Legend

[Artaxia]

Here’s one of my three Halo stories. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 1:

My name is Gavin, or in my Spartan Team, I’m called by Zodiac Three. I dwell from planet Eridanus II, but that’s not where my mission started. My mission started on a planet we call Zircon, a peaceful planet, until recently. The Covenant have recently come to planet Zircon, so it’s our job to keep them out before they destroy the planet little by little in their evil ways. You’d be surprised to know that we weren’t the first Spartans either, those would be the Spartan Is. After that, there were the Spartan IIs, and so on. All the Spartans have done their jobs, and now it’s our turn to do ours. We’re the latest Spartan Team on the latest mission. Our mission: To keep the Covenant from destroying planet Zircon. Our team name: The Zodiac Team. This is Zodiac Three speaking to everyone out there, and this is where the Zodiac Team’s mission begins…

I walked through a hallway, leading to the room I was to go in. The only noise I heard, was the sound of my footsteps taking a step forward each time. Walking down the hallway seemed like forever, but I knew that wasn’t the case, I’d be there in no time. I was nervous about meeting my teammates, ever since I left Earth to go to Zircon. I was nervous because I wasn’t sure what they would think of me. One of them was supposed to train me on the job, so hopefully he didn’t mind doing that. I’d try to keep my mouth shut the whole time, incase he was mean. I stopped short to see the door of the room I had to go in. I waited about a minute before opening it, and walking in to see my new team.

This was it, this is where I met them. I pushed opened the door, and walked into a room with five Spartans. I must have been late because the rest of them were already there, waiting. I slowly walked into the room, seeing all the Spartans there just stare at me as I walked in. I stood there, and waited for the leader to approach me. I couldn’t have felt more stupid. For one thing, I was late, then I didn’t know which one was the leader. One of the Spartans walked up to me, putting his hand on my shoulder. He was the most heavily armed Spartan there, and his colors were brown and dark green. Could he have been the leader? I wanted to ask, but I didn’t know how he would react to it. I’d just wait for him to say something.

“Welcome to the crew, recruit,” The Spartan said, taking his hand off my shoulder. “I’m the Zodiac Team’s leader, Evan, Zodiac One. Over there is Riley, Zodiac Two; that’s Cyrus, Zodiac Four; William, Zodiac Five, is over there, and that’s Levi, Zodiac Six. I’ll be the one to train you. Now one thing you should know is that this is no easy training, and I want you to take it very seriously.”
“I will,” I replied.
“Good, now what’s your name, recruit?” Evan asked.
“I’m Gavin.”
“Well, Gavin, we’re to start you’re training once everyone heads into the two Falcons.”

Evan gave some kind of signal, then all the Spartans ran over to the Falcon, and I followed. Evan gave orders for Cyrus, William and Riley to get into the first Falcon. He then gave orders for me and Levi to head into the second one. He had Levi drive so he could explain a few things to me and give me some tips. I didn’t understand some of the stuff he meant at first, but he said I’d come to know what it means. He told me the important thing was that if I ever had any questions, to feel free to ask. I nodded as a million questions went through my mind. I didn’t want to bother him with all the questions at once, but he said I could. After he was done, and asked if I had any questions, I gave him all the ones I could think of. I was glad he didn’t seem to be annoyed one bit by my curiosity. By the time I was done asking him questions, and he was done answering, we landed. We all got out of the Falcons and all the Spartans grouped up. I wasn’t exactly sure what I was supposed to do, but this was probably where I would find out.

“Zodiac Two, Four and Five, I want you three to go watch for any Covenant. Zodiac Three and Six, you two are staying with me,” Evan ordered.

All the Spartans took their places. I noticed that Zodiac Two, Four and Five were out of sight now. I wondered what my job was…. Was this where I would start my training? If it was, why would Zodiac Six be here? Why would Evan just be standing there if it was? I wanted to ask him all these questions but…

“Questions?” Evan seemed to read my mind.
“Yes, actually,” I started. “Is this where I’m to start my training?”
“Yes, yes, it is.”

I stood there, staring at him for a few minutes. If this is where I started my training, why was he just standing there. It was almost as if he was waiting for something… But what? What could he possibly be waiting for here? I tried to stick it in the back of my mind, but it kept coming back to me over and over again. Should I just ask him? Will he get annoyed if I keep asking him questions? I know he said if I had any questions, to ask them, but I didn’t know if he’d get mad at me for too many questions. Maybe I would ask him. No, not maybe, I would ask him, and ask him right now. As I started walking up to him, an Elite came and jumped on me. It was about to kill me with its Energy Sword, but Evan quickly shot at it, killing it. I got up, looking around, and then turned back to look at Evan.

“Rule number one: Always watch your back,” Evan said.

Just then, I realized something… This was my training. He knew all along that the Elite was going to come and attack me. From now on, I’ll remember that, watching my back. I’m surprised I didn’t think of that myself. Well, this is what training was for, and for one thing, it wasn’t going to be easy. He wondered what Evan thought of him so far. Was he annoying to him? It definitely didn’t seem that way by how he acted towards me. Well, all that mattered now was to get onto my training. I looked at Evan, nodding at what he said to me. He was probably wondering what took me so long to respond. I probably should’ve just responded right away instead of just thinking about things. Evan smiled at me, and somewhat chuckled. Why would he do that?

“Gavin, I can tell you’ll be a great part of the team. You catch onto things very quickly, and have a great personality. You have many questions about your training, which means you want to learn more,” Evan said.

I was extremely shocked by what Evan just said to me. He said I was a great part of the team, it can’t get much better than that. I hoped to amaze him in more ways while doing my training with him. I wanted to please him very much. This is the first time in awhile, someone had respect for me. Evan must’ve known I was thinking about everything, because he was just staring at me with this face like he knew what I was thinking.

“I notice you tend to think a lot. You’re free to share your thoughts out loud, Gavin. No need to hide anything, I rarely get annoyed, and love to answer your questions,” Evan said.
“Are you sure you won’t get annoyed?” I asked.
“I promise.”
“Did you know that whole time the Elite was going to come?”
“Yes, I did. It’s all a part of your training. You will have future lessons like this, that you’ll have to get used to.”
“When will my next lesson start?”
“Soon,” Evan turned to the right, “let’s go over here. Gavin, Levi, follow me.”

[Artaxia]

I hope it’s ok if I post my chapters like this.

Chapter 2:

I wondered why we would be going in the direction of where Zodiac Two and Five went. I just shrugged, and followed Evan anyway. I noticed Levi wasn’t talking much at all, and wondered why. I wanted to ask him, but… I would just ask Evan, instead. I caught up to him, making sure Levi wasn’t close enough to hear, and tapped him on the shoulder to see him turn around, looking at me. I just then realized I probably shouldn’t have done that, but it was too late to turn back now.

“Yes?” Evan asked.
“Well,” I whispered. “I was just wondering… Why hasn’t Levi said anything yet? It seems he doesn’t talk much.”
Evan looked back at Levi, then back at me, “I don’t know. I’d hate to say it, but, I think he might be hiding something.”
“…Hiding something? Like what?”
“I’m not sure, which is why I’m keeping an eye on him.”
“What if he is? What’ll we do?”
“Only time will tell.”
“What if he betrays us or something?”
“Which is why I’m keeping an eye on him. I’ll catch him if he is.”

I was shocked how Evan had a perfect answer to all my questions. I hoped Levi wasn’t a traitor, and if he was, he’d be caught in time by Evan. I just remembered I was supposed to be following Evan somewhere, and not just standing around. I caught up to him again, to see where we were going. We walked right past Zodiac Two and Five. I saw them watch us as we walked past them, but then went back to watching out for any Covenant. About five minutes later, we came to a wide open space where Evan stopped. He looked around and then turned towards me. I wondered if this was another part of his training, if it was I’d have to… That’s right! I turned around, to make sure there was nothing behind me, which there wasn’t. Evan smiled, then chuckled. I knew exactly why he did that, it was because I remembered my first lesson, which was perfect so far. I guess I was a quick learner, just like he said I was. I turned back towards Evan, grinning. I heard footsteps, not from behind me, but the side. I quickly turned to see an Elite, hurling itself towards me. I freaked out, dropping my shotgun on the ground, and fell over. I prepared to defend myself from the attack Elite. Just as it was about to attack me, Evan shot at it, making it run towards him. Evan took a few more shots, making it fall dead to the ground. I got up, wiping the dust and dirt off myself, then looked at Evan.

“Rule number two: Stay calm when you’re about to be attacked, or are being attacked,” Evan said.

That was it, I should’ve known it was another lesson in training. I had to expect more lessons like this from now on. Well, this is the only way you can learn… To learn from your mistakes. I looked up, to see the sun starting to set. That means it would be dark out any time now. I looked at Evan to see if he had anything more to say. He just stood there, watching the sunset. I waited about a minute more, just to see him still standing there. He must’ve wanted me to just ask him instead of waiting for him to say something. I slowly approached him.

“Evan?” I said.
“Yes, Gavin?” He replied.
“What are we doing now?”
“Your training is finished for today, you will go back to the base until morning.”
“Wait, just me? What about the others? Aren’t they gonna come too?”
“No, just you are going. You are to fly one of the Falcons back there, and back here tomorrow. If you aren’t ok with that, I can arrange for you to sleep on the ground here.”
“No, it’s fine…”

I sighed as I walked over to the Falcon. I jumped in, and flew it back to the base. Once at the base, I walked inside and laid down on the nearest bed. I thought about the long day I had, and shortly after, fell asleep. It only seemed to be a few minutes until morning, but I guess that’s what happens when you fall asleep. It doesn’t seem like a long time. I walked outside, and went into the Falcon, flying it back to where I was at yesterday. Once I landed there, I saw no sign of the other Spartans. Were there Covenant here that captured them somehow? If they were, where would the Covenant be hiding them? Would they be in a secret Covenant base somewhere? What if they were dead? What would I do then? I would probably be in a lot of trouble for not helping out my teammates or something. I had to stop asking myself so many questions and just start looking for them. There were no signs of any Covenant or Spartan footprints anywhere. Although, they could’ve just landed in a ship, and picked them up while they were sleeping. Although, they might have not been captured at all, and maybe just went on there way. I doubt they would do that though, because I would have no idea in which direction they would have gone. Maybe I’d just call out someone’s name to see if I got a response.

“EVAN!!! ANYONE?” I yelled.

A few seconds after saying that, I heard rustling in the bushes next to me. I then heard a groan, and more rustling. I just stood where I was, incase it was an Elite or some other type of Covenant. I heard something in there say something, but I couldn’t make out what it said. I would either wait for it to say it again, or I’d ask it what it said myself. Of course, it would probably be the stupid thing to wait for it to say something again, because it might not. It would just be better off if I asked it to repeat itself so I could hear what it said this time.

“What? Did you say something?” I asked.
“Help… Me…” The voice replied.

I slowly approached where I heard the voice, looking behind the bushes. I couldn’t believe my own eyes! It was Zodiac Two… What was her real name… Oh yeah, Riley. She looked injured so I came closer to her, wondering what could have happened. I knew at this point, there must’ve been Covenant that attacked here. I would ask her where they went, but the most important thing now, was to help her. I picked her up, bringing her over to the Falcon, placing her in one of the seats. I flew it back to the base, which I remembered had a medical kit. I flew it as fast as I could, hoping to get there before something serious happened to her. I landed, grabbed the medical kit inside the base, and helped her out. She seemed to be somewhat better now, so that meant I could ask her some questions.

“What happened to you?” I asked.
“Covenant… I managed to get away, but the others weren’t so lucky. I fought them until they just threw me back there, where they thought I would just die. They took the others, I’m assuming, to their base,” Riley replied.
“Where is there base at?”
“I’m not sure, but I know one thing for sure. It’s hidden, and won’t be easy to find. One Spartan couldn’t do it alone, unless…”
“Unless what??”
“Unless they were a Master Chief…”

I knew I wasn’t a Master Chief, that was obvious. I would have liked to go on this mission with Riley, but she couldn’t go yet. She still needed to heal from her injuries. I would have to go alone; Master Chief or not, nothing would stop me. I looked into her eyes, very seriously.

“It’s my job to do this. Master Chief or not, I have to go save my teammates. Stay here.”

I put her on the bed in the base, and flew off inside the Falcon, on a mission… To save my teammates.

[Artaxia]

Chapter 3 part 1:

I jumped into the Falcon, and flew off about a mile away. Once it seemed I was far enough away, I landed and jumped out. The first thing I noticed when I turned to my left was a dead body of an Elite covered in blood with a shotgun laying next to it. I ran over to investigate it. It was definitely dead, seeing as there was a shotgun laying next to it, that must have meant there was a Spartan or someone else around, considering the Covenant don’t use these kinds of weapons. When I got up, I heard a low groan and growl. I ran over to where I heard it, to see a dying Elite covered in blood. I lifted it up by it’s shoulders to try to get information out of it.

“What do you want?” The Elite growled.
“Where did you take my teammates?” I asked it.
“You mean those good for nothing Spartans? We captured them before, and they’re in our hidden base, but there’s no way I’ll ever tell you where that is,” the Elite replied.

Right after it said that, it started coughing and blood was coming out of it’s mouth. I waited for it to stop before asking it anything more, obviously because it wouldn’t be able to talk. After it stopped, it dropped down dead. I stood up, smashing my fist on a nearby tree out of anger. All hope seemed to be lost now. There was no way I could possibly find my team without knowing where the base was. I didn’t have a single clue to where it could be at. I looked hopelessly at the ground, about to give up all hope. Just then, I realized something. I couldn’t give up, not yet. It was far too early to even consider that. What was I thinking? I lifted my head, looking straight ahead. I starting walking forward, hoping to find more evidence than a dead and dying Elite.

I could see something round not far ahead of me, so I ran over to it. Picking it up, I saw it was a green Spartan helmet which looked very familiar. Who was it from? That was it! I just remembered, it was Cyrus’s helmet, it had to be. Did that also mean Cyrus was around here somewhere too? I wasn’t sure, so I’d have to thoroughly check the area. A few hours went by, but I found nothing. I slumped against a nearby tree and sighed. The sun was starting to set, so I’d have to find somewhere to sleep for the night. I looked around, noticing a cave, so I ran over to it and laid down. Soon after, I fell asleep.

I suddenly woke up to hearing voices, I didn’t know how long I was sleeping for, but it was obviously night at this point. I slowly got up, and quietly moved a little closer to where I heard the voices. I saw two shadows talking to each other, which were Elite shadows, for sure. For some reason they were speaking in English.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DIDN’T GET THE OTHER SPARTAN!?” The first Elite yelled, furiously.
“I don’t know, I didn’t know there were anymore than five of them,” the second one replied.

I heard a loud punching sound, and something fall to the ground. The first Elite must have knocked the second one down in anger.

“You get that other Spartan right now, we‘ll finish off this one later,” the first Elite growled.
“But sir,” the second one started.
“No buts, go NOW! I have other business to attend to. I must go back to the base to make sure the Spartans haven’t escaped.”

The other Spartan? Just then I realized they had to be holding one of my teammates captive there. Once the Elites were gone, I ran over to where they were at, to see Cyrus without his helmet. He didn’t seem too hurt, he could atleast walk. I gave him back his helmet for him to put on.

“You have to get out of here quickly,” I whispered to him.
“What about you?” Cyrus asked.
“I have to go save the others. There’s a Falcon a mile or so from here, I want you to take it and head back to the base. There you will find Riley, she’ll be healing from her injuries so I need you to help her.”

I quickly helped Cyrus up and showed him the way out, which he ran out in no time. After that followed the first Elite outside. I would follow him to their base, then once he left I would simply save my teammates. I saw the first Elite start to move, so I stealthily followed him. He came outside to a Phantom, and slowly walked inside of it. I followed him inside when he wasn’t looking, and just hid inside, not making a sound.

I don’t know how long it was when we landed, but it seemed like a long time, but of course, when you’re just sitting there with nothing to do, it’ll seem longer. It might have only been an hour or so. He was leaving the Phantom, so I quickly came out. He walked off for a bit, but then walked into what seemed to be an underground base. I quickly followed him inside, and noticed he was the only Covenant there. I could see William over there, tied up. I snuck up behind the Elite, and assassinated him. Next, I untied William, and helped him up.

“Are you ok?” I asked him.
“Yes, I’m fine. We must find the others before something happens to them,” William said.
“Do you know where they’re being held here?”
“I have an idea, follow me.”

William started running, so I followed him to wherever he went. We came to a dead end, so he quickly turned around, going another way this time. We went through so many different doorways I wasn’t sure if I’d remember how to get back. Well, I’m sure William could, as long as he had a good memory. Finally, we came to a room with Levi in it. He was tied up like William was, and it also seemed he was knocked out. I untied him, and started shaking him, hoping he was still alive. I saw him open his eyes and jump away from me for some reason. I came closer to him to make sure he was ok and not going crazy or something like that.

“Levi? Are you ok?” I asked.
“Oh, I thought you were an Elite for a second,” Levi replied with a sigh of relief.
“We have to go find Evan, he’s the last one they’re holding captive.”
“You better hurry, they’re probably about to kill him.”
“What!? How do you know this? Oh, never mind, let’s just go find him, and fast.”
“I know where he is, follow me.”

Levi lead them straight to where Evan was within only a few minutes. I saw five or more Elites surrounding him, while he was tied up. All of them had Energy Swords or Needlers, so I’d have to be extra careful about what I was going to do. I turned back to look at William and Levi.

“Do you guys have any weapons?” I whispered.
“No, but I saw some Covenant weapons laying around before. I’ll go get them,” William said, running back to get some weapons.

I waited for him, because I knew I couldn’t go in there alone. I kept looking back, hoping William would come back any second. I was sweating from the anticipation. I wasn’t sure how long I’d be able to wait for him, or how long the Elites would wait either. If they were about to do something, I would run in there by myself to save Evan.
Finally, he came. The few seconds it took him to get the weapons, seemed like an hour to me. I had William and Levi take some weapons, then we would charge in, and kill the Elites. The next part after that was easy, we just save Evan and get out of there before something bad happens. I looked back at the two Spartans.

[Artaxia]

Chapter 3 part 2:

“Are you ready?” I asked them, quietly.

They both nodded, so we charged in, killing the Elites. One of the Elites almost slashed me with its Energy Sword, but I quickly dodged its attack and killed him with my shotgun. That was one down and four more to go. William killed one, two… He was a lot better at this than I was. I can only assume he was training for years longer than me. Levi killed off the rest of what was left of the Elites. I felt pretty stupid for only killing one Elite out of five.
Once they were all dead, I untied Evan, helping him up. He seemed to be ok, and not hurt at all, or if he was, he obviously wasn’t showing it. Once he was up, he went over to a desk, grabbing his Assault Rifle and Magnum. He came back over and grinned.

“Good job, Gavin. Your training is almost complete,” Evan said.

Why would he be talking about my training at a time like this? I was more than shocked my training would even come to his mind right now. I almost dropped my mouth in a surprise of him saying something like that, but I didn’t. I figured at this point, he knew something was on my mind, and he would soon ask me what it was. So before he could say that, I would say something first.

“Training? Why would you be talking about that at a time like this!?” I asked.
“Because, Gavin, this was all a setup,” Evan said.

I dropped my Assault Rifle I was holding. I couldn’t have felt anymore stupid. He set this all up for my training… So I wasn’t a hero after all? I was actually a bit annoyed at this, that he would set up something this big for just training. All that, and my training is only almost finished? That should have completed my training! I went through all that, saving all my teammates, for what? A stupid training session? Was Evan out of his mind?

…

I figured I should probably stop thinking about it all and just ask Evan. It’s pointless to keep thinking and not getting my answers.

“All that? And my training isn’t even finished?” I said, slowly.
“You still have much to learn, Gavin,” he said. “but from now on, we’ll be having normal training sessions now. I will trick you no longer, incase something really does wind up happening. We have to get back to base now, though. We can’t stay here all day, we’ll start your training again in the morning.”

I let out a long sigh of disappointment on our way back to the base. Well, atleast now I would have normal training sessions and not be tricked anymore. So if something did happen, I really could be a hero…. Being a hero, and saving someone is my dream… Even if I have to die.

[Artaxia]

Chapter 4:

Once we were back at the base, we all went to sleep. Everyone was sleeping except me, I don’t know why, but I just couldn’t get to sleep. I got up, and went outside, looking at the stars. I heard someone walk up behind me, so I looked back to see Evan. He sat down next to me, looking at me with a reassuring face.

“Something on your mind?” He asked me.
“I guess you could say that,” I replied.
“Mind telling me?”
“Well, I guess I just… I don’t know. I feel like I can’t do anything right.”
“Gavin, you are doing your training perfectly. In fact, you’re the best recruit I’ve ever trained. I promise you’ll get through this.”

I smiled at him when he said that, I had to say, he was really nice to me. He always reassured me when needed, was there when I needed him, I had to say, he was like a father to me. He seemed like the friendliest one in the team, well, Riley was too, but I knew Evan more. I hoped tomorrow would be a better day, filled with action and adventure. As long as none of my teammates got hurt, that is.

“Thanks,” I replied.
“You should probably get some sleep,” Evan said, patting me on the back and standing up.
“Yeah, you’re right,” I stood up too.

I walked inside the base, and laid down on my bed, shortly after, I fell asleep.
When I woke up, I noticed none of the other Spartans were here. This could mean two things, either I was up late, or they were somehow captured… For real this time. I got up, stretched, and went outside, looking for any signs of them. I sighed. If they were captured, I would’ve been captured along with them. I went back inside the base, hoping to atleast find signs of the others. Maybe calling someone’s name would do the trick, they’d have to respond back if they heard someone calling them.

“Evan?” I called.

No response. This was bad, it could only mean one thing. They were captured. No, that couldn’t be the only solution, maybe there was a room I didn’t check yet. I looked around the base for any hidden rooms, or rooms I haven’t noticed yet. I came into a room, with photos all over the wall, I also noticed Evan standing there, staring at them. I came up behind him, wondering what he could possibly be doing, and why he didn’t hear me before.

“Something you need, Gavin?” Evan asked.
“I was just wondering where everyone went,” I replied.
“They’re all eating breakfast. I already ate mine long before anyone even woke up.”
“What is this room?”
“I guess you could say it’s like my office. I have photos of old recruits, other Spartans I knew who have died, you know, that kind of stuff.”
“What happened to the other recruits you trained?”
“They either went on to start their own team, join another one, or just got sick of my training. Most of which were sick of my training. You, Gavin, are one of the few who have stuck to it. Most of the recruits would have quit by now.”

I was shocked that the recruits before me would have given up so easily. Why? Why would anyone give up so early? The others went off to start their own team or join another. Why would they do that when there’s nothing wrong with this one? Pride, maybe? I don’t understand why they would move onto another team when this one is perfect. It had to be pride, it just had to be. There’s nothing wrong with this team!
….
Or was there? There was only one way to know for sure, and that was to either continue on, and find out myself, or ask Evan. I preferred the quicker way, asking Evan. He was probably wondering by now why I haven’t said anything more or left. He had to know I was thinking about all the stuff he just told me.

“Evan?” I asked.
“Yes, Gavin?” Evan responded.
“Why did the other recruits leave the Zodiac Team?”
“I had a feeling you would ask,” Evan turned around to look at me. “The truth is, they thought this team was weak, and that we didn’t have enough trust in each other. Eventually, the old Spartans in the team started to think the same, and left too. I was left on my own, and completely start a new team by myself. I came across a few Spartans who were looking for a team. I wanted to have six Spartans at the minimum for my team, and atleast one recruit again. That’s how the team now came to be.”

I was shocked by what I just heard. Evan was… Was betrayed by his own teammates?! I couldn’t understand why anyone would lack trust in their own team. Why? Why would they just… Leave like that. Leave Evan on his own to start all over again. I would never do such a thing, I’d never even think of it. I wonder what happened to his old teammates. Well, again, there was only one way to find out, and that was to ask him.

“What happened to your old teammates after they left?” I asked.
“They all went off, to try to form their own team. One that would overpower all the Spartan teams there ever were. I tried to stop them, telling them it wouldn’t work, I even begged them. They didn’t listen, and continued on their own selfish ways. After they foolishly tried to do that, they died,” Evan paused. “You should probably go eat breakfast.”

I nodded, and headed out the door. I figured that he wanted to be alone, it was probably hard for him to think of that. I would be the same way if I had teammates betray me, or even just die… Especially if they were close to me, it would only hurt all the more. I tried to get it out of my mind, but it kept coming back.
Once I got to the breakfast area, I finally got it out of my mind. I saw that Levi, Riley, Cyrus and William were all eating at one table, so I grabbed some food and joined them. Levi stopped eating and just stared at me, which made me feel really uncomfortable.
I just looked away and continued to eat my food like everyone else was. I glanced up to see him still staring at me, now I was annoyed.

“What?” I asked him.

He just looked at his food, continuing to eat, but now everyone else looked up at me with confused faces. I sighed, taking my food to another table to eat by myself. When I looked back over at their table, they continued to eat and talk to each other. It must’ve just been me. As soon as I sat over there, they stopped talking, and Levi just stared at me. When I was finished eating, I went outside to see Evan and the others.

“Orders, sir?” Levi asked Evan.
“Nothing right now. We’re to stay at the base until further notice,” Evan replied.
“Yes sir,” Levi said.

I walked away to my room, and pretty much just sat there the entire day. Evan and Riley visited me at some points to just hang out and talk, but it wasn’t very often because Evan seemed to be busy. William and Cyrus visited me once to talk, and try to get to know me. Levi was the only one who didn’t visit me, I don’t know why. Did he think I was annoying? Or was it just his personality? Or maybe he was a traitor? Whatever, I had to get it out of my mind, so I went to sleep, since at this point the sun was setting anyway.

I woke up late at night to a huge explosion and screams. There was smoke everywhere, so I got out of bed to see what was going on. Just then, I heard something, or I atleast thought I did. There it was again, I was sure of it this time, but I couldn’t make out what it said.

“HELP!” The voice screamed.

That time I heard it, and heard what it said too. It was a cry for help, I knew that voice, it was…

“EVAN!”

[Mythic_Ganon]

Thats really good. Is this your spartan??

[Artaxia]

Thanks!
Well, if you mean the Spartan that’s supposed to be me, no, because I’m a girl.
But he is one of the many Spartans I’ve created. I use him in a lot of stories and my Halo RPG over at my Halo forum.

Chapter 4 pt 1:

I ran as fast as I could to where I heard Evan’s voice come from, but it was hard because of all the smoke in the area. Finally, I got to a clear spot, to see a Phantom with Covenant troops everywhere. I hid behind something, to watch from the distance. Where was everyone? Were they captured and inside the Phantom already? Just then, I saw a bunch of Elites carrying Evan into their Phantom. It looked like he was knocked out, I atleast hoped he wasn’t dead. The next thing I knew, I saw William run out towards the Elites, with Riley and Levi following close by. Without even thinking, I ran out there with them. Levi grabbed me by my shoulders.

“Go over there, you need to go find Cyrus, for all we know he could be covered in debris,” Levi ordered, pushing me towards the way he wanted me to go.

I quickly rushed over to the area, digging through the debris in what was left of the building. Just then, I heard coughing, and a faint cry for help. I ran towards it, to see Cyrus covered in debris. I cleared it off of him as fast as I could. Once I pulled enough off, I pulled him out, helping him stand up. He coughed, then looked at me.

“Are you ok?” I asked.
“Yes, now we must go help the others,” he replied.

We ran over to the Phantom to see William, Riley and Levi fighting the Elites. Just then, I noticed Evan wake up, struggling out of the Elites. Me and Cyrus quickly ran over to help the others. We fought as best as we could, and I noticed that Evan was surrounded by Elites, fighting the best he could. I was far off, so I killed the Elite by me, and started running over to go help him. As I was running over, I saw one of the Elites taking their Energy Sword, raising it above Evan, about to kill him. He was busy fighting two other Elites, so he didn’t notice, this made me only run faster.

Then… It happened. I saw William jump in front of the Elite, blocking its attack to kill Evan, while shooting it in its head. William fell lifelessly to the ground. After Evan shot the last Elite, he quickly turned around, seeing William. He dropped to his knees. He grabbed William, lifting him up a little bit, making him closer to his face.

“William! Speak to me,” Evan said, hoping for a response.
“Evan… You were always a good leader… Keep it up,” were William’s last words.

William’s head fell back, and he stopped breathing. Evan just sat there, holding and staring at him, for a few minutes. Those minutes seemed like hours. I slowly walked up to Evan, with the others following closely behind.

“Evan…” I quietly said.

Evan just stared at William, then slowly looked back up at me, taking his helmet off, revealing a face trying to hold back tears. He stood up, holding William, walking up to me and the other Spartans. I also approached him, but slowly.

“Is he…?” I asked.
“Yes,” Evan said, slowly.

Evan went inside what was left of the base, putting William on a bed, then covered him so no one would ever find him. He turned around to me, Riley, Levi and Cyrus with a sad look on his face. He sighed as he walked up to the four of us.

“We’ll need to get to a new base, and watch out for Covenant at the same time,” Evan said.
“Where is the nearest base from here?” Cyrus asked.
“It would be in Veraan,” Evan replied. “We should get a head start.”

[Artaxia]

Chapter 4 pt 2:

On our way to Veraan, everyone was silent, especially me. Evan slowed down, to be next to my side, I figured he was going to say something to me. I was looking at the ground, almost the whole time, but I picked up my head to look at Evan next to me. Evan sighed, then looked at me too.

“William was a good hero, and will be remembered,” Evan said.
“I know, but it just went by so fast. I can’t believe he’s actually gone… Are you ok?” I asked.
“It still hurts, but I’ll be fine. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened before,” Evan sighed.

I didn’t say anything back, because I had no idea what to say. It must’ve hurt him pretty bad, especially since he’s had teammates die before in the past. I really wanted to say something like he would to me when I was sad, but I just couldn’t think of anything. I was looking at the ground again at this point, so Evan probably figured I wasn’t going to say anything more. I saw him walk up ahead again, leading us to Veraan. I sighed, I should’ve said something, even if it sounded stupid. Well, it was too late now, so I should stop thinking about it. I hoped the city wasn’t too far away, if it was a few days away, that meant risk of being attacked by Covenant.

What if it was a few days away… Or possibly weeks… And something happened to one of us like William? What if they captured ME? I would be in trouble, probably, but I would never give them what they wanted, even if they threatened to kill me. Because if I told them something, obviously they’d kill the rest of the Zodiac Team, then me. The Zodiac Team would be no more…

…

Why the heck would I think thoughts like that? Who knows, once I think, my thoughts drift off, and I think about whatever. I probably should go ask Evan anyway how far we are from the city before just thinking that stuff. I walked up to him, poking his back. He turned around to look at me.

“Yes?” He asked.
“How far are we from Veraan?” I asked him.
“About a day or two away,” he responded.
“Does that mean we’ll need to set up camp?”
“Yes, but someone will keep watch for the night, so we won’t be attacked by Covenant.”

I sighed a relief, knowing that we wouldn’t be attacked by any Covenant, and if we were, we’d be ready to fight. Even if there were some near by, the one on watch would warn us so we could get ready. This would all work out perfectly.

An hour or so later, the sun was starting to set, so we made camp. By the time we were finished making camp, it was dark out, but we had a fire so it atleast gave us some light. We gathered all around for a meeting. I wondered what it would be about.

“Well everyone, someone is gonna have to stay on guard for the night,” Evan said. “Any volunteers?”
“I will,” I said.

Everyone stared at me for a few seconds before Evan said anything. I just sat there, waiting for someone to reply back to what I said.

“Gavin, you have to get your sleep. You’re only a recruit, I can’t make you stay on guard. Anyone else?” Evan said.

I couldn’t believe what Evan just said. Did that mean I wasn’t any good at my training? Or was he just doing it for the best? I knew he wouldn’t lie and say I was doing good in my training, so it must’ve just been for the best. I let out a long sigh, waiting for someone to volunteer.

“I’ll stay on guard,” Levi finally said.
“Alright, then you should probably start now,” Evan responded. “The rest of us will head to sleep now.”

Evan went over to get some sleep, and I followed him over. I wanted to ask him a few questions before he went to sleep. I hoped he wouldn’t mind. Once he sat down, I went next to him and looked at him. He looked back over at me.

“Yes, Gavin?” Evan said.
“Do you really think I’m good at my training? Or were you just saying I did good? Because you wouldn’t let me stay up and guard…” I asked.
“Yes, I really do think you do good. The reason I didn’t want you to is because you’re young, you need sleep, and it’ll be too dangerous yet for you to guard. Once you get a little more training done, then you can stay up to guard sometime.”
“When is my next training session?”
“I don’t know, whenever we get to the city, I hope.”
“Do you think Levi really is a traitor?”
“No, at this point the would have captured or killed us all,” Evan went on his back to go to sleep, “I’m gonna get some sleep now, Gavin. Goodnight.”

I nodded, going over to where I was supposed to sleep, and shut my eyes.

[Artaxia]

Chapter 5 pt 1:

I ran as fast as I could to where I heard Evan’s voice come from, but it was hard because of all the smoke in the area. Finally, I got to a clear spot, to see a Phantom with Covenant troops everywhere. I hid behind something, to watch from the distance. Where was everyone? Were they captured and inside the Phantom already? Just then, I saw a bunch of Elites carrying Evan into their Phantom. It looked like he was knocked out, I atleast hoped he wasn’t dead. The next thing I knew, I saw William run out towards the Elites, with Riley and Levi following close by. Without even thinking, I ran out there with them. Levi grabbed me by my shoulders.

“Go over there, you need to go find Cyrus, for all we know he could be covered in debris,” Levi ordered, pushing me towards the way he wanted me to go.

I quickly rushed over to the area, digging through the debris in what was left of the building. Just then, I heard coughing, and a faint cry for help. I ran towards it, to see Cyrus covered in debris. I cleared it off of him as fast as I could. Once I pulled enough off, I pulled him out, helping him stand up. He coughed, then looked at me.

“Are you ok?” I asked.
“Yes, now we must go help the others,” he replied.

We ran over to the Phantom to see William, Riley and Levi fighting the Elites. Just then, I noticed Evan wake up, struggling out of the Elites. Me and Cyrus quickly ran over to help the others. We fought as best as we could, and I noticed that Evan was surrounded by Elites, fighting the best he could. I was far off, so I killed the Elite by me, and started running over to go help him. As I was running over, I saw one of the Elites taking their Energy Sword, raising it above Evan, about to kill him. He was busy fighting two other Elites, so he didn’t notice, this made me only run faster.

Then… It happened. I saw William jump in front of the Elite, blocking its attack to kill Evan, while shooting it in its head. William fell lifelessly to the ground. After Evan shot the last Elite, he quickly turned around, seeing William. He dropped to his knees. He grabbed William, lifting him up a little bit, making him closer to his face.

“William! Speak to me,” Evan said, hoping for a response.
“Evan… You were always a good leader… Keep it up,” were William’s last words.

William’s head fell back, and he stopped breathing. Evan just sat there, holding and staring at him, for a few minutes. Those minutes seemed like hours. I slowly walked up to Evan, with the others following closely behind.

“Evan…” I quietly said.

Evan just stared at William, then slowly looked back up at me, taking his helmet off, revealing a face trying to hold back tears. He stood up, holding William, walking up to me and the other Spartans. I also approached him, but slowly.

“Is he…?” I asked.
“Yes,” Evan said, slowly.

Evan went inside what was left of the base, putting William on a bed, then covered him so no one would ever find him. He turned around to me, Riley, Levi and Cyrus with a sad look on his face. He sighed as he walked up to the four of us.

“We’ll need to get to a new base, and watch out for Covenant at the same time,” Evan said.
“Where is the nearest base from here?” Cyrus asked.
“It would be in Veraan,” Evan replied. “We should get a head start.”

On our way to Veraan, everyone was silent, especially me. Evan slowed down, to be next to my side, I figured he was going to say something to me. I was looking at the ground, almost the whole time, but I picked up my head to look at Evan next to me. Evan sighed, then looked at me too.

“William was a good hero, and will be remembered,” Evan said.
“I know, but it just went by so fast. I can’t believe he’s actually gone… Are you ok?” I asked.
“It still hurts, but I’ll be fine. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened before,” Evan sighed.

I didn’t say anything back, because I had no idea what to say. It must’ve hurt him pretty bad, especially since he’s had teammates die before in the past. I really wanted to say something like he would to me when I was sad, but I just couldn’t think of anything. I was looking at the ground again at this point, so Evan probably figured I wasn’t going to say anything more. I saw him walk up ahead again, leading us to Veraan. I sighed, I should’ve said something, even if it sounded stupid. Well, it was too late now, so I should stop thinking about it. I hoped the city wasn’t too far away, if it was a few days away, that meant risk of being attacked by Covenant.

What if it was a few days away… Or possibly weeks… And something happened to one of us like William? What if they captured ME? I would be in trouble, probably, but I would never give them what they wanted, even if they threatened to kill me. Because if I told them something, obviously they’d kill the rest of the Zodiac Team, then me. The Zodiac Team would be no more…

…

[Artaxia]

Chapter 5 pt 2:

Why the heck would I think thoughts like that? Who knows, once I think, my thoughts drift off, and I think about whatever. I probably should go ask Evan anyway how far we are from the city before just thinking that stuff. I walked up to him, poking his back. He turned around to look at me.

“Yes?” He asked.
“How far are we from Veraan?” I asked him.
“About a day or two away,” he responded.
“Does that mean we’ll need to set up camp?”
“Yes, but someone will keep watch for the night, so we won’t be attacked by Covenant.”

I sighed a relief, knowing that we wouldn’t be attacked by any Covenant, and if we were, we’d be ready to fight. Even if there were some near by, the one on watch would warn us so we could get ready. This would all work out perfectly.

An hour or so later, the sun was starting to set, so we made camp. By the time we were finished making camp, it was dark out, but we had a fire so it atleast gave us some light. We gathered all around for a meeting. I wondered what it would be about.

“Well everyone, someone is gonna have to stay on guard for the night,” Evan said. “Any volunteers?”
“I will,” I said.

Everyone stared at me for a few seconds before Evan said anything. I just sat there, waiting for someone to reply back to what I said.

“Gavin, you have to get your sleep. You’re only a recruit, I can’t make you stay on guard. Anyone else?” Evan said.

I couldn’t believe what Evan just said. Did that mean I wasn’t any good at my training? Or was he just doing it for the best? I knew he wouldn’t lie and say I was doing good in my training, so it must’ve just been for the best. I let out a long sigh, waiting for someone to volunteer.

“I’ll stay on guard,” Levi finally said.
“Alright, then you should probably start now,” Evan responded. “The rest of us will head to sleep now.”

Evan went over to get some sleep, and I followed him over. I wanted to ask him a few questions before he went to sleep. I hoped he wouldn’t mind. Once he sat down, I went next to him and looked at him. He looked back over at me.

“Yes, Gavin?” Evan said.
“Do you really think I’m good at my training? Or were you just saying I did good? Because you wouldn’t let me stay up and guard…” I asked.
“Yes, I really do think you do good. The reason I didn’t want you to is because you’re young, you need sleep, and it’ll be too dangerous yet for you to guard. Once you get a little more training done, then you can stay up to guard sometime.”
“When is my next training session?”
“I don’t know, whenever we get to the city, I hope.”
“Do you think Levi really is a traitor?”
“No, at this point the would have captured or killed us all,” Evan went on his back to go to sleep, “I’m gonna get some sleep now, Gavin. Goodnight.”

I nodded, going over to where I was supposed to sleep, and shut my eyes.

[Artaxia]

Chapter 7:

“Gavin! Gavin!”

I slowly opened my eyes to see Evan, and the sun slowly rising.

“Gavin, didn’t you hear me calling your name?” He whispered. “Well, I was only whispering so I don’t blame you.”
“What’s going on?” I whispered back.
“There was just a Covenant army passing by, but Levi woke us up just in time so we could hide, and watch them pass by.”
“Are they still here?”
“They’re walking off in the distance, but it’s best to stay quiet until they’re completely gone… Stay here.”

Evan got up, and slowly walked over to see if the Covenant were still in sight. Once he came back, he gave a signal for us to come out. We all came out, around Evan, waiting for our orders. I figured that he’d just say that we’ll be on our way back to the city. I sighed realizing we couldn’t eat breakfast since we weren’t at a base, or atleast in a city. This would be a long day.

“We’re gonna start going for the city again. If we start now with no breaks, we should be there by sunset,” Evan said. “I know you’re all probably hungry, but the earlier we start, the faster we’ll get there, and the sooner you get to eat.”

Evan started walking ahead, but then looked back to see if we were coming. As soon as he looked back, everyone started to follow him.

Sunset… That would be a long time from now. That meant no food for the whole day, unless we found something to eat on the way there. Probably not though, since we’re basically in the middle of nowhere. I ran ahead, so I’d be the one walking right behind Evan.

Hours went by, although it seemed a lot longer than that because of how bored I was of just walking. We finally were at the city though by sunset, exactly like Evan said. I ran into the city before anyone else did, so I’d be the first to get something to eat. I looked around the city, not knowing where to go, so I waited for the others. Evan was the first to come, closely followed by the other three.

“Now we just head to the base, we’ll have enough food and room to sleep. You better get that all done today, because tomorrow we’re going on another mission,” Evan said.

We all headed for the base, which atleast didn’t take too long. Once we were there, we all headed to go eat something. Again, everyone was sitting with each other, including Evan sitting with them this time. When I grabbed my food, I went alone at a table to eat. I saw Evan look over at me, making a confused face. Next, he got up and walked towards me.

“You gonna come eat with us?” He asked.
“Well, last time it seemed like they didn’t want to be bothered,” I replied.
“I’m there this time, and you’re very welcome to come over if you wish.”

I smiled at him, and walked over to the table with the others. I sat down, glancing over at Levi to make sure he wasn’t staring at me again. Luckily this time, he wasn’t. I was starting to wonder if anyone would say anything or if it’d be like this the whole time. Well, I definitely wasn’t going to be the one to start a conversation, I would just sit and wait.

“Gavin, can I talk to you after we eat?” Riley asked.
I looked up at her, somewhat shocked, “Sure, of course.”
“Alright, great,” she said.

Once we were done eating, I followed Riley into another room. I wondered what she was going to say or tell me. I was really excited to know that someone besides Evan wanted to talk to me, especially since it was Riley…

“Yes?” I asked her.
“Well, I just wanted to say it really seemed like you improved on your training. You’re doing really good, and I’m glad you’re still here and haven’t given up like the others did. I’m sure Evan told you about that, right?” Riley said.
“Yes, he did, thanks.”
“Sorry about that first time you went at the table and everyone was acting so weird around you. Levi said he isn’t too fond of you… He said he thinks you’re annoying.”
“Well, I don’t blame him. A lot of people say that about me, he isn’t the first.”
“Yeah…”

There was an awkward silence, and we just stood there. I was looking around the room, not knowing what else to say. I had to admit, it couldn’t have been anymore awkward than this. I was trying to force myself to think of something to say. I didn’t want to say anything stupid, but it might have been better than not saying anything at all.

“There’s more than meets the eye with you,” I said.
“Well I have to go,” she chuckled.

I watched her leave, then literally face palmed.

“That’s stupid. That was a stupid line. ‘There’s more than meets the eye with you.’ Stupid,” I said to myself.

I went outside to see if it was dark out yet, which it was. I could see a bunch of stars in the sky, it was awesome to just watch at the sky and think when I had to think about stuff. I went back inside, and headed to my room. Normally I would first see what everyone else was doing, but I was really tired. I went on my bed, and went to sleep.

I slowly opened my eyes, to see light shining through the windows, that seemed like a fast night. I got up, ate breakfast, and headed over to Evan. I saw that he was talking with the other three Spartans, so I joined in.

“Ah, Gavin, you’re just in time,” Evan said.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“We were just about to start talking about the mission,” he replied.
“Oh, that’s right,” I said, remembering the mission we were supposed to go on today.
“So what kind of mission is this?” Cyrus asked.
“We need to find the Covenant base that’s closest to here, and destroy it,” Evan replied.
“Is that it?” Cyrus asked, almost laughing.
“It won’t be as easy as it sounds. The base is very secure, and has Elite guards everywhere. We’ll need to be very stealthy about this mission, and keep as hidden as we can,” Evan said.
“Do you even know where it is?” Cyrus asked.
“Yes, I know exactly where it is,” Evan replied.

Evan started walking ahead, but turned around, and stopped to look at everyone. I figured this meant he was just checking to see if we were all following, but instead I heard him say something.

“Anyone here good at sniping?”

[Artaxia]

Chapter 7 pt 1:

I saw Levi walk up to Evan, after what he said about sniping.

“I am,” Levi said.
“Good, you’ll be our sniper. Anyone else?” Evan said.

Everyone else just stood there.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Evan said.

He turned around and started walking ahead, so everyone followed him closely behind. About a mile or two, or maybe even more away, he crouched down, giving us a signal to stop and stay quiet. He quietly crawled up a little further, then noiselessly came back to us.

“The Covenant base is right ahead, Levi, this is where your sniping comes in. I want you to take out the guards, then we’ll all run in,” Evan whispered.

Levi nodded, then quietly crept to the edge with his sniper rifle. Each time he shot, I heard a body drop to the ground, dead. Even if the one guard so the first one die, and tried running off, Levi was too fast and killed him right away. He looked back at us, waving that he killed them all. Evan quickly, but quietly ran up, while the others followed.

Once we were successfully inside the base, Evan had us gather up, to give orders. What kind of orders would we need when we were just following him? Well, I guess this is where I would find out. I stared at Evan, waiting his orders.

“We’re all to split up into two groups, and go different ways,” Evan said. “Levi, Riley and Cyrus, you three are together, I’m with Gavin. If you find anything, contact me and be sure to tell me ASAP.”
“Yes sir,” Levi said.

Levi lead Cyrus and Riley, to the left, seeing what they could find in the base. I saw Evan look at me, so I just stood there, not saying anything. Was he going to say something or what?

“Well Gavin, this is where your training comes to some use. Are you ready for this?” Evan asked.
“Yes, I’m ready,” I replied.
“Then let’s go.”

Me and Evan took to the right, hoping to find something. We slowly and quietly walked around, and came into what looked to be a weapon room. It had all the Covenant weapons you could imagine… All of them, there wasn’t one to be missing from there. We slowly came into the room, still looking around to make sure there weren’t any Covenant hiding. I looked over at a desk to see a key laying there, so I picked it up and showed it to Evan.

“What do you think it’s for?” I whispered.
“Probably another room, but we should try to find out what it’s for,” he whispered back.

I nodded, and we continued on our way. We came back to where we started to find Cyrus, Levi and Riley there. I wondered if they found anything worth talking about, I could only really hope they did. Well, this was where I would find out.

“Evan! We found a captured Spartan inside a locked cage. He looks very beat up and should get to an ER right away, but we didn’t have a key or anyway to get him out,” Levi said.
Evan took out the key I found, showing it to them, “Where is he?”
“Follow me.”

Levi and the others lead us to where they found the Spartan. There were two dead Elites in front of the cage, I’m assuming that Levi and the others killed. The Spartan inside the cage was black and green, he looked very hurt like they were saying. He was just laying at the bottom of the cage with his helmet off, gasping for air. Evan quickly unlocked the cage with the key, and picked up the injured Spartan. Evan turned around to look at us.

“Cyrus, I need you to take the Spartan back to our base, and make sure he’s ok,” Evan said, handing him the Spartan.

I saw Cyrus run out of the base as fast as he could. It was only seconds until I couldn’t see him anymore. We all looked over at Evan for our orders. He looked left, then right, probably to make sure we weren’t being watched or anything, then turned back to us.

“Did you find anything else?” Evan asked Levi and Riley.
“No, that was all we found,” Levi replied.
“We need to blow this place up,” Evan said, looking at all of us. “We’ll need lots of explosives, and a Covenant base is the perfect place to find that kind of thing. Levi and Riley, you two go to the left from here, and me and Gavin will take to the right. If you find any explosives, make sure to contact me right away.”
“Yes sir,” Levi and Riley both said at once.

[Artaxia]

Chapter 7 pt 2:

Levi and Riley went on their way to look for any explosives, while me and Evan took to our way as fast as we could. I remembered the room with all the weapons, and thought maybe that room might have some explosives. I stopped Evan from going any further so I could tell him. He stopped, turned around and looked at me.

“What is it?” He whispered.
“Remember that weapon room we found before?” I asked.
“Yes, I do.”
“Do you think that might have some explosives?”
“I didn’t think of that, great idea, Gavin. Let’s go for it.”

We ran into the room we found before with all the weapons, quickly searching for any explosives. I found one, then two, three. I turned towards Evan, showing him the explosives I found. He walked over next to me, looking at them.

“Quick, let’s contact Levi and Riley to tell them we found some explosives. I really hope they found some too,” Evan said, quietly. “Levi, Riley, did you find anything yet?”
“Yes, we found a whole bunch of explosives,” Levi replied.
“Good, meet us where we first got into the base.”
“Yes sir.”

Me and Evan took the explosives, heading towards the starting point. We got there before Riley and Levi did, I was assuming they were farther away from here than we were. I looked over at Evan, holding the explosives, waiting for the two to come. I saw Evan quickly jump behind me, dropping the explosives. What the heck?! I soon found out why. No… NO! I couldn’t believe what I just saw. First I saw Evan jump, I heard a gun shot… Then…

“EVAN!!!” I screamed, dropping to my knees.

He had an Energy Sword stabbed through him, and taken back out by a filthy Elite. He had to live! He couldn’t die… He just couldn’t!

“Gavin…” Evan said, slowly.
“Evan, what is it?” I said, in tears.

Just then, Riley and Levi came running, but dropped their explosives at the sight of me and Evan.

“I need you to be the next leader of the Zodiac Team,” Evan said.

What was he thinking? I was just a recruit… I wasn’t even done with my training. Why wouldn’t he pick someone like Levi, worthy of it? Levi was probably here longer than me, and knew more about being a leader. But no… He picks me. Why? I couldn’t say no, I just couldn’t. I wanted to know why, but I couldn’t ask him at a time like this. I would just accept it.

“I will, Evan, I’ll do whatever you want,” I managed to say.
“Levi… I need you to finish Gavin’s training. From now on, you’re his new mentor,” Evan said to Levi.

I could imagine what was going through Levi’s mind right now. He was probably wondering why him, and why not Cyrus or Riley. I knew he wouldn’t ask Evan though, especially at a time like this. I waited to see if Evan had anything more to say. A few more seconds went by, and nothing, so I decided to say something to everyone.

“Quick! He needs to get to an ER!” I cried.
Evan grabbed my arm, “No, Gavin, it’s too late for that. I know you can be the leader I need you to be. My time is up, now it’s your time to start a new beginning. Goodbye, Gavin.”

I felt Evan’s arm let loose, and saw it fall to the ground.

It was all over. He was dead. I just stood there, still not believing what happened. It was that stupid Elite. If it didn’t come up behind me it wouldn’t have–

Wait a minute. It was me. It was trying to kill me, but Evan blocked its attack to save my life.

I felt a hand on my shoulder, and looked back to see Riley.

“Gavin, we should probably blow up the base, like Evan wanted us to,” Riley said.
“No… No! He isn’t gone! He just can’t be!” I said, still in shock.
“Gavin, we have to go on… He wanted us to.”
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I feel so alone.”
“You’re not alone.”

I just stared into her eyes when she said that. She was right, Evan wanted us to do this, and he wouldn’t be happy if we just gave up when he died. Turning on the timer for detonation, I picked up the explosives, dropping them inside the base, and we quickly ran behind a ridge of rocks, ducking for cover. I thought of Evan, and what a good leader he was to everyone, but was shortly interrupted by the huge explosion of the Covenant base exploding. Pieces shattered everywhere, but luckily not hurting anyone.

As I peeked my head out to view what remained of the destroyed Covenant base, I thought of Evan again, and tears dripped down my face behind my helmet.

[Artaxia]

Chapter 8:

I slowly approached the shattered base, while the others watched me, probably wondering what I was doing. I bent down to see Evan’s helmet. I picked it up and just stared at it with tears still running down my face. What have I done? I took his helmet and went back over to Riley and Levi. I took a deep breathe before saying anything so they wouldn’t know I was crying.

“We should get back to the base in Veraan,” I managed to say.

We slowly got back to the city, without saying a word to each other on the whole way back. Once we were at the base, I saw the injured Spartan lying down in a bed. He looked better than when we first saw him in that cage. Cyrus ran up to us, but stopped short, looking at Evan’s helmet

“Where’s Evan…?” He asked.

Levi and Riley just looked over at me, and didn’t say anything to Cyrus. I sadly looked up at Cyrus, taking off my helmet.

“He’s gone,” was all I said, looking back down.

Cyrus just stared at me, with his mouth wide opened, and his eyes huge, like he couldn’t believe it. I had a feeling what his next few questions would be… It was just a matter of time before he asked them. I looked back up at him, noticing it looked like he was going to say something.

“Who’s going to lead us now?” Cyrus asked.

I knew it. This was the first question I saw coming. I was prepared to tell him the answer, but I was afraid he wouldn’t like it very much.

“Evan left me in charge,” I replied.

Cyrus just stared at me for a few seconds before saying anything else. I looked away, trying to ignore him, and what was going through his mind at the very moment. I slowly turned my head back towards him to see if he had anything else to say.

“Well, who’s going to finish your training? You can’t be a leader just yet… You’re just a recruit! Not to sound rude or anything, but why would he pick a recruit instead of one of us?” Cyrus asked.

I turned to Levi, hoping he would help me out, but instead, he didn’t even look at me. Not even glance over. I was on my own.

“He left Levi in charge of my training. I was wondering why he picked me too… I don’t know, and I apologize for not knowing why,” I said.

Cyrus looked around before walking up to Levi. I heard some whispering, then Levi and Cyrus turned towards me.

“Gavin, me, Levi and Riley are gonna have a word alone, if you don’t mind,” Cyrus said.
“Yeah… Yeah, that’s fine by me…” I said, slowly.

I saw them walk into a room, and quietly close the door shut. I walked up to the door, listening to what they were saying in the room. I had a feeling I knew what this whole thing was about, but I couldn’t help myself but listen to them.

“How the HECK was that kid chosen for leader?!” Cyrus yelled.
“I was thinking the same thing when I heard Evan say it. Then he leaves me stuck with training the kid. I just don’t get it… What was Evan thinking?” Levi said.
“Guys… Maybe you shouldn’t be so hard on him. I mean, he has feelings you know, and he’s only just a kid,” Riley said.
“He might just be a kid, Riley, but he’s the most annoying recruit I’ve ever met in my life,” Levi said. “I mean, do you hear how many questions he asks? Most of them are the dumbest things ever.”
“Levi, that’s how they learn. The other ones probably had just as many questions, but didn’t brave up and tell Evan, even if he told them too. Just leave him alone for once and quit picking on the poor kid,” Riley replied.
“We should probably go check on Fury now,” Cyrus suddenly said.
“Who?” Levi and Riley both said at once.
“He’s that injured Spartan. I don’t know why, but he told me to call him Fury and wouldn’t give me his real name,” Cyrus said.

I didn’t wait and listen any longer, because they would be out soon. I quietly, but quickly went back into the room with the so called Spartan named Fury, and sat down. A few seconds after, I saw Cyrus come out, then Levi, and Riley followed shortly after. I just glared at Levi, as he walked by me, and he stared back, but quickly looked away once he was near Fury.

“Any better?” Cyrus asked Fury.
“Yes, very much. Thank you, but I should probably get going,” Fury said.
“You should probably stay here a bit longer until you fully recover,” Cyrus said.
“I guess you’re right,” Fury sighed.

Levi stared at me just then, I could never tell if anything was on his mind, or if he was going to say something. It was a really uncomfortable feeling when a guy like him just stared at you like that. It gave me the chills.

“We should probably get to your training, Gavin,” Levi said.

I got up, following Levi outside. We trained for hours, but it was nothing like Evan’s training. Levi barely said a word, and never asked if I had anything on my mind. Once we were finished, and got back to the base, Riley stood there, as if waiting for something. When she saw us return, she walked up to us, and turned towards me.

…What was going on?

“We’ve gotten news from a team of Spartans called the Nova Team. Gavin, you’re to go with Nova Ten at the Comms Base and kill some Covenant there,” Riley said to me.

Me? Going on a mission? This was great! I couldn’t wait to go, I wondered when I’d have to start. Why wait? I should just ask her now.

“When do I start?” I asked.
“Early in the morning, you’ll be woken up when it’s time for you to go,” Riley said.

I nodded, heading for the base to get some rest. I couldn’t wait. I never went on a mission by myself. Well, besides that time for my training, but that wasn’t actually real. This time would be real, and I would meet a Spartan from another team too. This would be great, I wonder what the Nova Team was like, and how many Spartans they had. I wonder if there would be a Nova Three, and what he would look like. If there was, it would be funny if he looked like me, or something. If there is a Nova Three, I want to be good friends with him, and hopefully he would think the same.

I grinned as I laid down in my bed, thinking of the great times I would have on this mission.

[Mythic_Ganon]

> Thanks!
> Well, if you mean the Spartan that’s supposed to be me, no, because I’m a girl.
> But he is one of the many Spartans I’ve created. I use him in a lot of stories and my Halo RPG over at my Halo forum.

OHHH lol, i remember in you introduction you posted you were girl. You got an awesome character. If i made an RPG spartan he would look like this lol!

BLOOD 0F GANON!

An evil form taking over of a Fallen spartan to being chaos and destruction lol! Sounds way out of the Halo world but hey what can you do when you have the Control of Total power and you can never die. Love zelda and halo equally so i had my friend draw me my dream spartan. <3

If i had to make a legit spartan to Halo’s reality it would be close to Linda. Best spartan ever…

BTW good action for chapter 7 part2!

[Artaxia]

Wow, awesome, I remember seeing that topic lol.
And thanks!

(I’m going to post the next chapter in a separate post so these characters don’t count… Hopefully I don’t have to split the chapters into two parts again Sigh)

[Artaxia]

Chapter 9:

“Come on Gavin, over here,” Evan said.
“I’m coming,” I replied.

I followed Evan through the grassy field. You could see for miles in this field, there was absolutely nothing around. Evan stopped, turning around to look at me and smiled. I walked up to him and he stared at me with that reassuring face.

“I know you can do this. You can be the next leader of the Zodiac Team… I believe in you,” Evan said.
“I know you do, but I just have one question. Why me? I’m the lowest rank, if anything, Levi should have been chosen,” I asked.
“Because Gavin, you remind me a lot of me when I was your age. I never thought I would ever even get into a team, but there I was, leader of my own team. As for Levi, he needs to learn to get past what he hates, and just train you. Over time, you two will become great friends, despite how much he hates you.”
“What will happen to me? What does my future hold?”
“That’s your own choice. You need to follow your own path, and make your own decisions. Someone won’t always be there to help you, and that’s something you need to learn.”

Not long after he said that, he started disappearing. I ran closer to him, and tried grabbing him to keep him from going, but my hands only went through him.

“Like I said, Gavin, you’re here for a reason, I died for you so you could start your own beginning. My time is up, now it’s your time to shine. You can’t always rely on me for things, I’ll always be with you though, in your memory. Now go, go and show everyone what you can do and become a hero!” Evan said, disappearing.

I woke up, jumping out of my bed and breathing heavily.

It was just a dream…

I looked at the clock. It was early, no one woke me up yet. It must be too early. I went over to go eat breakfast, once I was done, I bumped into Riley. I figured she was probably going to wake me up, and was wondering why I was already up so early.

“Oh, you’re already awake,” Riley said.
“Yeah, I woke up about an hour ago,” I replied.
“Well, you should probably get going. There’s a Falcon over there for you to use. It shouldn’t be too long from here, you won’t be needing to set up camp or anything.”

I nodded in agreement with her, not knowing what to say. I looked over to see the Falcon, so I walked over to it, jumping inside. As I flew it off into the air, I watched as Riley got smaller and smaller, finally until I couldn’t see her anymore.

I thought about the dream I had as I flew the Falcon to the Comms Base. It was so real for a dream… Could it have been a vision? I thought about it for the next few minutes whether it could be a vision or not. I let out a long sigh. Well, vision or not, I would remember it for sure.

It had to have been hours before I finally reached the base. I slowly landed the Falcon as I reached the Comms Base. I jumped out of my Falcon, walking inside the Comms Base to see a blue and gold Spartan standing there. I started to walk in the direction of the Spartan. Was this Nova Ten? As I continued to walk up to him, he greeted me.

“I’m Barrett, Nova Ten,” he said.
“I’m Gavin, Zodiac Three,” I replied.
“Well, Gavin, are you ready to kill some Covvies?”
“Yep, of course I am, but just one thing I was wondering…”
“What would that be?”
“…Is there a Nova Three?”
“There sure is, and his name is Derrick.”

I nodded, and was pleased to know there was a Nova Three. Derrick… I wonder what he’s like. Well, I’m sure I would find out soon enough. Maybe after we fought the Covenant, I could meet the rest of the Nova Team, including Derrick. This was going to be great.

I followed Barrett in another part of the base, with a whole bunch of weapons. It reminded me of… The Covenant base where…

“Pick your choice of weapon, Gavin. The base here has every kind,” Barrett said, interrupting my thoughts.
“Oh, ok,” I replied.

I looked at the wall of weapons, trying to decide what to take. There were so many… From a simple Magnum, to a powerful Rocket Launcher. It took me a few minutes before deciding what two weapons to take. Finally, I decided on taking a shotgun and rocket launcher. I turned to Barrett, who picked out his weapons awhile back.

“I’m ready,” I said.
“Then let’s go,” he replied.

We started to slowly walk out of the base. I wondered what the others were doing back at Veraan. I hoped they were all safe, and Covenant wouldn’t attack there for any reason. I came back to the thoughts of what was happening now, wondering how many Covvies there would be. Well, I would soon find out. The door was getting closer and closer every step. Finally, we stepped outside. I viewed the horizon to see an army of Covenant. Surprisingly, there weren’t that many. It would be an easy battle to win for two Spartans. I looked at Barrett, waiting for his orders. He turned towards me, looking for a few seconds before actually saying anything.

“You’ve got a rocket launcher, right?” Barrett asked.
“Yep,” I said.
“Use it, I’ll be right back.”

I watched him run back into the base, and I used my rocket launcher, watching as the Covvies just blew away. It was so fun using a rocket launcher, but not long after, I was out of ammo. I groaned, switching back to my shotgun. Just as I did that, I saw Barrett running out with a Target Locator. He targeted the rest of the Covenant, and yelled for me to get out of there. I ran out, and looked back to see a huge explosion. Once the explosion and smoke cleared up, we could see all the Covenant were dead. I turned over to him, high fiving him.

“Nice job,” I said.
“You too,” he replied.

I looked the other way, to see an injured Elite, trying to run away. I looked at Barrett for a split second, then ran after the Elite. I grabbed it, and yelled for Barrett to come over so he could tie it up. Once he came over, he tied it up, and the Elite was basically harmless now. All it could do was growl, and struggle to get out, but that wouldn’t work.

I heard a familiar sound just then… What could it have been? I tried remembering what it was, but just couldn’t. Wait… Was it the sound of…

I looked up to see a Phantom. That’s what the familiar sound was! I warned Barrett, and we both found a hiding place. I got my shotgun ready, since my rocket launcher was out of ammo. I was ready to kill any Covenant that came out of there.

[Artaxia]

Chapter 10:

I would have shot earlier, but I could only shoot close range since I was using a shotgun. Once the Phantom landed, I got ready to kill the Covvies. To my surprise, Spartans walked out of it, instead of Covenant. I watched them for a few seconds to confirm they were really Spartans. At this point, if they were really Covenant, they would’ve showed their true form. I used my transmitter to contact one of them, the black and yellow one specifically.

“This is Zodiac Three… Who is this?” I asked.
“This is Derrick, Nova Three. With me are a few other Spartans… Who is this contacting me?” He replied.

This was Nova Three, Derrick! His colors were very similar to mine. This would be great to talk to him, once I showed myself. I didn’t get why he asked who’s contacting him, though, since I already told him. It annoyed me a bit that he already forgot that I said who was contacting him. I got ready to reply back to him.

“I said this is Zodiac Three,” I said.
“Right, I have too much on my mind right now. Where are you anyway?” He asked.
“What’s your business here?” I asked, coming out of my hiding spot.

I heard footsteps coming from behind me, and turned around to see Barrett come out. He seemed really excited for some reason as he walked up to me and Derrick.

“Derrick! This was the last place I expected to see you. What are you doing here anyway?” Barrett said, sounding happy.
“To kill some Covenant,” Derrick replied.
“Welcome back,” Barrett said, as a black and green Spartan approached him.
“Who’s the new guy?” The black and green Spartan asked.
“This is Gavin, Zodiac Three,” Barrett said, looking over at me.
“I’m afraid to tell you, Derrick, that me and Barrett killed the rest of the Covenant already. Strangely enough, there weren’t many here. We heard they have some kind of plan, and managed to capture this guy,” I said, showing them the Elite we captured.

I started walking towards the Phantom they came in, hoping to get some information from the Elite. I really hoped that it would tell us something, just something. Normally Elites probably wouldn’t tell us a thing, and would die before saying anything, but who knows, this one might be different. I turned back around to look at everyone, and say something.

“We better get some information about what they’re planning,” I said.

Me, Barrett and that black and green Spartan, all went inside the Phantom. Me and Barrett held down the Elite we captured to keep him from escaping. This was it… This was where we would find out all their plans, and stop them from doing anymore harm. I atleast hoped he would say something, atleast just a hint of something.

“You speak English?” The green and black Spartan asked the Elite.
“Yes,” the Elite growled.
“So then tell me, you Covenant trash… What’s your big plan?”
“Why should I tell you that?”

The black and green Spartan punched the Elite after what he last said, looking at him angrily. I hoped the Elite would break sooner or later…

“What’s your plan?” The black and green Spartan asked again.

I saw the Elite struggle, trying to bite the black and green Spartan. Me and Barrett quickly pushed his head back down on the ground, and held it there so he wouldn’t try doing anything like that again. I stood up, looking up at the Spartan.

“Hey, can me and Barrett have a break? We’ve been fighting Covvies all day,” I asked.
“Go ahead,” he replied.

I walked into another room with Barrett, leaning against a wall, letting out a long sigh. I took off my helmet, and looked up at Barrett to see him take his off too. I just realized I didn’t know the black and green Spartan’s name. I wonder if Barrett knew…

“Hey Barrett, do you know that black and green Spartan’s name that was in there?” I asked.
“Yes, that’s the Nova Team’s leader, John, Nova Six,” Barrett replied.
“Ah, ok thanks.”

Taking my helmet off, I wiped the sweat off my head, then got up to take a look around. I saw Derrick, and started to walk over to him. I leaned against the wall across from him, wanting to say something. I gathered up my courage to talk to him.

“So do you think we’ll get anything out of that Elite?” I asked.
“Maybe… It really all depends,” Derrick replied.
“Yeah.”
“I mean, I would think most Elites wouldn’t tell a soul, but who knows.”
“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
“Exactly.”

A few minutes of awkward silence went by. I wasn’t sure what to say to break the silence, and yet not be annoying. Just then, a thought popped into my head. I thought about it for a few seconds before saying it. After looking around, I looked over at Derrick.

“So do you think John is almost done in there?” I asked.
“I’m not sure. I guess we’ll find out soon though,” he replied.

A few more minutes went by, and I watched as John came out of the room. I approached him, wondering if he got anything out of the Elite.

“Anything?” I asked.
“We’re heading north. He says they’re attacking the city north of here,” John replied.

I nodded, and sat down on the nearest chair next to Derrick.

“Did you hear that? Looks like we found something out,” I said.
“He could be lying, but I guess it doesn’t hurt to try,” Derrick replied.
“Crew, we’re heading north!” John said, getting in the pilot seat.

I got in a seat, and waited to get to our destination. An hour or so went by, and we arrived there in the Phantom. I jumped out, to see nothing but a normal city, with people minding their own business. Nothing suspicious, just an ordinary city. Was Derrick right? Could it have been true that the Elite was lying? Or were we just early? I stood there, waiting a few minutes for something to happen. Same thing. People normally walking around, minding their own business. I ran inside the Phantom to find John holding a gun to the Elite’s head.

“Where are they? Tell me… NOW!” John said in anger.
“I already told you,” the Elite replied.

I saw John put more pressure on the Elite’s head, using the gun, and getting ready to pull the trigger.

“Then where are your little Covenant friends?” John asked.

The Elite didn’t say anything, in reply to what John said. Next thing I heard, was a gun shot, and saw the Elite dead. I slowly walked over to tell something to John, but just as I did that, there was a huge explosion sound. We both ran out of the Phantom, to see dozens of Covenant troops heading our way.

[Artaxia]

Chapter 11:

I stood ready, holding my Assault Rifle. The Covenant were coming in closer and closer every second.

“You’re going to need more than just an Assault Rifle,” John said, handing me a Rocket Launcher.

I saw him running off, probably getting ready. Once the Covenant were in close enough, I would blast them away with the Rocket Launcher. There were only two Phantoms with troops, so there couldn’t be that many for this many Spartans to fight off. Finally, they came in close enough for me to use my Rocket Launcher. I aimed at the group coming in towards us, and fired a rocket at them. Seconds went by, and a whole bunch of Covenant fell to the ground. There were still more coming though, and the other Spartans were fighting them off with Assault Rifles and Spartan Lasers. I aimed again for the Covenant coming in, fired, and waited. Once the smoke blew away, I saw three more Phantoms coming in. We just finished off the rest of those Covenant that were coming in, but now three more Phantoms…and some drop pods too. I looked around to go fight with another Spartan, not wanting to fight alone. Derrick was the first Spartan I spotted, so I quickly ran over to him.

“Do you think there will be more after these?” I asked him.
“I don’t know. Just get ready for the Covenant that are about to come in,” he replied.

I stood there, getting ready for the Covenant coming in. A Grunt must’ve caught me when I was off guard, and shot me with a Fuel Rod. I flew backwards, breaking part of a building. I slowly picked myself up, and looked around to see Grunts with Fuel Rods closing in around me. I looked to my left, then my right, and tried to think of what to do. There had to be some way out, there just had to be. All the other Spartans were off fighting, so they couldn’t do anything to help. I quickly used my Rocket Launcher, aiming it at all the Grunts around me, then locked my armor as fast as I could. Once the explosion and smoke was gone, I stood up, to see the other Spartans fighting the Covenant coming in. I ran over to go help, but just as I got to them, something happened. I thought I saw a Skirmisher, but when I ran over, it turned out to be a hologram. I quickly turned around for a Brute to knock me down to the ground. I struggled to get up, but noticed he was about to slam down his Gravity Hammer on top of me. I got ready to shoot it with my Rocket Launcher to only find out I was out of ammo. I covered my face with the Rocket Launcher, hoping the Gravity Hammer wouldn’t cause as much damage. Just as the Brute was about to smash it on me, he was blown away by an explosion. I turned quickly to my left to see Derrick holding a grenade.

“Get out of there!” He yelled.

I got up and out of the position I was in. I joined in with Derrick, to fight side by side with him. I was able to get more ammo for my Rocket Launcher so I could use it against the Covenant army heading for us. Me and Derrick blew the Covvies away with our Rocket Launchers while other Spartans used Pelicans or Scorpions. I looked to the sky to see three Phantoms in the air, dropping more troops. How many more would there be? I questioned myself again and again about if we would defeat all of them and how many more there would be.

Hours went by, or it seemed to be that long, and the Covenant troops were finally decreasing. I watched as over half of them started running off in the opposite direction. Why would they just run off? Did they have another plan? Was it because they were almost defeated? I probably would never find out why. I took a few deep breaths as I put down my Rocket Launcher and slowly turned to Derrick.

“They’re retreating,” I said to him.
“I know, I can see that,” Derrick replied.
“For no reason though?”
“They’re probably going to attack another city, or build up an even bigger army.”
“Even bigger?! Than that??”
“Yes…”

Just then, I turned to see John running out towards us. Me and Derrick ran over to him to see what was going on.

“What is it?” Derrick quickly asked.
“We’ve gotten reports that the Covenant are attacking a city a few miles from here. We have to get there ASAP,” John replied.
“Yes Sir,” Derrick replied, “come on.”

I followed Derrick back to the Phantom, but he stopped me from getting inside, then turned around to face me.

“Wait, let’s get into the Falcon,” he said.
“Sir,” I replied.

We ran to the nearest Falcon, jumping into it, and taking off. I sat there, waiting to get to the city. I saw Derrick across from me, contacting someone.

“This is Nova Three,. Zodiac Six, do you copy?” He asked.
“Zodiac Six in. What is it?” Levi asked.
“We’re going into a huge battle and need you to bring the rest of the Zodiac Team with you. Gavin is on the same Falcon as me right now.”
“Yes sir.”

I stared at Derrick for a few seconds, not exactly sure what to say about my team heading over… Especially Levi. Once Levi was here, he’d start bossing me around as if he were the leader… When he’s not, and he knows it too. Well, at least now I could see Riley again. It feels like awhile since I saw her, but I know it hasn’t been all that long. Derrick started staring at me, with a confused expression on his face. He was probably wondering why I was so quiet. He looked away in a few seconds though, unlike Evan would’ve done. He would have asked me what was on my mind, and I could tell him everything. Not Derrick though, he was very different from Evan, it seemed. Well, I don’t know him all that much, so I can’t judge him from the start. I looked out of the Falcon, viewing the scenery.

I wondered when we would be at the city. Could it be an hour? Maybe a few hours? A day?! No… John said it was only a few miles away. It wouldn’t take a day. Maybe a few hours, but definitely not a day. I wonder if Derrick would know how far we were from the city…

“Hey Derrick?” I asked.
“Yeah?” He replied.
“How much farther until we get to the city?”
“I’m not sure… Why not ask J–”

A shot from a Wrath, came flying past our Falcon, shaking it from side to side. I looked back out the Falcon to see a city being attacked by a huge Covenant army. My question was obviously answered now. The army I saw was huge… Bigger than the one we just fought. Phantoms, Wraiths, Ghosts and all the Covenant vehicles you could imagine were all there. Not just one of each either, but two or more of every kind. Then there were Elites… Way more than I’ve ever seen in my life. I couldn’t believe I was actually getting into a battle this big. What if I messed up? What if I was somehow captured? What if I became a risk to all the Spartans by being there?

…

Okay, I’ll just take this little by little. I’ll see what happens once I get there. The worst that could happen is that I would die…and that’s pretty bad. I’m here for a reason though, and it’s not to sit and think of what could happen, it’s to save the planet from the Covenant.

Just then, another shot from a Wraith hit the Falcon. We started hurling towards the ground.

[Artaxia]

Chapter 12:

I had no idea what to do, so I turned to Derrick in a split second. He looked at me, putting his helmet back on.

“Lock your armor! This is gonna be a hard landing…” He yelled over the sound of the Falcon falling.

I did as he said, locking my armor. Seconds went by. All I could think now was… What next? Would I die? Would I be hurt? I frantically waited until the Falcon finally fell to the ground. The seconds seemed like minutes, but it finally crashed, bursting into flames. I unlocked my armor to see Derrick standing across from me, and the dead ODST Pilot. I looked behind Derrick to see the city not too far off, being attacked by a huge army of Covenant. I turned back to Derrick to see him slowly making his way over to me.

“Come on, let’s get to the city. The Zodiac Team and the others are already there,” Derrick said.

I followed Derrick, until we were finally at the city. I took a look around to see buildings burning, Banshees and Phantoms in the sky, and finally, I looked to see my team. I just stared off for a few seconds in shock, not sure about what to do. Derrick nudged me, and I quickly turned to look at him.

“What?” I asked.
“Get your head in the battle, Gavin,” he replied.

Right. I forget we were in the midst of a battle. I saw a turret laying on the ground, so I went over and picked it up. I started blazing it, but what I didn’t realize was that all it was doing was attracting all the Covenant’s attention on me. I didn’t know what we were supposed to be doing until Derrick yelled into my face.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” He yelled, “WE’RE SUPPOSED TO MAKE A SURPRISE ATTACK ON THEM!”

I stared at him, unsure of what to do. How was I supposed to know they were planning a surprise attack? No one ever told me… Of course though, no one ever tells me anything.

…

No, no… I would have to stop thinking about this for now, and head over to my team like I was told to. Just as I started heading over to them, a Phantom landed onto the ground in front of all the Spartans. I was shocked to see there were no troops coming out. Everyone started shooting at it, except me. I looked behind myself to see a bunch of invisible Elites about to attack the Spartans shooting at the Phantom. I had one try to warn them.

“EVERYONE! LOOK BEHIND YOU!” I yelled.

They turned around, but by the time they actually did, it was too late. The Elites pinned them down one at a time by surprise. I started running over there to help, but an Elite knocked me to the ground. By the time I got up, they already boarded all of them onto their Phantom. They somehow managed to forget me though. I got up, to run into the Phantom, but it was already flying off into the air.

…

Now what would I do?

The city was destroyed. My friends were gone. What do I have left to fight for? Hope is gone…

“Gavin,” someone said, putting their hand on my shoulder.

I jumped a bit from the surprise, and looked back to see a big, black and blue Spartan. I looked at him with a confused look from under my helmet.

“You have to come with me, if you want to save them too,” he said. “You can call me Death, I’m in the Nova Team.”

I nodded, and looked around my hiding spot, then turned back to face Death.

“Where should we go?” I asked.
“We’ll head out, but when the sun sets, we’ll make camp for the night,” Death replied.

We headed out of the hiding spot, going into the woods, which he mentioned was a shortcut to the Phantom. We came to an area that was more out in the opened, but still covered by some trees. I looked up at the sky to see that it was almost night. I turned to look at Death who was putting his stuff on the ground, then he looked over at me.

“Set up a campfire, I’ll get everything else ready,” he said.
“Yes sir,” I replied.

I went back into the woods to get some branches, sticks, or piles of wood to make fire with. I came back about ten minutes later with a large amount of fire wood. I looked, noticing Death must of set up the camp, but I didn’t actually see Death anywhere. I set the wood down in the middle of the camp, and looked around for him.

Minutes went by, he was no where in sight. What if he was captured by an Elite or something? What if I was next? How would I ever know what happened to him?

“Death?” I asked in a loud whisper.
“Gavin… I’m over here,” he replied, in a quiet voice.

I slowly walked over to Death, wondering what he was doing. I stared at him for a few seconds before asking. He just stood there, staring up at the sky… Something I also did a lot. Was he thinking of stuff like I did?

“What are you doing?” I asked him, standing at his side.
“Thinking,” he replied.

There was an awkward silence. I was going to ask him what he was thinking about, but decided not to, since it might make it more awkward. I stood there, staring up at the sky with him, wondering what he was thinking about. I saw him look at me out of the corner of my eye, so I turned to see him. I looked at him with a confused face, wondering what he was doing.

“I’d better go take watch. You can get some sleep, Gavin,” he said.
“No, it’s fine. How about I watch for the night?” I asked.
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I’m fine with it.”
“All right… Well, good night, Gavin.”

I went off to watch, and I saw Death slowly going to sleep. About an hour went by, and I noticed Death was sound asleep. I couldn’t imagine how much more boring this watch could get. Maybe I should have gone to sleep instead. I’m sure that would’ve been more exciting then staring off into the night for hours. I started to stare up at the night sky. The stars were clear to see, and I just stared at them all. Maybe this would be a bit more exciting.

Just then, someone covered my mouth, and dragged me into the woods.

“I’m not here to hurt you,” he said, taking his hand off my mouth.
“Who are you?!” I asked in shock.
“Master Chief, but that’s not important right now. If you want to save your friends, you’ll have to come with me.”
“What about Death?”
“He’ll know where you are. Now let’s go.”

I followed Chief into the darkness, where he would lead me to the Phantom holding my friends.