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~Chapter 22: Boarded~ UNSC Ambient was under attack, Covenant ships breached from all sides. Hangars, Entryways, Armories, Windows... You name it, they came from there. Team Lord held a defensive position, but in no way would they be able to defend themselves in hopes to survive. Not in this elbow they wouldn’t. They needed to push forward and get to a secure room. If a pod were to breach that window, they’d all be sucked out from the vacuum. Joseph and Junior had arrived from the medical bay about five minutes before the event, to give them news up on Ash. Even if it was poor timing on their part, they would now need to push their way back and make it to her, in hopes of her recovery to continue. “Joseph and Magnus. Push forward on me. I feel like you will be needed in the med bay here soon enough.” Junior pleaded, an insidious tone on his tongue. “Sir, will do.” Joseph and Magnus fired upon the enemies that crawled into the room until there was a brief clear space. Joseph was daring and went first, shooting any of the arrogant Covenant that stood in his way. Let it be an Elite or Jackals. He took them down. Magnus stacked next. He made sure their backs stayed clear as they moved to the next room. Though not much of them followed, only a few minor grunts. “Good thinking Junior.” Runner modulated, “We need to secure an open area, yet enough cover provided for us. If we could just find the place to do so...” Runner’s voice was strangled by Junior’s interruption. “We’re going to the medical bay, despite orders. I’m sure we’ll be needed there soon enough anyways. Plus we can’t let them get to Ash.” Junior was gruff explaining his plan. “If that’s what you really think, Junior. Then we should. However, if you’re wrong in any case... I will hurt you for what you have done.” Runner’s voice sounded of the dead. “If that’s what it takes, then sure.” he replied roughly. They all headed down the next entryway. Archangel and Anne covered the rear as they moved forward. Frank messed around with one of the security doors, and managed to get it closed. Sealing off any Covenant that followed them from behind. “You know, having Jackson here right now would be a lot of help.” Frank whined. “Well he’s not going to, so you’re going to have to suck it up for once and do your job as a soldier. Even if you are a damn pilot. I don’t care, we’re doing what we need to and it’d be nice if you would do the same.” Junior was intense. All Runner could do was glare, as if he knew something came up or was about to happen. All he told them about Ash was that they were almost finished with the procedures and all they would have left to do was just wait until she woke up. The next room seemed safe, however they still had six more to go before they arrived at the medical bay. Who knows what laid between them and there now... “Alright guys, whatever’s in these hallways are what’s there. Let it be Grunts or Jackals. Maybe even Elite’s. We need to eliminate them and proceed to Ash, understood?” Runner worried. They nodded their head in agreement, weapons faced at the door. ----------------------------------------------------- Jackson had finally arrived at Lan Chorus’s capital ship. The hole was still there, enough room for him to land the Broadsword. As he safely ejected himself from the ship, he caught something with his eyes, but he didn’t know what. He continued to the nuke and armed it. The timer was set for five minutes. He needed to get moving. A door was over in the corner, although it was closed he would have to make his way through it and fast. This was a round trip afterall, he needed to make it to his objective in two minutes max, otherwise he would be done for. ----------------------------------------------------- “Watch it Anne! Crawler behind you!” Archangel yelled, he fired his DMR just in time to stop the thing from getting her. “You know Runner, I remember you saying that these were Covenant that would have to be worried about. I see you were wrong.” Junior shot a Knight in the back, then turned around to quickly take out a Watcher from resurrecting it. “Now’s not the best time Junior!” Runner cocked her Carbine and fired it rapidly until she took down the Elite and nearby Jackals. There wasn’t much of them, but they were a resistance that stalled them from reaching their objective for a few minutes. “Come on, next room is the medical bay. Let’s go!” Archangel seemed to be upset in the length of time this mission seemed to take. The walk was literally thirty seconds, the enemies made it ten minutes. As they entered the room, there seemed to be no enemies in sight. They spread out and held a defense as Junior and Runner went for the door. As they got closer, they saw two Knight’s warp into the room, that’s where the lights went dark. “Magnus on me for breach!” Runner yelled. She could hear Ash in the other room. She seemed to be gasping for air and having troubles to breathe. The Knight’s were still visible as they glowed in the dark.Yet, she and the others were forced to activate their flashlights for their safety. The gasping was louder as they opened the door and eliminated the Knight’s. As the lights flicked back on, Ash’s eyes opened. She coughed, but seemed alright. “Ash, are you alright?” Runner ran up and asked. “I’m fine, I feel better now that I’ve been brought here. Thank you guy’s, we’ve made it. I made it. I actually thought that planet was the last for me.” Ash managed to get a smile on her left side. She looked around, they all seemed to be focused on her. “What’s wrong?” Archangel took a stand in front of the others. “You might not believe this if they told you, but UNSC Warlord has been destroyed and Jackson was sent to take out Lan Chorus’s ship with a nuke.” “Wait, they sent Jackson on a suicide mission in intent to kill someone who isn’t even there?” Ash sounded more baffled by that then the fact her ship was destroyed. “Uh... Yes, I guess. What makes you think Lan Chorus isn’t there?” Archangel was confused. “Because Verite is, not Lan Chorus. Verite went to the ship back on the planet after they killed the Brute’s. Lan Chorus stayed to take out any of the remaining survivors if you don’t mind, especially in those one aerial vehicles they had assisting them.” “Should we tell Maria? Get Jackson out of their and back to safety?” Runner was confused on what to do. She didn’t quite understand, all she remembers is that she was almost dead until that happened. That anti-air Wraith had its cannon focused on the pelican like the sitting duck it was. At that very moment Frank teleported in front of them, and he appeared to be in the hands of some type of Knight. All that was heard were loud gasping sounds, which explained their worry earlier when they thought it was Ash, it was Frank. “I knew something was different, I just didn’t say anything or notice what.” Magnus stated. The Knight stared at them, soon Frank’s back was a bright orange. The Knight fired in an incineration cannon into his back and blasted him with it, his body was gone. They all raised their weapons, Magnus threw his pistol to Ash who caught it. The Knight opened its face to scream at them, which called more Promethean’s to help out. All of them a new kind that they didn’t know about. “Fireteam Lord, be cautious. There is a Knight Stratego on the ship. If you spot him, bring him down at all costs. He’s the equivalent as a Covenant Field Marshall. Except worse when it comes to combat. Oh, and be careful of his friends, Soldier’s. Don’t drop your focus off them for more than one second.” Maria said, and that was it of the conversation. The Knight summoned a Watcher, then proceeded to charge his cannon. ~End of Chapter 22~

~Chapter 21: Invasion - Offense~ Runner and the others watched in horror as they witnessed the destruction of their ship. That was their home. Gone. Obliterated to millions of pieces and counting. Their friends and everything were gone. Paladin, Moth, Biggles... Gone. Commander Samantha... Gone. “What will we do without our flagship?” was all Anne could make out. The others looked at her with concern as well, but none with an answer. Just sympathy. “Well, all we can do is hope. Maybe they have a plan, or maybe we will retreat.” Archangel didn’t like this feeling he had... Wait, what did he just say!? “God I hope we don’t retreat! We’re here to kill Lan Chorus. The Elite responsible for everything. The death and slaughter of majority of us, even this team original Commander’s. Sarge and Alex.” He didn’t dare to mention any of the others, such as Dumby, Gregor, Fauz, or... “Hey guys!” He seemed to be cut off from shock. “Archangel... Is that you old friend?” It sounded as if the man was going to cry. Archangel was upset that he was interrupted during mid thought, he turned around to look at the man. “Uh... Uh...” it was the name he was just about to come across in his thoughts, before interruption. “Uh... Phoenix... Is that really you?” Archangel couldn’t have been more happier to himself. “Yes, yes it is.” A smile spread across his face. “Why are you here? I thought you were among the UNSC Warlord and engulfed in the ship's flames as it was destroyed.” Archangel was happy that at least one of his old friends had made it. “Guys, there’s a broadsword leaving the bay right now. I think it might be Jackson leaving us.” Runner called out to get everyone’s attention. Which it did, resulting in everyone to approach the window and watch it as it flew away in the distance. “You know Runner, you may just be right. I wonder what might just have made him leave. I’m sure we’ll get results sooner or later.” Frank commented on her, unlike everyone else. Who watched without much care. “Anyways, as I was going to say before interruption from your girl over there... You guys might want to saddle up and prepare for Covenant ships. Turns out they brought a bomb to Warlord, and we’re pretty sure they’re going to try bringing one here and possibly the other ships. Covenant will arrive soon.” Phoenix powered up his assault rifle, as if to trigger them to do the same. “Archangel, it was nice to see you but I’m headed to the medical bay. I heard there was a Spartan in there going through some recovery. Managed to get her awake right now, but she’s still injured... If we’re still alive and this is over with. I’ll be back to see you, but I gotta... Bye.” Phoenixed rushed down the hallway towards the direction of the medical bay. Hopefully the spartan he hinted at was Ash. She definitely needed recovery, and an entire medical team operating on her definitely meant that there should be by all means a bad recovery. Even if Covenant are on board; Joseph, Junior, and Phoenix would be there to put the Medical bay entrances on lockdown. Unless the doctors or surgeons ran away from panic. “Jackson... Jackson, are you there?” It was Maria trying to contact him. He had no other choice but to answer the video feed she was trying to establish with him, or risk the possibility of her removing any aid to Ash and letting the others die. “I’m here, go ahead.” Jackson switched on the video feed to his helmet. “Ah, I see the helmet we left there for you fits. That is good.” She seemed to not care about anything but wanting to talk about the mission. How he hated her, she needed to realize he had feelings to. Not just her. “It seems that you are right on course, Covenant aren’t here yet and they aren’t to you; but if you don’t mind if I suggest, I insist hiding in the shipyard of the ruins of Warlord and using it for cover. It could help you out to reach the Covenant faster.” “As I had already planned, but thanks for informing you think I should do the same.” Jackson wanted this call to end. Not only was the mission stressful, but he couldn’t stand her face; especially the eyes. “Good, we’ll keep you updated.” Was all she had to say before she ended the video feed transmission. Jackson rolled his eyes, the women literally acted just like a naggy baby sister. “Honestly, if we didn’t need her medical resources, I would tell the woman how much of a ***** I think she really is.” Jackson thought to himself. It sounded mean, but that’s what he thought. “Jackson... Jackson... Are you there...?” This audio feed sounded bad with the static, but it was clear to read. Maybe it was just some sort of interference. He answered the call. “Yes, I’m here.” “Good, I just wanted to update you on the progress with Ash.” the static was gone, and Jackson realized that it was Junior who contacted him. “They’re going to be operating on her for another 2 hours, after that they’re going to let her lay down and recover, they think it should take 14 hours in total before she’s on her feet again.” “That’s great to hear! I can’t wait for her to be back with us, kinda needed her back there on the ground...” Jackson trailed off. “Yeah I know, I know...” Junior kinda sounded a little emotional in that tone. “Anyways, how are things going over there for you guys?” “Ah, nothing yet. Don’t see any Covenant boarding ships.” Jackson didn’t want to inform him that he was on his way to destroy the Covenant flagship and a few other ships, with a Havoc Nuke. “That’s good. I heard Warlord has been destroyed, is that true?” Junior’s voice indicated he didn’t believe it. Jackson took a deep breath, and then released it. “Yes, it’s true.” “No, you’ve gotta be pulling my leg. Don’t do this to me Jackson, I’m concerned.” Junior, feelings? Didn’t sound possible to put those two words together and make them into something physically possible. “No, Junior. I’m not pulling your leg. See for yourself.” Jackson sent a photo from his VISR to Junior’s of Warlord. “...” Junior was speechless. “It’s terrible, I know.” Jackson didn’t want to talk any longer than he had to, he wanted to hurry up and finish his mission and get back. “That’s not just terrible, that’s a nightmare... Dude, what the hell are we going to do now? We don’t have a home anymore... I... I only transferred to that ship because I wanted to replace the model of my father... Make him not look as bad as he did... Now the place to do that, is no longer there. How fantastic!” Junior hid his emotions very well, but this subject was literally the key to Davy Jones chest. The man poured his heart out over something unneeded... Then again, he didn’t know what Jackson was doing at this very moment. So he gave the trooper that. “Um, Junior. Sorry to ruin the fun and stuff, but I really gotta go. Sorry man, bye.” Yep, Jackson was done with the conversation. “Fun? This isn’t. fu...” was the last of the audio feed from Junior before he cut the transmission off. “Alright, now to sit here and focus my approach.” Jackson activated the thrusters to full speed upon exiting the horrifying shipyard of bodies from Warlord. Covenant Phantoms, Lich’s, Spirits, and boarding platforms all headed towards UNSC Ambient and the other ships. None of them stopped nor cared, (or probably didn’t see), to go and deal with Jackson. Afterall, if he did engage them. His chances of making it out alive were less than one percent. There were way too many Covenant ships above him, if he just stayed half of a kilometer below the ships, like he was currently doing, he could make it to his target. ~End of Chapter 21~

~Chapter 20: Preparation~ UNSC Ambient engulfed their vision upon arrival. Few Covenant were in the area, but were eliminated upon range of the vicinity. Longswords and Broadsword’s circled the ship, ready for the fight to come to them. “Alright, Commander. Precautions will be advised. We’re beginning to dock now.” Caelin sounded smart and very authorative with the Ambient’s Captain, and she was very friendly about it too. “Good job Caelin, now to get Ash to the medical bay asap. I would like to see her see another day. As would the others.” Archangel complimented on her skills, but was still worried for Ash. She was his friend, afterall. So were the others. The Longsword approached the dock, Operators were on the ground to ensure they docked safe, and the entry was clear of hostiles. Incase there was any Covenant that tried to sneak by their defenses. As the hatch opened, a medical team ran up the ramp, with a spartan alongside them for support. Another team boarded after Ash was taken off off and rushed to the medical bay, these guy’s were here to do checkup and ensure everyone was alright. Turns out the Marine’s had it worse, all except for Zen, with just a few minor bruises and cuts was all. As everyone exited the ship, they were greeted by the ship’s Commander. Where she stood tall and firm, hands behind her back in a criss cross manner. Her black hair was up in a ponytail, that laid just above her green uniform. Her face, empty as the void of the space abyss, laid in a firm manner, but representable for someone of her stature. “Commander Maria Leouff, sir.” Jackson stood tall, and saluted her; as did the rest of team and the marines. “At ease.” Maria said, only her mouth moved as she spoke. If felt as if her blue eyes pierced right through their skin and could see and predict everything they were thinking. “We are thankful for the medical attention you are providing to our wounded. Can we provide assistance in any way?” Jackson decided to take the role of the group's spokesperson. Even though he was the leader. “No, but I do recommend you returning to your ship. UNSC Warlord? However, that isn’t an option at this current state as she is under heavy attack. On the front lines with UNSC Firestorm and UNSC Valkyrie at this moment. So I suggest you stay here and provide any necessary assistance to UNSC Ambient. That is, unless you want to risk your chances of being killed in a ship.” Maria’s voice was monotone, Jackson had just noticed this now. “Yes, sir. Team Lord will assist you as much as we can. We’re smaller than we started out as, but we can do what it takes to get the job done.” Jackson stared into her eyes as he spoke, although he immediately regretted it. “Good, then in time, you’ll be the one’s ready to carry out the dirty deed to the Covenant. Lan Chorus and his new known Elite Zealot, Verite, will fall.” Maria smiled at this thought, Jackson was pretty sure her smile was extremely rare, from his judgement of the ODST’s faces that showed shock from that facial gesture of hers. As Jackson walked away, the team approached him. None of them spoke, but they all knew they should head up to the overwatch deck and check on what needed done. Junior, however, headed to the medical bay. To keep up tabs on Ash. As they approached the overwatch, Marine’s scattered around along the ODST’s. None of them were equipped with weapons, even if there was to be a Covenant boarding. However, if one were to happen. This ship would fall easily, none of them would be able to matchup against the horde. They’d all be dead. “Archangel, what do you got?” Jackson spoke amongst the crowd. That or it was the channel frequency he was picking up in his helmet. “Uh, we got Covenant ships inbound. Actually, we got a lot of Covenant ships in bound. These one’s look like they’re made for boarding, they’re also being accompanied by Spirits and Phantom’s. However, those are probably just the meatshields of what’s on the spear.” Archangel looked at a hologram mapping of what was all out there. UNSC Warlord seemed to be in terrible condition, whereas Firestorm didn’t have much damage, what was there could be fixed in a couple hours. “That’s not good, we need to prepare for any boarding actions, while this ship and its crew defends itself.” Jackson said. “Oh, and Joseph? Open up a channel with Junior. Let him know to stay on alert, and you’re headed his way.” “Aye aye.” Joseph accepted, he pulled up his wrist gear and did as such, whilst he walked towards the medical bay where Ash and Junior were at. “For the rest of you, follow me. We’re not splitting up into teams this time around, we’re sticking together.” Jackson waved his arm up to ensure there weren’t going to be any loose ends. “Jackson, please come to the Command deck, please” Jackson shook his head in disgust as he put his hand up against his head, “Alright, you guys head down to level two, and hallway three’s elbow. Expect any Covenant, even if they aren’t boarded yet. Play it safe, I’ll catch up to you guys when I see what Command wants.” Jackson headed off to the Command deck as the others did as they were told. Runner took point, as always. Jackson entered the Command deck where Maria stood with her second-in-command and a hologram figure displayed Commander Samantha. “Yes, sir?” Was Jackson’s first impression as he entered the room. “Jackson, we need you to do something to get rid of Verite and his ships. Lan Chorus isn’t in the area, but at this point we’re losing hope. UNSC Warlord is going to fall, but we need your help. Only you.” Samantha said. Jackson noticed all the other ship commanders were portrayed through holograms as well. They were just in the distance standing. “What is it you need done?” Jackson asked, knowing he was in no place to ask questions but to only accept orders. “Glad you have asked, see... We need you to deliver a havoc to their flagship. Take it out, and probably any of their other ships nearby or smaller units... Anyways, we’ve pierced a hole through their ship when we broke their shield, however it’s only in the rear part of the ship. You’re going to have to fly by all the defenses and enter it through the back. Which is good, because the havoc we are deploying with you will take out the engines, completely faulting the ship, and eventually destroying it. Their only escape will be through drop pods, which lead to the Brute’s below.” Samantha seemed to have this all though through, she just needed someone ready to send off and take a score for the team. Even if that meant risking the person’s life. “And it’s just me going?” Jackson was concerned. “Yes, of course. We don’t see any other reason to send more troops. That just raises our... casualties. Since all you’re doing is flying a Broadsword under their flagship, and then inside. Plan sounds simple, and easy. We’ll do our best to eliminate threats headed your way, and you should be able to eliminate any threats as well. The Broadsword is our fastest ship we can send at the moment, since that’s all UNSC Ambient has sitting in their bay, and the payload is already ready for delivery. We just need you to head out now.” Samantha said, she sounded a bit impatient about this. Maria’s eyes just pierced through Jackson’s skin, waiting for him to say okay. “Alright Commander, I’ll do it. For the team and to delay my squad from death for now.” Jackson didn’t want to do this, but he knew if he didn’t Warlord would fall and the fight would definitely come to them. “Just, if I don’t make it...” “Goodluck, Jackson.” As soon as she said that, all the holograms disappeared and he was left alone with Maria and her second-in-command. “You should head down now, Jackson. I have a team of Air Assault troopers waiting for you, everything is ready and prepped to go. Except you.” Maria sounded stern. She left the room through an exit you couldn’t really tell was an exit. It was like just a regular wall, except the doors opened up for her when her second-in-command pushed the security key in. Nevermind that, he had a job to do. Jackson went down to the hangar, he looked outside from the ship. He felt as if it was destined to probably be his last glance. All he saw was an abruption of fire and chaos among the Covenant and their ships, except he noticed something. UNSC Warlord was the cause. The ship was abrupt in flames as it slowly, yet fast, split into a bunch of pieces of which will be later called ‘debris’. This... This area of space above this Brute homeworld, would soon become known as a shipyard... and he was going to become part of it. Jackson sat down in the cockpit as the team of Air Assault cleared for takeoff. It was up to him now. He lost his home. All he had left was his family. Oh how he hoped Ash would eventually recover from her injuries. He didn’t want to lose something else anymore. Which is what he needed to do, destroy Verite and his ships and he could finally takedown Lan Chorus and avenge all of those he had lost. Jackson pushed down on the thrusters and headed straight for the flagship. He had one shot he needed to take. Even if that meant sacrifice. Jackson put on his helmet, he was ready to end this now. ~End of Chapter 20~

~Chapter 17: Railgun~ Ash had the pedal pushed all the way down to the floorboard. The Scarabs engaged her first, the giant greenish blue plasma beams soared her way. Zen ws on the Gauss turret, while Frank sat in the passenger seat with a Spartan Laser. Zen’s orders was to engage the Vampires, and attempt to try to take them down. If they could take down the Vampires, air support would be able to clear their way. That is, if the MAC Gun wasn’t online by then. While Zen did that, Frank would shoot the Scarab’s in their joints. In attempt to slow it down. “Jackson, these Vampires will be an easy fix as long as you can give us some cover support. I assume they’ll have infantry vehicles and light vehicles in route here soon. If these Scarabs get in range of the Mammoth. We lose, you know that right?” Ash took a risky move and pushed the Warthog underneath one of the Scarabs. The legs swung around like crazy, one of them almost pierced through the vehicle. That would not have been good for them. “Yes I can, I’ll be there in a sec.” Jackson was only five hundred feet away right now, going as fast as he could. “You know, I’d take any tank we had back at war with the Covenant we had when we were on Earth, but these new upgrades for more armor and less speed.” Jackson sighed, Ash could hear it in her ear. “I just don’t think it equals out, especially against a Scarab. I’m almost a sitting duck, plus the engine on this thing is loud.” Jackson targeted a Prowler, as soon as he had the measurements setup. He fired, the canister smacked the seat the Brute driver was in, launching the Prowler to oblivion. “Yes I know. Just, deal with it for now. As soon as Warlord and the others get back, you can ditch that thing. It’s all that we have.” Ash said. Jackson noticed the tone in her voice, it’s as if she had given up hope. He couldn’t let her believe that, he needed to prove there still was. They needed to get Archangel and Joseph, not now was the time to give up. Jackson looked up at one of the Vampires, Zen managed to destroy one but the other two stood above them and just sort of hovered there. Small plasma cannons opened fire. Jackson knew this was crazy, and risky at the same time, he needed to try it. The Scorpion rolled up on the side of a sand dune, front of it up in the air. Jackson aimed the cannon at the Vampire closest, Zen was engaged with it. If he could support him and get this done faster, air support could be en route while Zen destroyed the last Vampire. Jackson aimed at the Vampire, and fired. The canister missed the first wing, but hit the bottom of the second. The Vampire spun out of control, it didn’t destroy the Vampire but it did knock out the wing. Which is what it needed to stay up and fly. Zen fired the Gauss cannon a few more times into the the Vampire, this time he hit the pilot canopy. The rounds pierced through it, and soon after that the Vampire caught fire; blue flames emerged from the aircraft. While ever so slowly, the Vampire crashed into the back of one of the Scarabs, the Vampire burst into even more flames. The Scarabs back end fell off, and the Scarab fell forward off its feet. However, it was quick to get back up. The AA turret on the Scarab was disabled, but the other Scarab was still intact so that didn’t make a difference as much. A Brute captain and Brute infantry came up top of the Scarab. The Captain with a fuel rod gun, and the infantry with spikers and plasma rifles. Jackson looked back and noticed Ash and the others were being followed by two Choppers and a Prowler. The Prowler was stacked full of Brutes, two on the sides with spikers. Jackson pushed forward as fast as he could go, and fired canisters. Hoping to get lucky and hit the Brutes. Magnus and Runner sat silently on the rocket turrets. If they got involved now, they would be swarmed with Brutes. Zeff finally got the MAC Gun and target designator online, although using it right now would be dangerous with the Scarabs. “Caelin, get us a carpet bomb. I’ll take out the Vampire.” Zeff said. He pointed the target designator straight at the Vampire. “We already have one on the way, they’re just waiting on a confirm. Are you sure this will work? We need to warn Ash and Jackson. So they’re out of the way.” Caelin looked over at him, grimly. “I’ll let them know, you contact the Shortsword.” Zeff said, he walked up to the top walkway. He then remembered the beam rifle. Over on the side was a jackal, bright purple weapon in his hand and a bright purple glow on his face. He seemed distracted by the fight going on at the Scarabs. Zeff grabbed a sniper rifle in his hand, setup the bipod on the side of the Mammoth. As soon as the jackal was in his sights he fired. The sniper sent off a loud echo. It was now or never. He raised the target designator at the Vampire, and charged the lockon. The enemy Scarab, the fully functional one, saw the Mammoth. It was basically on a full sprint towards the Mammoth. Ash heard a loud roar in the distance, “Jackson, we need to move. Now! There’s a Shortsword in bound and if we’re in it's way when that Vampire shoots it down. We are dead.” Ash tried to punch the gas as far down as she could, to get the hell away from the Scarab. She saw Jackson doing the same, he shot ghosts that were behind him. He was slow, but they slowed him down. A loud ear piercing sound was made. Ash didn’t look, instead she relied on the other two to give her a recap on what happened. “Dear god.” Zen said. “Wow, that was amazing. The MAC Gun destroyed that Vampire as if it was putting paper in a paper shredder.” Frank said. That was good to hear, but now what about those Scarabs? Ash saw the one headed straight towards the Mammoth. She drove that way, but stopped. The Shortsword came in, fast and low. Guns blazed, it fired rounds into the Scarab like none other. It sort of looked like one of those targets that were shot on the target range with all those bullets. The Scarab took a second to realize what had happened, as the Shortsword fled away and headed back to base, the AA turret opened fire on the Shortsword. Soon after, the carpet bomb activated. All those holes in the Scarab, were actually explosive rounds which detonated as soon as the Shortsword was out of range. Brutes tried to flee out of the vehicle, only to have the Scarab self destruct and burn them all to their death. All that remained was the last Scarab. Jackson and the others boarded the Mammoth. Last thing they heard was the sound of the MAC Gun fire, it shook the Mammoth for a couple seconds. Soon after they departed their vehicles to head back up top, a loud explosion was heard, and they were on the move again. They only had seven hours left before they arrived at the said coordinates. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Archangel looked over at Joseph, “Ah. I see they got you here too. Bummer. Oh well, we’ll end up like the rest of them no less.” Archangel joked around. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what you mean.” Well you see, the Chieftain is hungry and these Brutes are in the middle of a famine. Each meal one of us is taken to be ate. He eats twice a day, y’know.” Archangel and Joseph were in a holding cell inside a Covenant Cruiser. It seemed to be owned by the Brutes, and the Brutes only. There were other survivors in here, mostly Marines. All were taken captive just like them and placed in different rooms. They were free to move however they wish inside the room. A Brute stood outside the only door, knowing that he was all that was needed to take them out. Anymore would be unnecessary. These Brutes starved to, they knew they wouldn’t last a chance against him. Especially since this Brute was a Captain. “You know, it’s weird seeing you without any armor. It sorta makes me feel like you’re vulnerable. One of us.” Joseph and Archangel were stripped of their weapons, and the Brutes removed their armor. Joseph lost his ODST gear, which was used to forge the Brutes weapons and ammo, and Archangel’s Mjolnir armor had been torn off him and destroyed. The Brutes didn’t want them to have any chances of hope. They were doomed, but also used as bait for people who thought they could rescue them. “Yeah I know, and without my armor anything the Brutes fire at me will most likely result in death. Even UNSC standard issue weapons will deal damage to me.” Archangel said, grief covered his face. “Yeah I hear ya. Say, I thought Jackson’s dad, Sarge or whatever, was killed by Junior’s dad, Doc? And didn’t he use a pistol?” Joseph looked over at him. Confused about that. “Yes, but Sarge wasn’t a Spartan like his son. He was an ODST.” Joseph suddenly felt embarrassed after that. “And to keep it between you and I. Sarge wasn’t killed by Doc, Architect was. Sarge was killed by one of Lan Chorus’s men. Which I believe I have now came to realize is this Elite who spared me and left me for the Brutes. His name is Verite.” Archangel said, his facial expression didn’t change. He stared deeply into Joseph’s eyes. Joseph looked down at his feet, “Oh. So...” Joseph was cut off by a scream right outside their door. They both looked up, and the door turned from its red glow to a light pinkish purple. The Brute Captain stood there with an ODST in one arm, he ripped the armor off the soldier and through them in with Archangel and Joseph. Two Brutes scavenged the armor, and left the room. The Captain left after they did. He stood at the door, staring them down until the door closed and went back to its red glow. Joseph and Archangel looked over at the ODST, it was a female. Her arms were banded together. Blood came out of scars on the back of her arms and on her legs. She was in pretty bad shape after that dismantle. Tears streamed out of her eyes. Archangel walked over there and took the bands off her arms. She just laid there. After a few seconds, she finally said “Thank you.” “Your welcome, is there anything we can do to help you, um, mam?” Archangel said, he kneeled down in front of her. “My name is Anne Knight. Do you have anything to drink?” Was all she said. Archangel looked over at Joseph, who had a little bit of water left over from what the Brutes gave them. The Chieftain didn’t want his food near-death dead, he wanted a good meal. Joseph walked over to Anne and gave her what was left. He carefully grabbed her head and lifted it up, then poured what was left into her mouth. After she swallowed it, he carefully lowered her head back down on the floor. “Thank you.” Was all she said. They let her rest. Archangel and Joseph needed to work on a plan, the only thing they could think of was to escape through the vents, but there was only one vent in the room. It was their only hope, they just had to be careful of drones. They looked over at Anne, she had a knife tucked inside one of her socks. ~End of Chapter 17~

~Chapter 16: Give me some of it~ Ash was at the controls while Caelin rested with a few of the others. Frank’s Falcon flew close by, although gun chatter was heard every once in awhile. Other than a few Banshees, nothing much was seen at night on their return. It gave off an ominous feeling to it. Which is why they rested in shifts. Junior managed to patch up Jackson, despite critical problems and the loss of his helmet; he was back to normal on his feet. However, at this particular time, he rested. They didn’t know what would come next, but they needed to be ready. Ash called back to those who were awake. Which was Caboose and Zen. The Pelican would arrive to land in about 5 minutes, and they were in charge of waking up the crew by then. Caboose started at his crew, he woke everyone up slowly but woke Jackson and Junior last. Zen had his marines up and ready to go promto. Caboose had troubles waking Junior, it got to the point he had to pick the ODST up and set him on his feet, in order to wake him up. His eyes opened, and his legs kicked in fear of what happened before he realized he was woke up. Caboose left it to Junior to wake up Jackson, then proceeded to let Ash know they were ready. Frank flew his Falcon in first, the Mammoth sat out in the open. It was unbelievable nobody was here already. It was just this giant boulder, and the vast desert. The Mammoth was ten minutes away from the camp. The real question was, how did this get here? The Falcon touched the ground, the two were departed; in charge of securing the Mammoth. Eliminating any Brutes or Covenant that were inside, if any. After the Mammoth was secured, they were to restore power. If there was no power, this was all for nothing. They approached the entrance on the left side of the Mammoth. Runner went first, she kicked the door open. Magnus was right behind her, he shined his flashlight in the room, ready to motion for it to be clear. Runner moved up and scanned the stairs with the light on the nose of her gun. Magnus did the same on the other side. It was clear. They moved up to the second floor, which overlooked the first floor. Nothing seemed to be out of the normal. Magnus motioned for Runner to stack up on the door that led to the top of the Mammoth. He motioned, and she kicked the door open. Magnus was on the spot. Clear on the walkway. They split up. Runner took the right, and Magnus swung around the left side that would take him to the front overlook and to the opposing walkway. It was clear there. He met up with Runner on the top, a dead Brute and a few dead Marines laid on the top. Blood stained on the floor. He motioned to Runner to grab the Marines and throw them over the side, Magnus grabbed the Brute and threw it over the walkway. Where everyone else awaited them, awaiting their signal. Magnus waved to let them know it was clear and motioned to Runner to run down and switch on the power. “Glad we can actually use something with force. Something big and armored, and with firepower.” Frank said as he walked in through the side-door Runner kicked open. “Yeah well, this will do for now. We have aerial support, but I don’t know how long that’s going to last us if we can’t take out any incoming Vampires.” Michael said. He directed Junior and Zeff as they carried in ammunition crates. Stacked up with DMR’s, Battle Rifles, Rocket Launchers, Sniper RIfles, Magnums, Assault Rifles, Sticky Detonators, and anything with power they could get their hands on. Jackson and Ash loaded a Scorpion, Gauss Warthog, and a Rocket Warthog through the back hatch that was lowered down for the vehicles. After that, they brought in two Gungooses and parked them in between the Warthog’s. Barely leaving any room. “Alright, I think we should be good.” Ash said, she motioned for Caelin and the marines to come aboard. They left the Pelican behind, due to damage beyond repairs at this time; so Caelin offered to come with and help support them. The marines were under her command, so they were forced to come as well. Caelin did have a higher rank than almost everyone on board the Mammoth, except Jackson, Magnus, Ash, and Frank. Caelin made arrangements with a bunch of the Longswords, Shortswords, and Broadswords for extra firepower support when they needed it. However, when they ran dry, they ran dry. UNSC Warlord wasn’t here to help them with a resupply like they normally would. Jackson directed Frank to drive the Mammoth; that way he was below deck and out of the way. Zeff was in Charge of the MAC Gun; and Runner and Magnus took the Rocket turrets that were placed on both side of the Mammoth. Ash motioned for the supportive Pelican’s that drove out to where the wreckage was, and the Mammoth laid in one piece surprisingly, to return back the camp as for they were no longer needed. The engines started up and they were ready to move out on their journey. They had no idea where they were headed, but assuming from the direction Jackson saw them come. This was going to be an 18 hour trip, in the Mammoth. An evac Pelican would be waiting for them after Joseph and Archangel had been rescued or they needed a retreat. They were hoping a retreat wouldn’t be something they needed. “Jackson. Come here.” Zeff broke the silence with his voice. “Yes, what is it Zeff?” Jackson asked, he looked over from the screen that laid the directional waypoint to where they thought was their objective. “This MAC Cannon doesn’t work without the target designator. Everything else is automatic for the weapon.” Zeff said. He showed Jackson what he was going on about with what showed on his screen. He was right, all it showed was the gun's status and a picture of the target designator. “Well it seems you are right there Zeff. We’re going to need a target designator.” Jackson turned his attention away from him and onto Caelin. “Caelin, is there a target designator onboard?” “Uh.” Caelin let Zen take over the controls. “Not that I know of, we might have one back at the base that we can drop pod in with a Longsword. Do we need it right now?” Caelin questioned, about to head back to the controls. “Yes, seeing as how if we get it now; it’ll help us out later. Especially since we’re still close to the camp.” Jackson motioned for Zeff to head up to the top walkway. That was he wasn’t pointless. “Alright, I’ll contact someone and see what we can do. However, don’t expect one to drop in for at least 2 minutes.” Caelin walked down the stairs to the communications and got on with one of her friends. “Zeff, take this.” Ash shoved a Spartan Laser into Zeff’s hands. “If we don’t have an AA Gun for you to shoot, you’ll be the AA Gun that shoots. Is that clear?” She looked at him, eyes expecting a smart response. “Yes mam, I can shoot all day.” Zeff said, he bit back on his remark. What he really wanted to say was ‘Yes mam, I can shoot all day; as long as I think of the enemy as you.’ Luckily he didn’t, otherwise he’d find his spike grenade stuck to his face. Ash walked back inside the mammoth. “Yo Magnus, wanna help out over here bud?” Runner yelled as loud as she could. Magnus was on the clear other side, knowing she could use her helmet to contact him, she’d rather yell. Magnus just let out a grumble, “Hmm?” Before he noticed what she was talking about. Six banshees and a vampire were headed their way. Banshees in front. He heard Runner fire before the lock on, he did the same. Plasma rounds hit the front of the ship. They didn’t do much, but soon enough it would burn its way through. The banshees were close enough now, they surrounded the Mammoth from all sides. The Vampire stayed in the distance as the Mammoth drove its way towards it. “Ah, god damn. A MAC Gun would be nice right now!” Zeff yelled, he lasered one of the Banshees that dodged six of the rocket turrets missiles. He looked over at Magnus, and thought of an amazing idea. “Hey Magnus.” Magnus didn’t look over, instead he replied “What do you need now? I’m sort of busy as you can see. I’d appreciate it if you would help instead of chatter.” “Yes I know, that’s what I’m trying to do. There’s five of these things, but we’re going to have trouble taking them out. I want to know if you can use your stealth drone to camouflage me while I jetpack and hijack one of these banshees.” Zeff lasered another Banshee. “Then we can focus on that Vampire.” Magnus said nothing, instead he rose his hand up and summoned his drone and guided it to Zeff. Zeff had ten seconds before the drone was forced to return for a recharge. Enough time for him to jack a Banshee. Zeff’s jetpack fuel lasted him quite a bit, and just long enough to grab a hold of a Banshee. The drone left his side, and the Banshee was spinning out of control, trying to knock him off the wing, but he held on. He saw the Vampire shoot its needlers, they missed his Banshee and all stacked up on another. Magnus watched as that Banshee crashed to the ground, impaled in needles, and then exploded from the supercombine. Leaving nothing but a black marking of the blast area of the supercombine. Zeff had control of the Banshee, he threw a Brute out, then engaged the other Banshee. He noticed the Banshees fuel rod cannon was removed. With two Banshees remaining, He shot the wings down on one, leaving it exposed to Runner’s rocket turret. He heard her exclaim from the fire in the explosion. Last, but not least he rammed his Banshee into the last one. It ripped the wings off of the Brutes Banshee, and Zeff lost a wing. His last target was the Vampire. Which was not going to happen. Six large needles came flying at Zeff. He noticed his vehicle was stationary in the air. “Zeff, get out. You’re in a stasis field!” Frank yelled out, he knew what that was. It’s not something to mess with, he learned that in training and on the field. Zeff ejected out of the Banshee, right before the needles impaled. He watched as the stasis caused the explosion to stay in place, then drop the Banshee remains like it was nothing. As he used the jet pack to soften his return on the Mammoth, he heard the Vampire fire full blast. Right after that, a large roar was heard by all of them. Caelin was on top of the vehicle as well. A drop pod crushed through the Vampire, causing it to almost instantly crash to the ground with it. Caelin and the others looked up at where it came from. Above was a Longsword, presumably the one Caelin called for a target designator drop. It flew away, then circled around, doing loops. She smiled, the pilot was being a show off. “Oh my god.” Junior said, everyone on board turned his attention to him. “Look.” He pointed at the Longsword. It all made sense now. Caelin’s smile faded. There, in the Longsword, was about thirty needles from the Vampire. The Longsword was not being piloted, as the pilots were dead. They all watched as the Longsword trailed off and finally crash into the ground. The explosion was enormous, the needles were responsible for that no doubt. “Alright, let’s just move on and get Archangel and Joseph.” Jackson said, he motioned everyone to take back their places. “Caelin, take us to the drop pod. We’re going to need that target designator. Now.” She nodded his head at him, and headed down to the controls and took it over from Zen. The Mammoth moved forward. Jackson and Zeff stood at the overwatch of the vehicle. They weren’t that far away from the drop pod, a minute drive and no more. Zeff holstered the Spartan Laser back up on one of the racks outside, just in case he needed it again. He then resumed to jump off the side of the Mammoth, and down to the wreckage to grab the target designator. It was still intact. He looked unevenly at the two dead Brutes that laid there. Scorched from the fire. Zeff looked over as he heard a call from his name. As his eyes looked up. He already knew what was going on. He saw it in the distance on the sand. Behind a large sand dune, two Scarabs and three Vampires emerged. They were not ready for this fight yet, Zeff still had to connect the target designator to the MAC Gun. He jetpacked onto the Mammoth again, and ran down and inside to the MAC Gun screen. “Guys, the Scarabs are onto us now. What are we going to do? All we have is a Scorpion and a few hogs inside, plus the rocket turrets. We’ll never hold out. The MAC Gun won’t be ready for at least another five minutes.” Caelin said, as she looked for ways around or to avoid them. There was none. “We’ll make sure we buy the time.” Jackson said, he grabbed Ash and headed towards the walkway to find something for support. Right before they reached the opening, a bright purple beam spliced through Caboose’s helmet. “Damn it! There goes my plan! Ash, Frank, and Zen, follow me. I’m getting sick of this crap.” Jackson walked down the stairs and opened the back gate of the Mammoth. Junior walked over to Caboose’s body. He grabbed his dog tags, then sat on his knees and prayed for him. The marines walked over and grabbed his body and headed up the stairs to the walkway. As Junior said the prayers while he followed them, they threw Caboose over the back end of the Mammoth. Junior opened his eyes, they were bloodshot. He grabbed his knife and slit the throat of one marine, then grabbed his silenced magnum and shot the other two in the face. With the same respect they gave Caboose. He grabbed their tags, then kicked them over board. He looked over his shoulder, nobody saw this but him. He tucked the tags in with the others, the proceeded back inside the Mammoth. Jackson had the Scorpion out while Ash took Zen and Frank in the Gauss Warthog. The Scarabs were in range. This was going to be a long cold night. ~End of Chapter 16~

Welcome, soldiers. This is UNSC Warlord Commander Samantha Lea Magarnold. As you all know, we have encountered a few casualties of war heroes. Now is the time we’re going to end this, I need some soldiers who will do the job. Are you up for it? 1.) What type of soldier are you- Spartan, Marine, Helljumper/ODST, Pilot, Medic, Sniper. 2.) Which primary weapon do you carry? SMG, Battle Rifle, DMR, Assault Rifle, Sniper Rifle, Shotgun, Silenced SMG. (You can Dual-Wield) 3.) Which secondary do you carry? Pistol (M60), Survivor Pistol, Magnum (M6C, M6D, M6G, M6H), Combat knife. 4.) Type of equipment carried. Thruster Pack, Jet Pack, Drop Shield, Active Camo, Sentry Drone, Stealth Drone. 5.) Type of grenade- Frag, Plasma, Spike. 6.) What is your soldier's nickname or name. 7.) What type of personality do you have? 8.) Preferred Vehicle? Gungoose, Mongoose, Warthog Standard, Warthog Transport, Hornet (Pilot), Broadsword (Pilot), Mammoth, Scorpion, Mantis, Cobra. (Vehicle is NOT required.) 9.) How well do you get along with other soldiers? 10.) Do you collect fallen soldier dog tags? You may import your character from previous books, modifications ARE allowed. The only thing you cannot do is change the type of soldier you were. If you're an engineer, you can still be an engineer; it's just no new ones will be enlisted for this. Same goes for other types of soldier. (If you import you character, make sure to list all the same details down below. Don't just say you want to import your character. You can find your character in the Sign Up, Your Call threads.) Welcome to the UNSC Warlord Soldier. We’ll have everything filled in just a moment. Starting date will begin April 10th

~Chapter 15: Touchdown~ Caelin and Frank approached the landing zone, where a crashed Longsword laid broken in the sand. Black smoke trailed off from behind and into the sky. Ash noticed blood stain in the sand, as well as a trooper who laid over on a dune. Passed out. Caelin landed the Pelican first. The thrusters stirred the sand up and paved out a nice area to land on. Frank followed up and landed the Falcon a few hundred feet away from the Pelican. However, he stayed inside the Falcon. As well as Magnus and Runner stayed on their turrets. Ash, Junior, and Michael exited the Pelican and headed over to the soldier, he didn’t appear wounded but he was unconscious. Ash and Junior picked him up and carried him back to the Pelican. Michael took point, just in case of any threats that hid in the crashed Longsword. Ash and Junior set Jackson in one of the Pelican’s seats. Junior took over and began to do his best. Hopefully Jackson would recover and wake up. “He has a pulse, but I don’t know for how long.” Junior said as he cleaned up an infectious wound on his left cheek. Appeared to be a cut from a Brute spiker. Ash sat there and watched as Junior cleaned him, everyone else was on the lookout for enemy movement. So-far, there was none. “Any idea where the others are?” Junior asked Ash without looking over as he continued to clean up Jackson’s wounds. “No, but one of them must have been killed or even ate by the Brutes. With all that blood out there, I’m guessing they were ate. The third one? No clue, I’m as clueless as you are. Maybe Jackson will know when he wakes up.” Ash responded to Junior, with a little worrisome in her voice. She cared for these guys as much as they all did. They were like family to her, since she had none left. They were all killed by insurrectionists. Her desire to find those Innies and kill them, was unbelievable. She couldn’t do it yet, not now when her friend’s were missing and they were trying to find the murderer who lead them through all of this. Ash heard a cough, she looked over. Jackson was awake, he had troubles with having them keep open. Dehydration nonetheless. She watched as Junior gave him some water, not too much. He was going to ease him on little by little. Jackson breathed with relief, “Thanks Junior, I thought I was done for.” Jackson coughed after that, must have been because of the water. “No problem sir, we came to find you after all. UNSC Warlord and the others are out of orbit. However we’re expecting them to hopefully be back in three to four days.” Junior responded as he put his supplies away. “They took Archangel.” Jackson said. “Who did?” Ash jumped quickly with her question, concerned. That also means Dexter was the one who was killed, and if they didn’t take him. Then that must have meant he was ate. “The Brutes. An Elite was going to kill him, but they decided against it and used him as bait for the Brutes. All I know is they called the one Verite. He’s next in command with Lan Chorus, except he wasn’t here. Only Verite was, but he was soon to flee. His Banshees were nearly two hundred meters away.” Jackson said, he paused to take a deep breath. “So if the Brute’s took Archangel, would that have meant they could have taken Joseph as well?” Ash questioned. “We need to find them.” “I watched the Brutes eat Dexter. It was a horrible sight, and I watched them take Archangel. If what you think is true about Joseph, then that can only mean one thing. They are baiting us into coming to rescue them. To take us all in.” Jackson stated, this was only just his theory. He didn’t really know. He was too exhausted to remember. “If that’s true, we have to save them. We need them. We have nothing else to do, we’re stranded. We all might die here, even the troopers at the LZ camp. We’re short on food. Our time isn’t long, it’s already been almost two days since we’ve been here.” Ash said. “Well we can go get them, but just be careful. They do have Vampire’s. Probably not very many overall, but they brought four of them here when the Chieftain arrived. I suppose this Chieftain is the Brute tribe leader of all the Brutes in the area. We have to be careful if we want to do this. Now tell me, what do we have that we can use against the Brutes back at the camp?” Jackson asked, thinking about a plan. “We have everything we would need. Combat wise, that is.” Ash told him. “Is there a Mammoth and heavy vehicles we could use?” Jackson started to put his plan together. “Yes, but only one. There are a few Scorpions. No more than five in total though.” Ash said. The Falcon’s turrets shot for about five seconds outside before they went silent again. They listened as two banshee’s rammed into the ground and exploded. “As I was saying before we were interrupted, UNSC Warlord was forced to leave so they sent down as much as they could before they left. Which was almost nothing. Surviving fighters fled here. Surprisingly, none were chased by Lan Chorus’s troops. Those who didn’t flee, died.” Ash said. “Well in that case, we got a small military. Enough to take back our troops. We’ll need all the air support we can get, but that Mammoth will be our one way ticket to giving the final push. The MAC gun and the rocket turrets will support us against any aerial vehicle as well as take out any Vampires that come after our Falcon or any other air support we need.” Jackson said, his plan sounded pretty good to everyone. “I can probably talk a few of the others into helping out.” Caelin said. “And who are you?” Jackson said, not knowing about the new pilot that joined their team. “My name is Caelin, and this is my Pelican you are sitting in.” Caelin said, a smile on her face. “Well Caelin, hopefully you can do your best. We’ll need you.” Jackson said. He stood up and waved at Frank to get his Falcon back and up into the air. “Good, I sure hope we can as well.” Caelin said. “Anything you need at the moment?” “Yes, take us back to the camp.” Jackson said. He stood up and walked towards the back of the door and stopped at the edge. “Alrighty sir. Will do.” Caelin said, she headed up and started the thrusters. “Jackson, I like what you’re doing but I don’t know how this is going to workout for us. We’re going to lose some of our friends.” Ash told him, she stood beside him on the edge. Looking at him through her visor. “Don’t worry, I have it all planned out.” Jackson said. He pulled down the machine gun turret and destroyed a Ghost that was headed their way, probably a scout. “Sure, whatever you say.” Ash said, then walked into the cockpit. Caelin had the Pelican up in the air, she punched the thrusters. Frank followed up. ~End of Chapter 15~

~Chapter 9: Aerial Assault~ “How’s it going? Look we need to get back to the Longsword. Moth gave us orders. I’m here to fetch you guys. The other two are getting the others. I’ll explain everything on the way.” Frank said. He headed back to the hangar, with a limp every few steps. “Alright, whatever you say.” Michael followed up behind him. Along with Magnus and Joseph. “Mind asking what the mission is? Pretty sure it might have to do with those. But I could be second guessing myself and it’s something else.” Joseph pointed outside. A group of Covenant ships arrived out of SlipSpace. Weapons fired. “Well shoot. Looks like we’re ready for combat, fellows. Get in. This Longsword should get us back to Warlord and take out a few covenant on the way. Not sure if this is equipped with a nuke. Otherwise we’d take out one of those ships. Just gonna stick to the plan. Let’s hold tight.” Frank said, he hopped in the Pilot seat and started up the engines. Joseph took copilot. The others stood. “Strange. This is just like Runner’s dream. Except it’s happening for real this time. Just different scenario.” Magnus pointed out. “Let’s hope not.” Frank said. He punched the thrusters. “Except I admit, the whole Ash kissing Jackson thing was hilarious. Let’s hope it doesn’t happen, or at least she doesn’t die.” They exited FireStorm. Whom engaged the Covenant Corvette. MAC gun and cannons firing. They headed back to UNSC Warlord. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zeff approached the hangar of UNSC Amber. He slowly lowered himself in and let the engineers finish the job. He proceeded to exit the Longsword where he was greeted by Ash, Runner, and Junior. He waved at the engineers. Giving them the go ahead to continue up what they could before he launched back out. “What is it you need, Zeff?” Junior walked up in front of the two girls. “We got your message to meet you here, that it was an emergency. We’ve come. Now tell us.” Zeff looked at Ash in the eyes, then over to Runners. Stress overcame his face. “It’s not an emergency. I just needed you in the hangar so we can get back to UNSC Warlord. We’re all grouping up for something. Not quite sure yet.” Ash looked at him in disgrace. “Alright. I guess I’ll be able to go. Just let me on board when you’re ready to take us.” Runner said. She stood up. She looked a lot better. Healthy too. Only notice was a spring in her knee. Which messed with her walkability. “Good. Let’s get in and headed back now. Moth and Dexter’s orders.” Zeff said. He waved the engineers to leave and headed inside the ship. The other three followed from behind. Junior took the copilot seat. Ash sat in Navigator, while Runner laid down in the back. “Alright, let’s go.” Junior said. They exited the hangar and started to head towards UNSC Warlord. As they grew closer, a group of Covenant ships exited from SlipSpace. Weapons fired at us. UNSC Amber immediately engaged. MAC Rounds and other armaments deployed. Troops were dispatched immediately. Runner sat in the back. She saw the ships. Deemed to remember her nightmare. She passed out from thought. Nobody noticed, they just kept going. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Frank waited for the door to open. He had a hard time getting his Longsword in here. The ship’s not fit for them. However, he had managed to get it inside. He looked up at the door. There was a switch on it. So, he decided to go over and press it. The door opened. Jackson and Archangel sat there, waiting. “About time you get here, we’re ready to go.” Archangel said. He grabbed his weapons and headed towards the Longsword. “We need to get going as fast as we can. This is going to be a tight slip. We don’t wanna risk any chances.” Jackson said, he followed Archangel. Frank followed them. “Sir, there’s a Covenant Seraph right outside. What’s going on?” Archangel asked Frank. “Good question. I wouldn’t know. Either way, we must get to going here now. Moth expects us. We’re ready to go fight Lan Chorus.” Frank walked over and sat in the pilot seat. Jackson took Navigator. Archangel took Copilot. They exited the ship. There was a Super Carrier, two Corvettes, and two Cruisers. Our Fleet didn’t stand a chance. “So Runner’s dream was true after all. We are going to die. Not yet, but we will. I presume.” Archangel said. “Well, it was nice knowing you guy’s while it lasted.” Frank said. “Honor to work with you, even if you hated me because I was a pilot. I just want to let you know, thanks. Thanks for the experience. All I ever wanted.” Frank said. A tear rolled down his eye as he looked back at Jackson. He whispered, “Thank you.” “Frank lookout!” Archangel yelled. Frank immediately turned around. It was too late. A Seraph shot them in the wings. They were going down. “Ugh.” Archangel said. “Here, Frank. Aim towards the planet below us. Hopefully we’ll be able to survive the crash. Set Up a distress beacon, and be picked up.” Jackson said. Frank did as such. They crashed downwards towards an earth-like planet. Fear spread over Archangel’s face. “Oh no, not this crap again. I don’t want to die this way. I’d rather be killed up here by another Seraph!” He screamed. The Longsword exited the battle and headed towards the surface of the planet. ~End of Chapter 9~

~Chapter 7: Give me a Kiss Goodbye~ “Alright, we are aboard the UNSC Amber. Runner has been taken to the med bay. Junior is attending Runner along with other medical attendees. Her recovery is unknown at this time.” Archangel confronted Moth. Who was on the machine, his goal set to make sure the code for the next location, would be deciphered here soon enough. The others were aboard the UNSC Amber as well, Archangel was the only one who went to UNSC Warlord. As ordered to inform the Captain as what happened and to do so, he did such. “Hm.” Moth said, no concern was in his voice. He directed one of the operatives to step out so another would step in, one more advanced in the subject. “Seems as things are good. Sad to hear that Eric was killed. Hopefully this doesn’t affect the mission. He was Samantha’s second son. Second best son, to be precise. He went mute after a rivalry in the past with crew members. Easy to say, they were insurrectionists aboard the ship. Last one got a bullet on his throat before he was killed.” Moth went over and stepped in to help. “So you’re saying to just continue as we normally do with all our past crew deaths and MIA?” Archangel sounded confused, unknown about the subject. “Yes.” Was all Moth said, Archangel was then dismissed. Red alert was going off, he headed to the observation deck. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jack reached over and gave Ash a kiss, who returned it. “Yuck. You two disgust me, take that crap elsewhere. Not in the med bay.” Junior said, he grabbed a syringe. Ash and Jack were irritated by that response. They walked into the other room and continued where they left off. Runner looked at Junior before he knocked her out, “Please Junior. Pull through. I don’t want you guys to miss me and I don’t want to miss all of you.” A tear rolled down her both of her cheeks in unison. “I’ll do my best.” Junior injected the syringe. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dexter, Frank, and Joseph all stood around and discussed what was needed. The red alert was going off, and they needed to get this done fast. “Covenant in bound. We have a whole fleet. I’m estimating around nine ships total.” Dexter read the radar. “This can’t be good. We won’t be able to last. Valkyrie II is a UNSC Destroyer, Warlord is a Phoenix Colony, FireStorm is a Charon Frigate, Vortex is a Jericho Carrier, Amber being a Stalwart Frigate and all we have for ships at this location. We may as well say our prayer.” Joseph said, fear deep in his voice. He knew there was no match. Even if we called for help we were screwed. “Well, was good fighting with you lads. Nice getting to know ya.” Frank said, he turned around and walked right into the blade of a Promethean Knight. “Oh my god. We’re under attack by the Prometheans as well.” Dexter grabbed his pistol and shot the Promethean right in the face as it revealed its face, after he pinned Joseph to the ground. “That’s enough of you.” “Thanks.” Joseph grabbed Dexters hand and pulled himself up off the floor. Just to find out a Promethean Battlewagon stabbed Dexter in the torso and Joseph just pulled himself on to it as well. The Knight took his other arm and decapitated them. Its Watcher came over and pulled them off its sword as so. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zeff looked at Magnus, who stared out the window with him. Vortex and FireStorm were shredded to hot metal pieces. Warlord was head to head with the flagship Cruiser. Valkyrie took out three corvettes, before it was taken out by a Covenant Supercarrier. “This is terrible, we’re losing this battle as fast as it's started. We’re next.” Zeff said. He watched Warlord take down the flagship and engaged the other cruisers. “No kidding. This is the end of us. Why did Lan Chorus all of a sudden decided to attack after we found the message? It just doesn’t make any sense. I highly doubt he’s even on one of those ships. He’s probably watching the fight from somewhere nearby.” Magnus said. He started to walk over to the hangar bay, to help do his best. Instead, he was stopped by the sheer terror of UNSC Warlord being splattered by the supercarrier. Blown to millions of pieces, explosions everywhere. “Well there’s only one option left.” Zeff said, he watched as a Promethean crawler and Watcher killed Junior and all the other medics. A Promethean Commander shot a binary rifle at Jack, which incinerated him to nothing. Ash started to cry, she grabbed her knife and killed the Promethean. She grabbed Jack's battle rifle and shot down the Watcher then took out the Crawler. She looked over at Zeff, directly in his eyes. Tears streamed down her cheeks. She was taken out by an Incineration Cannon. Magnus put his hand on Zeff’s shoulder, he turned around to look at him to see what he needed. Instead, he turned to a headless body. Promethean in front of him. The Battlewagon knocked him down, and pinned him to the ground while a grunt ran over and mauled his face. Piece by piece, the grunt ate Zeff’s face until nothing was left. He screamed in pain, but there was nothing he could do. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Michael ran into the launch bay, he entered a drop pod and fled to the surface of the Installation. As soon as he landed, he ran towards the cave. This part of the Installation was cleared of flood, for some weird particular reason. He looked back up and watched as Amber was destroyed with the rest of the fleet. The UNSC Fleet of Ajustic was destroyed. He was the only survivor that lasted the longest. He was deemed to die on the surface of the Installation here soon. He knew it, there was no one to reach. A distress beacon wouldn’t matter since there was no cryo tubes on the surface. Michael walked into the cave. A bronze floor appeared as he ventured deeper. Strange, has he seen this before? The room cleared out and started to open wider, the bronze metal grew up the walls and onto the ceiling. He went forward. “I could have sworn I’ve been here before. This is the weirdest moment of Deja Vu I’ve ever had.” Michael went into the other room. Maybe there was something here that could help him? A loud metallic roar was heard. “Son of a gun. I have been here before.” Michael watched as a Precursor Robot entered the room. It’s body resembled the one on Ballast. It raised all five of its tentacles and charged them up. Michael had nowhere to run. They fired. Michael screamed in pain as he fell to the floor, and incinerated. Team Lord was dead, there was no one left. All survivors now joined the ranks of those who have been killed in action. Michael joined his brother, Caboose. All that remained were the survivors of whom were Missing in Action. That’s if they survived. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Runner turned in her sleep, she opened her eyes and saw Junior. “Good morning, sleeping beauty. How was your rest? You should be up and going again here in a few days. You’re recovered, we managed to save you. Glad you’re back to reassure. I’ll let the others know. Until then, I advise you just sleep while you can. Enjoy.” Junior walked out of Runner’s room, she shared it with Junior as of now since no one else was advised to enter the patient's room except for the medical expertise. Runner fell back to sleep, hopefully this time without the nightmare she had before. A smile appeared on her face. ~End of Chapter 7~

~Chapter 1: FireStorm~ Runner just reached Blue Teams base. How convenient, they just had to play capture the flag on Ragnarok. The most overplayed map, and the most played objective game mode. Why couldn’t it have been Ricochet on Chiron Tl-34? Whatever. The teams were an even Three versus Three. Red team consisted of Archangel, Runner, and Michael. Blue Team consisted of Jackson, Junior, and Frank. Of course, Dexter was the spectator and was in charge of the simulation. Bek, well she went to take a nap. Whatever I guess. Runner sprinted into Blue Teams base. The flag was settle conveniently on the pedestal above her. “Well. Here goes nothing.” She noticed Junior was on top with the Sniper Rifle. She watched as an indicated flashed on her screen that Junior just sniped Michael. “Hehe. Only if that were for real.” Runner jumped on top of the base, she walked up to Junior. Surprised he didn’t notice, or maybe it was her ultra ninja stealth mode? Oh well, she took her Carbine and, from behind, put it in both her hands and put the Carbine over Juniors head. She took the Carbine and slammed it up against his neck. He mumbled something but she couldn’t understand. She used her advantage and twisted the Carbine, which snapped his neck. He fell on the floor. “Well that was that, time to get this baby home.” Runner took their flag. The announcer announced that their team had the flag. “Well, they probably know now to. Better get back quick.” Runner went into the air vent on top of their base, it flung her high in the air. She was supposed to land around near those inclines that were split between the river bed. “Alright, now to just...” Splat. Frank ran into her with the Banshee. Runner was thrown out of the simulation, as well as everyone else. “Okay, what the Hell? I was in the middle of winning and you just stop the simulation? C’mon Dexter.” Michael said. Even though he was terrible on that last match. He died forty-three times and only had two kills. He didn’t even get a capture. One of those being a betrayal against Archangel. “Sorry guys. It’s time for you to go, we’re here. UNSC Firestorm is about five kilometers away from us. You all need to get in the Pelican, which is on the deck below us, and have Frank pilot you over.” Dexter said in an urgent manner. This mission must be a really go-getter and the Commander must not want to waste time. All six of them huddled in the small elevator. Junior quietly jammed out to the elevator music, it was one of his favorites. He remembered it used to play all the time in the elevators when he and his father were in New Alexandria. Oh how he missed his father. A tear skimmed down his cheek. Frank was next to him and noticed the tear; he put his hand on Juniors shoulder and told him “Cheer up big guy, we’re your family now. You don’t gotta worry about losing us.” Frank patted him on the shoulder twice, then gently shook it once before he dropped his arm. “Thanks. That means a lot to me. I have no one.” Junior wiped the tear off his face. He meant what he said too. Archangel heard them talk. He was a hundred percent agreed on that. They stuck together through thick and thin, no one gets left behind. Everyone stays alive. It was the unsaid rule of the team. The elevator door opened up. Looks like they were just in time, a Pelican was just being lowered down into the Hangar in front of the shield door. Frank walked ahead of everyone, obviously he was the pilot. He wanted to make sure the thing was safe and ready for immediate launch. Someone walked over to them, “Hello guys. Pelican’s ready. You can leave as soon as you like. Be safe, and have fun. We’re all counting on you. I want Lan Chorus dead as everyone else does.” “Wait. Biggles? Is that you Biggles? What happened? Why are you now working on the vehicle deck? Where’s Jack at? You two used to be together side by side.” Archangel just unloaded questions on him. “Hehe. Yep it’s me, Biggles. I got too old to fight and command had nothing for me to do anymore. Which brings me to Jack of Harts. He and I were on a mission to track down some insurrectionists who were messing with a Communications Outpost. Well, we got the Outpost secured, but on the way back Jack was taken out by a Spartan Insurrectionist, who took him away and left me all on my own as the Pelican took off. God knows where he is now.” Biggles looked down in silence. Jeez, those two really were best friends to the end. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know...” Archangel said. “It’s fine, just go ahead and get in. Firestorm is waiting for you, don’t want to waste your time. Bek’s already in the Pelican waiting for all of you.” Biggles said, then walked back where he came from. Everyone else loaded into the pelican. Frank took off to UNSC Firestorm. ----5 Minutes Later---- Frank approached UNSC Firestorm’s deck, it’s deck was small. However, I guess it was a Frigate. Probably why it was selected best for the job. Could get up close, and wouldn’t cost much if it was destroyed. They landed the pelican, as they exited they were greeted by a marine. Another one familiar to both Bek and Archangel. “Hello guys, they’re in the cafeteria getting some... some food. I hope you know how to get there. It’s just through those, um, those first few doors. Yes. They’re right through those first few doors. Mhm.” The marine said, he was really shaky and probably was insane. “Wait a minute, you’re Zen! Hi Zen!” Bek yelled. “Hrrrrmm!!” Was all that Zen said. “Just go through those doors, leave me alone!” Zen took off in a different direction through a few other doors. “I wonder what’s his problem.” Runner said as she took her helmet off. Jackson lead the team, through the first two doors. Then through another door. He didn’t see the cafeteria. He decided to turn back, but heard a noise. It sounded like a beat of some sort. Jackson pushed open the door. “Err’body say “Warlord” KEEP IT GOING, Tanks, Hornets, Warthogs, Warlord! Let the Covenant come over here, get a taste of my Warlord! Taste a bit of lead that I got from my ship, Warlord! Covenant might stand a chance against our Warlord! Boy, now I know you ain't talking about our Warlord! My mothers captain of the ship Warlord! WaWaWaWaWaWa Warlord!” Then all six of them sat down and ate some sausage. “Um, okay. If that is literally them. I will seriously just take Caboose and get in the nearest drop pod; take it down to the Ring or Installation whatever. Then, I will search for the clue or even Lan Chorus himself down there. Than to put up with those cheerful chatterboxes. It’s too annoying, and I just want to call them all stupid right now.” Runner hyperventilated. “Relax, C’mon lets go. They seem nice, that’s a thing. We’ll just introduce ourselves...” Jackson said before he was interrupted. “Hello Team Lord, glad you made it. Go ahead and take the elevator in the room where you landed the Pelican, and meet the Commander upstairs. You’ll be able to meet your new teammates up here shortly after they’re done eating breakfast. See you soon!” Someone said to them before they had the chance to meet their crew right now. They followed orders and took the elevator up. Runner noticed one of them was a girl, hopefully she wasn’t as bad as Bek. They all got in the clunky elevator, which slowly raised them upwards. Well here goes nothing. The elevator stopped and the shackles slowly raised in front of them. An ODST awaited in front of them, a huge grin on his face. “Follow me.” was all he said before he lead them. They did as they were told. ~End of Chapter 1~

Hello Everyone, I guess I should get started on UNSC Warlord. This time around we got a few newcomers, who haven't been here before. Now I know it might be confusing to some of those who have joined, however those of you who wish may might want to catch up on the other books, or you can play off where it starts. Book 1: Sanctuary is a 66 page book. Book 2: Odds and Ends is a 32 page book. Each of these books and their chapters exist here on these very forums, if you would like a reading copy. Feel free to PM me and I will hook you up with the books. I am proud to introduce our new forum members who have joined: xXTox1cXReaperZ Vitamin PWN Ash Gemini Dragons Fishy If you still want to sign up, just go on ahead and sign up here! http://www.343industries.org/forum/topic/40040-sign-up-for-the-hunt/ The series will continue where we last left, leaving Ballast. The last words said were mentioning the hunt of Lan Chorus, an Elite. His status has still been unconfirmed by the UNSC, but he has been labeled as "Assassin, Zealot, General, Field Marshall, Shipmaster, and other various names." Only 10 more days until the prologue is released! Stay tuned! I may send PM's again letting you know of the release of the chapters, or I may do something different this time. You all better be ready, polish those guns; clean that armor; get a few rounds of practice in at the training court; get to know each other; or if you don't want too, you can just wait until I share the story. Thank you everyone for making it this far!