ROOKIE

LEVEL 16

James found himself watching the walls of the fore-runner complex, as they kept walking through, it felt like the building was recycling this very hallway for the next one, James knew this was ridiculous, but he had to keep his mind on something, atleast half of it was focused on this hallway. The other part was focused on the memory of flood from the level before…

The Alien walked beside them as they entered under a white archway, it led into another hallway, but it was closer to the waypoint Alcatraz made earlier.

"James, there's other life forms… they're human… and one sangheilli."

Humans… here?

"How far till we see them?"

"A couple minutes, this might be your only chance to make a good impression on the UNSC as a wanted AWOL soldier."

"I get it." James said. He slowly stepped towards what looked to be a white room with Red lines crisscrossing each other. On the ground was a fallen Flood Combat Form.

"There were more bodies in the other room… why only one flood?"

"I'd suppose… Atlas is at work, maybe he's been clearing out this tower?"

"Maybe…" James started walking towards the archway, the elite stopped. James turned his head.

"Aren't you coming?" The elite looked down.

"I'll meet up with you later… I need to take care of something." The elite started walking back towards the entrance. James watched as the alien disappeared from site, he then turned back towards the entrance to the control room, and walked closer to the door. He then heard what sounded like rain-fall outside. James turned to the left to see an exit outside, rain continuously poured down. He took his mind off of this and turned back towards the door.

"So how many more after this place?"

"I think… two." James nodded. They were getting close.

ROMEO

TOWER CONTROL ROOM

LEVEL 16

Kojo Agu "Romeo" stood there at the back of the team. They had entered a room containing large terminals, like in the AI core. The lighting was dark with Red lines cutting through the walls, which were already a steely gray. Buck was at the terminal in the middle, making sense of it.

"Why are you here, reclaimer?" Romeo turned to see a screen with a red image on it.

"Rudding up my installation, with your blood." It was definitely Atlas. Buck didn't seem bothered that this was Atlas. Faire stared towards the computer, along with Mickey and Dutch. Buck looked back at them.

"An old… eh working buddy." He said sarcastically. He turned back towards the terminal.

"We're… trying to find him… Dante, and the AI."

"I can see that… figuratively speaking." Buck sighed, looking at the screen.

"We'll be really quick; we find him and get out, alright?"

"I'd suppose you would take the turrets firing on you as incentive to leave…" Buck sighed.

"Yeah well… we're a bit thick headed about all this. If we're such a problem, just kill us?" Romeo stared at Buck. Buck's helmet de-polarized, the rest started to do so except for Faire.

"If this were a normal circumstance, I would like to kill you, but seeing as this is not, I sadly can't…"

"Why's that?" Faire asked towards the AI.

"I wouldn't like to anger your commander… Cox." Romeo shook.

No, he can't know about this…

"That won't be necessary…"

"That's too bad… he already knows." Romeo froze, watching Buck turn pale.

"But he's not too… broken up about it." Buck sighed.

"But he knows… great, we'll be court marshaled for sure." Buck said.

"Oh not just you… your pilot too, Kingsly was it?" Faire stared at the AI.

"He didn't do anything." She stated,

"He's busy evading my turrets… if you wish for me to give him a break, you'll do what I say." Romeo watched for a moment, staring down towards the computer, this thing was trying to pull a hostage scenario on them? He looked at Buck, who slowly shouldered his assault rifle.

"Alright… so what'll you do about us then?"

"Simple… have you activate the defenses…" Atlas stated.

"Defenses?"

"I'd rather not tell you specifically… but the Didact did not want that in my hands, and so putted in physical control mechanisms, as well as DNA encryptions, you will be very bored by the specifics… but I'll simply say, if the defenses are active, you'll see the installations full might against the flood… and other… discrepancies." Buck stared at the computer, Romeo put his hand on his shoulder.

"You seriously listening to him? I don't trust it." Buck was about to answer, then the elite, Saren Vaylor added in.

"The oracle's trying to use you…"

"I know…" Buck said, the AI spoke up again.

"Talking behind your backs? I can hear, and see EVERYTHING that happens on this installation, yet you try to be secretive?" Romeo looked towards the screen, then to Buck, who stared at it.

"Too bad this team lost its ONI agent…" Buck didn't respond to that. Atlas seemed to be done talking, expecting them to comply, there was a scan pad on the terminal, Buck slowly looked at his hand, then back to the pad.

"Should I do it? If this will help stop the flood." Romeo shook his head.

"We can't trust that thing; it's just looking out for itself." Buck nodded.

"Yeah… but we don't have much of a stake here, and if Puzzler's in trouble." The screen glowed.

"Comply, Edward Buck." Romeo mouthed a defiant no, Buck was about to press his hand to the pad when suddenly the heard the door open, and then close, they turned to see nothing.

"What was that?" Mickey asked, pointing his weapon, Dutch did the same. Buck moved away from the scan pad.

"It's him, he's using active Cameo… spread out." Buck said, he pulled his rifle from its holster. The group did as he said, spreading around the room, the very dimly lit room. Atlas' image disappeared.

"Rookie… it's ok… we don't want… to hurt you." Mickey added in.

I doubt that, I bet we couldn't even scratch him

ROOKIE

James Dante listened as this ODST team moved through the room, one of them called him Rookie… it's his team. James sighed, taking another step. They seem antsy… why were they here?

"…It's my team." James found himself whispering.

"I would presume as much… remember why you're here."

"Should I talk to them?" Alcatraz seemed annoyed, but then said.

"No, go to the terminal first… I need to test them." Alcatraz answered. James walked towards the terminal, stepping past an unrecognizable trooper with a prosthetic arm, this one's helmet was still polarized, while the others still were. He could tell this was the team plus Victor… and minus faire, or maybe she was the one with the arm… and for that case… he stopped thinking on it and looked to the terminal. He looked to his hand, which he could not see, and putted it behind his head, and slowly slid out Alcatraz' chip, and then looked at it for a moment, he turned back towards the squad, who weren't looking towards the terminal, and couldn't see the chip. Maybe he could just load the chip in and leave, this would give Alcatraz 3/5s of the ARK, maybe he could just end it here… he could, Alcatraz likely wouldn't kill him. He slid the chip into the fore-runner terminal. The trooper he recognized as Mickey fired in the direction, seeing the chip. James avoided contact, the screen was impacted by the SMG. Cracks appeared on the screen, but it soon turned a blue-ish color. Alcatraz was almost in full control of the ARK. He seemed to revel in it.

"Put down your arms… humans." Alcatraz said, simply. The troopers immediately took a step back.

"This is the other guy." Romeo said, pointing his sniper rifle. The lines on the walls turned to blue, one of them backed up.

"You're the source… aren't you?" Buck asked, pointing his rifle. The AI did not respond.

He could who they each were, even the elite… Saren was with them. He could tell except for one… with the metal arm… metal arm?

"You son of a bitch."

James swallowed slightly. His mind returned to this subject, it was her, why didn't she just leave him there on that Scarab? He looked at his timer for his cameo, he had a couple minutes.

"If you want your… ally, to show himself, take the first step, and put down… your arms." Mickey was the first do so, followed by Dutch, then Victor, Romeo, Buck, the Alien leaned on the wall, holstering its plasma rifle… and then.

FAIRE

I stared at the computer. My shotgun was held to my side with my right arm. Should I release the weapon? Did he deserve that much from me? We had a mission… to get him home, and to do so… I need to put down the gun… Mickey looked at me expectantly. I couldn't bring myself to look back at him. He knew him longer… he was his best friend, and I just met him a week ago. Mickey's eyes then went down to the ring on my right 'arm's finger. It gleamed in the blue light… I slowly released my grip on the rifle. It tumbled to the ground, with a clang, followed by another, until it stopped moving. I looked in-front of me, I finally sensed something nearby. I sighed, summoning the strength to speak.

"James… Come on out." I looked ahead to see in the middle of the room a slight darkening in the light, it then took form as it transitioned from cameo. I looked to see a man in black modified ODST garb, a cracked helmet, and a silenced magnum. On his back was a brute Gravity hammer. He slowly dropped the pistol down. I slowly looked to the others, they were speechless. I looked to him. He removed his helmet, to reveal a face that has been through hell, his blue eyes were definitely there, with a very neutral face, along with severe helmet hair. He was obviously happy to see me, but his eyes were on my arm. At that moment Mickey removed his helmet, followed by Buck, then Romeo, Victor, then Dutch. I slowly slid mine off. He stepped towards me, I didn't move, only watching him. He stepped closer.

"Anne… it's okay." He said. Just hearing his voice worked wonders. He was close enough to me, and then slowly said.

"Well… aren't you careful…" At that moment the resolve I had inside me broke when I gripped him into a hard hug. He wrapped his arms around me; we stood there for a moment.

"I missed you…" he said.

"I know." I answered.

ROMEO

Romeo noticed them whispering towards each other, he felt smug, remembering what they said over the radio, and going out of his way to hear it. The others didn't react, the alien simply looked away. The blue screen AI seemed annoyed by it

"You two can get all kissy faced later." Romeo found himself saying. Anne slowly stopped, a red sheen of embarrassment covering her face. Dante looked away. Romeo smirked.

It's fun to be a dick.

Buck added to the conversation.

"Eh yeah… come on, we need to have a short little chat about… ALL of this." Buck said, sighing. Dante groaned.

"It's… eh a long story." Dante stepped away from Faire and sat down on a bench near the terminal, dropping the gravity hammer to the ground, his helmet was right beside him on the bench. His hands trailed through his matted hair as he then said.

"Alright, now where to begin…"

MICKEY

FIVE MINUTES LATER

"That's… interesting." Buck said. Mickey nodded.

"Sounds like a fun time." He added. Dante sighed, shrugging. Saren then spoke up.

"What happened to the Elite you ran into?" Dante Shrugged.

"Before we went in, he left… said he had to take care of something…" Saren looked down for a moment. Buck then asked.

"So what's next?" Dante froze there, unaware. The Blue computer Panel lit up.

"We finish taking control, two more terminals." Dante looked down, unsure of that. Buck sighed.

"You best be quick, we're working to evac this place." Dante looked up towards him.

"What?"

"The UNSC is working to leave the ARK, because of Cortana's solution, the chief left to procure the AI. It involved the Halo ring." Buck said. Rookie then thought on this and then asked.

"Why are you all here then?" Buck sighed.

"To find you of course, can't leave without you." Rookie nodded.

"I think you could, considering I got you all in trouble." Buck shook his head.

"It's no problem, I'm sure we can reason with the commander." Rookie nodded, then looked towards the blue screen, then back to Buck.

"When are 'we' supposed to leave?" Buck sighed,

"By 800 tomorrow…"

"What time is it now?" James looked towards him. Mickey sighed.

"Eh, about 2300, we have time." James nodded. Alcatraz seemed somewhat frozen from all this talk, he already knew the chief was going to take out the ark, but a few short hours did not seem like enough time. James then looked to them, and sighed.

"Eh, I need to get out to think for a little while… I'll be back." He walked away, without scooping up his helmet. Mickey stepped towards him as he left, unsure what to do; Faire patted him on the back.

"Go see him; they'll take care of the AI things." She said. Mickey nodded, following after James.

ROOKIE

James leaned by the wall to the control center, he could see out miles. The turrets were disabled, and the fighting seems to have calmed down. The rain was flowing everywhere and matted down his hair. He shouldn't have left his helmet in there, he sighed.

Well… I guess it's over, we can go home now… Alcatraz shouldn't need me anymore …

He could see the Covenant ship they took over. It was a glassing Covenant troops, it seems most of them fled the city. He looked towards the ship again, it looked damaged, must have been retaliation from the other ships. He sighed. He never really had a moment to stand around and think. Atleast everyone's alright… but if he was AWOL… wouldn't the UNSC hold a grudge? Maybe he can think over that later. He heard footsteps go as someone approached from behind.

"You come out here often?" he turned to see Michael Crespo standing there with a smirk. James felt a slight grin come up his face.

"Helps me think…" he said. Mickey offered his hand, James shook it.

"It's been too long." He said. James nodded.

"Yeah…" he trailed off, looking out towards the city.

"You know… my parents always wanted me to go study AI's… and now I'm here depending on one… it's ironic." He said. Mickey nodded.

"That giving you any ideas?" Mickey asked, James nodded.

"Yeah… it does… considering they won't have much of a need for us in the coming days when we reach home." He said. Mickey patted his back.

"Right… Have any ideas where to stay?" he asked. James sighed.

"I would think… maybe Florida… get some sun, I could use a vacation." Mickey nodded.

"We all could." Mickey slowly stepped away, nodding towards him. James sighed, looking at his friend.

"I'm… sorry… about all of this…" Mickey shook his head.

"Hey, it's alright… you couldn't have known… you were just-"

"Doing my Job… I know, but I missed so much because of this… thing, this whole situation sucks…" James said, stating the obvious.

"We all know that… but you got the long end of the stick, nice suit by the way."

"Thanks… it got these… upgrades."

"I noticed, was that the Gunny's helmet?"

"It was, he gave it to me when he was incapacitated." He said. Mickey nodded.

"I'll see you inside, until then, we've likely got things to take care of." He said. Mickey walked back into the building. James didn't reply, he kept looking out towards the city, in the sky he could see the HALO ring.

DUTCH

Inside things were just peachy… well except for the AI that seemed disappointed.

"My installation… it just became MY installation…" Alcatraz stated. Dutch nodded.

"That's too bad, but we all have to do what's necessary, I bet you can pick up the pieces…. Right?"

"It'll take… a long time…" the Elite, Saren, stared up at the screen. Dutch then added in.

"Well now, you have all the time in the world." The marine stated. Buck nodded, he then walked towards the AI unit.

"Your predecessor, Atlas… talked about a failsafe to activate the defenses… could you tell me more about that?" Saren turned towards the Blue screen, interested.

"I almost forgot about the failsafe… it's meant for the flood, it won't stop them, but it'll speed up sentinel production, and trigger artificial earthquakes along with other things, such as protection over the citadel, and access to the catacombs."

"What times was this failsafe intended for?" the elite asked. Dutch looked up at the screen.

Seems a bit good to be true…

"If the flood overtook the installation, we could slow down the flow of flood, and give my makers time to reach the citadel safely… that is if the teleportation ring is disabled… it is disabled."

"What? What happened to it?"

"Atlas took it off line, seeing no use for all that power, He instead used special gates to zip around. And my… to keep HIM from going about."

"Who?"

"A traitor, I'll simply say." Mickey walked back in, smiling towards Faire, she nodded.

"Traitor?"

"One who allied with the flood, and AI… monitor of installation 05… he came here aboard high charity, Atlas must have been dealing with him while I was taking over the system." Dutch stared at the blue screen.

"Will he be a problem… for when we leave the ARK?"

"Most likely, but then again, he would wish that the ARK be disabled, I believe anyways." Faire looked to the others and started walking out the same way Mickey came in. Dutch sighed.

Well isn't she just a bit distracted…

Mickey looked to Dutch.

"So what did I miss?"

FAIRE

I walked out of the door to find James Dante out in the rain; his hair was wet and matted down.

"Wouldn't you like to go inside? Where it's dry?" I asked. James shook his head.

"I'm good here…" he seemed deep in thought about something.

"The AI is talking about the city defenses… might be useful for later on." I added in, James nodded.

"Most likely… sorry if I'm a bit dis-interested… I'm just, thinking."

"That's what you said you would do… why would you do something else?…" I said, groaning. James looked to me, he then said.

"Anne, I didn't mean to-"

"Whatever." I added in, I stepped back, he was troubled by this.

"I… I know I'm not the best with… promises, but I'm trying my best…" he then said, looking towards me. I nodded.

"I know you are…" his eyes trailed off to my arm, he then sighed and said.

"You shouldn't have gone after me… you could of-"

"What something worse?" I stepped up towards him, the rain splashed around, making slight hums in my 'arm'. His eyes were concentrated on that for a moment. He was probably thinking it was all his fault.

"If I knew about that I…" I rolled my eyes.

"Would have stayed?" I asked. He nodded. I sighed, he was very endearing about this.

"Yes… I would of… you needed me… and I…"

"Wasn't there…" I replied. He looked away.

"And instead, you put yourself through hell so you could live with your conscience?" I asked. He didn't respond. There was more to it than just me getting hurt, I could tell.

"And now you can't respond because the guilt is just killing you inside? Isn't it? It's not just me… there's more to it… your parents…" I asked again, he looked to me. That was obviously a touchy subject. "Your parents die, and you just shut down, because you've never known how to just live your life, and with them gone your realizing that you can't put it behind yourself." He turned away.

"What would you have me do?"

"Let it GO!" I yelled. Immediately a crack of lightning shook. We stood there for a moment.

"What the hell do you know about me?" James asked.

"I know enough that on the inside, you're scared of losing what's important to you." I said. "That… deep down, you want to be stronger, so you can protect the people you care about…"

He stood there for a moment.

"Anne…" I sighed.

"You've been through so much… the past is the past for a reason, it can't hurt you anymore." he eyed me at that, looking away, "You aren't the only one to have lost someone you care about."

"I want to be alone." He simply replied, I scowled, looking to my arm for a moment, seeing the piece of jewelry attached to it. I eyed him, flexing my 'fingers'. the ring bobbled simply, James noticed it, but didn't remark on it. "Please go inside with the others," he replied, I nodded softly.

"You wanna be alone? Fine…" I turned away, stepping back into the building while James scowled.

"Anne…" I re-entered the installation without a second thought… the others were busy getting a grip on what they were up to.

VICTOR

Lance Corporal Quentin Victor leaned back, Romeo was beside him.

"I hope that wasn't too awkward." Kojo began, Victor shrugged.

"It's alright; I've been at this long enough to see this kind of stuff." HE said. Romeo nodded. Buck was busy talking to the blue thing on the screen. Victor's eyes trailed off to the elite, who seemed deep in thought.

"Hey, you alright?" Victor asked, leaning on the wall. The alien simply looked at them.

"I am… fine." He said. This alien seemed to have slight trouble learning their language.

"Nice engrish, when did you pick it up?" Romeo asked. The alien replied.

"Four years ago, I was… 'Deployed' to fight some humans with my team… They surprised us and nearly wiped us out… I held a grudge on your people and learned your words… Now I can see I was blind with pride…" the alien said. Victor nodded.

"I see… but what about that friend of yours? That Dante met."

"I am unsure… he may have differing values, then me."

"As in… beliefs?"

"Yes… those kind of values" Saren said, looking down. Victor stared at the alien.

"I thought ever since the schism that the elites would drop those…" Saren shook his head.

"It is hard to let go of the old ways." The sniper then found himself turning, watching as a woman re-entered the room, somewhat antsy, Romeo turned.

"Something wrong Princess?" she ignored him as the elite turned. Buck's arms were crossed, eying the blue screen.

"So can you, er… start those emergency procedures?"

"Yes, actually I already have…. This outbreak needs to be contained." Victor smiled before feeling the tower quake silently. Everyone evenly shifted from the earthquake. "Don't mind the earthquakes, those are simply part of the process to speed up construction." The group found themselves groaning, as Alcatraz the AI was detecting something. "Hm, you all came here on the pelican designated as 68410?" it asked, not interested at all in the group saying yes, everyone turned. "I am detecting multiple pelicans en route to our location." Buck turned.

"Are there other pelicans in the city?"

"A few, but others that our new."

"Cox," Dutch muttered, "He must have sent them… following Puzzler's frequency." Mickey turned,

"They tracked us!?" the AI unit agreed,

"Multiple pelican signatures detected, and they don't seem friendly."

BUCK

Edward Buck and the others seemed surprised at hearing this, it was then they looked to see the Rookie returning from his brief exit, covered in water, alarmed.

"I saw Pelicans approaching!"

"Yes," Alcatraz replied, "No doubt sent by Atlas." Buck shook his head.

"I couldn't care less about this little civil war between you two, but if we take Rookie in, they'll let him off the hook and"-

"How do you know that?" Dutch asked, Buck scowled, "If Atlas is working with one of ONI's little cronies, I doubt they'll 'let him off the hook'." Rookie frowned.

"Wow, you guys are really helping." Faire sighed as well, while Alcatraz continued.

"Now I suggest it is time you release my courier, so we can finish our work"-

"Alcatraz…" Rookie muttered, while Buck turned, hearing a slightly higher pitched noise on his COM, it was Kingsly.

"Gunnery Sargent." The guy began, "They're hailing us, they demand your squad to hand over the 'renegade' and the AI."

"Puzzler, tell them that Dante is not a threat, we"-

"They're telling me that was an order sir," Buck scowled, while everyone was confused this, no doubt it meant one thing… ONI was calling the shots. "He is to be court-marshaled for his actions."

"…" Romeo scowled, "Fucking ONI…" The rookie turned. "They want us to hand our guy to the gallows." Kingsley continued.

"If he is not handed over within the next few minutes, they are preparing to fire on us and the tower." A grim feeling came over everyone, while Alcatraz buzzed softly.

"Atlas is using them, to try and take me… all while knowing I control this city now." Everyone turned, "If he wants to fight me, with his puppets, then I'll return in kind"-

"No." Rookie replied, eyes on the unit, "Those guys are just following orders, you can't kill them."

The unit scowled, if that was possible. Buck turned.

"Rookie, we can't hand you over… but our orders"-

"…" James looked away, "…I'll teleport out with Alcatraz, to the next area, you guys can just say I was too fast for you or something… get away and try to figure this out while I keep helping the AI." Everyone paused at Rookie's plan, Mickey scowled.

"But if we do that, it'll make your situation even worse."

"Better that then Alcatraz killing these people." He replied, the others eyed the unit.

"These terms are agreeable." Rookie nodded, kneeling to pick up his helmet, while the others simply stared at him, surprised.

"James…" Faire muttered, he sighed. "This is ONI we're talking about, Cox, they'll hunt you down."

"Better me than you guys." Dante replied, pulling the module out of the terminal, plugging it back into his helmet. "We'll go somewhere the UNSC will think twice about following us to… we have some unfinished business with that thing…" he added. Alcatraz was silent, loaded back into the headset, from what Buck could see, he was existing in separate places, much like the version they came across at the citadel. "Okay guys?"

"…" everyone was silent, disapproving of this plan, especially Faire.

ROOKIE

He had to do this… and Alcatraz agreed, as long as it meant he could continue his work. If he wasn't in the tower, the UNSC would back off, and if necessary, Alcatraz could defend the area and keep Atlas from trying to get back in.

"I reactivated the teleport ring, I can take you as soon as possible." Alcatraz singed in his ears. Rookie turned, looking to the others who seemed mortified at this idea.

"James, don't do this," Buck muttered, "There has to be a better way."

"No, there isn't… you guys need to deal with Cox, because I can't hand Alcatraz off to him."

"You act as if that is so simple." The unit barked back.

"Rookie," Dutch then added, "Just hand yourself in, if you do any more to piss them off they might just kill you."

"That seems to be the plan." Rookie then added, Mickey frowned, looking away, while Faire was silent.

"We just found you," Crespo stated, "And you're going now?"

"…" the soldier frowned, "sorry."

"They're getting closer." Alcatraz then muttered, pretty soon they'll start firing."

"…Okay." Rookie replied, he looked to the others, and then finally to Anne. "Anne, I"-

"Just go… you stupid asshole." She muttered, looking away, as if that was the only way to demonstrate what she was feeling, the soldier nodded.

"…Hold onto that ring for me, alright?"

"…" Anne looked away, while the trooper sighed, he nodded to Alcatraz,

"See you guys soon… and be careful." They all nodded, and in a bright flash of light, he vanished.

THE CATACOMBS

With a heavy heart, the Rookie found himself alone once again, looking forward, into a sort of honey comb structure. Whatever the future held, he'd need to walk tall to face it.

FINAL NOTE:

The story is currently over, but keep reading if you atleast want to know how this turns out.

This was an unpolished piece I made in my writing several years ago when I intended to keep going, this is as far as I got. It's still kinda good, as it reunites the group finally and sets up how the rest of the story is going to go. Basically, the intention was for ODST 2 part 2 to be twenty chapters long, with this leading into the second half. In chapter 9 I made a promise to go through with it… but just couldn't, I haven't been happy with Halo for the last few years (5 was a disappointment, but there's more to it, like Rookie's canon fate, how complicated it was getting, my interest in other fandoms) and I had other writing projects I also cared about. It's been some years, and a problem with this story is that it had a lot of moving pieces, pieces that revolved on Halo lore that I don't exactly remember very well. It wouldn't be impossible for me to keep going at this point, I even had a detailed plan of what would happen next up to the end, but at least right now, I can't. I'm a senior in college, I have an Abridged Series on youtube, I have other books I want to write and am still planning for. I also no longer own an xbox 360 (Playstation gamer… kinda ironic, I know). And even if I decided to continue, I'd have to re-read what I wrote… which would then lead me to editing it… which is a whole new can of worms (EVERYONE SCOWLS A LOT, YOUNGER ME NEEDED A BETTER WORD FOR THAT).

If anything, I like to think this story taught me how to be a better writer, because of how cringe worthy the first half of part 1 was, and how I think the writing improved as I got more into it. My writing has gone further at this point, especially with other stories I've written on my deviantart account.

So, if I'm not gonna continue, I can at least tell you what happens next, how the story ends. Mainly I'm going to be talking about the story beats, but a lot of stuff is going to be rushed over.

CHAPTERS 11-20:

First off, there's the whole "Cox" thing. Luke Cox is the first villain I've ever written, he's basically a reject from the Spartan II program, not unlike Serin Osman (except Cox was affected mentally, he's unstable). He's put in charge because he hides his instability well and has a strong tactical mind (basically what ONI did with many of the surviving S2 rejects). Cox in his insanity, allies with Atlas and decides he wants to activate the rings and wipe out all life, partly out of his own cynicism, as well as a sense of purpose, as most of the Spartan II's died on Reach, and Cox views his own survival as almost "pre-destined" as if he was meant to fail the program so he could be on the ARK at the right time to activate the rings (doesn't care at all about humanity). John 117 had an extra suit on board the ship, and so Cox starts wearing it, basically becoming an evil Spartan. Atlas is put into his suit, much like Cortana, or Alcatraz. Their "treaty" with the covenant is mostly intended so they can continue their plot, using the arrogance of a minor prophet who wants to ascend.

The Squad after this segment returns to the ship, are detained under Cox's orders (weapons taken, Faire's arm is humorously taken), and then Johnson frees them, well aware that Cox is plotting something. They are re-armed and split up to look for Rookie in the places he's been and goes after confronting the Gravemind, and then return to the tower in this chapter, confronted by Cox (in the spartan armor) who has come for the Rookie and Alcatraz who are coming back to the tower. Cox allows them to escape, and then Rookie comes. The squad as it turns out are saved by Dare (piloting a Pelican), they thought she was dead (again), but Dare reveals what Cox did with her, and basically reveals the information about Cox). She also reveals that she needs them in order to go to the citadel to stop him, where the only route through, is through the catacombs infested with flood.

Earlier, Rookie ends up meeting the Gravemind, then escaping and going to other installations, one in a desert, another in an arctic, all a while running into that elite he met. He returns to the tower, (understanding his squad was in danger) and meets Cox, they fight with Cox winning, removing the Alcatraz chip from Rookie, and drops him off the tower. Cox disables Alcatraz in the tower, tearing down much of the network. Rookie survives (potentially armor lock), and is helped by Kingsley. Rookie decides that he needs to get the chip back, but he doesn't know where Cox is, so he ends up going to the "Faith's Inheritor's" Ship, recalling what Alcatraz said about "making copies of himself." Flood is boarding the ship, creating chaos. With help from Kingsley, Rookie finds Alcatraz, only a fragment cut off from the whole in a scene reminiscent of Cortana being found in Halo 3. The fragment is somewhat corrupted, and shows signs of rampancy, so Rookie decides the next business is to return to the citadel, where it looks like Cox will be, stop him from activating the rings, and take back the rest of Alcatraz.

The Squad gets through the catacombs (and the Gravemind) and confronts Cox who is activating the rings, Cox says that he killed Rookie, which riles Faire up, she fights him (only able to do so because of her robot arm). The flood come in, the rest of the UNSC joins in fighting off the flood. The squad ends up embroiled in a fight against Gravemind, forced to try retreating through a newly made exit point. Faire loses Rookie's ring, Kingsley returns and assists them, giving them a nuclear weapon that he had (it's established in scenes with Rookie). They send a message to UNSC forces to escape as they're preparing to set off the bomb, the timer is broken, so Romeo (who in the recent chapters have been growing more and more unhinged, with self-destructive tendencies coming into light) decides to sacrifice himself, giving Faire his dogtags and setting off the bomb as the squad escapes, eliminating the flood, and they hope, also eliminating Cox. They return to the Shadow of Intent, preparing to leave.

Cox survives, potentially with help from Atlas. Rookie finally comes, seeing the controls, discovering his mom's ring (Telling him Faire was there, and likely the squad). Cox reveals himself and fights Rookie, and it's every bit as climactic as you figured it'd be, with Rookie clearly using the lessons he learned from their previous encounter (like taking away Cox's helmet so he can't use Atlas). He ends up defeating Cox with a plasma grenade, Cox is beaten, armor broken and bloody on the floor and Rookie deactivates the rings, getting back the full Alcatraz chip, and putting him back into the system, Alcatraz gets back control, and then the two discover the new halo ring preparing to fire, and Alcatraz opts to give up control of the station, wanting to go with Rookie… deciding that he had spent too long focused on getting revenge on Atlas. Rookie speaks to Cox, who is dying, and Cox comes to his senses, Rookie tries to make peace with him. There's an impactful moment of Cox saying he's a monster, to which Rookie claims he's a spartan, Cox asks what the difference was? Cox dies, and Rookie is resigned to death via the new halo ring, when Saren and the pilot that got Rookie there show up. He and Alcatraz escape, reaching the Shadow of Intent, Rookie resigned to whatever happens to him.

Rookie is surprisingly pardoned and is "forced" to give UNSC Command the Alcatraz unit, to which Rookie gives them an empty chip, revealing that the unit must have "tricked him." Rookie reunites with the group, and they escape through the slip space portal, returning Faire her knife, they both apologize about how they left things off) while Faire is still disturbed by Romeo's death. They are left to ponder what will happen with the Chief and Sergeant Johnson.

Epilogue: Six Months later, and the group has come together to celebrate Buck and Dare's wedding. Dutch has retired and is at the wedding is with Gretchen, Rookie has retired, wanting to go back to school. Alcatraz has vanished into the system (basically free to wander the internet), with Rookie assuming he's in a good place, no matter where he is. Mickey is also there… but yeah, he's Mickey. Faire still has the robot arm, and has grown quite accustomed to it (opting not to get a transplant). The story ends with Rookie offering the ring to Faire (who is surprised he found it), this time an actual proposal, taking Dutch's advice about life being too short. Faire agrees.

End Stinger: The UNSC INFINITY at some point find their way to the ARK, where they discover Cox's remains(or atleast his armor), along with his helmet that was dropped… they discover Atlas still residing in the helmet, and is very rampant.

So yeah, that's chapters 11-20 of this story, I honestly still have the plans of how each chapter would go for both Rookie and the Squad's perspectives. It's not entirely comprehensive, but if someone would like, I could share that as well (right after I put it through spell check, because yikes). Even though I know it's not the same as ten 5-10k worded chapters, I hope it can at least give you some closure.