Homecoming: Blaine's Legacy *redux*

Chapter 19: Mortals

The battle on the surface had gone well for the UNSC forces. Chief and his squadron had shut down the first generator, while Arbiter and Anch had shut down the second. Blaine's heart sank, however, when Johnson didn't respond to Keye' hail on the third generator.

"Boyo." Morgan said, placing a hand on Blaine's shoulder. "The Master Chief will get this. Believe in yer own words, boyo."

"Time is running thin, old man." Blaine shook his head. "For all we know, Truth could fire off the rings before Chief gets to the third barrier."

"Nah." Darryl grunted, patting the side of the Golden Eagle. "Truth is probably too busy yammering about his Great Journey to the Covenant for morale. He won't rush the ceremony. A plan is a plan, we're dropping in with the Golden Eagle to take out Truth's guards the second that barrier goes down so that the Chief and the Arbiter can finish this thing."

"Fire up the engines." Blaine said, standing. "Josh, Phil, I want you on the side turrets. Darryl, you're the pilot. Morgan, you've got the rear turret, I'll handle the Scorpion tank."

"What about me, Captain?" Scott asked.

"Stay with Autumn, she'll need the morale now more than ever."

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Covenant Seraphs, Banshees, and Phantoms saturated the area outside of the Ark's control room. Blaine's Golden Eagle led the charge of the small band of Hornets, Falcons, and Pelicans into the fray. Blaine turned the Scorpion tank on top of the bird, firing a lone shell deep into the side of a Phantom.

The ship erupted in a brilliant flash of violet and blue, the mangled pieces of Brutes, Jackals, and Grunts fell to the ground along with the remains of the drop-ship.

"C'mon Harlowe men!" Morgan cheered from the back. "Our family takes the impossible, and kicks it's ass to the curb!"

Opening fire with his turret, the old Scotsman's turrets riddled through the Banshee the was tailing them's hull. It sparked for a moment, before nose diving to the ground.

"That's for Amber, ye sons of bitches!"

Blaine turned his tank turret, firing at the nearest Seraph, shattering it's shields and dropping the space craft into the building with a crash. In his suit's head's up display, he could see everything the tank was looking at, zooming his optics towards the cliffs, he could see Master Chief boarding a Hornet.

"Keep up the fight boys!" Blaine barked. "Chief's advancing on the building!"

"Easy for YOU to say freak!" Josh growled. "I'm freezing my ass off out here, and I'm not protected by the ship!"

Click

"Eaaaaaaghhhh!" Blaine could hear Morgan groan from the back.

Ripping himself from the control panel, he turned to see the old Scotsman standing there, at the back of the Pelican, a giant spike protruding from his chest.

"Well," Morgan sighed. "Shit."

Stumbling backwards, Morgan fell out of the Golden Eagle, as Blaine sprinted towards the hatch, Darryl setting the ship to auto pilot, chasing Blaine.

Blaine dove, as Darryl clenched onto a handle on the side of the ship, he grabbed Blaine's ankle, stopping the Captain from jumping out after Morgan.

"DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD!" Blaine roared, reaching a hand out, as the older ODST fell.

"'Cause I'm free! Free Fallin'!" Morgan whispered into the comm. "Love ya boyo. Live the life yer mother would've wanted ye to."

Blaine laid there, hanging out of the back of the Pelican, Darryl struggling to keep him inside of the auto maneuvering ship. Closing his eyes, his suit beeped as the vitals for the old man disappeared.

Wind gushed past his helmet, the sounds of war slowly dissolving around the Spartan, as he felt something wet pass down his cheek. It felt like something had been caught in his throat, as he slammed his fist down on the metal.

"Covenant Scarabs, two of them!" Keyes barked into the comm.

"Not for long." Blaine mustered, as Darryl pulled him back into the bay.

Grabbing the jet pack unit from the cockpit, Blaine charged out of the back, Darryl trying again to stop him. But he was too late, Blaine nose dived towards the nearest Scarab, his DMR gripped tightly to his chest.

It ain't much, but think of it as a gift for all the missed birthdays. Love ya boyo. Here's to many more. it had said on the card attached to the weapon.

Activating the jet-pack, Blaine still slammed onto the hull of the newer model Scarab. Brutes, Jackals, and Grunts all glared at him, as he stayed in that crouching position, his fist embedded into the metal.

"You alien bastards are regret that." Blaine growled darkly, as the Brutes charged. "I'LL RIP YER FUCKIN' HEARTS OUT!"

Charging forward, Blaine slammed his shoulder into the muscle covered ape leading the advance. The golden armored Brute flew backwards, the armor surrounded it disintegrated, the beast scrambling to it's feet. Firing a lone shot, he plugged the ape in the face, swinging his left boot in a high arch, slamming a Minor in the back of it's head, knocking it off of the Scarab.

Turning back, another Brute Major tried to stab him with it's Brute shot, kicking the blade aside, he pounced on the Brute. Slamming the butt of his DMR into it's skull, he continued to do so until purple blood splattered onto his visor.

Standing, he turned slowly towards the Grunts and Jackals, that stared, frightened. Cracking his neck, Blaine stepped forwards slowly, the smaller units threatening to fire their weapons.

"What's keeping you?" Blaine grinned beneath his helmet. "What's keeping you from ending my life, eh?"

"Blaine, you need to stop this!" Autumn cried from the other side of the comm. "Killing yourself isn't what he'd want."

Turning off the external comms., Blaine continued to walk forward, as the lead Grunt shakily lifted it's Plasma Pistol at him. Reaching down, fast as a viper, Blaine grabbed it's stubby arm, raising it's own Plasma pistol into it's own chin.

Squeezing it's hand, the Plasma Pistol overcharged, causing it's wielder to panic. Leaning as close as he could to the creature, he stared it in the beady little eyes.

"You don't have to wonder where your God is." Blaine smiled beneath his helmet, using his spare hand to clasp it's shoulder, his DMR clattering to the floor. "'Cause he's right here!"

Firing the overcharge into the Grunt's head, it exploded, as he kicked up the DMR, firing it into the Jackals and remaining Grunt's head.

"AND HE'S FRESH OUTTA MERCY!"

Headed down into the lower levels, Blaine casually fired his DMR into the heads of anything that stood in his way. Barreling his way down into the main control chamber, a single Brute Chieftain snorted at him, it's Gravity Hammer in hand.

Rushing the Spartan, Blaine jumped just as it's hammer struck the ground, vaulting over the ape's head. Turning on his heels, he fired the remainder of his clip into it's head, the shields of it's armor holding strong. Bum rushing the creature, his DMR on his back, Blaine reached his hands above his head, as the Chieftain swung downwards.

Catching the staff, Blaine and the Brute struggled for control over the hammer, as Blaine swiftly kneed it in the groin. The Chieftain howled, releasing it's grip just enough for the Spartan to get his advantage. Kicking the Brute away, his new toy in hand, he swung it with all of his might, smashing the Brute back into the wall behind it.

Swinging the back side of the hammer, the blade slagged the Brute's right leg off, as he force pushed it back again. Swinging the bladed edge once more, he slashed off an arm. The Brute laid there, as Blaine swung the blade into it's other arm, pinning the Brute there.

"Stick around, or you'll miss the fireworks."

Walking in front of the control panel, Blaine saw a mass of squirming worms in front of him.

"You little fuckers make up the Hunters, don't you?" Blaine grinned. "You wanna live another day to eat shit? Do as I command."

Plunging his fist into the mass of the worms, Blaine squeezed enough until he could hear them shriek shrilly.

"Fire main cannon at the other Scarab, and do it NOW!"

With a shudder, the Scarab around him took a step backwards, a giant green column of energy splashing against the other Scarab, causing it to go critical.

"Well done." Blaine grinned beneath his helmet, producing a frag from his pouch.

Plunging it with the pin pulled, he sprinted off of the side of the Scarab, the Golden Eagle hovering beside it. Landing in the troop bay, he was saddened to see Morgan's corpse laying there, Phil and Josh nodding solemnly at the Spartan.

"Captain Harlowe to Keyes and Chief... finish this fight." Blaine shook his head. "Returning to the Aura."

Chapter 20: New Beginnings.

Blaine's Golden Eagle landed in the troop bay, as Autumn and Scott scrambled over. The troop bay opened, Blaine carrying Morgan's limp form in both of his powerful arms, trembling with overwhelming emotion.

Marines all over the bay turned to watch, as the Spartan tried desperately to make it through the troop bay. Before the Captain stopped, falling to his knees, hugging the corpse in his hand.

Morgan's body was mangled from his fall, but Blaine didn't care about that, he removed the helmet, glancing at his father's still face. Despite the structural changes, the old man looked at peace with himself. Darryl stepped forward, crouching beside Blaine, placing a hand on his shoulder, before removing the old man from his grasp.

Darryl continued out of the bay, as Blaine sat there, on his knees, staring at the blood on his gauntlets. Josh, Phil, and Scott hung their heads, as Autumn's eyes welled with tears. One of the Mechanics walked over solemnly, handing Blaine a clean towel.

Autumn took the towel, gently cleaning off Blaine's gauntlets, before tossing the towel aside. Removing his helmet, she held her face besides his, hugging him with all of her strength, as he stayed in that pose for quite some time.

"I'm sorry, Blaine." she cried, her warm tears rolling down the side of his neck. "Word's cannot express how sorry I am."

Blaine didn't speak, he just continued to stare at his gloves, as she squeezed even harder. Autumn quivered in sadness, as Josh, Phil, and Scott escorted the Marines out of the room.

"You're never alone, Blaine." Autumn sobbed. "I'll never leave you alone."

"Yes." Blaine said, pulling her off of him. "You will. When this is over, when we get back to Earth, I'm having you, Darryl, Scott, Phil, and Josh all relocated, as far away from me as I can."

"How could you say that?" Autumn growled, laying on the floor. "HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?!"

"Because if you're close to me, you get hurt." Blaine sighed. "I'm resigning from the Captain spot, and I'm taking on only the deadliest of missions."

Hugging him again, she cried into his neck even harder, trembling.

"You don't mean that." she sobbed. "You can't mean that."

"I do." Blaine shook his head. "It's for your guys' safety. I clearly cannot keep my men safe, and therefore I need to get you guys as far from me as possible."

"No you don't, and you won't." she hugged tighter. "I love you too much to see you do this to yourself!"

"You-"

"I love you." she sobbed. "I have ever since I first met you, and nothing will ever change that. Morgan wouldn't want you to stop on his account, and I don't want to see you do this to yourself."

Blaine sat there, motionless, as she continued to quiver. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her in for a hug, squeezing gently to prevent hurting her, as he rested his head against hers.

"I'm sorry." Blaine whispered. "I just-"

"You feel like your universe is crumbling around you." she whispered back. "But it'll all be okay. The pain will stay for only a while, but you'll bounce back. You always do."

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"Status report, Sergeant Major?" Blaine asked, as Johnson shook his head, a frown permanently stuck on his face.

"The Commander is K.I.A, sir." Johnson sighed. "Truth is stopped, and the immediate threat is over, sir."

"My condolences about Keyes, she was one of the best in the Navy. Good to hear this war is finally over, though." Blaine nodded, feeling slightly better, knowing the Covenant threat was dealt with after all of these years. "What of the Flood threat?"

"Chief and the Arbiter have chosen to stay, sir. The Crew within the Forward Unto Dawn were all we had on the ground, and losses are heavy. With your permission, I want to stay, with the Chief and Arbiter. We'll use the Dawn as exfil, sir."

"Granted, Sergeant Major." Blaine nodded. "I know you will do what needs to be done, I will share the news with Hood at once."

Blaine turned off the comm., turning to the void of space, the Portal still looming above their ship. The remainder of the Elite's fleet passed back through the purple portal, as Blaine wrapped an arm around Autumn's shoulders.

"Nav, head through that Portal. We're all going home."

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Hood sighed, pulling his hat off, before rubbing his bald scalp.

"No word from the Dawn, Captain?" Hood asked, as Blaine shook his head.

"No sir, Sergeant Major stayed with the Chief and Arbiter to find Cortana and her solution. Forward Unto Dawn is their means home, sir."

Almost as soon as he had said it, there was a crash in the air, as the half of the Forward Unto Dawn cascaded into the Indian Sea. Nodding respectfully, Blaine entered his Pelican, flying towards the wreckage.

On arrival, his suit only gave off one friendly IFF tag in the cockpit, meaning two of the three didn't make it. With help from some Marines, they slagged off a panel from the side of the ship, the Arbiter stepping out.

Blaine's hand met with the alien's, as he helped him into the Pelican. Hoisting the panel, Blaine used the Pelican's magnetic grip to keep the panel in place. Hovering back to the designated landing zone, Blaine saw Lord Hood standing there with a box of medals and pictures.

Darryl and Blaine carried the panel over towards a small hill, driving the metal into the Earth, as Hood ceremoniously placed the pictures of several UNSC personnel onto the metal. Pausing, Blaine pulled his knife out, glancing at Darryl, who nodded, before carving a pair of things into the metal.

117 Noble Team

Standing back, Hood prepared a speech, the Arbiter standing with a crowd of Marines. Blaine standing off to the side, Scott, Phil, and Josh beside him, BRs at the ready.

"For us, the storm has passed; the war is over." Hood started. "But let us not forget those who journeyed into the howling dark... and did not return."

"Their decision required courage beyond measurement, sacrifice, and unshakable conviction that their fight, our fight, was elsewhere."

Anch and the Arbiter shuffled in between the Marines and human civilians that participated in the procession. Blaine sat there, memories of the short few years he spent with his father, his friend Gaspar the farmer, Jorge and all of his fellow Spartans that all fell to this war flowing into his mind, Autumn glancing over to him with a cute smile and a nod.

"As we start to rebuild, this hillside will remain barren- a memorial to heroes fallen. They enobled all of us, and they will never be forgotten."

Returning his hat to his head, Hood, saluted, as Blaine stood rigid.

"MEN!" Blaine barked. "PRESENT ARMS!"

Scott, Phil, Josh, and three other ODSTs all raised their BRs, as Blaine hoisted his DMR. Aiming into the air with their blanks, the seven soldiers fired their weapons, the rounds echoing throughout Mount Killimanjaro.

At the end of the twenty-one gun salute, Blaine stepped up alongside Hood, the two Elites in the crowd stepping forward. Blaine stood beside Hood, staring at the image of Morgan, beaming with Craig in their teen years, an image Craig had given Blaine years ago.

"My condolences, Blaine." Hood bowed his head in respect, turning to the Elites. "I may never forgive you."

The Elites nodded respectfully, as Blaine and Hood held out their hands, Anch accepting Blaine's, and Arbiter accepting Hood's.

"But you have our thanks, for standing by us till the end." Blaine nodded.

"It's hard to believe he's dead." Hood sighed.

"Were it so easy." Arbiter replied respectfully, glancing to the Covenant Super Carrier in the distance, their ride home.

"My many thanks, Captain." Anch replied with a bow. "Were it not for your benevolence, I would have never seen the error of my ways, and my Keep would all be dead. My most sincerest of condolences for your loss."

"Be well, Anch." Blaine nodded.

"Same to you, Spartan." Anch clicked his mandibles, as the two Elites entered their Phantom, speeding off to the Super Carrier.

"I have some news for you, Captain." Hood turned to face Blaine. "Firstly, I'd like for you and your men to take some well deserved shore leave."

"Will do, sir." Blaine nodded, glancing at his remaining ODSTs.

"Secondly, I want you to delete your mission tapes for that final battle. Parangosky doesn't need to see that. You're far to valuable to the Navy to lose from one moment of pain."

"Lastly, I want to congratulate you, Spartan." Hood said with a small grin, placing a hand on Blaine's shoulder. "As of this moment, you are a Rear Admiral in the Navy. You've proven your worth to the Fleet, and I see much promise in you. Enjoy your rest though, because once your leave is over... you'll be needed again."

"For what, sir?" the newly coined Admiral Blaine replied.

"I'm splitting Spartans from the Navy, son. SPARTAN will be it's own branch of the military. I want YOU to head the Branch, but not only that, I need you to train our newest recruits. More details will follow shortly. Until then, take some time off, son."

With that, Admiral Hood walked away, leaving Blaine with the panel in the ground. He felt a single arm wrap around his chest, as Autumn stood beside him, hugging lightly. Josh and Phil appeared on either side of them, Scott standing back, as they bowed their heads, the sun setting over the horizon.

End

Author's notes: So a few things I want to say. 1. Yes, I'm sorry. Morgan supposedly lived in the future stories, but I decided that in order to change Blaine more, I needed something extremely drastic to happen.

Katie and Morgan being gone from the future of the story will make Blaine a little more bitter and strict, but he'll still hold some semblance of the Spartan you've known. It will just offer some changes to the story, and may actually permit me to do other things I've never done before.

2. I know this seems rushed, mostly, it's because the Halo 3 story is rather short anyways, and I didn't want to follow my old steps and have Blaine right with Chief all the way. Instead, I took that time to hopefully build the characters, mainly Autumn and Blaine, a little more before I send them into the future stories.

3. No, Morgan never played the Bagpipes with Blaine. But they will still be around, and Blaine will likely play them again.

4. Those that read my story before may remember that Blade Raptor, John, Lucy, and Manuel made appearances in this story. I have not forgotten them, but with Lucy and John changing, I want to wait until I can find a way to plug them in with their revised selves before I can. Manuel and the Legion will appear VERY soon though. Blade Raptor will be around, somewhere, I promise.

Thanks for reading Homecoming "Anniversary". I know the Reach and Halo 2/3 parts were still boring/the same shit you could've played in game. But I hope that the parts in between were enjoyable. Personally, I enjoyed Butch's fight with Blaine best, but that's just me.

Anyways, I hope to see you all at the re-release of Orion: The Next Generation!

Well, what I can say is I enjoyed the story and it actually felt like Blaine's story. Blaine was his own man this time around, not somebody that was just shadowing Chief around

As for the Legion, you might want to check the other thread I'll post in soon.

Homecoming anniversary XD

Morgan and the others live in the Blade/Cipher/Saber universe.

speaking of anniversary titles I had my four year yold neice watch the h2 Anniversary Gravemind cutscene with my eighteen year old nephew and myself (I am twenty two almost twenty three with a nephew a year younger than me). Wasy my neice scared at all? No she was not. Did she have nightmares? Hell no she didn't. I wonder what would happen if I get her to read this.

Christ dude, it wasn't that scary . I just said that, based on what I saw ten years ago, this new Gravemind design is definitely a LOT creepier.