"YAAAAARGH!" The Red King screamed as he twisted round to strike at Tony. His chromium armour gleamed, and his blades screamed as they tore through the air, swinging down towards this new adversary.

Johann knew many things about the universe, answers to riddles and technological marvels that the idiotic humans wouldn't solve for centuries to come. Yet of this new enemy, he knew nothing. Not his strengths, his weaknesses, nor his limits. Nothing! He hoped that he wouldn't have to. His blades were powerful, and not even the strongest of Forerunner battle plate were enough to stop them. The blades came down, unstable particles forming into a deadly corona, aimed at Tony's chest, hoping to cut him completely in half.

They miss.

Tony was standing one foot away from the Red King, this eight foot giant in his mighty battle suit, and had stepped backwards the instant Johann had moved a muscle. The armoured enemy had accelerated faster than he'd expected, but this had only shocked him into action. He acted on reflex. Was cool, relaxed, and as always had an endless multitude of tricks up his armoured sleeve!

With the blades rolling down towards him, Tony activated his thrusters, his hands facing upwards. He ducked, the force of the thrusters propelling him down at double speed. The Skull threw himself of balance, taken completely off guard by this enemies' sudden turn of speed.

Tony rotated his right hand, and his palm slammed against the metal ground below, punching a crater, stopping him cold. Crouched now like some lithe and agile predator, he was ready to strike. Using his thrusters once more, he rose up, and with his feet leaving the ground like it had one hundred times before, launched a savage uppercut into the Red Skull's jaw.

Johann grunted as he took the hit, falling backwards into a crouch, shaken by the force of the attack. Stunned, and with Tony still hovering, Iron Man activated his repulsors. Full yield. With an angry cry, Johann was thrown away towards the back of the warehouse. He hit the wall with a sickening crunch. Head spinning, he couldn't have known what was coming!

With his moment of triumph slipping from his grasp, he looked up towards this mysterious foe. This man, who had appeared from the void itself. "What, the hell are you supposed to be?" He demanded from the unknown enemy in his shining suit of armour, just as Tony deactivated his thrusters. Johann knew that he was human. He could read his vital signs. But the suit was an enigma. He knew of Spartans and UNSC battle suits, but this man was neither. He was a complete anathema to the Skull!

Tony couldn't help but smile. He hadn't used the suit in over three years. Hell it felt good! "Well, I could ask the same thing red! Who are you, Agent Smith's evil cousin?"

"Palmer to Gypsy platoon!" The helmeted Spartan-IV Veteran barked into her comms. link.

"Go ahead!" Came the reply from her teammate, waiting with the others in the shadows, awaiting direction from their bold leader who was busy free running, scouting above them.

"I've got eyes on the disturbance. Lights emanating from the abandoned warehouse, grid reference: 032-683." She told her team as she leapt high into the air, covering the twelve foot gap between the warehouse and the generator tower she was on. She landed gracefully on the building's roof, with the poise and balance of an agile tabby, landing without a sound as she crouched into the floor.

Palmer drew her Magnetic Accelerator, an ARC-920, from the hard point on the back of her armour. This was a new staple amongst the UNSC armament, along with a multitude of other advanced weaponry and next generation equipment. Such as a fully integrated jet pack, and her hard-wired drop-shield. This latter system was a secondary shield generator, a permeation of the bubble shield technology developed years ago by pioneering human scientists. But this time, the system was Spartan portable!

"Squads Crimson and Majestic, strafe forward, standard pattern!" Sarah ordered. She felt something was up, and didn't like it. She was a veteran of countless battles. Palmer had served on twelve tours of duty as an ODST, and that was before her introduction into the Spartan-IV programme. She had been a soldier of the UNSC for almost 12 years, but nothing in her experience matched with what was going on here.

Something odd was happening in that warehouse, this was obvious. But what? She didn't have an answer for that question, and what were those strange lights emanating from inside? This was like something out of the old UFO stories of the 20th century. "Thorne to Palmer!" Her number two reported back. "All exits covered, Avalanche are covering the windows. Awaiting your orders!"

Palmer looked out around her. She could see avalanche. Whilst from our perspective they would have appeared as black and fetureless figures, to Sarah Palmer they gleamed in the near pitch black of the closed down Alpha Site. Their slit-visors glaring in her night-aid HUD. She rested her hand against the roof of the warehouse, feeling the vibrations below. There were people down there, human voices, muffled snippets of angry conversation. Then the entire building would shake. It felt like a battle was going on down there, and based on the violence of the shockwaves, she knew that what she was feeling was heavy weapons fire.

The reasons why this was happening were irrelevant. Her job, along with the other IV's, was to break up the disturbance and take down any hostiles inside. Someone had gone missing around here, a friendly. It was Steven Rogers, a cryogenically frozen human Captain America, an ancient super soldier apparently like herself. An intriguing character no doubt. However his existence was possible, he was important to the UNSC. If he was below her, it sounded like he was in big trouble!

"Gypsy squad, move forward. Proceed with caution. We don't know what is down their-" At this moment, something tore through the site below her. It felt like the building had been hit by a bomb, and she felt the shock of impact rip through her body. "What the hell!" She couldn't help but say out loud!

"Hit the ground, man down! Medic, medic!" The voice of Thorne screamed though her comms system. "Palmer we've lost Jim, Olsen is down! An energy blast just tore through the wall of the warehouse, massive yield! It's melted his chest plate completely through! Olsen...Olsen, can you hear me? Olsen!" Thorne bellowed as he shook his motionless comrade, searching for any signs of life. He found none.

Palmer cursed under her helmet, realisation and bitterness sinking in. Olsen, of course it would be Olsen! The single unshielded man under her command, wearing only wearing SPI (Semi-Powered Infiltration) armour, and equipped with an active camo-system, not energy shielding. Now, they'd lost him! What the hell was in there, Covenant? Worse? Were those really humans inside? A hostage situation? She didn't want to wait for another of her soldiers to die! One good way of finding out...visual conformation. And besides, nothing she could handle herself!

"Majestic! Suppressive fire, tear into the warehouse. Crimson! Take the western wall! Cover me, wait for direction! Enter the building on my command only. Code-word, bombshell!" Receiving a multitude of 'roger and outs' from her comms, Palmer sprant to the edge of the building, swinging herself over the side. As the familiar sound of small arms began to shout across the facility, she only hopped that Captain America wasn't inside. ONI wanted him alive!

Tearing through the rusted iron support panes of the long gone windows, and spotting a huge shadow out of the corner of her eye. She landed with a slam, tortured metal from above falling all around her, and looked up from her landing point, analysing her surroundings in an instant...

"Fool!" The Red Skull screamed "I am the Red King! I am your superior and your better! I am your future human! How DARE you come between me and my prize! My Pet, rend the good Captain apart. Let his lifeblood drain from his..." His order was interrupted by yet another repulsor blast into his armour, pinning him down.

"Err, yeah! I don't think that's gonna happen Mr. Red. Me and the Cap go way back. He's like the bother I never had. Annoying too! Could never look after himself..."

Steve was utterly beside himself. His life was on the line, and Stark was bantering with the Skull? "Besides, I'm right here!" He thought to himself! "...But!" Tony continued, "That's why I'm here. I'm his wingman, I'd die for old Cap..." As he spoke, his unibeam was powering up. Johann could detect the power build-up inside Tony's suit. This build-up of exited subatomic particles...an energy blast! He wouldn't allow it!

As Tony began to turn towards his trilling pet, all Johann could scream was. "RELEASE!"

Quick as a flash, the segmented legs of his sentinel released its prize, throwing the Captain away. Accelerating in an instant, the sentinel attempted to dodge the unibeam. It was only partially successful. The beam proceeded to tear off half its tentacles, and then rip a massive hole in the side of the warehouse. Steel and corrugated iron was no match for the high yield energy lance.

The cybernetic creature screamed as if in pain, as limbs and critical systems were damaged or destroyed. It flew high into the air and collided with both walls and ceiling, punching holes in the structure as it went. The blast had crippled its flight stabilizers. It then managed to re-take control of itself, and came between Iron Man and the Red Skull.

"Shit!" Tony thought to himself, as he stared at the glowing hole he'd just made. He hoped that beam wouldn't cause any harm, this was why he had given up being Iron Man! The Unibeam had a small range however, the particles it fired were short lived. He couldn't think about this, his current concern was the Captain. He ran in between Cap and the enemies. He recognised the Red Skull. How was he here? He didn't recognise its little pet. Impressive technology, but weird!

"I've always preferred dogs myself Red Skull. Giant metal killer squids aren't really my thing!" He said to him in his usual manner. Insulting the maniac dictator even further.

"How DARE you call me that! I am the Red King, and a King I shall be forever more! You cannot know me, dull human! I am a GOD compared to you! My pet, take flight! End his torment, destroy him!" The sentinel, propelling itself via its remaining tentacles jumped into the air once more. It swam through the sky, zigzagging like a shark, searching for blood. The blood of heroes!

It was at this moment where all hell broke loose on the ground. Whilst Tony was tracking the sentinel with an anti-tank missile, struggling to get a good lock, and the Captain was picking himself up from the ground, the squad of Spartans outside began to open fire. The room began to fill with bullets, white hot lead and the shrapnel of weapons and the walls of warehouse, coming apart in razor sharp fragments. Cap threw himself on the ground once again, his suit saving him from half a dozen of the razor sharp fragments. Iron Man span around, taking a strong, wide stance. A HE grenade fired from a M319 hit him dead on in the centre of his mask, bringing him down, as if he'd been hit by a car. It exploded a foot away from him, showering him with fragments as they began to ping of his armour plate.

The Red skull began to scream in rage, his plan had failed. He had been discovered! His pet squealed overhead, struck simultaneously by two high-velocity sniper bolts, punching deep into its underbelly. These were all blind shots, Skull realised. The UNSC personnel HAD to be firing blind, but the sheer volume of shots from this concentrated volley fire was insuring that something hit true. He put his shield up, just as a MAC round was heading straight for his head. His shield flared brilliant blue, and held against the strike.

Whilst Cap and Tony were sprawling to avoid the fire, a heavy crash occurred right behind Johann. There were many crashes occurring of course, all around him, but this was distinctive, the landing of something falling from above: Or someone! The Red King turned, the din of battle loud around him, and found the source of the noise. An armoured warrior had fallen, no, jumped from one of the windows above. Tall, a hair off seven foot he reckoned. Powerfully built, but lithe and agile looking all the same. Finely crafted armour, yet practical and deadly.

Johann groaned in anguish, his plan had failed completely. This was one of humanities greatest heroes, one of their angel of death! He'd seen the footage of the one they called 'John-117', patched through by his spies on the other halos. He could sense the others around him, and whilst he could kill them all, why? To what end? No. His pet would cover his escape, he only required the time to do so. The calculations had already begun.

The moment Palmer had landed, Majestic squad had ceased fire. Crimson were awaiting her orders, from behind the wall on her left. She would give the people inside this room one chance! See could see her surroundings: Captain America, he WAS here! Funny, wasn't he a little small to be a super soldier?

Another individual, an unknown, who the Cap was helping up. What was going on here? Some mechanical monster flying overhead, obviously Forerunner in design. A little like an Onyx Sentinel perhaps, like she had seen footage of, but with tentacles! They looked strong and heavy duty.

And there was one other, tall and strong, wearing armour more advanced than anything she'd seen! "Stand down!" She began to say to them all, with as much authority as she could muster, stunning the room into a frozen silence. Albeit, quite a lot!

She stood rising to her full height, staring right at the Red King, who she sensed was the ringmaster of this madness. "You have trespassed on government soil, and have killed one of my men. You will stand down! Surrender, you will not be harmed if you comply. You will release Captain America, he is under UNSC authority. He does not belong to you!"

This made Iron Man and the Captain raise an eyebrow. Cap belonged to NO ONE! Yet they stood motionless, for fear of alienating an entire human empire! Tony whispered a soft, "No" Someone, was dead? He couldn't have, not again!

This soldier made the Red Skull laugh, deep and patronizingly. Who did this 'girl' think she was? "Oh? And what, my dear, would you do should I refuse to cooperate?" He replied, plain and deadpan. Palmer de-polarized her visor, so that the alien could see her eyes.

"You are surrounded. Kill me, my men will take my place. Kill them, and another thousand will take theirs. Surrender, now. Or die!" Skull couldn't help but smile, it was a good threat, and a decent ultimatum. "Not bad, Spartan. But, there is one thing that you haven't considered!" He said, raising his mocking voice a little.

Palmer lifted her MAC just a little bit higher, zeroed in now on the Johann's chest. "And what exactly would that be?" She asked simply, ready to shoot at the soonest moment. The Skull smiled, she was cooperating with him now! "That I can get away!" And at that moment, he stuck.

Palmer was faster, she turned and squeezed on her MAC, placing a high velocity explosive dead on his centre. The impact stopped him dead, and even though his shield burned and flared brilliantly, he could feel the heat pushing though. His shield held, he kept his balance and he started to charge once more.

Palmer knew she wouldn't have time for a second shot. She sheathed the MAC, and drew both her pistols in a single, fluid movement. Fire blazed, impacts shook her arm. The enemies' shield flared brilliant blue once more, but did not fall. Palmer's surprised eyes suddenly disappeared from view as her visor re-polarized.

Johann had to capitalize on this, and knew exactly how. He was more than a man after all! What happened next was something that made every eyelid in the room widen. The Red Skull breathed fire!

The pluming, sprawling mass of superheated plasma burned towards Palmer at point blank range. She immediately rolled, jinking to the left, just fast enough to get out of the way of the sudden, terrifying attack. When she stood, a familiar bleeping warning told her that her shield was gone. The hotness of her armour over her right shoulder indicated just how close she had come to death. She opened up with her pistols again, as fast as her fingers would allow. The Skulls shield seemed less potent than before, but held true all the same. It showed no signs of giving out completely!

The plasma fire came again, but Palmer was just too quick. She anticipated the attack, dropped down, rolling on the ground as low as she could get. She could feel the heat tearing over her, but failing to hit its mark! She holstered one of her pistols, she had an idea.

As soon as the flames subsided, she pushed upwards with her arm, hard. With the grace and poise of an Olympic gymnast, she catapulted herself upwards, letting a couple of grenades fly as she span through the air went. They headed straight for the Skull. She landed onto her feet with a flourish, drawing her knife, watching the frags as they hurtled towards the skull. Her enemy easily evaded the projectiles, he ducked. They flew right over him. Just as she had hoped!

"Foolish girl!" The Red King thought to himself. Did she think she had him trapped? "And a knife against my quantum glaives!" She was a poor strategist by any means to underestimate an enemy she knew nothing of. She was expecting him to stay still, draw a gun of some sort. She was incorrect!

The King's energy blades activated once more, slicing through the air, hissing and boiling. Palmer only just got out of the way, literally throwing herself rightwards. She regained her balance, but the alien was fast, so fast. Almost too fast! Another flurry of strikes, like punches, which she was again only just able to avoid.

Her heart was beating louder and louder, breath deep and fast. She'd never been pushed so hard by an enemy, ever! It wasn't a physical strain, it was not her body being pushed to its limit, but her skills. She was working on overdrive, and was only just escaping death. Escaping death from a manic, demented alien who screamed and roared with laughter after every attack.

Cap picked himself up, drawing his sidearm. He looked at Tony, at the robot, then at Palmer and Johann. He only had a few clips, but he knew who needed them most. He fired, and began to bombard the Skull's shield with a volley of slow, perfectly controlled bursts.

This was enough to break the Skulls concentration, just for a moment. Snarling in hate as, once again, the Captain was shooting at him! How long had it been, 600 years? His distraction was brief, but more than enough for a Spartan to capitalize on! Accelerating hard, and pushing hard, Palmer tackled the Red skull. His blades were too long, and failed to hit the twisting warrior. As his shield flared under the force of impact, Palmer tackled the skull to the ground.

Tony was watching on too. Lost both in his depressive musings on having harmed yet another human as Iron Man, but also stunned by the incredible display of technology panning out right before him. His jaw dropped as golden light pulsed around the human warrior's armour...and at the blue glow of the Skull's shielding. Breathing hydrogen plasma! This was remarkable!

The Red Skull was struggling, Palmer had him in a perfect lock, trying to choke him out. She was lying underneath him, just out of reach! He knew nothing of Brazilian jiu jitsu! Palmer was capable of breaking any bone or neck in this position, all accept this aliens. What the hell was his spine made of? She knew nothing of this alien's capability outside of what she had seen...and she'd seen a lot! Who was to say he couldn't kill her even now? She tried again, using everything she had. Teeth clenched, the Skull gagging under the strain as he began to black out. "Break damn you!" She screamed in her mind as the bones continued to hold! She contemplated calling backup, but as usual, her ego was getting in the way!

Johann knew he was up shit creek without a paddle. How had it come to this? There was one thing for it, one full proof trick to deal with the Spartan. Overcharge the shield, extend its projection range and flood it with disruption particles. Only one problem, it would burn the emitters out! "No choice! It's time to die human!" He thought to himself. The lightly shining blue corona of energy began to grow more and more defined. From transparent, to full opaque, blue and pulsing, like a cocoon of protective energy. Then the cocoon began to grow, and the pulsating mass turned from a cool navy blue, to an angry, boiling crimson.

Steve looked on in horror, Tony in outright awe. Palmer, in absolute terror. She'd been right! Her shield, which was moments from completely re-charging, failed completely. Time slowed down, and time began to move at a trickle. That strange phenomena known only as Spartan time. She saw as her entire world turned red and particles, like sand and mist, began to tear away from her visor. She could feel armour panels loosening, growing lighter. She could feel her protective exoskeleton being torn away from her. She needed to act, right, now!

She activated her drop shield, and the energy of her system began to merge with the skulls. Instead of forming a protective globe of hexagons the system was only capable of expelling brief jets of power, the rest being assimilated by the Skull's own shield. Her legs, which had been wrapped around Johann's abdomen suddenly shot around behind his back. Her shoulders twisted, moving her body right. She launched the skull into the air before he even knew what was happening, and for good measure, activated her jetpack, dragging her away from the deadly battle suit. She was free, and not moment too soon.

The skull picked himself up, and roared in defeat and frustration. His gambit had failed, his shield was gone! But, on closer inspection, a small smile began to spread across his wicked face. Sarah Palmer's visor was gone completely, and her eyes could be seen, water trickling out of them. Her stomach, left leg and left arm were in agony, with most of the skin itself missing. Blood was already starting to oose out of the open wounds. Much of her armour had been vaporized, and thick, bulging muscles could be seen under the remains of her gel under suit. Whole sections of flesh were missing, right across her entire front and side.

It was then that she went into shock. As her fine motor controls abandoned her, she collapsed. The Red Skull knew she was too weak to get back up. He'd seen humans endure such damage. But he did not rate this Spartan so high, much less a woman at that! Then he remembered Captain America, and his anger burned white hot again!

"You will pay for this! All of you! And Captain America..." As blind fury stayed his tongue, and a hard-point on his armour opened up above his forearm. Another gadget? Everyone was immediately thinking. Iron Man tried to take the initiative, as did Cap, firing off repulsors and M6G pistol rounds respectively.

The Skull dodged the first repulsor blast, anticipating where the beam would strike, then rolled as Iron Man attempted to bring a laser-like weapon down on him. Cap hit home, but the small arms fire was useless against the metal his suit was constructed from. Crouching, as a pistol round zipped past his head, Johann replied. He lifted up his hand, and from within his palm, erupted his own repulsor system! A short riff of pure white light impacted Iron Man, throwing him backwards.

Cap pulled the trigger of his pistol. And nothing happened. No! Of all the moments! Out of bullets!

From out of the Red Kings armour point, came a baton like object. It was matte-grey, with pulsing orange circuit points running across its surface. The baton began to open up, and within an instant, had quadrupled in size. Two monofilament points then erupted from its end. It was a spear! And it utilized the same disruptor technology which existed in his gauntlets. Without another word, he shot Cap with a beam of light, throwing him into the wall, and launched the heavy spear straight at him.

The spear came, hard and fast. Iron Man could see it, he had little time. "No!" He had to redeem himself! Had to prove to himself that Iron Man was not just a monster. He launched himself at Cap, thrusters on maximum. He tackled cap, throwing him away from the impossibly sharp weapon. Only one problem now, the spear was heading for him!

Tony tried to jink, but the skulls aim was perfect. It pierced his shoulder, punching through the armour as if nothing were there, and somehow bypassing his shield completely! Tony was beginning to see just how vulnerable he would be in this new world.

"Haha! Finish him my pet! Finish him!" Johann cried out, sensing the moment for his slave to strike. Tony's eyes were clenched in pain, but he could hear the sentinel above, its vox castor sounding in a loud, digitally distorted scream. It sped towards him, showing absolutely no signs of stopping. It was going to ram him.

His left arm practically disabled, he lifted up his right palm, and fired off a repulsor blast. No effect. Its armour too good. Seconds left, and with the creature bearing down, he let of a quick burst of micro-grenades, and took flight, ignoring the screaming pain as his shoulder began to hitch and burn. The grenades struck home. They did some minor damage. The main carapace was dented, targeting systems scrambled for an instant, and the motor drive of another tentacle was crippled, rending it practically useless. It now had three left.

As if on reply, the other tentacles came. Taking him by his legs, and last good arm, it manipulated him, and as helpless as a puppet on a string, Tony was slammed back down onto the hard concrete ground, pulverizing the rock as he hit it. He landed on his back, and screamed in absolute agony as the spear tore the hole in his shoulder wider. It had, of course hit the floor before himself. Sliding left and right, he was only glad he'd done those hellishly painful bone reinforcements to himself. The bone would have been pulverized, turned to powder otherwise. Not mad after all!

Palmer was shaking head to foot, she couldn't get up, couldn't even hold her pistol. She was no longer combat capable. She'd been stupid, beyond stupid in fact, and let her pride and hubris get the better of her. She'd walked straight into a hostile situation without any understanding of what she was really up against. Thugs, drunkards or Covenant infiltrators she had assumed, but no! She hadn't bothered checking!

She used the remainder of her strength to pull a communicator from her armour. Her primary helmet system was busted! "Pa-pal-mer to-o Cri-I." Couldn't even get her words out! "Cri-i-imson, engage, rig-gh-t-t now-w-w!" And on that, the communicator slipped from her hand. The squad knew she was in serious trouble, and no sooner did the communicator fall from her grasp, explosives tore the western wall apart.

The Red Skull looked on. No shields, no helmet, he was a sitting duck. He had to escape right now! The Spartans opened fire, one rocket launcher, one Spartan laser, they immediately targeted the sentinel. Supported by the entire platoon, the shrieking war machine was torn apart by ordnance. As its main carapace cracked like an egg, all Tony could do was to stay down, and try not to pass out due to the burning pain in his shoulder.

Captain America opened fire again, abandoning his control, shooting as fast as the gun would allow. Had to kill him, had to end it! Johann was ready, his ship was ready and the jump calculations had been set. It had his coordinates, the transmat was ready! He needed seconds only, and the good Captains undisciplined fire was the final opportunity he needed. With one last sneer, and one last dodge of a bullet that came to close to his exposed head, he turned, pivoting on the spot. And in a brief flash of multispectral light, vanished from sight.

Squad Crimson went silent. Of the three hostiles, one was destroyed, the other gone, and another critically wounded. They were perceiving Iron Man as a hostile, they had never seen anything like him before. "Medic! Palmer down, critical condition. Palmer down!" A Spartan yelled as another two began to attend to her.

"Stand down alien, power down your suit!" The others kept yelling at the wounded, bleeding Iron Man. They were more than surprised to say the least when Steven Rogers placed himself between their guns and his old friend. He'd saved his life, time to do the same. "Leave him be soldier. He's no alien, he's on our side!" They were more than confused, to say the least, what was the Captain implying?

Thankfully, Gabriel Thorne, was ready to take control of the situation. "Weapons down Spartans!" He barked as he and the rest of squad majestic strode into the warehouse. "The battle is over, these are no hostiles!" They did as he asked, they trusted his judgement. Whilst both he and Palmer were both equally respected, it was obvious that Thorne was the most loved.

Cap knelt down beside the beaten up Tony Stark. Tapping him on the helmet, just like he used to do after a long battle. "You know Cap?" He began to say, through clenched and gritted teeth. Steve's eyes watered up a little, both in sadness and amusement, he knew what was coming!

"That's just as annoying as when you used to do it 500 years ago!" He managed to grunt out, putting a hand around Cap's own. It'd been a botched up rescue mission to say the least!