CSA : Plains of Glory

So I said I'd put my mega cross-over up. Well, here it is in it's glory. Starting from the Prologue up.

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The plains were a somber gold with new greens of spring grasses arising, fresh and anew. The skies were blue and thin white clouds stretched across like overlapping stitches. Slivers of heat were rising in the distance, but this was normal of the temperature to be like this during the mid-afternoon.

Giant wasps buzzed across fallen logs to return to a nearby tree so that they may build their homes. Massive dragonflies zipped through the air to catch and devour prey. Large cattle with spikes protruding from their spins and horns from their heads grazed the fields of dry grass. Distant mountains hovered over the trees from afar. They were brown and green and had white peaks with their great height. Clouds of white, thicker than those over the fields of gold, passed around the peaks. Far above, higher than the clouds, two crescents glowed in the afternoon sky from the sunlight of three stars sitting beyond them. This was a truly interesting system, a ternary star system. Three stars and two moons above, there was a great peacefulness that resided on this field.

However, the peace was short lived. The peace was ended when an explosion rocked the soil and tore dirt and grass from the ground. A bolt of blue stretched across and struck a six-legged silver machine that returned a larger red bolt. Explosions ripped into the terrain and two forces met.

One side consisted of Gryllians, and great monsters they looked. They were nearly completely covered in armor, some more than others. Their four legs allowed them to traverse quickly and leap great lengths. They were seven feet tall or even more than that. They had cylindrical bodies and bore deadly clawed hands on each arm. Their helmets glowed at the eyes, mostly blue.

Several hulking machines like the six-legged one marched across, firing red-hot plasma across the field of bleeding soldiers to their enemies, the Legio Mechanicae. These machine-men were also nearly as huge as the Gryllians, or even larger than so. They were human, or the remnants of Humanity which had been mechanized. They were brutish and powerful and their greater ranks could annihilate a Spartan three and four.

More explosions tore into the landscape, following by whines and whizzes of explosive rounds or plasma. Flying machines raced across the sky and littered it with ammunition and smoke. Metal rained from the sky as a Gryllian Interceptor Cruiser, over a kilometer long and with a wedged bow, ripped into the atmosphere with a trail of smoke and fire following. It smashed into a mountain and exploded, destroying the land around it and turning it into a fiery blackness.

Gryllisus's eyes snapped open in terror as he looked across a similar field, though this field had more mountains in its background. He was remembering a battle from long ago. It resulted in the destruction of the planet and its atmosphere. He remembered the field especially. The field held the highest death count on the ground. He nicknamed it the Field of Blood and it went down as part of one of the largest engagements to occur during the Gryllian and Legio War.

He looked up at the sky and saw only two stars and then spotted the only moon of the planet. He did this to reassure himself. The Legio Mechanicae was one of the only enemies to truly instill fear into him.

His eyes shut again as he meditated in his spot on the flat, cool rock. His mind was completely blank and held together by the sounds of life around him. Here, too, there were giant dragonfly-like insects. Though these flying arthropods were also domesticated and keep as pets by Gryllians. They were also dangerous and could tear apart its prey with ease.

Several hours passed as he enjoyed his break from the business of ruling an empire before he was interrupted by one of his messengers. He could sense him as he approached his meditating form.

"What news do you bring me, Tabellus?" The meditating Gryllian droned.

"I bring bad news, it is of Kholo."

With that, the large Gryllian opened his eyes and looked across the field. His eyes held a sorrow and anger that was directed not to the messenger, but to the subject of the news. Most rulers would have killed the messenger for bringing bad news, but Gryllians praised news that was good or bad. Knowledge and common sense was power to them.

He felt a pang in his heart as he remembered his brother from the memory of a time long ago. Kholo, to him, was misguided and searched for something that didn't offer what he thought. Kholo sought salvation from the Forerunners, of whom he had managed to set up cult to worship and do whatever possible to gain from the long lost civilization.

The Forerunners were an ancient and extraordinarily powerful race that existed eons ago. Their technology, seemingly impossible to destroy and easy to use for destruction, existed through the centuries unaffected by the corrosive process of time. Their weapons were capable of marring planets and causing stars to supernovae. Their faster-than-light slipstream travel was far advanced and allowed vessels to traverse the diameter of the galaxy within a hour or so. They constructed super-massive structures capable of wiping out life within the galaxy or harboring it.

The ancient race, a shadow of the past, seemed invulnerable. They controlled the entirety of the galaxy and its satellites with an iron fist that could be deemed as tyrannical, yet peaceful. But, no empire was indestructible.

The Flood, a parasitic race of unfathomable infectivity and power, existed and broke the ecumene. It unnoticeably corrupted the Forerunner's government and caused it rot from within. The Primordial, as one of the remaining Forerunner constructs named it, managed to bend a powerful asset of the Forerunner's to its will and had crippled them with this power.

Soon, as stories go, the Flood grew to power that could only be described as 'unrealistic.' They 'infested' the alternate dimension that was slipstream space, brought massive, far more ancient structures to life to crush planets and disable ships, and turn entire planets into one singular hive mind strategist.

All for the reason of revenge, so it seemed to Gryllisus. A long, thought out revenge. But, what for? Gryllisus did not know. The Forerunner constructs, so far, did not know the history prior to one million years ago.

The Gryllian emperor rose up from the ground and nodded to the courier. They left to the shuttle that rested several miles away and after an hour, they reached it. They set off from the Fields of Meditation and headed back to the capital city of Bimaculus, the capital world of the Gryllian Imperium, Primus.

Primus was huge and rested between and on two mountain ranges. There were platforms that rested on the sides of the mountains themselves. High above, also a part of Primus, were the great sky towers. They acted as atmospheric filters that kept pollution down to nothing and as aerial cities.

The great capital city held tall skyscrapers and great aerial pathways between buildings. Railways curved about the city and linked districts to districts. He enjoyed the view out of the window of the transport. The transport traveled underneath a bridge connecting the peaks of two huge skyscrapers. Eventually, the transport beheld a massive tower, wide at the base where there were other structures and railways. It then ran up like a pyramid and eventually turned into two pillars that ran up into the air until they merged once more at the peak.

The transport vessel hovered higher until it reached a platform jutting out from the main pillar. The vehicle grounded itself and gravity locks held it in place as Gryllisus and his courier left for the main room. They boarded a gondola to travel to the central hub, and when they reached it they took through several more halls and eventually found themselves in a huge, atrium-like room. In the center laid a holographic table that currently showed the Milky Way galaxy. Off to the sides, there were enormous windows that let in large amounts of the comforting sunlight. Above, chandeliers dangled and ribbons of light swirled and flexed around each crystal and stretched between each glamorous decoration. At the far end, there was a great desk with many holograph images and other pieces of décor.

They passed by multiple columns to reach the table and they both took the time to turn and admire the view of the city that was far below. Behind them, the door ringed and pulsed and opened as a group of Gryllians entered the room.

"Greetings brothers." Gryllisus welcomed the entering beings.

After some time exchanging salutations, they settled down on hover chairs that came out from the base of the central holographic table. They looked about as a smaller, holographic Gryllian appeared before them upon the table. It was covered in thick armor and, despite the very armor it wore, was helmet-less. It acknowledged the council before him with a courteous nod.

This was Superious, the Gryllian Imperium's finest discovery. It was a Forerunner-class AI that, rather than pledging its allegiance to Humanity, turned to the Gryllians as its master. It was an artifact that was discovered on a Forerunner installation that was upon a nearby world. However, despite the fact that it was a Forerunner ancilla, it was amnesiac, unfortunately for the Gryllians. Though, may it have had lost much memory, it was still very powerful and did recall some of the Forerunner era, especially the darkest times before the cleansing of the Flood.

"As you are aware, the traitor known as Kholo has been discovered." Superious stopped for a moment, anticipation building. "He has been discovered at the planet, Glory."

Much chatter commenced and Gryllisus could not help himself to become frozen in distraught. Hours earlier, he was remembering the battle. Now, he was more than likely going to visit the place that was devoid of known life. Even now, old derelict ships orbited the planet and one of its wrecked moons continued ripping itself apart slowly in its orbit. Much of the surface of the planet were scars now. That was mainly due to the magnetic accelerator siege cannons that were forced to destroy the Legio forces that were concentrated on one of its continents.

"How shall we engage this?" Gryllisus inquired.

"Currently, he has vessels orbiting a station over its only intact moon. I presume that he has found something very important on the planet, or moon. More than likely, they have found an artifact belonging to that of my creators." The ancilla responded.

"I suggest we send in a fleet and wipe them out. The execution would have to occur at close range, meaning we'll be going in headfirst. It'll be quick and deadly. Perhaps we'll stow our friends, the Colonials, along." Kronos suggested.

Kronos was the closest friend of Gryllisus. They fought together for over a thousand years, ever since their escape of the Legio Mechanicae's biological research world, BEW-719. The memory of the planet was capable of making all of the members of the Immortal Council shutter. From there on, Kronos remained to be Gryllisus's second-in-command and Supreme Lord of Admirals and greatest friend.

"That's another situation. Earlier, Kholo had attacked a Colonial station not too long ago. They will want to come along. The plan that you suggest would be best followed. Kholo's Cult fleets are not as powerful, and they use older variants of our weaponry." Superious informed, following Krono's suggestion.

"Then that path we shall follow." One member accepted.

"And I as well." Another followed suit.

Soon, the suggestion was accepted and the threatening feelings of Kholo had diminished. Of course, Gryllisus himself was worried. Kholo never let himself out in the open like this. Usually, he kept to small skirmishes and acts of piracy. There was something important about that place and Gryllisus felt that he knew. His treacherous brother must have found a Forerunner artifact and this artifact had to have been powerful in some sense.

A fleet of battlestars, which are large capital type vessels with a large fore section that was shaped like the head of an alligator, a midsection that held the fighter docking wings, and a rear section that held the faster-than-light drives and engines, were floating in deep space. This was a patrol fleet, but one of readiness, as there were a total of twenty-five battlestars. Though, these battlestars differed in size along with their class. With the end of the First Galactic War, the battlestars had been changed. They were swiftly upgraded and equipped with energy shielding and new weapons, alongside with upscaling. These vessels were refitted to use magnetic accelerator cannons, which seemed to be becoming a trend among blocky vessels.

The largest of these ships in this fleet was a newer type of battlestar, greater in size than the older variations. Its name was the Hercules. It was a Hammerhead-class battlestar, primarily for its fore section that was wider than that of the other classes. The reason for this wideness was for the fitting of two magnetic accelerators. This vessel was the largest of its battlegroup, sitting at five kilometers in length. It held a larger fighter compliment with its dual hanger bays that sat atop of each other. The engines, though, were sleeker and there were only four large propulsion drives, like that of the Mercury-classes.

"Sir, we've a problem." One of the Hercules's helmsmen called.

"What is it?" A voice returned, belonging to that of Darian.

Darian was a fleet commander verging on vice admiral. He was tall, broad, and muscular. He held a square jaw and sported a graying goatee. He had experienced a great war that earned him his rank. This great war that that earned him the title of fleet commander was the First Galactic War. He served under admiral Adama during the time and he had watched ONI and the Empire fall.

The First Galactic War era was a time where ONI had allied and combined itself with the Galactic Empire, so it was called. While ONI seemed numbered with the UNSC as its military, the Galactic Empire was innumerable. They brought in supplies and ships that bolstered the UNSC's industries, allowing for more ships to be produced at frightening speeds. The Empire, though, was more frightful than that of the UNSC in consideration of military might. They brought vessels of large sizes in large quantities. But ONI was more frightful, for it managed to bend the military of the Galactic Empire to its will.

The war looked grim from the start, as not even the dozen or so empires that surrounded the enemy alliance seemed to stand a chance against their might. However, the tides of war turned when a group of saboteurs joined against them. These so called criminals, or even pirates by some, had done much to change the tides. They managed to cripple ONI in the many times before and during the final battle, killing its leader and causing the organization to dissipate into the shadows. The Gryllians knew who these people were, as their leader had participated with them. Darian could never understand why such a leader would join side by side with those people, or things. He didn't have an exact definition to apply to them. He had heard that sanity was rare aboard that freighter they used.

His old gray eyes scanned the monitor in front of the helmsmen with a dismayed expression. It revealed a transmission calling for reinforcements. "Probably those damned Xenomorphs." He growled.

The Xenomorphs, intelligent and ever more dangerous than their feral cousins, originated from a backwater planet called Mersh. It was a barren world that had a beacon that made the planet read as too dangerous to explore. But, the very pirates who helped end ONI, by ignoring the beacon and finding out that the planet was actually harmless, accidently released the inhabitants within a temple.

These Xenomorphs, once like their regular acidic cousins, were experimented on by the Protheans as to produce a bio weapon. However, the experiment turned into something unfavorable and had gone awry, causing the Protheans to abandon the planet. But the Protheans had, as earlier stated, set up a beacon that would keep the Xenomorphs from being found by any explorers with any sense of self-preservation.

But what was done was done and it was currently impossible to change the past. Darian would just have to deal with the Xenomorphs as if they were, and they were, pests. It would not be too difficult to decimate their fleets after a majority of them left to the fringes of the galaxy and into the Magellanic Clouds after their devastation from a civil war. It would no doubt to him take many years before the fleeing Xenomorphs would reach the closest Magellanic Cloud.

"Hail the vice admiral, I must alert him of something that is afoot." Darian said as he was heading to the communications officer.

"Good evening, Darian." The vice admiral spoke, his voice cold as he was rigid. This man had not only experienced the previous war, but wars before even that.

"Good evening, Vice Admiral Lassiter. I've received a transmission requesting reinforcements. It appears that the Xenomorph remnants are attacking a station several light-years close. It is a civilian station in the Capula System." Darian informed, but with a certain assertive tone. He would go to their aid, no matter what. It was his duty and the vice admiral had acknowledged this in some manner.

"The Capula System? That's right along the outer colonies of Milky Way Galactic Alliance territory, close to the outer fringes. It's one of our colonies." The vice admiral furrowed his brows and his frown contorted to express anger. "I want you answer that call and remove the Xenomorph threat. Don't let any of them escape and if possible, be sure to capture some of them. I want answers out of those things."

"Yes, sir." Darian nodded. The COMMs were cut and the fleet commander ordered for the plot to be coursed.

The venture to the star system did not take long. The system was a mere thirty or so light years away from them. It only took a minute or so for them to reach it. Once they had entered the star system, Darian began ordering weapons and DRADIS, a series of highly sensitive detection, identification, navigation and tracking systems used to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects, systems to be online. He didn't want to be caught off guard.

"Sir, I'm detecting over a hundred Xenomorph vessels at the Capula colony!" A helmsman shouted from his station.

"Are these things after something?" Darian questioned rhetorically in bewilderment. He hadn't seen a congregation of Xenomorph vessels like this since the galactic war. "Engage them. Have the Valkyries jump behind the enemy lines before they open fire on us."

Valkyrie-class battlestars were half the scale of the Mercury-classes, reaching a total of a single kilometer in length. They were sleeker but still armed to the teeth. While these vessels lacked a magnetic accelerator, they made up with energy weapons and electronics.

The vessels moved forth with speed. Once they passed the planet's dark moon, the Xenomorphs acted upon detection and sent in a fleet of frigates and cruisers to attack the battlestars. The Valkyries at the front jumped just before the Xenomorph vessels fired their salvo of missiles and were behind the enemy ships. Once their systems were online, they unleashed a salvo of nuclear missiles at a determined safe distance.

The vessels that were struck were either vaporized, or critically damaged. The larger vessels stood a better chance, but their electronics were shut down by the nuclear missiles' electromagnetic pulses. The shutdown vessels simply floated and crashed into nearby allied vessels. With the disarray, the larger battlestars unleashed a swarm of missiles that furthered the demolition of the enemy fleet fragment and the ships armed with magnetic accelerators picked off the last of the vessels.

The enemies only lost a quarter of their fleet and the remainders were still fighting the Kobolian ships present by the civilian space station. Darian quickly ordered his fleet to the battle zone.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Spat a large sinewy soldier as he charged through a large doorway. He had dark skin that indicated his African descent. This man was Harker. He was part of a squad who were fighting off the Xenomorphs that manifested themselves upon the space station.

The next man to run into the room with Harker was a man of Caucasian descent. This man was not as sinewy as Harker, but he was still a brawny man. He fired into the room he came from, killing several pistol-wielding Xenomorphs. Two other men ran inside, reloading their own pistols. One of them wiped yellow-green blood off their uniform, groaning about some kind of stench. That was another change in the Xenomorphs by their Prothean experimenters. Their blood had become neutral to compensate with their newer abilities, and thus made the blood harmless.

Several loud bangs and thuds echoed from outside the room. There was something huge wreaking havoc upon the machinery and men who were attempting to fight whatever it was off.

"It just killed James! It just crushed him against the wall, all his insides went out!" One of soldiers shouted, panic set into him. Another thud came and sounded closer. "It's coming. Close the door damn it!"

A brown-black, gold-tinted monstrous creature appeared before them down at the far end of the atrium they retreated from. Its head crest was massive like a huge plate and it was covered with layered ridges that thinned as they reached the ends of its crest. The creature lowered its head and charged. What horrified them, other than that the creature used its head to flatten things, was that it was fast.

But the door closed too fast for the creature and stopped it. The beast had no chance of smashing its way through the two meter thick titanium-A bulkhead. However, the beast kept ramming the door, and it left a considerable indentation before giving up.

The group shuddered and turned to see a massive window that gave the view of most the battle that was occurring. In the room, there were crates and catwalks and stairs along the walls. The room was a dark gray, like most of the station's rooms.

"My gods, God, and any possible omnipotent being watching over us, I hope those reinforcements are..." Hector stopped and watched as a fleet of new battlestars, spearheaded by the newest class, began attacking the main fleet of the Xenomorphs.

"About damn time." Harker sighed, his voice barely audible.

There was a loud bang that caused the entirety of the squad to spin on their heels towards the direction it came from. It was the vents, and they were denting towards the ground. One loud bang emanated from another vent and then another from the first vent that caused the covering to pop off and crash on the ground. Immediately after, the other vent cover popped off and Xenomorph warriors dropped out from both of the openings.

"Crap, run!" Hector shouted, firing at the aliens.

The Xenomorphs jumped behind the cover of crates, readying their own weaponry. Hector wasn't going to stay back and let these things kill him. His squad pushed through the nearest door and they all nearly fell over the protective railing of an extensive stairwell. Hector fired and tossed his last grenade, distracting most of the Xenomorphs while the more competent continued to fire their kinetic energy weapons.

Quickly, Hector shut the thick metal door and assessed the situation. Immediately he looked up and saw several Xenomorphs peering over, leering. With a knee-jerk reaction, he opened fire upon the observing aliens and his squad began moving downward. Scores of Xenomorphs were following down after them, taking shots when they deemed them possible.

Once they reached their desired escape, they went through and had the engineer of the team weld the door shut. Harker walked forward, taking note of the number of people that were residing in the location they reached. "We reached it."

Hector stepped next to him, observing huge hanger bay they just entered. "Alert the colonel, tell him we've made it and to avoid these areas." He handed Harker a holographic tablet.

The hanger was several stories high and each story held a compliment of Raptors and Vipers. Along the bottom of the bay were large, bulky civilian shuttles made for the purpose of getting the civilians out of the station once the situation was right for their leave.

"Hey, look!" Some civilian shouted, pointing outside of the energy wall separating the void of space from Hector. He narrowed his eyes, was a blue bolt impacted and destroyed a Xenomorph vessel.

"Gryllians?" Another questioned, watching the vessel churned and broke apart.

Indeed they were Gryllian ships. A huge cruiser passed by the remains of the Xenomorph ship, its large wedged bow glinting from the light of the suns that the planet orbited. It fired a salvo of red plasma bolts. These did not do quite the damage of the blue torpedo, but the four of them together was enough to down its shields and damage its hull. A bright white beam sliced through the dark, piercing through the damaged ship and through another with a stop. The source was a huge ship with a Y-shaped bow. The split between the two points glowed as it cooled from the shot.

Hector could only be described as bewildered at the sight of a starfighter entering the hanger bay. It was large, bulbous at the bow with wings that swept towards the rear of it. Then fear struck him like a bullet and he started, screaming for everyone to take cover.

"Run! That Ravager's not on our side!" The man shouted. "Take cover!"

The dual cannons of the space fighter glowed and fired large bolts of blue plasma, and each bolt exploded upon impacting any solid object. Hector watched the grim scene, horror written on his face as he watched as people were mercilessly killed. He spotted a pulsating ball dropping from the underside of the ship and saw it soar through the crowd of civilians and explode, scorching the floor with plasma.

The ship turned its attention to the surrounding docked ships, shooting them out of place and causing them to fall from their hooks. One Viper fell, crashing into another and that onto another. The whole column collapsed. Several turrets rose from under the floor, men taking control of them. They fired relentlessly, forcing the ravager to pull out as its energy shielding fell.

"Damn! Hector, get your squad out of h-" The colonel was cut of the intercom as the room he was in exploded. Hector's eyes widened, watching the control room in the hanger bay exploded for a second time.

The Ravager returned almost as soon as it left, but alongside it was another. The two swept the hanger with their plasma cannons and plasma bombs, leaving little to live and the rest to burn. Hector watched a man wearing a business suit come out from behind a pile of crates, panicking with his hands over his head. Hector quickly grabbed him, pulling him behind cover.

"What the hell are you doing?" Hector hissed before hearing another explosion, belonging to that of a Raptor.

"We gotta get out, w-we gotta get out! They won't let us live! They want me! We-I-They-It-Oh my God…" His words stumbled over another as he seemed to hyperventilate upon seeing something behind Hector.

Hector spun around, rifle drawn at a huge figure behind him. This figure bore a large energy blade that was impaling a man. The sword dissipated, dropping the man. "Harker!"

The huge insect-like creature sneered as Hector lunged at him. It simply swung its fist, impacting and sending Hector flying back against a wall. He walked forward towards the business man and that man backed, but was stopped by another of the creature. It secured him and slung him over its shoulder.

"Etak mir ewsa!" The man's captor pointed towards Hector.

The other monster looked at Hector with bright, angry eyes and pulled out a baton like object that began to give off electric sparks. Hector attempted to resist and get away, but the creature was faster and managed to strike him. The man fell to the ground unconscious and the creature slung him over its shoulder.

Hector woke from unconsciousness and groaned, pain coursing through his face. He opened his and horrified. He was strapped to a huge metal table. He looked over and saw the business man.

"What do they want you for?" He more yelled than asked the question.

"They want m-me for information." The man said with a voice low and scared.

"Who-What are you?" Hector narrowed his eyes.

"Tell him, Human. Tell him who you work for and whom you used to work for." A deep voice growled from the shadows beyond them.

"I'm just a Kobolian Intelligence officer! What do you want from me?" The man cried.

"You're more than just that. In fact, you're not even Kobolian. If you will not tell him, then I will." The voice grew deeper with malevolence.

"This man, whom works for your empire, is a former member of ONI. His name is Arthur Clost. His actions resulted in the deaths of over a hundred thousand civilians, and now that number is raised by the concurrent situation." The voice told.

"You son of a bitch!" Hector spat and jerked around on his table attempting to free himself, but to no avail, the metal braces would not budge.

"Now," The owner of the voice stepped out from the darkness, revealing a monstrous creature, a Gryllian. His eyes were bright green with blue tints around the pupils. This creature's eyes expressed a great ancientness. His heavily armored body told of physical power and the massive scythe upon his back displayed the deadliness of a reaper. This was Kholo, "That is quite rude to say."

"Kholo, you right bastard." Arthur said, the fear in his voice replaced with a fearless venomous hate.

"You speak with such anger and spite. I like that. Perhaps you should let me know where it is, and I'll release you so that you may hunt me down." Kholo said with apparent arrogance.

"You know that I won't just release the information like that, you stupid cricket." Arthur laughed.

"Perhaps you just need to be convinced." Kholo's voice lowered as he lifted up a canister. On it was a biohazard symbol and on it read FHIS, 'Fear and Hallucination Inducing Substance.'

"I am sure you know these types of devices very well. You apply the concave side upon the victim's skin and press the injection button," Kholo placed the concave face of the canister upon Arthur's skin and pressed a glowing green button, causing Arthur to jump and panic once more, "And then the substance enters the victim's bloodstream and heads straight for the brain. This is caused by the substance's attraction to the neurons inside your brain. Once it reaches the brain, it attaches to these neurons and starts agitating them. Once the agitation begins, a reaction causes the substance to transform into a drug that causes great fear, hallucination, and makes the victim prone to suggestion."

By the time Kholo had finished, the man watched the room transform into fire and darkness, and the Gryllian transform into a fiery, devilish monster. Kholo's voice sounded distorted and turned into multiple voices. All he could stare at were the evil, glowing blood red eyes. His eyes widened and he screamed, soiling himself in the process. Kholo merely smirked at Arthur.

Hector averted his eyes from the man and wished his ears had closed because of the man's tremendous screaming and yelling. He had never experienced this sort of torture, but from the stories he had heard about this kind of drug, he knew that Arthur was having a hellish experience. It almost made him pity the former ONI-member.

"Now, Arthur, you need to tell me where the artifact is." Kholo growled, bringing his plated face closer to the man. "Speak!"

"NO!" Arthur resisted. It seemed to both dismay and entertain Kholo, as he backed from him and crossed his arms, smirking in a fashion that fitted a Gryllian. He motioned to something inside the darkness and another smaller Gryllian brought him a crude looking device.

"I'm sure you are also familiar with this device as well." Kholo bent over, showing Arthur's fear contorted face the device. "Humans have a simple name for these things. They call them, 'nail rippers.' Now, I'm not sure if it just rips your nails apart, or rips them out. Perhaps it does both, I do not know. Either way, I'm sure that it will not be difficult to make you speak."

"Oh god, please don-AUGH!" The man jolted up and started to thrash on his table. Kholo was gripping his forefinger between the hooks of the device and Hector swiftly turned away as Kholo performed his treachery.

"I… will never speak a-AGH!" Arthur screamed and thrashed, shaking the table.

"I… won't say a… damned th-no no-AGH!" Harker flinched as he heard some sort of gruesome sound.

"So it does have a shredding setting." Hector could hear the intrigued Gryllian mutter.

"I'll speak! I'll speak, stop! Stop! God, please, stop!" Arthur yelled, his voice cracking upon the last word.

"Ah, compliance, now I do not need to wipe so much blood off the floor. Tell me where the artifact is." Kholo growled, raising the crude, bloodied device in order to emphasize the consequence if Arthur would refuse again.

"It's there, at the planet! It's the one where you fought the machine-men, the one that hosted the great battle!" The man cried.

"The planet with the wrecked moon, the one that was stripped of its life and atmosphere?" Kholo lowered his voice, his brow plates furrowing with question.

"Yes!" Arthur exclaimed.

"Glory..." Kholo said with a haunting remembrance. His aged eyes dulled with memory and his face showed sanity. It made him seem in a different light, but then his face hardened and the shine of his eyes returned. Hector could have sworn he saw the blue around Kholo's pupils disappear for a brief moment.

"Thank you for your compliance," Kholo turned from Arthur and walked away, "Execute him!"

"What? No, no! N-" Hector watched as a plasma blade jutted out from Arthur's chest. Hector eyes widened in horror and he looked around, panicking.

"My gods," Hector murmured and eyed Kholo, was was closing in on the door, "What happened? What happened to the fleet and the civilians?"

Kholo stopped and turned briefly, "They're dead. But, some will live, as we are leaving at the moment."

"Take him to the brig!" Kholo shouted as the lights of the darkness turned on and revealed several ornately armored Gryllians. The last thing Hector felt that day was a jolt of electricity that coursed through his body and knocked him unconscious.

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Yes, that was pretty... gut-wrenching maybe... but it shows the character that Kholo is. So it serves a purpose. :p

I swear you've posted this story before. Am I going insane?

Manny wrote:I swear you've posted this story before. Am I going insane?

Unless you've been on FF.Net, then yes, you're going insane

The only other story I've posted here was for the Unggoy.

Which reminds me to post the other chapters. Its been a while since I worked on this story, though.

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A great mega structure of new floated within a nebula. It was well beyond that of enemy territory, which meant that it was between the Perseus arm and the Sagittarius arm nearby the Orion Spur. Half the galaxy was under the Milky Way Galactic Alliance's control. The only reason for the Alliance to not control the entire galaxy was due to the fear of the unknown.

The Andromeda galaxy was purely under control by the Republic, which was led by a fellow named Caluum Fallire, the rogues' former-medic and clone trooper. It had been completely dominated due to Galactic Empire having controlled its entirety at first, because most of the civilizations there hadn't reached a technological to be perceived as a threat to slow the Galactic Empire's conquest.

But, the Milky Way galaxy had been classified by the Galactic Empire, before its fall, as a hostile environment. Indeed, the Milky Way galaxy was dangerous because of its diversity. This diversity made any external, invading force weary of the galaxy. However, the Galactic Empire still invaded the galaxy. It thought the native civilizations of the galaxy were inferior, save the UNSC.

The Empire's relationship with the UNSC was mutual. The Galactic Empire offered safety and prosperity to the UNSC, and the UNSC's intelligence branch, ONI, would give information in return. Of course, this alliance did not go unnoticed and eventually, ONI ruled over the UNSC, which became its military.

Gryllisus sighed as his fleet neared the outer perimeter of the station. He was an old creature, over a thousand years to be exact. In fact, the members of the group that was born with were around the same age, some slightly younger or older. This was the result of the telomerase experiments that were conducted by the Legio Mechanicae.

The Legio Mechanicae is a somewhat xenophobic Theocratic-Phobocratic Oligarchical civilization of which is obsessed with the ideals of immortality, power, and the necessity of knowledge. In search of immortality, or at the least, extension of life, they would frequently experiment with organic and synthetic compounds. This civilization was an age old one, dating back with the formation of the Covenant.

These experiments that were performed hosted a species of cricket, Gryllus Bimaculatus, as the subjects. This was due to the expendability of the insects and that the results would be much quicker seen. This experiment hosted strength, intellect, and life expectancy increments. The first group of specimens was tested with strength and life expectancy serums. Finding this test to be successful, they began human testing. Much to their dismay, however, they found the substance to be too volatile. But, this did not stop them.

They continued the test by modifying eggs with the strength and life expectancy serums. Once born, they placed them in incubation tanks. What they found intrigued them. The specimens grew immense, measuring to grow to a maximum of two meters in height. Their external structures changed dramatically. Once they were released from incubation, they were moved to compounds to be observed.

The scientists then chose candidates for telomerase experiments, which were modified to allow for increased intellect. Gryllisus and Kronos were chosen for this, as well as ninety-four others.

The old first generation Gryllian sighed at the horrid memories, but relished in the fact that once news was leaked several hundred years after his and his colony's escape, the Legio Mechanicae broke out into a civil war. Though the Loyalists may have won the civil war, they still lost much territory and Gryllisus had gained separatist allies from it. Though, these separatist mostly kept to themselves. He hadn't heard word from them for some years.

He drew out from his thoughts and looked upon the main screen as a deckhand shouted that they would be exiting slipstream space in several minutes. He prepared for the non-hostile confrontation with the Colonial fleet that would surely intercept them. The entire scene played out before he even entered it. The ancient creature had become accustomed to these situations.

Once the hail was called to them, Gryllisus ordered for the link to be established. He was met with a masculine male with a graying goatee. "Gryllisus, I presume?" He spoke, his voice deep and powerful. It demanded respect in which Gryllisus gladly gave.

"Indeed, it is me, admiral. I apologize for the damages done by my brother, firstly." Gryllisus said with distain in his voice.

"No need for apologies, emperor. Kholo is an enemy to all and is no longer associated with your empire." The man nodded.

"Indeed he is no longer. What has occurred here?" The ancient creature inquired.

"Kholo came in in the midst of a battle between us and Xenomorph remnants. He wiped many of us out, utterly destroying the aliens," He informed, "He had his forces board the station and soon left."

"He was searching for something and found what he wanted." Gryllisus deducted.

"I'd presume so. One strange thing we found was that someone aboard the station was someone of significance. From released information, this man was a former member of ONI. We could not find this man, alive, dead, or even as vaporized matter."

Gryllisus growled inwardly. He despised the organization that wrecked the galaxy. "Then that man was taken hostage and prodded for information. Kholo found what he wanted out of him. Most likely, that man is dead."

"They also took another man."

Gryllisus then knew what was occurring. The man that they have taken along would be the one to activate the artifact. This artifact was no doubt Forerunner, else they would have not brought him aboard as well. Though, there was the possibility that that man was also captured for information. But, that was only a possibility.

"They are after an artifact."

"As always, Kholo would always be the one to chase things that should not be chased. He's an idiot and no less." Darian commented spitefully, though lightly as to not interrupt the Gryllian emperor.

"There is a great possibility that this artifact is Forerunner. We do not know how much power he would attain if he were to obtain it. We cannot allow this. We wish for you to join us in stopping him." Gryllisus offered.

"I will gladly join to destroy that gods damned monster." Darian accepted.

The two forces joined intelligence, trading coordinates and battle plans. The Colonials would enter first and strike, attracting the attention of Kholo's fleet so that Gryllisus's fleet could strike it from behind. From there, his vessel could unleash forces to attack groundside. Once then, they would have a chance at capturing Kholo. It would be a small window, however.

The Battlestars jumped and nearly instantaneously appeared nearby the intact moon of the planet. Darian looked upon this planet and reveled at the utter damage done to it. The atmosphere was thin and the surface black and brown. Craters scarred its once lively surface. Mountain ranges were decimated. Red rivers glowed upon the dark side of it.

"Sir, enemy contacts inbound! Two-hundred and counting!" a deckhand shouted.

"Ready the cannons and get the missiles in their silos! Fire laser batteries! Unleash everything!" Darian ordered, his voice booming. "Nuclear missiles are authorized at safe distance!"

Swift missiles raced the void, red laser lances cut through and nuclear missiles chased behind the cannon fire. Many of the standard missiles were intercepted by pulse lasers, which seemed to take out nearly every one of them. However, the nuclear missiles exploded beforehand, wiping the shields off nearby vessels and vaporizing others.

"Gigaton-yield nuclear missiles expended! Fire megaton rated missiles!"

The next barrage followed with lesser damage, but still destroyed vessels but with less severity. Just then, the enemy ships returned fire, launching rapid plasma torpedoes at their targets. They arced over, struck, and shields popped with the swarm of plasma. The next barrage vaporized or simply cut through the ships. Their lead vessel, a battlecruiser, fired beam of energy from the middle of its hammerhead-like bow. The beam wore through the shields and blasted half-way through one of the hanger-bays of Darian's ship.

"Hanger-bay A-2 is out of commission!"

"Fire the magnetic accelerators!" Darian ordered.

A minute flicker of the lights signaled the heavy charge of the magnetic accelerator cannons. In several seconds, a flash of light released two rounds of nine-meter long ferric tungsten at a nearly a fifth the speed of light. The round burst through the shields, sliced through with the bow of the ship folding inward, and continued through the battlecruiser with chunks of metal following.

Lights flickered behind Kholo's fleet as the Imperium's fleet entered. Bolts of plasma arced through the void to the rears of the enemy vessels. The ambush was effective.

"Sir! The base is upon the planet!" a deckhand shouted within Gryllisus's ship.

"Prepare to go groundside." Gryllisus ordered.

Hector awoke with a start, hearing the voices of two of the insectoids guarding his cell. He groaned at the scent of the room, as it was putrid. It smelled of blood and death. He looked about, noting that there was only a metal bunk. However, there was neither a toilet nor a sink. He understood why this chamber was like this. Most prisoners here never lived long.

A large, bulky Gryllian appeared before the two guards. "Kholo wishes for the human to be present. He needs him for a great purpose."

The shield barrier dimmed and Hector, thinking he would die no matter what end, lunged through and tackled the smallest of the trio. Though, small was truly larger than he was, he managed to ground the creature and thus began to lash at its face.

That was when he felt pain explode from his back and his entire muscle structure tightened. The tackled creature shoved him off as electricity stunned Hector. He saw the creature that had electrocuted held a huge baton that was throwing off arcs of plasma.

"I believe you set it up too high, Rollo. That setting would knock a Krogan on its ass." The tackled Gryllian roared with laughter, the other chuckling.

"Stupid human, inferior and weak." The smaller one growled and kicked the prone human. It held back its kick, but pain still forked through Hector's nerves.

"Enough of your play, we must move immediately." The messenger growled impatiently. "Else Kholo will have your heads."

Instantaneously, the larger guard threw the stunned man over his shoulder and carried him through the vast complex of corridors and massive halls. Huge, gray wall with intricate engravings surrounded them. Blue lights shone dully from above. Ornate trusses released these lights. It was a sight to behold to Hector, as he had never seen such beautiful construction from an ancient civilization.

Pillars stood high, struts seemed to keep other structures afloat, and baffling spires did things normal structures could not. The room was massive and he and captors boarded a huge anti-gravity gondola. They crossed the expanse of the structure while it floated across the vastness of the massive atrium. Occasionally, Ravager-class star fighters raced passed, scanning the gondola's occupants.

The sheer magnificence of scale nearly put him in a trance. Large spires rotated the great centerpiece that was at the center of the room. It was a huge, blocky stalactite structure with many glowing lines running over it. Then the gondola stopped and the captors, bearing him, walked among large walkways and hall before they met a door. The door peeled open and they walked towards the great stalactite structure. He simply stared at it in awe.

His attention was held until the Gryllian he was slung over threw him to the ground. He pushed himself up from the ground, dazed from the impact. He opened his eyes and looked around until they settled upon the silhouette of a huge creature with glowing green, blue-ringed eyes. Of course, this creature was Kholo. He stepped forth into the light, showing off his impressive battle armor.

"Ah, Hector. You appear here for a deed greater to the galaxy than any other done beforehand. You shall guide us with your gift that the Forerunners have bestowed your species. Of which we shall rid the galaxy of its evils and bring forth the greater, most lawful good. All you need to do is understand and comply." Kholo spoke, his voice the most convincing.

It was also the most deceiving, "I'll never 'comply' with you bastards! You have no idea what you're getting yourselves into. Gods knows what'll happen! The last 'great' artifact that was activated that was activated destroyed an entire planet! You idiots don't know what you're after!"

"Impudent human! How dare you speak so ill of a great civilization! How dare you speak foully of the Forerunners!" Kholo roared. Swiftly, the Gryllian grabbed him and dragged him across to a large console with many glowing symbols. Upon getting close, Kholo threw him towards the console. "Activate this artifact, or see your family destroyed!"

"Don't you threaten my family!" Hector spun on his heels and ran towards Kholo. He was stopped short of his desire to kill the Gryllian as he was sent by to the console by an invisible force. He opened his eyes and looked at Kholo, whose arm was extended and palm facing him.

The creature approached him, "Activate this artifact. Or see your family in ruins. See your civilization in shambles."

Hector stood defiantly, growling almost. But the Gryllian did not seem entertained and he quickly grabbed Hector's arm. His other hand landed on the back of the man's head and he shoved him into the console. Kholo moved Hector's hand over the largest pad on the console effortlessly and soon the man's hand was pulled onto it.

The console flickered in luminosity and a brief hum filled the room. Lines of light moved through the crevices towards the central stalactite structure's tip. There was a brief moment of silence that followed, amplifying the anticipation of every living thing inside the atrium. The lights within the room flickered and then a great holographic map of the galaxy filled the expanse of the room.

Hector looked around with both shock and awe. The map had kept up with the time, completely mapping the controlled territories of the entire galaxy. Some of these territories he had never seen before. Territories of which the Legio Mechanicae, a well-known faction that isolated itself from the other civilizations, were moving through. The clash appeared constant. Whatever the faction was out there on the other side of the galaxy, it was holding off the machine-men.

His attention was cut short when Kholo roared with victory, raising a fist. Kholo turned to his inferiors and raised his hands as if he were preaching, "The Forerunners have blessed us with a great map! We shall use this map to find the artifact that belongs to us! A key of which will grant us all access to the Forerunners' gifts! We will become the ones to guard this galaxy! We are the ones that are the rightful owners of the Mantle!"

"Gryllisus, my dear brother, does not understand this great need! He believes that he will not need these powerful gifts to keep guard of the galaxy. He does not understand the right of the Mantle as a superior species and force! But, with this tool, we shall find the artifact, cease the constructs of the former-owners of the Mantle, and show our prowess and prove that we are the rightful owners of the Mantle!"

Hector backed away from the giant, zealous insect as many of his soldiers roars echoed through the atrium. He was stopped by the guards, though they did not focus on him as they were far too busy roaring and yelling excitedly.

It was at this moment that Hector realized that if they managed to get a hold over the artifact they sought, the galaxy would be doomed forever under their reign.

Gryllisus rushed through hail of plasma bolts, dodging the rapid projectiles but taking some. His shields took the brunt of the damage. He skid to halt behind cover, looking over a dead human whose head had been completely vaporized. He winced and returned fire to the enemy when Darian appeared next to him, firing explosive rounds at the enemy when he could. He had brought Darian groundside with him, due to Darian's pleas. He tried to ward him off, telling that an admiral is an important person and should not fight. It was not logical.

"Why do you come to the front lines? You're a damned emperor!" Darian said, exasperated. "You've got more responsibilities than I do."

Gryllisus simply grunted and said, "I have lived and survived over a thousand years of warfare. I have a greater chance of surviving this than you do, statistically."

"Don't use your logic against me, old one." Darian growled, though not seriously.

They peered over their cover and saw two dead Gryllians resting on the ground. With their path cleared, they continued through a doorway far from where the main battle was taking place. There, a great temple blocked the main entrance of the structure. Plasma and hypersonic rounds raced around. Mortars were exploding harmlessly against the Forerunner metal, but dangerously near infantry. It appeared to be a stalemate there.

Gryllisus and Darian trekked through a series of halls, avoiding any conflict if possible. It was like this until they grew closer and closer to their objective, the huge gondola. They made short work of the first infantry, took some time against the next, and then attacked the crew of the gondola as it travelled through a long tunnel.

Darian pulled his energy knife out of the skull of a lightly armored Gryllian when the tunnel opened up into the vast openness of the atrium containing the artifact Kholo was after. Gryllisus stared in horror, looking at the huge holographic map of the Milky Way galaxy. Many pinpoints marked the map, indicating where artifacts were. His eyes twitched as he looked at the remaining Halos and the dozens of shield worlds that pockmarked the galactic map. One dot, however, was red.

He turned his attention to the central hub in the atrium, pulling his rifle to scope in. He watched as Kholo grasped a splinter of metal. There, near him, was a human who was being bound by metal and energy cuffs and braces. Kholo, now, was looking in his direction. Gryllisus knew he saw him with his enhanced vision. It was one of the powers that were unlocked due to the training of becoming a Harbinger, leader of the Archangel divisions.

Particle beam fire pounded into the gondola's plating as it neared the central hub. Gryllisus and Darian dove for cover, readying their own marksman rifles. They fired upon the oppressors, putting them in the defensive. Once the gondola reached and locked to the central hub of the facility, the duo ran out. Gryllisus tackled the first gryllian, grappling and tossing him off the hub. Darian had used his plasma blade, slicing and gutting his enemy, of which Gryllisus found admirable.

They ran through a number of halls until they reached the console area, where Kholo was holding Hector in front of him. Kholo had a grin about him, staring down at Gryllisus and Darian.

"There is no escape, brother!" Gryllisus roared. "Surrender is the only option! Release the man and I'll ensure that your sentence be merciful!"

"Why, Gryllisus? I've tried and tried to make you understand the purpose of this mission! We can become great rulers of the galaxy! We can unite it under our rule, defend the inferiors, and crush the Legio Mechanicae once and for all!"

"Because it is not right, Kholo! The Legio Mechanicae were tyrants who wanted the same wish and look what they have done? Do you see peace? You want the galaxy to be under pure Gryllian rule! I will not allow that to happen, as it violates the intergalactic law of which I made. I... We want true peace, not peace by tyranny!"

"You are blinded, brother. But, I can not blame you for such a defect, for as long as you have lived, you have been corrupted by the lesser races by communicating with them." Kholo sighed and backed towards a pad. "However, when I bring the Imperium to rule, you shall see the greater light."

Once the man stepped upon the pad, Kholo whispered something and soon, a ring leaped from the ground. Once it returned to the ground, the two were gone. Darian could only stand silently and awkwardly. "A cocky bastard he is?"

"Yes, he is." was all Gryllisus could say as troops flooded onto the hub from another gondola.

"Sirs, the Cult's fleet is withdrawing." the voice of a human came. "What happened?"

"Nothing that you need to hear about, soldier." Darian cut in. "Contact the alliance. Tell them we've found another artifact, and a war criminal has a piece of it. They'll have the science department flooding into this place soon."

Gryllisus stood within the lengthy shadow of complex, watching as scientists filtered into the huge menacing structure. Morning was coming and temperatures would rise in the extremes by afternoon. It used to be normal, with cool mornings and warm afternoons that you could sit comfortably in. Now the planet was scarred by warfare and it's atmosphere still recovering from the massive battle. He sighed, watching as large supply ships landed, dropping its cargo of supplies and more men to either guard or study the complex. Anti-air emplacements were being set along the perimeter of the Forerunner structure, just encase the cultists would return.

He needed to consult with someone he knew, a friend. He had many friends, but most were merely associates compared to others. He could speak with Adama, but he was too young to understand the mind of Kholo. He would not be sure what to do with him, other than kill him. He could speak with the fellow warrior and leader of the Sangheili, Thel Vadam. Though, his answer would be the same as Adama's. Lord Hood, Picard, and Kronos would all hold the same answer as well. He thought of a prophet, an elder and close friend, Virtue.

The name of a prophet was often heralded to mean the opposite of what the name intended. This stereotype was made during and after the Human-Covenant war. The prime examples for this nomenclature was Truth, Regret, and Mercy. Truth was one whom lied. He knew of the Great Journey, a belief that the Halo rings would ascend the Covenant to god-hood, which was not true. Truth knew this. Regret was a near immoral prophet, whom regretted non of his actions. Mercy was one without so.

Virtue, however, lived up to his name. He was a morally bound character. He was the oldest living being that Gryllisus knew, and the wisest. Gryllisus felt that Virtue would be able to find a way to not kill Kholo. He felt that Virtue would be able to find a way to detain and correct Kholo's mindset. The elder Gryllian thought that his brother's mind was not set right, that something else took hold of the complex system of neurons and manipulated this system. There were a great many things in the galaxies that could do that; serums and organisms.

Gryllisus walked to Darian, "You fought well, I wish you well and that we meet again"

"Leaving?"

"I must. I am suffering a dilemma on how to save Kholo from his own madness."

"You have to kill him. There's no other way to end his madness."

"That is an answer that I'm attempting to avoid, which is why I'm leaving. I'm going to the main alliance station to meet with someone whom I've known for a very long time."

"Alright, Gryllisus. I hope we meet again." Darian and Gryllisus saluted each other.

Gryllisus left swiftly, boarding a troopship and returning to his flagship. The fleet returned to its last station and the olden emperor took his flagship and took to the Milky Way Alliance Station. It was a massive station, shaped like two mushrooms combined by each other's base. Several rings surround the thinner stem, with one huge ring surrounding the very middle of the station. Lights flickered as ships docked upon the rings, the most massive holding the most massive ships. He beheld the massive station with tranquility. He watched as robotic defense drones flew around the ship as it neared the station. Soon, they broke off to return to their jobs in making sure that anything that was not belonging to the Alliance would not near the station with a ten-thousand mile radius. Those small drones could wreck havoc upon a ship's computer systems, which then they would board the vessel and attack the crew.

The Gryllian had a secure feeling because of this knowledge. It was one of the safest places in the galaxy. He drew the ship to a smaller ship docking ring and took a gondola to the station itself. After he boarded the Alliance station, he took a gravity train to the dreadnaught wielding end of the space station. He greeted several members of the many governments there. There were UNSC officers, some Gardexian ambassadors, Krogan ambassadors, and several Neo-Covenant political figures. It was an interesting place. In the past, anyone who spoke of this kind of situation would have been called mad.

Once he was upon the first massive floating tower hovering over the great spanning city below, he trekked across the system that the tower was a part of. He stopped upon the Sanctum of the Hierarchs, where the leaders and officers of the Neo-Covenant resided. Of course, there were many other towers within this part of the super-station. There was a tower for the Federation of Planets, the Colonials of Kobol, the Kig-Yar Confederation, the Systems Alliance, Gardexians, and others more. It was amazing and awe-inspiring to the millennium old Gryllian.

He walked down a long walkway along the edge of the tower, a breeze passing through open environment. It left a comforting feeling within the massive insectoid. The Sanctum was built to bring a feeling of serenity within any of whom were to step upon it. Gryllisus admired the many kinds of flora that resided along the edges of the walkways and the decorated low lit pillars that floated through the air. Above, birds careened the air and made long droning noises. To Gryllisus, it was all very peaceful.

Gryllisus felt a tingle at the back of his neck and turned, knowing whom had their eyes set upon him, "Greetings Gryllisus, what brings you here?"

Indeed, it was Virtue, ago old and still not in a hover-chair. Though, the prophet still walked with the aid of a walking stick. It was strange not to see the prophet within the confines of his chair. It was the new physical training programs that allowed the prophet's weak body to strengthen. It was truly fascinating to the Gryllian to watch as the prophet grew stronger.

"Family troubles, Virtue."

"Kholo?" Virtue made a quick deduction, which was answered with a nod, "Please, let us discuss these issue over a drink."

The two walked through a hall near the walkway and found themselves within an atrium. Inside, massive trees stretched overhead and underneath there were various statues and walls covered in different forms of written languages. It was a fascinating place, watching as Sangheli and San'Shyuum spoke with each other as equals. What brought more surprise to him was to observe the Sangheli speak with the Jiralhanae without bitter tongue. Though, this exchange of friendly words between the species was promising, a majority of the Sangheli and Jiralhanae still fought maliciously.

As they walk the through the large room, they walked into a place that seemed to oppose the appearance of that of the gardens atrium. It looked rather out of time, since it was the theme of an old era. In the corner, there was a stage and there were musicians of various species playing jazz and blues. It was a fascinating atmosphere, and would allow the two to discuss their issue. They took a table, ordered their favored drink, Virtue's being a light wine and Gryllisus' being a strong ale. He liked Samuel Adams' ales because of their taste.

"You're drinking a rather strong drink, friend."

Gryllisus' head rose a bit, bringing Virtue's memory back, "I apologize, I keep forgetting."

"It's okay, it's been a while since we last spoke to one another."

"It has indeed. Now, may we discuss your issue on the matter of your brother?"

"Yes. Kholo is become active once more, and also more determined. He's... recently killed many. Not much him, but his followers. But, because of his activity, we are getting closer and closer to him. Earlier, I had a chance in killing him, but I did not take it. The issue is that I want to restore his mind back to sanity, however, I've been asking people as I have before. Their answers are still that I must kill him. I'm hoping that you'll be able to help me find a way of restoring him without killing him."

"You have quite the dilemma, Gryllisus." Virtue remarked, "But I may offer a solution to your issue. Isolation and observation have always been good ways of determining a person's problem. Perhaps if we could put him in isolation and observe him, we'll be able to further find out his problem."

"That is a... promising answer. Perhaps I'll do such."

"I warn you, though, that more people will die going down that path. I agree with the prospect of killing him, so that many people will not die. Please do not take disdain in my opinion."

"I won't. I can understand why you and the others prefer him to be put to death." Gryllisus sighed.

"The decision weighs on your shoulders, Gryllisus. I cannot control it, but only influence." Virtue shrugged, "Now that we may speak of other matters, I've been hearing of increased Xenomorph activity. Is this true?"

"Yes, mostly around the tip end of the Perseus Arm. Why do you ask?"

"I've had... various run-ins with those monsters. Terrible, they are, and quite brutally efficient. I fear that they return to create more chaos."

"You're fears are right. The last attack by them were upon a Kobolian station, before Kholo struck."

"His name seems to always come up. Perhaps we should speak of something other than warfare. How is Kronos? Its been long since I last spoke to him."

"He is fine. In fact, he's headed to the Andromeda galaxy to speak with the generals there. Its an annual meeting, one that he actually enjoys. How is Thel 'Vadam?"

The two continued to speak of friends and trivial things. Things such as new technologies and innovations. Virtue grew interested upon the subject of hard-light, a technology well known of the Forerunner. His interest piqued upon hearing that Gryllisus was experimenting with creating hard-light. Upon then, they agreed to have both scientific departments of the Neo-Covenant and the Gryllian Imperium cooperate with this experimenting. Virtue soon offered to set up a secret meeting with the other major leaders of the other member factions of the Milky Way Galactic Alliance. Gryllisus agreed, though with hesitance. He was weary of the United Federation of Planets, as they had a shaded science department that worked alongside the UNSC. He didn't know who to trust more, the UNSC, whose reputation was just returning to its positive side, and the Federation, whose department of sciences was cloaked out of request.

They left the bar and headed back out to the walkways, spoke little more, and parted. Gryllisus returned to his vessel and headed back to Bimaculus.

---

Within the edges of the tip of the Perseus arm within a star system containing a few barren planets and a small red dwarf rested a fleet of dark, rigid-appearing vessels. Some were larger than others, but all held a central design. They had a strong look, and they were quite strong ships. They had a blocked appearance, which made them seem quite dense.

Below the fleet of vessels, was the dark side of one of the several barren planets. This one, however, had a concentration of lights in one area of the planet. On the surface concrete and metal buildings stood, lights upon them and fences surrounding the entire complex. A large cargo ship roared as it penetrated the clouds, of which signaled the coming of rain. It flew down and spun its four thrusters to face the pad below it to slow its descent. On the pad were several thin black creatures wielding glowing orb-like devices, moving them around to direct the ship's landing. Its landing gear opened up and ship touched down, prompting its bay door to open.

What came out was something very unconventional. It was a massive dark chitnous creature, with four arms, two legs, and a long tail. The claws on its hands and feet were sharp as razor knives and its tail was tipped with a knife-like appendage that could shred metal. Its head was protected by a massive crown, of which spanned back. It had many supremely sharp teeth within its main mouth and its inner mouth. Indeed, this creature had an inner mouth. This mouth could launch out and penetrate nearly all biological materials. This creature seemed as if it was built with the primary reason of killing. However, there was something that separated this creature from its normal kindred.

The normal kindred were feral versions of the modern creatures. They were virtual the same in design, but its internal system was far different than the modern variation. The normal, feral creatures bled acid. In the rating of acids, which went from its weakest acidic seven to its strongly acidic one, this creature's acidic was in the high negatives. This meant that their blood could dissolve virtually anything. What also made these creatures deadly was that their circulatory system was pressurized. Meaning that if they were severely damaged, either by bullets or fire, the wound area or their entire body could explode in a shower of acid blood. These were the Xenomorphs. These were the Aliens, as named by much of the galaxy.

The modern creatures were different from their acidic, feral kindred in that their blood was not super-acidic. Their blood was a very weak acid. They were also far more intelligent, allowing them to learn and use technology. This meant that were capable of obtaining and using weaponry and spacecraft. Though, these sentient creatures will, like their feral cousins, use physical attacks in dimly lit environments. However, because their exterior design was virtually the same as their feral cousins, they had to find ways to separate themselves from the animal. They used paints and armor. The paints were a kind of identification paint that was put upon them at birth. The paint would stay on them until their death or by use of certain equipment. The color of the paint was determined by time of the intergalactic year. These were the 'Sentient' Xenomorphs. A breed that were formed by the Protheans as a weapon against an enemy.

The queen stepped down from the pad, looking around, observing the concrete structures around her. The concrete allow the place to seem slightly inconspicuous and perhaps, if anyone would have thought, abandoned. The purpose of this appearance was formulated out of the primal instinct of survival. The Empress wanted to return the sentient Xenomorphs to their prime, when they were capable of conquering worlds and defending their own homes.

But the failure of saving their captured kindred and losing even more of their denizens was yet another set back. They were still more and more than they first feared. The Empress was becoming desperate. So desperate, in fact, that she would capture the feral Xenomorphs and have her military weapons scientists find ways to weaponize their acidic blood.

The 'sentient' Xenomorphs had already found a way to construct weaponry that utilized acid to terrorize armies. However, defeat destroyed their factories and stripped them of many important technologies that were now being reacquired. Because of their being unable to process artificial acid based off that of their wild kindred, they had to extract the blood from the ferals. It was morally injustice action to take, but survival dictated such a thing in the mind of the Empress.

The queen walked off from the landing pad and was quickly intercepted by an Xenomorph far smaller than herself. Its head was a smooth dome, and it lacked many of the sharp dangerous parts that signified a warrior. This was a drone, one of the working class. The creature spoke smoothly, addressing itself and it purpose of its intercepting her.

"Queen Li'Ari, you have arrived at such a fruitful moment. I am here to tour you among the complex you will be directing. Follow me, we have reacquired a great weapon."

Li'Ari and the drone walked towards the largest complex, a seemingly empty massive concrete box. The building, in both shape and color, was completely unattractive. Though, the building itself was guarded by a great many warriors and upon entrance, a pair of Ravagers. They were some larger than the generic praetorians, and their bodies were specialized to shred through foes. Their armor was like the strongest of metals, capable of withstanding some high caliber rounds. Where their hands would normally be, there were three blades. These blades were capable of slicing through some strong armor. Armor such as that of the Mgalekgolo. The drawback was that these beasts are incapable of performing normal functions, as they are built to simply be heavy shock troopers. Their mind was always on defending and attacking.

They continued through a series of dimly lit corridors and stood before a door, which the drone proceeded to open with a hidden keypad. They walked in a large room onto a catwalk. There was a low rumbling below them and they followed it along the curved walls. The Queen became increasingly piqued by what was possibly below, as orange light shined from below them. The drone was rambling on about possibilities and the instilling of fear into the hearts of their enemies. What drew her attention back to the drone was its mentioning that whatever was below was on the technological level of the Forerunners, however, the weapon itself was not of Forerunner origin.

The two came upon a large, industrial door. The Queen could feel the rumbling in her chest, and this rumbling was exhilarating. Li'Ari could feel the power of whatever was behind those large doors. Pressurized air hissed out from the corners of the door as it began the opening process. It groaned and slide open diagonally, revealing the source of power behind it. The Queen stopped breathing from the briefest moment, dumbstruck by the sight before. She was astounded, amazed, and greatly perplexed.

They walked upon an atrium and before them was a pulsing ball of orange and red. Ripples ran around it as electricity struck it. Occasionally, it would bulge at places, as if there was something inside of it try to get free. At these times, the groaning that would cause the Queen's body to rumble and shake would occur.

"What is that?"

"It's a form of anti-matter that exist in matter when controlled. The Vulcans named it 'Red Matter.'"

"Explain."

"Red Matter is a controlled form of anti-matter of which when activated, forms a singularity. This much Red Matter is capable of destroying a planet or two. Or even to stretch it, a star."

She rattled her vocal chords as she walked along the catwalk that ringed the contained substance, "Amazing."

Of course, there was something that would snap her from her reverie. And it was possibly the most unexpected thing to do so, because it was the very thing she was currently despising.

"Queen Li'Ari, we have an issue," a drone's voice came to her mind, causing her to turn to it, "a Gryllian fleet has appeared nearby our fleet and are taking a non-offensive stance. Their leader is offering a cease-fire for diplomatic reasons."

Li'Ari was clearly confused by this, "And who would this leader be?"

"It is Kholo, and he says he rescued some of our captured warriors." The drone answered, perplexed as well.

The Xenomorph Queen was dumbstruck, and incredibly dubious of the malicious Gryllian's claims. She then clicked her teeth together in frustration and made her mind then, "Bring the Gryllian here, I wish to speak with him myself."

It didn't take long for the Gryllian to make it groundside. His dropship, large and curved in many places giving it an ovular appearance, raced down to the surface of the planet at lightning speed. The silver ship came to a neck-breaking halt upon reaching to the surface. It hovered for several seconds before several latches on its belly opened, blue light seeping out. The Gryllian materialized below it, its armor dark and menacing. He was a tall one, just as tall as Gryllisus was. He nodded to the alien Queen, whom nodded hesitantly to him. She was weary of this Gryllian. His tracker was not clean. It was pock-marked by all kinds of atrocities. She may have been many feet larger than he was, but this monstrous cricket was capable of doing things without his hands that could end with her eviscerated.

"Be not so nervous of me, Queen." The Gryllian snorted.

"Where are my kindred?" She growled impatiently.

He grinned and stepped from underneath the dropship that floated calmly over the ground. A dozen Xenomorphs, her kind, materialized underneath it. They appeared, surprisingly, not fearful and non-damaged. This was unlike Kholo. He clearly wanted something from her. The ship left quickly after, dashing away leaving a rush of air at the wake of its exit.

It returned and left, dropping off more and more of the darkly-colored creatures. The queen looked at Kholo incredulously, as he stood there. She walked before him, stomping mostly as it would seem. She stared at him for a while, disbelieving. Kholo should have killed them all, because that was something he normally did. Her eyes, behind the dark dome of her exoskeletal head, narrowed. Kholo seemed fully aware of what was occurring behind the opaque dome over her eyes. He smiled, acutely aware of the question thundering under her dome.

"I wish for an alliance, so that we can crush those Colonials together."

The Queen stepped back, shocked by the voice of the Gryllian as he spoke to her telepathically. His voice, in telepathy, was unlike that of the calm, impossibly gentle voice when he used his vocal chords. This voice, in her head, sounded deep, evil, and very much corrupted. There was something not right with this giant cricket. She learned, in the past, that a telepathic voice reflected the personality of the user. Usually the voice was the same.

'No... always the same...' She thought as she looked at Kholo.

Nevertheless, her mind was attempting to register the term 'Alliance' in her head with the image of the Gryllian with it. It was an image that was very difficult to render in her skull, but it wasn't impossible. When she saw the images of the Colonials killing her kindred, the image became much easier to fabricate. Rage consumed her decision making, her having watched the Colonials destroy her homes, her hives, her own Queen.

She looked at the Gryllian, who looked up at her with a pleased look, "I will accept this alliance you wish to forge with me, and the Empress. But what are the terms?"

He decided to speak with his vocal chords as well, "If you are to help me with my journey in seeking a device that is... very dear to me. In terms, I will need whatever possible to do so."

The Queen head swiveled to the massive concrete structure housing the superweapon, the Red Matter, far below it. She grinned, imagining the look on that accursed man, Adama. It was a rightful revenge. She turned to Kholo, "Follow me, Kholo."

When the reached the floor, the level of which the Red Matter was being refined into a weaponized form, Kholo's eye's grew a gleam in his eyes that only could be described as pure joy. He turned to Queen, also dumbstruck by the confined anti-matter, "Red Matter?"

"Indeed, yes."

"How-"

"I do not know. You may speak to the drone-"

"That matters not. It is only important that we weaponize this, contain it, and use it. This is enough Red Matter to destroy a star, or a dozen planets..." He droned off, his voice growing darker.

The Queen had not noted this change in his tone. She merely stared at the anti-matter with joy. Joy that she could get her vengeance.

There it was, a ghastly tubular silhouette with five sprawling arms. It was great in scale, a bustling residency to many. To the military, it was where some major counsel meetings took place. This colossal structure, with its five arms joined to a rear ring, was the Citadel. Upon its arms' inner surfaces were spanning cities that housed the Milky Way Galactic Alliance's diverse civilian population, minus one held by the military.

Gryllisus stood before the large council building, under ownership by the reformed UNSC. It reminded him, in appearance, of ONI's complexes. ONI's structure were off cubicle in nature and jet black with its symbol planted at its entrance. They were ones to go for the intimidating styles. The inside of these buildings were beautiful, Gryllisus had to admit. It masked the terrible deeds done stories underneath the upper floors.

He walked into the building, clearing through several security checkpoints firstly before he could enter the council chamber. He stepped into the atrium and was escorted by a troop of Jiralhanae guardsmen to his station near Darian's. They were there to give the Faction Council a briefing of the events that had transpired. He looked up at the hovering podium platforms. Each platforms carried a unique design that designated which faction it belonged to. Upon each platform's bow was the faction's crest. He looked at each; the UNSC, the neo-Covenant, the Colonials of Kobol, the Federation of Planets, the Council Races, the Gryllian Imperium, and the Gardexians.

The first platform set before them belonged to that of the Kobolians. Upon it was President Roslin, Admiral Adama, Colonel Ti, and two other representatives. President Roslin gave out an opening statement, explaining why the meeting was taking place and its purpose of existing. Then came the questioning from Admiral Adama.

"Commander Darian, is it true that the Sentient Xenomorphs attacked Stadol Station before Kholo arrived?" Adama's question brought about a quiet series of murmurs among the councilors surrounding the floating platforms.

"Yes Admiral." Darian answered with confidence. The murmurs and whispers fell silent briefly.

"What happened during your encounter with his fleet?"

"Sir, we were already weakened by the efforts of the Xenomorphs. We were winning our battle, until Kholo arrived and began actively attacking our vessels. However, he left shortly after his arrival, with the Xenomorphs eliminated and much of my fleet immobilized."

"There was an intelligence officer aboard Stadol Station, reports say that he has gone missing." Colonel Tigh voiced.

"Those reports are correct, sir. We managed to track his last location outside of Stadol, approximately where Kholo's command ship had been where his tracker's signature dropped."

Whispers returned, flowing around the room in a minor crescendo before dying down, "Would it be wrong to assume that this intelligence officer was captured?"

"It is a possibility. However, later events proved otherwise."

"Why is that?"

"When me and Gryllisus ran into Kholo on Glory, we found him with another capture, Hector Felix. It would be best to assume that the officer was killed."

Angry councilors rose shouting in rage. They were angry, not at Darian, but at the prospect of one of their own having been murdered by a Gryllian. Especially at the fact that it had killed one as important as the officer. Adama roared a 'silence' into his podium's mic, quieting the agitated crowd.

"Gryllisus to the stand."

Gryllisus' station lit up and Darian's darkened. The Gryllisus was wearing his formal naval attire, a dark blue jacket with ornate pouldrons and jet black dress pants. Quiet voices filled the air again, the subject about him. He looked up and watched as the Covenant's podium floated forth, stopping next to the Kobolian representatives'.

On the Covenant's platform was the noble Arbiter Thel 'Vadam, Supreme Commander Rtas 'Vadum, Prophet of Virtue, Chieftain of the Brutes Brutus, Messiah of the Unggoy Dadap, and Kig-yar and Yan'me individuals. There were seven total.

"Gryllisus, you arrived during the aftermath and you and Commander Darian pursued Kholo. You arrived at Glory, correct?"

"Yes Arbiter."

"And you discovered him within a Forerunner complex, yes? And what in particular did you find?"

"When we traversed aboard the gondola, Kholo forced his hostage to activate the structure. We discovered, visually, that the complex was a galactic map that kept record of existing empires and artifacts. And more than likely, Kholo found what he wants and is actively seeking it out."

"Thank you Gryllisus." The lights around the Gryllian warrior and emperor dimmed. The crowd of councilors conversed with excitement under the little time of informality they had.

The two subjects then left their station, their duty done. The platforms circled up with Gryllisus and Darian taking their respective places, their placeholders stepping off. The Prophet of Virtue took place in between the formation of platforms, all focus drawn to him.

"We are now gathered here today to answer the galactic threat that is Kholo. As you know he has frequently sought out Forerunner devices. Devices both dangerous or unknowingly obsolete. And now he must be stopped, once and for all."

Gryllisus shifted uncomfortably. It was a subtle act, and was only detected by the most perceptive members there. He leaned forth on his podium to listen carefully.

"At the moment, no one knows where Kholo has fled and what his next actions will be. These are dangerous times now. Are there any suggestions on how we will address this threat?"

"His interest seems to reside within our borders, noble Prophet. I suggest that we have fleets patrol the borders and others guard key planets." Roslin spoke.

"We should parade his gutted corpse across the galaxy once he is captured!" Barbarus roared, and it was followed by the roars of other members of warrior races.

"That would not be advisable, Chieftain." Virtue rose his hand, silencing the crowd. "However, if it comes to it, his death will be assured."

That earned whispers of approval within the room. They all wanted Kholo dead, for he had ruined many lives as an expense of his actions. Family, friends, leaders, he killed a great number of them in his campaign. Gryllisus growled inwardly, he didn't want to kill his brother, but it seemed that that would be the only and desirable outcome as time passed.

"But, if he is in a state where he can be arrested, that will be a course of action to be considered." Virtue's eyes flickered to Gryllisus for a brief moment. That brought some relief to the old Gryllian. It was a reasonable decision, capture him if possible, but kill him if necessary.

"But the beast is a mystic! To capture him would be suicide!" One of the councilors, a Sangheili, roared with rage. "That would cost more lives than necessary!"

The crowd exploded in a fury. Shouts of "blasphemy" "heresy" "Virtue has spoken" and "the devil must die" could be heard among the arguers. "Enough!" Virtue shouted, his voice exponentially risen through his chair to blare over the crowd's, "There will be order in this council!"

With the momentary chaos dissipated, the Arbiter voiced, "I will have one of my fleetmasters guard our borders, President. We will ensure nothing enters or leaves without clearance."

"I will have Starfleet guard our borders, as well. As the Arbiter said, nothing will nor leave. All vessels traversing will be scanned and searched until Kholo is stopped." Spock, a Vulcan regarded to a high degree in his faction, nodded. The other bordering factions then joined, covering the entire as well as heightening security within their territory.

Virtue made his closing statement, stating the priorities and covering the overall details of the current status that the Milky Way Galactic Alliance would. The council then made the vote for the conditions and the greater majority chose the new status and accepted the conditions that would come. "This council has now ended, return to your duties my friends." Virtue waved and left to his platform. The platforms hovered and locked to their stations. The occupants and councilors met with their acquaintances, discussing the new policies formed and catching up on recent events. Gryllisus met with Rtas and Virtue. The Arbiter had left to deal with business of his own. Most of the leader members had done such. They spoke to each other, to which Virtue left to attend his duties. Gryllisus and Rtas left to head to the court to spend the little free time they had to discuss military tactics at the square, to which they ran into Darian. They took residence at a local bar.

In the black of 'night' prior to the meeting, there was an incredibly tall building stood out from its surrounding ones. It was a luxury apartment skyscraper complex, housing wealthy civilians. At the base of it was a bar, lounge, game area, and check in offices. Outside was a street, where hover vehicles raced to and fro. Standing outside the complex was a hooded figure, looking up at the building. The large figure stepped forth and walked through the revolving door and headed towards the bar of which was lightly occupied. He seated and looked straight at the bartender. This bartender seemed very laid back, seemingly too relaxed.

"Bartender. I've a question for you." The figure pulled back its hood.

"Well hot damn, look at you Kholo. Shouldn't you be running around tryin' to get away from your enemies? You're pretty dumb for comin' to this place." The bartender smirked and continued his work.

"Filthy inhuman inbreed. The Kenodoxia Program's operation did a number to your southern half-breed accent." Kholo growled.

"What're you talkin' 'bout?"

"Where is the Turian, Sloth?" Kholo narrowed his eyes. The augmented human eyes widened in surprise and then he took on his relaxed persona.

"Dunno, ran away maybe."

Kholo was not amused, "Do not toy with me you fool."

"Can you just let me go back to work, go home."

Kholo growled and rose his hand, an invisible force striking Sloth and pushing the man into the wall behind him. "I do not have time for your petty games, Sloth. There is great work at hand, and I need the Turian."

"Look... man, I don't know where he is. I'm not screwing with you."

Kholo pulled out a kite shaped dagger, which floated in the air. The point faced Sloth and the Gryllian growled, "Do not tell me lies you thranis trasab."

A cool and collected flanging voice stopped Kholo, "Hello Kholo, please put James back on the ground."

Kholo dropped James, his adorned name was a cover name with the intent of protecting his MIA status, and walked to the Turian waiting in the hall next to an elevator door, "Hello Saren."

"My apologies for his abrasiveness, Sloth. Come with me Kholo, I assume you have much to tell me."

They entered the elevator and it raced up to the uppermost floors, "You have a human as your informant?"

"No. I have an augmented human as my informant. He's more than just a human, Kholo. Look at it in that sense. He's not weak, not incredibly stupid, but rather he is strong and has many abilities. If you had been in arms reach of him, he would have drained you of your life."

"The Kenodoxia Project made humans into monsters."

"Not monsters, my friend. But great, resourceful tools." Saren corrected.

Kholo snorted, "He's still partially human. Gives me good reason to despise him. His augments mean nothing, they just make him stand out."

"Indeed that is true, but he has done enough to have me hold him to a high regard." Saren chuckled as the elevator stopped and opened, allowing the occupants to walk out and head Saren's suite. Kholo looked around, admiring the architecture in the place. The living area, with the couches and holographic TVs were in a squared area a few steps down. The kitchen looked like it had been moved in there from a high end restaurant. A flight of stairs led up to the bedroom. He followed Saren to the living area and sat across from him. Saren took seat in an ornate leather chair, leaning back and eyeing the Gryllian inquisitively.

"You have something to tell me. It is yet another Forerunner artifact, is it not?"

"You are perceptive. It is indeed so. But this time, I believe it will lead me to true ruling. A device that will put the humans beneath us, right where they belong." Kholo smiled, pulling out a black ovular object from his coat.

"You've come to me times before, Kholo, with schemes of grandeur pertaining to these ancient artifacts. And thus far they have failed when you were so close to achievement. What makes this time any different?"

"Perhaps it will, perhaps it won't be. But, this object, this thing, will bring us great tools. Tools that will bring us to godhood. This is not a simple weapon or warship, but rather it is a portal."

"A portal." The turian's interest piqued.

"Yes. A portal of which will bring us great riches, machines, abilities. It will accelerate us to a higher spectrum, and we will be able to bring the humans back in their place. Their arrogance will be silenced!"

The Gryllian placed the onyx black device upon the table between them and it split open, shooting out a holographic projection of the galaxy, "Saren, this is a map I retrieved from a successful search."

Kholo pointed to each individual empire, noting the concurrent data by showing civilization borders and artifacts strewn about the galaxy. He showed him one particular section of the galaxy, zooming in the map. The Kobolian civilization's section of galactic space was revealed and he pointed to the central area of the territory. The map zoomed in again and he was pointing at the star system of Helios Gamma.

"The portal resides upon a planet called Scorpia in this system." Kholo purred with anticipation, staring at the star system projection with a hunger.

"Scorpia? That is where the Kobolian's main shipyards are. That planet is heavily guarded, I doubt you have the forces to successfully unearth your portal, let alone lay siege to the planet."

"You know not the extent of my power." The Gryllian smiled.

The turian simply smiled, "It is late my friend. Meet me in the square tomorrow morning, eight in morning sharp. I will be seated at the bar there."

Kholo nodded, "Goodnight, I will see you then." He snapped the device closed and placed in his pocket and left. Saren stared at him, crossing his arms and thinking about the situation he was presented with. He didn't like the humans, not at all. He found them to be crude, arrogant, and too ignorant to be at the high seat of power they found themselves in. He saw that they did not deserve the power they held. But Kholo's blood lust disturbed him still, for his hatred of humanity far surpassed Saren's own.

---

The Citadel turned to face its newly constructed artificial sun, granting the superstructure a day and night schedule of which most creatures needed. The sun itself was small, no where near the scale of a true star, but it gave off the necessary light. Saren walked down the street, passing by varieties of sentient creatures; Sangheili, Jiralhanae, Krogan, Human, Vulcan, Gryllian, and more. He reached the bar and sat down at an outside table and soon Kholo appeared on time, hooded to hide his identity.

"Hello, Gryllian. I believe you wish me to help you with your ploy, yes?"

"Yes."

"Then you must listen. I am a member of the Spectres, which means I have access to many places. I will be able to shut down planetary defenses around the area of which your artifact rests. Luckily for you and for me, their shipyard is almost directly over that area."

"How is that lucky, turian."

"Because I can activate an EMP device that will disable their ships and defenses. However, I must be able to get it between the shipyard and Scorpia's surface to do take out the surface defenses."

"That will be unnecessary. Activate it upon the shipyard, the ships and orbital defenses are my primary concern."

Saren nodded. He knew that Kholo's forces, if they were to make it past the Kobolian fleets and orbital defense, could overwhelm the surface forces. Enough so that he could get what he wants without hindrance. After taking into consideration of the expenses at hand, he addressed what Kholo would have to pay him to get the risky service done.

"For a great effect, I will need a particular EMP device. A shipment was sent off not too long ago to a space station called Sevastopol. However, I will need to retrieve it without my name being on a purchase."

"I have my resources, turian. I will obtain it for you. Give me the coordinates and it will be done." Kholo said as he paid the turian and they soon relaxed to speak of other things. But then Kholo froze in place, puzzling the turian.

"What is it, Kho-"

"Silence!" Kholo whispered aggressively "He is here, my brother! Speak to as if I were a stranger, now!"

Gryllisus crossed the bustling square to the bar with his allies when he paused. Something felt off and he immediately turned his attention to Saren and a large hooded creature. It was a Gryllian, but why was Saren's body language depicting discomfort? Then the hood turned and a glowing green, blue ringed eye locked. Gryllisus roared, "Saren!"

Kholo roared, his hood and cloak tearing off his body in a flurry of movement. Saren's eyes widened in surprise and shock as Kholo sent him hurtling into another table with an invisible force. The former archangel's armor gray armor glistened in the light and Gryllisus charged. The crowd screamed as they clashed, Kholo flying through the bar's outside windows. Rtas brandished his energy and Darian rushed forth with his shotgun. Gryllisus jumped into the bar as Kholo reaffirmed himself, grasping a table and tossing it at the Gryllian overlord.

Gryllisus swiped his hand, casting the table off elsewhere while activating his armor's energy claymore. Kholo grinned at the challenged, pulling his slender scythe from his back's magnetic strip. He roared and activated it, the blade whizzing to life with plasma energy. In a whirlwind style, the traitorous archangel spun with his plasma scythe reared and struck Gryllisus' block, knocking his opponent back. Rtas leaped into the air, activating his energy swords and clashing blades with Kholo's.

Kholo, having no interest of this combat as he heard the sirens sound, pushed the elite back and pushed the sangheili away with his mind. Rtas hurtled, nearly crashing in Darian as Kholo jumping from out the bar and onto streets. Gryllisus chased after him with swiftness. "You will not escape, brother!"

"Oh, but I will Gryllisus!" Kholo spun and sheathed his scythe back onto his back and spread his arms low, palms up. The vehicles with meters of the Gryllian lifted into the air and were launched at the emperor. Far behind, a Ravager starfighter swung low from space and headed towards them. It stopped directly over Kholo as the local authorities entered the scene. Saren, seeing an opportunity, fired as the Gryllian was pulled up into the starfighter. One round struck, giving the Gryllian a superficial injury.

Kholo grunted, and took seat with his automated ship. Deciding he would leave a good message, he opened fire upon Saren and the others. He unleashed his payload of plasma bombs and sent them into the civilians and surrounding structures before pulling away and disappearing. Gryllisus jumped from cover and roared with rage while pulling out his pistol and firing into the sky to where Kholo was going, "Kholo! I will kill you for your treachery!"

Rtas as well as Darian ran up next to the emperor, rage boiling their blood as the enemy fled into slipspace, "I will have my fleet track where he went, Gryllisus!" Rtas then left to do so.

"Gods damn it! He was here! Here! Of all places! Damn it..." Darian said, "I will ready my surveillance fleet, goodbye Gryllisus."

Gryllisus grumbled and turned to Saren, whom he saw speaking with Kholo. It appeared the Spectre did not know that he was speaking with him upon arrival, but that could be wrong, "Saren! Why were you speaking to him!"

"I apologize, emperor. I did not know I was talking to that bastard of a Gryllian. He just walked up to me, asking questions about artifacts and locations." Saren spoke sorrowfully, as well with agitation and anger.

"Did you answer? What artifacts? What locations?"

"I didn't provide him answers, you managed to interrupt our strange meeting. He was asking about some portal artifact on a planet. I can't recall the name of it, but he mentioned Aerilon as a later plan."

"That's an inner Kobolian planet..." Gryllisus began pondering as a Spectre vessel landed.

"I am sorry, Gryllisus, but the Spectres are calling me in on this business with your brother. I will have to inform them quickly, goodbye and good luck." Saren then left, boarding the grounded ship.

Gryllisus looked up at the sky as a two fleets converged, the Kobolian and Covenant, and left together. His tolerance for Kholo was on thin ice, as he was considering his death highly at the moment. He wanted to know what his deviant brother was up to. He needed to know why Aerilon was a target, and what portal artifact he was seeking and why he sought it. Many questions and speculations fill his mind as he boarded his own escort ship and left to his fleet.

The Deadlock, a modern UNSC Halberd-class destroyer eight hundred meters long and shaped like a narrow arrowhead, was performing a regular patrol along the far end of the UNSC-Kobolian border where it forked apart. It was not there long when it picked up a signal. It was a distress beacon, a call for help. The beacon hailed from a system nearby just outside the fork. Captain Jerome Loraine served years upon the Deadlock, and destroyed many enemy vessels in his time as captain. He was quite revered and was trusted with guarding the outer fringes of the territory.

"Sir, the beacon is hailing from approximately forty-one light-years." The navigator shouted from his station.

"Captain, that beacon hails from the Macab System. Particularly from over Terscelid." The ships A.I. rasped from the Captain's chair.

The captain then bore a puzzled expression, "Terscelid? Wasn't that an old UNSC colony?"

"Indeed, sir. Terscelid was an old research colony prior to the Galactic War, primarily for Imperial research projects. It was destroyed by a Gardexian-Gryllian joint operation. This vessel may be a colony ship. The UNSC has been reacquiring its old colonies as of recent. I would not be surprised if this was a recolonization operation gone bad."

"Huh. Get the marines ready for rescue and recovery. Navigator, bring us to that vessel. Make sure to have all weapons are ready for combat, activate energy shields upon leaving slipspace ASAP."

"Aye aye, captain." The A.I. and navigator said in unison. The ship opened the dimensional fabric of space, pulling through into the void of slipspace. Within seconds they were several thousand meters away from the vessel. The windows opened and revealed a long, rectangular vessel with a hub jutting out from its belly. The vessel rear was torn asunder and its starboard side was ripped open. It spoke stories of what may have happened.

"The vessel is an old Conestoga-class troop transport. It is of a Weyland-Yutani manufacture. Its data history reports its first use in a ONI military operation. Often they were used to transport and drop ODSTs in surprise strike. It became a staple when it came to combating the Xenomorphs."

Weyland-Yutani, an old mega corporation now small and rebuilding. It was initiated without harmful intent by a man named Charles Weyland who started up Weyland Industries. However, with their growing works with logistical and militaristic technologies, they drew the attention of Yutani Industries. It wasn't long for the two to join and become a massive Corporation dealing with the wide spectrums of technologies. They were often interested in the Xenomorphs, Predators, and more so. When they began working with ONI, Weyland-Yutani's corrupted side took root and violated a number of civilian rights in their quest to weaponize the Xenomorphs.

The weaponization both succeeded and failed. An individual named Salexa managed to take over a horde of sentients, but used them for her own misdeeds. The event created a civil war within the sentient aliens, wrecking havoc upon their ability as a civilization. It weakened the alien empress' empire dramatically and they were forced to flee even after Salexa's eventual defeat. Weyland-Yutani was disbanded after the Galactic war for their war crimes. They returned a decade later purely as a manufacturing company.

"Weyland-Yutani... Interesting. Can you tell me what happened to it, firstly?"

"Reports within the ship indicates that the engines went offline and promptly exploded, which caused a domino effect to the on-board flammable cargo on its starboard side. No residues from ship based combat from my scanners." The A.I. confirmed.

"Captain, the ship is within safe pelican transfer distance. The marines are ready when you are." The navigator awaited.

"Send them over, keep communications with them!" The Captain shouted.

---

The pelican raced out from the Deadlock. Inside, Sergeant Ford Lockman and his squad of ten marines were stepping into the rear to the cockpit of the troop transporter. He was dressed in full marine battle armor, ready to encounter anything that could be dangerous. He stopped and spun on his heel, performing a clean crisp about-face once they seated. He was a large, burly, and intimidating man with scars across his cheek that came from the claws of an alien.

"Alright, Marines! We are boarding that ship whether you like it or not! Now, you know the history of those ships with Xenomorphs! We must accept the fact that we may be attacked by those damn monsters, barrel through, and save those helpless fools off of there! However, we will have to find the least damaged emergency generator because the only damned way we can turn them on is with our rough ass hands! Are you ready Marines!?"

The sergeant was met with a pleasing storm of enthusiastic "Ooh-Rah!"s from his squad of soldiers. There were ten of them, plus him and that was enough to convince him that no alien could bring them much hell without having their chitinous hides torn apart by the will of humanity. That will being the magnetically propelled 7.62x51mm armor-piercing full metal jacket rounds that would be blasting from their assault rifles and into the bodies of the Xenomorphs, if there were any there.

The troop transport vehicle's lights flashed on, blaring on the surface of the military space troop transport. It read 'UNSC Tarasque' upon the side of its bow. The pelican swung over the ship and searched for one of its mostly undamaged hangers. The pelican paused in front of one of the hangers, its door were closed. The pilot put in the access codes to have the doors opened. The code was accepted and the bay doors slid open, allowing the pelican to enter. The room was vacant of anything that could not be strapped down. This also mean't the bay was also vacant of air as well.

"Oxygen levels out here are at zero, Marines! You know what to do!" With that order, the marine placed on exo-atmospheric equipment to their suits. The pilot's door shut and the bay door of the transport opened upon the sound of a knock. The marines grasped their respective safety bars as the air was momentarily sucked out. Quickly, they ran out and into the hanger bay. The hanger's door shut and overwhelmed the place in a shroud of darkness, which then lit up as the Marines turned on their weapons' lights.

"This place don't sit right with me, Sarge." One of the marines said as he scanned the walls of the hanger. "Where's the crew?"

"We'll find them Corporeal. What we need to worry about is getting that emergency generator online! Do not split up in any case what so ever. You see something shiny, remember what happened to James! Understood? Good. Lets move Marines!"

"What happened to James, Sarge?" A new squad member said as they moved towards one of the many doors of the room.

"Ah, Private, something so terrible that Edgar Allen Poe would wet himself! He found himself a nice shiny ring in a ship we were searching and found himself turned into a Human hamburger by this skeleton shrouded by a black cloud!"

The new marine fell silent in both perplexity and fear, "So know, that if you see something that might make you get left behind, don't go for it!"

Two marines formed up on both sides of the door and a third tapped on a device next to it, opening it. The two marines on the sides filed through, guns raised and securing eyes on both sides of the hallway they entered. the rest filed through. Sergeant Lockman stepped through and began walking down the left end of the hall, "Generators this way. Have all eyes open, we don't if there's people or monsters on board!"

The squad moved through the halls of the ship like liquid, always on guard and checking any place with a doorway. They even stopped upon the medical hall. The place looked more of a wreckage than the rooms they moved through. There was blood everywhere. One of the marine's, a Herald Becker, advanced motion trackers picked up foreign movement from thirty meters, inside another room, closing in on them. He shouted the direction and the squad faced the direction and their flanks. "Ten! Five... zero... five." The marine turned.

"It was either above or below us." The sergeant acknowledged.

"Above sir. The tracker registered it one floor over."

"Even more incentive as to why we should haul ass to that generator, step up marines!"

They continued trekking, though at a more quicker pace. Whatever that thing was, it was fast. The sheer swiftness of a creature who's footsteps were not heard roused ideas throughout the squad. The private was the one to speak one, "You don't think its one of those face spiders do ya?"

"We haven't seen facehuggers for a very long time, private. If they're back, that's telling us something. Either the Sentients are using old methods, or a feral got lucky. Either way, it spells bad news."

They rounded a corner and came upon a door with 'Emergency Generator II' printed bold font in white. The sergeant nodded to them and they readied their weaponry, approaching it while checking the adjacent rooms. Lockman radioed in with captain Loraine, "We've found one."

"Good, see if it's any good Sergeant." The radio crackled back.

The squad formed up around the door, burst through it, and scanned the room for anything like blood or a body. They found both things within it, next to the generator. They rolled through, the sergeant making a bee line straight to the generator while ordering one of his corporals to check the body. The man found five holes, three in chest, one in the throat, and one in the person's cranium. The medical officer of the team approach the body, inspecting it.

"Looks like gunshot wounds from a magnum. Sarge, from what I'm looking at, there was either a turncoat or something caused the crew to go free-for-all." The officer said as he looked the body over. He took out a scanning device, running its light along the body. "Nothing is looking good here, Sarge."

"Generator's torched, Sarge." Herald sighed as he gracefully moved and darted his hands around and in the machine, searching for any way to repair. The bullets had went through the man and also the generator. The places the rounds hit did not leave any room for repair.

"Damn generator's a piece of crap!" The sergeant kicked the machine and created a dull clang as his armored shin impacted it, "We have to keep moving, let's get to the next one."

They passed through another series of halls, finding more gunned down bodies, before pausing at the entrance another room. Above the door read "Crew Quarters." The marines lined up to the walls, and the first two opened the door via pad and then flooded into the room when it opened. They found one person in there, deceased as well. The abdominal of the body, however, was eviscerated. The medic ran over to scan the body, "This guy was hit with an eight gauge shotgun. Military type. Probably one like yours, Sarge."

"No shit." One the marines grunted as he went around.

The sergeant nodded grimly and radioed in with the captain, "Captain, generator was FUBAR. Bullet impacts rendered it null, and we're finding some of the crew. Doesn't look good, seems like when the ship blew they went FFA."

"Damn, anything else sergeant?"

"Yeah, motion tracker picked up something fast and noiseless a floor over us before we found the generator. Think it might be one of those facehuggers again?"

"Could be, keep your eyes peeled sergeant. Your mission status went up another level, find the next generator fast."

"Roger that, sir."

"Thank god the gravity systems still work. This would have been a bad place to be." One marine rummaged through several cabinets, finding syringes of some kind. "Looks like there were a couple of diabetics aboard."

"Diabetics? Can't we cure diabetes, Jordan?"

"Yea, but that costs dinero, Rodriquez. Some people just can't afford it." Jordan rubbed the fingers of his hand together, before the sergeant crossed between them.

"Lets go, we have another generator to find. When we get it turned on, we can take off our very unpleasant space suits!"

"Sounds like my last date, Sarge." Jordan snorted.

The squad exchanged a round of chuckles before heading through a series of halls, through a mess hall, and then out into another large hallway full of crates. Then Becker's motion tracker made a deep ping, picking up foreign movement again. Becker pointed down the hallway and Rodriquez aimed down his battle rifle's scope, turning off the rifle's flashlight and activating the scope's night vision feature. What he saw did not settle his nerves, but rather intensified them. He saw a small, sickly, and bony tail slide up into a ceiling vent.

"Contact is confirmed Xenomorph sub-type. It's entered the ventilation system."

"Keep your eyes peeled. You see it, you shoot it, unless you want to harbor alien chest babies." The sergeant cautioned, moving towards the other end of the hall. "We should be- there she is."

They entered the room, guns high and scanning for any skittering creature that might be awaiting them. Finding nothing of the dangerous sort, except for perhaps the dead body that was splayed in front of the generator. Though from the way it was positioned, the person was not in front of the generator. The medic drew this knowledge together while also looking at the lethal wounds that took the person's life. Despite their nerves being on end, they did not register the increasing thuds of the motion tracker as something foreign drew closer.

"This was also shot in the chest, three times, but one in the head. I'd say this guy was caught in the room with that thing open. I think I know why everyone's dead even though there's no adult Xenomorph on the loose."

"Jesus, sounds like everyone went nuts and started killing each other because everyone thought someone was infected." Jordan mumbled.

"Found out how it got here!" Becker grunted as he poked a large fleshy egg attached to a small corner of a room. The top was peeled open four ways, showing that it's inhabitant was lurking the ship if it had not infected anyone yet.

"Careful now. You do not want to be a host of these things." The sergeant pressed several buttons on the generator's holographic pad and then pulled a lever three times, activating the emergency machine.

The generator hummed to life in a crescendo before whining down. The lights flickered on and the life support systems ran at full efficiency. It wasn't long before the appropriate atmospheric gases filled the air. A robotic voice spoke through the room's speaker, "You may now remove extra-atmospheric equipment."

The marines removed their equipment accordingly, a relieved sighs escaped some lips. They congratulated each other, uplifting each other's morals. The new threat aboard the ship, waiting to strike at any moment-

"Holy shit, Private! Move!" Rodriquez shouted in alarm, raising his gun. He was looking past the private's head.

The private spun on his heel. It was to late. All he saw was the opening belly, sprawled spider-like legs, and whipping tail of the facehugger as it soared upon his face. It grasped his head with its legs and wrapped its tail around his neck. He screamed, and it was gargled as the creature's tube-like ovipositor appendage was forcefully shoved down his throat. Chemical were unleashed and the private fell to the ground unconscious.

---

Sevastopol Station, 0438 hours, July 6, 2571 (MILITARY CALENDAR)

A stealth corvette drew towards a looming structure hovering over the gas giant KG348. The structure itself was a trinity of towers held together by tram networks and smaller miscellaneous structures. It was a dark structure that was both old and new. Old in its rough appearance, but new in the technologies it held. It was a sight to behold, even to the ODSTs whom were aboard the corvette seeking to dock the station for supposed refueling reasons.

The truth behind the matter, however, was more grim. Recently, the higher ups had received news that an emergency had taken place aboard the station after the UNSC Deadlock had docked there. The destroyer was still docked upon the great station, resting its bow between trio of space towers. The corvette drew closer, automatically clearing for docking procedures inside one of the towers. The ODSTs themselves had been warned beforehand that the issue was caused by an Xenomorph entity, and that the only way this issue could have occurred was due to a crew member being infected. This posed a high level threat to everyone on the station, the ship, and anyone who was able to dock there.

The left the small stealth ship, in which itself was only a few times larger than a pelican troopship. The ODSTs peered around, noting the lack of people attending the hanger bay. A heavily plated soldier with a red band painted across his breast plate and a skull etched onto his helmet stepped forth, "Alright, the higher ups wanted us to go on a bug hunt, so keep your eyes and make sure your shots matter. We don't need a possible infestation happening."

A graveled Irish accented voice piped, "I wouldn't be so worried, these little buggers haven't caused much grief to us in the past. I know to not underestimate these things, but don't you think that it's a little odd that they would send us here to hunt bugs?"

"Because it's one bug that causing this problem, and there's a EMP device aboard this station that is a risk of capture. We don't know if this one of the Sentient's ploys or if this is just a feral on the loose." The baritone voice of the skull ODST retorted.

The station shuddered and a robotic voice filled the air, "Orbital correction complete." Then another shudder rocked the ODSTs until there was a violent shake that sent them stumbling, following with the crack of an explosion. The quartet of shock troopers regained their footing. The fourth ODST who bore a scythe on his chest plate and a reaper on his helmet growled in annoyance.

"Sweet Christ, it sounds like either the station's falling apart or the locals are trying their hand at killing the thing." A light, young voice rang.

"Probably, Conner." The leader agreed, approaching the door and drawing his shotgun. The rest followed suit, the Irishman drawing his chain-gun, Conner drawing his pair of sub-machine guns, and their last member his designated marksman rifle. "Jesus..."

Their eyes followed Conner's gaze. It was an awful sight, something straight from a horror movie perhaps. They all peered down upon the eviscerated body of an Asari, a hermaphroditic creature with tendrils where hair normally was and usually colorful skin. This one, however, was pale from death and its blood was drawn and splattered all around the control room. Overall, this sight reeked of bad news for them.

The four Orbital Drop Shock Troopers sat in the hall, eyes peering around as they gathered information from the surrounding area. It was evident that something happened, and this area was only a few doorways away from their arrival point. In the wide, stretched hall was a heap of debris and fallen I-beams. These items appeared due to the tall ceiling caving in. They concluded that the explosion they felt most probably caused this, but the lack of anything Xenomorphic in nature told them that the local's possible operation failed. They nodded to each other and one by one ascended the hole with their jet packs.

They bounded off from various surfaces before landing in an open room. A few lights flickered, the cause of this was all too obvious. They set up, taking on several hard-points within the room before they began discussing the nature of the mission.

"The device we're looking for is in the Lorenz Systech Spire. It's located near the core of the APOLLO complex, which should ease up our advance if we get the A.I. to help remove the alien threat." The squad leader, Kane, spoke. He was dressed in heavy plating with a red band 'wrapped' around his body and a skull scratched on the sides of his helmet. The reflective, polarized glassy face-plate had four shallow scratches running over it. It was evidence of a battle he participated in, its chitinous belligerents being the instigators.

"Working Joes fighting an alien, that'd be an entertaining sight. But I'm putting my money on the bony bastard." An Irishman's voice grunted. He hefted his machine gun upon a wall of crates, pointing it towards a door and a vent opening.

"Of course, Fox, because pitting synthetics against an apex predator with hydraulics for veins counts as a fair fight." Conner, the newest and youngest member of the squad, snorted. However, as he was the youngest, he was also the most naive on the battlefield. He had experience, but not the abundant amount of the rest of the members held.

"I don't know, those things are pretty strong. Almost as strong as a Spartan, perhaps. Give them numbers and they'll be able to tear an alien apart." Fox corrected as he absentmindedly continued carving a Celtic cross into his breast plate.

"So we cross over to the Spire, destroy the device, and leave?" Their marksman, an ODST with a grim reaper emblem etched onto the fore of his helmet, spoke up.

"Higher ups wanted us to retrieve and leave with the EMP device if we can. If we're unable to, we either have to destroy it or destroy the tower with it in it."

"So if we can't reach the device-" "We blow the station to hell, preferably into the gas giant."

"Three options and only two seem reasonable. My guess is that the 'blow the station to kingdom come' is last resort?" Fox leaned.

"Yes sir. They don't want the station blown to pieces if we can help it. They don't want to pay for the loss of this place and the collateral damage."

"Why are we even here. I mean, this thing's running around killing people, that's it. So why does the UNSC-NIC want us to get to that EMP."

"Paranoia I suppose. They believe this thing may be the work of the Sentients in an attempt to return to power." Kane answered as he packed up. He was ready for close-quarters combat, as was everyone else. They stepped towards a door, hacked into it, and entered the next room. It was dark and Conner stepped forth into a small narrow, room. The other three filed down, looking around for anyone or anything. The young ODST look around the room and spotted a kind of generator planted into the wall next to him. He pulled the lever, one light of a stack three turning on and fading slowly. He pulled the level twice more, the three lights remaining on and with a whine from the machine it revved up. Several light towers within the room flickered on, lighting up the void. The construction work that was being done in the room was obvious, as several plates were uplifted and some cables strewn. But the sound of movement caught their attention and a lithe tail raced into a vent. The entire squad dropped down, aiming high with their rifles. Kane sent a signal to the squad for a regroup, which they quickly and quietly did.

"Motion tracker read it going in that direction." Kane pointed. The entire squad nodded, the man was almost right under the creature when it took off. "Which means its headed towards the transit station. Come on, we need to get there."

The squad filed out towards a large open bulkhead door, through and to a large enough hall where they saw another point of interest. They dropped low and close to the walls, looking out towards a man and woman. The man had her at gunpoint. They, the man rather, seemed to be arguing. The bald man looked up, as hearing something or trying to make a point. However, the woman seemed to convince him of something because he gave her a wrench. She spun, unlocked the bulkhead lock-piece and they passed through as it opened. Kane motioned for them to follow, but then the door shut and locked them out.

"Shit!" Fox whispered in frustration as he made to work with the door pad. "It's fried over here. Guess it couldn't handle anymore opening."

"We'll take an alternative route." Kane motioned towards a circular vent.

"Are you fucking insane?" Conner said in exasperation, "There is a god damn alien running around in there and you wanna get in there with it?"

"We have weapons, private. I doubt it'll want to get in front of Fox."

"What?" Fox turned.

"Take lead, you have the machine gun."

"Huh, right." Fox grunted, opening up the vent and sliding his turret though.

"I'll follow second, Reaper will take third, and you get to have the ass end. Better check that gun." Kane said as he slipped into the vent. Conner growled as he checked his sub-machine gun, he did not want the thing jamming on him if the alien decided it wanted some loins. They all filled the cavity of the vent section, and then Fox climbed the ladder leading up and the rest of the squad followed. It was small and cramped, but they were used to these situations. They made turns and a brief descent. Their motion trackers remained void, save the individuals they were following. Suddenly the two blips morphed and then disappeared. They could hear the elevator rising. Kane busted open the vent grate, slid out and set off to the side as the rest of the squad flowed out. He slid the grate on and had Fox weld the scrap piece back in place for reasons of a blood thirsty alien.

Reaper set out to the elevator and called it in as the squad formed up around the door. They could hear the clatter of metal around, the hiss and whines of machines, and the groans of the station. It was very quiet, unnervingly so. They heard the arrival of the elevator and with a ding, the doors slid open, pale light illuminating the darker room. They stepped inside and took to the transit station floor. In opposition to the dire situation that they were in, the elevator played a little light tune. This made Fox chuckle slightly due to its mismatch of the dire situation. To Kane, it was quite cliché.

The doors opened to an incline of steps. They stepped out and looked around. It was dark and several station lights glared from the corners, illuminating the various mechanical equipment and crates around in a ghostly light. The ODSTs walked down and Reaper made a hiss, attracting the squad's attention. He motioned the end of the hall, then held two fingers and motioned that they were coming around the corner. They nodded and waited as the two signatures rounded the corner. They were ready for diplomacy and combat.

"Holy shit!" The larger of the two made to raise his gun, but the smaller one stopped him.

"No! Bard, look, they're ODSTs, UNSC! We're saved man!"

"Well I'll be damned." The other said, jaw slacked, "It's about time you guys showed up, we have a huge crisis up here. Com'on, lemme show you to the guy giving orders."

The shock troopers exchanged glances before following the two patrol men. Kane was the first to speak, "I hear there's a huge problem here."

"Huge? I think deadly would be the appropriate term. There a killer on the loose, and it ain't normal."

"Would you call it an Xenomorph?"

"Maybe, but the only aliens we know of now are those smart bugs. Never seen any of them pull this sorta thing off, at least just one of them. If this is a feral man... there may be no saving this station."

Silence washed over as they crossed into the conference room and there, they spotted around eight other people there. The leader, a short man with a goatee and tactical shotgun on his side walked over arms wide. A short moment later, the leader was cut off from his approach by the sound of a generator whining on.

"Turn that damn thing off! Who did that!?" The man bellowed, "Get that thing off before the creature comes!"

A man and a woman burst into the room, eyeing around before shutting the machine off. It truly did not serve a purpose at the moment, there was no point for it to be on. The ODSTs were on edge, suspecting that it may have been the man and woman they saw earlier doing this work. That was when a man radioed in.

"Si-crackle- sir! The cre-crackle- it's coming! -crackle, gunshots- shit! It's comi-crackle, screeching- agggh-!" white noise fed through before cutting off. A thunderous crack of a pistol roared through the open door that the ODSTs had come through. One of the men guarding the area was quick to close it, sealing them away from the blood thirsty monster. Another gunshot reverberated through room, coming from a different place.

"That's coming from the transit!" Immediately the group of soldiers and armed civilians ran through hurriedly, the first rounding the corner and shouting. He raised his rifle, but the two compatriots in the other room ran quickly. The group kept moving but the door shut behind them, effectively splitting the group in half.

"God damn it! Get that thing open!" The man barked.

The shock troopers moved forwards, chasing down the two when the exit door closed and locked. Kane slammed into the door, frustrated. That door closing was the worst problem not because it locked them from the people who were creating a problem, but because of the thing that was climbing down from the busted vent in the other room. The men screamed as the beast roared and threw the nearest into the window separating the room. It cracked and blood was splattered across it. It mostly shrouded the events forgoing inside. All they could see were the flashes of firing guns and shadowy figures being thrown and torn into by a larger figure. That made the soldiers double time, because the efforts of the others in the other room obviously failing. The door hissed open and they ran into it before the monster could reach them.

"Jesus Christ, it's in there." Conner hissed his whisper as they continued towards the transit. They were traversing a compact hall and that was an incredible disadvantage. If the alien came barreling through the hall, it would most definitely tear right through them.

It wasn't long before they heard the rapid taps of talons over their heads. It was the sound of the alien traveling through the ventilation system. The monster was following them. They barged into a room that smelled of gore and indeed before them were victims.

Every single one of them were eviscerated.

They shot to the right, spearing through a corridor and landing within a large room with multiple tram doors. Reaper shot towards the nearest door with a bright green 'Call' button, which was directly at the back of the room. The rest of the squad backed towards it as the clanks and rattles increased with the obvious presence of the monster coming. The tram was moving too slow and they knew that they would be faced against the alien. But in the dimly lit room and its seemingly ambient fogs, they were standing at disadvantage.

There was a scream and they next thing they knew, a large black mass shot through the corridor at a dizzying speed. It darted left, avoid the hail gunfire that illuminated it inside the room. It crawled up a pillar, ripping off a television screen and hurling it at Fox who rose his weapon in defense. The alien immediately bounded off the tall metal spire and knocked the Irishman down. Kane spun and smacked the alien with his gun, to now avail. It merely grinned and slapped the gun from the man's hands. The chitinous monster grabbed his shoulders and threw him several meters, smashing him into one of the metal grated tram doors.

Their marksman, Reaper, fired his battle rifle. The three bullets met their mark, however, they merely pinged! off the incredibly durable hide of the beast. It turned its head towards the ODST, grinning as it did. The soldier fired again and the alien approached him as a predator would its prey. The shots only scratched the armor of the alien, inconveniencing it at most. Reaper backed into the door, just as it opened, causing him to fall back. Connor charged the beast, firing his SMG into it before ramming it with his body. The alien stumbled, screeched, and slapped the soldier into the tram with its tail. Fox was up and rammed the alien as well, using his extra bulk to truly inconvenience the monster.

The alien screamed and scratched at the large ODST, shredding his armor and slicing his skin. Kane charged and rammed the alien as well, sending it sprawling into several crates and barrels, "Get in!"

Fox dragged into the tram and the alien, upright already, roared in rage. It charged Kane, grabbed his neck and tossed him like a rag-doll into a weapons cache. Kane grabbed a shotgun from it and fired into the alien, actually managing to blast off some chitin and spill blood. To their surprise, the blood just splattered the ground. The alien, displeased, screeched and ripped the weapon from Kane's hands. It landed a clawed foot upon the squad leader's chest, who in return stabbed it's foot. Unmoved by the action, the alien hissed and cocked the shotgun. Kane, realizing the exact weight of the situation, shouted, "Go!"

It was his last word as the alien fired the close combat weapon directly into the chest plate of the ODST's armor. The man gasped as the alien fired again, finishing him. It spun to the other soldiers, screaming out in victory as the tram doors closed. They all stood in shock. Their leader was just killed by an alien. An alien with the power of feral, but with the abilities and some characteristics of the Sentients. They understood the weight of the situation. In conclusion, they needed to get that device off the station before that thing would get them.

---

"You wish for me to divert the entire fleet around Scorpia to somewhere else? Do you realize how absolutely insane you sound?"

"Not the entire fleet, Saren, but most of them. If I can invade Scorpia and dig up the portal with minimal damage, I will take that route." Kholo growled, leaning back into his gravity. Saren stood in front of him from across the holotable inbetween. They were within the bridge of the Dying Light, Kholo's flagship. It was an Obsidian-class heavy destroyer. It featured a split bow bearing two particle laser beam weapons and two fins jutting forth off the rear. A tilted ring like structure bristling with pulse lasers surrounded the back of the vessel. On the belly of the beast were two glassing beam projectors. It was a vessel built for destruction.

"I am already at the risk after your previous incident. So far, there have security details around everyone at risk of being attacked by you. Including me. I hope you understand my predicament, Gryllian."

Kholo lifted a hand, "Fear not, friend, I will repay you for all that you've done for me. The humans will see who the true inheritors of the Mantle are when I am finished."

"They have a close eye on me, Kholo. There are no guarantees that I will draw a significant portion of the defense fleet. I will do what I can." Saren nodded. Kholo stood from his seat and stepped to the ground. The seat hovered up into a slot in the ceiling and they both looked upon the viewing screen. It was the flagship of a fleet of hundreds. Dozens of cruisers, frigates, and other support craft filed their vision. Overall, there were hundreds of vessels in this fleet of Kholo's. Saren gave a quick smirk and left, "I will do this Kholo, but do not fail. We have put far too much effort into this. More-so than your other pathetic attempts."

Saren left quickly, leading to a hanger from which left with his personal spacefaring starship. His vessel blinked out of existence and reappeared back near the Citadel, subverting and avoiding all access codes with his on-board A.I., soon enough he was back inside his suite just in time for the soldier guarding him to check on him. He gave the man a simple wave and the man left to return home to his own family after logging in the status of the Turian. Giving a hour's break, he returned to ship and sped off to Libran.

Libran was one of the Kobolian's martial planets. It was known for the government bodies that were hosted upon its surface, particularly the judicial system. Most of the civilization's greatest lawyers were from this world. The world itself was hospitable and held a climate system similar to Earth's. Though, it had many spanning cities and was characterized by a massive pyramid monument in its capital city. A monument of which Saren knew held much importance, and that the destruction of one such monument would draw much attention. He looked upon his small cargo, from which Kholo insisted he grab before their brief meeting. It was C-14, the descendant of the C-12 of which could level a five-story building flat quite easily. C-14, from his experiences, could level the same building while also carrying an incinerating effect further out. It could, essentially, destroy at least half of the massive monument on Libran.

He activated the stealth mechanism of his ship. The mechanism was far advanced and specialized, having belonged to Spectre. It could allow him to slip by any possible sensor array, even those that regularly caught stealth vessels. He passed by the orbital defense system and headed down to the ground, landing inside of a park not too far away from his target. A mere few miles from the Pyramid, it was fairly easy to him. He gathered his belongings and exited the sleek ship and headed off. The ship in question camouflaged, blinking out of sensorial existence.