PROLOGUE

August 23rd, 2554

Maginot Line “Jat-Krula Sphere.”, Unknown Location.

Sometimes the world blows up in your face, for many reasons and many of them alike, for the most of us, it was the Covenant’s arrival and the glassing of Harvest. For others? It was the Insurrection and their grizzly attacks to our many colonies… But you know what they say; one man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter. As much as I’d like to believe that either side was wrong, there’s some that held much of that blame grasped tightly that even in death they’d hold it still. For me, however? It was a little bit of both; I think I am here because of the necessity of the situation, hectic tends to turn the best side of us into a hollow shell that shall remain incarcerated in a chasm. That was Halsey with her SPARTANs, the SPARTAN-IIs, made only to quell rebellion and now, saviours of humanity and everyone’s poster boys, that’s us. Halsey’s SPARTANs, we learned to live with it even if many of us didn’t make it past ‘Graduation Day’, in other words, the Augmentations.

Despite that all though I learned that the end doesn’t justify the means, most of all I learned that all conflict does not come without hardship, loss, saviours, martyrs and heroes. Hardship however constitutes about ninety percent of what war is, and War is Hell. Let us however not forget, that we journey into a dark void, but we remember those who were left behind and never to return, those we left for dead, those that stayed behind to make sure we’d make it here, but war is hell after all, the dead will plague our memories like a bad rash and there’s nothing we can do about it. It is an inevitable truth that we can’t save everybody, but at least we can safeguard humanity to guarantee another day to fight. But most of all, we must not forget our purpose as SPARTANs. We will remember those of us that did not make it to this day, for death does not diminish Duty, Honour and Self-Sacrifice in a soldier. Nor does friendship and loyalty… That’s the part that Mendez always forgot, the bond created in the battlefield and out of it, after all they always treated us as equipment, but we’re a damn good surgical knife if nothing more, precise and concise, deadly and thoughtful.

Our duty is clear, however, be the hunter or the hunted, the Grim Reaper or the dead, The Demons that Humanity needs… Demons and only Demons we shall be as the damned Covenant called us, it’s all we’ll be in the defence of humanity, protect everyone whatever the cost may be so they can live another day. Through life or death; through hell and back. Every day we spend in hell, is just another day in the office that no one can do except for us. Spartan Group Epsilon. “In scutum, gladium in aeternum.” We can continue to do this. I can continue to do this because I have my family, my friends, my loved ones and the only family I’ll ever have with me, right here beside me as we go to hell and straight back. The only family I will ever have, and the family I will die beside to.

Some may say that Orbital Drop Shock Troopers do the entire dirty job, that hell is their office. While it may be true, for the most part, it’s us who get things done; we’re the surgical knife in the operation and the brunt in the United Nations Space Command’s repertory of heroes and valiant, gallant personnel.

For we are SPARTANs, bringers of unity, bringers of death, the wolves that hunt alone and the wolves that hunt in a pack, children of the gods and children of the great 300 Spartans and the Great King Leonidas of Sparta.

We acknowledge however that was done to us was horrible, but it became a choice, our lives were shaped like this in the sake of the greater good, our new family had been formed in the wake of our own hardship too. We were the only thing that stood between life and total extinction and when the time came, we were ready for what was to come, all of us, ready to do what was needed to defend Earth and all her colonies from a fate much like Harvest’s, Jericho VII, Madrigal, Biko, Bliss, Circinus IV, and many others that we lost.. We became the sword and the shield of humanity, and eventually we became their heroes, their saviours, their spark of hope that we just might live another day. I’m of course not proud of many things I may have done in the process however, from the slightest mistake that may have cost someone’s life to the bigger ones, I am the shield that transitions into the arrow, from a shield to an arrow I shall always be, I am Epsilon’s Bow and Arrow, I am the shield, I am the eye in the sky. I had a duty to keep my head in the game at all times no matter what came our way, the odds are just numbers, numbers can be decreased depending on the stakes. And our stakes are higher.

Though, I did not know what true pain was, even after all these years I did not know pain, even with everything we had been through, the sacrifices, the injuries. We had always been together through it all. Whatever the odds. I did not know what pain was, the kind of pain that tears you apart from the inside with fear that you don’t feel anything else other than a sheer feeling of helplessness, you can’t do anything but watch as everything you have fought so hard for to keep safe is taken away in a span of mere seconds something that for a Spartan feels like a lifetime, colloquially dubbed “Spartan Time” you’re forced to see every detail as your mind remains thinking of every possible scenario only to find out that all your efforts are useless in that situation, you can’t do anything and that’s how it would stay not knowing what will happen next as those seconds that seem like a lifetime pass.

Fear, the worst part of it is that we all knew we’d encounter it in our lives, fear, pain, sorrow, helplessness, the list goes on… Like SCPO Mendez had told us once, we were trained for this, all of us. Trained to know pain, to know fear, to know how to counteract it.

In your lives you will encounter fear, you will encounter pain, but the key to survival in those moments is to not let fear nor pain dominate us, take over your whole being to the point that all you want to do is sit down and cry, sit down and just close your eyes tight and pray that everything is a dream, that dream that we will wake up from and we will be in our parent’s embrace once again, but that’s not possible, and it will never be because this is a dream that we will never wake up from, a dream that is our lives that mostly becomes a nightmare, but you can’t break down, you can’t sit down and cry let it out, you can’t do any of it because your brothers and sisters need you, they need to know that you are at your best that you are operational and ready to do what needs to be done, it’s funny how two four-syllable words can overcome you, can take over you so easily, but the right way to do things has never been the easy way.

It was the way that you’ll encounter the most pain in your lives, we all crossed that path because it is our path, our destiny. It is the path that humanity needed us to take.

CHAPTER 1

July 22nd, 2552

Onboard the UNSC Uno Momento, Unknown Crash Landing Location.

There was only darkness that’s all that could be seen inside the MJOLNIR Mark IV [S], SPARTAN-157 Gavin knocked right on the ground and he thought his gear had been malfunctioning, it wasn’t until his visor began to be filled by stars that Gavin realized that the suit wasn’t the one that had been malfunctioning, it was him. It only took him some time before he started to distinguish some voices as his head looked from one side to the other, trying to distinguish what had happened, he could see a few spots of light glistening in the air around him- sparks flying all around him, all around him and the other Spartan that laid beside him, completely immobile to his view it wasn’t long before Gavin had sat down slowly crawling closer to the Spartan in a MJOLNIR Mark IV Operator system configuration, SPARTAN-115 Sage who laid immobile and limp as Gavin wrapped his prosthetic arm around the back of her neck and gently lifted her limp body, it was a gentle movement despite of the motions of the MJOLNIR-clad, intensifying his movements ten-fold he wouldn’t have done that unless he meant it, though she still had a pulse as evident in biomonitor in his HUD.

“Sage, wake up,” Gavin said, as his hearing was slowly returning to him, whatever had hit them, it hit them hard. “Sage… god dammit.”

“Gavin, pick-up the damn COMs and tell me your status, that’s an order.” could be heard on the other end of the TEAMCOM channel, SPARTAN-055 Andre. “Gavin, sit-rep.”

“Sage is down, I’m operational,” Gavin said as a cold calm took over, the job wasn’t over, it never really was. “Barely. . .”

Andre had sighed audibly into the COMs, both in relief and disgust towards the situation. “I’ll send Jena down, for you.”

Gavin looked around him, he was sending SPARTAN-054 Jena for them, he decided otherwise to this, however, he figured she was needed elsewhere, there were sparks and malfunctioning screens everywhere, they were just outside the cargo hold and his SRS99-AM “Lupus” lying just a few metres away from him and Sage beside her, was her M392 Designated Marksman Rifle, Gavin stood, his prosthetic arm being removed from Sage as he looked around, devising the situation and it was bad there was damage everywhere around him, some halls were collapsed and others had malfunctioning blast doors, he picked up his weapon from the ground and clicked his flashlight on, illuminating the area around him as he pulled the rifle onto his back, crouching down once again to lift Sage in his arms cradling her close against his chest as he began to move away in the dark room that had an eventual flicker of light from the sparks and the ship’s malfunctioning lighting system, whatever had hit them had made quite the damage, but they were still alive, which suggested something; whatever it was that hit them or whatever weapon hit them missed any vital parts of the ship by just a small pint of luck. Maybe their luck was still holding on, all of this however happened only minutes after that last conversation.

“Negative sir, I’m making my way to you,” Gavin asked over the SQUADCOMs, relaying his voice to Epsilon. “Do we know anything about what hit us.”

“Copy, make your way to Hangar Deck 3, Jena will treat Sage.” There was a short pause as Andre looked from Jena going from one side to the other, treating whoever she could of the wounded and injured crew, before he looked away light shining into his visor as he looked out from the open blast doors of the Hangar Deck, there were a few engineers working on the vehicles that had been damaged in the crash and the blast that ripped through the east side of the hull. “We have a pretty good idea, you’ll have to see them yourself.”

There was a short pause as Andre looked from Jena going from one side to the other, treating whoever she could of the wounded and injured crew, before he looked away light shining into his visor as he looked out from the open blast doors of the Hangar Deck, there were a few engineers working on the vehicles that had been damaged in the crash and the blast that ripped through the east side of the hull. “We have a pretty good idea, you’ll have to see them yourself.”

“We have a pretty good idea, you’ll have to see them yourself.”

Andre had cut the COM then, looking away as he picked up his MA5D that he bore in his hands, his fingers tapping the rifle as he then pulled it over his shoulder, watching a few Marines that were still operational patrol the open blast doors and some looking out into the distance at the large edifications that moved in the water, they fired an array of light into the sky of the colour of gold, that completely enlightened Andre’s crimson coloured polarized visor of his MJOLNIR Mark IV with a prototype Mark VI-looking helmet one of the first few prototypes, however, he turned away to walk around the deck, pulling the rifle onto his back holstering it as engineers slowly made a few repairs here and there in the hull and the halls, he started towards the bridge.n the path they had already cleared to get from the Hangar Decks where some of the crew were being treated to the bridge, where the now acting Captain; James Rivera and his now acting Commander. Connal Allard stood on the flickering holo-table running scan surveys on the area, Connal couldn’t had been older than 18 he was young but he was also capable in Andre’s mind.

In the path, they had already cleared to get from the Hangar Decks where some of the crew were being treated to the bridge, where the now acting Captain; James Rivera and his now acting Commander. Connal Allard stood on the flickering holo-table running scan surveys on the area, Connal couldn’t have been older than 18 he was young but he was also capable in Andre’s mind.

“Sir,” Andre had gone crisply into attention the moment the Captain casted a glance towards the 6’8” all titanium-a clad SPARTAN-II. 7’3” tall armoured clad Spartan-II that stood beside him.

“At ease, 055.” Andre would pose on a relaxed stance of attention after he was given the command, the Spartan however had a question, he always had questions, more concerned on his team than on himself. “Sir,” He began to speak as the man looked at the flickering holo table that showcased a map of the area around them that had been slowly gathered through surface scans of the still operational scanning systems. “Any indications of where we landed, sir?”

James shook his head, straightening up as he leaned away from the holo-table before him as he fixed his uniform. “Without any assistance from Adimen as her core is still inactive after the blast, there’s no saying where, when or how we’ll get out of here.”

Connal, the kid beside the newly formed Captain of the ship seemed a little agitated at the mention of never getting out of here, Andre seemed calm however, his body posture completely void of emotions as he stared at the Captain through his crimson visor, a signature of Spartan Group Epsilon meant to inert fear into their enemies, that and their sigil that rested illustrated on his right pauldron, a skull resting on a shield where an arrow would go straight through said skull sideways with an uppercase E on the skull’s forehead that stood for the greek letter of Epsilon.

“I’ll see what Epsilon can do for you, sir.” Andre nodded his head just slightly, the kid beside the Captain had been staring intently into the Spartan’s visor, this was something he was used to.

The stares, every Spartan was used to those stares that felt cold on the skin almost as if every eye in the room was judging them or just plainly scared or just in awe of the piece of equipment they were. But as far as it went, that’s what Spartans were to these people. Equipment and Machines. Andre regained his thoughts however, his eyes fixated on the Captain as he continues to speak.

“We’ll have Adimen operational in no time, sir.” With that, the Spartan-II doubled over courtly and walked out of the room leaving the two of them behind, while there was still a lot to do, figuring out what happened to Adimen was a priority and they couldn’t do this without Sage. The moment he stepped a foot outside the bridge he shut off the outer communications from his helmet so he could speak freely through the TEAMCOMs “Jena, sitrep.”

There was just silence for a while before he asked again. “Jena, Sitrep.” he could hear fiddling on the other end, Jena had taken off her helmet, there was a continuous sound of slight static until Jena’s voice could be heard on the other end and she sounded… Concerned, maybe startled. “Gavin is here, it’s bad, Sage’s not waking up and I cannot figure out why with this makeshift equipment, it’s like everything is going downhill here, there’s wounded ever-” She was abruptly cut off by Andre in the middle of her heated rambling “Jena.” was the only thing that was heard on the other end and she fell silent for a few seconds as she took in a breath and calmed down. “We need Sage if we want to have a chance of getting back into the fight, Jena. Adimen is offline, the only experts are either dead, wounded or missing on the ship.” He spoke calmly, almost as if it was nothing. Andre had always had a way of maintaining his edge when the situation turned to worst.

“Jena, Sitrep.” he could hear fiddling on the other end, Jena had taken off her helmet, there was a continuous sound of slight static until Jena’s voice could be heard on the other end and she sounded… Concerned, maybe startled. “Gavin is here, it’s bad, Sage’s not waking up and I cannot figure out why with this makeshift equipment, it’s like everything is going downhill here, there’s wounded ever-” She was abruptly cut off by Andre in the middle of her heated rambling “Jena.” was the only thing that was heard on the other end and she fell silent for a few seconds as she took in a breath and calmed down.

“We need Sage if we want to have a chance of getting back into the fight, Jena. Adimen is offline, the only experts are either dead, wounded or missing on the ship.” He spoke calmly, almost as if it was nothing. Andre had always had a way of maintaining his edge when the situation turned to worst.

“Roger that…” Jena would say as she stepped closer to Sage and begun to work as more nurses worked around her on the clock treating the other wounded. Seven consecutive acknowledgement blinks could be seen on her HUD as she treated Sage, something that only the two of them knew as Andre proceeded to Open a channel with Gavin this time.

“Gavin, I need you at my pos.” there was a short pause as Gavin instantly started heading out of the Hangar bay. “Oscar-Mike. Paint the way.” The moment he said that a marker lit up on his HUD, a few hallways down as he moved closer to Andre, before he knew it, however, he was there with Andre. “Sir,” Gavin said as he adopted a firm posture out of respect to his commanding officer and friend. “We’re moving down on the medbays scour everything that’s still relatively useful to us, get it back to the hanger bays and then we’ll move down on the A.I. Core room.” Gavin’s brow rose under his Scout helmet, hid by his crimson visor but his head visibly tilted to the side at this order. “The A.I. Core?”

“I trust you have watched Sage work A.I.s before, right?” Andre stared directly at Gavin as he asked, there was a pause in all communications from the two armoured men before

Gavin nodded slowly. “Yes, Chief,” Gavin replied at the inquiry.

Andre nodded once before he began moving down the nearest and darkest hall, their helmet’s torches switching on in their command as they walk down that path that was illuminated by the eventual flicker of the hallway lighting systems and the MJOLNIR’s torches.

“You want me to reset Adimen?” Gavin asked as he glanced over at the Spartan beside him, looking to his right eventually to find a fuse box on the hallway column, he’d punch the lid open and tinker with the fuses, as the hallway came to life shortly after.

“I want you to do whatever’s necessary to make her operational, Gavin.” Andre stopped beside him, the moment the lights came to life down the hallways with the eventual flicker of light down the road he turned off his torch and patted Gavin’s shoulder. “I trust you can do this?”

“That’s gonna be a little difficult,” Gavin said, he felt the pat on his shoulder and resumed movement down the hall.

Looking down on his TACPAD as the brought up the ship’s schematics on it, he had the base schematics of some of the UNSC ships in service, luckily, the Valiant class super-heavy cruiser was one of them, schematics native to the UNSC Valiant.

“But you can do this?” Andre insisted.

“Yes,” Gavin responded quickly. “But it’s not gonna be a piece of cake for me, I’m not Sage.”

Andre looked at Gavin, his hand always hovering close to the holstered M6C on his magnetic holstered just in case. “You’re the next best thing.”

“Still,” Gavin retorted.

“Too late to back out.” Andre said, as they took a left down the hallways, they had to find a way around to the core room as the main accessing hallway was collapsed.

“Down this way,”

Gavin said as he led the way to the dark mess hall before them, their torches sparking up to life once again as they made their way into the hall, there were a three to five corpses still lying around on the hall, it seems not a lot of people had made it past a certain position of the ship except for Gavin and Sage it seemed, perhaps there were more stuck behind collapsed hallways or doors.

Gavin said as he led the way to the dark mess hall before them, their torches sparking up to life once again as they made their way into the hall, there were a three to five corpses still lying around on the hall, it seems not a lot of people had made it past a certain position of the ship except for Gavin and Sage it seemed, perhaps there were more stuck behind collapsed hallways or doors.

“Prioritize; A.I. Core, Search and Rescue is secondary.” Andre abruptly changed the orders of the game and Gavin nodded in acknowledgement. “We won’t leave anyone behind, but getting Adimen operational is priority.”

“Understood.” Gavin knew that without Adimen they would be as good as dead in this hellhole, he also wouldn’t protest to orders either, specially from him. Their friendship going way back to the first day of Boot Camp.

Andre nodded, he proceeded forward as they rounded closer to their destination on the tight hallways, Gavin never did like these tight hallways for combat, they were treacherous and the conditions they had made it even worse.

“Any covie survivors among the wreckage?” Gavin asked as he glanced for the slimmest of seconds towards the SPARTAN beside him as he took each step forward towards the ship’s AI core.

“Unknown.” Andre, spoke as they traversed the dark hallways of the ship.

To be continued. . .

Hope you enjoyed this short preview of what I have been working on the last few months, expect more of this as I continue it.