man… dad." Cortana retorted.

Chief nearly jumped in surprise to Cortana calling him 'dad'. As far as he knew, he wasn't her father and none of his brain tissue was used in her creation.

"Why did you call me that?" Chief asked, curiosity overriding everything else at that point.

Cortana's expression morphed from playful to curious in response.

"Didn't Halsey tell you? She used some of your genetic material to clone a brain of yours and integrated that into me chip. I'm technically you daughter but I don't really call you 'father' because I have Cortana 1.0's memories. That's why I called you 'dad' Chief." Cortana revealed by way of explaining, but only managing to confuse the veteran Spartan further.

Chief sank into himself to figure out how Halsey used some of his genetic material to help recreate Cortana.

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He was brought out of his thoughts by Cortana who told him that the will was read and they were good to go back to the Will. He immediately made his way there to try to contact Halsey so that she could explain why she did what she did and how.

When he got to his ship, Commander Palmer greeted him in the Hangar. She had a solemn expression on her face.

"Is there something wrong Commander?" Chief asked.

Palmer nodded her head and motioned him to follow her. Chief's longer stride was able to catch up to hers almost instantly. When they were in the lift, she pushed the button for the bridge.

"In accordance with Lord Hood's will, you are to be put into cryo at a new Forerunner base that was found in an asteroid in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter by a new type of scan specifically designed to find any previously unknown Forerunner bases. You will be joined by Cortana, who will go into shutdown to stay online, and all of the Spartan IIs and IIIs, until you are needed again. You will be taking the Will with you and you will have no outside contact until you are needed. We are on our way to the base now." She then turned and saluted. "It's been an honor Master Chief."

Chief returned her salute but remained silent, opting to nod his head in response and respect.

The door to the lift opened to a somber bridge crew looking sadly at Chief.

"Maintain heading for the base and transfer the controls to Cortana." Chief ordered. He then opened a channel ship wide, "All personnel that are not Spartans are to stay back at Earth for the fleet to pick up. Keep the UNSC and her allies safe in our absence. Sierra-117 out."

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The cryobay that the Spartans were going to be inhabiting were exactly what a soldier would want: for it to be spartan in appearance, which meant no luxury or the room being spacious. It was about the same size as a cryobay on a UNSC frigate, which was perfect for the Spartans. Chief was getting the Spartans in their pods before he got in one himself. Cortana was nervous about being of-line that long, but was assured by Chief that she would be brought online right after he was awakened. The total number of Spartans was around 25, not a large number, but big enough to take a large swathe of land, if not a planet, if need be. The Spartans were still storing their gear in gear lockers beside the pod that they had chosen. Soon it would be time for the Spartans of the Human-Covenant War to rest.

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After every Spartan was in their pod, Chief stowed his gear and got in his. But before he did, he turned to Cortana and said, "Wake me when you need me."

Cortana smiled sadly in response before saying, "I'll see you soon dad."

Chief got into his pod shaking his head. He shifted himself into the most comfortable position that he could get in with the pod, then signalled for Cortana to shut it and activate it.

Cortana complied and watched as her Spartan vanished from view due to a sheet of ice from the pods activation. She then put protocols in place should someone find the base and activated them. When she was done she activated her shutdown sequence and drifted into a sleeplike state before shutting down completely.

Little did they know how much things had changed when they woke up.

◊¬µ∏Œ∆Œ∏µ¬◊

Location: Venus, inner Solar System

Huntress POV:

I lay on the edge of a cliff , my Long Shadow sniper rifle in my hands, the bipod lowered, and inhaled a breath as I leveled the crosshairs of the scope onto the head of a Fallen Captain and exhaled as I pulled the trigger. Having made the adjustments to my scope for the distance, windspeed, wind direction, and my elevation minutes before, my shot was spot on as it fell right on the point where I'd aimed. Right between the Fallen Captain's eyes. The other Fallen in the patrol jumped when their captain's helmet popped open like a grape and hissed air out as the pressurized air escaped and the body dropped to the ground as blood splattered the ground and the closest Vandal along with their immediate surroundings. I leveled the crosshairs on the vandal and fired again, gaining the same result. I wiped out the rest of the patrol with similar efficiency before they could find cover.

I smirked and set the stock of my rifle on to the ground before I placed my gloved hands on the ground and pushed myself into a crouch as I brought my legs under me. I then grabbed my rifle and stood up, standing near the edge of the cliffside. I pulled my hood back up over my hair. The hood quickly cast a shadow over my face as I turned away from the cliff and walked to where my Sparrow waited. I slung the rifle over my shoulder and across my back where it rested against my Hazard of the Cast Auto Rifle. I thought about my past missions and the attitude the other guardians sent my way for a moment as I slid my hand across the sleek frame of my sparrow. Amanda Holliday and I were good friends, and I liked Cayde well enough, and we were still great friends, even though his smart aleck statements and comments sometimes annoyed me enough to punch the little joker in the face (my fist usually hurts for a couple hours when I do that), especially when they get a little inappropriate, and Ikora and I share a laugh every once in a while at Cayde's expense. I tended to ignore Zavala unless he needs me for something, and all the other guardians are friendly enough, but I usually keep my distance, partially because I have yet to find myself a name. Hell, I hadn't even named my Ghost yet, and he was starting to get a little miffed, since all the other guardians had named their ghosts as well, considering that I've done more stuff for the Vanguard and the Last City than any of them.

The other reason why I kept my distance from the other Guardians was because I was what people call a "Lone Wolf". For me that meant no fireteams, no temporary partners (for the most part), and only one permanent companion, sort of. I did everything on my own. All the other Guardians are in fireteams, groups and whatnot. The only group in which I could have been considered a "full-timer" would be the Iron Lords, but even then that was only three of us, one of which is sworn off violence (which I don't understand at all), and the other, who's getting a bit too old to go running around on missions, but does so on occasion when the situation calls for it.

As for me, I'm generally the one who does most of the fighting, and I tend to do it pretty well. I'm a wild-card by just about everyone's standards. I have no routine, indicating movement, or predictable pattern in just about everything I do, and it's another part of the reason why I'm never part of any sort of team. My teammates getting harmed is an occupational hazard, and all the other guardians are warned to stand clear whenever I'm operating in the area.

I sighed and mounted my sparrow, hearing my armor brush against the sparrow's leather seat. I gripped the throttle as I started it up and then eased forward on it, causing the sparrow to drift forward before I hit the boost and shot forward as I moved to a safer area so my ship could pick me up.

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The Huntress' Ghost was doing maintenance on their ship when it got the call to come pick her up. He was in orbit, but that wouldn't be an issue with the speed of the jumpship that they were able to get their hands on after the SIVA crisis.

It looked like her original one from Dock 13 of the Cosmodrome in Old Russia, but had been, as she called it, "SIVAfied". Why she called it that, Ghost didn't know. The only reason that Ghost went along with it was because it couldn't come up with something better to call the condition of the ship. Instead of the usual blue, orange, gray, and white the ship was black and red with a glowing light red, almost pink, light coming off of some edges of the ship. Overall, it was the best ship that they could have asked for or found. It was state of the art, Amanda cleared it for that one, and it made Cayde jealous so for the Huntress it was a win-win.

After a couple minutes, the ship was hovering over where the Huntress had asked it to go, but there was no sign of the Huntress or her sparrow. Just then the Huntress came over a distant hill with several Fallen pikes on her tail that were shooting at her. As soon as she saw she was in sight she jumped off her Sparrow while drawing her Ace of Spades hand cannon, of which there was only one other hand cannon in the system that was like it, Cayde's personal hand cannon, spun around in mid air, and fanned the hammer as she swept the weapon's line of fire over the riders, bullseyeing each of them in an impressive display of marksmanship before holstering it and dropping back onto her sparrow. A few of the pikes crashed into each other in brilliant blue and orange explosions from the arc energy and fuel ignited as their riders fell limp from their seats and the others ran into rocks and terrain and tumbled end over end before exploding themselves. She banked right and slammed on the brakes, drifting the sparrow to a stop, facing the burning wrecks.

"Talk about cutting it close." She muttered before calling to the ghost, "Bring me up!"

Then she vanished into light particles as she was transported back up to the ship.

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I unslung my rifles from their spots across by back and set them on the bed I'd set up in the ship's cabin and then climbed into the pilot seat before taking off my helmet and tossing it on the dashboard. I then settled into the seat and set my hands on the controls as my ghost floated to my side.

"Back to the City?" he asked, and I only nodded in response before we made the jump back to Earth.

Some time passed as we flew in from our jump and my ghost kept trying to contact the Tower, to no avail. As we approached the mountain range that separated the Last City and it's walls from the rest of the world, we could see lightning rumbling in the storm clouds above. At that point my ghost tried again.

"Repeat, Tower Approach, this is City Hawk seven-two-three. Anyone home?" then he turned to me. "No response on any channels, even the emergency frequencies." My ghost sighed as he turned back to look out the cockpit. "What is going on back there?" he asked himself before he paused and then turned to me. "Remember when I told you that you fly too fast?" he asked.

I looked at him with my right eyebrow raised.

"Forget I said that. Fly fast."

I smirked and powered up my ships upgraded weapons systems before I shoved the throttle forward, causing the ship to accelerate as the afterburners I'd added onto the ship kicked in and sent me back into the pilot seat and my ghost to let out a yelp of surprise before he was thrown back into the ship's cabin. I directed the ship to the storm clouds and flew directly through them. We shot out of the clouds seconds later revealing the Last City under a full scale assault.

"It's an invasion!" the ghost exclaimed, and I frowned before I locked my jaw in a determined line and primed the weapons systems for a fight.

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My first kill was a Cabal Dropship trying to bring a fresh squad of Cabal soldiers into the Tower. I'd been flying past it when I'd realised the ship was an enemy and had jerked the stick to the side and banked hard onto its tail before ripping it apart with a well placed burst of my guns. I felt a surge of something, not just satisfaction, but an energy, eagerness, and a feeling of air-to-air combat that just feels natural. I got this sort of gut feeling and I rolled into a dive before pulling back on the stick and bringing the throttle all the way back, stalling my ship as I looked through the top of the cockpit and saw something dart past, trying to slow down in order to catch me. I shoved the throttle forward again as I yanked the stick to the right, rolling the craft before I pulled back and shredded the Cabal fighter that had shot past past me. I looped around the Tower like a circling bird of prey as I watched several Cabal dropships approach for an attack on the plaza. I turned into them and unleashed a cloud of missiles as I charged right through their formation, six of them were blown apart by my missiles before my guns cut into their ranks, sending three tumbling in brilliant fireballs into the sides of the Tower before I whipped my ship around and launched a second volley of missiles that tracked the last four and then sent them into the base of the Tower in pieces. I saw Zavala wave at me from the main platform of the plaza and then hit the throttle when I tracked five fighters that were making a beeline toward me with my sensors. I just grinned as I flew right past their formation and gunned the afterburners as I whipped the ship around. I heard my ghost wail as he got thrown all over the cabin as I made the maneuver and dug my claws into their formation, ripping one of the fighters in half, blowing a second to burning slag, and then disintegrated the third as he tried to perform a high-g turn in an attempt to catch me off guard, in which I purposefully pulled the throttle back, stalled my ship, and flipped it end over end and spat the last of my ammo into the hull of the doomed fighter. Then I hit the throttle again before my fighter could fall into the city and made a beeline for the hangar.

Any Cabal soldiers I fought after entering the hangar were child's play to my experience from fighting them on Mars. They surprised me with some new weapons like the arc multi-barrel mortar and their new attack animals that they called War Beasts, but soon I was taking them out with ease along with any other Cabal that I came across. What was funny was that with large groups, I would slide among them on my knees and nail them with my Ace of Spades before jumping up and kicking the few that would be left away before embedding throwing knives in their faces. As I approached the plaza, I holstered my hand cannon and unslung my Long Shadow sniper rifle and walked calmly into the the plaza. I brought my rifle up to bear and sighted in the Cabal before I began putting rounds through their skulls. My reflexes were faster than any of the Cabal, and even when a Cabal soldier came up behind me, I didn't hesitate to jump upward with a backflip and land on its shoulders before jabbing the muzzle of my rifle into the back of it's head and pulled the trigger, splattering my armor with it's blood and then diving off the falling body and rolling on impact with the ground before reloading as I came up. I slammed the rifle's bolt home and then trained my next shot on a Cabal deployment container and fired on a specific spot, causing the container to collapse and send its contents crashing to the ground with a gruesome crunch as the the first missile volley came in. I didn't even bother going inside Zavala's shield as I dropped my rifle and took out Ace of Spades before I fanned the hammer and blew half of the incoming missiles out of the air. I reloaded and then holstered it again as I grabbed my rifle and dove out of the blast radius. I listened to Ikora and Zavala's quick conversation before he gave me the order to go with Ikora to find the Speaker. "Shut up Zavala, I know what I have to do." I retorted as I sprinted across the plaza to the entrance to the corridor for the Speaker's office. I didn't make it far before Ikora levitated onto an open part of the corridor and told me that the Speaker was gone before a Cabal dropship showed up. I brought my rifle up in a flash and spat a round right through the canopy and into the cockpit and through the pilot's head before Ikora jumped up and blew apart one of it's engines with a Nova bomb. I left her to finish off the dropship before continuing on. At this point I didn't care what Zavala was telling me. These guys had attacked my home. I sure as hell wasn't gonna let that fly. I queued my comms and switched over to Holliday's frequency.

"Amanda!" I called.

"Yeah?" Came the reply.

"I need a ride. Can you get me onto that command ship and then get my ship somewhere safe? I don't want it getting blown to hell in all this chaos."

"Sure. But I got a question for ya. Was that you who wrecked those dropships and fighters over the Tower?"

I paused. "Yeah, that was me." I replied hesitantly.

"Hoowee! Girl you've got some talent! I'll be right there. That hotshot flying of yours lifted some of the pressure off us as we were launching!"

"I copy, make it fast. I've got a score to settle with whoever's leading this, and I doubt Cayde's managed to get very far." I said as some Cabal dropped onto my position. "I'll see you soon!" I shouted before I cut my coms and charged. As soon as i was close enough, I jumped over the lead Cabal and holstered my rifle before unsheathing my knife as I landed on the next Cabal. I then drove the knife through its skull as one of the Cabal tried to shoot me before I jumped off, removing my knife in the process. The Cabal's shot went right through it's comrades torso armor as I unslung my Hazard of the Cast Auto Rifle and landed several meters away. "Come get some you fucking turtles!" I shouted before I opened fire. The rounds that spat from my rifle cut them down before they could even aim their weapons. I lowered my rifle as their bodies fell and ejected the empty magazine and slammed a fresh one home. I holstered the rifle as the lights from Holliday's ship swept over me.

"You called?" She asked over the ship's external speakers.

I only nodded as I boarded the ship. "Let's go." I stated as I walked through the cabin and made sure I had enough ammo.

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"Hit em where it hurts!" Holliday called as I jumped down onto the command ship's platform.

"You know I will." I stated menacingly as I unholstered my Ace of Spades and charged up the platform. The resistance I met was only marginally more difficult compared to the soldiers I had fought back in the Tower. For the most part I had no trouble, although there were several Cabal that seemed like some sort of officer class that had better weapons than the others. I dealt with them quickly enough. I was livid. Nobody attacks my home planet and lives to get away with it. Technically the Fallen are just trying to live on Earth, and I can deal with them easily enough considering they're barely organized as it is. But the Cabal are a military race, which means they have better gear, better discipline, and better training than any of the other alien races aside from the Awoken remnants. You do not piss them off. Period. Either way, after destroying the turbines for the skip's shield generator, I holstered my hand cannon and drew my auto rifle, something was telling me that doing so would give me a better chance against whatever I'd be facing. I headed for the nearest airlock leading to the top on the command ship and took cover on one side of the door. I waved my hand in front of it to open it, and then peeked around the corner. Seeing that it was clear, I dive-rolled outside and onto the platform beyond. The first thing I noticed when I looked up was the massive machine on the Traveler.

"I don't know what the hell that machine is, but it sure as hell isn't for anything good." I growled.

"Do you think we'll be able to recover from an invasion like this?" My ghost asked.

I heard heavy footsteps behind me. "You don't." Stated a deep voice. I spun around and aimed my rifle at the massive Cabal in white armor. The cabal glared down at me before he gestured toward the Traveler. "Welcome, to a world without Light." he stated as I looked back at the traveler out of the corner of my eye, just as a orange wave of energy swept across the Traveler's surface. Then I felt something leave me and I felt weak.

"Guardian, Something's wrong…" My ghost stated before trailing off and falling to the platform.

My eyes widened and I turned back to the white armored cabal before I felt any weaker and pulled the trigger. "I don't need the light to kick your ass!" I shouted as I emptied the rifle's entire magazine into the Cabal's armor and shields. While his shields flared and I scratched his armor, I didn't do much else, and I'd been too weak to aim for his face. Now I had no real strength left, and collapsed to my knees, peering at him with drooping eyes as he approached me.

"Do not look at me, creature." he spat with venom.

He then punched me across the platform. Let me tell you, it hurt. A lot.

"You have spirit… I'll give you that. But your race is weak, undisciplined, and unworthy for the gift that has been given to you."

I gingerly tried to scramble to my feet, holding my side as I did, and rubbed my chin. I managed to get to my knees, the pain having woken up some sort of primal rage within me.

"I'll show you what Humans can do." I growled as I ripped off my helmet and mask.

My eyes burned, and the Cabal's guard's stepped back a pace or two, then shook their heads and returned to their former positions. I just grinned cruelly and finally got to my feet, though I was still hunched over, and stepped toward the Cabal. "You attacked my home world." Another step. "You killed my friends." a third. "You destroyed our city, my home." a fourth step. "And you insulted my species." I was a step away from him now, looking up into his eyes with rage burning in mine. "I will kill you. Either here or some time in the future. And you can do nothing but watch as your world will come crumbling down around you." I swore with a smirk at the look on his face, one of outrage and surprise.

Having heard enough, he kicked me, sending me skidding to the edge of the hull, but not falling over the edge. "Foolish creature, thinking that you can stop me. I am Ghaul, and I am your kind's end!"

I coughed up blood. I could feel my ribs broken from his kick. "See, that's where you're wrong. We will never give up, never give in. That is who we are Ghaul, not some animal that got lucky. We survive. We will fight to the end and you will fail in your moment of triumph." With that, I looked right at him and waited for his response. He walked towards me slowly, seeming to consider his options. He then stopped right where I was right as I was able to sit up, but the pain from my ribs caused me to gasp from the pain. I drew one of my throwing knives and threw it at his face, but with my ribs broken, the action caused me to seize up from the agony of that one movement. Instead of hitting his head like I wanted to, it imbedded itself slightly in his chest armor. Gaul looked at it, then at me with rage filled eyes. He put his foot on my chest and pushed me off the edge of the ship. The last thing that I feel is the wind in my face and the growing agony due to the effects of the adrenaline fading away before losing my grip on consciousness.

A/N: That's it folks. That's chapter one of Hunter's Return! Hope you guys liked it! Please drop a review to let us know and be on the lookout for stray chapters from the Lone Wolf of a co-author. (Hunter Dracon: You said we'd be dropping that shit.) I can't control what you do and that's why I said that.

See you in the next one folks!

This is Arisentactica and Hunter Dracon over and out.