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  • Subject: Halo Fanfic: The End of a War
Subject: Halo Fanfic: The End of a War
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Sweet! New chapter! I knew my goading you would get the chapter out sooner!

  • 05.11.2005 11:05 AM PDT
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PM's are sent, so let the chapter reading begin. Not a very long chapter, but not short either. Just around the 11 page mark, so not too bad. Plenty of interesting stuff happening in here, so be warned.

Author’s Notes: Rolling right along here, we’ve finally managed to hit the Chapter 17 mark. I suppose the number isn’t exactly commemorative, but what’s inside should be. I always find it amusing when people question the amount of action in this story. Sure if you go by the game, then there’s a staggering lack of guns blazing and grunts dying in here, but novels aren’t meant to be some kind of action and gore fest.

The actual Halo novels, aside from The Flood, which was mainly a carbon-copy of the game down on paper (not a criticism, just an observation), are based around story progression, not action sequences. Nylund mainly put in naval battle engagements, and for those wondering where mine are, this chapter should give you something to talk about.

For those wondering, yes eventually there will be those large-scale battles in this story, but we needed to get through massive story development first. Earth’s safe for now, and as we head into the third quarter of this story we’re seeing a shift of focus towards the Covenant side of things. Don’t worry though, I won’t forget about Earth.

Also, if anyone was curious, most of the names I’ve used so far for the Covenant/Sangheili cities and planets are derived from ancient Greek cities. I just put a spin on them to make it slightly more unique.


The End of a War

Chapter 17

First Impressions Aren’t Everything

“Have you an estimate on our arrival yet Construct?” the Arbiter asked Cortana as he watched several displays signifying Honor Without Mercy’s trajectory. The cruiser had been in transit for almost a week, and everyone aboard had already been showing signs of becoming anxious.

“We’ll be exiting Slip Space in ten minutes. At that point we should be inside the system that houses your home world,” Cortana replied from her place on the main pedestal inside the bridge.

The Arbiter gave a sound of approval before turning to his thoughts for a moment.

It has been nearly twenty cycles since I last saw Silone, and yet it feels as if it were only yesterday that I stepped aboard the Covenant cruiser that would inevitably take me to Danrun.

I left as a child, ready to prove my worth to the Covenant, regardless of how many I would need to slay. Now I return as the Arbiter, and with the hope of rallying my people together so that we may strike out and eliminate the Prophets. Is this why I feel ill? But my goal is just, and the path before me is the only one I may take.

Would my father approve of this? His devotion to the Covenant was near legend in my youth, and he gave his life to stop the Lekgolo uprising on Danrun. Does he look at me now and see nothing but a traitor? A heretic that has become blind to his duty?


The Arbiter slumped back in his seat at the Captain’s chair on the bridge, his head slowly shifting downwards to stare at the cold, lifeless deck.

My father’s devotion was his folly, as was my own. Foolishly accepting the untruths the Prophets gave led us down the path of evil, and now it is up to us as a race to redeem ourselves. Whatever my ancestors may think of my actions, I know what I must do. The Prophets must be stopped.

The sharp reports of heavy footsteps alerted the Arbiter to the Demon’s arrival in the bridge, and he stared absently at the human soldier.

Even amongst allies, the Demon does not lower his guard. Each movement he makes is purposeful, and adumbrates the true power that lies within him. At any moment he could become what his title entails, and kill all those in this ship before we could even sound an alarm.

To have created such a weapon, the humans are as mad as the Prophets.


“Exiting Slip Space, prepare for exit burn,” Cortana announced, and the ship lurched forward momentarily. The displays showing the outboard monitors came online, and the Arbiter caught a glimpse of their destination.

“Proceed to bearing seven zero nine, Construct, and prepare to send the prerecorded message I gave you,” the Arbiter ordered.

“Hold on a moment,” Cortana replied, her voice tight. “I’m picking up multiple whispers near the other edge of the system. From the looks of things six capital ships are going to be exiting Slip Space in a few seconds.”

“To whom are they loyal?” the Arbiter demanded. Silence greeted him as Cortana processed his request. He noticed the Demon cast him a short glance from where he stood.

Whatever I may think of him, the Demon is fiercely loyal to his allies. I shall make an effort to step lightly from now on. It would not do for anything else to cause grief amongst us.

“Several communication relays detected,” Cortana divulged to the bridge crew. “They are Brute ships, and from what I can gather, it seems as if they’re searching for something.”

“Their purpose is no concern of mine. Ready all forward plasma cannons and torpedoes Construct; we shall destroy this pitiful fleet,” the Arbiter ordered. Bemused, the Elite turned and regarded the Demon, who was staring at the displays showing the arrival of the Brute ships.

The Demon may be skilled in ground combat, but I shall show him the prowess I possessed as a Commander.

“Remove all weapon safety locks Construct,” the Arbiter said, “And warm up all forward Capital Plasma Turrets. Ensure that the plasma torpedoes are secure in their holdings.”

There was a moment before Cortana replied.

“Done.”

The Arbiter stood stoically on the bridge, his arms folded over his chest and his gaze watching the displays showing him the enemy ships. The Brute vessels hadn’t detected their presence yet, which showed just how little the foolish creatures understood the ships they commanded.

Six capital ships against one flagship cruiser. Even with the ineptitude of the Brutes this will be difficult, speed and surprise are going to win this battle, so we had best keep ourselves off their radar for now.

“Shift engines to thirty five percent power output and keep any power conduit leaks to a minimum. Change our heading to zero four three and alert the crew that will shall be entering battle in only a few moments.”

The bridge had slowly become a flurry of activity, Elites moved quickly between the stations, ensuring that no area was overlooked as Honor Without Mercy slowly accelerated towards the Brute ships. Only the Arbiter and the Master Chief were motionless.

The Prophet of Mercy was always paranoid, and he outfitted his personal cruiser with eight Capital Plasma Turrets, along with four Plasma Torpedo stations. Along with the Holy Beam, this flagship is one of the most heavily armed ships in the entire Covenant army. It would appear his paranoia is going to save our lives this day.

“All forward plasma turrets are charged,” Cortana said. “Energy emissions are controlled, and well below detectable range.”

“Good,” the Arbiter replied. “Be prepared to fire at any moment. The Brutes may be inferior, but it will not be long before they realize we are here.”

The Brute fleet was substantially closer now, the distance between them and Honor Without Mercy had been cut in half. The ships were still sitting motionless in space however, and the Arbiter could see that their plasma cannons were lifeless.

“Alter our course to bearing zero seven nine, and bring the engines up to emergency speed.”

“That course will take us right into the middle of the ships,” Cortana pointed out.

“Indeed,” the Arbiter replied ambiguously. His position had yet to change, and a slight glance to his right indicated that the Demon himself had also remained glued to his spot.

It has been a long time since I last commanded a ship in battle. Will I remember all that I have learned in countless battles of the past? If it comes to pass that my tactics have been forgotten, there won’t be much time to lament on it. The Brute fleet will decimate us in seconds.


[Edited on 5/11/2005]

  • 05.11.2005 12:40 PM PDT
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“Optimal range met for Capital Plasma Turrets,” Cortana announced, then added, “I doubt I need to remind you that the plasma beam all Covenant flagships carry has a near unlimited range.”

“I am aware,” the Arbiter responded. “On my mark fire all forward Capital Plasma Turrets, and send two plasma torpedoes towards targets two and five. Once the torpedoes are away, power the engines down to eighty five percent output and bring the ship around to coordinates zero one three point five nine.”

Acknowledgements rang out along the bridge and Honor Without Mercy sped closer to the Brute ships. The Arbiter watched intently as the ships grew larger and larger on the displays.

And so it begins.

“Fire!”

Honor Without Mercy shook violently as five of the eight plasma turrets opened fire, sending fiery red-hot streams of plasma racing away from the flagship and towards the Brute fleet. The moment the plasma torpedoes were fired, the Brute commanders appeared to have detected their presence.

The Arbiter watched as the ships readied their own plasma turrets to fire, but the Elite knew how long it would take to charge the plasma conduits before they could be fired. By that time two of their ships would be down, and Honor Without Mercy would be at a safe distance away.

“Multiple energy spikes within the Brute fleet,” Cortana spoke out across the bridge, ensuring the others knew what was going on. “They are preparing to move.”

The Arbiter watched as the supercharged plasma shots continued on their deadly course towards the Brute ships he had selected for destruction. The commander may have thought he could run, but in truth he was only minutes away from death.

“Thirty seven seconds before plasma shots intercept targets. Fifty eight seconds before the plasma torpedoes hit their mark,” Cortana continued.

The bridge was silent as the plasma charges finally slammed into the two selected Brute cruisers, their shields flaring to life before flickering and then finally fading under the constant assault. With the shields out of the way the plasma torpedoes slammed unhindered into the underbelly of the two ships. The displays became flared with intense heat for a moment as the two Brute ships that were struck slowly tore apart with the aid of the plasma torpedoes.

The remaining Brute ships were scrambling now, moving away from the destroyed cruisers as they tried to get their bearings and assess the sudden threat.

Honor Without Mercy rocketed through the space where the Brute ships had previously occupied, and as the Arbiter had ordered, it began a slow bank to the left.

“Charge aft plasma turrets and prepare to fire at targets one, three and four. Cycle power conduits and reload plasma torpedo stations two and three. Power engines down and divert all energy from forward turrets to the rear thrusters,” the Arbiter ordered.

It has been too long since I last stood upon the bridge of a ship and felt the exhilaration of battle. As my instructors used to tell me, battles within space are tactical. Raw fury and power is useless if there is not a steady hand and an astute mind to guide them.

The Brute ships had gotten a fix on Honor Without Mercy’s position by now, and judging from what the displays showed, their energy beam projectors along with the plasma turrets were glowing white from the heat they produced. At any moment the ships would fire.

“Aft turrets at maximum efficiency. Power diverted to rear thrusters and engine powered down,” Cortana informed the bridge.

“Fire aft turrets on my mark, and then launch three plasma torpedoes at each of the specified targets,” the Arbiter announced. He stared at the white-hot turrets, mentally counting away the seconds.

With a snap of his mandibles, the Arbiter shouted, “Mark!”

The ships shuddered once more as the shots were fired from the rear of the ship. The plasma torpedoes were launched and slowly dipped towards the targeted Brute ships. As if on cue the moment Honor Without Mercy fired its aft turrets the Brute ships responded in kind. The energy projectors fired and plasma lanced away from the cruisers and was directed towards the Arbiter’s ship.

The Arbiter took a momentary deep breath and closed his eyes. It was time to see if he still had what it took to be a commander of ships in battle.

“Collision with plasma beam in fifteen seconds,” Cortana’s voice drifted through the bridge, and the Arbiter snapped to attention.

“Activate rear thrusters now! Course alteration to zero nine eight point five five.”

The sudden influx of speed into Honor Without Mercy sent all those not at a station flying back to slam into the rear portion of the bridge. The Arbiter managed to avoid landing painfully and quickly reoriented himself. He expected to see the Demon doing the same, but was surprised to see that the human soldier had grasped hold onto one of the center consoles and had avoided being thrown backwards.

I suppose I should have expected that.

A quick check of the displays showed the Arbiter that his gamble had paid off. The plasma beams that had previously been screaming towards them were now moving harmlessly through empty space. The rapid influx of a heat signature by the rear thrusters had thrown off the Brute ships targeting, resulting in a misfire.

“Charge the Holy Beam,” the Arbiter ordered, even as he was checking the displays that showed the enemy ships, to see what his earlier shots had done.

One more Brute ship was now nothing more than lifeless debris, and one other had taken a hit on the forward nose of the cruiser, disabling most of its weaponry. Two other Brute ships were unharmed however, with nothing more than their shields damaged and they were going through the motions to prepare to fire once more.

“Energy Particle Beam charged,” Cortana said, using the UNSC term for the Covenant’s most deadly weapon in their fleet arsenal.

“Target the injured ship first Construct, then move onto the two remaining ships.”

“Understood,” the A.I, responded.

Under Cortana’s direction, the Energy Particle Beam, which was almost like a ship’s version of the rifle the Jackal’s carried for high-accuracy shooting, quickly ripped through the damaged Brute ship, cutting through its main reactor and resulting in a quick detonation that ripped the ship apart from the inside.

Without preamble Cortana changed the weapons direction, slicing through another Brute ship from end-to-end.

“Charge engines to fifty percent output and bring us along the heading zero five four,” the Arbiter said. He noted as an aside that the rear thrusters were still powered, and ready to be activated again.

As he expected, before Cortana could eliminate the last Brute ship, it managed to fire off one last salvo as Honor Without Mercy’s Energy Particle Beam cut through it.

Will the same maneuver work twice? the Arbiter thought as the Brute ship’s last-ditch salvo raced towards them. As the distance closed the Arbiter repeated what he had done before.

“Activate rear thrusters!” he bellowed.

Honor Without Mercy shook violently and many of the Elites on the bridge were thrown to the ground. The Arbiter stared in disbelief however, as the rear thrusters had failed to activate.

“Thrusters offline, power grid overload detected,” Cortana informed them.

Damn! Without any Hunagok aboard the thrusters can’t sustain such abuse. They need to be maintained around the clock. How could I have forgotten!?

“Divert and split all power between the engines and the shields. Get us moving and away from here. Deploy counter-measures and try to bring us out of the line of fire!” the Arbiter hurriedly ordered. Even with the combined efforts of Cortana and the crew, Honor Without Mercy had moved only a few thousand miles when the shots fired from the last Brute ship slammed into them. The shields flared and for a moment the Arbiter thought they might hold, but that hope was dashed and two streams of concentrated plasma fire slammed into the rear of Honor Without Mercy. The ship was rocked heavily, but it was otherwise unharmed. It would appear that the distance between the two ships had decreased the efficiency of the Brute ship’s attack.

The bridge was silent as those aboard attempted to collect themselves after the jarring effects when the shots impacted the ship. The Arbiter climbed to his feet and checked each display intently, and was relieved to see that no other ships were present. He could feel the eyes of many of the crew on him, and he fought the urge to let out a breath of relief.

  • 05.11.2005 12:43 PM PDT
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“If we had been in a UNSC ship those shots would have torn us apart,” the Demon said off to the side. The Arbiter turned and saw that the human was not looking at him, but was instead looking at the displays. It was then the Elite realized the Demon had merely been making an observation, not a judgment.

“Slip Space whisper detected,” Cortana announced. “One target; it appears to be a small craft. Something tells me this is what those Brute ships were waiting for.”

“Prepare to engage it regardless,” the Arbiter said. “I don’t wish to take any chances.”

“Signal identified, its call sign is the Attrition. You wouldn’t happen to know this ship would you?” Cortana asked.

The Arbiter was only momentarily surprised after hearing the name.

“It is the personal ship of High Councilor Pondomee,” he replied. “He is the representative of the Sangheili on Danrun.”

“Well then, how about we go say hi?”

----------------------------------

The UNSC HighCom Facility in Sydney, Australia had a short history within the military. It had been built seven years before the Covenant’s arrival in the Sol System, and those stationed at the military base could often sum up their job title with one word. Boring.

Despite the UNSC tag, the facility was packed to the brim with ONI officials and agents who used the ‘Hive’, a massive base built three kilometers below the Earth’s surface, as their home of operations. Working with interconnected networks around Earth, ONI agents were able to have a tight grip over all the information that was released or kept hidden from public eyes.

The ONI offices were also charged with intercepting and decrypting any messages sent forth from other Installations within Earth, as well as anywhere in the known Universe. While oftentimes the messages were quite uninteresting, every so often something arrived that would immediately set off alarms and a meeting among the Admiralty and Section III would be called.

Commander Miranda Keyes was on her way to such a meeting. She had been visiting Sergeant Johnson in the infirmary, and had also considered checking in on Spartan’s -058, -104 and -043 but the call for a general assembly had eliminated those thoughts.

As she strode through the narrow corridors of the ‘Hive’ her hands nervously smoothed out her uniform. Absently she patted her pocket and felt the medal Fleet Admiral Terrence Hood had awarded to her father posthumously. Even though the medal had only been in her possession for no more than three weeks, she had already begun to think of it as a good luck charm.

Captain Jacob Keyes was a legend within the UNSC, and Miranda Keyes consistently felt the eyes of every officer around her. They judged her based on her father’s legacy, and she was well aware that she fell far short when compared to him. Despite this she was not bitter towards her father’s success as a Captain, but instead felt pride.

Miranda had grown up a military brat, traveling from base to base around the galaxy, until her mother passed away around her tenth birthday. At that time she was sent back to Earth to live with distant relatives, while her father continued his climb through the UNSC ranks and became the man that was hallowed within the entire military organization. The sparse visits from her father over the years had been one of the few things Miranda had come to treasure in life, and the eventual news of his death, only one week after she graduated from Norwich Naval Academy, had been one of the hardest blows dealt to her.

With the constant assurance of his posthumous award being with her, Miranda felt that her father was always watching over her. She may not measure up to him just yet, but some day she would.

Giving a final adjustment to her tunic, Miranda Keyes stepped past the double-set of doors and entered the Council Room.

“Commander Keyes, good of you to join us, please take a seat,” General Strauss greeted her, his voice somewhat strained. Miranda stopped briefly before deciding to sit at the far corner of the large table, where she would hopefully go unnoticed. There were far too many politically motivated members of this board for her to contend with. The only reason she had been invited to the meeting was because of her involvement with the events that transpired on Delta Halo.

“We’ll be getting to the point of this meeting as soon as Colonel Ackerson decides in his own good time to arrive.”

There were some thin chuckles around the table but overall no one said a word. Tense silence filled the room and Miranda had the sudden urge to excuse herself so she could use the washroom. Thankfully Colonel Ackerson arrived only a few moments later.

“I apologize for my lateness,” Ackerson said to the room as he took his usual seat near the head of the table, showing more humility than Miranda had ever seen him use.

General Strauss nodded once and the lights inside the room suddenly switched off, and a holo-panel was activated in the center of the table. There was distortion of the video for only a few seconds before it cleared. Miranda noticed first that it was a personal video log, but the bottom-right hand corner of the feed, which would typically read out the soldier’s name, unit, and identification number, was missing, and in place was the symbol “S-III”.

“We received this recording half an hour ago, and judging from the dating on the feed, it took almost three days to arrive,” General Strauss informed the gathered officers. “It was sent from coordinates that are synonymous with the area where Delta Halo along with the Covenant city of High Charity was destroyed.”

Miranda felt a near silent collective gasp rise throughout the room at that information. She returned her gaze to the video feed, a new sense of urgency around it.

The recording showed the inside of a cockpit, and Miranda instantly recognized it as a frigate. There was a flurry of dialogue being shouted out amongst its occupants.

“Damnit! Activate the Slip Space drive; get us the -blam!- out of here!” A soldier whom Miranda recognized as an ODST shouted. “Those bastards are gonna ram us!”

“The Slip Space drive is disabled,” the pilot said, her voice belaying the obviously tense situation. “That hit to our portside from one of their ships must have taken it out.”

“Brace yourselves!” the solider whose view they were all watching bellowed out.

In a few seconds the recording suddenly shook violently, and many surprised shouts were sounded. The soldier fell to the deck and stayed there, motionless as the feed slowly corrected itself.

“Jesus Christ did that thing hit us?” the ODST from before asked shakily.

“Hulls three through twelve breached,” the copilot announced.

The soldier pulled himself off the ground and the recording changed from just watching the deck to the back of the cockpit, where the ODST was looking behind him into the outer areas of the frigate.

“Spartans check in,” the soldier they were viewing ordered. A few moments passed and he repeated the order. “-blam!-, I’m heading down there to check out what’s wrong. Try to move us into the debris from the installation.”

The sounds of the cockpit slowly faded as the recording began to shake, showing those watching that the soldier was running. Several of the hulls he passed through were on fire, and technicians were fighting to put the flames out.

It wasn’t long before Miranda could see that he had reached the breached hulls. The doors slid open and the soldier peered inside. What he saw made the soldier curse. It took a moment for the smoke to start to billow out, but when it did those watching the recording could make out what the soldier had seen.

The parasitic forms of six other soldiers that had been consumed by the Flood were inside the room, and they were moving towards him at a tremendous speed. The rifle in the soldier’s hands barked out as he fired a burst into his former comrades, and he got onto the ship’s com net.

“The ship has been breached; all armed personnel head for deck seven and assist in clearing out the enemy. I repeat, the ship has been breached, all arme….-blam!-!”

One of the parasitic forms burst through the flames and knocked the soldier to the ground. A grunt of pain was emitted from the soldier even as he kicked the deformed legs of the creature out from underneath it and slammed his fist into it’s chest cavity. With effort he pulled his hand free, and in his grasp was one of the infectious forms of the Flood that all the members of the council could recognize. Crushing his hand into a fist the infectious form exploded.

The soldier quickly grabbed for his discarded rifle but was thrown to the ground once more as two more parasitic forms emerged from the flames. They descended upon the soldier and the last image before the feed was disrupted was one of the mutilated arms of the infected soldier slamming downward.

If Miranda had thought the silence was thick before, once the recording shifted to nothing but black, the atmosphere was near oppressive.

The lights returned, and Miranda cast a discreet glance around the room. The majority of those sitting around the table were ghostly pale, while General Strauss was the only one that had retained his earlier demeanor, though he did appear quite tense.

  • 05.11.2005 12:44 PM PDT
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Colonel Ackerson was immobile at his seat, his eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging open uselessly.

“At first it was thought that this was sent in from a ship that had somehow survived the destruction of Delta Halo and High Charity, but after a routine check of our databanks, the ship’s I.D. number was identified as belonging to one Colonel James Ackerson,” General Strauss said, slowly turning to look at the shocked Colonel. “Perhaps you’d care to explain what exactly that ship was doing there.”

Why on Earth would Colonel Ackerson send a frigate to the wreckage of Delta Halo? After Cortana destroyed High Charity and the Halo Installation, there was nothing left. The only thing that could have survived would be the Flood.

Colonel Ackerson worked his mouth noiselessly as if trying to remember how to speak.

“I…I…”

Before Ackerson could flounder any longer, the front entrance of the council room burst open and two UNSC Marines entered.

“Goddamnit this is a secure briefing!” General Strauss erupted. The Marines were only momentarily taken aback by his anger before saluting quickly and continuing towards the table.

“Our apologies General, but Fleet Admiral Hood has sent an operation-immediate from the Cairo Station, requesting he be patched through to the council immediately,” one of the Marines explained as he accessed a small computer panel on the table. The blank video feed on the holo-panel was quickly replaced with the image of Lord Hood.

“I’m glad I was able to catch everyone in one place,” he said by way of greeting, before turning serious. “I thought I’d best check in with you General Strauss about an interesting situation that has developed.”

“What’s the problem Admiral?” General Strauss asked.

“A UNSC frigate appeared at the edge of the system a little over an hour ago. Our request for their call sign and status has gone unheeded, and their course is set to bring them straight through the defense grid.”

Every set of eyes in the council suddenly shifted back onto Colonel Ackerson. For his part he tried his best not to squirm under the scrutiny.

“Have any scans picked up life signs?” General Strauss questioned.

“There’s several, and they are all registered within the UNSC, but something’s different,” Lord Hood replied uneasily. “The life signs are…overlapping.”

“What do you mean?” Strauss asked, confused.

“Typically when we ping a ship to identify those on board, we get a reading from the neural implants one at a time, but when we do so with this frigate each reading comes simultaneously. What this means I can’t say.”

General Strauss sighed for a moment, massaging his temples with his fingers.

“Regardless of whatever may be on board Admiral, I believe it would be best if you take it out.”

Before Admiral Hood could acknowledge the order, Colonel Ackerson slammed his palms upon the table and shot to his feet.

“Do not destroy that ship!” he protested sharply. General Strauss turned to him incredulously.

“If you by chance missed what we just saw on that recording Colonel, may I remind you there’s a chance it’s carrying a bunch of Flood parasites.”

“General that ship is carrying almost ten years worth of Special Weapons Research and Development,” Ackerson said intently. “If you destroy that ship everything I’ve worked for in the past decade will be wasted!”

Miranda could only stare helplessly as the room suddenly degraded into a full out shouting war between its members. Those who wanted the ship destroyed and those that wanted to know what the hell Ackerson had on that frigate.

This can’t be…

“Colonel that ship needs to be destroyed!” General Strauss stressed. “If the Flood is indeed in control of that frigate and they land on Earth there’s no telling how much damage they could inflict.”

“You’ll condemn my Spartans to death?” Colonel Ackerson raged. “I seem to recall there was never talk about sacrificing Dr. Halsey’s freaks, so why are you willing to do so with my soldiers?”

“Spartans?” General Strauss asked confused. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“General I need an answer about this frigate,” Admiral Hood urged. “In a couple of minutes it will be inside the defense grid.”

“The Special Weapons Program I designed for the fleet was only a small part of my work General,” Colonel Ackerson said. “The Spartan-III Project was my trump card, and I sent them to Delta Halo to retrieve Flood samples, so I could integrate Flood DNA into their immune systems, which would have the effect of giving them regenerative properties.”

“That’s nonsense!” General Strauss countered before turning to Admiral Hood‘s image. “Admiral I want that frigate destroyed.”

“Aye aye sir,” Hood responded, and his image disappeared for a moment. He quickly returned.

“Target eliminated.”

Miranda felt the breath she had been holding in slowly slip out of her, and she slumped back into her seat.

“You fools,” Colonel Ackerson said angrily. “You’ve just destroyed the one chance we had to win this war.”

General Strauss quickly turned to Ackerson and, surprising everyone in the room, slammed his fist into the Colonel’s face. Ackerson stumbled backwards and fell, dragging his chair down with him.

“You will consider yourself under arrest Colonel, for gross insubordination and treason,” General Strauss said, his voice carrying a dangerous edge. “Say one more word and I’ll have these Marines escort you to the holding cells.”

There was a relative calm in the room as General Strauss nursed the hand he had used to strike Ackerson.

“General,” Admiral Hood said cautiously.

“What is it Admiral?” Strauss asked, his voice sounding fatigued suddenly.

“We’re detecting multiple Slip Space ruptures,” the Admiral explained, and then his voice took on a strained edge. “They’re, inside, the defense grid.”

The calm was shattered, and the entire council room erupted with shouts of protest and disbelief.

“Quiet!” General Strauss demanded. “Admiral give us a visual.”

Without a reply Admiral Hood’s features faded and were replaced with an outboard camera view from Cairo Station. The tell-tale signs of ships emerging from Slip Space were seen, and in a few seconds several Covenant Assault Carriers emerged.

“Scramble the Longsword squadrons,” Admiral Hood’s voice could be heard ordering. “Do whatever you can to keep those ships from landing on Earth!”

Miranda Keyes could only watch in disbelief, as the Covenant ships quickly passed by the MAC stations, and headed straight for Earth.

“Damn! They’re through the grid, General I recommend you sound the alarm…” Admiral Hood paused. “Wait, no life signs detected aboard those cruisers.”

Oh my God. How could this have happened. How did they find us?

“Longsword squadrons scrambled, they’re attacking the ships as we speak,” Admiral Hood informed them. A long pause occurred where not a sound was heard from anyone.

“One of the carriers is down, it crash landed in eastern Africa.”

A heavy knot seemed to form in Miranda’s stomach, and she pressed a hand gently to the affected area. She felt sick to her stomach.

“The Longsword pilots are reporting that they’ve got a visual of something exiting the downed assault carrier. They…they don’t know what it is. General,” Hood said intently, “it’s happened.”

The Flood have found Earth!

---------------------------------

Author’s Notes: Wow, I did not see that coming. Looks like Ackerson’s little assignment has backfired…big time.

Let me know what you think.

  • 05.11.2005 12:47 PM PDT
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Fantastic.

  • 05.11.2005 1:35 PM PDT
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Double Post.

[Edited on 5/11/2005]

  • 05.11.2005 1:36 PM PDT
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Another absolutely amazing chapter. I literally had chills at the end there.

Such a terrible cliffhanger! You're evil!

  • 05.11.2005 2:01 PM PDT
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..........Wow!............

  • 05.11.2005 2:04 PM PDT
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Evil indeed.

I can't even begin to tell you guys how many time I rewrote the final bits of the scene with Miranda Keyes. It was a very troubling scene, and absolutely essential to the story, and I just couldn't get the tone of right.

I believe its the best it could be right now.

[Edited on 5/24/2005]

  • 05.11.2005 2:06 PM PDT

Kero 'Zenuree
Officer aboard the Reverence-class cruiser Intangible
Dn'end Legion

Wow.........absolutely amazing! I did not see that ending coming!
Just 1 thing, when the general tells Admiral Hood to fire, he replies "aye aye, sir"
Admiral Hood is higher in rank than that guy.
Other than that, simply brilliant.

  • 05.11.2005 2:29 PM PDT

He watches every Hodgetwin video they put up...on ALL their channels. He calls them the Hodge Triplets, and considers himself the 3rd triplet. He's started talking and acting like them now. Every other line out of his mouth "Thaaas some BULLLLLL**** maaayne" or "Gotta make dem gainzzzz". He calls his biceps "gains". When he eats post-workout, he talks to his biceps, "Don't worry gains, I'm feeding you. Daddys gonna feed you, gainz *kisses biceps*".

Good, it certainly looks like Earth is screwed... but wait... if I'm not mistaken... there are three Spartans and SGT. JOHNSON left on Earth!!!! We still have a chance!!!!!!! Sarge > all Flood...

  • 05.11.2005 2:30 PM PDT
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the ‘Hive’, a massive base built three kilometers below the Earth’s surface

Resident Evil, anyone? Lol.

Anyways, brilliant, simply brilliant. I like what you did at the end, but I have a feeling the S-III's are not dead.

Regarding the Flood finding Earth... blegh the sucks, I have the Flood. I hope we can own em, but we probably won't, so whatever.

Chapter 18 in less than 7 days?

  • 05.11.2005 2:31 PM PDT
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YEEE-AAAAH!!!! damn it was good to see Ackerson finally get owned! that one moment almost entirely made up for my rage and frustration at your evilness (yes, i think so too!) at giving us such a cliff hanger! You're too cruel! but yeh, that chapter was seriously rockin, and once again i cant wait for the next one - am i the only one who feels like they spend much more time waiting eagerly for the next chapter than appreciating the beauty of it?

incidentally, i like to take this opportunity to steal some of your fan base - just kidding. but i have just finished the first chapter of my own fanfic. if you dont mind clark ill just post the link and that will conclude my advertising campaign - i hate to do this to you, but i cant think of any other way to bring it to the attention of people who appreciate good writing. so heres the link, please check it out:

Not Quite Super Soldiers

I hope that comes out as a lazy link



[Edited on 5/11/2005]

  • 05.11.2005 2:48 PM PDT
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Great chapter keep up the good work.

  • 05.11.2005 3:05 PM PDT

"It's like a cake filled with pies." -Pete "Mango" Parsons

Seventh Column Contests

awsome work man, brilliant indeed. The SIII have turned in to flood?? i thought i read that some where in there. Flood has arrived on earth and will terrorize everything that gets in its way and the only thing standing in the way is SGT JOHNSON. Next chap is gona be beastly 1 indeed. Cant wait. Keep it up man, awsome work.

  • 05.11.2005 3:56 PM PDT
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Woah. Woah. (i'll give you feed back once i'm not speech less).

  • 05.11.2005 4:08 PM PDT
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Damn, one of ur most story building and just damn golden chapters yet. Like i always say to you, ur perfect and i couldnt find anything negative to say.

PS: whats the big deal with the flood. Why cant we just co-exist. I think some are pretty sexy if u ask me. j/k

  • 05.11.2005 4:38 PM PDT
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great work as usual

the punching ackerson felt so right yet i donno ... just didn't feel right... didn't flow

the whole thing about him trying not to destroy the ship feels aright though.

  • 05.11.2005 5:03 PM PDT
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can flood swim? if so they can go all over the earth

  • 05.11.2005 6:00 PM PDT
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How bout flood bears, birds,ect.

  • 05.11.2005 6:52 PM PDT
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Well, I'd imagine larger species, such as bears, tigers, and other mammals, have a large enough nervous system that could sustain the Flood. This could indeed have interesting developments, but I won't be having too many scenes with Flood-infected dogs killing their owners or something.

Chapter 18 more than likely won't be out come next week. It's going to be a real doozy.

  • 05.11.2005 8:53 PM PDT
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The space battle was pretty slow, but the whole flood on earth thing was brilliant!

Cant wait for next chapt.

  • 05.11.2005 10:41 PM PDT
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wow. I love this. its so suspensful! i like it better than Nylund! Keep at it! i cant wait til chapter 18

  • 05.11.2005 11:12 PM PDT