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Halo Team Assemble Official Thread of Events and Activities Types of Events and Activities: Games that occur at HTA Events: Rules: Links of streams: Links of HTA Accounts: All HTA Events and Activities will be posted HERE, and here ONLY. This is to remove clutters and to keep members and guests up to date on Halo Team Assemble. For those of you who wish to contact us, you can find us on Twitter or Xbox Live: LL Kool D L Fishy L VinWarrior Yoshi1176 We'd like to take this time to thank all of you for the continued support and for being apart of HTA, and continue to keep up to date with us. Thank You.

UNSC Warlord Book 4: Rise of Tespan Chapter 1: Deployment A group of Marine’s were slaughtered at the Temple of Fahro, within a few minutes the base was taken over and secured by the imposed threat. ‘Temple of Fahro was one of Emissa’s sacred places that was currently being used as a relay post by UNSC Warlord.’ Activities of the sort have been happening all across the globe of Nessyapa. Speculation has it that there’s a group of Insurrectionists targeting these various locations across the globe, which doesn’t seem likely for a small armed resistance. Fireteam Falo, a group of ODST’s known for their stealth operations, were tasked with this job. Deployment would begin shortly, as their Pelican was approaching the island. “Alright team, this is another Stealth OP.” Captain Finch stood near the bay hatch. “You know the ground rules. We get in, figure out what the hell is going on, and get out. Keep the firefight to a minimum. We can’t blow this OP.” The hatch bay opened up, it was about a 10 feet drop onto the shoreline. Rocks and hills both swarmed the view in front of them. Only a few kilometers to go, and they’ll be at the Temple of Fahro. “Sliv and Quincy, grab your things. We’re moving out.” Finch grabbed his DMR and slapped the magazine in from the impact of the drop. Sliv fell shortly behind, shotgun in hand, already locked and ready. Quincy was already on the ground by the time Sliv arrived, his green woodland skin covered his entire sniper rifle. “Alright, Sliv. Move up on me. Quincy’s got our backs.” Finch swiveled past a few large rocks. Bright lights emitted from the hillscape in front of them. Whoever was here before them, is still here now. “Sir, three tango’s dead ahead. Third one’s headed out. We’re gonna have to push our way past them.” Quincy spoke in his rough, low, British voice. “There’s a rock on the edge, you could probably use to get the drop on them.” “Roger that, Quincy,” Finch responded while motioning Sliv towards the ledge. “We’ll get them. Quick and clean.” Finch motioned at Sliv, who was now above the two soldiers. He dropped down, the blade of his knife immediately penetrated the first targets throat. He pulled his knife out and sucker punched the next target. Knocking him cold to the ground. “Targets down,” Finch walked up beside Sliv, “Quincy, we’re moving up. On us.” “Roger that.” Quincy, closed up from behind. “Sir, tracker says target location is approximately one kilometer West of our position.” Sliv put away the tracker. A light glared in the distance. They kept moving. A few more guards were spotted towards the right, luckily out of the way. A retaining wall was up ahead. They could either climb over into safety, or risk going around and breaking their operation. The glare came over Sliv’s helmet again. This time she knew what it was, “Quincy, target tower overhead. Northwest, about sixty degrees by twenty high.” Quincy nodded at Sliv, suppressor quipped to his weapon, he raised the Sniper and pulled the trigger. Eliminated. Finch already had Sliv above the retaining wall, and was moving up himself. Quincy came over, and reached up and grabbed their hands for a boost. “Target in sight, fellas,” Finch stared in awe at the Temple in front of them. Sliv pushed passed them, taking lead towards the door. “Doesn’t look like anyone’s home.” Quincy said, as they got closer to the door. The lights were on inside and out, but no one’s in sight other than those few guards they past by. “Keep a close watch, we made it this far, but we still gotta make it back.” Finch sounded a little worried as he entered the passcode to the door. The Temple was secured by the UNSC to keep out intruders and siege’s from happening. However, this seemed to prove otherwise. Either a threat bigger than they imagine, or a small tactical force got the hand on them. The door unlocked. They went in. Nobody was inside, everything was the way it was supposed to be. Monitor’s intact, generators online, and... “Oh my god.” Sliv almost screamed, she couldn’t believe what she saw. Quincy and Finch followed her gaze towards the ceiling. Both of them gasped in horror. The Marine’s were hanging by the ropes, dangling from the ceiling with the words ‘YOU’RE NEXT’ smeared in blood behind them. “Wha-... What do you guys think they mean by ‘You’re Next?’, Sliv saw Quincy fall to the floor; quickly turning to her side as she heard Finch. “Oh no.” She knew what was about to happen. She turned around, only to see a rifle punching her in the face, knocking her out on the ground with her comrades. “Secure the bodies, bring them outside.” A loud, calm, American voice shouted. It sounded familiar. But who? Moments passed by, what felt like hours was merely just seconds. Sliv could feel the mixture of the cool air mixed with the warm breeze. It just got colder. Oh no. She knew what was about to happen. Were... Were they stripping her clothes? Why? Why would they do this? Were they doing this to the other two as well? This couldn’t be happening right now. She wanted to scream, but couldn’t. What use would it do her anyways? Nobody else was nearby. “Sliv, on my way for extraction. You better be ready in fifteen minutes.I don’t care how hot the zone is, you need to get out of there now. A large force has just show itself on the radar. It’s not safe!” It was their Pilot, Lewith. If only he knew what just happened to them. Sliv felt her earpice being removed, then crushed. So much for that anyways. Like it would even matter. She felt something poke her. Here we go, she thought. They poked her again, this time even harder. Her eyes flew open. A fire was in the distance, it was the Temple. They set it on fire, but why. She looked around for answers. She saw them. Finch and Quincy were tied up. Rifles aimed at there heads. She couldn’t make out what they were saying, probably questioning if there were more of them or who sent us. Then she noticed. They both had their armor stripped, left in their undersuits. That’s when a sigh of relief flew over her. She was in hers as well. But what were they doing with their armor? A few more individuals walked by. Their armor and weapons in hand. Wait. Were they going to board their Pelican and take out Lewith, and use the ship for their own need and desires? No. She needed to warn him, but how? Two gunshots fired off, both came from a pistol. She looked over and saw what happened. The horror in her eyes. Finch and Quincy were dead. It was too late for them now, but not her. “We got what we need.” The voice from earlier came back to haunt her. She couldn’t see who this figure was, but she could hear him loud and clear. “Kill the girl. Leave a message for the next team they send. Let them know what they’re messing with.” The voice got quieter, she heard him walking away. The sound of him entering a heavy vehicle could be heard. The vehicle raised. Now she knew what it was. They had a Mantis. But how? How could they have one here? As she saw some more individuals close in on her, weapons ready to fire... A Pelican flew over them, full throttle. It started to turn around. Lewith already knew they were done for, but it seemed he was willing to violate protocol just to pay his own respects. Oh no, this was bad. This was very very bad. Whoever these guys were, were imposing a good threat for a small armed force. There’s no way to explain it. They had one of the new expiremental Hannibal Mantis’ fully operational and everything. The Mantis fired at the Pelican. Within seconds, the ship lost control and was on its way for a crash landing towards them. ‘Maybe this was good, maybe Lewith would still have some control and was willing to use his last breath to ram his ship into this threat.’ but she was dead wrong. Something was charging up, it was really really loud. It sounded from above her. Sliv noticed the previous indivuals were gone, they ran away. She looked up, and realized why. These guy’s had a god damn Condor Gunship! But how in the world did they get that. Who exactly are these people? They were definitely no small armed force if they had this much power. This is bigger than they thought. If only she could have let Command know. Everything she had was down. Her comms were destroyed, the Temple was blazed. She was lost in thought for too long that she forgot what was going on. The Condor fired on the Pelican, a loud explosion was heard as the round pierced through the Pelican. It was obliterated to millions of pieces. She realized it was too late. Her body was numb, she could still move. Maybe even stand. She got up on her knees, then slowly got control to stand up. Pssht. A silent round pierced her leg, she let out a cry of pain. The adrenaline kicked in hard. She stood back up. She started to move away, this time faster. Psssht. Another round pierced her, this time in her other leg. There was no way she could keep going. She turned around, about a quarter way in her turn the Pelican debris rammed her thirty feet into the ground. It happened so fast, she didn’t have any time to process the thought. A warm liquid surrounded her. She felt perfect for the first time in awhile. A deep breath escaped her as she gave in and let out. Fireteam Falo was dead. Their mission objective failed. ~End of Chapter 1~ (*Touchup, will have a personal banner made later on for this Book)

Bi-weekly reviews with Fishy: Volume 1 - Titanfall 2 (Campaign Only) Starting something new for myself, game reviews. Tried it before, but now I'm actually going to go into it. Most of these will feature new games, or Classics. Some of them you know, some of them you don't. But that's the point right? See a peak of interest of something, and it just might make you consider. Anyways, I am grading this game on a few things. The best score is 10/10 on a subject, and a final score of will be given at the very end. Titanfall 2 Released on October 28th, 2016. Produced by Respawn Entertainment, published by Electronic Arts. Titanfall 2 is a futuristic, Sci-Fi, First-Person shooter. Story: 9/10 The story starts out as you (Jack Cooper) deployed on the field with your boss, shortly after deployment your team is slaughtered and you're wounded. Your boss' helps you out, and shortly after the drugs kick in, he meets his fate and the main antagonists appear. Soon after, you become a Pilot-in-training and are forced to take on the world by yourself with assistance of BT-7274, whom is now the Titan under your control and still adapting to human attributes. Throughout the story, you accomplish many hard tasks, forcing you to be constantly moving. Staying still will only get you killed. Luckily, BT will be there to assist you as much as he can and you'll be grateful when he does. The only thing that would have gave this a 10/10, is if the bosses had more of a backstory than what little you heard. Instead of just you being there and they so happened to be there as well. Replay Value: 4/10 Although as great as the campaign is, the replay value isn't really high. It's one of those games where when you beat it, it's like. "Now what?" It's breathtaking, and may be something highly considerable to play later on for a nostalgic feeling, but more than likely you're just going to discuss it among friends/others and talk about what you thought about it. Achievements don't help with replayability either, as if you're playing Master on your first playthrough, you're most likely nabbing every single achievement in the Campaign. Even if you're playing on Regular difficulty, you're just going to be missing the super easy multiplayer achievements and the campaign-difficulty completion one's. Graphics: 9/10 Not the best graphics out there, but they do look really good for what you're getting in a Futuristic Sci-Fi shooter. I personally think Battlefield 1 has better graphics, but has smoother surfaces. Whereas Titanfall 2 has acceptable graphics, but unique textures. Also, almost every single building is diverse, as well as are every room. Copy and pastes are annoying, but acceptable at times as long as it's harder to notice, but this game just went with a huge "No, we're not doing that." Which was great, it really made the Campaign stand-out. Combat: 3/10 Although it's rather easy for some players like myself, I do find it infurating at times where you have no idea what you're doing or what the gun you just picked up does. The only tips you get, is when you respawn. Even then it's only one tip, everything else is pretty much trial and error. For example, the CAR's description is "Low Recoil SMG" okay, what does that mean? It's a steady gun, that's about it. Yet it requires death to just respawn and read a few tips to be like "Huh, I wish I knew that before I used it." Because wall-running with it make it a really good gun, but nobody would have knew that if it didn't require a tip to tell you. Combat-scenarios are great and exciting to see, but if every player has to learn how to use a new gun they picked up, then where's that going to get them in trying something new? It's not. Final Score: 25/40 Percentage: 63% Recommendation: Likely

It's done. I finally did it. I updated Tunnels 2.0, since it was last update in April. Now, let's see what's new in the store. Linke to teh old copi Holy cwap. New stuff my man. We got no more lightning at the spawn. That's good, now you don't die as fast and aren't fowced to wun. Which is awlays good. But dare's still lighting, which goes way after a minute or sumfin. Divah Man Dan is a good guy now, yeh. He no longa kills you, instead he takes you to the sewa where you can hide. Hiding is always good. Uh, new stuff. Like, an evil couch and a uh piano. Gotta have the piano. Eh, oh an Organ. Some other cool stuff, like an Iron Maiden. Definitely gotta touch that, but it might hurt! ​Still dawk Spawn wooms changed for teh infwected, definitely. No more energy swords on the wall in teh Infected Nest, which is great. Because Swords are loud, and awso, Infected have a wandom guy who got stabbed. Dunno what happened here. Interactve stuff, it's nice. Yeh it is. Oh, Alpha Infected no longer pick up weapons, so that's always good. DMR was fixed so you can touch it if you want, don't have to. There's a scary lady who follows you around, although you won't notice but when you do. You gonna be spooked. Other stuff, I don't know. I forgot, I dunno I should've just make a video instead.

Mafia: Dragon Ball Z Edition 2: ​Cell Games Previous Mafia Games: Basics: Factions: Rules: Player List: ​1. Drizzy_Dan 2. ​3. Melody 4. ​5. Self Destruct 6. ​7. Frankenzer 8. Halo6 Follower ​9. Mr. Kittens and Gibberish ​10. 11. Caboose the Ace ​12. Kakashi 13. Pbrabbit ​14. 15. BATMAN ​16. 17. ​18. Yang Xiao Long 19.

Hello 343i Community Forum and other readers. Thanks for clicking this link to the latest interview. This time, I did my second collective interview with a rising Halo-oriented (among many other games) group whose members many of you may already know. Enjoy the latest chat I've had with Halo Team Assemble comprised of Yoshi1176, Fishy and VinWarrior DD: "Hey guys, how did Halo Team Assemble come to be?" YASH: "Well what started off as a bunch of summer time customs lobbies on MCC, became what you see today. In fact it was a joke that started at this time that we would assemble like the avengers, in the shoutbox at 343i.org. So we sort of just adopted it after a while and named our group Halo Team Assemble and expanded from there." DD: "Some of the best things start from small lobbies of players getting together like that. What are each of your roles in the group? FISH: "I like to take the events and get our lobbies set up in advance so we have a basic understanding of who's going to be coming to the events. I am also the main-streamer. And by streaming I mean... I'll do anything" VIN: "I don't really like to define myself by one simple "role", I like to do a lot of things. If I had to go with a term, I suppose it would be Creative Outreach? I write a lot for HTA as well as Podtacular, and hold a pretty prevalent position on Reddit, so I get news pretty fast. Besides that, I consider myself good with community outreach and organize some stuff on the Twitter, as well as Halo related projects for our YouTube. Of course, I'm not just limited to Halo." YASH: "My role in the HTA universe is more on the side of the social sphere I feel. Vin uses the Twitter often and Fishy has a multitude of series on our Youtube channel, but I focus on the Twitter as much as possible, as well as intersite, and inter community relations, I talk to community leaders trying to spread the idea of HTA to sites like Halo Archive, and even still to 343i.org, I find myself talking to "HaloTubers" as well. So I suppose I deal with community relations the most." DD: "It's great that you guys all seem to not limit yourselves to just one role when it comes to the group. For Vin: you say you write Podtacular as well as HTA. Can you tell us about that more?" VIN: "Sure. I was recently hired to work alongside DustStorm and the Podtacular team as a news writer. I've just recently settled into the role, so I don't have a lot yet on that front. All I can say is that the Podtacular team are a wonderful bunch and I look forward to writing more for them. As for those links to HTA, I'm still setting up some cross-article promotion and trying to balance both jobs, as well as integrate them. I certainly couldn't imagine running HTA on my own with this job." DD: "Really cool stuff. DustStorm is well known throughout the Halo Community for the Podtacular podcasts among other works. Good thing you have a team to rely on so you don't have to run things alone; I could imagine how stressful that may be. Where do most of HTA's interactions with the Halo Community occur?" VIN: "I'd like to believe that we are most seen on Twitter typically. Twitter is where we have seen the most support and communication from the community. We recently posted the first episode of our new project, Lost: A Halo Machinima to YouTube and we felt the results were great, but without the help of the community, we couldn't have done it. Twitter works well for us to because we can communicate with the community as well, like Ultimate Halo (specifically Wangtime) who actually helped voice act in the Machinima." YASH: "Whether it be talking about the state of the community with Greenskull or planning some customs with our followers, we love interacting with anyone and everyone." DD: "Twitter is a great platform for reaching audiences. I find that we have the most interaction on the 343iCommunity Twitter as well. Some pretty big name drops so far- DustStorm, Greenskull, Ultimate Halo's Wangtime. Do you guys have any dream collaborations for any projects?" VIN: "Dream collaborations? Well, speaking from probably my deepest desires, I'd absolutely adore to interview Joseph Staten. My longtime goal has been a writing position at 343 Industries, but even meeting and engaging with their team would be a dream come true. As far as community interaction, I'd love to be part of a Halo Canon video. Toa and I interact on Twitter occasionally via my private account, and he seems like an awesome person that shares a lot of my interests." YASH: "Dreams of any future collaborations? We have a few, but the one that seems most possible, and in my opinion the one that would be more fun for everyone involved is a group podcast that was brought up about a week ago. Kenny from Ultimate Halo had been alking about one of Podtaculars recent podcasts and Greenskull, HTA and Ian (Halo Canon) joined in. There was a mention of a group podcast and being able to talk to rather than type to these pillars of the community would be a blessing. Being just under a year old (Our one year anniversary is actually tomorrow [August 11]) and being identified up near those guys is just incredible. Being able to participate in such a podcast would definitely be a dream come true." DD: "Those would be some amazing opportunities I really do hope HTA gets the chance to say they work with people of such high caliber names in the Halo Community. It's definitely not impossible, we are all just people. Does the Halo Team have any upcoming projects that they may be able to talk about?" VIN: "Well, we certainly have a lot of stuff in the back-burner. What we can wholly talk about right now is Lost Episode 2, which will pick up after Episode 1 left off. There will be plenty of new characters, and the story is going in a direction I think everyone will be intrigued by. Speaking of Machinima, we may or may not have a little tease in the works for a project that you're going to love... That's all I'll say on that." YASH: "Less in the way of projects in the way that Vin described we also have some projects that will help us be easier identified in the community as well as achieving our final goals which are bringing the community as a whole closer together. One of those is making ourselves stand out, in this case a fancy new logo that will represent HTA's ideals and values which is being made for us by one of HTA's members and should be ready to roll out soon. Another project is more focused on actually bringing the community together, and that's actually through working side by side with Halo Archive and setting up a possible affiliation in the coming weeks. One of our first members, Adv Jones is a huge supporter of HTA and is helping us achieve this goal since he is a high standing member on the site." FISH: "With the return of the #Throwback's were hoping to bring in the audience of all those who enjoyed the OG systems. Whether they were just born and couldn't experience it or those who currently no longer have the system or the game. With Season #1 being a start of testing the bandwidths and pushing the systems to their maximum quality, I would like to say it was a success. We do know where we stand and what we can and can't do, as demonstrated. However, with the return of #Throwback and the upcoming Season #2. Which is (rumored) to be in September sometime. We are hoping to give the experience for everyone to enjoy. We already have equipment en route for webcams and audio. That way you aren't just watching a boring stream that's pretty much just a walkthrough with trial and error. We're pushing towards sorta what Game Grumps has done, but with success. I have people already setup ready to help out, everything we need is already here. We're just hoping not to reach to the audience in Halo, but to (hopefully) reach out to all of those who have a hobby in gaming, as well as provide as much entertainment to keep those drawn. We've done our research, and we've talked to the critics. I think we're ready" DD: "All these different things in the works is really exciting. I know there have been some asking for episode 2 of Lost already and I am one of those people. #Throwbacks Season #2 sounds like a blast and I've known Jones a while now and can vouch for how good a guy he is. A real supporter of the Halo Community and someone who is willing to meet people and hear them out. To clarify though, you insinuated earlier that there are more members in HTA than currently present but you guys are the founders. About how many are in Halo Team Assemble and how can one join?" YASH: "Yes there are more than just us, but there are just too many to count to be completely honest, everyone that we played with that showed up to our lobbies last summer which were packed to give you an idea, to the people we encounter in Twitter, everyone is in HTA, whether you play with us, participate in our machinimas, or just play Halo, you are part of HTA. The reason being is that we just want to help better the community, and community isn't built by making exclusive groups, it's by including everyone, from game developers to your average gamer." VIN: DD: "Very well said. Universal inclusion is pretty much the idea I think of when I think of Halo Team Assemble at its core. So you love Halo and gaming in general. What are each of your favorite games and franchises other than Halo?" VIN: "Oh, that is a very long list. I suppose counting my favorite games here, Mass Effect is certainly one I could never leave out. It's my favorite science-fiction universe behind Halo, and I cannot wait for Andromeda. I'm also a big fan of Gears of War, simply due to the grittiness of its campaigns as well as the really diverse character personalities. Bioshock was an amazing ride with a lot of interesting gameplay elements and anything from Naughty Dog catches my eye. Finally, I have to give a nod to Destiny as my really guilty pleasure. I know it has a lot of problems but I deeply enjoy it and have already pre-ordered Rise of Iron." YASH: "Other than Halo my favorite game would probably be Jak 2. Yes I know it isn't even a relevant game anymore, but it is a symbol of how I first began playing video games. Through my cousins and their visits to my house, which is actually how I was introduced to Halo. The game's chaos was something a very young me found hilarious and entertaining. Franchise wise I think I'm tied between Star Wars and Pokemon both had a big role in my childhood but Star Wars interests me a little more than Pokemon now, even though Pokemon Go is ridiculously fun. Star Wars is so big that it's hard not to find something you love within." FISH: "I'm going to have to say, I don't necessarily have a favorite franchise or games. I'll pretty much play anything and everything. Rarely ever will you hear me say "I think that games trash" or anything along those lines. The only thing I DO have is a weight-ratio. I will play some games over others if asked. For example, if you asked me right now if I wanted to play GTA Online with you and someone asked me if I wanted to play Rainbow Six: Siege. I would be playing with the other person. But, if you asked me if I wanted to play Gears of War: Judgement and nobody else asked anything. I would play Gears of War: Judgement. Simply because I'll play whatever. Even Kinect Sports." DD: "Solid games in these lists. Gears is also a personal favorite of mine along with Pokemon. Back onto Halo, I want to speak more about the general community specifically since this ambitious group's ultimate goal is to unite it and other gamers. What do you think of the current state the Halo Community is in and what do you think attributed to this?" VIN: "Honestly, I think the Halo Community has really worked hard to pull itself from the disgusting cesspool it was around the late Halo Reach to late Halo 4 days. This community still has plenty of problems in terms of size and accessibility, but 343 has the perfect game on their hands here, and they need to utilize it. I frequently see Halo 5's Forge and customs on Reddit's front page, and people have responded to the multiplayer as a whole with near complete happiness. 343 needs to implement a custom games browser and more social playlists so that these people have a way to play all of this fun stuff. But what do I think attributed to this? Plain and simple, Halo: Reach's multiplayer was way too poorly balanced and Halo 4 didn't have enough sustained content to hold over an audience. Halo 5 does both of these with flying colors." YASH: "Well, the large majority of the Halo Community I believe are genuine fans of the series and that's great but we can't go and pretend that the community hasn't been hurting the last few years because it has. The hurt, I feel comes from those who constantly talk down the community and put down those within it probably because they no longer enjoy Halo. There is the issue right there, they stay in the community and complain, and talk bad about everything that 343 does with Halo instead of just going to a game community that they like better. It creates a toxic environment for the fans of the series and those trying to do something with it. In fact something that I've seen become more of an issue in the last few months is the fact that people are beginning to blame the YouTubers themselves, who have no ability to change Halo in anyway. While this is all happening though the good people of the Halo Community (and there really are some) keep trying to maintain the greatest gaming community to ever exist in my opinion. The cause of all this is most likely attributed to the hand-over of Halo from Bungie to 343. Personally I love 343 and think they are doing fantastic, but their first game was a little rough, and that soured the community. MCC which was hopefully going to renew that launched with horrible bugs and made the issue worse, so here we are today with Halo 5. The game is terrific, but some have been too upset to want to come back or accept the changes to Halo which we have seen over the last few years. When it comes down to it, the problem is people accepting the change that happens in a franchise when it lasts as long as Halo has." DD: "Long, but insightful nonetheless guys and I hope readers can figure out what to do with those words and how it relates to the general community and not just one or two sites. Thanks for keeping the answers coming but we're gonna have to close out soon. Do you have anyone you want to shoutout or anything you wanna say/address?" VIN: "I'd like to thank my mom, my dad, and BoJack Horseman... Kidding aside, the 343i Community Forums got me where I was, and I do want to thank everyone on there for all of the support they gave me. Thank you to Podtacular for granting me an amazing job. Thank you to every single person on HTA that supports us day in and day out. You guys are what keep me going." YASH: "I'd like to shout out our friends on 343i.org and on Halo Archive, love playing games with y'all! I'd just like to say, that if you love your community get out there and do something. Whether it be playing in lobbies, supporting YouTubers or even making videos yourself. Try to make the community itself better and better yourself along the way. Thanks for having us." FISH: "And one last thing, make sure to stop by our YouTube and Twitch Streams and give us a like and/or follow. I really appreciate that sort of stuff and I do pay attention to it. I'll just leave this here: " Thanks readers for reading and thank you to the HTA founders and members for being around. This was really fun and I hope you guys check them out! Follow HTA on Twitter for gaming news, streams, and other fun stuff. Peace out 343iCommunity.

What started as a small group of friends who would get online at the same time to play Halo, turned into a group of Halo and gaming enthusiasts looking to make a name for themselves in the larger community. Halo Team Assemble is a rising group of gamers that's main goal is to band the Halo Community together again through playing and interaction as it once was. Fishy, Yoshi, and VinWarrior are three of the founders of HTA and each do their own part in achieving their ambitious dream. 343iCF HTA's stomping grounds. We're all aware of our home forum but did you know that Halo Team Assemble started here in our Shoutbox? You can find threads related to HTA in the Contests & Events and Game Invitations forums where you can chat about HTA and see information about upcoming game nights and streams. Twitter HTA has grown by almost 200 followers just this summer on Twitter where it does most of its interactions. Their most popular tweet got 273 likes and 106 retweets as seen above. They have interactions with HaloTubers like ToaFreak and Greenskull and higher presences like GrimBrother One from 343 Industries occasionally. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUO2fBddcs0 Lost: A Halo Machinima is Halo Team Assemble's latest project on their YouTube channel. So far it's received 700+ views and pretty good feedback just from the first episode (which features Wangtime from Ultimate Halo!). Episode 2 is currently in progress and they've been recruiting voice actors and editors (including our own D-38 Boss) to make this episode even better than the first. "There will be plenty of new characters, and the story is going in a direction I think everyone will be intrigued by," says Halo Team Assemble's VinWarrior. Check out the latest interview this week starring these 3 to see more about what they have to say about upcoming projects, current works, and their goals in the community. Follow the Halo Team Assemble guys on Twitter, tune in to their streams, and subscribe to their YouTube channel. Thanks for reading. Stay tuned for another Community Spotlight next week. This post has been promoted to an article

Link to previous map the remake is based off. (Warning, the images on that map are NOT up to date with the finished copy.) http://www.343industries.org/forum/topic/40663-cat-and-mouse/ So with ANOTHER quick put together, I have finally remade my Cat and Mou-, er Tunnels. That I made back on H2A's Forge. This map was in the works in December, but with Forge bugs at the time I lost interest and couldn't stand it... Well that's over now, because I finally did it! It has all the old stuff, and will eventually have Infection. Anyways, let's dig in the details of this newer/better version! (No thanks to Halo 5's Forge!) The map is dark, just like the past version. Except, it's even darker. So dark you can't see anything, but I fixed that up. There's some Black Light/Neon Purple lights on the walls letting you know if there's something in the way. Every hallway/tunnel is broken down in view. Covers are placed in positions, forcing you blind from what's on the other side. Take safety measures and carry a shotgun. This map is intended for 6-12 players. But supports 16 players. Which is the maximum. The map is quite fun, even for a basic map that anyone could throw together. But thanks to people throwing in tips, such as adding ventilation shafts, I have added those in as well as a center crossover! So now it's a Square with an X, lol. The map also has some spooky sound effects, and annoying sound effects as well as some regular FX. To give it more of an infection/spooky look like the original version. Anyways, let's get to the images shall we? Player Spawn: Infected Spawn: Corner Room: Cage: Cave: Hallways: Here's some differences that appear in the remake: Infected Spawn on an elevator, lowering them into the spawn room. Giving Players 10 seconds to split up and find an area they're comfortable with. Wreckage room is gone, and replaced with a pig pen. (Yes, the pigs do move!) The Bar is still there, but no longer serving alcoholic beverages. Or chairs. Ventilation shafts don't always have drop holes, sometimes the just end like a normal hallway. Leaving players feeling more secure, and infected having to make a plan. Mysterious man walks through the hallways. Unsure of what he's doing, maybe you could help him? Plasma Rifle replaced with Storm Rifle, pistols are no longer there. Instead there is one DMR placed in a hidden location. Active camo powerup is still on the map, and is obtainable unlike original version. Overshield, however, is gone. Of course there are other stuff, but why spoil it when you can see it for yourself. Gamertag: L Fishy L Gametype(s): Infection Map Name: Tunnels Player Support: 6-16

Now, this map was made way back last year around July. On Halo 2 Anniversary. I liked the map, as well did others. However, with MCC's terrible stability. It didn't seem to last. Now, with Halo 5 out and the servers that beat MCC to a pulp. I decided it was time to do a map, however I decided I wanted to do a remake. Of Salient. Mainly because I never could do Scrimmage... Here's a preview of the sketch of the map, as I've shown you all before: Now, before I show you the make of the map and everything. Let's go over the details. The map supports 2-8 players. Medium Sized map, Breakout oriented. Strongholds, CTF, and Slayer are all compatible on this map as well. It is symmetrical. There are also named locations throughout the map. Everywhere you go, has a callout. Featured Weapons on the map: 4x Frag Grenades, 2x Plasma Grenade, 4x Splinter Grenades, 2x DMR (0x Spare ammo), 2x BR (1x Spare ammo), 1x Hydra Launcher, 1x Active Camouflage, 1x Flag. However in game modes that are NOT Breakout, the following are available: 4x Frag Grenades, 2x Plasma Grenades, 4x Splinter Grenades, 2x DMR (1x Spare ammo), 2x BR (2x Spare ammo), 2 Storm Rifle, 2x Boltshot (2x Spare ammo), 1x Scattershot. However, unlike the previous Salient. There is gadgets, terminals in fact. However they do not do anything, they are merely appearance/decoration. Alrighty, now that that's all clear. Let's do a map overlook of the finalized product: Overlook Blue Yard Red Outside Blue Spawn Red Sneaky Bunker Red Spawn/Decoy Here below is a video of me, just meandering the map. Showing you a few details I could not capture in picture. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIYtTeAYWtc

So I decided to take some time during my days of not having internet, and well make a nice good competitive map after the Scrimmage make for Yoshi and I's tourney. Now, this map is not for the tourney, it's just.... A map I made. I enjoyed making it as well. I did use Scrimmage for the concept though. Same weapons and everything. Here is a preview of a sketch of the map: Now, before I show you the make of the map and everything. Let's go over the details. The map supports 2-8 players. Size is small. You can play almost any objective you want on this map. It is supported. Ricochet, Race, Territories, CTF, Assault. You name it, it supports it. However, you are not able to play Neutral Game Modes, such as Neutral Flag or Neutral Bomb. Those are not supported. Featured map weapons are: 2x Battle Rifle, 2x Covenant Carbine, 2x Plasma Rifle, 2x SMG, 4x Frag (2 sets of 2), 2x Snipers, 2x Needlers, 1x Overshield. There is only 3 Map Gadgets. 2 of which are the same. Each team has a Control Console, each console controls the teams lights. Doesn't affect gameplay. Unless you're tinkering with it when you shouldn't. The third thing is located on the center building. Aesthetics as well, the switches will flicker on and off every 10 seconds. However, if you melee one when it's on. It will shut them all off instantly. Does not affect gameplay. You can play FFA on this map, Neutral spawns are eliminated if there is Team-Play. All that means is neutral spawns at bases, are removed. Now that that's said, here is a preview of the map. Here below is a video of me, just meandering the map. Showing you a few details I could not capture in picture. Enjoy!

So I spent some time in forge the past two weeks, working on this map. Drizzy likes to call it the "Blood Gulch ice version" but that's not what I had in mind. I was thinking more of a map with vehicle warfare on the top, and infantry warfare in the Ravine. Now to get on the topic. Hiemal is a Tundra, boxed in by giant pieces of ice. Red Teams on one side of the map, right next the the small brush of a forest. While Blue team resides over in between some rocks, next to a pit. Each team has its own unique thing, but still have a lot of similarities. Such as they both carry the following supplies and vehicles: 2x Warthog, 1x Gungoose, 1x Ghost, 1x Wraith. 1x DMR, 1x Spartan Laser, 1x Hydra Launcher. Now, it's not much, but the difference between the two bases is that Blue team has Plasma Grenades, while Red Team has Pulse Grenades. Both are handy in different situations, and can be used at an advantage. Weapons are placed on the map, but will be hard to find since the map is so big. (Actually about the size of Containment on the top, Rig on the bottom) There are 1x Fuel Rod, 4x BR, 6x Frag, 2x DMR, 1x Light Rifle, 1x SAW, 1x SPNKR Launcher, 4x Frag, 1x Damage Boost, 1x Binary Rifle (Weapon Pad) The map is a strict no-flying zone, so do not expect any vehicles on the map. Also, you might want to use a vehicle to traverse the top of the ice. The ravine isn't a problem with sprint, and you have two options to leave this area. 1 is on the snow ramp, furthest from the cliff. The second one is a man cannon on the cliff, but you'll have to climb up to it. Supported Gametypes: Strongholds, CTF, Slayer Anyways, that's all folks! Be sure to view the images below! As well as the Camera Pan GIF!

Due to site reasons and to not crash the site, I will instead give out an open link to everyone for viewing purposes of the entire book of UNSC Warlord, 1, 2, and 3. This also helps with loading times as each book is at least 50MB a piece. Anyways, here you all go... Enjoy the hard copies! UNSC Warlord Book 1: Sovereign https://docs.google.com/document/d/11fW80uCdmcy3rmdzQRmhOWb83B0zn_3ddDV5uT_hRVw/edit?usp=sharing UNSC Warlord Book 2: Odds and Ends https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QkuNvg8aq4rcosjWI7Cl6D-IiVAbME0r6FzjcxYLxuo/edit?usp=sharing UNSC Warlord Book 3: Lan Chorus https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yN63XG4QlXk6J2Sm-4PyV9wDBfVKbtob5Ryo917_BQw/edit?usp=sharing and for the credit after scene of Book 3... Here you guy's go:

~Chapter 23: Finish~ Ash watched as Junior and Joseph were eliminated by the Stratego within seconds. Marines and ODSTs ran in to assist, but were killed by the two soldiers that remained. The team had to move quick, they knew if they eliminated those soldiers, the Stratego would just bring in more. If they didn’t, they’d get killed bringing down the Stratego. There was no other options. They were in a tough situation right now, one they wouldn’t win but they wouldn’t lose. Magnus was at the face of the Night right now, his bullets did no harm to it. Only the armor. Ash watched as the knight knocked the weapon out of his hand, then use the incineration cannon to dispose of him and everything he had. Runner ran over to Ash and got behind the cover where she was hiding. Tears streamed down her face, the same thought was in her mind as it was Ash’s. They were going to die. They knew there was no other way. Ash looked Runner in her eyes, “It’s just you and me now. Everyone else is dead. Archangel, Anne, Jackson... They’re dead. I know we both will meet our fate here soon. But let’s not go down without a fight, see if we can save this ship even if we can’t save ourselves.” Ash forced a smile on her face. “A..Alright. I..Guess we can do that.” Runner looked at her with hope, “I wish things went differently. I wish I would’ve got to know you better.” Ash looked at Runner, in attempt to keep tears from rolling down her eyes. “Here, take this. I’ll be right behind you.” Ash handed her a shotgun. “If it doesn’t work, I’ll be behind you to do the rest. I promise.” Ash gave her a pat on the back. As Runner ran towards the Knight, Ash pulled the pin off one of the grenades on Runner’s belt. She stood back, a tear rolled down the cheek of her left eye. “Ash?” Runner called out, terror in her voice. “Ash!?” Runner was face to face with the Knight Stratego. It was too late to go anywhere, the Knight went to swing. The grenade exploded, as well did the others. Blowing the Knight Stratego to bits. Leaving the two Soldiers. Ash wiped the tears from her face and stood up with the pistol Magnus had given her. She made sure it was ready, and that these two Prometheans would be the end. --------------------------------------------- Jackson ran up to Verite. Sword in hand, he swung while Verite blocked. Verite swung while he blocked. This battle would go on for awhile, unless they stepped things up. Either way, the timer on the bomb kept ticking. “Y’know, for an Elite. You’re pretty good. I’ve killed about as many of your kind as much as you use grunt’s for cannon fodder.” Jackson smirked at the Elite. Verite grunted in hatred, “I’ve killed many of your kind as well. With my hand, and in the destruction of your planets.” Jackson didn’t like that response. He unleashed the anger in him with the movement of his swings. Verite hated this demon, his anger was triggered more by the fact that he could have killed him, but decided against it. The damn demon was supposed to just die and rot in the wasteland of the Brute’s. “Not bad yourself, but you still got what’s coming for you.” Jackson taunted the Elite. “You’ll see!” Verite swung his sword as Jackson blocked it, then kicked the demon in the chest, he swung his sword again. Removing Jackson’s arm with a clean swipe. Jackson stared at the Elite, hatred in his eyes. “You cheated. That is not fair.” “I will determine what is fair and what is not fair, demon. Now you will die an undesiring and unrespectful death. You’ll have what’s coming to you.” Verite went to swing, but Jackson jumped out of the way. “Well, all I needed to do was buy myself some time.” Verite seemed confused at what Jackson was saying. “This was supposed to be a round trip, but it seems my time has come to an end.” Verite just stared at him, confused... Wait. The bomb. Verite screamed right before it detonated, which is exactly what the last thing Jackson wanted to hear. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ash walked up towards the Soldier’s. Weapon at the ready, the two Soldiers stared at her with their weapons lowered. “Human!” As Ash went to quickdraw, she was stopped. Penetrated by a hot, warm, sharp object. “Ughnuhuhhuh...” Ash couldn’t move, it didn’t feel right. What happened? “You think you could just run away, come back, blow up one of my ships, and then think you could leave? Well I’ll have you know I do not take this sort of behavior in an acceptable manner. Your death is just a matter of the correlation. Soon will be your ship and the rest of your friends.” Lan Chorus said in a hasty matter, pure hatred rushed through him as he drug the sword out of Ash and through her on the ground. She watched as more Elite’s came in and killed the Soldiers and pushed for the command deck. Ash laid there in a pool of her own blood. Waiting for the last seconds to pass... ------------------ Ash opened her eyes. A bright light was in her field of vision as were three other people standing over her, two of them were in a lab coat one was in an ONI Jacket. “The simulation is incomplete, and she has failed her objective. What makes you think she’s worthy of joining our Spartan team, Doctor Halsey?” Must have been the ONI Jacket guy. “The simulation is meant for them to fail, but she has by far made it even further than most Spartan’s have. For the exception of a few of them, regarding Blue and Red team. I think she’ll fit in nicely.” Halsey responded. “But what if she fails like she did her objective? We’ve had other Spartan’s make it as far as her, such as T-031 Jackson and S-034 Archangel, but they were a loss on the frontlines a couple days after.” The ONI seemed like he wanted to discard of her into the waste can. “It’s alright, Thomas. This one is special. I know she’ll make it far. You just have to trust me. I’ll work with her, and hopefully she can be one of the best soldiers out there you’ll need her to be.” “Very well, do what you must. We believe the Covenant are headed to Reach within the next few days. I hope she’ll be ready by then.” The door slammed shut and everyone left, the lights went out leaving her in the dark. “It... It was all a simulation...” Ash cried. ~End of Chapter 23~ ~Book 3: Complete~

~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~

Good afternoon everyone? Are you ready for some good old Dino's? And no, I'm not talking about Elites. I'm talking about Jurassic Dino's. Well, you better be ready. Cause Bnus and I are packing a punch. Like, Randy Savage. Previous Mafia Games: Basics: Factions: Additions: Rules: Player list: 1. Caboose the Ace - Hoodlum (Dead) 2. Melody 3. Yang Xiao Long - Hoodlum (Dead) 4. Pbrabbit - Civilian (Dead) 5. Frankenzer 6. Simple Soul - Civilian (Dead) 7. Hayley Kenway - Simon Masrani(Dead) 10. Drizzy_Dan - Civilian (Dead) 11. Arbiter747 - Hoodlum (Dead) 12. Tony Stark - Katashi Hamada (Dead) 13. Rrhuntington 16. BATMAN - Owen (Dead) 17. Self Destruct - Margarita Dad (Dead) 20. Black Wolf - Civilian (Dead) 21. Wam - Henry Wu (Dead) 22. Yoshi1176 - Vic Hoskins (Dead) 23. Church (Dead) Any questions or concerns? Ask.

~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 19: The End~ Jackson opened the Pelican’s door, Banshees swarmed the sky. Every so often the sunlight was blocked by the aircraft's. His vision turned to the side, there; a Covenant Supercarrier drifted in the distance, plasma cannons fired upon the ground and the sky. “Jackson, close that door. We can’t risk Ash getting hit at all. She’ll die. I’ve managed to get her body into some kind of hibernation, but like I said. She can’t get hit, otherwise she’s done for.” Junior said, he stood up against Jackson. Almost all of their teammates were dead, killed, or injured because of this Spartan. Junior started to think they would’ve been better off without him. “I know.” Jackson said. He pulled down the Machine gun turret. It sort of just hanged there from the roof. He took one last look over at Ash, before he ripped the turret off and shut the Pelican’s doors, as then he proceeded to the top of the Pelican. Where he would meet his fate. The first thing he saw as the hatch opened, were eighteen Banshees. They all zoomed past him, none turned around and none stopped. “Caelin. How long before arrival?” Jackson asked as he stood on the hatch. The sky was full of Covenant, but they were all headed in one direction. “I presume twenty minutes, sir. That’s if no firefight’s are engaged, as well as this Pelican keeps up at this speed. This one wasn’t designed to go this fast, sir.” Caelin replied back. She maneuvered the Pelican underneath two Phantoms headed straight at them. Yet, they didn’t engage. They just continued on their path. Jackson turned around and headed to a seat in the Pelican as the hatch closed. “Archangel, anything new on the battlenet?” Frank asked. Seeing as how he was not capable of receiving anything. “Yes, it seems the fleet has arrived. Warlord is back, but they’re up in the atmosphere. I’ve managed to briefly contact them. We’ll need to use a Longsword back at the camp to get back, if not, we’ll look for the next closest thing.” Archangel said, as he remembered himself try to contact whoever shot the MAC rounds. “That makes more sense...” Junior spoke up. He turned and looked directly at Runner. “So, sweet cheeks. How’s it feel to no longer be the only female ODST, now that Anne has joined the team?” “I really do not care.” Runner replied, disgrace in her eyes. Junior just laughed. “Alright you guys, we are approaching camp. It’s under attack at the moment, so if we want out of here, we’re going to have to push through.” Caelin yelled from the cockpit doorway. Jackson, Archangel, Magnus, Runner, and Joseph stood at the doorway. Weapons ready, pointed out the hatch as it started to open. “Alrighty guys, you’re good to go. Secure us a Longsword.” Caelin and the pilot landed the Pelican, just as the five opened fire when they jumped out. Grunts and Jackals were everywhere. An occasional Elite showed his face for every 50 Grunts. “We stick together, covering fire in all directions. Let that be in front of us, or behind. You will open fire on the target.” Jackson ordered, he held his knife and ran it through an unsuspecting Jackals throat. The Longsword wasn’t very far away from where they landed. It was just swarmed in Covenant, and whatever remained of UNSC troops. Joseph ran up to an Elite, he pulled the trigger on his M60 as fast as he could before he had to swap magazines. The Elite was shieldless, but reached for his energy sword. Joseph noticed instantly. His thruster pack activated, and Joseph slammed right into the Elite. Knocking it on the ground and out cold. “Caelin, we’re at the Longsword. Archangel is inside, setting up the controls. Runner is in there with him, for cover protection against any unseen enemies. Magnus, Joseph, and I are all eliminating what threats are left. I advise you head here now.” Caelin could hear the rapid gunfire in the conversation with Jackson. She turned and looked at the others. “They’re ready.” Junior and Zeff looked at her. “Frank, help cover fire with Junior and lead the way for Zeff and me while we carry Ash. Anne, cover our backs please.” They all looked at her, but none of them argued. They couldn’t lose their leader right now, and this plan seemed pretty solid for a two minute walk. They pushed through the wreckage. Vehicles were on fire, damaged, or unharmed. All in variety, Covenant and UNSC. A ghost laid underneath a hornet, and a Phantom’s ruins were crashed on top of a Scorpion. “What happened here, happened fast.” Junior spoke to the group, he aimed his shotgun at every corner. “Yeah, no kidding. This place is a complete mess compared to what was here yesterday. I never thought something like this could’ve happened the very next morning. It’s unbelievable.” Zeff was saying as he carried Ash over his shoulder. He looked at everything. It was like one of those horror scenes of a wreckage. An ear-piercing scream was heard from their left. Which distracted everyone and made them turn to look. A Marine ran through the wreckage, engulfed in flames, the smell of his burnt flesh immediately filled the air. “You gotta, you guys gotta help me! The... They’re destroying everything, they’re coming for you next! They’re... They’re... They appear out of nowhere! You gotta run while you still can!” Junior shot the Marine. “Good call, corporal. I would’ve done the same if it was you.” Zeff sounded astonished. “There it is, the Longsword awaits us.” Caelin pointed at it. Two Phantoms flew overhead and dispersed troops. Jackals, Grunts, and an Elite. The other one let out two Hunters. “We need to move fast, and now.” Caelin helped Zeff run with Ash, ensuring her safety. Jackson, Magnus, and Joseph ran up and shot the Covenant as they ran to cover Ash. Frank and Anne stopped to help. Jackson deployed a Drop Shield just as the Hunters fired their charged assault beam. Allowing Frank to pull the trigger on the sticky detonator that was attached to one of them. As the shield dropped, he fired another and instantly detonated it upon impact. “All clear!” Frank exclaimed and headed towards the Longsword, just before he noticed a Spirit come in at a ludicrous speed. He looked up in horror. The Brute Chieftain was the only one on deployment. “Everyone, stand clear of the targets drop zone!” Jackson barked the order, then jumped back about ten feet away from the zone. The Chieftain jumped out, and swung his hammer, to see who was close. Which was no one. Everyone opened fire, as it ran. Archangel came out of the Longsword bay on the exit strip. Jackson lowered his Battle Rifle, and looked up in horror. He screamed, but no words came out. He only heard Archangel’s. “Zeff! Look out!” Zeff turned around to look, dropping Ash on Caelin. Which did some damage to both of the two. The Chieftain swung his hammer at the left side, where Ash was, and hit Zeff in the same area Ash was hit. Except a lot worse, since this was the other side of the hammer. Zeff looked up at the Brute. There was nothing he could do at this point. This was his grave. His teammates rounds did nothing. The Brutes shields still flickered. They couldn’t kill him in time to save him. There was only one thing he could do. Finish his mission, which was to protect Ash. His arm fell to his belt, he remembered his one and only spike grenade. This was to be used on Lan Chorus as an alternate plan to kill him, if they were to ever find him. There was no choice now. He wouldn’t be there to see that damn wretched Elite fall. With little will to do so, Zeff grabbed the grenade. His body screamed not to do it, but he must. It was his duty. The Brute held the hammer over his head now, going in for the swing. Zeff looked up at him, and activated the spike grenade and slammed it into the Brute's chest. The Chieftain startled backwards, fear showed on his face. He swung his hammer, but the grenade detonated. Spikes cleared open the Brutes chest and armor, and a few blew into Zeff’s head. It killed both of them. “Zeff!” Jackson yelled as he ran over to him, he saw the slots where the spike went inside his head. It was done, Zeff was gone. So was the Chieftain. Jackson grabbed Zeff’s tags, with sorrow, and slowly stood up. “Jackson, let’s go now! Prometheans are starting to show up!” Archangel ran over to him and yelled at him. Jackson heard the Prometheans, and ran back inside the Longsword where everyone was waiting. Caelin had her right arm broke and the wrist. Ash was buckled up safely, and all who didn’t have a place to sit, stood and held on tight. “Sir, shall we go?” Frank asked. “Yes. Take us to UNSC Ambient. They need the medical attention.” Jackson grumbled, Archangel could tell he was not happy with this recent event of Zeff. He was a good soldier, and died doing his job. He respected that, but there was no way he could ever repay him. Frank pulled them into the atmosphere where all their fleets ships laid out, opening fire on opposed Covenant ships. UNSC Ambient was the furthest away, but out of range of the battle. That was their target, and that’s where they are going to head. They all sat in silence as Frank guided the ship towards their safety, and away from this vicious Brute world. First Dexter, then Michael, now it’s Zeff. Jackson was ready to say his motivational speech when they got back. More than ready. He looked over at Ash, who was still unconscious but miraculously still alive. She was like a sister to him. They were all like brothers and sisters to him. They were his family. From where he comes, his duty is to protect his family. Which is exactly what Zeff had done for them. ~End of Chapter 19~

~Chapter 18: Arrival~ It was early, the sun casted a bright white glow before it revealed itself. A cool breeze picked up, and few clouds were overhead. Morning dew appeared on the grass. Runner had no idea what time it was, but she took a good nap. Zeff said he’d use the rocket turret if it was needed, hopefully by then she would be up. Runner stood up and stretched her arms. “Ooh, that felt good.” Now that she started to regain conscious, she could spectate the world around them. Surprisingly, she just noticed they were no longer in the desert, but in a grassland with something laying over the hill. “Wait a second...” Runner trailed off, before she could think of what it was, it came into view. There it was, the Brute’s Keep. It was smaller than a citadel, but that didn’t mean anything. These were Brutes. With the resources available with such little troops back at the camp, they might have been able to stand a chance and just waited out for the return of Warlord and the others. They couldn’t do that, not with their friends inside. Hell, if any of the other Spartan’s were sent in to do this. This would’ve been a hell of a lot easier. Except a few of those were at the camp to defend the troops. All the others were onboard the Fleet. “Alright you guys, I doubt all their troops are here. Especially if they’re out on the look for more stragglers. This will be their weakest point, and a surprise to them. After a while, reinforcements will start to arrive. We’ll need to get out of here once that happens, and quick. As stated earlier, we will have our retreat covered, thanks to Caelin.” Jackson said, she put her hand up in a ‘Hello’ sort of matter for acknowledgement. Jackson proceeded to turn off the lights on the Mammoth, they didn’t want to get spotted easily now. “Alright now, stick to the shadows and try not to make too much noise.” Jackson grabbed a sniper rifle and placed a silencer on it. “You know what to do when we need it.” He handed the rifle to Ash. “Everyone else, stack up on the vehicles. Except Zeff, you stay up on the overwatch.” Jackson proceeded down to the vehicles. Jackson felt off. Were they missing somebody? “Hey, where are the others?” He asked, unsure of whom they were. “Who? Michael and the Marines? They’re dead. beam rifle got them. The Marines disposed of the bodies off the side of the Mammoth. Last one got shot, and fell off.” Junior answered. He held up the dog tags for proof. “How did you get the last one’s dog tags if he fell off? Also, I don’t remember there being more than one beam rifle shot at the Mammoth.” Jackson asked? He counted the dog tags while they were held. “Mammoth was stopped sir. I climbed down. You were also on the field with the tank. There’s no way you could have heard any of the beam rifle shots, only the roar of the engine.” Junior replied, his voice was stern. “Alright then, that’s a settled recap. Wish you would’ve said something earlier though.” Jackson directed everyone to a vehicle. Magnus hopped on the turret of the Rocket Warthog, Frank took the driver seat, and Runner snatched a rocket launcher before she sat in the passenger seat. Junior hopped in the driver's seat of the Gauss Warthog while Zen loaded himself on the turret. Jackson, again, took the Scorpion. “Rocket ‘hog? Are we good to go?” “Yes, we’re ready.” “Gauss ‘hog? Are you?” “Affirmative.” “Roger that, waiting on Caelin for the go. Front hatch will drop open and we will be dispersed. Remember, lights off and keep quiet. If there are any Brutes on patrol, signal Ash. She’ll take them out if she already hasn’t. There shouldn’t be anything big this early. So we’re in the clear for now. As soon as we can get inside, the faster we can get this done.” Jackson said, his plan sounded pretty solid in his mind. Even though he wasn’t done with the explanation. Frank’s Warthog moved in first, the sound of it was quiet from the distance. A rough noise could be heard every so often from the tires churning up dry grass. Magnus gave his motion to Runner, who instantly gave the motion to Frank to stop the Warthog. Up ahead Magnus detected two Brute signatures on the rocket turrets sensor. He motioned in the distance where they were at, Runner forwarded the message to Frank. Who turned off the Warthog and turned on COMMs. “Ash, do you read me?” Frank said, quietly. His voice wasn’t mute like the other two’s would have been, no thanks to him not equipped with a helmet. A voice came back, softly, after a few seconds, “Yes. What is it you need? I got eyes on your Warthog. You seem to be clear as far as I can see, anything new?” Ash was focused on the Warthog like none other, sniper rifle in hand. Finger on the trigger. “We have two. I repeat, two Brutes ahead of us. Location is unclear, but they’re shown on the turrets sensor. Distance is approximately two hundred yards ahead. Over.” Frank kept his best at being quite, pretty good since the wind started to pick up. Nice breeze every so many seconds. It’s as if nature wanted them to save their friends. A few minutes passed by as they sat in the dark, they saw Junior close to the entrance in the distance. Lucky him, got the easy route it seems. Jackson wasn’t anywhere near in sight yet. Runner looked over at Frank, as soon as she did Ash responded back with the softness in her voice. “Roger that, I got them. There’s three of them.” Frank sat there and waited, as did the other two. A ghost whispered in Frank’s ear, although he couldn’t hear what he said. So he responded quietly, “What?” Runner looked at him, concerned. The whisper came back, still faint and unable to hear. Frank looked at Runner, “Did you hear that?” he kept quiet as he said that and the wind picked up once again. A third whisper was heard. Still undetectable. “Alright, now this is freaking me out.” Frank looked around cautiously. “Alright, targets have been eliminated. You should be able to proceed.” Ash said, her voice kept that soft-tone. Something about it offset Frank. “Those were the sniper rounds, you dolt.” Runner said after Ash got off the COMMs. Frank’s face was covered in embarrassment. He should have known better what that sound was. ‘Of course those were sniper rounds. Not some ghost. What was he thinking?’ he turned on the Warthog and proceeded towards the entrance, at his best to be undetected. Magnus was on the rocket sensor once again. He turned it around ever-so-slowly as to see if they missed anyone or were being ambushed. In front of them was the entrance to the Brute’s Keep, guards stood outside. The door seemed accessible, but they couldn’t see what was inside. “Ash, the entrance to the Keep has about four Brutes guarding it. Could you give us a hand?” Runner asked. “Copy that, waiting for alignment.” Ash bolted off the top of the mammoth, she landed in a crouched position. One hand on the ground, sniper rifle held up in the other. “Ash, we have arrived at the entrance over. We see about four Brutes standing guard. Three of them huddled in a pack, the fourth one in front of the door.” Junior spoke up from. He was at a further angle than the others, they had already departed from their vehicle. “Copy that, already on it. Standby.” Ash managed to sprint across the open field in fifteen seconds. Up ahead she could see the entrance, as well as the Brutes. First up, the Brute on its own. Shot fired. Junior watched and heard as the Brute collapsed to the ground. One of the other Brutes heard it, and decided to go investigate. The other two watched him as he did. Ash fired a round at the left Brute, she watched Magnus stab and takedown the second Brute. Now all that was left was the wandering Brute. Ash reloaded the clip, and fired. The bullet impaled his head, and exited out the other end and hit the door. The door opened briefly, it allowed her to see what was inside before it was closed. “All targets eliminated. Entrance is clear, nobody is inside the first door. Have at it and have fun. We’ll see you when you get out.” Ash returned to the Elephant, but was stopped in her tracks. A Brute Chieftain stood over her, hammer raised. “Wilco. Thanks for the assist Ash. Couldn’t of done it without you.” Runner said, she motioned for the others to form up, while she took lead at the door. As Ash had said, there was no one inside the first door. She proceeded to the second door, the others stacked up ready for what was on the other side. Runner motioned for Magnus and Zen to take point. The door opened. Ash dropped her sniper rifle and jumped away from the Chieftains swing. She grabbed her silenced pistol as fast as she could, then activated her thruster pack. The Chieftain didn’t have time to react. Ash fired the entire clip into the Brute's armor. His shields just flickered, her bullets were consumed. That didn’t stop her, she kept at it. The Brute just laughed. He went for a hammer spin, which forced Ash to activate her thruster pack and jump back. This was no use, she had to find something better. The Chieftain swung his hammer at her in a chop-like maneuver. Ash grabbed her sniper rifle and held it up as a defense. The Chieftain's hammer hit. Ash let go of the Sniper and made a dash for her knife. The Chieftain scraped the sniper rifle off the hammer in disgust. He let out a roar at her to know how angry he was. “You dare defy me, I will have your head and feast upon every last one of you.” The Chieftain raised his hammer again, to be stopped by a loud sound in the distance. Ash was caught off-guard as well by it. A Covenant Cruiser flew in from above, and then two Corvettes came down with it in support. The Chieftain let out a loud roar, then looked back at Ash. Who returned the look to him. “I will kill you.” She said, she went for the neck. The Chieftain slammed the backside of the hammer against her side and launched her across the field. “You are lucky this time. I’ll have you soon again.” The Chieftain said. A Phantom came in at an incredibly fast speed, the Chieftain walked into the lift and then the Phantom was gone as fast as it had came in. Ash just laid there in the open, the Cruiser and Corvettes positioned themselves over the Keep. They didn’t fire, they were just stationary. She thought to herself, What was the Chieftain doing that he had to leave so suddenly? It didn’t make sense. She reached down to where the hammer had hit, it breached her armor. She was bleeding. “No...” Ash now knew what the Chieftain meant when he said “I’ll have you soon again.” He planned this, that damn Brute planned this! She could prevent it, the Mammoth wasn’t far. Only five hundred feet, she could try to walk it. Caelin could help her the best she could. She started to walk, but it didn’t work. So she tried again. There was no way she could make it back, not like this. Tears rolled down her eyes as she laid there. Helpless. A loud noise was heard, all she saw before her eyes closed were bright headlights from above. Next thing she knew, someone carried her. She heard chatter, but couldn’t make it out. Finally, Ash had fainted. Everything went as black as the night sky. The second room was clear. Sort of suspicious, you would think there would be Brutes everywhere. Especially after the many they encountered. Unless that’s where they were at now. “Wow these Brutes aren’t smart are they? They have more on patrol than they do on defense.” Runner said, she laughed at the thought. “Yes, I don’t think the Brutes are smart to begin with. They’re just there for the money and the food, they could care less. However, I believe their leader is the highest priority. Which is the Brute Chieftain. We need to eliminate him, an outrage will breakout. They will feast upon another.” Zen said. “Wow really, that’s all that these guy’s have that are keeping them in line?” Runner asked, curious even more at their stupidity. “Yes, er well I don’t know. It’s just a theory. I would assume so though, you have eliminated their alpha and now all the betas do not know who to follow. Thus encouraging an outrage until someone claims alpha.” Zen said. He peered around the room, and motioned to Magnus to engage the two Brutes. Magnus fired his silenced SMG and Zen fired his silenced Magnum. The two Brutes fell to the floor. They weren’t wearing any armor. It’s as if they didn’t even expect anyone to come, it’s as if this wasn’t a trap at all. They just captured them for food. That was it. “Runner, we’re clear. Although none of these Brutes have armor. Should we split-up, that would make it easier to reach the target. Just a suggestion, sir.” Zen asked. “No. We stick together. Move forward.” Runner said. She took point this time, and the others stacked up on the door. There was seven Brutes without armor, they all fired at the Brutes. “Drop dead.” Junior said. Runner stacked up on the next door with the others, she motioned at Magnus and Junior to take point. Zen and Frank stood at the side, ready. The door opened. A Brute Captain stood in their way, plasma rifle in hand. Everyone opened fire. “Come on you guys.” Runner said, she reloaded her weapon then fired. The Captain didn’t stand a chance. “We’re clear here. Move forward, find out what that Captain was guarding.” Runner ordered. Magnus and Frank volunteered, everyone else stood aside. The door opened. “It’s them.” Magnus said, he lowered his weapon and motioned for Junior to assist. The others followed inside while Magnus and Zen stood guard at the door. “Haha, you guys are alright!” Runner exclaimed. “Marines, you guys hurt? If not, load up. We’re here to save you. We’ll have you three catch a ride on the tank with Jackson outside and... and... and who is she?” Runner trailed off as she noticed the ODST that was next to Joseph and Archangel, she seemed wounded and hurt. “Yeah we are, thanks for coming. We didn’t think you guys were going to shut up. We had a plan to attempt to kill the Captain, but our chances of winning would have been zero.” Archangel said. “Yeah, that fall didn’t help any. Luckily I didn’t break my back. Hehe.” Joseph said, “Speaking of which. Where’s Michael?” He looked around curiously at everyone, “Or Jackson, Ash, Zeff, and Caelin?” “Caelin, Zeff, and Ash are on the Mammoth, they should be waiting for us at the evac zone by now. Jackson is in a Scorpion, he is providing covering fire as we leave. Our Warthogs are outside, one of you can ride with Junior and Zen. The others will have to hitch a ride with Jackson.” Runner said, in her rough command voice. “Sounds fair to me. Archangel and I will ride with Jackson. Anne can take the Warthog, she needs it the most. She’s in a bad condition.” Joseph said, he looked over at Archangel. Whom nodded his head in agreement. “Alrighty then, once Junior is ready. We can do this.” Runner said. She looked at Junior for confirmation. “She’s patched up, but I don’t know how long it will last.” Junior said. Anne stood up, she acted as if she could handle the pain. “Alrighty, Zen. You support Anne while she walking, she’s going to need the assist so we aren’t slowed down. I know you want out of here more than anything and that’s the way it’s going to happen.” Runner said. Her voice still had the command in it. “Alright, let’s go.” Zen said, as He lifted his shoulder from up underneath Anne’s arm. The team exited the structure the same way they entered it. No Brutes were in sight, except the ones they killed. However, the outside was different than when they entered. Way different. First off, the sun was out. Secondly, Banshees flew around everywhere, shooting other Banshees. Assumed to be Brutes vs the Elites, as it would seem. There was a Cruiser this time, with Corvettes. Which is where they got the assumption that Lan Chorus came back. Then there were mysterious aircrafts flying around, they shot, only assuming, at the Brute Banshees. Prometheans were on the ground as they fought in one-on-one combat with Brutes. It was a slaughterhouse right now. “Come on, we need to go.” Runner said, she hopped in the passenger seat. Frank took the driver seat, and Magnus on the rocket turret. Junior took the driver seat of the other warthog, Zen sat Anne in the passenger seat, then hopped on the gauss cannon. Archangel and Joseph ran across the field at full speed, then hopped on Jackson's tank. They then proceeded to the evac zone. “Welcome back you guys, hop on.” Jackson said. Which is what they did, Archangel jumped on the machine gun turret, and Joseph seated himself on the tread covers. Jackson then turned around and headed to the evac zone. He fired rounds at a few of the mysterious aircrafts headed their way as he headed back. “Caelin, this is Jackson. Package has been received. Ready for that evac.” Jackson said, he pushed on the pedals to go as fast as he could. The Warthogs came up fast from behind, and were soon in front of him. Jackson felt a little bit more embarrassed, then remembered he was in a tank. So it didn’t matter right now. Except he could do for a little more speed... “We’re almost there! Five hundred meters out!” Runner yelled. She saw two Pelicans fly in, thrusters at their maximum. Then they made an incredible stop, and landed in a vertical motion. The hatch opened as they did so, and the landing gear pulled out. They arrived at the Pelicans, everyone hurried as fast as they could to board the ships. Jackson pulled up quick afterwards, and they did the same as the rest. They boarded the Pelicans at an incredible speed. “Alright, we’re all here. Let’s go!” Caelin yelled at the pilots. Both of them pulled up and thrusted out of their. They watched as they left, the Cruiser fired its cleansing beam, destroyed the Brute Keep and everything around it. Banshees and the mysterious aircrafts scattered about. Headed in all directions. Afterwards, the air got really hot. That’s when Jackson looked over and noticed Ash, she was out. “Junior, get over here now!” He yelled. His voice was a little saddened and concerned. As if he actually had feelings for Ash. Did he have feelings for Ash? No, no he didn’t He didn’t have feelings those were gone. He lost those back when he decided to join. That was his choice after all, he decided to kill that girl and run away. He decided to get on that Pelican that day... Oh how the memories hurt. Forget the girl, Jackson said. He should keep focused. Junior didn’t see it at first, but then he saw the wound. Blood was still there. So, he did what he could. It was a Spartan after all, he didn’t know much in the medical field about how to care for them. They were just going to have to wait. Junior looked outside of the hatch, which was now closed. The pilots insisted on it being closed for safety procedures and so they wouldn’t get burned from the Cruisers cleansing beams blast. Which he didn’t need to worry about anymore. Six MAC rounds pierced the Cruiser and the Corvettes from above. The Covenant ships fell to the ground, engulfed in flames. The Brutes Keep was gone. All of it was gone. Those mysterious vehicles, the prometheans, the Elites, the Brutes, everything. They were all gone. Burned to death. There was no other way they could have died. Now, they just needed to get back to the camp. See what’s going on and what they could do, and to find out where those MAC Rounds came from. But first, Ash needed to be taken care of. They couldn’t lose her, not now. He managed to stop the bleeding for the time being, but that’s only for about an hour. After that it’ll be back and possibly worse. “Hm.” Was all Junior could say. He didn’t really know what to say. All he knew was that he wanted to be back. Now. ~End of Chapter 18~

Well shoot, where do I even want to start on this. Um... I would like to thank the Academy... Wait no, um... Oh I know, but here. Let’s go with the bad news first, then we’ll go to the good news. Although, this may be flipped responses for some people. I’m totally fine with that. It’s your choice. Hi guys, how’s it going? I’m not too shabby myself. I just have some things to deal with. Which is why I am informing you all that here soon with a few days my activity will decrease. You know those cartoons with the graphs and there’s a line zig-zagging up and down all over, and then at the end there’s a huge drop? That’s what my activity is like. As always though, they find a way to somehow raise it and the next line mirrors it. Getting an increase. Short to say, that’s what I am and will be doing. Over the next couple of months I am raising money to get my own place, 20k is the expected amount I will receive. That way I can fulfill my adulthood, and get my own place. After that, my activity will start to increase. Long ways away, yeah I know. But it is what it is. Next up though, events. I won’t be doing them for awhile now, so all the events I have will be expected to come later on. My Rotation, New Years, and Old vs New per say. Old vs New being the big one, was planning on actually hosting it on Halo: Reach but whatever majority chose between Halo 5 and Halo: Reach, was going to be the deciding vote. Top 10, although I am leaving I will still be doing such a thing except I will be playing the neutral role in the committee. If Yoshi1176 and Edward Kenway want someone, and the other disagrees. I’ll be that third guy. As well as I will still do my Top 10 posts when it’s my turn. August is actually the current one, I won’t be doing it again until November after that. And to top it off with the ice cream in my soup, I hope you guys all have a wonderful time. I know I wasn’t the best member or a great role model. I was actually quite the opposite, notorious and a bad member. How I got MoM, I don’t know. I believe it was because of the things I have done, nothing to do with what I said. As for what I have said and done that hurt or offended those of you. I would like to formally and publicly apologize for what I have did. You know who you guy’s are, and I should know better, I am an adult after-all. Now, I would like to say a few things to a few members I have chosen. Just because I’m the kind of guy to single someone out: Ash- You’re my friend. BATMAN- Out of all the members on the forum, I love you the most. Just because I can and you were one of my earlier friends. Drizzy_Dan- I need to 1v1 you sometime. You’re a good Halo player, as I am as well. We just can’t do this 1v1 anytime soon. You’re also the friendliest person I know, I have heard you put someone down, but that’s like a 1 in a million. Other than that, you’re nice. You probably can’t stand having a guilty conscious, or it’s just not in you. I respect that. You’re like a mirror of me, per-say. Edward Kenway- Although we do not get along. You still manage to find a way to break the barrier and then we both end up getting punished for what we have did. Nonetheless, it’s fun to play with you. Even if it’s for attention, I don’t mind as long as we’re having fun. And thanks for help making the videos when I am unable to do so myself. Halo5 Follower- Not everyone knows your name, otherwise I would have started out with “[Your Name] :3” like vast majority of the Community. Nonetheless, thanks for watching. I never thought there were people out there who could enjoy sitting and watching other people game than gaming themselves. You watch a lot of the streams and you have made helpful comments and suggestions when I’m forging a map. I hope you and Keko never leave the forums. Melody- Honestly, I don’t know why you’re my friend. You like things I do not like or care for. Hello Kitty and Eevee are some of those. If you can explain our friendship, I may be able to understand. I’m sorry, maybe it’s just the friendliness? I appreciate it. ShadowFiend216- You have been acknowledged my good sir. Also, you remind me of Sir Hammerlock for some reason. Never could put my finger on why... Wam- Dragon says “Hi.” also, regarding Dragon. I didn’t want to tell you this because I didn’t want you to get sad, but I knew I would have to tell you eventually. Dragon is sick, he hasn’t been eating here lately nor getting himself hydrated, he’s been trying to hibernate, and he’s been having ruptures, and he hasn’t been going potty. I’m trying to do my best though to recover him, he’s starting to get better, but slowly. I’m hoping here with the next few weeks he will recover. Besides Dragon, you’re fun to play with and you have an obnoxious personality. Even though you’re shy. We appreciate you for playing with Halo Team Assemble as well as helping people out. Oh, and git gud cuz u suk. #KryllAreComingToGetYa Yang Xiao Long- Someone I have a tough relationship with. Don’t even know where it stands. Nonetheless, I stole your pink and I shouldn’t have done so. I will return it to you to bestow upon yourself or another. Yoshi1176- Oh god, why I listed you is just so you wouldn’t hound me in the chat about not listing you. You’re hard headed, that’s for sure. Plus, you’re someone to play with on GTA. I have no idea what you did to make GSD and Twam no longer want to play with us, but you need to do something about it. Other than that, you were okay when we first met. I helped you with your presidency. I was the General, did what I could before I resigned from my General position when Maestro took office. Zero3366/Meta Knight- Even though you’re not here right now, you promised you’d come back to the site and be more active again. I’m glad you are choosing to do so. If you eventually fulfill your promise, and are reading this. Thanks for coming back bud, I have missed you. Also, be careful. Things aren’t what they used too. Last but not least, I would like to thank the academy. All I wish for is a Dragon smiley. Anyways, thanks guys, see ya around.

Alright, so Yoshi and I and a few others are working and testing some maps out. We have less than half finished, but we're working on them. Nonetheless, this will take quite some time before they are done. However, we will make sure they work well. Test lobbies will be ran, and bugs/glitches will be fixed to their best. Now, before this keeps going on and sounding like chivalry. I should explain what the topic is all about. Featuring what to expect, and to do. This is a chain-effect Event setup. In better words, have you ever played GTA 5's Heists? Or Witcher? Or even Deus Ex? Although those are some great examples, what this event is... It's not quite like that, but it's sorta like that. What your team does that round, and if they win, that will affect the outcome. Simply put, the maps are all fixed maps. However, outcomes will affect the rotation and the continuation. There will be SIX different maps. The first FIVE maps will be setups. Each one featuring different objectives. E.x.: Assault, CTF, Territories, Slayer, Elimination/S&D. The SIXTH map, will be a surprise gametype. However, this one is greatly affected by your outcomes. You could be having fun, or you could be on a defensive retreat, leading to your game over. Just make sure what you do, you get it done. A backstory will also be added to the "Heist" or "Setup". Giving each team something fun to read afterwards when the results are posted. Also, please take note that even after the playthrough is complete. The Event will not be, we can play it again, mix up the teams, and enjoy the fun. Any questions or concerns? Let me know down below, that way you can all get a better understanding if any of you misunderstood. Thanks for taking the time.

~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