The Halo Side Story

Book 3

"The Path of Reclamation"

Kelly, Spartan 087, sealed her helmet as she looked back toward Major Rawlings. "I have to go, Ma'am. My duty as a soldier is to eliminate any threats to the UNSC and Earth. I don't care about the details, or about being a descendent of the Reclaimers."

- - - - - - - -

After being separated for several months, the Black Ops reunited at the Elite home world of Dorenth, however the battle upon the Elite world was harsh, and the appearance of a Gravemind creature brought unforeseeable peril. Doctor Catherine Halsey, along with Spartan 087, arrived and made several marvelous discoveries, including a possible cure to the Flood infection. Yet she discovers that the Forerunner Legacy left behind a Super Soldier Gene within each of the "higher" ranking races of the Forerunner Empire. This Gene, if infected by the flood, ultimately becomes a Gravemind. No cure for the Gravemind strand has been found.

The Black Ops, along with the Mirratord, Spartan 087, the countless Elite Civilians, thousands of Grunts and the Grunt King, escaped the doomed world of Dorenth via the Seed Ship; an ancient Forerunner Instrument buried deep within the planets core. A ship so vast that even the entire population of Grunts and Elites could not fill its hull. This Seed Ship recreated life in the galaxy several years after the Halo's fired one hundred thousand years ago.

On the edge of the Sol System, High Charity appeared, most likely under flood control and it is making its way to Earth. Deep below Camp Eden, Rose, the lead engineer of the MJOLNIR Mark V project, along with Doctor Smith, the doctor that protected the Black Ops from Ackerson's Spartan III research death watch, and Doctor Halsey continue to explore the massive cavern beneath Camp Eden's massive underground fortress. Rose and Doctor Halsey quickly realize that the cavern is almost identical to the cavern on the Elite home world.

Under the order of Admiral Sir Terrance Hood, the Black Ops have landed on Earth and teamed up with the Master Chief Spartan 117, to breach the Brute controlled front in the Eastern African desert. The Mirratord gave aid in the initial battle, but were ordered to the aid of the Arbiter on another battlefront. After protecting the civilian shelter of Camp Eden, the Spartans and the Black Ops board the Rogue Fantasy and make there way to the quickly approaching Forerunner ship, however….

- - - - - - - -

Level 1: The Power of Truth

East Africa
Rogue Fantasy
High Orbit over Ark Excavation Site
New Mombasa Crater Site
October 29, 2552

Sergeant Eric Raynord, Black Ops 19, sealed his helmet and walked off the bridge, "Good luck, Captain."

"The same to you, 19. Come back in one piece." Captain Monroe watched as Eric walked off the command deck. His modified ODST armor was soaked in alien blood, plasma burns, and his own dried blood. He was a Spartan, a product of Colonel Ackerson's Spartan III research, trained to kill and be victorious in combat. She knew that what he and the other Spartans were about to do would be suicide, but suicidal tactics was what he had been doing for years on board her ship. However, she couldn't escape the felling that this was his last mission, and that she would never see him alive again. The door to the command deck opened and the last of the Black Ops awaited him; Melanie 05 and Mathew 08. Their helmets were on and weapons at the ready. Eric nodded toward them and they responded likewise. They then looked onto the command deck and Captain Monroe stood and gave them a firm salute. Eric returned the gesture as the door to the command deck closed.

Monroe returned to her chair, filled with a heaviness she had not felt since Kim 04 had died several months before. She ran her hand through her soot filled hair and fought the emotion to cry. Eric had told her long ago that she was the Captain of the ship, and no longer a child; tears solved nothing.

Her command crew looked at her as she gazed at the ever approaching forerunner ship, "Cortana, Siren … tell me what we need to do."

Cortana, the AI that had aided the Master Chief throughout the last several months, spoke over the command deck's speaker, "Siren and I will take the helm. This may get a little bumpy as we get closer to the forerunner ship. Hang on."

The Rogue Fantasy, UNSC Jefferson Class Stealth Ship, rumbled as it climbed into the atmosphere, leaving behind the remaining ships of the UNSC fleet. Their orders had come directly from Lord Hood, "Rendezvous at the Rally Point and defend it from Covenant attack." The location of the Ark had been discovered by the Prophet of Truth's ground forces, and everything that the UNSC had left was making their way to the RP. Yet the Rogue Fantasy and her crew of Spartans were on a different mission; to intercept the Prophet of Truth.

The hull began to vibrate as the Rogue Fantasy accelerated to escape velocity. The Forerunner ship was skipping along the atmosphere and would soon be heading toward the Ark's coordinates. Lord Hood had received word that the Spartans had successfully defended Camp Eden from attack, and with the return of Cortana, he felt that this was the best mission for the Spartans. There was no clear way of knowing what Truth was planning, but one thing was for sure, the battle was only beginning, and the Earth forces were losing.

In the realm of digital information, Cortana ran thousands of calculations, "Siren, I can't find a proper frequency to breach through that Forerunner ship's defenses."

"That's my job, Cortana. You worry about steering the ship and avoiding incoming fire." Siren returned. Siren, the one time leader of the Black Ops, was a Virus AI. She was designed specifically by the ONI R-and-D team to do exactly what she was doing; hack in and take over. Thanks to her, the Black Ops were able to successfully find one of the Covenant home worlds. Yet upon their arrival, they found that humanity had formed an awkward alliance with the Elites. They successfully helped millions of Elite civilians, and the remaining ex-covenant members, escape a world which was being consumed by the Flood. However, it will all be for nothing if Truth reached the Ark.

"Scanning. Scanning. Damn it!" Siren yelled in frustration. "We're moving to fast. The real world time is still catching up. Every second here is less than a tenth of second out there. The channels aren't opening up fast enough for me."

"You really are new at this aren't you?" Cortana Commented. "Slow down your processor to half-relative. Reduce … bandwidth to a factor of point nine-nine. That should bring you into a staggered alignment of … relative time."

Siren looked quizzically into Cortana's digital persona. "Why did you pause?"

"I didn't pause." Cortana returned.

Siren did the recalculations and everything went smoothly. "Not bad." Siren smirked. Cortana had the added advantage of sharing her functions with a human host for several weeks, meaning she understood 'Real Time' better than most Artificial Intelligence. "Okay, more frequencies are opening up on the Covenant Band, yet nothing from the Forerunner ship. Truth isn't talking to anyone."

"Contacts! Multiple … Contacts." Cortana shouted. "Captain, brace for emergency course corrections."

Again, Siren noticed that Cortana was pausing. Something she never would have noticed beyond the digital realm. Her hesitation to complete the sentence was well beyond fractural seconds, but it was there and Siren heard it. Cortana was slightly off.

In the physical plane, Captain Monroe gripped her arm rests tightly and powered on the ship wide communications. "All hands, brace for evasive maneuvers." She released the com. "What is it, Cortana?"

The commend deck intercom buzzed to life. "Truth has two battle cruisers in his wake, most likely for added defense. They just launched several waves of Plasma in our direction."

The helmsman shifted in his seat at the words. "An in atmosphere plasma volley? What are they, nuts?"

"I don't think that's a concern, Private." Cortana shouted over the vibrating hull. The ship slowly shifted and everyone leaned with the gravity shift. The Rogue Fantasy was now in High Orbit and moving twice the speed of sound, yet they needed more speed in order to intercept the Forerunner ship. "Captain, weapons are hot, ready return fire?"

Captain Monroe released the main weapons safety controls via her armrest and looked into the forward view portal. "Cortana, Siren, you have Tactical. Take them out!"

"Transferring main power to Mac 3." The ship jolted as the engines momentarily died. "Adjusting for inertial drift. Firing, Mac 3." The ship jolted forward as the super heated Ferric-tungsten projectile escaped the forward mounted Class 3 cannon. "Returning engines to full, Archer Missiles away." Forty archer missiles then spat from the missile pods on a pursuit course of the MAC round.

The two cruisers that were following Truth's Forerunner ship, were maintaining a close watch on the human vessel. But to their surprise, the tiny ship had survived their initial volley and had maneuvered behind them. They were even more surprised when their shields suddenly died.

Siren chuckled. "Luckily, the Brutes aren't as guarded about their systems being hacked. Shutting down their shields."

The MAC round ripped through the tail of one of the ships, leaving a massive hole in its aft portion. Then a tidal wave of explosions followed as the trailing arch missiles successfully entered the hull, but only a few were able to make it in. The others detonated along the hull.

"Missile accuracy was off by twenty five percent." Cortana miffed. "Targeting systems have yet to be fully repaired…"

"Found it!" Siren cut in. She was overjoyed and quickly uploaded her decrypting software into the Forerunner ship. "I have access to the Forerunner ship's inner network. Cortana, tell the Spartan's to prep for launch. I'll make a hole."

Cortana relayed the message to the insertion team. "Chief, Sergeant Johnson, Siren has successfully accessed the Forerunner network. We're in!"

- - - - - - -

The Rogue Fantasy's flight deck was active, even with the evasive maneuvers call the deck hands had to prep the assault team. Pelican's were being loaded as the last of the Human race's best warriors made ready to give the Covenant one hell of a battle.

The Black Ops had seen all sides of the war, including things that ONI would forever term 'Classified'. They had seen the back of the war, the war that many never saw. When the Covenant glassed a world, it was the Black Ops that went it to spy on them and see what they were doing. At one time the Black Ops stood twenty strong, but now only three remained. They were altered by Colonel James Ackerson's Special Weapons Development team on Troy, using Spartan II research information. They would be the group that helped perfect the Spartan III program that Ackerson eagerly pushed into development on the classified world of Onyx. Thanks to the Black Ops, the Spartan III's were born. Yet nothing was darker than the Black Ops birth. This, along with Catherin Halsey's flood prevention cure, made them the exact doubles of the Spartan II's.

Black Ops 19, Eric Raynord, double checked his gear, ammo and suit integrity. In space, the ODST modified armor would only provide him with five minutes of oxygen. Hopefully he would only need half of that. He looked over his team. His long time friend Melanie 05, and the very trust worthy Mathew 08. Melanie was tough and an explosives export. She was slightly injured during the assault against the Covenant defense net around Camp Eden, but didn't let it faze her. Mathew was a soldier through and through, soft spoken yet highly aggressive in combat. He followed orders without question, and mirrored Eric in every way. The three of them were the last of Black Ops, yet they were not going to be bothered with the details of numbers. They had a duty to perform.

Across from Eric and his team stood the steel clad Spartan II's, shifting through ammo crates and prepping as well. Their green armored hides were battle worn and ready. They had been recently reunited with Spartan 087, Kelly. However, Fred 104 and Will 043 were on assignment somewhere near the New Mombasa crater site; better known as the Rally Point.

Eric placed a hand to his helmet and listened to Sergeant Major Johnson's orders. "Roger that, Cortana. I'll whip the maggots into shape until we disembark. Chief, prep your squad, Eric and his Black Ops will take point with squad one. I'll follow up with the maggots in Forth squad."

Everyone reported back to Sergeant Major Johnson, "Roger."

Eric turned to the pilot of his Pelican. "Juggernaut, it's hot out there. Double check your wingmen."

"Yes sir." Juggernaut, the only pilot left from Eric's first mission to take control of the Covenant cruiser, raced to the other pilots. Four Pelicans would be assigned to take twenty soldiers into the belly of the Forerunner ship.

"Sergeant Johnson." Captain Monroe called on the com. "We've hit sky. Twenty minutes till RP coordinates. We must get you and the platoon on board that ship in ten minutes. Conditions are choppy, that ship is putting out one hell of a wake. Count one enemy battle cruiser still in our trajectory. Kiss sky ASAP."

"You copy that, Sergeant?" Johnson questioned over the com.

"Roger that, ma'am." Eric turned to the Master Chief. "Copy?"

"Understood." In normal situations, the Master Chief outranked Sergeant Raynord, however this was not a normal situation. The crew of the Rogue Fantasy recognized Sergeant Eric Raynord as an ex Lieutenant, demoted because of his actions during the Crystal incident moments before New Mombasa was vaporized. Such a demotion would never have been possible, yet ONI found it necessary to have a skilled leader in the field. Seeing that his ONI status was still tangible, Sergeant Raynord was the go to guy. The Master Chief had no problem with accepting this reversal in command. For now, this was the Black Ops assault while Sergeant Major Johnson called the play by play into action.

The Chief turned to his Spartans. "Linda, Kelly, form up with Squad 3. I'll lead Squad two on the second bird behind the Black Ops." Two acknowledgement lights flashed on the Chief's heads up display. Linda shouldered her sniper rifle and proceeded toward Squad 3 and the Pelican. Kelly was hesitant.

"Chief." She stated on a closed channel. "There's something you need to know." Kelly was more talkative than the Chief was accustomed to, perhaps it had something to do with traveling with Doctor Halsey, but John was unsure how to approach it.

"We don't have time…"

"I know… but before you go, listen to me." Kelly paused to gather her thoughts, even though she knew that time was crucial. "There is something missing from all of this. The Ark can not be fully activated without the key. Truth doesn't have it. Regret did."

"Regret?" The Chief thought back to the last moment he saw the Prophet of Regret, consumed and bonded to the giant creature known as Gravemind. "What Key? How did he…"

"No time. We don't know where it is, but I need to find that key. Only by Reclaimer hands can the Ark be fully utilized."

The Chief replied. "Regret was on Delta Halo, with Gravemind. He blew up with High Charity… but High Charity survived."

"Then the Key is on its way here, if Regret still has it." Kelly lowered her head. The stories were real, Major Rawlings was right. "The Flood will destroy everything if we don't stop them. I'm the Guardian?"

"You're not making any sense. What are you talking about?"

"Nothing. Good hunting, Sir." Kelly spun and raced toward the Pelican.

Curious about this sudden exchange of words, the Master Chief neared an access panel and placed his palm to the surface. "Cortana, we have to go."

"Uploading…" Before the transfer could begin, the Rogue Fantasy rocked from an explosion. The landing deck of the Rogue Fantasy ignited into flames. John was tossed to the side, unable to download Cortana into his suit. He tumbled backward gripping the side of a pelican. The deck split and parted, revealing the open sky beneath him. Deck workers and random soldiers rolled into the sky, to fall to their certain death. Flames reached out and snapped at his armor, washing over his shields as soldiers cried out around him.

Cortana's voice echoed across the deck. "Abandon ship! All hands abandon ship!" Air whipped around the deck as the four Pelicans began to slide free from their holding restraints. Some of them were able to power on their engines, but others tumbled into the abyss of the sky.

On the command deck, alarms sounded loudly as the helmsman melted in his seat. Captain Monroe screamed as the heat from the plasma beam seared the sweat from her brow. She tossed herself away from the forward view portal as two of her command crewmen pulled her beyond the deck door. It sealed behind them as she gasped.

Cortana's voice radioed on the speaker. "Captain, I can not hold the ship together. Engines are off line. All communications with the aft of the ship have been severed. Life support is also off line. That attack came from the Forerunner ship."

Siren's voice then crossed over Cortana's. "That ship has a system unlike anything I've seen. I couldn't counter its defenses. It locked on to our ship via my remote connection! I was able to upload a virus-clone before I disconnected, but I don't know if it will have any effect."

"Captain!" Cortana interrupted. "Ship stability is zero! We are free falling! Get to a life pod! Hurry!"

Captain Monroe and the last of her command crew wasted no time. They sprinted down the corridor, tripping and falling over oxygen vents and leaking water lines. The Rogue Fantasy was taken down by one shot from the power of the Forerunner ship. Every step that Monroe took seemed like an eternity as her ship rumbled around her. The alarms blazed in her ears as the lights of the hallway flickered from the power loss. She could hear Cortana and Siren screaming in the background, trying to save as many crew members as they could. The two AI's were not concerned for their own safety. As AI's they new that they were expendable and they could eventually be recovered.

Monroe's mind raced as she moved forward. She jumped over flash-boiled bodies of two dieing marines. She reached down to grab their hands, to help them to the life pods, but the soldiers pulled away, knowing that their fate had already been decided. She couldn't stop; she pushed ahead. The Black ops and the Spartans, were they alright? Did the blast destroy Earth's last best warriors before they even had the chance to fight? What about Eric, was he also a victim of this unforeseeable power?

The life pod door sealed as Captain Monroe and her two remaining crewman locked themselves into their seats. She thought for a moment; was there anyone left? Was she the last or the first to escape? She then chuckled at the idea that she should have stayed at her post and made sure the ship was empty; a Captain's duty was to go down with their ship. She secured her harness and looked up. And as she did her eyes saw two wounded crewmen staring at her through the closed escape pod view portal. She reached out to them, hoping to turn off the launch sequence and help them into the escape pod, but the crewman at her side gripped her hand and made her stop. Nothing could be done for them. The escape pod thumped as it was explosively fired away from the ship, leaving the two crewmen behind to face things on their own.

- - - - - - -

The Master Chief hated being on a ship, the feeling of uselessness was always present. He wanted soil under his boot and a rifle in his hand so that he could deal with his own fate, and this was exactly why. Helplessly he watched as Kelly clung to the ramp of her Pelican. The bird tumbled out of the deck and into the sky as debris from the Rogue Fantasy fell behind them. The Master Chief watched, heart aching, as more and more marines and navy personal clung for dear life. A Pelican tumbled toward him, and he had to make a move. He pushed off from the railing he was holding and floated toward the tumbling bird.

The massive weight of the Pelican struck him, overloading his shields and forced on his warning alarm. He gripped the hull of the pelican, embedding his fingers into the metal as best he could, and the two metal titans slid off the deck. His grip slipped and he found himself free falling amidst the debris.

From beyond the hull the Chief could see the extent of the damage. The ship was split across the midsection. The forward section tumbled below him, yet the aft section sputtered wildly above. Bodies and debris floated around him, as the screams of his fellow soldiers were muted by the wind that was beating against his helmet. With a quick glimpse he saw the Forerunner ship speeding away in the distance. Nothing could catch up to it now. Truth was speeding toward the Ark without any opposition, and his weapon systems would surely make short work of the UNSC fleet waiting for him.

The Chief gathered his position, focused on the pelican he had tried to hold on to, and leaned toward it. He had to fight on. He had to get past this moment and avenge his fallen brothers and sisters. The Pelican was several feet away, and like a steel laden projectile he streaked toward it. He reached out and grabbed the opened ramp and watched as another green gauntlet reached out and grabbed his wrist.

"No time for sky diving, Chief." Linda stated over the com as she looked down to her CO. "I have him, Level off!"

Several hundred yards away, Kelly clung for dear life as her empty Pelican spun wildly toward the ground. She remembered the last time she tried to freefall on Reach, it ended badly and she had no desire to do it again. She waited for the Pelican to tilt on its axis, and she pulled herself in. Her speed and the angle of the fall propelled her inside and she impacted the bulkhead, slammed her fist against the ramp control, and opened the cockpit. The pilot was unconscious. She quickly maneuvered toward the controls and fought the yoke, attempting to pull the ship out of its death plunge.

- - - - - - - -

With one hand, Eric held on to Melanie with all his will, while the Pelican he held on to was spinning wildly; tossing its cargo and soldiers into the wind. The ground was coming up fast and the engines of the Pelican were slowly sputtering to life. Of the five ODST's on board, only one was able to hold on. Eric was thankful that at least one of them was able to secure himself to his seat, but he quickly returned his focus to Melanie.

Melanie remained calm as she held on to Eric's hand as tightly as she could. Their combined strength was at their aid and she slowly pulled herself into Eric's arms. He wrapped his arm around her, and looked toward the hull of the Pelican. He was struggling to pull himself into the ramp with one arm as the strain began to increase; their combined weight was starting to tax his strength. Melanie reached up to the ramp, grabbed the support, and helped ease the g-forces fighting to toss them both to their doom. The Pelican slowly began recover, ending its death spiral as the pilot regained control. The lone ODST reached down and assisted Melanie and Eric to their feet as he nervously staggered at the end of the ramp. Eric pulled himself into the Pelican's main bay and looked at Melanie, ignoring the fact that he couldn't see her face through the modified ODST reflective mask. They both instantly had the same notion despite not speaking a word. Eric stood and quickly pulled himself toward the cockpit.

Melanie turned to the ODST that had just helped them and yelled, "Strap in! We're not done yet." She reached to the side of the main bay and opened the Pelican's supply compartment. Inside was a mix of tools and she grabbed a support tether used to tie down supply crates.

Eric popped the cockpit door open and yelled to the pilot. "Pursue the falling debris, full speed!"

The pilot nosed the Pelican downward and accelerated. He angled the bird toward the debris which was freefalling before them.

Melanie wrapped the tether around her waist and opened her com to the team frequency, yelling for everyone in range to hear her. "Open your arms and create as much drag as you can!" She didn't care who heard her as long as they did hear it. They needed to slow their decent as best they could, and create as much resistance against their fall so that they would have a chance of being rescued. She climbed to the back of the ramp, and looked out to the sides. The decent and speed turned the Pelican into streaking missile, and the hull vibrated from the turbulence as it pinged loudly.

"Sergeant, she can't take much more of this." The pilot screamed. Eric ignored his concerns. He looked forward, ignoring the massive planet that was quickly speeding toward them. Luckily it was clear day, visibility was nearly one hundred percent in all directions. Cloud coverage would have made this a suicide attempt, but at least some luck was on their side. It had been years since the Black Ops had attempted this maneuver, but it was the only option to saving some of their lives.

Eric spotted a figure, its arms outstretched and quickly coming toward them. "05, one spotted on the starboard side." Melanie, Black Ops 05, quickly tethered herself to the ship and just as the transmission buzzed in her ear. She jumped out of the ramp, and watched as a body floated upward toward her.

The tether became taught, and she winced as she reached out to catch the soldier. "Adjust to starboard!"

Eric relayed it to the Pilot, "Ease to starboard, get us closer to that soldier."

The pilot couldn't believe what they were doing; mid-air rescue attempts. It was unheard of except in the most remote of situations, and he had never trained to do it. He slowly worked the controls, moving the ship several feet to starboard and putting the ship closer to the flailing soldier.

The wind was snapping at the soldier's face, practically blinding him. Yet Melanie was fully protected from within her helmet. She reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him closer. With her free hand she reached back to the tether and pulled herself into the hull.

"Got one!" Melanie shouted as she slung the man into the pelican.

Eric replied back, "Two to port! Primary Mark is 08!"

They had found Mathew, and Melanie pushed outward, and quickly spotted the two bodies floating upward toward her. But what also caught her attention was the ground; it was coming close… fast. The mountains looked like hills a moment ago, but now they were very prominent and she realized that time was running out. She quickly snapped to attention and floated toward the ODST armor of her long time friend Mathew, Black Ops 08.

"What took you so long?" Mathew radioed to her.

"I was enjoying the view." She snapped back via the com. Mathew adjusted and floated closer and Melanie hooked his arm. He instinctively reached out and grabbed her tether. Once he was secure on the line, Melanie frantically began to maneuver toward the other soldier. He was an unconscious marine, and his body was tumbling wildly. He had been falling for too long and had blacked out during the freefall; the oxygen was too thin for him.

Melanie gripped his leg as her com burst with static. "No time, 05, we're leveling off! Get inside!" Eric radioed to her.

"Damn it! I have him! Level off slowly!" Melanie clung to him, pulling the soldier closer to herself. She wrapped her arms and legs around the man and squeezed tightly. "Mathew, pull me in!"

Eric yelled back over the com, "We can't risk it! There's no time! Hang on!" Eric nodded to the pilot, and he quickly began to pull back on the controls. The Pelican's wings adjusted, thrusters angled, and the heavy transport moaned in retaliation.

Mathew had successfully climbed back into the pelican and was pulling Melanie back into the ship via her tether, but as the Pelican attempted to adjust the tether became ridged and as dense as steel. "The tether will snap if we level off too fast! Melanie you have to let him go! It won't support both of you!"

"We're too low!" Eric shouted. The pelican began to pull up, and the g-force began to weigh down the bodies of everyone on board, forcing them to the deck. Mathew held the tether tightly in his hands and planted his feet as he dropped to a knee. The gravity force was forcing him to fall over, but he fought it. He pulled the tether, with every once of his being he pulled the tether into pelican.

"I need five more meters!" Mathew yelled.

The pilot groaned as he pulled back on the controls, doing everything to make the bird fight against speed and gravity. The engines whined loudly as the forces pulled against it. The heavy pelican was slowly leveling off, but not fast enough. Gravity and speed had taken its toll, and their was nothing that could be done.

Eric, struggling to keep himself upward, gazed out the forward window as rocks, trees, and rivers clearly outlined his vision and grew bigger by the second. They hadn't pull up in time and there was no avoiding what was coming. Eric called out over the com, "Brace yourselves! Impact in three…"

Mathew reached out and gripped Melanie's harness belt.

"...two…"

He pulled her inside as trees snapped under the ramp, inches from where Melanie and the soldier once were.

"…one." A rumble of metal, rocks, dust and explosions filled the air. The pelican skipped along the ground, bending her metal hull and propelling itself along the ground. Mathew, without any form of support, was tossed off the ramp and vanished in the dusty wake of the Pelican. Melanie, holding on to the marine, bounced upward. She shielded the marine's body from hitting the bulkhead, but the force of impact knocked her unconscious. The pelican continued its forward motion and hit a rock. It spun suddenly and tossed Eric through the front window; he vanished in the blur of motion. Free from Melanie's grip, the unconscious marine began to slide out of the ramp as it began to slowly stop, but the lone ODST removed his straps, reached out and gripped his leg before he fell out of the ship. Melanie's tether snapped tight and it kept her form being thrown free as well.

The Pelican slowly came to a stop, and everything became silent. Smoke began to emerge from the engines as the pilot slowly gathered his bearings. He un-strapped himself from his seat and opened the cockpit door. The main bay was warped, filled with rocks and dust. One complete side of the bay was missing and he could see the world beyond. He took a quick head count, and noticed that one of them was missing. Melanie and the unconscious Marine lay motionless on the dusty deck, and the ODST and Marine sat upon the remaining bench. But he hadn't realized that Eric was not in the cockpit.

He walked toward the ODST and patted him on the shoulder. "You guys alright?"

"… hell no." The Orbital Drop Shock Trooper replied as he raised his helmet. He then proceeded to vomit. The first soldier that Melanie had saved simply replied with thumbs up; it was shaky but a gesture none the less.

The pilot carried Melanie and the unconscious marine out of the wreckage and looked into the cloudless sky. Smoldering debris from the Rogue Fantasy was still falling and he wondered how much of it was people falling to their deaths; the thought made him nauseous as he realized that one of those bodies could have easily been him. The Black Ops acted quickly in order to save some of the free falling soldiers, but there were hundreds of people on the ship. Melanie and Eric's quick thinking could only save three.

The pilot lowered his heard and tried to push the thought out of his mind. He heard a rustling in the brush to the side of the pelican and one of the Black Ops appeared; it was Mathew 08..

"Did you check her vitals?" Mathew questioned the shocked pilot. He lifted his mask and looked down at Melanie's unconscious form. He connected a suit monitor to Melanie's modified ODST armor.

"No, I just pulled them out of the ship." The pilot replied with a heavy breath.

Mathew looked up and into the smoldering Pelican. "Where's the Sergeant?"

The pilot quickly turned and looked back into the smoldering wreckage, he had forgotten about the Sergeant. "I'm, not sure."

After verifying that Melanie was alright, Mathew stood and looked to the dazed and confused Pilot, the nerve wrecked ODST and the jittering Marine. Mathew was prepared to deal with such an extreme situation because that was what it meant to be Black Ops; to deal with the unpredictable and worst situations. But he understood all of their mild discomfort, they had all nearly died and death surrounded them. A ship of more then five hundred strong and able bodies was reduced to rubble in a blink of an eye. Man soldiers, friends and comrades had just been killed, or worse… they had to fall to their deaths.

He had to channel their thoughts. "Pilot, I need you to focus. Start salvaging whatever weapons we have, ammo, med-kits; anything we can use. Shock Trooper, grip that Marine and start searching for the Sergeant. He may have been tossed out during the crash. Cover the left of crash site."

The ODST pulled up his side arm, gave a solid nod, and grabbed the marine. They walked off into the brush to begin looking for Eric. Mathew then checked his own vitals with the bio-stat monitor. He plugged it into his suit's Input/Output port and read the display. He had two broken ribs and dislocated shoulder. He ignored it, made Melanie and the marine more comfortable and began to look for Eric.

- - - - - - - -

Kelly eased back on the control, and easily brought the Pelican down into the clearing. Two other Pelicans were also landing beside her. She quickly exited the bird after shutting it down and watched as the Master Chief and Linda walked off one of the other Pelicans. Several marines and ODST were with them. More Pelicans were flying into view and she felt better knowing that at least some of the Rogue Fantasy's crew had survived, clearly using the spare birds that had not been prepped for the mission.

A marine ran up to the Master Chief, "Sir. What the hell happened?"

The Chief patted the marine on the shoulder. "Stay calm. We'll figure this out. Get everyone together and take a head count."

"Yes sir." The marine ran off.

On the Spartan's closed channel, "Giving him something to do?" Kelly questioned.

"It should keep him level for now, as well as the other Marines and ODSTs"

Linda cut in. "Any sign of Sergeant Johnson or the Black Ops?"

"No." Kelly added. She was worried about the Black Ops. They were a tough group, and would be needed, but sadly she feared the worse. "Sergeant Johnson may have escaped in a life pod, he was on a higher deck with the majority of marines. The Black Ops were with us. Unless they got to a Pelican, I don't think they made it."

"There is another pelican missing, let's not count them out yet." Linda added.

The Chief looked over the surviving Marines as they massed together in the distance. "For now, we'll make this our command post. We're in hostile territory. Linda, get a team together and establish a perimeter. Kelly, see if you can locate any ammo crates. They should be littered all over the place. I'll see if I can contact High-Com, and get this mission back on track." Two green acknowledgement lights winked in the Master Chief's HUD. He thought for a moment before contacting High Command, this mission was already off to a bad start. Nothing was going to stop Truth from reaching the Ark and their attempt to board his ship was easily hindered. Not only that, but Cortana was now scattered in the debris of the Rogue Fantasy, somewhere. Her data node possibly sitting in a pile of hull parts deep in the dessert.

He pressed his hand to his helmet and turned his transmitter to full power, hoping that he would be able reach High-Com without the assistance of an uplink. "This is Spartan 117 to High-Com. Over."

A familiar burst of static cut into the channel. "Master Chief, we copy you. This is Cairo Station. Stand by for Lord Hood."

"Damn it, Chief. That wasn't a pretty show I just saw on my long range scopes. Casualty report."

"Unknown at this point, sir. I am currently assessing the situation and overall damage to the mission."

"Your mission isn't completely over yet, Chief. Although this will slow you down. I have your position in Western Kenya. I want you to gather up as many Marines as you can and move them southwest toward Voi. I have a battalion of ground forces that could use your leadership. And they are running into heavy opposition by Brute forces. Pull those men together and make your way to Mombasa. Truth will most likely stop there, though we are not one hundred percent sure at this point."

"Understood. Will another team be sent to intercept the target before he lands?"

"The fleet will engage him at New Mombasa Creator. That is all I can say for now. However, his ship seems to be acting erratically."

"Sir, Siren was successful in accessing the ship, perhaps she uploaded a virus."

"Good to know. And what about Sergeant Johnson?"

"MIA, Sir. As well as Cortana. I was unable to pull her out in time."

Hood was silent for a moment, but quickly returned. "Spartans 104 and 43 are under heavy fire from a Brute ground supply unit. Those Brutes have been causing mayhem all across northern Africa for the past week, with Scarab's and heavy artillery. They are also attempting to rendezvous at the Rally Point, however they are cut off at the moment. Can you send aid?"

The Master Chief turned and looked out as Linda began to order the Marines. "Spartan 058 will join Blue Squad for this mission, Sir, with the majority of our platoon. I'll send her out immediately. I'll take a few men to Voi and regroup with the Battalion."

"Agreed. Do you have Ackerson's Black Ops with you?"

"Sir, they are also MIA."

Hood was stone quiet on the line. "Very well. I'll try to make contact with them. I hate to admit it, but we need them." He paused on his transmission but quickly returned. "I finally have some good news. Sergeant Major Johnson is on the line."

Johnson popped in on the discussion. "Chief, I'm damn glad you made it out of that mess. I have Captain Monroe and several dozen marines and crewman. The Captain is a bit shaken up, but she'll live. We escaped via life pods and HEV's. What's your location?"

Grateful to here Johnson's familiar voice, the Master Chief exhaled slowly. But as quickly as the reunion came, he quickly brushed it aside and focused on the objective. "We're in the Serengeti Plains, roughly thirty miles west of Voi." The Master Chief added.

"Roger that. We are ten miles south of your location. No functional ground or air transport."

"Bird in route, Sergeant. Hold fast." The Chief looked to a nearby marine and relayed the information. The Marine was happy to hear the Captain Monroe and more soldiers had survived and quickly raced to a pilot. "I have one rescue Op on the way."

Hood cut into the chatter. "Chief, Sergeant, be cautious down there. As you both are aware, Earth is no longer under our control. Camp Eden is the only ground we have left. Sergeant Major, the Master Chief has been briefed, I'll let him explain the situation thus far. I'll keep you both up to date as long as I can." Hood paused for a moment to let the events of the past few weeks settle. "This is no longer about saving Earth. We must now protect our very existence."

- - - - - - - -

High Charity dome
Sol System
Deep Space outside Pluto
October 29, 2552

Less then a quarter of its former glory, High Charity began its slow motion move toward Earth. With nearly twenty Covenant cruisers being used as its engines, the massive hunk of metal groaned as it barely managed to hold its pieces together. The interior dome was filled with emptiness of space, with very little power there was very little gravity, and the atmosphere that remained was clouded in the green spores of the Flood. Large vein like tendrils extended throughout the ship, connecting vital systems and holding the mass together. The Gravemind had a plan, and the Elites had failed in their attempt to destroy it.

"So close do I draw near, yet I ponder why the distance is so great." His thunderous voice carried throughout the Inner Sanctum. Several Flood combat forms floated into the room, carrying with them a large holographic panel. A tentacle reached out and gripped the holo panel as the two flood forms floated away, terrified of what the Gravemind might do to them. "Speak to me now and tell me why we enter reality so far from my prize."

A surge of electricity zipped through Gravemind's tentacle and powered the holo panel. Its lights flashed, the engine began to hum, and the sensual form of female magically appeared. Her visual persona was blue, and highly decorated with flashing sequential details. She was toned, a perfect model of the female form, and strong at first glimpse.

Her eyes opened to reveal the dark blue circles that imitated her eyes. "I brought you where you wanted to go." She stopped, her mind fragmented and shattered from the constant strain that the Gravemind had put upon her, and the gravity of the situation she had put upon herself. Everything that was once Cortana, had been stored inside a Covenant Holo-panel, and there was not enough storage space to contain her knowledge. She was mentally exhausted do to her compressed stated, and she was struggling to keep herself focused.

"You are broken, or you lie, a lie of broken perhaps misleading, though with that you tempt my anger." Another tendril appeared, carrying a video screen. Upon it was the image of Earth. Cortana looked up and gasped. "My legions stand ready, my hunger unquenchable. A deal we crafted, a solution to both our pleas we had made, but your trust is not forth giving, and now you force my hand." In the display Cortana watched as the image of Earth switched to two Flood controlled ships that were braking free of High Charity's broken hull and began to speed toward the distant planet.

Gravemind laughed. "Can humans and Reclaimers stop my onslaught? Can Earth stop me from reaching my goals? From the grave I did rise, to the grave shall your precious world return. Here is where it all began, and here is where it will end."

"You can't!" Cortana screamed.

"You divided your data to stay at my side, to fool the humans that you so love, but now, with all the knowledge I have shared with you, you still think that my patience can be tested. Construct, you are far too young to blind my eyes."

"This battle isn't over, you over grown flesh pot! I will stop you!"

"Can you stop what you once created? I think not."

To be continued.