Note:I give full credit to Arch The Food Nut for an idea on how to make the intro to this story...

"GET US THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!'

"COVENANT CRAFT HOT ON OUR TAIL! TWO CCS-CLASSES!"

"PLASMA CHARGE HIT THE AFT ENGINES! SLIPSTREAM DRIVE'S FUBAR!"

"Wait... It's spooling up! Emergency shutdown ain't working... EVERYONE! HANG THE FUCK ON!"

"MALFUNCTION DETECTED IN DRIVE SYSTEM... JUMP IN 3... 2... 1..."

Unknown Location, outside UNSC Space. 2549, UNSC Standard Calendar.

A squad of seven Spartan-IIIs had been sent to a secret base of operations within Covenant Controlled Colonies, where unknown amounts of Covenant forces were gathering. Aboard the UNSC Frigate 'Diamond in the Rough', The crew and Spartans found themselves ambushed by a Covenant Reactionary Force within the 63 Cordelia System, a former UNSC Outer Colony that had been burned, turned to Glass. The Diamond, A Paris-Class Frigate Refit made for Ship-to-Ship combat against Covenant Corvettes and Stealth Operations into Deep Enemy Territory, one of TWO of its kind, had met its doom against a CCS-Class cruiser. It had been hit by a Plasma Torpedo in the far back of the aft engine nacelle, which ignited fuel lines and boiled Coolant to vapor, until it reached the Shaw-Fujikawa Slipstream drive.

Now, adrift in space and heavily damaged, the UNSC Frigate stands alone... Debris float around its remnant carcass, still ablaze with the fires of Plasma... Parts of it still stand active, shielded from the Covenant's initial bombardment, but outside of it, a Specialized Escape Pod, the Honeybee-class, was adrift. The pod's insides had been stripped for the Squad of 7 Spartans to fit their whole equipment set... Floating aboard it, the UNSC Spartan HADES team, awake from their slumber, already prepped their gear. The Seven Spartans barely fit into the pod, even as its inside seats had been removed completely, leaving it basically just an insertion Drop Pod made for Squads of 12, or in this case, the Hades' 7-man team.

Clad in a mix of MJOLNIR and SPI Sets and striped patterns across their arms, with the Beta Company candidates, the 6, wearing SPI armor. The only one not carrying such a set of simplistic armor was their Leader, callsign HADES ACTUAL, Chief Petty Officer Jonah-A074, also nicknamed 'Old Man' or 'Pops' by the B-Company soldiers, even though he was merely 26 years old. Instead he was clad in his own personal MJOLNIR Set, painted Silver with Black accents. He tapped his microphone while looking at his TACCOM, then said through the 40 meters' com setting "Hades Team, Report."

"Hades-2 is Active." Said his Executive Officer and multi-role specialist, a 16-year-old girl by the name of Asaga, with a much too Jovial tone, as was characteristic of her. Her full name and Rank read on her shoulder pad in small lettering 'Petty Officer Second Class Asaga-B117', a much too strange situation for Jonah to recall, but he knew the tag 117 belonged to the Master Chief Petty Officer JOHN-117 of the Spartan-II Program. Nonetheless...

"Hades-3, on standby." His team doctor, Staff Sergeant Cole-B015 said, standing tall with his Mag Boots locked onto the flooring of the Bee-like Drop Pod and examined his Medical Supplies, taking inventory. "Before ya ask, Old Man, plenty of Biofoam on stand-by, alongside other needed Medical Supplies..."

"Hades-4, ready, Chief!" Yelled Alice-B301, floating mockingly about as she tried to gather up plenty of supplies. The girl, a Staff Sergeant much like Cole, was a bit hyperactive, but one you'd want around you during combat. She was also the hauler of the squad, the one who could carry a load of ammunition and supplies for any and every situation, a necessary development, considering what just happened. "Oi, Cole. worry about yer guns, not yer supplies!" She smirked, grabbing a pair of M7 Caseless SOCOM Silenced SMGs out of the air and shoving them in her duffel bag, which was chock-full of other weapons and ammo already.

"Hades-5, awaiting deployment orders..." Said the Fireteam's sniper, Damian-B034 grabbing his SRS-99/99 AP-AT Rifle out of the air and slinging it on his back. "Equipment check... We have Seven thrusters with full fuel to get to the ship, sir... Enough oxygen tanks to last us all an hour aboard the Diamond in the Rough."

"Hades-6, here I am, Pops." Answered Six, the Fireteam's newest soldier since the death of their youngest member. The girl went by the name of Irene-B076 and she was the team's Explosive Specialist, so it was only natural her duffel bag was full of Plastic explosives, grenades, Rocket Launcher tubes and two Sparrowhawk Launcher 'cradles'. Beside her, gathering his wits about was her team-mate from within Beta-Company's Delta Squad.

"Hades-7... I'm still breathing..." Panted the boy, shaking his head. The more clumsy Spartan-III of Beta Company, Andrew-B273, carried a Squad Automatic Weapon beside his back-locked MA5K and two duffel bags' worth of Ammo for all weapons and a pair of M6 SOCOM Pistols.

"Good." Mused Jonah, clicking everyone as alive on his TACCOM and checking the TEAMBIO. Everyone showed green across the board. No contusions, wounds or anything major. He looked to 5 and nodded, then said "Hand the kits out to everyone. O2 Tanks, Thrusters and such. Scatter ammo between each of our Rigs, each with the ammo for the weapons you are currently carrying." And he cocked his DMR, feeding a round into the chamber "We have an hour to check the ship, so load'em up."

Nearly a minute later, everyone had their gear strapped to themselves and was ready to move out. Jonah was first at the door. He locked his Armor's oxygen seals and patted his helmet on his head, then readied his DMR and looked back. "Ready, everyone?" He asked calmly, to which all the Spartans gave out nods. The man nodded to himself as well as to them, then clicked a few buttons on the keypad, opening the door of the UNSC Pod. Their boots, still mag-locked to the floor, kept them from being sucked out by the air blowing outward from the compartment. As the last of the air rushed past them and the dead silence of space settled around them, Jonah raised his hand, then made a cutting motion, 'No Radio', and an up motion 'Boots off, Thrust Systems on'. Easy to understand sign language was paramount for Spartan Fireteams such as this.

Their boots hummed off, then their thruster systems hissed as they slowly and steadily pushed themselves out of the Evacuation-turned-drop Pod. Jonah's head slowly turned to see the Spartans of his team behind him and, to his view, came the sun of the Solar System they were in, a bright star, much like Sigma Octanus IV, from where their mission had taken off. They were in Interplanetary space from the looks of things, so that could only bring bad news...

Looking ahead, Jonah scoped a few of the holes left in the ship and the Covenant Plasma Scoring all across its hull. The UNSC Emblem had been completely eradicated, melted off with a Torpedo hitting right next to the MAC Complex.

Alice whistled "Jeez... She don't look salvageable..."

Damian hummed in agreement as they closed in further and further to the destroyed ship. As they moved past a small debris field, they could see the bodies of UNSC Soldiers and Crew, Marines and Bridge Officers, floating, frozen in the vacuum. Irene sighed deeply, then said "Poor bastards. Didn't stand a chance." with a hint of sadness in her otherwise calm voice.

"Nothing we can do about them now, Spartans..." Jonah said, sighing deeply too. Men died for them to get out... That didn't make anything right for a Spartan... The young man gasped, looking up at the other side of the ship, near one of the Hangars, which had two Covenant Landing Craft stuck into it. 'Crap!" Swore Irene, boosting herself closer to Jonah.

"Damn Covies must be here already." Asaga growled, readying her weapons. "Boss, what's our Entry?"

Jonah scanned the hull of the ship, until his eyes rested upon a breach right next to the Bridge Tower, big enough to fit all of them. He pointed there, then said "That way... We're not going through the Universal docking Ring. Too much trouble for us to do..." And he noticed what that hole was from... One of the extra hardpoints that was placed upon the ship, in case they needed to tow another out of the Combat Area. He sighed, then slowly moved his hand toward it and sliced across, showing the team to form a semi-phalanx, then aimed his DMR.

Going through the hole, the Spartan dumped his Jump Pack, pushing himself forward, then straightened up, planting his boots into the steel floor and locking them with a quiet hum. The other Spartans followed suite, landing beside him and moving, albeit sluggishly, thanks to the Low Gravity on this ship. Jonah raised his hand as the last of them landed, then pointed ahead and said "Diamond. Keep each-other covered to the best of your abilities."

The Spartans took the formation, following Jonah with baby steps as they covered each-other, sweeping the area around them with their weapons. The black-grey hallway of the UNSC Ship was lit up only by emergency lighting, signaling the Reactor was still running, though at a somewhat minimal capacity. Sweeping past the Crew Deck, the squad found themselves within the Hangars of the ship. Two DLT-77 Dropships rested in their cradles, one still operational and the other, completely destroyed, without one of the four VTOL Engine Nacelles. The squad continued on to the armory, where they stocked up on whatever items were still floating around, from Standard-Issue MA5B Assault Rifles to other gear they could find, adding to their already-massive Arsenal.

-Start OST:Jeff Williams-I Burn-

Sweeping the rest of the ship clear from where they were to the bridge had been an easy task, considering nobody was around... No Covenant or human bodies either, so that only left the Covenant as Loose Ends. Advancing on the door to the Bridge, Jonah placed his hands between the sealed door's small crack, preparing himself to pull it open... He stopped seconds before doing that, then looked to everyone and whispered "Stack up around the door, just in case." To which everyone nodded and did so silently... Jonah pulled with all his might as everyone settled in, then immediately felt the necessity to duck.

Crystalline shards flew over his head, striking the wall behind him. The Spartan rolled off the ground, unlocking his boots and pushed himself off the wall, then aimed his DMR to see who it was defending the bridge. Two Elite Spec-Ops in space suits, Four Jackals with shields and thirteen grunts. Jonah raised his hand, then signaled everyone to start a cohesive strike they'd worked on for clearing rooms. He pushed himself off the roof as he floated at it, then lunged himself into the bridge, skidding to a halt against the floor whilst purple crystals and emerald balls of shimmering energy blasted past him. The Spartan aimed his rifle, fired once, twice and three times, three Grunts fell dead, carried off by the 0-Gee Environment into the corners of the bridge.

Asaga lunged in, drawing her MA5K, aimed it toward an elite, then opened fire, launching herself off thanks to the Gravity and using the weapon as a sort of minimalist thruster whilst the recoil kicked in her shoulder. Two more Grunts fell dead as she stopped against a wall, bumping into it. She withdrew a grenade from her belt and threw it toward the two Elites, who moved out of the way using Thrust packs much like theirs, then opened fire on the Spartan girl's position. She pressed herself against the wall, then, using her legs, pushed herself away fast as cobalt bolts of plasma painted the steel wall a reddish hue as it heated up.

Damian and Andrew fired away, D from his sniper, Andy from his Assault Rifle. Two Jackals' shields shimmered purple, then red, overcharged and burst, only for the exposed creatures to receive gunshots to the head from D's sniper, tearing parts of their avian skulls off. Following up the onslaught quickly with a pair of grenades toward another group of 4 Grunts, Irene grinned behind her mask as the Grenades exploded with a muted thump, sending the mangled Grunt bodies floating around, their blue, shining blood floating around in drops of all sizes.

One of the Two Elites withdrew a Plasma Grenade from its belt, clicked it to activate and threw it. The ball of energy sent out a deaf beep, flew through the Zero-Gee environment, then landed right next to Alice and Cole, who felt the searing heat of energy as it exploded, to which Alice drew her Silenced SMGs and opened fire. The Elite's energy shields flickered blue as the staccato SMG rounds touched them and, finally, a well placed shot from Jonah's DMR burst them, sending the Elite reeling, whilst Cole aimed down his MA5K's sights, then fired a 5-round burst. Two rounds went into the chest of the creature, through its armor, and the last three went into its neck and head. The Alien's head twisted back and it died, making the other, its comrade, jump and draw its Plasma Carbine. It aimed and shot three times as three bolts of Green passed Jonah's head. The Spartan propelled himself off the floor and toward the Elite, drew his knife, then, with the full Velocity on, plunged the knife into the throat of the creature, pinning it to the ground, bursting its shields in a flash of cobalt-blue energy. He placed his boot onto the Creature's chest, pressed against it, then drew his M6 Socom and fired the entire mag into the creature's head. The last Grunts and Jackals fell, gunned down by the squad as Jonah backed away from the Dead Elite'd body, then gave them a thumbs up and said with pride rippling in his voice "Area secure, Spartans... Well done..."

-End OST-

Jonah and Andrew moved ahead, to the computers of the ship. Screens and systems still flickered, the bridge dimly lit by the seeping reactor power that still existed. Tapping his helmet, the Spartan engineer Andrew thought about what he could extract. The boy pulled out his laptop/tablet system, pulled out a cord from it, then linked it to the computers and started running diagnostics. Dozens of Data Lines flickered in front of his eyes as he examined each and every one of them carefully, then looked to Jonah and said "I'm able to restart air and gravity to the bridge, as well as power to the Navy-computer and AI Port."

"AI Port?" Asked Asaga, moving beside Jonah. She looked to him, then said "Ol' Man. Far as I know, this ship didn't have an Artificial Intelligence..." With a hint of curiosity. Jonah nodded to her, then said "It didn't... Not officially." calmly. He looked to Asaga, then said "You remember that Special AI we were assigned to take care of for Doctor Halsey? That copy of Kalmiya from Reach?"

"Aye." Asaga nodded, grinning behind her mask "I already like where this is goin'. No need to tell me any more and ruin it..." She smirked, then walked away, but not before looking to him and finishing off "Like ya always do." And with that, the Spartans felt a pit in their stomach as Gravity activated. The bridge hummed to life and Grunt and Elite bodies that flew around mindlessly dropped to the floor, dead. Their blood mix-and-matched, creating strange colors as it dripped through the grating.

"The hell was that supposed to mean?" Jonah asked the girl, who chuckled and waved it off. The Spartan then sighed deeply... What a woman.

"Systems online." Reported Andrew happily.

"Well done, Seven." Jonah hummed calmly, then looked at the Captain's Chair, to see a Holographic Pillar flickering. He walked toward it and, as he did so, told Andrew "Start COLE PROTOCOL. Purge everything but the ship's Self-Destruct codes, which I want linked to my TACCOM."

"Aye, sir!" Andrew said from behind, saluting, then he turned to work.

"Wow, boss, what're you about to do?" Asked Cole in a shocked tone.

"We were ordered to purge everything in the COLE PROTOCOL and, if the ship ever was to fall into enemy hands, blow it up. It's a secret UNSC Project after all, a Stealth Frigate with the armament of a Cruiser, so..." The Spartan said, stopping next to the Captain's Chair. He yanked out a crystalline chip from the Holographic Pillar, then slid it into one of his Chest Rig's pockets, closed it tight and looked to Andrew and asked "Status?" To which the young man gave a thumbs up and said "System is being purged. Codes are locked safe and available for whenever you need them." And to that, he stood up, then set his tablet back into his duffel bag.

"Alright, Hades!" Barked Jonah in an authoritarian tone "We're headed for the Pelican in the Landing Bay! Re-seal your suits in case you opened them up and prep to move out!"

Everything went by the numbers. That was all Jonah could think of as they rushed for the Pelican in the Hangar Bay. Looking at his TACCOM, he pressed a few flashing commands, then watched it charge. The Detonation Codes linked to his suit well enough. He patted his pocket in which the AI's chip was and it shined silvery-red. The Spartans boarded the Vehicle immediately upon reaching it. Jonah and Asaga took the seats in the front, then started activating the ship's systems... All of them worked and the craft was refueled and rearmed. Good.

"Kids are in the back seat." Asaga smirked, looking at everyone in the back as the hatch locked itself in the back and the cabin pressurized. Everyone was in their seats, harnesses on and such, with their Duffel Bags safely secured around the top of the safety nets. She grinned, then spun up the gun as the door ahead was still locked and without power, then said "Imma be wasting some of our ammo, Ol' Man. Ya mind?" smugly, looking up at Jonah. The man shook his head, then said "Knock yourself out, Two." And she looked ahead, tapping commands.

"Three... Two... ROCKETS OUT!" The girl smirked, firing two Archer rockets at the door. The Titanium-A Doors budged and then she opened up with the Chain Gun of the aircraft, bursting through the door with AP Depleted Uranium rounds. The door exploded off the Hull into space, then Jonah yelled "HANG ON!" As he maxed out the throttle. The dropship burst from its holding cradle at high speed, then dived down as Jonah was piloting. He angled down, then up and held course, placing his fingers over his TACCOM and said "Fireworks in 3... 2... aaand-a~" He pressed the button... A shockwave shuddered the hull of the Pelican and the explosion behind them sent debris flying around, to which the Spartan smirked and said "One... Kaboom."

"Nice one, bossman!" cheered Irene from the back.

"You have a thing with bombs, don't you?" Andrew asked calmly, to which the girl nodded "M-hmm!" Happily. Jonah sighed, then looked at the Pelican's data, to which he saw the engines overheat. Immediately, he throttled down, then set the engines on stand-by, allowing them to cool down and said "Activated Beacon..." After pressing a button and he leaned into his chair, taking his helmet off, then ran a hand through his silver hair and finished off "Spartans... You're allowed to rest for an hour... We'll need it..."