Halo: The Last of the Prophets.

Chapter 26

Aboard UNSC orbital defence platform Amsterdam- in orbit above Sanctuary
10th December 2568 Military Calendar 06.00

Admiral Winchester winced as another plasma torpedo slammed into the station. Lights dimmed, and warning sirens blared in his ears.

‘Admiral, we’ve lost decks 15-22. Fires detected on decks 23-25 and structural integrity is at breaking point. We can’t take another hit,’ a frightened lieutenant shouted at him.

Winchester replied quickly, ‘Return fire, divert all power to charge up the MAC, take it from life support if you need to.’

He sat grimly in his chair as he threw his last roll of the dice. It was all or nothing, either they would survive, or they would doom the people below them.

Since the Covenant had arrived in the system, the space borne defences had given their all in holding back the hundreds of ships that were bearing down on the planet. Except for the three ships that had managed to bypass the defensive grid, they had managed to keep the Covenant forces back, but at a very heavy cost. Over a third of the Fleet was gone, the once pristine ships reduced to burning hulks and debris, and most of the ships that were left were badly damaged. Many of the orbital platforms had also been destroyed, but very few of the human controlled stations had been destroyed. A stroke of luck that had kept them in the fight, but even with it, it was a losing battle. The Covenant ships were determined to break through and they didn’t care how many ships they lost to bring down the defences.

And so, Winchester watched as the Covenant capital ship that had just wounded them drew closer, its plasma batteries charging to deliver the final blow. Not if I have anything to say about it, Winchester thought to himself.

‘Sir, the MAC is charged and ready to fire!’ The Lieutenant said.

‘Then send those bastards to hell,’ Winchester growled.

The lights dimmed and the floor rumbled as the MAC shot of the station and headed straight for the capital ship. It slammed into it, and the ship shimmered as its energy shields reacted to the impact. At first Winchester thought the shields would take the blow and they would be sitting ducks, but at last the shields buckled and the round cleanly ripped through the ship. Fires broke out all over its hull and it exploded in a plume of blue fire, which was quickly extinguished in the vacuum of space.

The crew cheered and Winchester breathed a sigh of relief. They had managed to give themselves a fighting chance of survival. Winchester even for a moment thought that they may have a chance of winning this battle yet. He wished he hadn’t, as an ensign shouted loudly,

‘Sir, I’m picking up more slipspace ruptures just outside our battle cluster, its Covenant reinforcements!’

Winchester’s heart dropped like a stone. They had been so close; they might have been able to finish off the rest of their fleet, but with the new arrivals, they didn’t stand a chance. Winchester was determined to go out fighting though so he yelled,

‘Get any power you can and charge that MAC again! I want to a least dent one of those ships-‘

He never finished his sentence. He was too shocked at what he saw. The new arrivals, instead of turning towards the weakened human defences and finishing them off once and for all, headed straight for the other Covenant ships and opened fire on them, releasing a barrage of plasma at them. The Covenant fleet was not prepared for such an attack, and before they could even turn to face their new attackers, half of their ships were engulfed in plasma. The survivors desperately tried to fight back, but the new ships expertly avoided the projectiles and unleashed another deadly barrage, and then another.

Not long afterwards the final Covenant ships were reduced to molten debris, and the other Covenant ships started heading towards the battle cluster. Winchester was about to give the order to fire, when the Ensign said,

‘Sir, incoming transmission from the Covenant fleet, you might want to hear this.’

‘Put it on,’ Winchester calmly replied, praying it was who he thought it was.

‘This is Rtas ’Vadum of the carrier Shadow of Intent. We have come to aid you humans in your time of need. Can anybody here me?’

‘This is Admiral Winchester aboard the defence platform Amsterdam , it’s good to hear your voice again Fleet master, and you couldn’t of come at a better time, we appreciate your assistance.’

‘Ah Winchester, you old dog, I knew one such as you would be here in the heat of battle. It is an honour to fight beside you once again. We have much to discuss and a short amount of time to discuss it. Can you meet with me on my ship in six of your hours? I shall send transport if you require it,’ Rtas said.

‘Affirmative, Fleet master we’ll met you then. Don’t worry about transport, we’ll use our own,’ Winchester replied.

‘Sangheili never worry. I look forward to seeing you again Admiral,’ Rtas said, and the COM went dead.


Six Hours Later
In UNSC Pelican-en route to Shadow of Intent

Kyle sat in the cramped Pelican with Blue team and Admiral Winchester as they headed straight for the Elites fleet. Kyle thought to himself of the events of the last few hours.

After finally beating the Covenant of the ground, they had waited for news on the battle above them and then after a few tense hours they had learnt of the Elites timely intervention that had saved them. Not long after this, the Spartans had been whisked back up to the Amsterdam where they had received a quick debriefing and they were brought up to speed on the events since the battle had finished.

The Elites had formed a perimeter around the planet and they had send supplies and troops to help the wounded and the stricken ships and stations. Kyle had to appreciate their efforts to assist them, when only two decades ago they had been sworn enemies and they were trying to kill one another, it had been a radical change, and a greatly appreciated one.

Kyle and Blue team were with Admiral Winchester, as he believed that the Elites may have an idea where the Forerunner battleship might be located, and thus give them somewhere to start looking for it. The Pelican entered the alien hangar and landed perfectly with a slight thump as it touched the deck plates. The door opened and they filed out and were greeted by a squad of Elites they gave a respectful huff when they saw them.

‘Follow us Spartans, Admiral; the Fleet master awaits you on the bridge,’ a red-armoured Elite said.

He turned and headed out of the hangar, Kyle and Blue team right behind him. The Elite led them through corridor after corridor, and they finally came to an elevator which led up to the bridge. After a short ride up they walked down a corridor and entered the spacious bridge. Rtas ’Vadum was sitting in an elevated chair and he swivelled when they entered the room.

‘Ah Admiral, and Blue team as well, it is good that you are here,’ he said rising from his chair and striding towards them.

‘You said we had something to discuss Fleet master, I assume it is important?’ Winchester said.

‘Indeed Admiral, the battle is over, but the war isn’t. The Covenant are coming, and this time they bring the accursed Forerunner battleship,’ Rtas said grimly.

‘How do you know this?’ Peter asked.

‘Because we have kept their forces at bay. We received some of their communications, and the traitorous Prophet Remorse is coming to oversee the destruction of this planet as an example to the entire human race,’ Rtas explained.

‘How many ships?’ Winchester asked.

‘Everything they have left, it’s their last great offensive, and we shall be here to meet it,’ Rtas said defiantly.

‘How much time do have?’ Kyle asked.

‘Kyle I’m picking up more slipspace ruptures, more Covenant ships, and the Forerunner vessel,’ Mira said urgently.

‘It has already begun,’ Rtas said.


End of Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Aboard Forerunner Battleship-En route to the planet Sanctuary
The First Age of Restoration

Remorse sat silently in his private quarters and was lost in his thoughts. After 15 years, 15 long years it all came down to this. He had gathered every part of his Covenant, all those who were still loyal to him and the Journey and he had brought them here to fight the combined forces of their enemies.

He had wished it hadn’t come to this, he had sent a large amount of his forces to keep the Sangheili at bay, even his own ship had been deep in Sangheili space, leading raids against their planets, to distract them from his true plan.

After the recent failures and losses over the last few months, including his right hand man Drakus, the Covenant were desperate for a victory, and his leadership was being brought into question. Remorse for the first time in years feared for his life. The Jiralhanae were loyal, but without a central leader to support him, they were fighting amongst each other for power, which was causing a power rift throughout their ranks and the few remaining members of the other species in the Covenant were considering leaving.

So, Remorse, in desperation had decided to launch an attack on the humans. His plan had been to strike them quickly and decisively, eliminating them before the Sangheili could intervene. At first it was going well, especially with the discovery of the hidden power of the battleship.

It had been found accidentally after they had escaped from the human world Frontier. Its main weapon was a delightfully useful tool, and Remorse decided to test the weapon during their first attack on a human world, the planet they had called New Berlin. It had been more effective than he anticipated, but it had come at a cost.

Even though the ship had taken very little damage from the human’s pathetic attempts to attack them, a prime example of their lords’ craftsmanship of this holy vessel. The downside was that after they had unleashed the battleship’s ultimate weapon, it had disabled the ship’s weapon systems and it had taken several hours to recharge and reactivate them, which is why Remorse had let his fleet finish off the planet. But his ships presence there had severed its purpose. It had spread fear and had got his enemies scared, and had demoralised them. This time however, Remorse knew his ship would not need his fleet to defeat his foes, as the weapon had been recharged and they had since learned how to use it effectively. He smiled to himself at his ingenuity. He was going to take out all his enemies in a single shot.

Remorse had then accelerated his plans. He had launched his next attack on the humans, while sending the rest of his forces to deal with the Sangheili, while his forces pushed further into human territory.

A Jiralhanae walked into his room and bowed. Remorse raised a hand, and he rose to his feet and said,

‘Sir the survivors of the scouting team have given their findings from the human facility.’

Good. Remorse thought. He had sent a couple of battalions of Jiralhanae to the major human city below them, to ascertain what they knew about the Forerunners. Remorse had hoped to find some leads to find some more of their lords’ technology, or even a way to activate the sacred rings.

‘What do they have to report?’ Remorse asked.

‘They said they raided their databases, but they found nothing of any real interest, they know as much as we do,’ the Jiralhanae captain said.

This hit Remorse hard. He had hoped he could of found something useful, which he could use against his enemies, but alas, they have proved themselves worthless in this case, and so they should be disposed off with due course.

‘Thank you Captain, execute the failures from that mission and prepare for battle. Bring the battleship to combat status. I shall address the fleet shortly,’ Remorse said.

‘I shall be done my Lord,’ the Jiralhanae said as he bowed and left the room.

Remorse let out a sigh and watched a holographic representation of the system they were in. He could see his fleet, in a tightly packed swarm around his battleship. He could make out the combined Sangheili and human fleet moving to engage them. He flicked a button on his chair and activated a communications channel with the commanders of the ships around him.

‘My brave Jiralhanae, these are my orders to you. Keep your ships close to the battleship and defend it at all costs, I shall activate this ship’s weapon and release it’s cleansing flame which shall burn away all those who oppose us. I need only for you to give me enough time to complete my holy work,’ Remorse said, in the most rallying voice he could.

It seemed to work, as all the commanders roared in triumph after listening to his speech. They all then said in unison,

‘We lay down our lives for the Prophets and the Journey!’

Remorse felt a deep feeling of pride at his soldiers. Even though there were a few that questioned his leadership, most of his commanders had never lost their faith and they would follow him to their deaths. When he had first seen Drakus’ devotion and belief all those years ago it had surprised him and now even fifteen years later, these creatures loyalty took him back from time to time.

He just hoped that he wasn’t wasting their lives needlessly, as if he wanted to get revenge on the Sangheili and the humans; he needed to use his resources carefully. This was one of the biggest risks he taken since he had escaped from the Sangheili all those years ago and like that terrible time, it was all or nothing.

‘Thank you my brothers, your sacrifices will not be vain, as once the battleship has unleashed its holy light, we shall continue on our path to victory!’ Remorse shouted.

Again his commanders roared at his stirring speech and Remorse deactivated the COM channel.

He watched as his ships moved into position and readied themselves as the Sangheili ships approached. Remorse activated another channel to the bridge of the battleship and gave his next command.

‘Commander, initiate the charging sequence for the primary weapon. I want to vanquish these heretics as soon as possible. Until then, I want you to hold position in the centre of our fleet until we are ready to strike,’ Remorse said.

‘Wise words my lord. I shall contact you when the weapon is ready,’ the Jiralhanae commander said. He then cut communications, leaving Remorse by himself, lost in his thoughts.

Remorse watched silently as the first few ships from both forces engaged one another. The Sangheili may be superior shipmasters, but the Jiralhanae were quick learners, and they had improved over the years, with some of them being able to go toe to toe with even the most experienced Sangheili shipmasters.

Remorse hadn’t just relied on this though, as his forces heavily outnumbered the combined fleet they faced. Some of his commanders had asked why they had pulled from their previous tasks to aid in this assault, before they had arrived. Remorse had simply told them he wanted to deliver a crushing defeat to his enemies, and to show them that his Covenant wasn’t to be trifled with.

The truth was that he knew he needed a quick and decisive win if he was going to stand a chance of winning this war. He knew that if the war dragged on, and it was fought on two fronts, they would simply be stretched too thin, and a combined push could cripple them. So his strategy had been born, as he had intended to wipe out one enemy before taking on the other. He had deemed that humanity were the weaker opponent so they would easier to destroy, so they could then focus their efforts on the Sangheili. If they won here, they’d be one step closer to that goal, and an added bonus would be they would also wound the Sangheili, giving them enough time to finish their genocidial campaign unopposed.

But it was out of his hands now, as he watched the chaos of the battle. His pawns were in place, and he taken the first few pieces, now he had taken a gamble and had thrown everything he had in one massive attack. He could only wait and see how his enemies responded. He felt the floor shake as the generators below his quarters came alive as they charged the battleship’s weapon, and prepared it to fire its devastating blow.

He looked at the holographic representations of his enemies ships, as they fought desperately against his massive armada and said,

‘Your move.’


End of Chapter 27

Chapter 28

Aboard Covenant carrier Shadow of Intent-In orbit above Sanctuary
10th December 2568 Military Calendar 12.30

‘All hands to battle stations! Charge the plasma batteries and bring us about,’ Rtas ’Vadum shouted as the last of the Covenant’s ships came out of slipspace.

Kyle could make out hundreds and hundreds of ships and in the centre; he could make out the grey angular shape of the Forerunner battleship. The ship around him thrummed with power as its engines activated and it turned to face the massive armada, the rest of the Elite fleet behind them, moving in to engage.

Rtas was about to move to the bridge when he received a communication from there.

‘Fleet master, we’re detecting a massive build up of energy from the Forerunner battleship. We believe it is charging its primary weapon,’ the Elite said from Rtas’ communicator.

‘My god….if they fire on the planet, the shockwave would take out all our defences. Nobody would survive,’ Winchester said grimly.

‘Then it is time to sever the head of this beast. Spartans go forth and destroy that vessel, once and for all,’ Rtas replied, turning to Blue team.

‘But, we don’t have any means to destroy it, the explosives were left on the Amsterdam,’ Peter warned.

‘Do not worry, I shall send a team with you with an explosive of our own,’ Rtas said.

‘Then it’s settled. Go on Blue team, I’ll remain here with the Fleet master and co-ordinate our forces here. Get on that Pelican and take that son of a bitch out,’ Winchester said.

Without another word the Spartans turned and ran and headed through the bowels of the ship and back to the hangar. The lights dimmed and warning sirens blared in their ears as they ran. They could hear the frantic voices of Elites as they went to their combat stations. Caspian quickly activated his COM.

‘Reggie, get the Pelican ready ASAP, we’re taking this fight to Remorse’s front door.’

There was a crackle of static, and then he replied,

‘Understood sir, she’ll be ready by the time you get down here.’

They descended down a gravity lift and jogged down more corridors and entered the hangar. It was a mess of activity, as Seraph fighters were fuelled and readied for battle. Kyle noticed two spec-op Elite teams, as their dark purple armour made them stand out from the regular soldiers and pilots. One of the groups carried a large object. It was roughly oval in shape and had large spikes protruding from it. It took two Elites to carry it. They turned and nodded at the advancing Spartans.

‘Ah the Spartans, it is an honour to fight along side you,’ the spec-ops commander said.

‘Likewise. Is that the bomb there?’ Caspian said, pointing at the spiky object.

‘Indeed it is, all you need to do is place your hand on the detonator, and it will activate the countdown,’ the commander said, pointing at an area on top of the device, where there was a small blue light.

‘I see, well we’d better get moving, we’re running out of time,’ Caspian said.

‘Very well, we shall bath in the Prophet’s blood this day and at last we will crush the vile Jiralhanae into the dust!’ the commander said.

The other Elites roared in approval and ran to two nearby Phantoms, which were prepped and ready to go. Blue team ran into the Pelican and strapped themselves in. The rear door closed and the Pelican came to life around them.

‘Hold on tight Spartans, this is going to be one wild ride,’ Reggie said from the cockpit.

The energy shield guarding them from the blackness of space dissipated and the Pelican shot forwards and descended from the massive carrier, the two Phantoms right behind. The battle around them was fierce and chaotic, the massive capital ships exchanged fire, plasma torpedoes and MAC rounds filled the space around them.

Fighters shot past and ripped each other to shreds, sending debris and explosions in all directions. Reggie didn’t stop and kept on target, ignoring the hectic battle going on around them.

Mira said in his ear,

‘Are you ready for this?’

‘I’m ready, it’s time to finish this once and for all,’ Kyle said, determined that Blue team would end this war here and now.

‘Good, we’re nearly there. The battleship is charging its defences. I’d grab hold of something if I still had arms,’ Mira joked.

The Pelican rolled and dodged as golden lances of fire shot past them, as they approached their destination.

‘Damn, their defences have improved since the last time we did this; I’m having trouble avoiding them. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve though,’ Reggie said, as they did a full barrel roll to avoid more golden beams

There was a loud explosion and the ship rocked violently to the left.

‘What the hell just happened?’ Shen asked.

‘They took out the right wing, I’m trying to keep this bird on target as best I can, I‘m not sure if we’ll make it,’ Reggie said. Kyle could hear the strain in his voice as he fought to kept control of the crippled Pelican.

‘We’ll make it, just keep going, we’re almost there,’ Mira said.

Kyle braced himself as another explosion rocked them and the Pelican uncontrollably started to corkscrew. The craft then slammed into something hard and Kyle could hear the sound as metal ground against the deck of the Forerunner ship. It then came to a violent stop that nearly broke Kyle’s neck.

As Kyle regained his senses he looked around the rest of the cabin. It was filled with smoke and he could barely see the armoured figures of his friends. At last Caspian said,

‘Is everyone all right?’

‘Yeah, just a little bruised,’ Peter replied.

‘Same here, we’d better get moving Casp.’ Kyle said.

‘Your right, salvage what you can and get moving. Kyle check the cockpit, that was a nasty crash, see if Reggie needs any help,’ Caspian ordered.

The rest of Blue team got to their feet and grabbed as much ammo and supplies at they could and knocked the twisted rear door down, weapons at the ready. Kyle walked to the door to the cockpit. It had been bent outward and looked severely damaged. Kyle ripped it free of its hinges and entered the remains of the cockpit. Kyle could see that the Pelican had crashed into the back wall of the hangar and this area had taken the brunt of the blow. A feeling of dread entered him as he moved over to Reggie’s chair.

He climbed up and looked at Reggie, and his worries only intensified. He wasn’t moving, and the metal had bent inwards and had crushed him into his chair.

‘Mira do you read any life signs?’ Kyle asked tentatively.

‘Faint, but they’re there, you need to get him out of here now,’ Mira advised.

With all his superhuman strength Kyle pushed the twisted metal back far enough for his to undo the straps holding Reggie in his seat and he dropped his body of his shoulder and supported him with his left hand and held his MA5C in the other.

He ran out of the Pelican and saw that the hangar had become a battlefield as the Brutes desperately tried to hold the Spartans and Elites back, as they moved further in. Kyle ran to the nearest Elite Phantom, and the two Elites guarding it.

‘My friend needs medical assistance; do you think you can keep him safe here, while we continue with our mission?’ Kyle asked urgently, as a fuel pipe detonated, destroying several nearby Seraphs.

‘Of course Spartan, we shall defend him to the best of our abilities,’ the Elites said, as they took the wounded Reggie from his shoulder and placed him in the safety of the Phantom.

‘Thank you,’ Kyle said, as he turned and ran to his team-mates, who were at the exit of the hangar, pushing the Brutes back.

Kyle slid into cover next to them, and fired his assault rifle.

‘Where’s Reggie?’ Caspian asked, as he popped up from cover and fired, killing another two Brutes.

‘He’s in one of the Phantoms, he’s still alive, but he’ll need medical attention after all this is over,’ Kyle said.

‘Good, then let’s get moving,’ Caspian said, as they fought their way out of the hangar and into the dull steel corridors of the battleship.

As Kyle moved through the ship it felt like he had only been here yesterday, when they had fought to destroy this ship, only to realise there was a bigger threat to contend with. This time, this ship wouldn’t be so lucky, and neither would Remorse.

Kyle remembered that the reactor was deep at the heart of the ship, and that is where the bomb would do the most damage. Unlike last time, where they had left it in the hangar, they didn’t have the luxury of time for this attempt, so they had to rush forward, with the Elites and the bomb in tow. They would take out any hostiles, and cover the Elites until they planted it by the reactor.

Warning sirens blared and a Brute’s voice could be heard over the speakers.

‘Demons have infiltrated the battleship, with those traitorous Sangheili! Do not let them interfere with the Holy One’s plans. Slay them on sight!’

‘Well that sounds like we’ve got their attention, keep moving, they’ll be on us soon,’ Caspian said.

They surged on, running through corridor after corridor. Kyle noticed that most of the corridors were empty, and they had so far faced very little resistance. Kyle had a bad feeling though that would change as they got closer to the reactor.

The marker on Kyle’s HUD got closer and closer, they were only 200 metres away, then one hundred and then finally they entered the reactor. Kyle looked up in awe at the huge column of grey metal that was filled with blue light and rose up high up in the barley visible ceiling. The room had three entrances and which lead to different areas of the ship. About 20 metres above them there was a catwalk. Kyle remembered the last time they had been here and they had dropped plasma storage tanks from them to clear the room. This time however, the catwalk was deserted and stripped clean. The Elites holding the device moved forward and prepared the bomb, while the rest of them stood guard. Just before they armed it, the Spec-ops commander held up a hand to stop them.

‘What are you doing commander?’ Caspian asked.

‘Before we destroy this accursed ship, we must go to the bridge and kill Remorse,’ the commander calmly replied.

‘Are you crazy? We don’t have time for this, that weapon is going to fire and it’s going to kill thousands of humans and Elites, we can’t let that happen,’ Kyle said, anger starting to enter his voice.

‘We cannot allow Remorse to escape, if he does, he will only return and bring another army with him to plague both our species. If you really want this war to end here and now, we must be sure the fiend is dead, or it will only begin again. Maybe not for a while, but he will inevitably return,’ the commander explained.

Kyle nodded in approval. It had been Remorse who had masterminded all of the events of the last six months, and he was the true threat behind the Covenant, perhaps even more than this ship. If they wanted to stop the Covenant they had to stop him.

‘You make a fair point commander, but who will guard the bomb in the meantime?’ Caspian asked.

‘I will split my forces. Half of my team will stay here and guard the device, while the rest will accompany me as we hunt down the bastard Remorse. I would like you to join us Spartans, so we can share the honour of ending this war,’ the commander answered.

‘There they are, get them!’ A Brute shouted, as the room quickly filled with Brutes.

They’d walked right into a trap. Kyle and the rest of the combined human and Elite forces opened fire, cutting down the first group of Brute minors that approached them. More and more of them filled the room from every entrance, and Kyle desperately tried to find some cover, as his shields were drained by the fierce fire fight. In the end Kyle leapt behind the bomb and used it as cover. The bomb had been designed to keep out matter, to stop it mixing with the antimatter inside it. If the two met, it would cause a detonation, so Kyle hoped that the people who made it, made sure it had taken into account to protect it from weapon discharges, or otherwise this would be a very short mission.

Luckily it held off the barrage, and Kyle and the others kept fighting. He slammed another clip home and hammered into the Brute captains nearest to him, before throwing a grenade into a pack of Brutes to his right. It detonated and killed the five Brutes who had been standing next to it. Brute after Brute fell, as they slowly surrounded them, walking over the bodies of their fallen comrades. A few Elites fell, giving off a final howl of defiance as they threw plasma grenades at their murderers.

One stuck an unfortunate Brute, and he was ripped to shreds by the explosion.

‘Fight on my brothers! Do not relent to these mongrels!’ the commander said, drawing his energy sword and slicing a few Brutes who had been next to him.

Kyle checked his ammo counter for his rifle. It was starting to get rather low, so he switched to the sub-machine gun on his leg and sprayed bullets into his opponents. He wasn’t going to let himself die here; they were to close to victory to give up now.

At last, after some heavy fighting they enemy numbers started to thin under the combined fire of the Spartans and Elites. When the last Brute fell, they all let off a sigh of relief and took a moment to reload and morn the fallen. When they were ready to move Kyle asked,

‘Mira, where is Remorse?’

‘From what I can ascertain from the Covenant battle net, he’s on the bridge, directing the Fleet,’ Mira explained.

‘Then that’s where we need to go, can you show us the quickest route from this location?’ Caspian asked.

‘Certainly, I’ll mark it on your HUDS now,’ Mira said.

A marker appeared by the entrance behind the reactor, and they headed down it.

Kyle walked down the familiar corridor. The last time he had been down here, it had just been him and Caspian, moving to assist Rondo and the rest of the Elites from a trap on the bridge. He just hoped they weren’t walking into a similar trap.

They continued down the corridor and turned a corner and looked at the massive door that lead into the bridge. They moved silently to the door and readied themselves for what lay on the other side. The door opened and they entered. Once again Kyle was impressed by the majestic beauty of the place as blue light bathed them from the pillars all around them. Kyle looked at the familiar holographic display that showed the space battle around the battleship.

Other than them, the room was deserted. Kyle wondered where the crew was, and more importantly Remorse.

‘Mira….you sure he’s here,’ Kyle asked.

‘Positive,’ she replied.

They slowly moved deeper into the room scanning for targets, when a loud booming voice said from above them.

‘I had wondered who they would send to kill me, and I must say I am disappointed. A Sangheili strike force, with a few of the humans’ precious demons? I can’t say I’m flattered.’

‘Come out liar, and maybe you’ll be more impressed once we’ve dealt with you,’ the commander growled angrily.

‘Simpleton, I don’t know how your species ever managed to hold such power in the Covenant for long, you’re no better than the enemies you claim are inferior, but I forget my manners, I really should make myself known,’ the voice said.

An alien in a gravity chair descended from the ceiling and landed in front of them. He had a long neck, and wore a red tunic.

‘I am the Prophet of Remorse, Hierarch of the Covenant, and you now your lives are in my hands.’


End of Chapter 28

Chapter 29

Aboard Forerunner battleship-near the planet Sanctuary
10th December 2568 Military Calendar 13.00

‘Shoot him!’ the commander said, as his Elites opened fire, firing everything they had at Remorse.

The barrage simply bounced of a golden energy shield that encompassed his chair and body.

‘Impudent fool, did you not think I would have taken the measures to protect myself? Now feel the power of the technology of the Forerunners, whose Great Journey you turned your back on!’ Remorse said.

Twin lances of golden energy shot from Remorse’s chair and hit the commander dead centre. His shields failed and his was sent hurtling backwards, his body smoking, as the armour melted.

‘Now it’s about time I removed the rest of this filth that stands before me, you are all vermin, and I shall cleanse this holy site,’ Remorse said, firing again.

Another Elite was vaporised in an instant, and the rest of them returned fire, only to have their shots be harmlessly stopped by Remorse’s shields. Kyle fired, rolled from another golden beam and fired from the hip. The bullets pinged of the shield and Remorse laughed at him.

‘Foolish human, your feeble weapons are no match for the divine technology of our lords.’

Kyle hid behind one of the pillars as he reloaded.

‘You’ve got any good ideas Mira?’ Kyle asked, as the rest of Blue team, dived to his location.

‘That shield seems impervious to small-arms fire, and we don’t have any firepower heavy enough to take it out,’ Mira stated.

‘Wait, didn’t John-117 take one of these Prophets out? I remember reading about it once,’ Shen said.

The Elites were slowly being picked off one by one. It was obvious to Kyle that Remorse was toying with his prey.

‘That’s correct, reports indicate that he defeated Regret by boarding the chair and attacking the target hand to hand,’ Mira explained.

‘Board it? How the hell are we supposed to do that?’ Alex asked.

‘That shield doesn’t stop bodies passing through it, it might be your only chance,’ Mira warned.

‘We’d never get it in time; he’d just blast us before we got close enough,’ Kyle said.

‘You’re right, but I’ve got a plan guys, so follow my lead, we’ll only have one shot at this,’ Caspian said.

After hearing the plan, Kyle got ready as the others got into position. Shen set off first firing a few shots to get Remorse’s attention. He turned and fired, missing Shen by inches. Kyle inched closer. Alex dove from the left and fired, making Remorse turn and fire at her, but she made it behind one of the pillars before he could hit her. Kyle moved at little closer.

Peter came from another direction and shot at Remorse, he wheeled round and fired, the golden beams caught him in the chest, but Peter kept on running. Kyle moved closer. Caspian moved from cover and got his attention, and once again he fired at his attacker, just missing Caspian.

‘You delay the inevitable humans, I will kill you, and then I will hunt and kill every other single human in the galaxy until you are extinct. That is the will of the gods, and I am the instrument of their will!’ Remorse shouted.

Kyle saw his opportunity and took it. He sprinted at Remorse, who had his back to him. He had never run so fast in his life, but he knew he had to save his strength for what was coming next. Remorse was just turning to face him, his smug look replaced with one of surprise, as Kyle leapt forward, and passed through the shield and landed on Remorse’s chair. Without another moment’s hesitation, he primed a frag grenade and shoved it into one of the alcoves of the chair.

‘NOOOOOOOOOO!’ Remorse shouted, as Kyle jumped free and the chair exploded.

There wasn’t much left of the Prophet after the explosion.

The rest of Blue team joined him. They all seemed okay, except for Peter who was holding his side.

‘Are you okay Pete?’ Caspian asked.

‘I’ll be fine, don’t worry,’ Peter said.

Kyle looked around the bridge, all the Elites were dead, and the deck started to shake. He had a feeling what as happening.

‘The weapon, it’s almost ready to fire. We have to blow this ship now!’ Shen said.

Wasting no more time they headed to the exit and headed down the corridor. After running for what seemed like an eternity they made it back to the reactor. Kyle noticed they were even more Brute bodies than there were the last time he was here. The Elites had obviously been busy.

‘Ah Spartans, where is the commander? Did he fall in battle?’ The nearest Elite asked.

‘I’m afraid so, Remorse killed your commander and all the troops that went with him. We managed to stop him though,’ Caspian said.

‘Ah good, then their sacrifices were not in vain,’ the Elite said.

Peter grunted in pain behind them. Kyle wheeled round at his friend, he was propping himself up by holding on to one of the spines of the Covenant bomb.

‘Peter what’s wrong?’ Alex asked, concern filling her voice.

‘I’m sorry, but I can’t go any further. You’ll have to leave me here,’ Peter said calmly.

‘What are you talking about? You can make it, we’re not leaving you behind,’ Kyle said, moving to his friend.

‘Let me see the wound,’ Kyle asked as he moved Peter’s hand away from his chest. His armour had melted away where the beams had hit him, and they had penetrated his suit and deep into his flesh. Kyle was amazed he was still standing.

‘That shot got me dead centre, those injuries are too severe, you’d never get me out of here in time, I’m already a dead man,’ Peter explained.

Angry roars came from the corridor they had just left, and started coming from all directions.

‘You’re running out of time, if you stay here, you’ll have to contend with the Brutes, and you won’t make it out and we’ll all die here. At least my way, only one of us has to die here,’ Peter said determinedly, even though Kyle could hear the pain in his voice.

Caspian nodded his head once and grasped Peter’s hand firmly and said, ‘Goodbye old friend, I won’t forget you.’

Shen moved forward and said, ‘Give them hell Spartan.’

He then turned away and didn’t look back. Alex moved closer and hugged Peter, who grimaced in pain.

At last Kyle moved to his friend, knowing this would be the last time he would ever talk to him. His mind raced at what to say, and what he wanted his last words to him to be. At last he said,

‘Goodbye.’

Peter took of his helmet and smiled at them, the first time, Kyle had ever seen him looking so happy, as at last, the war was over and his purpose was fulfilled. He placed a hand on the detonator, and it changed from blue to red and made a loud wailing noise, as it armed. A timer appeared on his HUD, showing they only had three minutes to get off the ship.

He didn’t need to say anything else, they were all like a family and they all knew how much they meant to each other, even if they didn’t say it. Kyle saluted his friend then headed towards the hangar. He looked back a few times as the green-suited figure got smaller and smaller, and finally disappeared from view.

Nobody spoke as the timer counted down, as they ran through the corridors and the sirens blared in their ears. With one minute left they entered the hangar and ran to the Phantoms. They knew the Pelican would never fly again, so they needed to hitch a ride with the Elites.

As they reached them, they climbed into the nearest one, while the Elites jumped into the second one. Kyle realised this Phantom had Reggie in it, and as Caspian took the controls of the craft Kyle inspected the young pilot’s condition. He’d been in a nasty crash, but he should be okay if they made it to safety.

Kyle held on tightly, as the Phantom rocked out of the Forerunner ship and headed deeper into the blackness of space. Kyle moved to the cockpit and watched as they headed for the Amsterdam.

Behind them there was a massive explosion as the battleship detonated. The slender beams of metal were bent and twisted as its core was turned into a raging fireball. The ship was ripped into three pieces and they struck the nearest Brute ships, piercing one and crippling another.

At last the war was over, all due to one Spartan paying the ultimate sacrifice.

End of Chapter 29

Epilogue

UNSC Hillside memorial- Africa, Earth.
1st January 2569 Military Calendar 12.00

Kyle stood at the memorial, and placed a medal by the memorial and then stood and looked at it, in all its grandeur.

He looked at all the names, all the faces that had died to defend Earth and the UNSC. Now there was one more person to add to the list. Peter-065.

He looked down at the medal he had placed at the memorial. It was the UNSC medal of Honour, the highest military decoration that they could have bestowed to the fallen hero.

After they had completed their mission, and the Covenant fleet had been defeated, there had been much celebration when they had returned to the Amsterdam. For obvious reasons, Blue team hadn’t been in the most jovial of moods when they had returned and they had quietly left the party to privately mourn the loss of their friend.

They had managed to get Reggie to the medical bay before it was too late, and he had made a full recovery. Kyle had made sure to visit him a few times, during his recuperation on the station. Red team had joined them and so had Winchester when they were all debriefed by ONI about the mission. The spooks hadn’t taken kindly to the discovery of Project Lazarus, and their activities, but to be honest Kyle didn’t care anymore, he knew who he was, and what his mother did no longer bothered him.

A few weeks after the battle, the Elites had departed, returning to their space, as they feared a Brute reprisal over Remorse’s death. They had shared fond farewells, and they had offered to assist the UNSC when they needed it. Kyle wasn’t a politician but he hoped that the two could remain allies and perhaps new opportunities could arise from their friendship.

Another week passed, and then they were all called to Earth to attend an award ceremony, that praised the so-called ‘Saviours of the UNSC’. Blue team had all been awarded the medal of Honour, and Kyle still wore it on his chest, alongside all the other medals he received on his dress jacket.

He heard footsteps behind him and he turned to see Shen walking towards him. Like him, Shen had just come from the award ceremony, as he still wore his black dress jacket, which was gleaming in the mid-day sun from all the medals on his chest.

‘I’d thought I would find you here,’ Shen said.

‘Yeah, I just came to pay my last respects to Peter,’ Kyle said looking at the memorial.

Shen followed his glance and sighed ‘It’s never going to be the same again without him, I sure do miss him,’ he admitted.

‘I think we all do, but he sacrificed himself for us, for the UNSC, and humanity. That’s the best death for a Spartan,’ Kyle said.

‘You’re right, we all knew the risks, and if I were in his situation, I’d probably would have done the same,’ Shen said.

‘We all would, it’s what we’re trained for, what we’re bred for….’ Kyle stopped, thinking about Lazarus.

‘Yes, but Peter did it for a more important reason than that, one that wasn’t trained or selected for,’ Shen said.

‘And what was that?’ Kyle asked.

‘Because he was human. He knew that he had to sacrifice himself to save us, save Sanctuary. There isn’t a more human act that we can perform, and it can’t be trained for or produced, it’s just in our nature,’ Shen said.

‘You have a point Shen, that’s why Lazarus never changed me, I’m who am because I chose to be this way, and Peter chose the life of his friends over his own., it’s just in own nature,’ Kyle said, turning to look at the massive Forerunner portal below them, still and silent.

‘What do you think we’ll do now?’ Kyle asked.

As the war was over, what would the Spartans be needed for?

‘I don’t know, we may have peace now, but they’ll always be a call to war, maybe due to the URF, maybe due to the remnants of the Covenant, perhaps something new, but the point is the UNSC still needs us, so I don’t think we’ll be out of work,’ Shen said.

‘You’re being rather philosophical today. Are you going to tell me the meaning of life as well?’ Kyle joked.

‘Not today, my best philosophy is with a gun anyway. Oh by the way, happy new years day,’ Shen replied.

‘You too, I think it’s time we left. Come on,’ Kyle said.

Kyle looked at the memorial one more time, and then walked away with Shen. It was the start of a new year, and a new beginning for the Spartans of Blue team. They had learnt so much, about themselves and what it means to be a Spartans. They had made new allies, and lost old friends. Kyle didn’t know what challenges they would face in the future, but he knew he’d be ready for them.

The End.

Author’s Notes

Ah, after over a year long slog, my trilogy is finally complete. It has been one of the hardest, yet most entertaining things I’ve ever done in my life. I’m glad people have followed them from those first few chapters I wrote in my lunch break, to the full on chapters at its conclusion.

It’s been a blast making them, and I thought I’d let you in to a more detailed account of what went into making this final part of this trilogy. I must warn you from this point on they’re will be MASSIVE SPOILERS for not only this story, but the previous two that preceded it. I suggest if you are new to my work you read those first.

Here are the links to them:

Book 1 Halo: The Rising Storm: http://www.halowars.com/forums/thread/431701.aspx

Book 2 Halo: Operation Overwatch: http://www.halowars.com/forums/thread/326610.aspx

Now with that out of the way, let’s begin my look back at making this. I’ll be taking you through it, chapter by chapter and my personal thoughts on each of them. So let’s crack in!

Prologue

Originally, what originally became Chapter 1 was going to be the Prologue; another UNSC colony is destroyed, that way setting the scene, and showing people the main threat of the story. As much as that was necessary it was also rather dull, as I had already done something similar at the beginning of Overwatch. Also, the primary villain of this series has always been Remorse, but to be honest, the audience didn’t know much about him, as I hadn’t explored the character much.

Thus, I came about the idea to have a flashback, to show what Remorse had been like before he had become the Remorse we saw in The Rising Storm. It also meant we got to see where Drakus began, and how he rose to power. And so I created this back-story, to show how he had escaped the Great Schism of Halo 2 and what started down the road which lead him to where he is at the end of this story. I liked this idea more than the first prologue, so I was written first.

Ironically, this was going to be the only Remorse flashback, but I enjoyed it so much, and the positive response from the readers, made me decide to place them periodically throughout the story, and I think it added a lot to the main villain, and gave him more of a personality, than just being a mysterious evil force. But I’ll touch on this more when I reach more of the Remorse chapters.

Chapter 1
Like, I said, this should have basically been called ‘Prologue 2’ as it didn’t change much from the way it was originally thought of as the prologue. I did a lot of reading through Halo: the Fall of Reach for this chapter, specifically the chapter where the remote sensing station detects the Covenant presence heading towards Reach. It made it easier to write and more in line with the canon already in place.

Chapter 2
Ah, the first look at our heroes since the last book. I will admit, it is similar to the opening Blue team chapter in Overwatch, but that was mainly the point. It was to show that there was some consistency and the Spartans lives do run on a bit of a routine.

This chapter also served as a quick recap of the events of the last story, just so the reader can get back into it, after the delay between the two (Which to be honest for me, wasn’t that long) but it was there to help newer reader have a clue what was going on. I think it served that purpose.

Chapter 3
This is a dull chapter.

Even I admit that, but I needed to show the transition from Earth, to Sanctuary, and I felt it was better for you to have seen that transition, rather than hear about it later, so the reader can feel part of the team.

The only little thing I threw in there that was of any interest was Alex’s suspicious behaviour. Now, in Overwatch, she goes through a myriad of emotions and feelings during that story. I felt it would have been rather odd if she seemed exactly the same again, with no long-term damage from the previous mission. I felt it was better to show that the scars from the last mission were still pretty fresh.

Chapter 4
And back to Remorse.

Even though I could of left it in the prologue, what happened after that conversation intrigues me, so I felt I would visit it, again, and explain how he escaped the planet. I did something similar before in Overwatch when I flipped between the Spartans in the present and the Novo’s troubles that happened a few weeks before. I liked this concept, which is why I used it again. It helped flesh out my villain, and make an interesting sub-plot throughout the story.

Now there is the issue of the Major Domo (A red elite) wielding a sword. I had kinda written myself into a corner here, as I had already said the highest ranking Elite was a Zealot (Gold) and I’ll killed him off in the prologue. I was going to change this, but a good friend informed me (he’s one of the main reasons you getting this at all =) ) that under some circumstances they can and have used swords. So I kept it. I was more exciting anyway.

Chapter 5
Just another transitional chapter, not much to say about it, except I tried some humour to this chapter, and add a bit more the Alex situation. I wanted that to be a cause of concern to her team-mates, until it blew up in a later chapter. But I talk about that when I reach it.

Chapter 6
Another chapter here setting the scene. It just lays the scene and tells you what the Spartans orders are.

The most interesting thing about this chapter was the return of Captain Winchester. Winchester was one of the big minor characters in The Rising Storm. As this was the final book of my trilogy, I wanted to bring many of my old characters back for the final battle. I always liked Winchester, and I felt placing in command of the defences was a good way to use him, and to write him in.

As the plot had been moving a bit slow through the first 5 chapters, I felt it was about time for a battle, and thus the brief space battle came into play and the Covenant forces on the planet, to add a little tension to the proceedings

Chapter 7
Hmm…….the next 4 chapters were written when I was on holiday, so I had more time to sit down and refine them than I do with most chapters, I think it showed.

This was a good old fashioned ‘storm the base’ chapter and I had fun writing it. I liked the mountain setting and the snow coming down and reducing the visibility, in a battle against Brute stalkers, it added a nice edge.

The build was good, as I let them walk through the bodies of the fallen and see the recordings before the Brutes’ attacked. You knew it was coming, you just didn’t know when.

This chapter also marked the return of Reggie, the charismatic pilot from the first story. Like Winchester, I always liked Reggie, seeing him as my take on Foehammer from Halo CE. It was nice to bring him back for this story.

Chapter 8
This chapter was one of my early favourites when I finished it on holiday. I had plenty of time to tweak it and I like the way it eventually came out. The transition between 7-8 is almost seamless, with only a breath between them.

It had some great fight scenes; I especially liked the fight in the barracks between Kyle and the Brute Stalker who ambushed him. It’s chaotic and desperate, with brains beating brawn.

Another important part of this chapter was the reveal of PROJECT: Lazarus, and the discovery that Kyle’s mother, Claire Anderton was involved in it. The idea for Lazarus will be explained when it is revealed, but I had a rough idea for it when this chapter was made, and I felt the inclusion of his mother was a nice mystery that the reader could ponder during the course of the story.

Chapter 9
Another Remorse chapter. After Chapter 8, I felt this was a little weaker then the previous chapter, but I still think it helps archive the rise of Remorse to power.

I felt this should be about who Remorse dealt with the news that he was the last of his species (The title of story no less). It also explains what he has been up to since we last saw him escaping from the clutches of the Elites. I wanted this revelation to push Remorse to vengeance, to make him go down fighting, instead of cowering like a rat, and that was what I tried to get across in the chapter.

The Fist of Rukt search came out of my own idle curiosity of what happened to Delta Halo after the events of Halo 2 and 3. I doubted the Elites would leave it undefended, especially with the Flood contamination there. I also felt that the Elites were in such a hurry, that mighty hammer was left there. So the hunt for it was a nice plot device and it let me indulge in some ideas on the fate of Delta Halo.

Chapter 10
Not much to say on this one, just the fallout from the discovery of Lazarus and the Spartans getting their new orders. Pretty standard stuff.

Chapter 11
I would say this was another build-up chapter, getting ready for a large battle a few chapters in the future, but a few things need to be noted.

This saw the introduction of Major O’Brian and the AI Nelson. O’Brian was supposed to be my attempt at an ODST major, who wasn’t a jerk. I hated Major Sliva in Halo: The Flood, and the way he was to Spartans, so I wanted to show how ODST’s had changed since the end of the war, and so I created him. Nelson was named after Admiral Horatio Nelson, one of the greatest minds of the British navy. I’ve always respected his genius, so I felt I would honour him with this character.

Also there was the inclusion of Red team……

Chapter 12
Red team came from a very obscure reference to a Spartan in the first story. I thought it would be interesting to see how the survivors of team sigma had faired since the last story, but I didn’t think the two survivors would just be working as a two-man team, so I felt it was better to create a whole new team. And so I went back through my stories, trying to think of a way of adding one, which was when I found the reference to David, who I decided to make the leader of Red team.

The rest of the team, I made up on the fly, and this chapter was mainly to show their origins and the rivalry they used to have with Blue team, which was mainly resolved in this chapter. They still are a bit competitive, but it’s friendly now. I might explore Red team a little more and give them their own story at some point, because even though they featured in this story quite a bit, they weren’t really the best explained or described. So watch out for that when I get round to it.

This chapter was inspired by some of the training chapters from The Fall of Reach and Ghosts of Onyx. I had a similar jumping out of a Pelican scene to show how the two programs were similar and it was a bit nostalgic for me to look at their training one last time.

Chapter 13
The first part of this chapter was mainly designed to explain many of the unanswered questions about the universe I created. I feel I came up with some plausible explanations of how they UNSC had rebuilt so quickly, and why they other colonies exist. It’s been a question that had been at the back of my mind since the last story, so it was about time I got it out of the way.

As for the bulk of the chapter, it’s the build-up to one of the big space battles in the story, with it finishing just as they Covenant ships arrive. It sets the scene for Chapter 15.

Chapter 14
After I had set up the mission for Drakus, I felt I needed to explain what happened in that mission, so the main part of this chapter is Drakus recalling his quest for the Fist of Rukt I felt the time it took was justified, especially with the Elite patrols and the Flood on the ring. I had originally conceived this as a stand-alone chapter told from Drakus’ perspective, but I felt it was a waste of time, as I wasn’t going to use that perspective again, and I wanted to focus on Remorse, and so it appeared in this format.

Chapter 15
It continues on where Chapter 13 left, off and takes begins right where we left the action. I used a little trick in these two chapters. The last words in Chapter 13 are exactly the same as the first words of this chapter, to show that no time has passed since we left it.

The ensuing battle was supposed to be portrayed as a desperate one, as the UNSC forces are dealing with waves after waves of enemy ships, trying to hold them back. I worried that the damage some of the Covenant ships took was a little excessive, but I am sure the Super MACS that the platforms have could do that, so I kept it the same.

Chapter 16
One of the largest chapters in the book, I felt that right after the massive space battle, I’d have a large ground one. The idea of having three stages came to me early in the writing of this chapter, and it gave the Spartans clear objectives, so the battle didn’t become too muddled.

I hadn’t had a really large battle since the climax of the first story, so it was fun to throw large numbers of Brutes and vehicles against our heroes. Some of the defensive ideas, such as the entrenched Scorpions and marines, came from Halo: The Flood and the tactics used there, though I try to make mine a little bit more complex and detailed.

Another thing I’d like to comment on was the brief scene where Kyle assists the injured marine. It wasn’t supposed to be rather important, but I wanted to drop a subtle cord with the audience of the chaos of this battle and how nightmarish it was for the men fighting it. I feel most people probably ignored it, which is fine, as I had half a mind to remove it anyway.

Chapter 17
I know I went with a city attack again, but can you blame me?

I’ve always like that section in Halo 2, and I felt there was a lot of room of expansion for it. The majority Overwatch was set in a city, and subsequently a hidden Forerunner complex.

While I will admit it does pay a little homage to the last story (even the characters themselves get a feeling of déjà vu) I tried to make it different.

Firstly, they enter the boundaries of the city from the air, and the Banshee attack was something I made up on the go. They’re went many Banshees in my trilogy, but I was reminded of Sierra 117, and it added a bit of extra tension.

The travel by Warthog was another thing, there was something similar in Overwatch, but this time they acquire one before entering the city, and two military ones as well. It was to speed up the action, as I didn’t want them entering the city on foot again.

Another little note I might add, Sergeant Epps, was inspired by one by one of my former teachers, she was always supportive of me, and I felt I should pay tribute to her for all her assistance during my time at secondary school.

Chapter 18
The first part of this chapter was slightly inspired by the highway level in Halo 2 and Highway 17 in Half-life 2. I wanted a fast moving chase as they headed towards the city, I wanted it to be action packed and exciting. I think it got the balance right.

Next up was the battle to save the trapped marines. I thought it would be a little dull, if the warthog simply drove in and wiped all the Brutes out, so removed them from the equation and made a tense little fire fight. What to do with the transport hog gave me a few headaches though, as in my first draft I forgot about it, and when I remembered it, I wasn’t sure how to get it out of there. I think my solution was good enough.

This chapter should also be noted for the return of Staff Sergeant Novo. Though he had a large role in the last story, I wasn’t sure how to implement him into this one. It wasn’t until I got to this chapter, that I thought this would be the time to add him to the proceedings.

Chapter 19
The action keeps on going as we enter the last of Remorse’s flashbacks. I had been building up the fight between Drakus and Brakus in the last Remorse chapter, and I had been looking forward to showing the duel between them.

As you might have expected, this chapter borrowed heavily from the fight from Contact Harvest for inspiration and ideas of how the battle would take place. I was nervous placing the fight on Doisac as there is so little existing information about it; I was worried I could be wrong about its landscape. This is one of the main reasons all the previous chapters took place in a ship above the planet, so I avoided this problem. To this day, I’m not sure the desert setting can be applied to the planet, but it felt like the safest bet, as I didn’t have to describe Brute architecture.

The end of this chapter shows the formation of the new Covenant and the ascension of Remorse, which I felt was a nice comparison to have when we visit him, several years latter, on the verge of defeat, desperately gambling on success with a final desperate battle. I wanted the readers to realise he was drove to this because of who his and what he went through. I think the flashbacks help explain this well.

Chapter 20
Ah….this chapter was greatly inspired by my life at the moment. Now that I go to University, ever weekday I now commute into London, the journeys there and back always are quiet and give me time to think about things, including my stories. These journeys had helped me plan out the last few chapters in my head before I wrote them.

This chapter was a little different mainly due because for once I drew from real life to create my locales, something I used a bit more in later chapters. I do try to draw from real life when I imagine something, but this was different as it was solely based from real life, instead of coming from both my imagination and real life experience.

The train station was mainly inspired by London Victoria I pass through on my way to Uni, as it is a very big station, and I thought the wide open spaces would be great for a battle.

The underground section interestingly, was inspired by another train station all together, and bares more resemblance to London Bridge, though; I must say that area looks nicer than my description gave it.

As I use the underground daily, I did try to make this bit a little more detailed than I usually do and I’ve always been curious what it would be like at night, when the lights are off.

Another big part of this was the revelation about Alex. I must admit, I do seem to be overusing the tormented past a bit, but I do like it so much. I’ll try not to use it so much in the future.

Chapter 21
Ah…a good old train battle. This came about in a similar fashion to the last chapter, as I commute on train daily. It was also inspired a bit by the train section of Gears of War, as I said at the time. This was a fun chapter to write and it was action packed.

As I mentioned earlier, I added a little subtle addition with the conversation between Novo and Kyle, and how similar the situation was to the last adventure.

As for ONI’s train stations, they were based of my own imagination and the architecture of one of the University campuses.

Chapter 22
One of the major qualms I had with the last story was I didn’t get around to characterising everyone, especially team Sigma. Alice had the least characterisation of the lot, having only one or two lines in the last story. One of the things I promised myself was to characterise her in this story.

By this time I was running out of chapters and I wasn’t sure where I could put it in. So I felt I would stage another fight at the generators. I wanted it to have a different feel to the last one, so I centred it on Alice providing sniper support from afar. I think it was a bit of a departure from the norm.

Alice’s personality is based on mine bit, as I’m rather shy and keep myself to myself, like most of the characters in my stories.

Chapter 23
This and Chapter 24 were going to be one Chapter, but as this one was rather large in it’s own right, and I knew the next chapter would take a while, so I felt it was better to split it up.

The Chapter itself is quite similar to many I’ve done before, a simple fight in an office setting. It wasn’t the first and it was probably not the last. The central office on the seventy eighth floor was going to have a larger role originally, with the Director of ONI himself hindering their progress. In the end I thought that was a little silly, so it got cut down to what it became.

Chapter 24
I’ve got a lot to say about this one, so bare with me.

First off I had written myself into a hole at the end of the last chapter. Our Spartans were at the top of the building, with Novo and the marines at the bottom. I needed them to get down there quickly. My first thought was to rappel down the stairway, but that was rather slow, and I didn’t see much improvement from just running down them. So I came to the idea that to have them heading down the elevator shaft.

Now, to talk about Project: Lazarus. The idea came to me when I was going through what I now call my ‘Final Fantasy VII’ phase. Sephiroth’s back story was one were he had been engineered and his whole life had been manipulated. I liked the idea, and I flipped it around to fit into a Halo setting. It was also helped by the fact a good friend gave me a good suggestion to reintroduce Odysseus to the story. I really liked it, but I gelled it with my idea, and I think it came out well. I hoped you enjoyed it.

Another thing is Dr Harmer is based of a real person I know. I hope he doesn’t take offence, as he’s really a nice guy, but I need a name for the villain.

Chapter 25
The nightmare was something I was going to use in a later story, but I think it was a good way to start the chapter and to show the fallout from the last chapter.

Then, I decided to have one more land battle.

For this one, I felt it was a new idea: a drop behind enemy lines. I was going to use the base designs for Halo Wars, but they weren’t available at the time, so I had to make it up as I went along.

I hope you liked this one, as it was essentially the Spartans taking on overwhelming odds to win.
Chapter 26
To sum this Chapter up in a phrase

‘The Eagles are coming, the Eagles are coming!’

The Elites needed a comeback, and I felt it was best to have them arrive in the nick of time. The rest of the chapter entailed what they were doing, since we last saw them in The Rising Storm. It also helped establish where the Forerunner battleship was, as I haven’t touched on it well.

Chapter 27
And here is the final Remorse chapter.

For this one, I wanted to show how much had changed after all the events of this story and how desperate and bitter he had become. With all the back story I put in during the entire plot, was leading up to this, where he would give his final role of the dice.


I also tried to explain the why the battleship had taken this long to appear and explain a bit more about it’s primary weapon and it amazing power. Sure it’s a little Death starish and it wasn’t explained very well, but I needed a real threat for the final few chapters. I think I cleared it up a little now.

Chapter 28
And the final battle begins……

This starts very similarly to the first time the Spartans attempted to board the Forerunner ship. It was a subtle nod to my first story.

Then we come to the point of Reggie. Until virtually the last minute, I was going to kill him off, with him dying in the crash in the hangar. I had actually typed it up and was about to continue, when I changed my mind. I felt that the death would undermine what I had planned into the next chapter, so I deleted what I put and put what you all read.

To get myself ready for this chapter and the next one, I re-read what I already wrote about the ship, as I attempted to do it without it and I was making mistakes about the locales.

At last I had to arrange a final confrontation with Remorse, so I had my Elites give an reason and then set the stage for it. Again we returned to the bridge and once again there was a ambush. They just never learn do they?

I wanted Remorse’s speech was to be memorable and threatening. I think I hit the mark.

Chapter 29
For the final battle of this story, I wanted it to be a better version of the way Regret was defeated. I always thought it was too easy. So I wanted Remorse to be tougher and deadlier than his predecessor. So they distract him and then finally defeat him.

Peter’s death had been planned out for quite a while, about from halfway through the story. I have been avoiding killing off my main characters as I like them so much. I was trying to counter that will Kyle’s ‘death’ in Overwatch. But I felt enough was enough was enough and it was time for one of my characters to die.

I choose Peter because I didn’t feel there was anywhere else I could take the character, so I felt it was time to finish him off. Once again I looked at Sam’s death in Fall of Reach which was my main inspiration. It also brought some nice symmetry to the stories. Sam sacrifices himself at the start of the war, and Peter does at the end in a similar way.

Epilogue
To wrap the trilogy I wanted it to take place at where the original trilogy ended. The hillside memorial was the place where the UNSC paid their respects to the fallen, so I felt it was obvious that Kyle should go there and pay his final respects to Peter.

In this chapter I wanted Kyle and Shen to resolve all the revelations and losses they had been through, so I wanted to be rather philosophical about it, which became Shen’s role in the chapter

I wanted the trilogy to end on a lighter note, so that’s why the last few sentences are looking towards the future and a possible sequel……..?



I hoped you enjoyed this little insight into the writing the story, it’s been the fun writing it and this won’t be the last thing I write.

I like to thank everyone who has read and commented on my stories, your comments and praise has kept me going and I appreciate all of them.

Thank you.

that took a good 15 min.

Yeah it's rather long. And this is Book 3 of 3.

I have to put the other two at some point.