I've studied all my options regarding a Halo story, and this seems the most unexplored and the most mysterious of all Halo stories. Even Eric Nylund, author of several Halo novels said that he considered the story of Gray Team a subject for a possible novel. Where I'm gonna be 1 step ahead of them and I'll try to express what I think happened to Gray Team. Most of this story will be fictional but I will add some things which are canon in the mix. I hope you enjoy this story.

~~~

The year was 2525. The UNSC frigate Commonwealth was in orbit over the planet Chi Ceti IV, in the fringes of UNSC space, more than 77 Light Years from Earth. The Commonwealth had just dropped all of the Spartan IIs which had survived the byo-augmentation process to test their new armour. This armour, dubbed the Mjolnir Mk IV by its creators, was a new type of special combat suit which was designed from the ground up especially for the Spartans, and especially for fighting the Covenant.

The MJOLNIR Mark IV was a radical redesign of the suit taking advantage of many technological leaps. This advanced battle suit was the first to fully integrate with the soldier's body. The suit plugged directly into the soldier's nervous system through a standard issue Neural Interface. The suit's many functions (communications, hydro-static gel levels, environmental systems, etc.) responded to commands issued by the soldier's thoughts.

This was also the first design to successfully utilize the reactive metal liquid crystal as a means of enhancing locomotion. It flawlessly enhanced the speed and power of the wearer, a sharp contrast to previous versions which required powered motors to allow the soldiers mobility. Because of this advancement, the design more closely resembled an actual suit of armor, as opposed to a powered exoskeleton. On one level the soldier moved the suit and in return the suit moved the soldier. This allowed for an incredibly compact design when compared to the previous incarnations.

The success of this version was also dependent upon the parallel development of the Spartan-II program, which produced soldiers with the physical prowess required to drive the system. Previous attempts to wear the prototype suit by unaugmented soldiers resulted in their deaths or severe injury due to the extreme reactivity of the system.

As soon as the Spartans equiped their new suits, they found it to perfectly suit them and their needs on the battlefield. The Spartans could now be assigned into military units and be sent to battle the Covenant. Before they would be officially sent into battle however, the Spartans were forced to undergo a baptism by fire when a Covenant frigate entered the system and engaged the Commonwealth. As soon as they could load up on weapons and ammo, all of the Spartans were ferried via Pelican dropships to the Commonwealth. It was going to need all the help it could get.

As soon as the Spartans boarded the ship they received tactical information regarding the situation of the battle, information on their enemies and their role in the battle which was going from bad to worse for the UNSC. There was only one option left for captain Wallace, commander of the Commonwealth: send the Spartans to board the enemy ship. Without a flinch, the Spartans did what they were told.

After being taken by a Pelican dropship to the very hull of the Covenant starship, the Spartans infiltrated the ship through a hole in the hull made by the Commonwealth's MAC gun. The MAC gun was an advanced weapon used by the UNSC, on par with Covenant Plasma torpedos. They were in short suply however when the war started and few ships had fully functional MAC guns. When they were fully functional however, they were a weapon to be feared by the Covenant. A well placed MAC gun shot could disable a Covenant ship by destroying its engines, or destroy it completely by destroying its fuel cells. Before the hull could be destroyed however, there was always the issue of Covenant shielding. All Covenant ships had shields, and the most resilient of shields could even resist a SHIVA Nuclear Missile. In this situation however, the shields of the Covenant ship were down, and both ships were exchanging body-blows between eachother. The Spartans would turn this situation however.

Only three Spartans, John-117, Kelly-087 and Sam-034 succesfully landed on the ship and entered through it's hole. They reached the ship's reactor, tossed their warheads inside, and escaped. Unfortunately, Sam got hit by plasma from a Jackal that breached his armor making it impossible for him to follow his friends out from the ship since he would die from decompression. He was forced to stay behind . He held off the Covenant while John and Kelly escaped. The warheads went off, and the Covenant ship was destroyed, taking Sam with it.

This battle was a victory for the UNSC, yet the Spartans had paid a price in this victory. One of their finest was killed by the Covenant on his first mission. He was the first of the Spartans to be deemed "Missing in Action" by the UNSC. It was part of a startegy to keep morale up by maintaining the myth that Spartans couldn't be killed. The reality however, was painfully different from what UNSC publicity made it appear to be.

After the battle, the testing facility on the planet's surface was abandoned in fear of a Covenant counter-attack. This attack featured only one ship, yet Covenant fleets often employed great numbers of ships, upwards of 30 capital ships with many more support ships.

The Spartan super-soldiers were divided into platoons, called teams, which were colour-coded. The team of Spartan John-117 was Blue Team. Out of all the Spartan teams, one stood out. Gray Team. Sent into a mysterious mission to a place held secret by the UNSC, being named only "too far away to be recalled", they were one of the last remaining Spartans by the end of the year 2552, when Earth was invaded. Many kept seeing them as possible reinforcements to join the battle to come. Yet many also questioned wheter they actually existed and if they weren't dead.

The task of Gray Team, when they set out from the UNSC HQ on Reach in 2551, was to try to focus Covenant ships and troops into a far away section of Human space, while keeping attention away from Reach and, ultimately, Earth. Hoping for a diversion, Gray Team was sent along with a task-force of 7 UNSC ships to the furthest reaches of UNSC space, even further than Chi Ceti IV. The planet which was their destination, Caleston, was a rocky planet, made up of several continents with wide surfaces of undrinkable liquid between them. This, coupled with the great heat of Caleston caused by the nearby star Fury 821, made the planet lightly inhabited. It wasn't one of the greatest places to set up but it was better than other planets nearby.

The task-force, dubbed task-force Atlas after the flagship of the battlegroup the carrier UNSC Atlas, stood in orbit over the planet as Pelican and Albatross dropships ferried troops and engineers over to the surface of the planet. The whole taskforce was commanded by captain Alexander Quinn, a promising UNSC naval commander who had seen action before in the battles of Paris IV and Jericho VII. This was first mission in command of an entire task-force and he was visibly nervous.

As he stood on the bridge of his flagship, the leader of Gray Team came up to him to talk about what his Spartans would have to do in this mission. Since he was thinking heavily, he barely noticed Spartan Randall-079 coming up behind him, even if Randall was in his Mjolnir Mk V armour specially given to him and his squad-mates for this asignment.

"Sir?" Randall quietly asked from behind captain Quinn.

"What...who...oh, Spartan-079. I wanted to speak to you. Good thing you received my message quickly." Quinn said in a slightly nervous voice. It was the second time he talked with a Spartan, and he knew about their famed skills in battle.

"You can call me Randall sir, I much prefer it when people call me by my name. Regarding a message, you never sent me one sir." Randall after a slight pause in which he tried to remember any message sent to him. Captain Quinn had only thought of a message, but since he was so stressed he didn't actually send one.

"Well, it's good you came anyway. I've been receiving preliminary reports from the planet's surface. It seems it's uninhabited. A barren wasteland...thankfully." Captain Quinn said, gathering his thoughts and trying to calm down. He felt a constant beat in his heart, a constant fear which always gnawed at him from the inside, too faint to really affect someone but too powerfull to dissapear. Quinn was feeling it fully.

"I have gathered my men sir, we are all suited-up and ready to go. What are our orders sir?" Randall asked. He was not impacient yet he did not appreciate staying away from the subject.

"Very well then...Randall. Go to the hangar bays and board Pelican dropship Alpha Kilo 17. It will take you to the surface of the planet, where it is no longer my jurisdiction to give you orders. General Blake will handle everything from there. I wish you luck on the surface Randall." Quinn said in a calm and collected voice. To an outside observer, only slight flickers of his voice would show how stressed he really was. Those that knew him closely however, could clearly see that he had changed since his promotion to captain. From the confident and outgoing commander he used to be, he was now a hollow shell of his former self, always seeming to fear something which was neither close but neither far.

"Yes sir. Good luck to you as well, I hope this all goes well for you." Randall said as he politely saluted his commanding officer. Randall wished the captain luck with a slightly ironic tone. He smiled slightly as the captain's face went pale. Randall always liked making these slight jokes on his colleagues. Little gags to personally amuse himself and ease off the stress of constantly being ready for battle.

As he left the bridge, he left the captain alone, staring blankly at the large viewport which showed the planet above which his ships orbited. His task-force was well-equiped as far as UNSC standards went. The oldest ship he had was his own flagship, the Atlas, which had served in the war since its very start, in 2525. The other 6 ships, the heavy Marathon-class cruiser Acheron, the 2 frigates Ebon Falcon and Surprise and the 3 destroyers Avenger, Achilles and Galahad were all relatively new ships, all equiped with modernized MAC guns, Archer misiles and Shiva Nuclear misiles.

The long trials and tribulations of Gray Team had just begun...
~~~
I hope you liked this first part of "Gray Team". Feedback and criticism is greatly appreciated.

Well, I don't have much to say about it. It all felt as worldbuilding to me. This is good for Halo noobs like me but I'll have to stall any story-based comments till after Randall has made planetfall. I do hope captain Quinn comes back. I want to see more of him.

Yes, this is quite an informative beginning. The tone of the writing makes it seem that this is one entire debriefing or something, which is unique. I look forward to seeing this continue.

I'm glad you liked this first part of "Gray Team". Don't worry Jack, Captain Quinn will be returning. He is a pretty important character for my story. His current personality is somewhat based on my own current state of mind. Let's hope that this state of mind will pass for both of us.

~~~
As task-force Atlas was setting up a mobile command post on the surface of Caleston, somewhere on the fringes of Covenant space, a fleet of Covenant warships was hunting UNSC ships which strayed too close to Covenant space.

This fleet, made up of 21 ships, was one of the many Covenant hunting fleets. Nicknamed Wolf-packs by the UNSC commanders, these fleets stalked the confines of UNSC space, destroying any UNSC ships and glassing any worlds which were lightly protected.

From the bridge of his flagship, the Reverence-class cruiser Sacred Promise, the Covenant Fleet Master Kusovai Nar 'Mortumee surveyed his fleet in all its glory. His many ships ranged from CPV Destroyers to CCS Battlecruisers. As he stood, monitoring the position of his ships on a tactical hologram, an officer came to him.

"Sir?" the Elite asked.

"Yes, what is it?" Kusovai asked, curious yet slightly annoyed that he had been interrupted.

"We have detected a presence nearby, on the planet of Unyielding Penance. It is a small human fleet. Shall I give the orders to pursue them?" the Elite asked. Kusovai stood and thought for a moment.

"Yes of course. Relay an order to all the ships and tell them to proceed to their battle positions and prepare for jump to slipspace." Kusovai said. He, unlike the other Elites, held a deep respect for the humans. Even though they had been badly outnumbered and outgunned in the war with the Covenant, they had fought bravely and had slain countless Covenant warriors. Their so called "Demons", the Spartans, had also killed a great number of Elites in combat. This fact alone garnered great respect from Kusovai.

"Acknowledged sir." the Elite said.

As his subordinate left, Kusovai summoned Field Master Voro 'Umamee to tell him of the human presence on Unyielding Penance, the Covenant name for Caleston. Voro 'Umamee, a seasoned Elite veteran, didn't share Kusovai's respect for the humans, despising them for killing so many of his Elites. He did however admit that they had admirable fighting skills.

"Yes Kusovai, what is it you wish?" Voro asked.

"We have discovered humans on Unyielding Penance. The humans have defiled one of our worlds, I have thus decided to take action against them." Kusovai said.

"Very well then, I will prepare my Elites for battle against the humans. They will not escape the fire of our plasma and the fury of our blades this time." Voro said, reffering to the last time Kusovai's fleet engaged a UNSC taskforce which escaped in slipspace after a short but fierce battle in which they damaged some of the Covenant ships.

"Excellent. I was meaning to ask you something however Voro. Why do you think the humans haven't been offered absolution of the Covenant? From the beginning of this war, the Prophets have made no attempt to absorb them or even offer the option of honorable submission. Why?" Kusovai asked. He always liked discussing with one who was ready to rationally counter his oppinions, instead of being intimidated by Kusovai's rank.

"Perhaps they fear them? We do not know where their homeworld is. Their pattern of retreat is either hopelessly random, or brilliantly conceived. What if the Humans have more power, more numbers than we suspect? What if they lead us to a trap?" Voro said, trying to explain the Prophet's refusal to allow the humans to join the Covenant.

"No. I do not think that is the reasoning. They continue to lose territory, and pattern or no pattern, these defenses must be part of a perimeter. I suspect we are forcing them into a tighter arena than they care to fight in. And their victories, however few, always rely on the same thing-strategy, brute force, or luck. No. The only secret they hold is the location of their homeworld." Kusovai said.

"But what about the Demons? Every time the humans win a battle on the surface of a planet, these Demons spearhead human attacks. The Demons are a mystery. They have outwitted and outfought entire legions before. What if the humans hold more of them in secret, preparing a trap for us?" Voro asked, remembering his encounters with Spartans. Had he actually fought one, he probably wouldn't have been standing here.

"I do not believe that. We have seen their kind before and destroyed them. Their numbers have dwindled and there have been no reported sightings since our victory at Jericho VII." Kusovai said. He had never seen a Spartan before, hence his apparent bravery at the mention of their names.

"As you say Kusovai, you might be right. We have not laid our eyes on a Demon for a long time now, but you never know when one might appear. Until then however, we will be prepared. I will go to my troops now. This has been an enjoyable conversation, Kusovai." Voro said as he left with a Covenant salute. Kusovai silently nodded as his comrade left the room. He would learn to fear the Spartans and their power.

Meanwhile, on Caleston, Randall had succesfully landed on the surface of the planet together with his 2 comrades, Spartan Michael-038 and Spartan Thomas-121. They were the closest thing eachother had to a family and they all considered themselves brothers. Since Spartan training, they had always been grouped in the same team, and they worked well together. Over time, each had found his own role within the team. Randall was the leader, the one who knew all about squad tactics and the one who knew what their orders and objectives were. Michael was the quiet one who didn't talk too much with outsiders, he was also the one who handled weapons the best and knew the most about them, be they human or Covenant. Thomas was the fastest of the 3, his moves were so fast that he could be standing normally one moment, then have 2 handguns drawn in both his hands and pointing at the nearest threat. Thomas also had a quick trigger-finger although he always knew when to shoot and when not to.

As soon as the 3 were all deployed on the surface, they went to General Blake, who was overviewing the construction of a temporary command post from which he could survey the situation and coordinate his marines. General Blake was a man in his early 50s. He was also a very gifted commander who could see everything with a level head, and not panic. He had been through several battles with the Covenant, and knew their general tactics. He welcomed the 3 Spartans as they came to the site of the outpost.

"Ah, my 3 "Demons"! Now I know that all those Covenant uglies will have a name to fear. Spartan Randall I believe? A pleasure to meet you!" General Blake said with obvious enthusiasm. He had been aboard the cruiser UNSC Acheron during the voyage, hence his joy to finally meet the Spartans.

"Hello sir. I see you already know me so I'll introduce you to my "brothers". This is Spartan Michael-038 and this is Spartan Thomas-121. We will earn our name as "Demons" when the Covenant come here sir, rest assured." Randall said confidently, although he did not believe in the success of this mission fully. He said this to see if the General would play along or if he would get down to bussiness.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that. Propaganda aside though, the command post is almost up. Your quarters will be ready in a few minutes. Meanwhile, I want you to reconnoiter the surroundings of our camp. We have to know the layout of the area if we are going to defend it from the Covenant. Take a Warthog and explore what lies South of the base. I have already sent several scouting parties to the North and to the East. Be careful out there. Although this place seems empty, you never know when hostiles could pop up, and I want to be on the safe side." General Blake said with an authoritative voice. He had just proven to Randall that he was a serious man who did not want to take any chances with this operation.

"Sir, yes sir. Proceeding now." Randall said with a brisk military salute as he left together with his squad mates.

"So what do you think of him?" Mike asked as they were going to get a Warthog.

"He seems like a good man, serious enough, like is expected of a man in his position. I have yet to see how he handles things under stress however. Captain Quinn back on the Atlas generally told me good things about him." Randall said.

"I don't like him. Who does he think he is to give us a run-of-the-mill scout asignment? We're Spartans, not scouts. We should be blasting the hell out of any hostile foolish enough to show its ugly head near us, not driving around in the middle of nowhere with a Warthog. And who does he think he is calling us "Demons"?" Tom said with a very annoyed voice. He never liked missions which made him do things which were associated with lesser ranks.

"You know that what you're saying could be seen as insubordination don't you?" Mike said, trying to calm Tom down.

"So what will they do to me? Smack me with a rifle stock over the back of the head? Like I'll feel anything." Tom said, slightly calming down.

"Enough of the backtalk Tom. We might be super-soldiers, but we're soldiers nonetheless and a soldier's gotta do what a soldier's gotta do. Now get in that Warthog. I'll drive. Tom, get on that turret. Mike, you ride shotgun. Let's move out." Randall said.

Thus, Gray Team's first assignment began, as humiliating as it was for the Spartans to participate in a scouting mission...
~~~
I hope you liked this second part of "Gray Team". As a bonus question, tell me if you noticed the "HALO: Fallout" refference.

I couldn't pick out the Fallout reference, but this update itself was really good. All ready there's specific characteristics built between both Covenant and UNSC characters. Nicely done.

I second Mallet's comments. The characters are looking good. The complaints about the scouting mission were an especially nice touch. It adds realism.

And the Fallout reference? I've got a hunch but I'm not entirely sure. Whack me up the back of my head with a rifle and I might be more certain. So yeah, that was my hunch. The whacking with a rifle.

Correct! The part when Tom asks what the marines could do to him and suggests being knocked over the head with a rifle stock is the Fallout reference. In Fallout, a Spartan is knocked over the head with a rifle stock and he is knocked out cold. Well seen Jack. Now to get on.

~~~
The ride with the warthog was bumpy, extremely bumpy. The terrain was rougher than expected and the Spartans had a hard time evading all the little bumps in the ground. Nonetheless, they didn't encounter anything during the whole trip and that made them feel relieved. All of them except Tom. He was aching for another kill since his last encounter with the Covenant. He loved to see Grunts cower in fear at the mere sight of him.

As they passed a great big hill they could see a scorched plateau in front of them. Sheer rock walls however stood between them and the plateau's surface. The Spartans however weren't on exploring the plateau as well. Feeling they had gone enough, Randall turned the Warthog and went back towards the base. They were eager to move again since they had gotten stiff all cramped in the Warthog. Tom's legs were also aching since he had stood and manned the turret for the entire trip. They were all eager to return.

Meanwhile, as the Spartans were making their way back to base camp, Captain Quinn was silently monitoring the situation from aboard the Atlas. As he quietly watched the planet, countless thoughts raced throughout his mind. Even though he did not like being in this situation, of leading a small battle-group into unknown Covenant space, he thought that it was better to be here rather than back on Reach. A silent fear had been etched into his mind, and had changed him, and he had been thinking about it ever since.

As he stood, quietly thinking, one of his officers interrupted him. As was with Randall, he did not notice him.

"Captain? Are you alright?" the lieutenant asked.

"Yes...yes, I'm fine. What is it?" Captain Quinn said, as he was interrupted from his thoughts.

"We have detected an unknown silhouette in slipspace sir, it's big, too big to be an asteroid, and it's coming towards us at great speeds." the lieutenant said with fear in his voice.

"E.T.A.?" Quinn asked.

"7 hours." the lieutenant quickly said.

"There's only one thing out there that's that fast, and it sure as hell isn't friendly." Quinn said as he blocked out all thoughts about the past from his mind. That was what he did in battles. It kept him from the stress of his memories.” Order the whole crew to be at their battle stations and prepare for immediate engagement. Equip and send out all of the Longsword starfighters as soon as possible. Relay these same orders to the whole battle group. And give me a link with General Blake and captain Maywheather from the Acheron."

The lieutenant, after a few moments of memorizing all of the commands left. Quinn was yet again alone. Alone against the Covenant. Just like in his troubled memories. Yet this was not the time to think about things which best lay forgotten. It was the time for action. Even though he was conscious of the fact that he had slim chances of defeating the Covenant fleet, Quinn was prepared to give them hell before he would lose the battle.

As the crew members of the Atlas scrambled to their stations, and the Longsword starfighters were equipped with ammo for the battle ahead, Quinn was given a link with captain Maywheater and general Blake. Blake was in the comfort of his own quarters and Maywheater was on the bridge of his ship. Blake was rather surprised but Maywheater seemed to know what was going on.

"I hope you two both know the situation we are currently in." Quinn said.

"No, I don't. What is it?" Blake asked in a slightly bewildered voice.

"The Covenant are heading towards us. Probably one of their Wolf-packs on the prowl. All ships are to prepare for battle and the marines on the ground are to prepare for ground combat. Our ships will try to hold the Covenant off as long as possible while Pelicans will try to evacuate as much of your soldiers as possible. We need the Spartans here on deck if the Covenant try to board our ships." Quinn said to Blake. Maywheater quickly gave orders to his lieutenants to prepare his ship for battle. Orders were relayed to the other ships as well.

"The Spartans are currently on a mission captain. I will call them on the comm. channel and tell them to hurry back to base. As soon as they're here, you can send one of your Pelicans to pick them up." Blake said. He seemed rather alarmed by the announcement of the Covenant threat.

"Most of my crew has already assumed battle stations. The ships are all in battle positions captain." Maywheater said.

"Excellent. All ships prepare their MAC guns for a coordinated salvo against Covenant ships. Archer missile pods and SHIVA nukes should be ready to follow up after the MAC barrage. I'm canceling this mission, I don't want to waste the lives of the Spartans given to me when they could be more useful somewhere else."

"Are you sure about this Quinn? HIGHCOM back on Reach will probably court martial you for canceling this mission against their express orders to continue at all costs." General Blake said, trying to convince Quinn not to evacuate all troops and cancel the mission.

"My opinions....haven't been taken in account and my authority has been...overruled before, General. I am not prepared to allow it again. If you don't agree with that, you can just stay on the surface and watch the Covenant glass the planet-with you on it!" Quinn said with anger and hate in his voice. It was not directed at General Blake however, but at someone else, someone within Quinn's troubled memories. He had however, succeeded in standing up to General Blake and defending his own opinions. It was a start.

"Ok, ok, I was just trying to make you think before taking such a hasty decision. My men will be ready for evac in a few minutes." Blake said trying to calm Quinn down.

"The rest of the battle-group is ready for engagement Quinn." Maywheater said.

As Quinn communicated with his two peers over the viewscreen, the Covenant Wolf-pack neared. Fleet Master Kusovai had not sent his entire fleet however, he had sent only 5 ships to carry out a preliminary strike against the UNSC ships and evaluate their strength, numbers and condition of their ships. After a short battle, the 5 ships would retreat and inform Kusovai of the composition of the UNSC fleet so that he could arrange his tactical plans accordingly.

As Quinn's ships finally went to their positions, the Covenant strike-force appeared. 5 ships appeared in the blink of an eye out of the parallel dimension of slipspace, 1 CCS Battlecruiser and 4 frigates. Quinn immediately saw that his ships outnumbered the Covenant ships yet he was also aware of the fact that this wasn't the entire Covenant Wolf-pack. Wolf-packs always outnumbered their targets at least 2-1 if not more. This ensured their chances of success.

As soon as the Covenant warships could be targeted by the MAC guns, Quinn commenced a volley. The shields of 2 of the frigates were overloaded and one of the frigates of was badly damaged by the volley. The CCS Battlecruiser however returned fire, firing its plasma torpedoes. It could not fire all of its plasma torpedoes, as it was not fully turned to bear upon the UNSC ships with all its turrets. As soon as the MAC volley was over, it was followed up by hundreds, if not thousands, of Archer misiles which hacked up the hull of the three frigates with overloaded shields.

Captain Quinn, noticing that 2 of the 4 frigates were on the verge of being destroyed, ordered all fire to be concentrated on them, in an effort to destroy them. Hundreds of Archer misiles slithered towards the 2 frigates like snakes slithering towards their prey. Even though they had sustained heavy damage, the frigates were still returning fire. As the MAC guns were being readied for another devastating volley, the CCS Battlecruiser, now fully turned, fired its plasma torpedoes for full effect, heavily damaging the UNSC frigate Galahad.

As soon as the MAC guns were ready for another volley, Quinn gave the order to fire. In one concentrated volley, 2 of the 4 Covenant frigates were destroyed while the other 2 were severely damaged. The CCS Battlecruiser still had its shields at more than 50% capacity, and was still bombarding the UNSC ships.

Seeing that the CCS Battlecruiser was still holding out, Quinn gave the other to close the distance and use SHIVA nukes to permanently disable the Covenant ships. All of the ships respected the order and started advancing at full speed towards the 3 remaining Covenant ships.The Galahad however was shattered to pieces under the heavy bombardment of the remaining Covenant ships. As Plasma torpedoes continually hit her hull, the ship was ripped into two separate pieces glowing with an eery blue light caused by the plasma.

As the required distance was nearly reached, Quinn ordered the MAC guns to be fired once more to disable the shields of the CCS Battlecruiser. All MAC guns fired in one coordinated volley, overloading the shields of the Battlecruiser. After the Volley, several SHIVA nukes were loaded up and prepared for immediate firing. For added effect, Quinn ordered that several of his Longsword Interceptors be armed with Shiva nukes and remotely driven right into the Battlecruiser. As they approached point blank range, the nukes would be detonated and the Longswords destroyed. It was a plan which often worked for the UNSC, which traded their Longswords for the chance of destroying or, at least, disabling a Covenant ship.

As the Longswords were launched, the Covenant Ship Master aboard the CCS Battlecruiser received a message from one of the remaining Covenant frigates.

"With all due reverence sir, we are taking a pounding here. Our ships do not have the resilience of your Battlecruiser. We must retreat!" the Ship Master of the frigate said to the commander of the CCS Battlecruiser.

"Fleet Master Kusovai ordered me to test the human defenses. They have worked rather nicely. If you do not have the skills to further continue this test, you are free to leave." the Ship Master of the Battlecruiser said to both the Ship Masters of the frigates. Soon enough, the frigates both entered slipspace and left the battle.

"Cowards..." the Ship Master muttered to himself.

Moments after those words were uttered by the Ship Master, his ship was instantly vaporized by the combined effect of several SHIVA nukes coupled with a volley of MAC guns. Captain Quinn had won his first victory against the Covenant, and what a crushing victory it was. 3 Covenant ships destroyed at the price of only 1 of his own frigates was a feat rarely seen. 2 of his destroyers were damaged by the battle however, and his own flagship had suffered the effects of Covenant plasma weaponry.

As soon as the battle was over, Quinn was approached by one of his lieutenants. Quinn felt a great sense of relief and a great weight taken off his shoulders. He feared that his first mission in command of his own battle group would be a failure, and that he would be criticized for it by his superior officers back on Reach. If there was one thing Quinn hated and feared more than the Covenant, it was the oppinions of his superior commanders who always seemed to be against him, no matter what he did. They would have a hard time finding reasons to criticize him now.

"The Covenant are retreating into slipspace sir, shall we pursue them or shall we exit the system as per your previous orders?" the lieutenant asked.

"Do not pursue the Covenant, carry on the evacuation procedures. Send as many ships down to the surface as possible and gather as many men, equipment and vehicles as you can. This victory has bought us the time needed to exit this system safelly." Quinn said with renewed confidence in his voice. For the first time since this voyage had begun, he finally felt a measure of confidence in himself.

"Understood sir." the lieutenant said as he hurried off to carry the orders.

Battle group Atlas had won a victory in the battle with Kusovai's Wolf-pack. They had not seen the full power of a Covenant fleet however...
~~~
I hope you enjoyed this part of Gray Team.

Oooo space combat, always an interesting and unique read. It's also nice to see Quinn gaining some confidence. Hopefully it doesn't wither when the Covenant regroups. Keep it up, Griff!

Thanks for the appreciation. Space battles are always cool to illustrate, especially if done right, since they have an epic, set-piece feeling. The next battle with Kusovai's wolf-pack will be much harder though, since the UNSC ships will probably be outnumbered and outgunned, and you could see for yourself how hard it was for 6 UNSC ships to destroy a single CCS Battlecruiser. And to think that the UNSC ships will have to face Kusovai's flagship Sacred Promise, a Reverence-class Cruiser which is 2 times the size of a CCS Battlecruiser, makes any ship commander shudder.

Heck yeah, I always loved space battles. They tend to be the most irrealistic thing ever but who cares? As long as things explode, I'm happy. If realism was an issue, I shouldn't be hanging out here anyway.

The Battlecruiser's commander had me laugh.
,,Cowards. Why run? They're like flies and we'll crush them like fl.......Oh, compassion!" Boom!

I hope you like this part of Gray Team, it builds up the tension for the battle ahead. For those who want to read about a space battle, don't build up false hopes. This part mainly builds up the characters.
~~~
As Pelicans were racing to deliver all marines back to the ships, Fleet Master Kusovai was being given a report by the Ship Masters of one of the frigates which escaped the encounter with the humans. He was extremely upset by the fact that he had lost a heavy capital ship just because of the arrogance and religious fervour of one commander.

"So, basically, you retreated while he stood and fought on, because that's what he thought I and the Prophets would have liked him to do?" Kusovai asked in a slightly annoyed voice.

"Yes sir, that is what happened. He called us cowards as we retreated then, seconds later, his ship was destroyed by the humans." the Ship Master of the frigate said.

"Perhaps I should not have sent one so passionate about his beliefs, and so eager to prove himself in the eyes of the Prophets. How sad am I that we have lost a ship due to blind faith and over-confidence." Kusovai said, sadly.

"Are you trying to suggest that..." Field Master Voro said as he was cut short by Kusovai. Voro was trying to bring into discussion the fact that Kusovai wasn't terribly religious, as were his fellow Elites. He was a believer of the Covenant religion, yet he wasn't as zealous as others, believing in practical solutions to problems and relying only on one's personal skills, not on the "power" of the gods.

"No, I wasn't Voro. I never do. You know as good as I do that I would never doubt the supreme authority of the Prophets and of the Gods." Kusovai said, with a tone that somewhat mocked the Prophets.

"Do not take these matters lightly Kusovai. Perhaps out here, it does not matter as much, but back on High Charity, the influence and good-will of the Prophets it's everything. And they're giving more and more of it to the Brutes, and not to us. Acts like the ones previously mentioned could receive the admiration of the Prophets, hence increasing the influence of the Elites, and not of the Brutes, within the Council." Voro said with caution in his voice when referring to the Prophets.

"Spare me of politics and issues of faith Voro. I am a commander of ships, not a member of the Council, hence it is not my business to debate in matters of influence and "good-will" as you name it. My business is to command my ships and destroy as many human ships as I can." Kusovai said. He was serious only when it came to the matter of warfare and commanding ships, speaking almost jokingly about all other things.

"You may take these things lightly Kusovai but you will find that, in the future, these issues will decide the fate of the Covenant. If things continue to go on the way they have, with the Brutes receiving more and more favour and authority from the Prophets, we Elites will be the ones shunned." Voro said, referring to the political situation back on the Covenant capital, High Charity.

"If it shall ever come to that, then it will be my business and if it is my business, then the Brutes shall suffer my wrath and the wrath of all Elites." Kusovai said firmly. He did not like the Brutes and their matter of doing things yet, for the time being, it was not his concern.

"Let us hope it shall never come to that. The humans prey on any weakness and we cannot be divided in front of them." Voro said.

"I shall see to it. Prepare your warriors for battle Voro, your troops will be in the frontline of the battle to come. I want you to board the human capital ships and, if possible, capture their commanders and any data you can find. I want to find the location of their home world. If we find anything, we will give it to the Prophets, and then you won't have to worry about who has got the upper hand in the Council. Your only grievance will be to destroy the human home world fully, if that is the will of the Prophets." Kusovai said, showing his disdain of the Prophets will once again. He did not agree with the genocidal campaign against humanity yet he had no choice in the matter.

"Understood, Kusovai." Voro said as he left to ready his troops and adorn his battle armour.

As the Covenant Wolf-Pack was preparing to enter slipspace, the evacuation of troops on Caleston had finally finished. The Spartans were all aboard the ships. Randall and Mike were aboard the Atlas while Tom was stationed aboard the Acheron to provide support in case the Covenant attacked once more.

Aboard the Atlas, Randall and Mike were called to Captain Quinn to talk about a possible Covenant attack. They were anxious about fighting, but Mike was having doubts about how safe it was to fight aboard a starship. Randall kept reassuring him that the Covenant wouldn't blow up their own troops.

"Great that the evacuation is finally complete, I'm glad you're here where it's safe. I also want to apologize to you Randall if I was a little...strange when we talked before. I was not feeling so well and I was thinking heavily about things which....well, which are best left aside in a situation like this. This is not the time to talk about the inner fears of a man like me. Back to the task at hand, we have defeated the Covenant once but they'll most probably be back. That's not the last we've seen of their ships." Quinn said to the Spartans. He seemed more at ease than when Randall had spoken to him last time, yet there still seemed that something lay within him, a dormant fear waiting to be awakened.

"What will we have to do in the case of a space battle sir?" Randall asked confidently. He knew that the Spartans would have to defend the ship against boarding action, yet he still wanted confirmation.

"If the Covenant board the ship, you will have to keep them from finding any information about Earth and destroying the ship or...ultimately...kill as many of them as you can before abandoning the ship. This of course, only in the case the defenses of the ship fail and the Covenant ships keep bombarding us from space. If they do not board, you will be forced to sit and watch or, if the situation calls for it, try to board one of the Covenant ships. I hope it will not come to that however." Captain Quinn said.

"Understood sir, we'll be heading back to our quarters now if you don't need us anymore." Randall said to Quinn.

"Understood. Dismissed!" Quinn said as the two Spartans saluted him before leaving.

As he watched them leave, he went through the possibilities of a battle with the Covenant in his mind. He best hoped that the Covenant would try to board the ship, since that would give him more time to weaken the Covenant ships with his MAC guns and maybe even destroy some of them with his SHIVA nukes. His best hopes however, were that the Covenant wouldn't appear at all. Pinpointing slipspace coordinates was not an easy job however, and it required time. Time Quinn didn't have.

Meanwhile, Tom on the Acheron suited up for battle. He prepared his weapons and checked out his armour extensively. Computerized read-outs were always available, but Spartans took no chances when it came to their armour. Tom loaded his personal handguns, the latest M6G magnums to appear, while polishing the gun barrel of his MA5B ICWS Assault Riffle. He also loaded up on grenades, even though they were hazardous to use near view ports which might very well be blown off. After he was finished with his weapons, Tom asked a question, seemingly to no one.

"What are my chances?" Tom asked, looking blankly.

"Do you want me to give you a straight and practical answer, or do you want me to humour you with statistics. I've got plenty of those just waiting for a dilligent listener." a voice responded in Tom's helmet. It was his on-board AI. All Spartans wearing the Mjolnir Mk V armour were issued an AI which could be plugged in the neural interface of the suit. They were invaluable additions to the Spartans, being mobile sources of friendly troop movement, communications and general battlefield information. Spartans were only issued "smart" AIs which had an effective life expectancy of about 7 years. Smart AIs literally "thought" themselves to death, since the more the AI collected data, the less "thinking" space it had to work with.

"Spare me of your statistics Durendal. Give me a straight answer." Tom said to the AI. Each AI had an individual hologram projection which best illustrated his or her personality. Durendal's hologram was a sword which changed shape continously.

"Very well then. Your chances are small to medium. If your proximity with the life-pods changes however, so do your chances to survive. In theory, should the ship be severely damaged by the Covenant ships, you could board a life-pod and escape. That is, if enemy star-fighters do not spot and intercept you. Then you'd be "toast" as you humans call it. Vaporized." Durendal said. He had a bad tendency of over-detailing things when not necesary. When needed however, he could cut through problems like a sword would cut through flesh.

"Alright Durendal, I get it. Stick to the life-pods. Are the ship's sensors detecting anything?" Tom asked. After a short pause, he received an answer.

"Yes. Incoming contacts are approaching with great speed. 18 of them. E.T.A 2 hours. We won't have time to complete the splipspace jump so we're gonna have to fight them. You'd better suit up and report to the bridge to see where we're needed." Durendal said, cutting through matters fast.

"So now there's a "we" involved in this? Since when were you taking credit for my activity?" Tom asked sarcastically.

"Since we were connected. Now let's go. If you want, I'll shut down for the rest of the battle and see how you manage on your own." Durendal said. As well as a tendency to sometimes give too many details, Durendal got upset pretty easily.

"As if that would be a new experience for me. Give me an uplink with Randall as "we" proceed to the bridge." Tom said. Tom had been in countless battles before and he could very well handle himself without the need of an AI.

"Proceeding...uplink in progress...done!" Durendal said as he connected the two Spartans together via their COMM. system.

"Did you get the bad news Randall?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, me and Mike we're just suiting up. Talk to you after it's over." Randall said as he got his equipment. He didn't like interrruptions which didn't allow him to focus on the task at hand.

"If any of us is gonna be around when it's over. Good luck." Tom said.

"Kill as many of the bastards as you can. Over and out." Randall said as he closed the uplink.

All 3 of them were now ready to do what they had trained 12 years for. Wining battles. Their first battle with Kusovai's Wolf-Pack was just 2 hours away...
~~~
That was it for this dialogue heavy part. I hope you enjoyed it.

Character development is always a key ingredient in story writing. If there wasn't any development and just action after action after action, the audience wouldn't care about the protagonist(s). The dialogue with the AI I found to be the most amusing out of the bunch. AI personalities always seem to be quite peculiar based off of other stories I've read.

All and all, a nice update. The upcoming battle isn't going to be as successful as the previous battle I fear.

Okay, this is the battle. I hope you like it.
~~~


Everything was ready for the battle ahead. Preparations had been done, formations had been put into effect and all weapon systems were online. All the UNSC ships had to do now, was wait for the Covenant fleet to appear. A grueling task which resembled waiting on the edge of a cliff for a fell wind to pull you down. As captain Quinn stood on the deck of his ship, preparing for the Covenant attack, he received a message on the COMM. system from captain Maywheater of the Acheron

"My men are all in position and all weapon systems are active, the Archer missile pods, the SHIVA nukes and all 3 MAC guns. Just say when and where." Maywheater said with a sign of desperation in his voice.

"Even with all our weapons combined, we still wouldn't be able to take down more than half of the Covenant fleet. But we aren't alone in this, we have a powerful ally." Quinn said, rather mysteriously.

"Who, the Spartans? They are but mere soldiers. They can, at most, destroy a single Covenant capital ship by themselves, but not a whole fleet." Maywheater said rather skeptically.

"Not the Spartans. This ally joined us when we reached the system, an added source of help from High Command back on Reach. Please welcome Captain Van Buren, commander of the UNSC Prowler Razor's Edge." Quinn said as he revealed their secret ally. Van Buren was the commander of a Prowler, a UNSC stealth-ship which used Covenant technology. Besides being an invaluable strategic and tactical addition to battles, Prowlers could also lay mine-fields. These mine-fields were very potent and any ships to cross their path would be destroyed instantly. The Razor's Edge had been doing just that this whole time.

"Greetings gentlemen, captain Edgar Van Buren of the UNSC Razor's Edge at your service." Van Buren suddenly joined the conversation between Quinn and Maywheater on the COMM. He was a relatively young man in his early 40s with a brisk moustache and black hair. His face did not show Van Buren's experience. His most noteworthy accomplishment was attaching a telemetric tracker onto a Covenant ship during the battle of New Harmony. This led to the discovery of a Covenant shipyard on an asteroid called KT-49. Shortly afterward, the shipyard was destroyed by a strike-force of 300 Spartan III super soldiers, the latest addition to the UNSC armed forces.

"Greetings...captain. My sensors did not detect your ship when you entered the system...odd." Maywheater said with a slight tone of envy in his voice. He was fiercely proud of his ship and its capabilities, and the fact that he couldn't detect Van Buren's Prowler hurt his ego immensely.

"Well, it wouldn't be a stealth-ship if it could be detected by simple things such as sensors, would it Captain?" Van Buren asked sarcastically as Maywheater was offended even more.

"Enough is enough you too. Your ship is great at blowing things up Justin, and yours is great at being undetected, Edgar. End of discussion. Did you accomplish the task I gave you when you entered the system?" Quinn asked with an authoritative tone. The only times Quinn shuddered was when he talked with his superior officers. He feared and hated them at the same time for what they had done to him before, and each and every time when he was angry at someone, more of his anger was directed against his commanding officers, than to who he was talking to.

"Yes...sir. I have placed a double mine-field all around our ships. It now depends on where the Covenant emerge from slipspace." Van Buren said.

"We will draw them in close to our ships, so the mine-field can do its job fully. As soon as the Covenant ships appear, I want you to get in as close as you can and inspect them Edgar. Find out their heading, their speed and their bearing. Meanwhile, I want you to try to aim for the fuel cells of the Covenant ships Justin. If you manage to get just 1 MAC round past their defenses and right into the fuel cells, it will rupture them and destroy the ship. As soon as the Covenant pass the mine-field, I want our ships to get as close as possible as to target the fuel cells. My ship will provide fighter support. Understood?" Quinn asked as soon as he was done detailing the tactical responsibilities of Maywheater and his ship.

They were all ready to do battle, both the Covenant and the humans. All that was to do now, was wait. Soon enough, with surgical slices into the very fabric of space, Covenant ships started appearing out of slipspace. They outnumbered the UNSC ships 3 to 1, a deadly ratio. The ships that stood out among the 18 ships of the Covenant fleet were the 4 CCS Battlecruisers, the 2 Carriers and Kusovai's own Reverence-class Cruiser, which was the biggest of them all. Besides these ships, there was an assortment of other capital ships which ranged from heavy CAR-class Cruisers to Covenant frigates and destroyers. A well balanced Wolf-pack overall.

Quinn's luck held out, the Covenant had emerged from slipspace very close to the mine-field. Too close to retreat but too far to properly engage. Kusovai immediately gave the order for all ships to advance and engage the UNSC ships as soon as they were in range. Quinn did nothing for the moment, waiting for the Covenant ships to pass the mine-field. As soon as they were past the mine-field, he would give the order to advance at full speed and engage the weakened Covenant ships. Quinn's reasoning was that it was better not to give the Covenant any reason to stall and wait for the UNSC ships to come to them.

Things played just as Quinn wished. The Covenant ships advanced unsuspectingly into a trap. All chaos had soon broken out, as a bright cascade of colours appeared before the UNSC ships. Explosions, coupled with Covenant shields overloading were a wonderful sight for any UNSC marine. As soon as the Covenant ships had passed the minefields, their numbers had lessened significantly. Starting off with an 18 ship force, the Covenant were now down to only 11 ships, out of which many were badly damaged or, at the least, had their shields overloaded by the blast.

The UNSC ships were now at equal odds with the Covenant ships, and they could fight them without the added advantage of incredibly resilient Covenant shields. A storm of MAC volleys combined with Archer missiles soon bombarded the weakened Covenant ships which, without their shields, were nothing more than sitting ducks. A volley of Plasma torpedoes however soon came in response. The well-aimed volley disabled 1 of the frigates and 1 of the remaining destroyers, almost destroying them. Quinn soon received information from Van Buren, telling him that the MAC gun and Archer missile volley had been extremely successful, destroying 5 already weakened Covenant ships. Van Buren also told Quinn that out of the 6 ships left, only 3 had shields at 50% capacity. These 6 ships were Kusovai's own ship, Sacred Promise, 3 CCS Battlecruisers, the Carrier Commitment and Patience and the CAR-class Cruiser Devotion.

By this time, Kusovai was desperately trying to coordinate his ships as to ensure a strong defence. Seeing that the 3 MAC guns of the Acheron were doing the most damage to his ships, he quickly sent boarding parties to disable the Acheron from the inside. Field Master Voro would lead these attacks. As soon as he sent out those orders, he ordered his crew to fire his ship's Energy Projector, an extremely potent ray of super-heated energy. His chosen target was the Atlas, which Kusovai noticed was giving fighter support to the Acheron.

The ray from the Energy Projector hit the Atlas on her starboard side, damaging the ship's hangar-bays. As an addition, Kusovai also ordered the Commitment and Patience to send Seraph-class fighters to defend the boarding parties. By this time, the UNSC ships had already closed the distance between the two fleets and had engaged in heavy fighting. At point-blank range however, the two fleets were fairly equal in power seeing as the Covenant shields had been severely weakened by the mines.

Captain Maywheater ordered targeting control to target the fuel cells of the Covenant carrier Commitment and Patience with all heavy ordinance the Acheron possessed. All 3 MAC guns of the Acheron soon fired, accompanied with hundreds of Archer missiles and 2 remote-controlled Longsword fighters bearing SHIVA nukes. He also ordered his point-defense turrets to focus fire on the incoming Covenant boarding parties.

Meanwhile, Captain Quinn back on the Atlas, seeing that the Acheron had been targeted by the Covenant ships, ordered his MAC guns to fire against the Sacred Promise, hoping to disable it. Quinn also ordered that all other ships focus fire on the Sacred Promise, seeing as it was the strongest remaining Covenant ship. Soon enough, the shields of the Sacred Promise started to weaken considerably. Kusovai by this time was starting to fear that his ships would lose this battle. All his hopes were now upon Field Master Voro who was sent to disable the Acheron from the inside.

Aboard the Acheron, Tom received orders to go and defend the hangar bays of the ship. The Covenant had sent scores of boarding ships to attack the hangar bays, seeing as it offered more space for troop deployment. By the time Tom reached the hangar bay doors, they had already been overrun by the Covenant. With a squad of Marines behind him, Tom ordered an advance. As soon as the door was open, Tom fired a wide, semi-circular burst from his Assault Rifle, making almost all Covenant seek cover. His burst was followed by covering fire offered by the Marines behind him.

Immediately after his first burst, Tom ran after a few crates so he wouldn't be in the open when the Covenant offered return fire. As soon as he got his bearings once more, he started taking shots from behind cover at Covenant forces throughout the hangar. Tom soon realized however that he had to disable the boarding ships if he wanted to cut the flow of Covenant reinforcements. For that purpose, he rose from behind the crates and fired his Assault Rifle in full auto-mode, bringing down several Grunts like reeds in the wind. Elites soon emerged from the tube of the boarding vessel, led by a golden-clad Elite wielding a Plasma Rifle and holding an Energy Sword in his off-hand.

The Elite soon targeted Tom. With a quick burst from his Plasma Rifle, the Elite shot Tom's Assault Rifle out of his own hands. Tom however quickly side-rolled behind a crate after losing his weapon. With a quick grunt of frustration, he revealed himself from behind his temporary cover with his M6G pistol in hand. With a quick shot, he shot the Plasma Rifle out of the Elite's hands before it could fire again.

"Touché!" Tom quickly said as he closed the distance between him and the Elite. The Elite didn't mind Tom getting closer, brandishing his Plasma Sword as soon as he lost his Plasma Rifle.

"Let me fight the Demon brothers!" the Elite, who turned out to be Voro, shouted as he charged into battle.

With one quick overhead chop, Voro tried to kill Tom, unsuccessfully however since Tom quickly dodged the blow by turning his shoulders and hips. Voro then tried a horizontal slash meant to behead Tom, yet Tom's quick reflexes once again saved him. Rising quickly after crouching to avoid the blow, Tom grabbed Voro by his hand, giving him an elbow to the face at the same. Disoriented by the blow, Voro dropped his Plasma Sword, letting it fall into Tom's hands. As soon as he got up, he gave a shout to the other Elites.

"Give me a Blade quickly!" Voro shouted as he prepared to fight Tom once more. He soon received one from his subordinates.

"Now we're even." Tom said as he approached Voro once more.

"We'll see about that Demon." Voro said as he did the same.

Tom quickly attacked with a quick diagonal slice meant to catch Voro by surprise. Voro however was an expert wielder of the Plasma Sword, and couldn't be fooled by such tricks. He quickly raised his blade to parry Tom's blow. Tom, seeing his strike fail, quickly raised his blade and attacked the same way once more. After Voro parried his second strike, Tom quickly drew his blade and attacked Voro in the opposite direction of his previous blow. Voro was quick to notice such strategies however. He raised his blade and caught Tom's blade while it was still in the air. After quickly turning it around, he gave Tom an elbow in the visor, just as Tom had done before. Tom staggered a few feet backed because of the blow.

"'Touché', as you humans say it." Voro said mockingly as he advanced to attack Tom. Tom was clearly inexperienced in the ways of the Plasma Sword when compared to Voro.

"You're starting to get on my nerves." Tom said, getting angry at the prospect of being defeated by Voro.

Voro attacked Tom with an overhead slash but Tom quickly raised his blade to parry the incoming blow. Right after parrying the blow, Tom kicked Voro in the belly with his boot, making him stagger back. After striking Voro in the stomach with his boot, Tom quickly advanced and swung his blade. Voro was quick on his feet and managed to dodge the blow, just as Tom had managed before. Voro then quickly lunged at Tom, trying to catch him off-guard. Where Tom's sword skills wouldn't help, his super-human reflexes came to the rescue however. Tom barely missed the lunge by slightly turning to the side.

As Voro was preparing for another strike, he received a message from Kusovai, telling him to retreat back to the Sacred Promise as soon as possible. Grudgingly, Voro followed the order leaving the fight to end in a draw.

"We'll finish this some other time Demon!" Voro said with hate in his voice as he boarded the ship which brought him and his troops to the ship. He had lost a lot of good warriors in the fight and the Covenant ships were being pummeled by the UNSC MAC guns, which were deadly accurate at close range. This was a fight the Covenant were unexpectedly losing.

Despite losing a great number of troops in the fight with the Marines led by Tom, Voro's men had managed to do one thing. They had planted a bomb inside the Acheron which was set to detonate in a few minutes, just enough time for the boarding ships to leave. As soon as Voro was back aboard the Sacred Promise, he waited a few more moments before a section of the Acheron exploded and was torn off completely. This was not before the Acheron fired its MAC guns once more though, crippling the Sacred Promise.

With his ship severely damaged, captain Maywheater gave a general order to abandon ship. Dozens of life-pods then started flying away from the heavily damaged ship, heading back towards Caleston. Soon after the life-pods flew away from the ship, it started plummeting towards the surface of Caleston with great speed, a flaming ruin in the vacuum of space.

Tom was now separated from his 2 companions and the rest of the UNSC battlegroup, stranded from the battle going on above him, his last sight of the battle being a fleeting glimpse of one of the Covenant ships exploding into billions of tiny pieces...
~~~
I hope you liked this action heavy part of Gray Team.

Wow, intense and gripping. I definitely enjoyed this update. Keep it up, Griff!

Wait a minute, I remember Col. Ackerson had made it an explicit point that no one knows about the SPARTAN-IIIs and their exploits.

Even other elements of ONI had no disclosure to the third-generation SPARTANs.

Well, yeah, they don't. But it was the all-knowing narrator who said those things, not some character. I never said that the Spartan IIIs weren't secret.

Okay, here's the next part and the final part of this chapter.

~~~
As Tom's Bumblebee lifepod approached the surface of Caleston, he looked up once again to the battle in the skies which was coming to an end. Heavily damaged capital ships, both Covenant and UNSC were falling to the ground all around. Great flaming ruins, formerly ships of war. They had been rendered to flying graveyards now. Among the ruined ships, Tom could also observe the flagship of the Covenant fleet, the Sacred Promise, Kusovai's ship.

"We finally destroyed that behemoth? I've got a new ammount of respect for this captain Quinn, if he's still alive that is." Tom said as he looked with wonder towards the towering ship plummeting to its destruction.

Captain Quinn was alive and rather well aboard the Atlas. He stood on the bridge, looking towards the remains of the battle. Only 5 of his ships remained after the battle, most of them heavily damaged and with their ammunition almost depleted. He had lost the most potent ship of his task-force, the Acheron, and he also though that he had lost a Spartan. He still had 2 more at his side however. They came soon enough, purple blood all over them. They had fought off several Covenant boarding parties sent in the final stages of the battle.

"We've defeated the Covenant boarders sir. We have had severe cassualties however, almost half of the Marines who fought with us to defend the ship are either dead or badly wounded. Any further orders sir?" Randall asked with a cold, efficient voice. He had just been doing what he trained his whole life for, and he was still focused on his job. Mike was just as focused as him, if not more focused. He kept looking on the viewport for Covenant ships. They had retreated into slipspace however.

"The Acheron has been destroyed and your squad-mate, Tom, is most probably dead. The Covenant will probably be back with reinforcements so the only thing we can do is leave the system and hope for the best." Quinn said with a somewhat sad and regretfull voice. The Prowler stealth-ship accompanying them had laid all of its mines in preparation for the battle which had just ended. They were placed expertly, and they did great damage to the Covenant ships, yet Quinn sorely missed he had saved some for later.

"But sir, Tom just sent us a message through his AI. He said he was plummeting towards the surface of Caleston in a lifepod." Mike said, as soon as he heard mention of his squad mate.

"Hm. If your squad mate survived in a lifepod then it means that captain Maywheater must have issued a general call to abandon ship right before the Acheron blew up. There might be more survivors on the surface." Quinn stood a few moments, thinking about something. He started hunching his back. "Now that I...think of it, it is...adviseable that we leave your squad mate and the surviving crew of the Acheron for latter rescue. They might not be spotted by the Covenant on the surface of the planet." Quinn's voice was now merely relaying the orders he had secretly received before he and his task-force left Reach.

"That plan of yours relies heavily on chance sir. They might survive, yet they just as well may all be killed. Could you please reconsider this sir? The life of our fellow Spartan is at stake." Randall said, waiting to see the response of Quinn. He was a good judge of character, and had seen that Quinn changed from the undecisive, distant man he was when they first arrived to the dynamic, independent and confident commander he had been during the battle. Randall observed that Quinn had started to change after thinking a little.

"I might, but sending a rescue party to the system would involve holding orbit above the planet and waiting for the rescue party. This could give the Covenant time to attack once more...and this would be against my...my orders." Quinn said. He had been threatened by the man who gave him his secret orders that if all 3 of the Spartans would return from the mission, he would be demoted and even court-martialled. The man who gave him these orders, was Colonel James Ackerson of ONI, the enemy of the SPARTAN II program. Fearing court-martial, Quinn hesitated to send a search party for Tom, even if it meant sacrificing the other survivors.

"Hmm...I have an idea sir which I think you will appreciate." Randall said, after thinking over the reasons why Quinn might refuse to send a search-party. Randall knew that it would take some time before Covenant reinforcements appeared, enough time to send a search party down to the planet's surface.

"What?" Quinn asked, wanting to end the conversation as quickly as possible and jump to slipspace with the rest of his ships.

"Send me and Mike to the surface. Alone. We'll search for Tom and the other survivors and if we find them, we'll maintain a low profile until extraction is possible. You can maintain a link with my AI, Grendel, so we can be notified when you can extract us." Randall said with an extremely optimistic tone. He said all these things as if he was going to find a lost dog in a park, not going to find another Spartan on an uninhabited planet. Quinn started thinking a little, then smiled slightly. He saw that he just found a solution to avoid being demoted by the influencial Ackerson. As soon as he smiled, his face saddened. He realized that he was sending two Spartans to their very probable deaths. Still, he thought it a necessary thing.

"Hm...this is something rather unheard of. A very bold request Randall. I will have to keep in mind the fact that you personally requested this, and that HIGHCOM sent me here in the first place with 3 Spartans. Very well then. Still, for the sake of your safety, I'm sending a fire-team of Marines with you. Take a Pelican dropship as soon as you're ready, and make planetfall. I hope we can send a rescue team as soon as we can after we leave the system.

"Thank you sir, we appreciate this greatly." Randall said with an appreciative voice. He was grateful that Quinn allowed them to leave and even gave them a team of Marines to assist in their efforts. He also smiled under his helmet that his persuasion skills once again succeeded. Mike however, almost went pale under his helmet. Going alone to the surface of Caleston was the last thing he wanted, knowing that the Covenant would soon be back in force. Still, when it came to his "brother" he was prepared for anything.

"Good. You can leave after you suit up." Quinn said as he was saluted by the Spartans. He knew he was sending them to their likely deaths, yet he also knew that he did not want to rise against the will of Ackerson. Not yet.

Meanwhile, as Randall and Mike were suiting up and preparing to make planetfall, Tom was aimlessly wandering around the rocky highlands on the surface of Caleston. He walked for what seemed like ages, trying to find some kind of shelter, or other survivors, yet all he could see was a red, rocky landscape, and the ruin of the crashed Sacred Promise in the distance.

As he wondered around he soon started to stagger because of exhaustion. Soon enough, he fell down and lost consciousness. He had given in to exhaustion and a lack of water after travelling roughly 50 kilometers. As Tom laid down on the ground, he could see things going dark, finally blackening completely as he went unconscious. Several hours later, Tom woke up. He was now in another enviroment however. As he looked up, he could see the moist roof of a cave. He could also feel that he was lying on the cold floor of a cave. He quickly got up and, instinctively, tried to hold his pistol at the ready. His weapons had been taken away however.

Unarmed, Tom started cautiously walking around the cave, trying to see who or what had taken him there. He soon discovered the culprit. A man was quietly sitting down and blankly staring at the wall of the cave, apparently unaware of Tom's presence. Tom silently approached the man, aiming to imobilize him.

"I know you're there, so stop all that stealth non-sense." the man said sharply as Tom approached him. Tom froze as soon as he heard those words. For a few seconds he stood perfectly still, even holding his breath.

"It's no use staying still now that I know you're there you know? Is what they teach you military grunts these days? A shame...a shame. Why don't you introduce yourself?" the man asked as he stood up and turned. He had a regular face with a beard, and didn't seem to be part of the military.

"My name is Tom. Who are you and, most importantly, what are you doing here?" Tom asked the mysterious man.

"Nice to finally know your name Tom. All the hours I dragged you around through the wilderness, it's good to know your name now. My name is Preston. I can't...remember my other name. People however used to call me...well I can't remember that either but I wouldn't really want to remember it. It was an ugly...ugly name." Preston said, oddly repeating himself at times.

"People, what people? And you didn't answer my other question. What are you doing here?" Tom asked curiously.

"Oh, I shouldn't have told you about that. It's enough to say that they are all...gone now. A sad accident." Preston said, with an odd look on his face trying to immitate sadness. He soon started smiling however. "Who's to say they didn't deserve it however?"


"It seems we're gonna have a lot of talking to do...Preston." Tom said with a suspicious tone. Due to the way Preston talked about the other people, and the fact that he didn't really want to say why he was there made Tom awfully suspicious.

As Tom began for a more in-depth discussion with Preston, Randall and Mike approached the surface of Caleston. Bent on finding eachother, the three squad mates would inevitably meet...
~~~
I hope you enjoyed this part of Gray Team. Comments are welcome as always.

Hmm, nice build-up of character all around. The new guy sounds interesting, Ackerson sounds rather stupid, deliberately wasting the most powerful soldiers in the field during a war for survival.

The only problem I have are the ships falling to the planet. Where they really that close that they weren't in an stable orbit? Ah, I don't care. I just consider it cinematic drama which is good.

Well, he is a rather obnoxious jerk. If you read the Halo novels, you would know that. The reason he hates, and tries to ruin, the SPARTAN II project is because it directly collides with his own projects both for funds and other things. Ackerson's SPARTAN III project, mentioned in this thread, is in direct competition with the SPARTAN II project.

His reasons are in the end of an egotistical nature, meaning only to further his own goals.

And...yes, the ships crashing on the surface are something purely cinematic, I don't know if it could really happen. I imagine that something the bulk of a ship would be attracted to the gravitational pull of a planet, somewhat like a meteor. Anyway, I'm not big on physics.

I'm glad you liked this update though.

As I said, I don't mind some cinematic action.

I'm not a big physics buff either, but let's review the situation.

1: The UNSC ships were in orbit before the attack.
2: To prepare for the second attack, they dropped a minefield. I'm going to make a gamble and say that the mines do not carry any form of propulsion which leads to.
3: In order to make optimal use of the minefield, the UNSC ships had to maintain position. Since the minefield is only subjected to gravity and as a result has to be within a stable orbit in order to stick around, the ships need to be in orbit as well.
4: The battle with the Covenant relied heavily on the minefield. I don't think the UNSC maneouvred a lot during the battle though I could be mistaken. Are the Halo ships lumbering giants or nimble bees? (I already know they're big, so I assume that they're lumbering giants.)

In short, unless they maneouvred closer to the planet during the battle, they shouldn't be dropping. But does it matter? It can always be chalked up to automatic self-destruct maneouvres.

Edit: Mass doesn't really matter much in this situation. Just look at the moon, it doesn't crash into earth either. (Actually, I've heard that the moon is leaving. Some 'expert' even proposed sticking rocket engines to Europa and haul it over here to compensate. Why not stick them to the moon, it's closer. )

For the most part, yes, Ackerson is a "obnoxious jerk" but his programs have bought humans some of their borrowed time.

The point of the SPARTAN-III project is to churn out "disposable heroes" hence the need for secresy. Who would be stupid enough to reveal a cannon fodder program?

Some ships in the UNSC are nimble, but all Covenant ships are superior in manueverability (sp.)

However, the Covenant aren't inventive and never stray from their religious dogma. For example, Elites will fight hand-to-hand and get killed before using a human weapon.

From your replies, I judge that you are a reader of the Halo novels Revan. Is my guess accurate? If you are a reader, how do you deem my fan fiction so far? Is it true to the way things are depicted in the book? I myself have never read any Halo novel. I'm starting to think they're impossible to find in Romania.

True, I have the entire series in my room..... Except for the First Strike (between Halo: CE and Halo 2) which I misplaced at school.

I have yet to see any troublesome plotholes. A non-Bungie Halo game is being developed: Halo Wars.

It depicts the wayward Spirit of Fire, and its struggles against the Covenant during the early years of the war.
At first I thought I'd read that the SPARTAN team aboard was Gray Team, but now I don't think so.

Anyway, if interested, just search for http://halowars.com/

No, the Spartan team aboard the Spirit of Fire actually identifies itself during the trailer as "Spartan Team Omega". A rather odd name considering that all Spartan teams are named after colours.

Anyway, I know of the game and I expect it with great pleasure. I think it will be an intriguing experience in the expanded Halo universe. A great thing if you ask me. The only thing which slightly worries me is that Ensemble is developing it. They are famed for their Age of Empires game, a type of game which was popular in its day but isn't too popular now. I particularly dislike rocks, paper, scissors type of games like Age of Empires.

Would you have perfered it if Electronic Arts made it? They made the Command and Conquer Series (I'm hooked on the newest of the series for the 360)

Hm, to be honest I don't really care who makes it as long as it is fun, compelling and true to what Bungie have done thus far.

The Xbox 360, in the end, isn't too similar to the PC and the game is being developed from the ground up for the 360, which is another good thing. At least we won't have to cope with any porting problems. If Bungie also give Ensemble advice and feedback about feel and stuff like that, I think they'll make a great game.