They were all around the young woman... She fought and fought against them, but every strike, every bullet fired out of her AR took more out of her than them. An Elite's shield's flashed. Purple blood spattered the orange sand below her and it collapsed with a thud. She heard another step behind her and elbowed him in the head hard, breaking the shields. She spun about and raised her rifle, the fired a long burst into the creature's body. Plasma scorched her armor and skin. She felt the coppery taste of her own blood in her mouth as Plasma rounds tore through her breastplate, charring it and severely damaging her internal organs.

Drawing her pistol, the woman fired at both Elites with both weapons, killing one with three shots from the Pistol and gunning down the other with the AR. She felt an Elite blindside her to the ground as her vision blurred from the wounds. Coiling her leg and kicking upward, she heard the crack of a hardlight shield, then dodged as her blurry vision recorded an energy gauntlet stabbing next to her head. And then blunt force trauma forced her to close her eyes, pained.

She heard an Energy sword hiss as it powered itself up... And three snap-cracks... Tasted something tarry, like blueberry combined with a load of salt... Managing to slowly open her eyes, she gasped as she saw an Elite that was about to kill her, laying on the floor, a hole in its massive head, replacing the left eye. She felt weight on top of her. Looking at herself, she saw a second Elite, blood flowing from a cavernous wound that split its head in two, laying on her, dead. Finally, ahead of her lay the last Elite, Energy Sword fizzling and hissing as the superheated blades turned ground to glass around it. It was flopped backward, limp... Dead.

A UNSC Marksman? But she was the last UNSC soldier on this side of Reach. Unless Jun... No, he was a good few hundred clicks away, with Halsey. Then who... She leaned her head fully back, to see light reflecting off a Sniper's scope. She saw a red laser trailing with interruptions through the dusty air, moving erratically. She gasped as she saw it snap upward and heard another snap and a crack. An Elite gargled blood ahead of her, falling to its knees, then limply flopping into the ground.

The girl soon realized she had to move... Pushing the Elite's corpse off of her and struggling to do so, the girl felt her muscles give out. She gritted her bloody teeth, pushing the damn thing off, then straightened up. She felt a stabbing pain surge throughout her body. Her bones and muscles, broken and healing, felt like they were burning worse than back in training. She swore as she tumbled to the side, then grunted and tried to push herself up using her hands. She dropped back down immediately...

Another sniper shot rang out, this one closer than its predecessors... Two grunts screamed painfully, before they dropped. An Elite roared in pain, kneecapped. The girl had to crawl... She'd have to get to the sniper, wounded as she was. Another shot, this one way closer... To her right. She turned over, drew her pistol and fired at two grunts and a Jackal about to pounce on her. All 3 died. She heard the roar of a Shotgun, then looked up to see it... Tar-black armor, a dark-blue visor. The armor was a standard-issue for Spartan Scouts. RECON helmet, a lot of combat rigging and webbing on his chest. She saw an emblem on the breastplate she couldn't make out, but the colors, red and blue...

"Alice!" The Spartan called out, his voice full of worry... Six's eyes widened, pupils narrowed. Her name... He called her by her name. And that voice. It couldn't be... He knelt beside her, checking her armor and wounds, then looked at her and said "You took a beating. I'll fix you up on the Bird, but for now, you gotta hang on. You copy? Nod once if yes."

She nodded out of reflex. The Spartan gave her a thumbs up, went to retrieve her broken helmet and ran back. He took out a canister of biofoam and utilized it. The self-sealing foam felt cold. She felt the pressure as her wounds began to heal slowly. She looked at the Spartan and struggled, attempting to talk to him. Nothing came out but air. He turned his head to her, then said reassuringly "Calm, Allie. I ain't here to hurt ya." before picking her up in a bridal carry. The girl panted, her breathing erratic.

"Stay with me, girl." The Spartan told her calmly. The girl faded in and out of consciousness. She knew the voice-and the Spartan whom it belonged to-all too well. His ID Tag, his name and by God his face... But ONI told her he'd been killed. Hell, that his entire team died hours before, in New Alexandria. Could they've been misinformed? It wasn't the first time it'd happened.

That'd have to wait... She felt an unbearable pressure and pain in her chest. The girl's eyes fluttered open slowly, allowing her to see a metallic ceiling above her. To her left and right, she saw a dozen chairs and above them, webbing holding equipment overhead. The girl tried breathing deeply, then coughed and groaned, to which she heard his voice again, this time not muffled by the helmet's speakers "Well, you're up..."

She looked over at the cockpit, to see him seated in the command chair, face visible as he'd turned to greet her... That smile. That warm, welcoming smile... The emerald eyes. The slick black hair. There he was... She froze up, feeling her throat become rash. The girl gritted her teeth, then planted her forehead on the grated floor, before looking up again and speaking in a raspy voice "A-Aiden?"

The boy smiled "Yeah. Sorry for the scare... I imagine ONI, before they bugged out, told ya the news of me and Fireteam Sabot goin' 'MIA'. Overexaggeration if you ask me..."he chuckled... and then sighed deeply gazing forward and out of the cockpit "I'm sorry about Noble, Alice... Honestly, I am. I know how it is to lose the whole team, just like you do." and he continued piloting "But alas, we're Spartans..."

"What are you doing?" She asked, seeing as stars appeared outside the ship. The boy nodded, then said "We're bugging out... Finding a ship that's at least still partially intact and slipspacing the hell out of here. Gotta find a way to that Rally Point set up by the Navy's remnants before shit hit the proverbial fan." and he leaned over to a console and tapped a few buttons.

"... Damn... So that's that?" Alice sighed, leaning back and trying to breathe normally.

"Mhm..." Aiden hummed, looking about and trying to keep the Pelican stealthed with as little movement from the Thrusters as possible. In the far distance, the young man could see the massive whale-like bodies of the Covenant vessels as they burned parts of Reach with their full and uncensored Plasma arsenal. With a deep sigh, he saw most of the world's sizzling ocean down below, turning into vapor as loose lasers hit them. With a deep sigh, the boy bit down on the anger and desire he felt to straight-up charge at them with his bird and instead opted to go further into the debris field.

Among it, he could see remnants from the space battle that had finished no less than five hours ago. UNSC Ships, cleaved in half by Plasma fire, peppered with holes from the lasers or just completely destroyed. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the lilac-grey hulls of the Covenant ships were on the far right of the field. Several corvettes and a CCS cruiser, all mostly intact save for the massive holes left by the MAC rounds in their engines and mostly across the bodies. There was also that sliced Covenant Supercarrier, courtesy of Noble Five, God rest his soul.

"Up for a ride on a Covenant ship?" The boy quipped. Alice chuckled, then groaned and say "Sure, why not... Can't be worse than sitting here."

He halted, hearing a comm ping, then heard Morse Code... He swiveled his head about and saw a UNSC ship, almost entirely intact save for half of its engine nacelle being missing. The Morse Code was sent in a strange way... The words made the lyrics of an old Finnish song. Njet Molotoff. It was an odd way to send a distress signal, to say the least, but hell if the Spartan could second-guess it... Most likely aboard was an AI that couldn't purge him or herself in the Cole Protocol and was trying to make a memorable, if somewhat funny, finale.

"AI Pinged us... I think it knows we're here." Aiden warned. Alice coughed, then told him calmly "I say we go swipe it... We'll bust the chip and blow ourselves up aboard a Covie ship if they find us."

"Color me impressed..." Aiden murmured as he brought the craft into a docking position with the UNSC ship. Landing quietly into the hangar, the Spartan grabbed his gear, sealed his suit and gave Alice her helmet back, before sealing that as well with Biofoam. He nodded to her, then said "Keep yourself safe until I come back. If any covie comes in here, ring me. You know my frequency."

"Aye..." Alice sighed, pushing herself to a seated position and drawing her handgun. "Go get the AI."

... Been waiting for over an hour. She could swear this was gonna go worse than usual, wasn't it?

Oh, fuck. She saw Plasma bolts striking the wall ahead. She gasped as she saw the shadow of a Spartan dash in, followed by a squad of ODSTs, all firing rifles and pistols at a Covenant squad. Alarms began to blare as the soldiers climbed aboard. Aiden was last to join, his M6D Magnum roaring. Alice heard the screeches of dead grunts and the roar of an Elite as its shields were pelted by gunfire.

"GUNNERY SERGEANT, TAKE THE STICK!" Aiden called out, slamming the button to close the door in behind them. The girl saw the ODSTs take their seats, each of them with customized armor and each carrying a different set of gear. Alice gasped as she saw an ID Tag from the GySgt. flash on her HUD. BUCK. The guy she'd rescued back in New Alexandria.

She felt the bird lurch out of the hangar as bolts of Plasma followed it into the void. Wisps of energy rounded the ship's sides and slammed into debris left by the Navy vessel they'd just sped out of. The girl could see the detonations of the Titanium plates that were ripped off lighting up the dead of night. Flares lit up the sky behind the bird as the bird swung through the debris to evade the Plasma rounds. The Spartan girl gritted her teeth, a droplet of hardened biofoam landing in between them. She tasted blood and copper... The Covenant knew where they were and her wounds were opening back up... Fuck.

"Fuck me..." An ODST swore. "We're being tailed by Seraphs! Gunny, can you fucking drive any faster?!"

"Trying to, Romeo!" The Sergeant answered.

"What's the plan, Aiden?" Alice asked her friend, gripping onto her side. The boy nodded, then answered her calmly "Gunnery Sergeant, aim for the nearest Covie Corvette. It's gotta drown its shields to fire at us. We'll dive right in after the first torpedo barrage and fuck its crew up, then grab it and hitch a ride out of here... And pray to whatever God you lot believe in that this AI can stop the Self-Destruct."

"That's a fucked-up plan, with all due respect!" The Sniper ODST, Romeo, called out.

"Well, it's the only thing we got, Trooper." The Spartan returned sternly. "On my mark, you boost our asses toward the fucking Corvette, Sarge."

"We're rolling dice, Spartan! If we fuck up and roll a one, we'll be dead and gone before we even reach halfway into that thing's hull!" Buck warned as he maneuvered to try and escape the incoming fire. Aiden chuckled darkly, then said "Our odds. We have to roll a 20 right now for Luck. Tell me you've got that kinda Luck, Bucky Brown." before reloading his sniper "If not, I'll clear out that ship for you and you can land."

"And we have to evade Seraphs and Plasma fire from a now-converging Covie fleet..." Alice noted "I'm praying you've got a Good Luck roll, Danny..." She smirked behind her helmet. "We gotta finish that DnD game from back at base..." to which the boy smiled too. Indeed, they'd have to finish that game some time soon, the two nerds of Beta Company... He looked ahead at the cockpit as Buck made the bird dance around Plasma Fire... He grinned, then, as they approached... Then nodded "Now, Sarge! Kick the afterburners!" and locked his boots to the metal floor as the bird throttled up to maximum speed... A heat wave of plasma came from the sleek-looking Covenant corvette, its rounds narrowly missing the gunship and charring the top of its hull...

The bird swung in, firing its guns as a Spirit gunship tried to take off, before hitting backward thrusters as it slid into the hangar, right through the now-open hardlight shield, before it shut itself behind them. The bird landed, with Aiden being the first one out, rifle drawn and firing into a squad of 5 grunts. Lead pelted alien alloys as 5,56x45mm AP NATO Rounds burst through the thin, light skin of methane-breathing squeakers.

A sniper rifle echoed through the cavernous hull, bursting the shield and helmet of an Elite as it rushed down a ramp, firing its plasma rifle. It fell in a crumpled heap to the Floor as its brothers fired from elevated catwalks and the cover of doors... Out of instinct, Jonah caught a second handgun out of midair and saw a grinning Alice, giving a thumbs up at him, her helmet off her head... She nodded and said "Go get'em, Two Hands!"

Aiden nodded, before dashing forward, ahead of the ODSTs under their covering fire, both pistols drawn and firing as he ran. Rounds bounced off or detonated on shields, the large bullets tearing through smaller, unshielded Grunts and sending Elites and Jackals reeling. The Spartan ran and jumped, using all his strength to put him up on a catwalk, whilst firing midair. His guns roared continuously and Covenant corpses dropped one after the other. The man landed on top, practically having cleared the catwalk. He dropped the empty clips of his pistols, barrels still smoking, then slid in fresh ones from his belt, locking them in with satisfying clicks and a grin wider than humanly possible.

He spun around and fired round after round into another squad as it advanced toward him. Heat washed his armor and he saw his shields flare, dropping chunk by chunk as Plasma rounds hit him. He felt his skin slightly blister under the armor, but he kept moving, pelting the Elites, Jackals and Grunts with rounds. Two Elites received the full brunt of a full magazine from each pistol, their bodies mangled as their plasma rounds washed over Aiden... His armor started to heat as the hardlight shield began to die. Warnings blared within his helmet, which he ignored for the sake of run-and-gunning to clear out the area.

He looked below at the ODSTs firing from behind the cover of their Pelican, plasma and tracers being exchanged rather regularly. The hull of the Pelican began to show scorch marks, black dots and dents from the erratic strikes of the Covenant weapons. The Spartan turned his guns to greet a line of advancing grunts going off to the side. Direct headshots sent the little critters tumbling head over heels.

The Spartan then threw two Frag grenades over the edges of the catwalks. They detonated, sending more grunts flying and wounding two Elites. He jumped off the edge, pistols drawn and fired at the shieldless elites. Two headshots in each added them to the bodycount, before kicking a grunt to the floor, headshotting it and snapping another's neck...

A room full of bullet holes, a lot of dead Covies and blood repainting the walls all around them. A Spartan/ODST mission done right. The Spartan holstered his own handgun and walked toward Alice, into the Pelican, before handing her the weapon and saying "We've got the bridge to clear and then we're gonna blow this fucking joint." to which the girl nodded.

"Leave me here. I can keep the dickheads off the bird if we need to make a quick escape..." The girl smirked, trying to stand up. She grunted as blood foamed at the corners of her mouth. Aiden wanted to make her sit down, but he knew her better. She'd just stand right the fuck back up after he left... So, with a heavy heart, he nodded to her, then looked to the ODSTs and said "Two of you stay here with Alice and the bird. Eyes peeled." before walking off with the rest.

The Spartan and ODSTs rushed through the large corridors of the ship, toward where the boy knew was the Bridge. Few pickets and patrols were encountered along the way, as they took position next to the large bulkhead next to the bridge. He racked the bolt of his AR, then slid his hand over the holographic controls... The door slid apart and soon, the Command Crew of a dozen Elites with two dozen Grunt guards revealed itself. Two Frags rolled inside, below the feet of an Elite Zealot, which's jaws opened wide upon sighting the pinless human bombs... Before it could dive out of the way, the grenades blew, sending its corpse up sky-high, blown apart.

Gunfire then echoed across the ship's Bridge. Purple, blue and black blood splattered across consoles as the Aliens, without shields, fell dead under the whittling barrage of firepower. A Plasma Grenade stuck to a grunt, which ran into three of its comrades. The grenade blew, vaporizing part of the Grunt's corpse and killing the other three, melting their armor.

Aiden signaled cease-fire... And the UNSC guns fell silent without so much as a bark back from the Covies... The Spartan dashed forward, followed by Buck and two other ODSTs. He stopped in front of a console, took out the AI's chip, then slid it into a port that, luckily enough, fit the crystalline item. He then took a guard stance as the Console flowed with pure white energy, instead of the Covenant's rainbow of colors... And an Avatar materialized. A white ghost, clad in winter clothing, a white cloak and with what looked like a Mosin Nagant rifle leaning against his shoulder.

"Simo! See if you can't get us out of here and fast! I think the Covies are gonna realize we hijacked their ship pretty s-"

Just as Aiden was about to finish his line, Plasma struck the shielding of the ship. The hull shuddered and groaned with stress... The AI hummed, then nodded and vanished within the console... Jonah felt a sudden, but light gravitational pull. Its engines roared and it lurched forward, out of the line of fire. Jonah looked outside through the holographic viewports and saw the trailing Plasma and laser fire striking beside, or right onto the faint shields of the ship.

It shuddered again as a direct strike from two Torpedoes burst part of the aft section's shields and boiled plate away. Lasers snapped like tendrils toward them, bouncing off or dissolving on and stripping away layers of armor. The Spartan gritted his teeth as he saw Seraphs tailing them, with the bigger ships, from Corvettes to two CCS cruisers, tailing them.

"Spartan Aiden. I can't break through the encoding of the jump matrices for this ship. The only FTL jump I can make is a blind one... One slight miscalculation and we're gonna die worse deaths than the Soviets near the Mannerheim Line." The AI said, his voice that of a human male's, with a thick Finnish accent to boot. Aiden sighed, looking at the console...

"... What do you say, boys?! It's the only way we have outta this shitstorm of plasma!" Aiden asked the ODSTs...

"The fuck do we have to lose, sir? We're gonna die eitherway!" Buck barked back. "Might as well make our escape a memorable death to the Covies, since we stole one of their ships."

"I think we can all agree on that!" Romeo noted, slinging his sniper on his back. "Flip them off one last time before we go to hell."

... Well, the Spartan couldn't agree more. He tapped com and said "Ready up, boys and girls! We're making a jump blind into the middle of fuck-all knows where. Might as well have a nice sendoff toward the Covies. Brace for the jump and God help us all!" then shut off the Com and gave the signal to the AI. The Spartan saw space ripple before them... Then form into black portal, its outline blue like a whirlwind... As it entered, two more Plasma shots struck the ship. Warnings blared... And they jumped.

Blaring alarms, a shuddering ship and armor peeling and boiling away from the main hull. The jump, whatever had happened, fucked up. They were losing critical mass for a normal exit vector from Slipspace and for all they knew, they may as well have been jumping into a star. Aiden gritted his teeth as he saw Plasma coil levels going critical. The ripple in space-time they were traveling through was fucking dangerous and the boy could swear he saw the faces of his long-dead parents in the hypothetical, Physically impossible 'tunnel' they traveled through...

The sudden jolt of deceleration was incredible, nearly throwing the Spartan off his feet(and actually doing that to the ODSTs), even with artificial gravity. But Aiden's training helped him brace while his ODST comrades tumbled to the floor. He felt the ship's sublight drives kick in, just enough to evade a collision with what looked like a set of asteroids.

"... We are alive." The AI stated calmly as he brought the ship to a slow, grinding halt...

Aiden sighed deeply, taking his helmet off, then looked out of a viewing port and saw it... They were above an Earth-like planet, with planet-spanning oceans and what looked like actual continental masses, proof enough to Jonah that they were alive. And safely above an actual planet... He sighed, then put his helmet back on his head and wasted no time to ask "Damage report."

"45% of the Hull was compromised by Plasma. A further 15% was compromised by our uncalculated travel through slipspace. Main batteries of Plasma and the Laser below are inoperable. And the Plasma coils for the Slipspace jump drive are empty, with no means of recharging. The FTL drive also broke down and refuses to respond, but is otherwise seemingly safe. Translation:It won't blow up in our faces if we leave it unchecked. To put it shortly, we're a cruise liner stuck with only Sublight engines." The AI returned...

"Fucking wonderful... At least we're alive." The Spartan returned. "Tell Alice and the others we're gonna go on an expedition down to the planet below... But we have to rest for now and evaluate our shit, including ammo count and whatever else we've got aboard this Covie ship we can use to fight, provided shit hits the fan... Also, do me a favor, Simo. If we have any sensors, use'em to scan down below."

"Already on it. May I also recommend using the Covenant ship as an HQ?" Simo noted, calmly, to which Aiden simply nodded, taking a seat to catch his breath... Well, Into the Unknown they went once more...