Date: June 8th, 2551

Location: UNSC Pillar of Autumn

Admiral Keyes’s usually stern manner was replaced with a sad one during the meeting aboard his warship. The entire ship was in a grim mood after Reach happened.

The briefing room was largely empty. The only beings in it were Keyes, Master Chief, Cortana, and Dr. Halsey.

Keyes cleared his throat and began explaining what happened. The entire time he spoke, he had his left hand behind his back.

“We managed to evacuate about seven hundred civilians before the glassing started. We’re at full capacity. The entire population of Reach City is gone.”

He mumbled a curse under his breath and continued.

“The entire city is a charred crater now. Recon drones have confirmed that no humans remain on Reach. Estimated casualties round out at about over ten million, including seventy-thousand marines. It’s safe to say that no battle in the war has had such a high casualty rate.”

Chief sighed. “What happens now?” He asked.

“We’re going to head to Earth. They’re ready to receive the refugees, and then we’re redeploying.” Keyes answered.

“Under whose orders?” Halsey asked.

“My own.” Keyes replied. “And I have a special assignment for you.”

“Go on.” Cortana said.

“The Covenant doesn’t do ground invasions unless they’re after something. Whatever it was, they found it. The drones found a hastily excavated dig site. They found some sort of ancient ruins, and the drone scans say that something was taken from it.”

“What was it?” Halsey asked.

“We believe it was a star-map.” Keyes answered. “Some ancient spacefaring race must have used it for navigation. Our current name for these ancients is “The Forerunners.”

“Interesting name.” Chief said.

“There’s more.” Keyes continued. “It’s one of a pair. The Covenant has one, and we have the other.”

Keyes pulled his hand out from behind his back to reveal it was holding a small, steel orb that had a faint blue glow. He pressed a small button, and the map appeared.

The large holographic projection barely fit in the room. Blue dots represented many planets across the galaxy. One was blinking red.

Before anyone could ask what that was, Keyes explained.

“We believe the Covenant is after something on that planet. If that something is a weapon, we have to stop them from finding it at all costs. I’m sorry for doing this to you so soon after Reach, but it is of the utmost importance.”

“It’s okay.” Chief said. “I’ll do it.”

Chief stood up and left without saying another word. Halsey and Keyes exchanged concerned glances before leaving themselves.

Two hours later, Chief was waiting in the warship’s hangar. Chief was supposed to be assigned a strike team by Keyes to go with him. He was waiting for them to arrive, standing by a UNSC transport.

Keyes walked into the hangar with three armor-clad soldiers. They were ODSTs. Chief vaguely remembered them from earlier battles.

Spartans may be the best soldiers, but the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers were the bravest fighters in all of humanity. They were deployed into combat by being fired out of UNSC ships via special pods.

Even Chief wouldn’t want to be dropped into combat like that. They were like old human paratroopers that were used back when Humanity was always fighting itself, yet far more advanced.

“John-117.” Keyes said. “This is the strike team that will be going with you for this mission. Meet Omega Team.”

The three ODSTs, clad in black lightweight combat armor, similar in appearance to Spartan armor, with an orange stripe running down the middle, stepped forward and stood at attention. Their names were written on the fronts of their helmets.

“Pleasure to meet you, sir.” One spoke.

“You too.” Chief replied.

“If there was more time, I would have a proper introduction, but instead, you can get to know each other on the trip there. Dismissed.” Keyes concluded.

The four elite soldiers boarded the transport and left. Chief sat in the pilot’s chair, while the others sat in the back of the ship.

The transport got a good distance away from Autumn before it entered slipspace, and Chief took his hands off the controls. The ship was set to autopilot itself to the coordinates punched into the computer.

Chief walked into the back to get acquainted with his new teammates.

“Before you start, be careful. You can come across as a little intimidating.” Cortana said.

“Cortana, I’m not intimidating.” Chief said before entering the troop hold where the ODSTs sat. Immediately as he entered, all three of them stood up straight at attention.

“Tell that to them.” Cortana replied.

Chief ignored her and started talking. “Well, it’ll take roughly three hours to get from here to… wherever we’re going. Let’s get to know each other.”

The ODSTs sat down again and began to speak.

The first one opened her mouth and spoke. “I’m Sergeant Dare, the commander of the team. Pleasure to meet you.”

“Dare, huh?” Chief asked. “You have quite the reputation.”

“I’m well aware.” Dare replied. “I’m just good at my job, sir.”

“I’m Corporal Buck.” Another marine said. “Second-in-command and great with shotguns.”

“Anything else you want to share?” Chief asked.

“Nope.” Buck replied. “That’s all you need to know.”

“Yeah, Buck isn’t the ‘sharing’ type.” Dare said.

Chief’s eyes fell on the last ODST. “What about you? Who are you?” He asked.

The soldier just looked at him, not saying anything.

“Oh, he doesn’t talk.” Dare said. “We just call him Rookie.”

“Oh.” Chief said. “Why do they call you that?” Chief asked.

They couldn’t see it, but Rookie rolled his eyes behind his helmet. Buck just chuckled.

“Irony, Chief. That’s why.” Dare said.

“Got it.” Chief said. “Well, get comfortable. It’ll be a while.”

The ODSTs started relaxing, and Chief went back to the cockpit. The next three hours were rather uneventful as the team quietly prepared for the mission.

Eventually the ship emerged from slipspace. The ODSTs had almost fallen asleep. The rumbling of the ship woke them up.

Rookie walked up to the cockpit to see what they were going into. He walked back a few moments later and motioned for his companions to enter.

Dare and Buck entered and immediately went wide-eyed. The planet they saw wasn’t a planet at all. It was a ring. An enormous, ring-shaped space station.

The outer ring was nothing but steel, which glowed in a similar way to the artifact. The inner ring was an entire environment, with forests and mountains. It was unlike anything any of them had ever seen.

“What the Hell are we looking at?” Buck asked.

“I don’t know.” Cortana replied. “But the energy readings it’s emitting are… off the charts!”

“We should take a closer look.” Chief said. The ODSTs all nodded in agreement.

Chief flew the transport down towards the surface of the inner ring.

“Somehow this thing has an atmosphere. Its gravity is the same as Earth’s, too.” Cortana observed. “It looks like it’s… hundreds-of-thousands of years old.”

“Just what is it that we found?” Dare asked, even though she didn’t expect an answer.

The transport landed with a faint thud from the landing gear.

Chief was the first to step out. Dare and the squad followed.

“Oxygen levels are stable.” Cortana said.

Dare took off her helmet. She had white skin and blonde hair tied behind her in a ponytail. She took a deep inhale.

After she breathed out, she spoke. “I haven’t felt proper wind on my face in months.” She said relieved.

Buck took off his helmet. He had a slightly darker skin tone and black hair cut short in a military style. His reaction was similar.

Rookie just stood there with Chief, neither of them taking off their helmets, despite Chief wanting the fresh air as well.

“So, where do we go from here?” asked Buck, putting his helmet back on.

“I’m not sure.” Chief said. “But there has to be some sort of way to get to the inside of the station.”

“I’ll scan the surface.” Cortana said.

There was a brief pause before the results came up.

“There appears to be some sort of structure on the surface, about a two-minute fly away from here.”

“Great. Everyone back on the ship!” Dare said.

As soon as they got off the ground, they noticed the structure. It stuck out among the mountains of the ring. It was a large building shaped like a mix between a tuning fork and a wrench, glowing blue. Beautifully designed…

…And it was surrounded by Covenant forces.

“Put us down before we’re spotted!” Dare yelled.

Chief dove the transport down behind the mountains.

“We go on foot from here. Let’s hope nobody spotted us.” Chief said.

Everyone pulled out their weapons. Dare had a pistol. Buck had a shotgun. Chief and Rookie had standard assault rifles. Each of them had two grenades as well. Quickly, quietly, and cautiously, they proceeded towards the structure.

They stopped at a vantage point on a cliffside overlooking the structure. Grunts and Sangheili fighters guarded what looked like the entrance. Banshees patrolled the area in pairs, flying low in between the mountains.

“This must be the location of the weapon they’re looking for.” Dare said.

“It’s unlikely we’ll be able to sneak past them.” Chief said, studying the alien security.

“Well, let’s go through them.” Buck said, loading the shotgun.

“See that down there?” Chief asked, pointing at a pile of canisters near the edge of the guard perimeter. “Those are fusion coils.”

“Shoot that stockpile and it would blow their defenses sky-high.” Buck said, chuckling.

“Idiots.” Dare said. “They’re practically asking for it.”

“They aren’t exactly the smartest of the Covenant.” Chief replied, watching a Grunt near the pile fumble with a fusion coil and drop it on his foot before crying out in pain.

“When do we go in?” Buck asked.

Rookie stared down the sight of his rifle and fired.

For a moment, it looked like the sun itself had landed near the structure. The explosion was almost blindingly bright. Debris and Covenant soldiers went flying.

For a moment, everyone looked at Rookie, surprised.

Buck looked at Dare. “Now?” He asked.

“Now.” Dare answered.

The four soldiers rappelled down the cliffside and into combat.

Smoke covered the battlefield. Disgruntled soldiers were struggling to their feet. Before they could even get up and raise their weapons, Chief and Omega Team cut them down.

When the smoke cleared, the ground was strewn with Covenant corpses. The four soldiers stood alone on the field.

“We should get inside before those Banshees come back. That explosion likely got their attention.” Dare said.

“Too late!” Buck shouted, pointing at the sky.

Four tiny purple dots approached in the distance. The four rushed inside just as the Covenant fighters pelted the area in plasma fire.

The inside walls of the structure were much like the outside, with silver and blue walls. The inside was only a small hallway leading to an elevator. That seemed to be the only way onwards.

The four stepped into the elevator. It was a little cramped, with everyone in their armor. There weren’t any controls for the elevator, and the doors closed on their own. The group descended to the underground.

The doors opened to what appeared to be a large command center, likely used by the Forerunners to operate this behemoth of a space station.

The Covenant had positioned a turret to mow down any UNSC forces that came through the door, just in case unexpected company arrived.

But nobody was there. The soldier who was presumably supposed to be staffing it lay dead on the floor next to it, a large energy beam hole burnt through his chest. Something had killed them.

Control consoles of Forerunner design were placed in a layout similar to the command bridges of UNSC frigates. A large screen sat at the far end of the room, displaying countless statistics of the installation.

On the left wall, there was a dent, as if something had punched the wall. Dried purple blood decorated the room in splatters. Covenant bodies littered the room.

Chief and Omega Team stepped out of the elevator into the room, gun raised. The rest followed suit. There was no sign of hostiles in the room. They still didn’t lower their guard.

Chief cautiously walked up to a console at the front of the room. It was slightly higher than the others, so he assumed it was the command console.

He pulled an officer’s corpse from the monitors, slid into the chair, and began looking for information on the console.

“Cortana, could you hack this?” Chief asked.

“Maybe.” Cortana replied.

“Give it a try.” Chief said.

Cortana began hacking remotely.

“Hmmmm… there’s a lot of data here.” Cortana said. “Whatever the Forerunners were using this station for, they called it whatever “Halo” is in their language.”

“Does it say what they used it for?” Dare asked.

“Let me check.” Cortana replied, continuing to comb through the files. “This thing required an enormous amount of energy.”

“How much?” Chief asked.

“We don’t even have words in the dictionary for energy units that large.” Cortana replied. “It was used for…” she paused. “It was a weapon.”

An eerie silence filled the room as it sank in.

“What kind of weapon would need that much power and station the size of a moon to hold it?” Buck asked.

“The station isn’t holding the weapon. It is the weapon.” Cortana replied. “Still looking for the purpose.”

The tension was killing them, and the fact that they still didn’t know what killed the Covenant soldiers didn’t help.

Cortana finally found the information detailing the weapon’s purpose. She couldn’t even believe it. “Chief…” she said, voice quivering. “This weapon was designed to specifically target intelligent life, right down to the atoms. It was built to take out anything in that category in an enormous radius.”

“How big of a radius?” Dare asked.

“The… entire galaxy… every intelligent being in this galaxy that isn’t on this station would be killed if it was activated.” She replied.

Everyone went wide-eyed. They had trouble processing what they had just heard.

“What ungodly reason would the Forerunners have to build this weapon?” Buck asked.

“It doesn’t say.” Cortana replied.

A silence lingered in the room. Nobody knew what to say. Omega Team exchanged concerned glances and looked at Chief. It took Chief a while to notice that they were looking at him. He stood up and turned to face them.

“What do we do, sir?” Dare asked.

Chief paused to think about it. “We need to disable this weapon.” He spoke. “In the wrong hands, whether they know what they’re doing or not, it could end everything.”

“I can hack their systems and disable the weapon’s controls. Not even the Covenant’s best could undo that.” Cortana said.

“Do it.” Chief ordered.

There was a brief pause before the blue lights on all the panels turned red. The room’s environment seemed far more hostile now.

“Done.” Cortana replied. “Now it’s just a big fancy rock. I could still reactivate the systems, though.”

“Why did you enable that?” Dare asked.

“I couldn’t permanently shut down the weapon.” She replied. “The Covenant, or almost anyone else, for that matter, can’t reactivate it, so we should still be fine. Only I can reactivate the weapon.”

“Good. Let’s hope it stays that way.” Chief said.

“Let’s get out of here. This place gives me the creeps.” Buck said.

The group turned around to leave. Suddenly, an alarm became audible. All of the tampering with the Halo’s systems set off the alarm.

A panel in the ceiling retracted, and a large alien mech descended into the room. It was sleek steel with blue glows, at least twelve feet tall, and built like a tank. Two energy cannons were attached to its forearms. It immediately raised them and opened fire on the soldiers.

“Take cover!” Chief yelled.

The group took cover behind various consoles. Blue energy bolts pelted the walls and floor.

“I guess we know what killed the Covenant soldiers!” Dare yelled. She was hiding behind the console on the other side of the room.

Chief peeked over the console he was hiding behind and fired twelve rounds into the mechanized threat. The robot’s energy shield absorbed the fire, only flickering slightly from the impacts.

“It’s got an energy shield!” Chief yelled.

He felt a tap on his shoulder and turned to face where it had come from. Rookie was sitting there with him, and Chief hadn’t even noticed it. Rookie was holding a grenade in his right hand and gesturing toward the robot.

The idea clicked in Chief’s head. “Use grenades!” He yelled. “The shrapnel might penetrate the shield!”

“What if that doesn’t work?” Dare asked.

“If it doesn’t, we run for the elevator!” Chief replied.

Everyone unclipped a grenade from their belt and chucked it over the cover at the robot.

While the normal grenades of the UNSC were deadly, these particular grenades were deadlier. The UNSC’s technology, combined with reverse-engineered Covenant technology, created a deadly weapon that could kill almost anything it landed on. The most unique quality of the grenade was that it stuck to its targets.

The grenades made a faint splat noise as they impacted the robot. Typically, shields were designed to protect against high-speed projectiles and other objects, but grenades were slow enough to get through.

Everyone ducked behind their consoles as the grenades exploded. Smoke filled the room and shrapnel pelted the cover the soldiers were hiding behind. The room became quiet.

Dare poked her head out from behind the cover. The robot was standing still, unmoving, a massive chunk blown out of its chest, revealing irreparably damaged circuitry.

Buck waved his hand out and the robot still didn’t move. Dare poked her pistol over and fired at the mech. The bullet punched though the spot where it hit, meaning the shields were deactivated. The blue glow had vanished from the armor.

Rookie stepped out from behind the cover and the robot didn’t move. He walked up to it and gave it a push. The mech fell over backwards, dead.

Rookie looked back and waved at the team, signaling it was okay.

“All clear.” Dare said.

The group stood up and made their way towards the elevator.

“I think I’ve seen enough things that want to kill me for one day.” Buck said.

The team stepped back into the tight elevator and went up. Afterwards, it was merely a brief walk back to the shuttle and entering back into slipspace to head back to Autumn.

Overall, the trip back was rather uneventful, but Chief couldn’t relax. He kept thinking.

“What would the Forerunners be so afraid of that they would wipe out all intelligent life in the galaxy to stop?” He muttered quietly to himself. Nobody else could hear him but Cortana.

“I don’t know.” Cortana replied. “Let’s just hope that whatever it was they needed to destroy is gone for good.”

“Yeah, let’s hope…” Chief said…