AN: It is me. I'm back, the Great and Powerful Peacekeeper! (… reference? Maybe. Dun't judge meh.)

It's time to finish PANDORA! Sorry for putting it on hold, I was pulled into the Modern Genre, and Ghosts in the Gate was born. And so far it's my best story ever. Man… it's amazing… but now the Sci-Fi Genre has me back in its grasp once again. And Pandora shall once again see that light of day! I just hope the fight is good enough for you.

Ok let's go.

Day 1, 9:34 A.M.

The fleet of aircraft had arrived upon the front lines and began the deployment.

Unggoy filled the forest as they disembarked from the transports and began to be followed by their fellow Covenant species. Vehicles were held back until needed, lest they be easy targets. M'galekgolo leapt from the Lich and landed, running to make it to the frontal forces. Leka stayed up in his Lich. He would need to establish a forward base should the unlikely event of the failure of this wave come true. With them, in a rear rank, was a Shadow Transport. In its cargo hold, was an antimatter bomb. He explained it the Hierarchs perfectly.

"This will ensure that the Tree, the mountain holding it, and any other heretic there is dead." He told them.

It would surely destroy the tree, and possibly, the whole mountain. "Move forward, warriors. Be aware of your surroundings. The heretics are out there."

11:52 A.M.

The armada came. Flying through the pass of floating mountains. Perfect. "Covenant air forces sighted. Going through the pass, just like we hoped." The scout was with one of the Ikran that littered the side of the mountain waiting to strike.

"Steady…" Was the reply. Normally radios didn't work up there. But thanks to some work, and some thinking by Ryder, they were able to work out a radio frequency that could be maintained. For now anyway.

"Dalton here, Covenant ground forces sighted. It's a whole army. Falling back to Line A." Dalton was concealed by shrubbery, but to get the Covenant to make it into a desired situation, he willingly ran out of his cover and got the attention of the soldiers. The Unggoy frenzied and charged, while the Sangheili shouted to hold formation. Surely it was a trap.

But the stocky aliens ran forward, even the Kig-Yar went after the Human. The more disciplined Jiralhanae there, along with the M'galekgolo, continued at a quicker pace to keep up without falling into the trap that surely was being played.

Dalton ran as fast as he could, sliding into the hidden trenches, concealed with vegetation purposefully removed and stacked upon the Human soldiers. "A whole friggen army, guys. Heading this way." He said.

"Ready the charges." Ryder ordered. A portion of the Human forces were there, while the Na'vi would charge forward once the signal was given. The rest of the Human forces were located at the other Lines. The current Line composed of the turreted machine guns found at bases along with temporary fixed BANISHERS and Nail Guns. The Nail Guns, unlike the BANISHER, fired titanium rounds in a nail shape that could pierce heavy armor. It would be the perfect chance to see if they could work against Hunters. In the rear trench, grenade launchers were poised to strike before the shrubbery was removed.

You'd never notice, but along with the Line, several AMPs waited, covered in vegetation to prevent them being discovered. In the rear, a distance from the trenches, were four Buggies with explosives strapped to them, they would drive forward should the Line fall, and give time to retreat, or even take it back. Way in the back from there, waiting for the signal was a horde of Na'vi warriors on horseback. Arrows and clubs at the ready. Some even had guns, the Avatar-made M60, being given quick, impromptu lessons by the Humans. As for the sky battle. Above the waiting Ikran, hidden by the mountains, the Human air forces were lifted and waiting for the sound of an explosion. This would be a serious fight. Tilt-rotor gunships going up against plasma-armed fighters. It would take all the skill the RDA had to get through this.

At Line A, the soldiers tensed as the sound of approaching Grunts became louder. They could see them coming through the canopy, their slightly elevated position offering a line of sight. "Wait." Ryder ordered. The Grunts were getting closer. "Wait." Closer. "NOW!"

A flare shot up in the air from the rear trench, gaining the Covenant's attention. A few moments later, they heard what sounded like a thunderstorm. Getting closer. The sound of whooping became evident.

In the sky, Jake, Neytiri, and Tsu'tey flew into the pass above the Covenant forces. Who had found the Dragon gunship flying towards them at their level. That was their signal. An ear-splitting explosion rocked the soundwaves and sent boulders and stones down upon the Covenant air forces. Jake hooted, and the Ikran latched off of their perches and went straight for the Covenant after the rocks. Over the edge came the Scorpions and Samsons. The Na'vi ululated while the pilots squawked their attack patterns. All going in nose first. "Alright rookies, time to show these Covies how RDA boys fly!"

On the ground, the Na'vi forces came into view of the Covenant. Who charged as well, right into the- "OPEN FIRE!" The ground erupted as Humans came into view from a trench, seemingly innocent moss rocks collapsed as plastic cutouts, revealing the deadly triple-barreled Human turrets. From the tree trunks themselves came the mech suits. Guns bared. The Covenant were caught off guard as Human gunfire tore through the Grunts in the lead, the Kig-Yar shields soon collapsed, while the Sangheili's own shields fell after much pressure. The triple-barreled machine guns filled the air with their bullets, the ratatat sounding. Bodies were torn to pieces as the fire intensified. The Covenant began to increase their charge, attempting the religious bravado in the face of the Human forces like they have in the past.

Only for a massive explosion to take out a small chunk of their right forces. Bits of Kig-Yar, Unggoy, Sangheili, even M'galekgolo flew through the air as the ground was stained with the various blood of the species. Then THEY came into sight. "Blue Team! Fire!"

12:05 A.M.

Rocks slammed into the Covenant air forces, sending Banshees, Vampires, and the transports exploding and tumbling in balls of purple-hued flames. The Leonopteryx came swooping down and grabbed a Banshee, then slammed it into a Vampire. The Scorpions opened fire as they were clear of friendlies, dummy firing their missiles and hitting the Vampires first, the Covenant used them as air superiority forces. Ikran would latch onto them and send them falling, while archers fired their arrows at the Banshees. Linda told them that if they aimed carefully, their arrows would get through the tiny slit between the canopy and the lower portion of the vehicle. As she has done many times. (Proof in the novel First Strike.) Some made their mark, others, not so much.

Leka gave a simple order to this. "Weapons free! Kill these vermin!" The Banshees and remaining Vampires scrambled, albeit too late, for the damage had already been done. The Vampires were now too few to properly counter against the enemy air forces, while the Banshees were focused upon.

And just like that, another Vampire and a few Banshees fell.

On the ground, the Spartans charged with the Na'vi riders, who were accompanied by soldiers on ATVs spewing machine gun fire from their dual twin cannons, with the launching rockets in between, while the Covenant were forced to climb the growing mounds of their dead comrades. Another explosion sent dirt, blood, and limbs flying. This forced the Covenant to scatter and avoid more explosions. This gave the charging horse riders an advantage as they advanced with clubs in hand. Others had bows and fired at whatever target they could hit.

"Ryder, give me a sitrep!" Quaritch ordered over the radio.

"Ryder here! The plan is working. The Covenant were caught totally off guard. They're scrambling to get ahold of the situation. We got 'em right where we want 'em!" He replied, another burst of his rifle going through a Jackal's head.

"Keep it that way, air battle's going good!" Quaritch replied.

"Yeah! Get some!" Wainfleet yelled, firing his AMP gun into the Covenant horde. Whoever got hit was left with a huge gaping hole. His friend, Sean, was on a turret. The Spartans made way in front of the trench and sprinted into the mess of hostiles with the charging Na'vi. John fired his MA5B and killed several enemies before reloading, then swung his weapon into four individual Elites one at a time. Fred was busy ramming and stabbing the Brutes while hitting Hunters with his laser. Linda took every chance she got to hit a distant target while Kelly blasted whatever got close to her. Covenant warriors fell as bullets ripped through their bodies and clubs collided with their heads. When the Ghosts showed up, it began to turn in the Covenant's favor. At least until they reached the Line. By then they were destroyed unless they stayed away.

Which if they did, they did a small number on the Na'vi riders. Their direhorses being no match for the plasma barrages when the Covenant began to reorganize. Despite that, the Spartans provided a balancing measure, especially when they began jacking the Ghosts. Fred was rather creative and sent his ramming into a pair of Hunters and resulted in an explosion.

The Covenant air formation broke to engage various targets, while the Lich continued on its way. Leka made his way to the now shielded opening from where soldiers could open fire and watched as Human and Na'vi fought his own forces. The element of surprise had cost him dearly. 35% of his air forces were taken down when the rocks came down. The rest were overwhelmed by the diving attacks. And with his soldiers slightly confused, and the radio glitching thanks to The Flux, communications were useless at best. The Dragon came into his view, and in its main cockpit, he saw the same Human. Who saw him as well.

"THAT'S HIM! GET AFTER HIM!" Quaritch yelled, the large gunship swerved to face the Lich, which also looked towards it. Both unleashed their salvos, and missed due to their circling momentum. Leka watched as the smaller, albeit more heavily armed craft hovered in place facing his Lich.

"It seems the Human wants a duel. I say we oblige him." The pilot nodded as the weapons operator readied the armaments. The beam on the Lich began charging.

"Looks like Mano a mano. Get him." Quaritch said. The dogfighting around the craft continued as they began their one on one. They circled counter clockwise in the sky, the Lich blasting its beam, missing, then firing again. The Dragon sent missile after missile while blasting the machine guns it had. The Lich's other plasma weapons only left burns, not enough to bring it down. While the shots that hit the Lich were unsatisfactory to ensure destruction.

12:44 A.M.

"Wraiths incoming!" Ryder said. Of course it was known before they came in sight as plasma balls rained from the sky and splashed over the ground. "Be ready to make for the tunnels!" The tunnels were located right and under the RDA forces in the trenches, upon a Line falling, they would quickly dive in and make for the next line.

The Na'vi would prove fruitless in trying to attack them, so it came down to the heavy weapons of the force. The Spartans or some firepower. "MOVE!" The soldiers ducked and made for the tunnels as the next volley came in, burning thorough the overhead vegetation and colliding into the ground. This warranted in Fred taking action. With his Spartan Laser firing into a single Wraith.

As the RDA forces readied to either return or retreat, the Spartans sprinted through the still disorganized Covenant forces and to the now closer Wraiths. Fred jumped and landed on one of the them, pounding the hatch until it was too damaged to function, then ripped it off. The rest of the process involved an Elite being tossed towards his comrades. Fred took control instantaneously and turned the tank towards the Covenant. Firing a plasma ball. A sizeable squad of Grunts was destroyed.

The other Spartans followed the same actions and took Wraiths, prioritizing the Hunters that were around before attacking the rest of the Covenant. With this in mind, the RDA soldiers returned from the tunnels and back to the fight. "Back to your posts! KEEP FIRING!" Ryder shouted as he slapped another clip in his rifle.

"Fleetma-" The radio crackled as Leka's Lich was pounded by another volley of Human missiles.

"Commander! What is the situation!?" He demanded, knowing the window of comms could be brief.

"Human lines- out of nowh- heavy casualties. I adv- fallback to- now!"

The bits and pieces said one thing. The Humans had an ambush ready for them, and those Na'vi had made it even worse. From the amount of losses, it seemed that Leka's forces were indeed losing. If only the damned radios worked! With this, the commander believed a fallback was necessary. Unfortunately, Leka agreed.

Another explosion hit the Lich and this time, rocked it. "Do it! If you can hear me, order the retreat! We will make use of the valley! All air forces, fallback!" At the sound of his orders, the force reacted. The Banshees and remaining Vampire fled from the fight while the ground forces began to run, organization depending on the amount of dead.

The Covenant forces began retreating before their eyes. That was something that was not common in this war. Almost never occurring.

The aliens began running from the Lines and back to wherever they came from. Inciting the defenders to begin cheering at their success. "He-hey, look at them run! That's right! Run you mothers!"

"Jeez…" Dalton began. "We did it." The squads began regrouping in the calming moments.

"Stay alert everyone. They've just fallen back to regroup and rearm. This battle ain't over yet. There's still 2 days to go and there's going to be more battles. They're gonna be a hell of a lot tougher. Trust me." Ryder's words worked their way into the minds of the soldiers he spoke to, who already began to return to the lines and reorganize. Na'vi warriors returned on their direhorses and the stolen Wraiths were brought back to the command center.

"This is Papa Dragon to ground forces. Air forces are retreating. How's the situation down there?"

"Papa Dragon, this is Ground Lead, enemy forces are retreating. We have the advantage for now. And a lot of dead Covenant." Ryder took a minute to look around. "We took a few casualties. Some of the Na'vi, they're being brought back to camp. We got some Wraiths though, the Spartans are bringing them back to base."

"Good. That's good. We need every advantage we can get. I'm heading in. Papa Dragon out."

The forces at play began to reorganize. They didn't bother to hide the trenches again. It was only one set as of now. And the Covenant were surely going to know where they were now. As far as Line A goes anyway.

…

4:00 P.M.

A shameful display.

What was supposed to be an easy assault on the Tree of Souls turned into a massacre. While the number of dead were small compared to the whole force as a whole, the issue was how many died in that timeframe. As a whole, there were at least 360,000 soldiers on the ground now. Of course countless more remained on the ships. But 35,000 died in the assault. There were still plenty. But it didn't help against the resiliency the enemy displayed, especially the fact that only 45 were slain.

Add to the fact that the air forces were heavily damaged, and the Na'vi are performing more ably in regards to fighting the Covenant, and the high ground belonged to the Humans. It wasn't looking good.

When Leka was told that only around 45 Na'vi were killed, he was absolutely distraught. NOT a good thing to hear. He could feel his honor become stained. Losing the very first battle to these vermin! The Hierarchs would not be pleased. He stood at a holographic table with his commanders. "This, combined with our inability to communicate in the flux waves means that we are in an unforgiving situation, with what could very well be more trenches there… this is the Human world we encountered before all over again. Trenches and traps."

"Indeed. But they don't have any bombardment ships with them." One of his commanders said.

"But they do have a MAC weapon here. And as far as we know…" Another said. In between the base called Hell's Gate and the naval installation, was a planet-based MAC, like all the other planets. Only one, but for all they knew, it could've had EMP weaponry. And the fact that these Humans were different from the UNSC was another matter. They had multi-barreled guns. HUGE multi-barreled guns.

While he would send in forces to deal with that in time, he wasn't going to send them in blindly. He wanted more information of the area.

"Maybe. But that means ships will show up. And likely those with MACs on them. I do not wish for their EMPs to be here. You recall Fleetmaster Lar and his force do you not?" Leka said. His officers nodded meekly.

The world the Humans called 'Octanus X.' Lar's fleet was attacked by Human ships with EMP capabilities. It effectively knocked out the shields and several weapons systems. The Humans could now fight on even grounds… somewhat. Yes they were still fragile, but shields protected against their technologically inferior weapons. Along with the EMPs now, Human weapons tended to overwhelm, and they did so on Lar's fleet.

Anything not taken out by the Super MACs as they were called, was dealt with by missiles and heavy fire. NONE of Lar's force survived. Not even Lar himself. It was here the Covenant needed to proceed with caution. And why Leka was so nervous about the situation.

"We must get to the tree and destroy it! How long until the Scarabs reach the mountain?!" He demanded.

"2 and a half days from now Fleetmaster." Leka cursed. Surely the Human reinforcements would be here by then. He had to get to the tree immediately. But he needed a plan.

"Send scouts. Special Forces. I want information on the current trench lines, and if possible, any others nearby. I can assume that they are extended along the opening to the Tree." Leka said as he pointed at the only land accessible path. Between the two sides of a ring of large rock mountains.

With that, Leka left the room and looked upon his forces. In quickly set up structures similar to how the Citadel was created. Leka was reluctant to bring his fleet in and just glass the planet. The MAC weapon was likely of the super variety. Any ship would be destroyed. And he had so little recon on it, he needed facts before committing a force.

He just didn't expect things to go this way!

Well, when he destroyed the Tree, then the Humans. His honor would be restored. And 117's head would be on his plate. And the Hierarchs would forget all about this when told.

4:50 P.M.

Base Camp

It's been a few hours since the attack, and nothing has happened so far. Still, patrols kept their eyes open.

Human and Na'vi were communing as of now. With the patrols monitoring Line A, and the skies clear of Covenant forces. The denizens were going about their business with it all quiet on the front.

Things were a bit tense between the species. It wasn't hard to see why. It was only 2 years ago they fought a war. Then another time of tensions with another. Only for it to lead to this.

The good news was it was mostly stare downs. They were mostly comfortable with the fact that they weren't trying to kill one another. Able Team was out at Line A, rebuilding any damage. John observed the surroundings, and saw smiling faces.

Any other time the Covenant attacked, casualties were medium. On the ground that is. Until the EMP MAC, space casualties were… extreme.

This was the total opposite of the worst of fights. The Covenant were seriously bloodied while Humans were relatively untouched. This was undoubtedly one of the best hours of the Human-Covenant War. As much of a miracle as it was, this was also bad.

1. It boosted the egos of the soldiers. This was dangerous because egos get in the way of logic and caution.

2. The Covenant would refuse to allow this to stand. When they returned, they would see to it that it would be an absolute bloodbath.

He decided to take this recommendation of reminding the soldiers of the facts to the Colonel. The first day wasn't over yet. And they had to hold out for two more after this. Chief made his way up to the central area. There was Quaritch with COs and chiefs.

"The defense went off without a hitch. From what estimates are saying, a number of about 35,000 Covenant are dead, and their air force is out of commission for now. Any more air groups and they'll be much smaller. Now let's not get excited, the Covenant are aware of us now, and it's gonna get bloody. I can guarantee that there will be casualties by tomorrow. Right now they've gotta be performing recon. Have your scouts keep their eyes open, the Covenant is as sneaky as they are dangerous. You lost 45 warriors, which is a godsend compared to our fights. That's it, let's get to it."

The chiefs departed as Quaritch got back to a pad he had. Displaying the ETA of the fleet. At least two days left. "Goddamn. I was hoping for an easy fight at the start, but this is taking the cake. Day 1 and we've bloodied the Covenant so bad I bet they're praying non-stop to kill us tomorrow."

"I think our soldiers are taking it a bit too well, sir." John said, gaining the Colonel's attention. Quaritch looked to the Spartan, processing the words.

"Yeah… you got a point there. There soaking up the liquor in the makeshift quarters and getting too cozy. Tell me Chief, you think this may be another Bull Run?" Bull Run. The first major battle of the American Civil War that shattered hopes of a quick war. The Union was defeated by the succeeded states that made up the Confederacy. However, it turned out that this would play against the Confederacy. The public realized more battles would follow and more casualties on the Rebel side. While the Union received a wakeup call that the war would really be brutal and long.

"I think it is, we need to address this. Now. But in a way that keeps the spirits up." John said.

"You let me worry about that, I want you taking over for the moment. I need to head to my quarters… I need to word this carefully." Jake came to the area by then. But Quaritch was already leaving.

"Where's the Colonel going?" He asked.

"He needs to think. This victory has our soldiers with too large of good feelings." John replied. "So do I. This could end up being another Bull Run."

Jake stopped for a minute, thinking about what was said. "Wasn't that from the-"

"Yes. American Civil War. Good for the losing side, bad for the winning. What about your warriors? How are they doing?" The soldier asked.

"Well, they're pretty mellow right now, have to be mourning the fallen 45. I know it's good news, I mean we killed about 35,000 of them. That's a big kill ratio in comparison to previous battles." Jake said.

"We had the element of surprise. It's gone now, we can only hope they don't predict where the next lines are. Even then, there will be serious casualties the next battle." John replied. The Spartan walked away after that. Before telling Jake. "Make sure you tell them. It's gonna get worse before it gets better."

John made way back to the common area, hoping to find some time to himself. He checked in on his team, Kelly was at Line A. Fred was checking on the mechs, and Linda was out performing recon. She could pull of the 'lone wolf.' Her recent transmission said she found the Covenant camp and was waiting for a moment to try and hit them. Well it did explain why she took a large bag of explosives.

He found a nice rock to sit on a ways from the camp. Perfect for privacy. Taking a moment to use his coin to pass the time. 'Heads.' He thought. The coin was flipped and then caught. It was heads. 'Tails.' It was tails. 'Tails.' It was tails. 'Heads.' It was heads.

"You don't have to hide, Tsu'tey." He said. The sound of rustling was heard as the mentioned Na'vi warrior came forward.

"How did you know?" He asked, definitely disturbed by the fact John knew he was there.

"I've been facing the Covenant for at least 2 decades. I've learned to hear the tell-tale signs of stealth opponents." John caught the coin as it fell. It was heads. 'I win again.' Tsu'tey came to his side and squatted down, looking in the direction of the jungle like John.

"Two decades… a decade is 10 years… what happened?" Tsu'tey asked.

"What do you mean?" John asked.

"What happened as in how did this war start? Why does the Covenant hate you so much?" John looked at Tsu'tey, the visor reflecting the warrior's face back at him. Then he got up, followed by Tsu'tey.

"I think you're not the only one who should hear this. I think it'd be best if more Na'vi heard this."

…

5:10 P.M.

The encampment was fairly large and in a square shape. But set up in a hasty manner. The leadership certainly wasn't preparing for something like this to happen.

It was in a wide open area, a valley. The walls weren't finished, the turrets were at half power, and everything was still being made. in the center was a large structure. Had to be the command area. Covenant building tech was always a mystery to the UNSC, so there's no sure way to really know how else they can be built without a ship beaming it down. Everything else was being done by hand though.

There was a large motor pool to the rear from where Linda was now. And the remaining aircraft were at a small assembly closer at the right section. That was her target. She opted to get rid of the Banshees and dropships. The Lich would have to wait, lest she used her whole stockpile at once. Only a few sentries, meaning they weren't expecting a counter-attack. No other sentries around, and other forces were too far in the base to notice the initial event. She brought a silencer as well for a reason. One at a time, both fell. No time to wait, she ran at full speed, guess some of John's luck was rubbing off on her to let this camp be so poorly defended.

Reaching the inside by climbing, Linda grabbed the bodies and tossed them over the wall. Weapons included, then ran before any Jackal could see her. Her move was to the air forces. With the Super MAC operational, any more Covenant aircraft would have to travel a long flight if the ships were to avoid the weapon, and an out of range deployment would be unsatisfactory. For once, a simple battle. For now anyway, this was just the calm before the storm. The patrols must've been concerned with the center, the lead Elite had to be there. But she still ran into them.

Finally, she found the aircraft, before moving, she scanned the area, then used the scope to check the walls. Nothing. She was quick and hid under a deactivated Phantom, checking the area again. She smirked under her helmet. And got to work by placing the first explosives device.

…

Base Camp

5:40 P.M.

"The current year is 2548."

John was speaking, with Norm translating. They were gathered at a large campfire where everyone was listening. More so with the Na'vi, since they all wondered the same thing. How did the war start? "The war has been raging since 2525. That's at least 23 years. Let it sink in." the Na'vi weren't Human smart, as in they couldn't build ships, make mechs, or determine star positions in the galaxy. But they knew how time worked. "It started on a planet called Harvest. A friend of mine, a Sgt. Avery Johnson was there. Harvest was a farm world. It grew food. Entire supplies of it. It fed hundreds of worlds. That's what happens when a people's population grows constantly. They expand. Harvest was just one planet of hundreds. Several hundreds. All ours. Then came the Covenant on Harvest. At first things were just tense, we invited them as guests, tried to be friendly. Then for some reason, a Grunt attacked Osmo, a private in the Harvest Militia, and killed him. He was the first casualty.

"After that, the civilian population was hastily evacuated after the Covenant attacked. For whatever reason after the incident. Right now, Harvest is a freezing cold planet, the result of a winter brought on by Covenant glassing. There are sub-arctic areas here on Pandora, right? Imagine the habitable places reduced to ash and fire, with everything else succumbing to the winter."

A LOT of Na'vi shifted uneasily. Could they be blamed? "From then, Humans were fighting a war. A war for survival. Every victory we get comes at a high cost, with our defeats ever mounting. The new weaponry we have created is changing this, but not immediately. The Covenant is still looming. And they're here. They will stop at nothing to succeed. Understand? Nothing. Fight them like they're the last foe you'll ever face. Otherwise they will be, on their side anyway. And let's not forget the fact that they're here. And they're going to be looking for payback for the defense we put up." John said, finishing his story.

No sooner did he say that, did Quaritch show up. He took a look around the gathered masses, especially at the RDA soldiers. "'There stands Jackson like a stone wall! Rally behind the Virginians!' These are the words of Brigadier General Barnard E. Bee of the Confederate States of America at the First Battle of Bull Run. This battle was significant for two reasons. One. it is just like the battle we just fought. And two, it is going down the same path. As I looked around when the smoke settled, I noticed everyone happy-go-lucky and peachy and creamy. So much so that it was like the Covenant didn't exist… need I remind you why we're here?

"The reason I bring up the battle is because the Confederacy won it, but it was not a good thing. Because they now knew the Union would step it up and there would be more casualties. In the end, the Confederacy DID lose the war. This is OUR Bull Run. The Covenant ARE coming back. And they WILL be ready. Make no mistake everyone, I am supposed to keep you alive. But I will not succeed… there will be casualties come tomorrow. So, listen and listen well. Sooner or later, the Covenant will return, and they will be thirsty for blood. Be ready for them, or I promise you will not make it. This is the calm before the storm ladies and gentleman. The element of surprise was on our side and it served us well. Now? It's gone. We need to rely on our skills and hold out for as long as we can now."

"Colonel." John began. "I'm getting a call from Line A, they have a Ghost in sight."

"What did I say?" Quaritch replied, directing towards the soldiers.

"It's Linda. She stole it. And she's got a load of pissed off Covenant on her trail." John said.

"OK, assholes and elbows get, ready! Get them Scorpions in the air!"

The camp sprung to life with activity as the forces readied for the retaliatory assault. Looks like Linda's mission was a success, and the Covenant were lacking in the air department now. After reaching the Line, the RDA took up firing positions while the Na'vi hung back.

Linda was there, Ghost at the side, but no Covenant…

6:40 P.M.

"Where are they?" "SHH!" The soldier did bring up a good point, it's been almost an hour. Where are they?

A sort of energetic humming was heard, and a number of red balls of plasma were seen, colliding into the ground. Similarly colored vehicles then burst from the treelines. "Revenants!" a soldier yelled. The force opened fire as the vehicles came forth. The Revenant was a cross between a Ghost and a Wraith, speed and maneuverability with firepower. The collection of 17 opened fire, forcing the soldiers to duck. Machine guns began to fire, some getting hit by the red plasma balls. Batista came into the play and opened fire.

"Got a present for ya!" He shouted. Five shots and five Revenants were hit, now they were starting to buzz around, and Ghosts came from the treeline. Quaritch and the soldiers opened fire on the drivers as the Na'vi came charging in, clubs and axes going to work on the exposed riders.

"Don't let em pass! We can't lose A so soon!" The Colonel shouted firing a Deadeye, killing a Ghost driver, then another. John was quick to react as he took over a Revenant that strayed from the pack, then used said Revenant to ram into another. Now it was 10 left. The Ghosts were many, so the Covenant surely wouldn't mind it-

John immediately leapt onto on and kicked the Elite off, opening fire on the rest. A massive explosion rocked the area, taking out 6 more Revenants and a number of Ghosts. Some explosives were replanted. This seemed to get the Covenant to stop and run away. For now.

Quaritch lowered his gun as he gritted his teeth. "They're gonna bring a bigger force in tomorrow, I can feel it!" He yelled.

"Medic!" 15 soldiers were hit here. All wounded, some fatally so.

"Get them stabilized and back to the camp, now! Scorpions, the Covenant are without air cover for now, you have permission to pursue and destroy, but do not go near the established enemy area!" Quaritch said into the radio.

"Copy that, sir. Scorpions giving chase."

15 hit. That was still a good start. Day one belonged to the Humans and Na'vi.

Tomorrow? They both had to expect the worst. For the Covenant would come back.

And there WILL be blood.