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The Last War, Prologue
Date: 4 August 2003, 5:29 AM

The Last War, Prologue

      The Human-Covenant War escalated to the point where it was obvious mankind would be wiped out in a matter of days. People had been predicting their defeat for awhile, but none had expected it to come so fast. The United Nations Space Command had originally created the Spartan project to take out the Covenant threat, but as more and more Spartans were being created and dozens of battles between Spartans and the Covenant were being won by the Covenant, UNSC officials started breeding a new type of Spartan soldiers.

      These soldiers were not human. Scientists merely took the MJOLNIR combat armor and inserted an AI data chip into it. The AI was a simple design and wasn't hard to create. It was like a computer and would only operate when received orders from a user. They then integrated the MJOLNIR systems to the AI, giving the AI full control of the armor. Once control was established, the armor was upgraded to make the soldier powerful than a Spartan. The armor had a twin defense system. The primary system was a layer of battle armor. The battle armor is an activated system, and acts a lot like the shield system. When activated, it covers the MJOLNIR suit in a multi-layered system of photogenic titanium armor, which is impenetrable to bullet fire. However, because plasma seemed to be somewhat effective against it, the secondary defense system was a stronger shield system that covers the battle armor and suit. The AI operating the MJOLNIR would literally be wearing three large layers of protection, each having pros to the various weapons and battle techniques used against it.

      They were called Xenocides, mainly because they were a weapon that could eliminate any race without breaking a sweat. When tested, they proved most effective and were immediately dispatched into the war. A single computer software application known as Data was created with the most advanced AI battle system ever. It assumed control of the Xenocides and issued them orders to take out their enemy. In simpler terms, Data was the user and when it gave out orders, the Xenocides complied.

       In a matter of weeks, the Xenocides, under the direction of Data pushed the Covenant out of the Solar system and back into their own system. By then, the UNSC had created thousands of Xenocides for the usage of Data, who sent them onto the various Covenant home worlds and annihilated every single alien race in the alliance. The Covenant were beaten and victory belonged to mankind.

      Because of this victory, the UNSC had no need for the Xenocides. However, because they weren't humans, they couldn't just step out of the MJOLNIR suit and walk among a human society. They had to be destroyed, since an everlasting peace was trying to be established.

      The first step in taking out the Xenocides was to eliminate their user/leader; Data. However, because of all the knowledge and information Data was given, it became self-aware and prevented itself from being destroyed. Scientists, hackers, everyone attempted to stop Data, but it moved to fast. It issued orders to all the surviving Xenocides and had them destroy mankind. As the divisions of these robotic soldiers spread out throughout the various human planets they were on, Data assumed control of the various nuclear weapons that the UNSC had and launched them all at major population areas of humans. Not a thing on Earth could stop the AI and the nukes were launched. Total devastation encumbered the planet as large mushroom clouds appeared all over Earth's surface, killing trillions of human lives. Those that remained were then hunted out by the Xenocides who returned to Earth after exterminating humans on other worlds.

      Luckily, large pockets of humans survived the nuclear fall out and survived the invasion of the Xenocides. They were able to hide under the radar and call for help. However, when Data detected these transmissions, the Xenocides moved in. The humans formed a resistance and fought back, but the awesome power of the Xenocides nearly killed all of them. Many escaped, but others didn't. Those that escaped weren't found and Data assumed it was victorious.

      It wasn't. Unknown to Data, the transmissions sent out by the human survivors reached the Spartans who had been fighting Covenant forces on other worlds. When they received these calls for help, they boarded a human and a Covenant vessel and quickly headed for Earth. When they arrived, they immediately launched a full scale assault on Data's control centre in Washington DC. However, the Xenocides proved to be more powerful than the Spartans. Thousands of Spartans marched across an open field and charged into the Xenocide lines. Let it be known, many Xenocides were destroyed, but not enough to dent Data's army. Because of the overwhelming amount of losses, the remaining Spartans retreated. The defeat they suffered dropped the Spartan numbers down to a few hundred. The Spartan four, five and six series were all that remained. The Spartan two series had been taken out early in the Human-Covenant war and the Spartan three series were killed by the Xenocides.

      The year is now 3050. During their retreat, the Spartans came across the human survivors who had sent out the signals for help. Matrix; the leader of the Spartan-IVs, Nemesis; the leader of the Spartan-Vs, Shade; the leader of the Spartan-VIs and Colonel Daniel Conrath; leader of the human resistance formed a Spartan-Human resistance against Data and the Xenocides. This is their story.

Coming soon: The Last War, Chapter One: Defeat at the cost of a Titan

~*Author's note*~

      I realize that many of you may recognize this background information as the plot behind the Terminator. In Terminator, a computer program called Skynet becomes self aware and takes control of the various missile silos over Earth and uses them to annihilate cities across the planet. It then sends out robot soldiers known as Terminators to take out the survivors, however, the survivors ban together, form a resistance and fight them off. Terminators are sent back in time to eliminate the mother of the resistance leader, the resistance leader himself and the resistance leader plus his lieutenants. I am not planning to write about Xenocides being sent back in time to kill the Spartan leaders. I plan to write this in one time span and that is in 3050, not any time else. I hope this clears up any confusion or questions you may have.

~*End note*~

The Last War, Chapter One: Self-Aware
Date: 10 August 2003, 11:36 PM

"Okay, time to pull the plug."

"Roger sir, bringing up the system charts." The control room fixed in the side of Mount Pelagic was bustling with movement. The usual calm, dull atmosphere had changed to a tense and almost chaotic one. Colonel Daniel Conrath stood in the middle of it all. The main control room was a circular area loaded with computers and desks. He stood in the centre, watching the technicians he had been working with for year's type away at their consoles, preparing for the shutdown.

Now that the Covenant were gone, the UNSC didn't need the Xenocides anymore. Conrath wished there was another way of doing this, instead of killing them all. In order to deactivate all the Xenocides that were created, they had to shut down Data, the single computer system put in charge of the Xenocides. Data was the most complex, advanced system on the planet. It alone gave orders out to the Xenocides, which followed them out wordlessly.

Why was he so worried? All they had to do was shut down this one system and everything was fixed. Even then, it still didn't make Conrath feel better. He shivered and felt a cold sweat overcome him. Several technicians glanced at him, but continued with their work. Conrath shook his head and walked to a large console facing the other ones. Tech Chief Brian Hayes stood in front of it, watching a huge list of data scroll across one of the screens in front of him. Conrath pointed at it. The Chief shrugged.

"Field report documents, useless stuff really, but everything has to go" he said. Conrath nodded. As he watched the list continue to grow, Conrath looked at the system observations done on Data. Everything seemed fine; the AI didn't know what was happening. Tech Chief Hayes pressed several switches near him, and then looked up at Conrath.

"Done sir" he whispered. Conrath looked back at the console and could see a single line of words across the screen...

Deactivation of Data system (Y/N)

Conrath stepped forward and his finger hovered over the "Y" key. He couldn't do it, what if Data became self-aware, what if it realizes what we are doing and stops us. Conrath closed his eyes. He knew he was making a scene, but didn't care. He was wasting precious time.

"Sir?" Hayes asked him. Conrath opened his eyes and looked at the keyboard. He held his breath and pushed the key.

At once, the screens in the room went dead and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Conrath did as well. It was over. Data was gone and the Xenocides were gone as well. He turned to Chief Hayes and shook his hand.

"That wasn't easy, thank you Chief" he said. Hayes saluted.

"Not a problem sir" he said. Conrath walked into the middle of the room.

"Everybody, thank you all for your cooperation throughout the past few years, you've all been a great help and I look forward to working with you all in the future" he said. Many of the people with him applauded and cheered. Conrath smiled and nodded, then began to move to the door.

Suddenly, all of the computer screens in the room snapped back on filled with static. The Colonel whirled around; his eyes wide opened and looked at the screens. Everyone had froze and were looking at them as well. At first, nothing happened and the static continued. However, after a few more minutes, Conrath's cell phone began to ring. He picked it up and raised it to his ear.

"Conrath"

"This is General Taylor, we have a situation here at the Pentagon, which may have been caused by you Colonel" came the angry voice of General Don Taylor, the man who basically funded the Xenocide program.

"What is it General?" inquired Daniel.

"We've just lost contact with all of our nuclear silos and submarines. No one can reach them at all. We're getting a large tracking signal coming from your outpost. Did you guys deactivate Data?" said the General. Conrath turned and stared at Hayes.

"Is Data gone?" he asked. Hayes nodded.

"Yes sir, it should be" he answered. Conrath wasn't convinced, but put his cell phone back up.

"Sir, we just took Data offline, there is no way it is doing this" he replied. Suddenly, Conrath's cell phone went dead. He looked at the small screen, which was blank. He turned to look at a computer screen near him and gasped.

Two words scrolled across the screen. Conrath looked around and could see the same words on the other screens. He squinted his eyes and stared at the digital letters.

"Nice try" he whispered. His eyes widened. Suddenly, the computer screens returned to their normal status, showing the desktop wallpaper. Immediately, the technicians around him jumped back into their seats and began to access their files.

"There's nothing left, how can we tell if it's gone or not?"

"Bringing up system schematics." Technicians yelled reports at each other as they tried to find out what was wrong. Conrath walked back up to Hayes's console and looked at it.

"Fix it Hayes" he growled. The Tech Chief's hands were a blur across the comp as he checked the systems.

"Checking the hard drive" he called out. Many of the technicians stopped and looked at him. A window appeared on the computer screen, containing a single file marked "DATA." Hayes cocked an eyebrow and opened it. Another window appeared, loaded with text. The Chief scrolled down to the bottom and read out the final words.

"Back up copy" he said. Everyone in the room stared at him and he looked up and turned to Conrath, looking horrified.

"Data realized what we were doing and saved a backup copy of it. It must've programmed the copy to activate when we took it offline" he whispered. Conrath gulped.

"Delete it" he ordered. Hayes pressed the delete button, but nothing happened. He pressed it several more times, and then noticed a small icon in the bottom corner of the screen.

"Data has locked us out, we can't touch him now" Hayes said.

"Shit" whispered Daniel. His cell phone began ringing again. He raised it to his ear.

"This is Taylor, we're getting signals from military stations here on Earth and on other planets that the Xenocides have begun attacking them!" screamed the General. Conrath pinched the bridge of his nose.

"General Taylor, its Data. The system became self-aware and saved a backup copy of it" he said into the cell phone.

"Mother of god, can you delete it?"

"Negative sir, it's locked us out of the system, we can't touch Data" Conrath replied.

"Colonel, get your people out of there, the President is going to want to know what is happening and you're telling him" growled the General.

"Yes sir" Conrath said and clicked his cell phone off. He looked around the room.

"We're getting out of here, now. Shut everything down and move to the helicopters" ordered Daniel. Everyone nodded and filed out of the room, Conrath and Hayes bringing up the rear. They locked the control room and headed down an elevator to the hangar of the facility. Twenty passenger helicopters had been supplied by the military for them. Small teams of marines stood waiting by each chopper. They helped techs in and jumped in themselves. Slowly, the choppers began to take off. Conrath and Hayes jumped into the last one, filled with two other technicians and the four-marine team. Their chopper was the last to leave. Behind them, the door to the hangar was sealed shut by remote control and the mountain looked like a mountain.

The small facility that Conrath had been held up in for the past few years was located a few hundred miles east of Washington, which was where their convoy of helicopters were going. The mountain itself didn't have a name at first, but because of the creation of Project Xenocide, they named it Mount Pelagic and began building the small research facility. Conrath stared out the back at the rolling country side, going over what had happened the last few minutes. Data was pissed and was killing everyone. They had to find a way to destroy him, before he whipped out the entire human race. With all the worlds compliment of nuclear missiles in its "hands" Data could do whatever it pleased. This worried Conrath a lot as he thought of his wife and child home in Michigan. He pushed the thought of family aside and focused on the matter at hand.

"What the hell is that?" Conrath looked near the front and could see the two pilots of their helicopter pointing at something in the sky.

"Multiple contacts descending from the air. They look like missiles" Conrath heard a pilot of another helicopter yell. Suddenly, the sky began to turn a dark red and Conrath could see the ground below then shaking madly.

"Earthquake?" Tech Chief Hayes asked. Daniel shook his head and looked back towards the front. He gaped at the huge missile descending to the ground.

"That's a fucking nuke! Pull out Lieutenant! Pull the fuck out!" screamed Conrath as the missile accelerated.

"Oh shit!" The huge nuke smashed straight in the middle of the city and detonated. All Conrath saw was a huge mushroom cloud form, and then a huge shockwave of fire and wreckage spread out and come straight at them. It engulfed the rest of the convoy and slammed into their chopper. Conrath couldn't even think of speak and blacked out almost immediately.

The surface of Earth was alight with conflict as dozens of nukes arched in the air and slammed into major population areas. Mushroom clouds appeared and large red blast waves spread out from the detonation spot. The war between Humanity and its creations had begun...

~*Author's note*~

      I would've posted this earlier, but I was at my cottage all weekend, so I didn't get a chance. Enjoy

~*End note*~

The Last War, Chapter Two: Futile Pleas of Help
Date: 11 August 2003, 4:48 AM

The Last War, Chapter Two: Futile Pleas of Help

The distant sounds of gunfire and explosions woke up the unconscious colonel who lay in the destroyed helicopter. Daniel Conrath's eyes opened immediately. I'm alive, holy shit, I'm alive he thought, looking around. The glazed over eyes of Tech Chief Brian Hayes stared back at him. Conrath gasped at the sight and struggled to get away. The seat belt that held him in place snapped and Conrath fell. He had been dangling in the air, since the helicopter had landed, flipped right over. He landed on top of a marine's prone figure and quickly stood up and backed out of the chopper. Everyone inside was dead, either from the explosion or from the crash. Why was he the only one alive? He knew that all the military helicopters had reinforced armor that protected its occupants from nuclear blasts. He crouched low and checked the bodies around him. Tech Chief Hayes's neck had snapped, probably from the crash. The other technicians and scientist from the research facility had met similar fates. Three of the marines were dead; however, there was one that still had a pulse. Conrath knelt beside him and shook him.

"Hey! On your feet soldier!" he yelled. The marine's eyes snapped open and he sat up. His eyes darted back and forth and he looked at the colonel.

"Colonel Conrath? What the fuck is going on here?" he asked, obviously not caring about military protocol. Daniel knew that was the last thing to worry about now.

"I can explain that later, what is your name and rank?" he asked.

"Corporal Elliott Fitzgerald sir" he said, shaking his head. Conrath nodded, and then raised his head as a nearby explosion caught his and the Corporal's attention.

"A battle? What the hell?" Fitzgerald said, standing to his feet. Conrath walked through a large hole in the side of the chopper and gasped.

The sky was filled with thick black smoke. Fires from nearby cities light up the horizon. Flashes of light appeared from more bombs going off and clattered gunfire filled the air. Conrath squinted and shielded his eyes from the fires. He could feel an intense heat overcome him and knew that the radiation was starting to take affect. He turned to see Corporal Fitzgerald standing near him.

"Mother of God" he whispered. Conrath turned.

"We don't have much time Corporal. The radiation levels are high in this area, we need to get underground. Grab some weapons and ammo, and let's start walking" Conrath said. Fitzgerald nodded and walked back inside, grabbing a MA7B Battle rifle, along with as many ammo clips as possible. Daniel walked back to the body of Brian Hayes and pried the briefcase he still held in his hands. He entered in the code and it snapped open, revealing a large weapon in it. He grabbed it and held it in front of him, marveling it at it. It was an EMP rifle, invented at the research facility in case one of the Xenocides didn't follow orders. It fired a single beam of EMP electricity which would fry a Xenocide's systems and kill it. He was battery operated and relied on the charge to fire its beam. However, the Colonel only had four spare EMP batteries, so he would have to conserve his ammo. Conrath also pocketed a standard M6D pistol, five extra clips of ammo along with it. He stripped off the Kevlar armor worn by the dead Marine sergeant and strapped it over his uniform. He nodded at the Corporal, who was scanning the horizon with his binoculars. Conrath stood near him.

"Can you think of any military depot or installation close to us?" he asked. Fitzgerald lowered his binoculars.

"We are more than half way to Washington, the local highway starts just east of our position. If you ask me sir, the city is closer, I was positioned in California before all this started to happen" the man said. Conrath nodded.

"All right, let's move out, if we maintain a fast pace, we should get there within the hour" Conrath said. Fitzgerald nodded and shouldered his battle rifle.

"I'm with you sir, and I would appreciate an explanation as to what's going on along the way" he said. Daniel nodded.

"You'll get it, let's move." The two men began a steady jog off to the east towards the highway, which would lead them to the city of Washington which lay in ruins.

"RPG! Hit the dirt!"

"Medic! I need a medic!"

"Hold on, someone get a fucking medic over here!"

"I'm hit"

"Stay with me marine!"

"Incoming!" The sounds of a war filled the Lieutenant John Savard's ears as he crouched low behind a chunk of concrete that had fallen off a nearby building. He peered over the edge and could see five Xenocide soldiers advancing on their position, double SMG 900s held in their robotic hands. He raised his assault rifle and fired a sustained burst at them. One of the huge behemoths turned and fired at his position. Savard quickly ducked as bullets pinged off around him. His XO, Gunnery Sergeant Coulter lay dead beside him, half of his body gone. He looked around him as more bullets flew around him.

"Colbourne! Where the fuck is Colbourne?" he roared at the marines behind him. A single man crawled over from the parking lot and crouched near the Lieutenant's chunk of concrete.

"Here sir!" Sergeant Ian Colbourne nodded at his friend. Lieutenant Savard pointed to the Xenocides.

"Get some fucking explosives on them, I want them taken out" he roared.

"Sir, this platoon wasn't equipped with M19 SSM Jackhammer rocket launchers sir! The frag grenades don't even dent their armor" the Sergeant yelled back.

"Is there any type of military support around?" asked Savard.

"Negative Lieutenant, I think we're all that's left." Lieutenant Savard cursed and looked around. His team had been in charge of guarding the parking lot of the U.S. Pentagon in Washington. Whatever nuclear weapon hit them struck the heart of Washington and completely leveled every building. At the time, most of Savard and his men were in the parking garage of the Pentagon, which was protected from the blast, however a large handful of his men had been on duty near the entrance to the lot itself. When Savard and his men had waited for the fires to die down and gone out to find them, they found nothing but ashes and a few pieces of carbonized bone. Then the Xenocides came. There was originally a team of ten of the monsters, but the marines who were in charge on internal security in the Pentagon came out and assisted them. They were able to kill five of the Xenocides, but the remaining five launched Jackhammer rockets at their position and completely ripped apart the internal security marines, leaving Savard left with sixteen marines. From his count, he had around ten remaining.

"We've got to get out of here" he whispered to himself. Since the beginning of the battle, they had been pushed back to the main entrance to the building. He had seen several marines make a run for it, but get cut down from bullet fire. They needed some sort of distraction. But what? He knew that none of his men would be willing to sacrifice themselves so the others could get away. They were all very selfish. Savard looked around.

"I need four men willing to come with me and set up a distraction" he yelled at his men. Not a single hand went in the air. Colbourne however nodded.

"I'm with ya" he said. Two big privates decided to volunteer as well.

"We set up a distraction, so we can get the wounded in the Pentagon and seal the entrance. Once their inside, we make a break for the garage and get in that way" said Savard. The three marines around him nodded. Savard turned to face the other marines who hadn't volunteered.

"Corporal Harris!"

"Yes sir?"

"When these Xenocides stop firing at you and focus their attention on us, get inside the Pentagon and seal off the main entrance" ordered Savard.

"Roger that sir, good luck" acknowledged the Corporal. Savard turned to his men and reloaded his weapon.

"Let's go!" he yelled and stood up, firing his assault rifle full auto. Colbourne and the two privates followed suit and ran after their leader, firing their own weapons. Lieutenant Savard had never run so fast in his entire life as he sprinted around the Xenocides and headed towards the garage. The marines with him caught up, but didn't bunch together and fired their weapons. Lieutenant Savard watched Corporal Harris and the others grab what they could and rush inside. One of the Xenocides turned and fired at them, killing three marines, but the others were successful in getting inside. Savard nodded, and then felt his weapon stop firing. An empty clip fell out of the chamber. Colbourne and the others ejected their old clips and got out new ones. Savard shook his head and picked up speed.

"Screw reloading, move to the garage!" he yelled, ushering his men inside. They followed, firing their pistols as suppression fire. They reached the entrance to the garage and began running down the spiraling path into the depths below. The Xenocides chased after them, reloading their own weapons. Their speed was incredible and they entered the garage in a matter of seconds. As Lieutenant Savard stopped at a corner to make sure his men got around okay, he could see the Xenocides appear and fire at him. Fuck, they're too fast he said to himself and sprinted after his men. They reached the bottom floor of the garage and began to weave around the pillars that held up the ceiling. The cars in the garage weren't destroyed, since the blast wave hadn't reached down below. The Xenocides reached the floor and slowed to a jog, firing their weapons as they continued to chase them. Savard felt bullets fly off the pillars he ran by and car alarms began going off as they were hit by the projectiles. Savard could see a door which led to a stairwell.

"There, stairs!" he yelled, leading the way. His marines changed direction and followed him, pausing quickly to fire at the Xenocides. The bullets pinged off their battle armor that had covered their MJOLNIR suit when they first appeared. Savard grabbed the door and opened it, holding it open for his marines. He fired off a few rounds, before slamming it shut.

The door led to a small lobby. While Colbourne and one of the privates held the door in place, Savard and the other private grabbed several benches and stacked them in front of the door. Colbourne found a metallic chair and jammed it under the knob as it began to turn. They stepped back as the door rumbled. Luckily, the door itself was a concrete steel substance and couldn't be broken easily. The metallic objects that were stacked behind it helped with holding the door closed. The marines sighed in relief and Savard rushed to another door which led to the stairs. The four men began climbing them, two at a time, until they reached the main floor. Savard grabbed the knob, but it wouldn't turn. He pushed on the door, but it didn't move. The marines with him tired, but it didn't budge. Savard listened and could hear whispers coming from the room behind.

"Corporal Harris?" he yelled. A muffled voice answered.

"Lieutenant Savard?" John grinned.

"We were successful in the diversion, the Xenocides can't get in, please let us in" he said. They movement in the room beyond and the door slowly creaked open. Savard could see weapon nozzles pointed at him, but were quickly put away as Savard walked in. Harris grinned.

"Good to see you sir" he said, saluting. Savard returned it.

"What's the situation?" he asked.

"We've sealed off all the doors leading from the garage and the main entrance. There is a detachment of security guards in here who have helped us find rooms for the wounded. We're just holding out here for the moment" he said. Savard nodded and walked to the main lobby. It was really quiet and a few marines had taken up positions around the main entrance. Savard peered out a small window.

"Fuck, they got reinforcements" he said as a Pelican dropship lowered to the ground and unloaded ten more Xenocides soldiers. He heard his men behind him cursing. Savard turned.

"All right, let's stay here and hold them off. We might be here for awhile, so let's maintain a constant watch. Who knows what these things are capable off" Savard said. His men nodded and dispersed around him, reinforcing the blockade around doors. He stood among them, wondering how the hell this had all started.

Colonel Conrath and Corporal Fitzgerald slowed down and stopped as they reached the destroyed city of Washington. According to Daniel's watch, they had been running for two hours or so. Even Corporal Fitzgerald was out of breath. "I was never a good runner in basic" he stated, leaning back. They both needed water, but from the quiet, fire burned street around them, they knew they wouldn't get what they wished. Fitzgerald turned to Conrath.

"Do you think the Xenocides are here?" he asked. Conrath looked down the street and could see several bodies that lay on the ground, covered in bullet holes.

"Yeah, they're here" he said, standing up. He looked around him, listening for any type of movement. The wind picked up and scattered dust and ashes. "We've got to get to the Pentagon" Conrath said. Fitzgerald nodded and led the way down the street. They started jogging as the wind disappeared and a scary silence fell over them. Every shadow looked like a huge Xenocide holding a weapon of some sort.

The two men reached the Pentagon several minutes later, out of breath again. The heat in the city was so intense; they could barely breathe standing still. The amount of smoke in ash in the air didn't help also. Conrath grabbed Corporal Fitzgerald's binoculars and peered towards the main entrance to the Pentagon. He was happy to see it was still standing, but wasn't happy to see a group of fifteen Xenocide soldiers gathering around the main door and banging on it.

"Looks like some marines were able to seal of the entrance" he said, watching the Xenocide's futile attempts at opening the door. He handed the binoculars back and raised his EMP rifle.

"Okay, that battle rifle is absolutely useless against these things. I'll need you to provide me with a decoy of some sort, which will allow me to get behind them and use this" Conrath said. Fitzgerald nodded and grabbed hold of three fragmentation grenades on his belt.

"Got it sir" he said. Conrath nodded and began sprinting down the side of the street facing the Pentagon, hoping the Xenocides wouldn't hear him. As he left, he heard Fitzgerald unpin a grenade and toss it. A second later, it detonated near the entrance to the parking lot.

All fifteen of the Xenocides turned to see an explosion of rock and shrapnel fly into the air. They looked around, searching for the source of fire. Fitzgerald quickly tossed another one, and then left his position. The Xenocides began walking into the parking lot, scanning around. Conrath was right behind them now. The battery charge blinked 100 at him, meaning his rifle was ready to fire. He stopped in front of a piece of concrete, raised his rifle and fired.

The weapon kicked back against his shoulder as it charged up and fired a continuous beam of EMP at the Xenocides. Three of them shook uncontrollably as their systems overheated and melted. They fell and the others turned. Four more fell quickly through as Conrath strafed them, swinging his weapon back and forth. The battle armor surrounding one Xenocide melted and the shield sparked and dispersed. The last Xenocide froze on the spot, electrical beams sparking out of it. Conrath walked forward and kicked it over. He then waved over at Fitzgerald, who waved back and jogged towards him.

"That was incredible sir," he said as he approached, "That weapon kicks ass."

"Thank you Corporal" he said, nodding at the compliment. He glanced at the battery charge and cursed. It blinked 37. Conrath shook his head. "Let's see if the marines will open this door."

The two of them climbed up the blood spilled stairs and Conrath politely knocked on the door. Naturally, no one answered. Daniel knocked again.

"Who is it?" a voice asked.

"Colonel Daniel Conrath and Corporal Elliott Fitzgerald wish to enter this building" he said.

"What happened to the Xenocides?" asked the voice.

"They are dead" Conrath said simply. He could hear movement and heavy rumbling coming from the area beyond the door. It then peeked open and an assault rifle appeared, pointed at Daniel who smiled at the marine. The man opened the door completely and saluted.

"Sir!" he said. Conrath returned it.

"Name, rank?" he asked.

"Lieutenant John Savard, I've assumed command of the internal security platoon" the man said. Conrath nodded.

"Good to know there are some people here still alive, may we come in? The Xenocides will send backup" he said. Savard nodded and stepped aside. Daniel walked in, saluting at the marines who stood around the door. They parted, allowing him into the lobby. Savard closed the door behind him and had a group of marines re-create the blockade. Conrath turned.

"Any idea if the control room here is still operational?" he asked. Savard shrugged.

"We haven't even bothered to check sir, we remained here to make sure the Xenocides didn't come in" the marine replied. Conrath nodded.

"Well, they're gone now, come with me, let's see if anyone else in this building is still alive" he said. Conrath, Savard, and two other marines, one of them a Sergeant moved deeper in the facility. Corporal Fitzgerald remained behind to help with the blockade. As Conrath lead the way, Savard rushed forward to catch up.

"Begging your pardon sir, but what weapon are you holding?" he asked. Conrath smiled and offered it to the Lieutenant.

"It's an EMP rifle, sadly, it's the only one. They were created back at the lab in case a Xenocide failed to carry out orders given to it from Data" he said. Savard marveled at it and offered it to the marines behind them. He then looked back at the Colonel.

"Sir, what's going on? Why are the Xenocides attacking, why did a shit load of nukes wipe out this city and many more?" he asked. Conrath shook his head and as they stepped into an elevator and headed to the bottom level of the building, Conrath explained everything. When they reached the bottom floor of the building, the Colonel was done explaining and Savard and his marines were in shock.

"Jesus" Savard whispered as they stepped out of the elevator and walked through a darkened hallway. There was a door up ahead, but out of the darkness, two figures appeared and blocked the way. They held battle rifles and had them raised.

"How are you?" a voice demanded.

"Colonel Daniel Conrath, head of science division in the Mount Pelagic lab" he said.

"Lieutenant John Savard, Pentagon internal security" the Lieutenant said.

"You are not the leader of the internal security forces" a second voice growled.

"Lieutenant George Brown was killed in combat, I assumed his position" Savard said. Conrath heard the figures in front of them sigh and walk forward, revealing them to be marines.

"Thank god, we were afraid you were Xenocides" one of them said. Conrath was relieved as well. "Private First Class Jamie Larson, this is PFC Alan Bishop" the marine continued.

"Good to see people down here are alive, are their people in the control room?" asked Conrath.

"Ye sir, we were posted out here because of classified information being passed around or something" said the Private Larson. Daniel shook his head.

"Come with me. At this point in the game, there is no such thing as classified information" he said and walked to the door. He opened it and stepped in the Pentagon control room.

The room was a square. In the middle were two rows of computer consoles facing each other. On the walls behind them were maps of the building and various indicators on them. A few technicians sat at the consoles, and a group of Top Brass officers were gathered around them, checking system data. Everyone in the room stopped and turned.

"Colonel Conrath!" a voice said. Daniel watched General Don Taylor walk forward, a smile on his face. The two men shook hands. "Good to see you are alive Daniel, are you okay?" he asked.

"Thank you General, I'm okay. This is Lieutenant John Savard, your knew head of internal security here" Conrath, motioning to the man. Savard saluted and Taylor saluted back. Conrath continued. "May I inquire as to what is happening around the world?" he asked. Taylor nodded and motioned to a large screen on the wall.

"Data launched nukes on major population centers all over the world. Moscow, Beijing, Toronto, you name it, it used everything. Now, divisions of Xenocide troops are spread throughout the urban areas, killing people in smaller cities and finishing off survivors in the nuked cities. We're getting pleas for help all over, but the military garrison here is gone. We have pockets of marine forces scattered all over the place and completely cut off from the Pentagon or any other secure area. From my understanding, this is the only secure area on the face of this planet. Conditions are worsening. The smoke from the nukes has just covered the atmosphere and radiation levels are so high. In a matter of days, maybe hours, not a human soul on Earth could stand on the surface, without dying from smoke inhalation or the radiation" he said. Conrath couldn't believe the crisis they were in. He had an idea of what to do, but it wouldn't be easy.

"Sir, we can't stay here, the Xenocides will just send more divisions and will probably blow up this building. We need to gather what forces we have and head back to Mount Pelagic. From there, we can try and delete Data, and hold off any Xenocide attack force that attacks" he said. Taylor nodded.

"I'm aware of the fact that we can't stand here, but how are we going to get back to that mountain and how are we going to hold them off. Bullet fire has no effect on the monsters" he said. Conrath grabbed his EMP rifle from Lieutenant Savard.

"This is an EMP rifle sir and quite frankly, it's the only weapon on this planet that can kill a Xenocide. There is a large amount of these weapons at the lab in Mount Pelagic. Once we get marines these weapons, we have a fighting chance at surviving here" he said. Taylor marveled at the weapon.

"I forgot all about these. It kills Xenocides?"

"Yes sir"

"I agree with you about getting to the lab, but getting there is going to be a problem. We can't walk there, radiation levels keep rising and the smoke continues to block out the atmosphere. I don't know of any type of hangar here" Taylor said, scratching his beard. Behind Daniel, Lieutenant Savard spoke up.

"I know of a secret hangar here sir, it's under the parking garage" he said. The people surrounding the Lieutenant turned to look at him. Taylor nodded at him.

"Is it easy to access?" he asked. Savard nodded.

"Yes sir, I actually helped built it. There's a sewer hatch in the bottom level of the garage which leads to a ladder. Climb down the ladder, there is a small opening and two elevators. They lead to the hangar. From what I know, there are Pelican dropships, attack and transport helicopters, and two Longsword intercept fighters" he said. Conrath nodded.

"We'll take it, I don't know about you sir, but I'm getting out of here before we are overrun" Daniel said. General Taylor nodded.

"We're with you Colonel. Give us a few seconds to gather a few supplies and send out a couple of SOS signals" he said. Daniel raised an eyebrow.

"SOS signals? No one here on Earth can help us" he said.

"Exactly, no one on Earth can help, but there might be people out there in space who can help us. We'll send out a couple of distress signals. I can protect them so Data can't intercept them and all we have to do is pray someone picks it up" he said, typing in a few commands into a computer, while the people around him began to pack things up. Conrath nodded. They knew a lot about Data and could lock him out of various systems if they wished. The Colonel read the person message for help the General was sending.

/start message/

      To any UNSC forces this message gets to, Earth is under attack. Xenocide forces have bombed major population areas and are wiping out the survivors. Large pockets of military resistance are going to Mount Pelagic near Washington were we plan to coordinate a resistance against them. Casualties range in the billions, the Xenocides are overrunning our forces with no mercy, and we need help. Please hurry

General Don Taylor, Pentagon control room

/end message/

Conrath nodded and watched several coded transmissions expand out into the space surrounding Earth. He prayed someone would find them. Taylor nodded and walked towards the door.

"Let's get out of here, Lieutenant Savard, lead the way" he ordered. The humans filed out of the room, making sure everything was shut down and took the elevator to the bottom level of the garage. The marines positioned in the lobby were already there and had a single door opened. They rushed out into the garage, sweeping the area with their weapons and followed Savard who stopped in front of a sewer hatch located in the far corner of the garage. Along with the help of several marines, they removed it and gazed down into the depths below. Savard led the way down and helped the others. The small area which lead to the elevator could barely fit them all and Savard began taking groups of people in the elevators and down into the hangar. Colonel Conrath and General Taylor made sure the wounded went first before them and assisted the technicians got in as well. Savard returned and motioned for the marines to go next. Both the elevators returned, and the last bunch made their way down into the hangar.

The doors parted and Conrath walked into the hangar. It wasn't very big, but it was big enough to hold a certain amount of transport vehicles that could carry all of them. Conrath and Taylor began splitting up their marines and technicians into all the vehicles so that they didn't leave any behind. Technicians clambered into the pilot seats of Pelican dropships. Marines took command of the helicopters and Longswords. Savard ordered the four Pelican dropships they had to carry four M12 LRVs which were parked in a small area beneath the air vehicles. The Warthogs were brought out and each Pelican took one. Conrath rushed to the small control room in the hangar and opened the main door. He then rushed to one of the Longswords and closed the door behind him. The convoy of vehicles began filing out of the hangar and sped off to Mount Pelagic, leaving the smoldering city behind. As they went, they were able to pick up groups of marines stranded in the outskirts of the city. They reported more groups of marines struck, but because the risk of getting shot down was so high, General Taylor would make sure they would come back once they secured themselves in the laboratory at Pelagic. As they sped off, Conrath stared out a port hole and gazed at the city, then looked up into the smoky clouds as the last patch of stars disappeared under a blanket of smoke. He prayed that someone would get those SOS signals.

TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade

The Last War, Chapter Three: Reinforcements
Date: 15 August 2003, 12:19 PM

The Last War, Chapter Three: Reinforcements

While the remaining humans in North America attempted to fight off the Xenocide forces, a contingent of troops located over a million light years away were bored. They were humans, with augmented bodies and wore a type of armor called MJOLNIR, named after the hammer, used the by Norse God of war. They sat in a cluster of boulders on a planet called Hull, chatting with each other and trying to entertain themselves.

They were Spartans, but because of the large amount of them, they were Spartans from different series. The Spartan III, IV, V and VI series were all that remained of the once glorious division of troops that were the Covenant's worst enemy. After several years of being beaten by them, the Covenant began to adapt to the Spartan's battle tactics and skills. They improved the armor and weapons used by their soldiers. They enslaved another alien caste into their alliance, known as the Brutes, who proved to be a nuisance for them. They made their weapons more explosive and even put small shield generators onto Grunts and Jackals. Elites were given better armor and a full body shield like the ones Jackals used. All this advanced weaponry stopped the Spartans in their tracks and pushed them back.

The Covenant got far, but when the Xenocides were put to use, they soon found out they would need more than weapon and armor upgrades to beat them. The Spartans were then sent to Hull to take out a Covenant force over there. Because they knew they were failures, the Spartans did not return for the huge victory day celebration after the war ended. They stayed on Hull and played around with the remaining Covenant troops there, hoping they would never go back to Earth.

The Master Spartan for the Spartan VI series; Shade, sat on a large boulder overlooking the Spartans encampment, twirling a combat knife in his hand. Sighing, he sheathed the knife and stood, letting a warm breeze hit him. Because there was no danger, he had taken his MJOLNIR armor off and wore nothing but combat fatigues and a muscle shirt. He had spiked black hair, with blond and grey streaks running through it. His eyes were icy blue. He was generally quiet when around the other Master Spartans, but was energetic and kind when around the Spartans under his command. He turned to see the leader of Spartan V series; Nemesis, climb the boulder and walk over to him. The big Spartan wore identical clothing as Shade, except he had taken his muscle shirt off. He nodded at Shade.

"How you doin?" he asked. Shade shrugged.

"Could be better I guess, working on your tan?" Shade replied. Nemesis chuckled and spread his muscular arms apart.

"Hey, why not man? We're stuck here, might as well enjoy it" he said. Shade shook his head.

"What we need is a lake or something" he said. Nemesis's jade eyes went wide and he grinned.

"Yeah, it'd be awesome to see our female Spartans go for a dip" Nemesis said, staring down at a group of Spartans who were all female. After their augmentation, their sex drive was gone, however, because of several years of total confinement away from humans, this drive for pleasure had slowly returned and Shade could tell Nemesis was one of the first to experience it. He grinned.

"I wish they didn't get rid of our desire for sex, none of the ladies here want to do it. I mean, I know it's there, just not completely" he said, bowing his head. Shade shook his head again and patted him on the back.

"Give it a few more months, they will be all over you man" he said. Nemesis nodded. The two were soon joined by the Master Spartan of the Spartan IV series; Matrix. He was the only one out here wearing a full combat bodysuit. It was black and Shade could see huge lines of sweat running down his face. The front part was open slightly, revealing his sweat-drenched T-shirt inside. He nodded.

"Guys"

"Dude, lose the body suit, you're going to die" Nemesis said. Because of several years of being close together, the Spartans were much more affectionate towards each other. Saying words such as "dude" was common now. Matrix nodded and took off the top part of his suit, letting it dangle behind him.

"I dunno why I had it on the first place" he said.

The three friends stood on the boulder, watching their Spartans below and talking about anything that came up. As they continued to chat, they were unaware of the blue-armored Covenant Elite sneaking into their camp. It growled and rushed forward, hiding at the base of the boulder. Two of its enemies climbed down, leaving one alone up there. It clicked its mandibles and climbed up, poised to strike.

Shade felt a movement of wind behind him and he turned, just in time to avoid a huge fist thrown at him. He ducked low and stood up, looking at his enemy. He shook his head at the Elite.

"Is that all you can do?" he asked. The Elite charged forward and tackled Shade. The two of them fell off the boulder and landed on top of several tents. The Elite rolled off and Shade stood slowly, coughing. Luckily, the sleeping bags inside the tent had broken his fall. He dodged the next few punches and grabbed the Elites arm. He pulled the alien forward, and then swung his knee up, making contact with the Elite's stomach. The Covenant trooper roared and coughed up purple blood. Shade grabbed hold of the Elite's shoulder and threw him into a nearby boulder. Its head smashed into it first and he heard a horrible snap. The Elite fell on the ground, blood flowing from its mouth. Shade shook his head and bent his back. The leader of the Master III series; Titan rushed forward.

"Holy shit, are you okay?" he asked. Shade grinned.

"Not a problem, I'm okay. Just surprised me, the Covenant usually don't attack us till night" he said.

"Well, considering the fact that most of their warriors are dead now, they probably don't care" Titan observed. Shade nodded and climbed back up his boulder, sitting cross-legged on it and took his knife. He began twirling it again, bored as hell.

From space, Earth always looked like a big blue ball floating in a dark pool. However, it now blended in so well, with the darkness of space. The smoke and ash from the nuclear blast waves had covered the atmosphere, showing no signs of the ruined surface below.

While the air convoy consisting of Colonel Conrath and the others headed towards Mount Pelagic, the rest of the human race was dying. Most of the fighting had stopped, since the marine forces had retreated. The Xenocides however did not pursue. Data knew that because of the high radiation levels, they would die in a matter of hours. Instead, the computer AI program concentrated on getting all of its Xenocide forces back to Earth. It had received word that all human life on their various conquered planets had been exterminated. All that remained were the humans down on the destroyed Earth. Data knew it wouldn't take long to destroy the survivors, but there was one group of survivors that bugged it.

It had been monitoring this air convoy of dropships and helicopters via satellite images. Sadly, Data did not have any type of interceptor fighter on its side. All Data had were a few Pelican dropships, which were spread out across the planet, transporting Xenocide soldiers to cities still loaded with human survivors.

Data's anger levels rose and broke the caution limit. The satellite it was using to view this air convoy trembled violently and suddenly exploded in a fireball. As Data continued to get angry, it caught sight of several transmissions echoing through the recesses of space. It accessed one, but a lock had been emplaced, preventing Data from seeing the message. It tried to destroy it, but could not. The transmission signal continued to play it's message and Data could do nothing about it. Without warning, it launched another nuke, which detonated in the Atlantic Ocean. Data did this out of anger. It would have to start building more Xenocides, since it was possible that reinforcements would be coming. It went to work, reactivating war factories and putting Xenocide engineers to work. It then decided to relax and wait, to see what or who would answer these pleas for help.

Night had fallen in Spartan camp on the planet Hull. They all gathered around several fires, eating the body limbs of the Covenant they killed. They were surprised to discover that the cells in a Grunt contained high energy nutrients and various minerals like iron and fibers. Naturally, this gave the impression that they were cannibals, but they only ate Grunt, when they were getting low on the food supplies in the Longswords.

The Spartans came to Hull in six Longsword intercept fighters. Because they knew they didn't plan on returning, they had stocked up each one with a large amount of food, weapons and ammo. The food supplies in four of the Longswords were gone, and the supplies in the fifth were almost done. Because of this, they were forced to switch to eating Grunt. It was good when a lot of salt was added.

Shade sat back and gulped down the water that was in his cup. Wiping his mouth he sighed heavily and looked at the people around him. They were all members of his Spartan series. He had around thirty-five or so left. Each series was around its own fire, eating food. It seemed that Shade and his Spartans were the first done. Sadly, that meant they would get first watch. Although the Covenant race had been eliminated, there was still a group of Covenant soldiers on this planet, which often attacked them. Because of this, each Spartan series would be required to keep watch for a certain amount of time. Luckily, it didn't mean that they had to clean up the mess and do dishes. That was for the series that finished second. The remaining two got to rest.

Shade retrieved his MJOLNIR armor from his tent and sat on the same boulder he had been sitting on all day. Two other Spartans joined him and the three of them started a game of Black Jack. Shade had never been a fan for Poker, plus, they had no money with them to bet. Luckily, playing the card game passed the time by quickly and before Shade knew it, Titan climbed the rock, all dressed in his armor.

"Shade, time to switch" he said as he approached him. Shade nodded and ditched the cards. He was glad he had to go now, since the dealer had given him a ten and a five. Not the best combination of cards when you were losing. He climbed down the rock and crawled into his tent. He got out of his armor and lay in his sleeping bag, slowly nodding off to sleep.

Morning came quickly, just like the Spartan VIs watch had ended quickly. Shade sat up and rubbed his eyes as they got used to the sunlight shining into the tent. He got out of his bag and slipped on his black combat fatigues. He retrieved his grey muscle shirt, and then crawled out of the tent, throwing the muscle shirt over him. Most of the other Spartans were still asleep. Shade could see a couple of Spartans getting another fire started. They nodded at him and Shade gave them a wave. He was about to head toward them, but another Spartan walked up to him.

It was Matrix, full dressed in his black combat body suit. He saluted at Shade, who returned it. Matrix then motioned for Shade to follow him and the two of them headed toward their parked Longsword fighters.

When they landed on Hull, they kept their fighters as hidden as possible. Right behind their camp was a large mountain that stretched on for miles. At the base of this mountain, there was a large cave, big enough to hold all six of their Longswords. Matrix led Shade to the closest one and they climbed into it.

"What's up?" Shade asked. Matrix sat in the pilot's chair and began accessing several communication files.

"Last night, the sensors picked up several distress signals. The computer intercepted one and logged it for observation. I came here and read it. It's from Earth" he began, looking up at Shade. Shade raised an eyebrow and motioned for Matrix to go on. The man pressed a single switch and the view screen came to life. It was filled with static at first, and then was replaced with the face of a man. He wore the uniform of a General and was surrounded by red light. Sweat poured down his face.

"This is General Don Taylor of the Pentagon control room to any UNSC forces this message gets to, Earth is under attack. Xenocide forces have bombed major population areas and are wiping out the survivors. Large pockets of military resistance are going to Mount Pelagic near Washington were we plan to coordinate a resistance against them. Casualties range in the billions, the Xenocides are overrunning our forces with no mercy, and we need help. Please hurry"

Shade's mouth hung open. Matrix replayed the message several times, and then finally stopped. Shade was still digesting it all. The Xenocides, mankind's deadliest creation had turn against its masters. They had been designed so that nothing could stop them and this proved to have worked, not only against the Covenant, but now against the UNSC. Shade heard movement behind him and he turned to see Nemesis and Titan walk into the Longsword. Matrix played the message for them. After it, Nemesis spoke for all of them.

"Holy shit" he whispered. Titan nodded. Matrix shook his head.

"The Xenocides couldn't have gone rebellious, that huge AI program called Data could easily shut them all down" he said.

"That means that Data has gone rebellious" Shade said.

"But how? I mean, it just doesn't seem possible" said Titan, shaking his head.

"Self-aware?" offered Shade.

"Yeah, that could be, after all, Data learns at a geometric rate, it could've caught on to what the UNSC was doing" Nemesis said, nodding at Shade.

"But what was the UNSC doing that made it go self-aware?" Titan asked.

"Well, let's see. The war against the Covenant is over, which means the Xenocides are basically useless" Matrix began.

"And they simply cannot blend into society, they're robots, not humans" Nemesis said.

"So, the only logical solution is for the UNSC to shut down Data and terminate the Xenocides. Without Data, they are simply useless" Shade said.

"That means, Data realized that the USNC was trying to destroy it and didn't like it, so it launched nukes and went insane" Titan finished.

"Jesus..." whispered Shade, leaning back against the bulkhead. The four of them kept quiet and didn't say much to each other as they understood what was happening on Earth. Finally, Matrix spoke up.

"Well, they need our help; do we give it to them?" Matrix asked. They all looked each other, not one of them speaking. Nemesis shook his head.

"We swore we could never go back there. If we do, we are bound to be criticized by the remaining humans" he said.

"There's a good chance that they are all dead by now. If the Xenocides can't kill them, then the radiation will" Titan said.

"Data probably knows all about the Spartan program and is expecting us to help" Shade said.

"That would mean it has a fleet ready to destroy us as we come in" Nemesis said, eyes going wide.

"It's a possibility, but it doesn't know if we are actually going to help. It knows we are out there, it just doesn't know if these distress messages will reach us" Shade said.

"That brings up another question, how come it didn't destroy these messages?" Titan asked.

"There was a lock put on the signal, to prevent Data from seeing it. They must've programmed it so that only humans could see it" Matrix said. Titan nodded and they became quiet again. Shade looked at them.

"I say we go" he said. His three friends looked at him. Titan nodded.

"I agree." Nemesis however, shook his head.

"The Xenocides are too powerful. We wouldn't last a week" he said.

"If Data knows that we are out here, it's bound to start hunting us down after it destroys humanity" Matrix said.

"There's no were to run" Shade whispered.

"I want some real action as well, the Covenant here are weak and their numbers are dwindling. These Xenocides will be a tough enemy, one worthy of our attention" Titan said. Nemesis nodded.

"You're right...I'm worried about all of us dying, but we all die eventually. Let's go down fighting" he said, grinning. Shade nodded as did Matrix. He had wanted to go from the start.

"All right, we should start getting packed. Everyone start alerting their Spartans and tell them the situation. We should leave here no later than 1200 hours" Matrix said. They all nodded, and then rushed out of the Longsword to spread the news.

The hangar door to the laboratory in Mount Pelagic opened and the air convoy of dropships and helicopters zoomed in. The door quickly shut behind them, plunging the human survivors into darkness. Several of the marines activated flashlights and flares, and then helped Colonel Conrath find the power box. He ripped it open and flipped several switches.

The lights hanging inside the small hangar flickered and turned on. The rest of the survivors piled out of their ships and gathered in a small circle. Lieutenant Savard counted at least fifty-six marines with them. He was worried that the Xenocides had returned here to make sure their leader was safe. He mentioned this to Conrath and General Taylor, who nodded at him.

"Take several platoons of your men and have them search throughout this facility. It isn't that big, so it shouldn't take you long. Make sure you leave a few marines here though" Taylor ordered. Lieutenant Savard nodded and gathered his marines.

"Okay listen up, there's the possibility that the Xenocides are here to protect their leader. I'm not going to send small fire teams throughout this facility; the threat level is too high. One large group, led by me will search through this entire facility for the Xenocides. The rest of you will remain here and protect these civilians and officers. I'm going to take around thirty of you, which leaves twenty or so marines left here. This is a secure area, so use radios to contact in case you need assistance. Let's move it people" Savard ordered.

The marines moved quickly, setting up a rough perimeter surrounding the lone door that led into the hangar. Savard gathered his men and motioned for them to move out. Thirty-one marines moved through the door. The hall went to the right and they moved down it in two lines, each line leaning against the walls. Lieutenant Savard led one of the lines, his eyes darting all over the place. The lights had been activated in the halls, which was a relief, since he knew many of his men would've cracked if they had to move through these halls using flashlights and night vision.

They eventually reached two doors. One was simply marked "JANITORIAL," while the other was marked "BARRACKS." Savard motioned to the one door and it opened by the push of a button. All the Barracks was, was several rooms of beds, lined up into rows. There were armories in each barrack room, but other than that, it was empty. They left the barracks quickly and continued moving throughout the facility.

Lieutenant Savard halted in front of another door marked "CAFÉ." He had one of his marines open it, then he moved in, weapon up. The mess hall was a huge room, bigger than most of the barracks room. It consisted of rows of tables and benches. At the end was the kitchen and along the sides were bathrooms and snack/liquid machines. One of his marines went up to one and tried using it, but it didn't work. He cursed and followed the Lieutenant out of the cafeteria. They continued moving down the hall and arrived at the end.

Two elevator doors faced Lieutenant Savard. He wasn't too familiar with the facilities schematics and assumed they went to other levels. He had several marines squish into one elevator, and then several others squish into the other. Lieutenant Savard looked at the buttons and realized that the elevator only went up and there was only one other room. He pushed the button and the elevator jolted as it headed up. It didn't take long, which Savard was thankful for. He moved out of the elevator and looked around him, his marines around him.

They stood in the large control room of Mount Pelagic. There was the large control area they stood in now, yet there was another door, which lead to a smaller control area. He could tell from the scattered chairs and paperwork all over the floor that the people here left in a hurry. They didn't explore much in here, since they would've been attacked by now. Lieutenant Savard confirmed it was clear and activated his radio.

"Conrath here" said the Colonel.

"Sir, this facility is clear, no Xenocides" Savard reported.

"Excellent, thank you Lieutenant, we'll be heading toward you. I suggest you and your men set up some defenses inside the base, and then get some rest" Conrath said.

"Acknowledged Colonel, Savard out." The Lieutenant clicked his radio off and ordered his men back to the hangar. They passed Colonel Conrath along the way, and then joined up with the rest of the marines in the hangar. They then went about, setting up interior defenses.

Data watched the humans move through the facility via the security cameras. It wasn't worried, since it knew it had locked the entire computer system in the control room and it was impossible to break it. This ensured Data's safety. It hadn't even called for Xenocide reinforcements to come and destroy the humans in the facility. It knew they had come to hide out here, since this was were it was created, however, that was a big mistake, since it could monitor what they did and come up with ways to sabotage their plans. Data's levels of happiness rose and it began to come up with ways in destroying the other human survivors still fighting against its Xenocides.

The Spartans had moved quickly and left around 0900 hours. Their Longswords were completely packed up with their gear and supplies. Many of them had to cram into the back of the fighter, but they wouldn't be there for long. Since human technology had improved, newer Slipstream generators had been added to the Longswords. They would get to Earth in a matter of hours, which they were happy about.

The six intercept fighters accelerated out of Hull's atmosphere and prepared for the Slipstream jump though space. Before they had left, they had bombed the Covenant encampment which was located a few kilometers away from theirs. The Longswords still had a large compliment of Devilhorn missiles, which they planned on using in case attacked when they reached Earth. The generators activated and the six fighters disappeared into the Slip Stream hole in space.

Data's long range planetary sensors picked up a Slip Stream hole several light years away. Data's curiosity levels rose and it reviewed the sensor report being given to it. Sure enough, six vessels had created a Slip Stream hole and entered it, in the Lomar system, near the planet Hull. Data knew from reviewing UNSC records that there were no human outposts or any type of military occupation in that system. It was pretty much uncharted, except for Hull and two other planets. Data did not know what to do with this new data. It eventually decided to wait and see where these fighters went.

These several hours of waiting passed quickly for Shade, who was in the back of his Longsword, playing a game of Black Jack with a large group of Spartans. His second in command; Redguard, was in the cockpit of the fighter. She yelled at him that they were approaching the exit. Shade ditched his cards, vowing he would finish the game, and then rushed to the cockpit. Redguard sat in the co-pilot's chair, watching space zoom by. Shade sat beside her.

"ETA?" he asked

"Two minutes" she replied. Shade nodded and checked the systems of the Longsword. Everything was going well; the computer reported that everything onboard the fighter was intact and okay. Shade warned the Spartans in the back they would be exiting the hole soon, then strapped himself into his chair, watching the hole approach.

"Ten seconds" Redguard reported. Ten seconds was like ten milliseconds. The Longsword jolted forward, and then slowed down quickly as they exited the hole. Shade was lurched forward, then backwards in his chair. The Longsword floated for a few seconds in space, and then the systems came back online. Shade looked around outside in space and gasped.

"Holy shit" he said. Redguard merely looked out the window, mouth wide open. The planet Earth hung in space before them. Instead of the normal blue, green and white colors that could be seen from orbit, all it was, was a big black ball. Swirling clouds of smoke and ash covered Earth, blending it in perfectly with the space surrounding it. Flashes of light appeared all over, indicating large storms. Shade hung his head.

"Set a course for Mount Pelagic" he ordered. Redguard nodded and programmed in the coordinates. The other five Longswords flanked Shade's, preparing to head into the ruined planet.

The planetary sensors blared alarms at Data, which reviewed the logs quickly. It observed the six Longsword fighters slowly head towards Earth. Data marked their trajectory and realized the fighters were heading towards Mount Pelagic. Data literally smirked and merely watched the fighters enter the ruined atmosphere. It didn't bother trying to stop them, since it wished to have more of a challenge for its Xenocides. Data merely watched the fighters soar over the Earth's surface and head toward the mountain.

A Klaxon alarm began blaring throughout the facility. Colonel Conrath rushed into the control room and typed away at one of the computers. Most of the other systems on the computers were locked out, but Data allowed them to have sensor control and other facility schematics, which Conrath was grateful for.

The sensors had picked up six Longsword intercept fighters heading towards them. Conrath wanted to blow them out of the sky, but knew he couldn't, since the laboratory didn't have any type of weapon that could do that. Suddenly, the radio activated.

"This is Longsword fighter One to Mount Pelagic laboratory, come in please" a voice said. Conrath raised an eyebrow. Normally, the Xenocides didn't speak. In fact, he had never heard a Xenocide speak. He grabbed the radio headset and put it on. Surrounding him were several technicians and General Taylor.

"This is Mount Pelagic to Longsword fighter One, who are we talking to?" asked Conrath.

"Mount Pelagic, reinforcements have arrived, my name is Matrix, I am the leader of the Spartan IVs" said the voice. Conrath's eyes went wide and he looked at General Taylor who grinned.

"You received our message?" Conrath asked.

"Yes, we did, please open the hangar doors and allow us to assist you in this resistance" the Spartan said. Conrath nodded.

"Open the hangars and prepare for them" he said to several technicians, who rushed off to the hangar. Conrath grinned and put the headset back on.

"Welcome to Mount Pelagic Spartans, my name is Colonel Daniel Conrath, we are pleased to have you join us in our resistance" he said.

"Thank you Colonel Conrath..."

TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade

The Last War, Chapter Four: The Survivors
Date: 19 August 2003, 5:00 AM

The Last War, Chapter Four: The Survivors

The arrival off the Spartans brought a lot of hope to the survivors. The Longsword fighters landed inside Mount Pelagic's hangar and the Spartans greeted everyone. However, the celebration was quick. Immediately, the leaders of the Spartan series met with Colonel Conrath and General Taylor. They then discussed their plans, inside the control room of the facility.

"Well, to start off, welcome to Mount Pelagic" Colonel Daniel Conrath said, nodding at the four Spartans standing around the table. They nodded back. General Taylor walked inside and took a seat next to Conrath.

"It's good to have you guys here, and I would like to thank you more, but we have a large matter to discuss" he said, pulling his chair in. The Spartans nodded and listened.

"Data became self-aware. It realized what we were trying to do to it and prevented itself from being destroyed. It's locked us out of its system. We can't shut it down. Data launched over two hundred nuclear missiles, mines, bombs, et cetera. They landed in all the capital cities of the various countries on this planet, completely wiping out the city and its inhabitants. There are the odd scattered survivors who were underground or in a nuclear blast shelter, but there are few of them. Xenocide forces are all over the world, destroying smaller population areas and taking out the survivors in various cities. Even if people were able to evade the Xenocides, they wouldn't live much longer" Colonel Conrath began.

"The atmosphere is so filled up with smoke, it's covered the O-Zone layer, blocking out the sunlight and filling the air with methane and carbon monoxide. Along with that, the radiation levels all over the planet are incredible. There are patches of radiation-free spots, but they are filled with smoke. We are guessing that within the hour, no one on the surface of this planet could breathe. If they could, they would eventually die from radiation poisoning. This planet had become an intoxicated planet, unable to sustain life" General Taylor finished. The Spartans listened quietly and didn't say anything. Eventually, the leader of the Spartan IVs; Matrix, nodded.

"What are the plans?" he asked. Conrath nodded back at him.

"First things first, we have an hour to gather as many survivors as possible and get them here. That means, taking what ships we have and exploring the cities around us, looking for marines, civilians, anyone. Gather them up and bring them here to this facility" he said.

"This facility isn't the biggest Colonel, how would we fit them all in?" asked Nemesis, the leader of the Spartan Vs.

"Actually, there are tunnels that start in the hangar and lead down into additional storage areas and another hangar deeper inside the mountain which we will use. Sadly, I don't expect there will be many people alive, but we are still going to get as many as we can" he answered. Nemesis nodded.

"Then what?" he asked.

"Well, we still have a large number of hackers and technicians here who helped created Data. Under the command of Colonel Conrath, they will begin trying to hack into Data and stop him. While they do that, the rest of us make our presence noticeable" General Taylor said, grinning. "That means, attacking Xenocide patrols, destroying their base camps and factories, anything that will make us a nuisance to them."

"Wouldn't we want to avoid that?" asked the leader of the Spartan VIs, Shade. General Taylor raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"When starting off a resistance like this, going kamikaze on Xenocide forces will only anger Data. Since it knows were we are hiding, it would send non-stop amounts of Xenocides to kill us" he said. Taylor leaned backwards in his chair.

"Amounts of Xenocides like that would be difficult to fend off" he said, scratching his chin. Shade nodded. "What do you suggest?" he asked.

"Once we've gathered survivors here, we need to spread ourselves out. Use abandoned military bases underground and in mountains. That way, once we start fighting back and a base of ours is breached, we have a fall back point and not every single survivor is taken out" he said. Taylor listened and nodded.

"You're right, good idea. However, we need to focus on this rescue operation first
he said. Titan, the leader of the Spartan IIIs leaned forward.

"Sir, there is another problem; what do we use to destroy the Xenocides?" he asked. The Spartans looked at the two men. General Taylor looked to Conrath, who grinned and reached for a briefcase beside him. He brought it on the table and opened it, revealing to the Spartans a gun, similar in design to the MA5B Assault rifle, but did not have any ammo clips. Instead, large battery packs were positioned around it.

"This gentlemen, is an EMP rifle, created for one purpose; to put down a Xenocide. We made some of these while making the Xenocides and Data. We were afraid a Xenocide would disobey Data and if it did, we would use these against it. I've already used it once and it works quite well" he said.

"Wow" whispered Nemesis, running his hand along the barrel.

"There were two problems. The gun has a charge of one hundred and when it runs out, the gun is useless, which is why I've had several of my technicians adapt these battery charges which act as ammo clips for the gun. Once the current charge is out, you slam a new one in and keep firing. The second problem was the rate of fire. Originally, the rifle fired a single beam of electrical magnetic energy, however, as the beam continued, it would overheat and the weapon would be useless for a certain amount of time. That is why; I've had my technicians change it around. Instead of a single beam, it fires short bursts of EMP bolts, much like a plasma rifle; however, the rate of fire is slightly slower. That is because the gun has to recharge continuously to produce the EMP energy" Colonel Conrath explained. Matrix nodded at this.

"How many do you have?" he asked. Conrath's face dropped slightly.

"Thirty-three" he whispered.

"Shit" said Nemesis, shaking his head. "That's not even enough to arm our Spartans with..."

"I realize that Nemesis, which is why I've kept a large compliment of Covenant weapons. Although they aren't the best, plasma works a lot better than lead bullets" he said.

"Good thinking, we also found plasma weapons were better than our weapons during training" Shade said, nodding at Daniel. There was a moment of silence as the Spartans each took a turn holding the EMP rifle. Finally, General Taylor stepped forward.

"I hate to break this up, but there are people out there, being killed or coughing to death. We need to get going" he said. The Spartan leaders nodded and rushed out of the control room, saluting to the Colonel and the General briefly.

Titan rushed after the other three Spartan leaders, still digesting all the information he had just heard. The part that scared him the most was how roughed up Earth was. Two hundred nuclear weapons detonated en masse. It would bring any man to his knees. In some ways, Titan didn't even want to fight the Xenocides. They had fought them in training, to see who was better and the leader of the Spartan IIIs had lost three of his Spartans during it. He knew how powerful they were and didn't wish to see that power again. However, he knew he would have too.

The Spartan leaders reached the second barracks, where their Spartans were waiting. They all stood at attention as they entered. Each leader saluted and stood in the middle of their small semi-circle they formed around them. Nemesis spoke first.

"Earth has been hit by over two hundred nuclear weapons. Smoke is clogging up the atmosphere and draining all the oxygen. Radiation levels are high. Normally, we wouldn't go out there, but we have too" he began. Matrix nodded.

"There are still survivors out there. Marines, civilians, et cetera. The amount of people we have here is around ninety-four, not enough to launch a full-scale resistance against the Xenocides. We need to find these survivors and get them."

"We'll be splitting up according to our series. Each Spartan series will spread out to the nearest city and look for survivors. We'll use the facility's compliment of Pelicans, Longswords and their Stormwing Helicopters to get around" Shade said. Titan stepped forward.

"Spartans, we have about an hour before the air will become impossible to breath and the radiation will kill anything. We have to move quickly and we need to gather as many people as we can. Suit up, go to your series leader and let's move out" he said. There was a low cheer among them as the Spartans moved about, strapping their armor on. Eventually, shouts of what weapons they were to use began to fill in the room. Nemesis held his hands up.

"Quiet!" he roared, his deep voice causing everyone to freeze.

"Our regular weapons will not work against the Xenocides. Lead bullets have no effect. The techs here have created thirty-three EMP rifles which are the most effective gun we have that can kill a Xenocide. If they all get used, were stuck with arming ourselves with Covenant weapons. They are more effective than our own weapons" Shade explained. The Spartans nodded at this to their leaders and to each other. They then gathered around their individual leaders. Titan looked at the twenty-four Spartans who stood around him. He smiled. They had been the longest living series and were the closest. He was proud of every one of them and wished they all didn't have to go off fighting again. Over the years, he had become so close to them, they were like family to him. They already were in training, but this was different. Titan knew he was getting too attached to them, and he was warned not to get close, but being with the same people for over four years, he couldn't help it. He nodded at them all.

"You've heard our orders. Let's get this job done quickly. Follow me to the hangar" he said. Titan turned and marched out of the barracks, receiving nods from the other leaders. His Spartans followed wordlessly. They walked briskly down the left side of the large hall, ignoring the marveling looks from people walking in the other direction. Titan held his head high. He had received these looks before and every time, he wanted to stab the eyes out of every person staring at him. He was able to control the urge, but it wasn't easy. When they reached the hangar, his fists were clenched together.

A pile of Covenant weapons lay in the center of the room and along the wall behind them were EMP rifles. Each of the Spartan leaders got one, as did five others who belonged to their series. The rest went to the marines forces going on the rescue mission. Without a single word, the Spartan series split up and went into their designated ships. Titan was lucky enough to get two Pelican dropships. He split his team up and they jumped in. Titan got in the lead one and he looked around the troop bay. The Pelicans had been altered a lot since he had last seen one. He could tell that the troop bay was a lot bigger and the armor was better. Sadly, this particular Pelican had no weapons, but the other one did. Titan strapped himself in and signaled to the pilot they were ready. They lifted off the hangar floor and flew out into the darkened sky.

"See you later guys" Titan said to his fellow series leaders. They acknowledged him as there ships flew off in a different direction. Titan sat motionless for a few minutes, watching the surface below go by. He turned to the front.

"What's our destination pilot?" he asked.

"We get to explore Washington itself" the pilot replied. He could tell by his tone of his voice, the pilot wasn't looking forward to it.

"How good are the scanners on this dropship?" asked Titan.

"Not bad I guess, why?" asked the pilot, turning to look at him.

"Do your best to stay as high as you can and use the scanners to find survivors. That way, we don't have to comb the streets" he said. The pilot grinned and nodded.

"Makes sense, thank you sir" he said and their dropship flew up into the air. Not a second later, the pilot's console began beeping.

"That was quick; we got a spot of survivors located near some sort of bank. Jesus, it's a lot" he said. Titan looked down and could see a large rectangular structure that hadn't been completely destroyed. His hopes sank as they lowered in closer and he could see Xenocides swarming around the building.

"Go near the back, I don't see any Xenocides there" Titan ordered.

"You got it" the pilot answered and they descended into the city. Titan unstrapped himself and got ready to leave the dropship. The Spartans with him did the same.

"Touch down, we'll wait here for the survivors" called out the pilot. Titan nodded and jumped out, following his Spartans.

"Go go go!" he yelled at them and they ran into the bank via a large hole that had been blown into the wall. Titan went in first, his weapon up. He activated his helmet's flashlight and looked around. They had entered the vault room of the bank. Dollar bills and coins lay all over the place. He stepped over the bags of money and reached the large vault door which had been blasted open. It led to a fire scorched hallway. He could hear sounds of gunfire up ahead and a lot of shouting. He picked up his pace, his Spartans following him. The other group of Spartan IIIs remained with the dropships, not only protecting them, but helping any survivors that came to them. Titan reached the end of the hallway. A blasted open doorway led him to the lobby area of the bank, where flashes of gun fire and projectiles flew everywhere. Titan poked his head out and could see marine survivors hiding behind the tellers and desks, firing random shots at six Xenocides walking into the building. Titan brought his weapon up and fired. The butt kicked back against him and the nozzle of the gun glowed, shooting out a single bolt of EMP which struck one of the Xenocides. Electricity danced across the surface of the machine. It stopped firing for a second and jolted around. It was able to fight it off and continue to fire, but Titan drilled two more rounds into it and it exploded.

Titan moved out of the doorway, firing more rounds at the Xenocides who turned to him. The Spartan behind Titan also held an EMP rifle, which she used and took out two Xenocides. The rest of the Spartans came and shot plasma at a single Xenocide. After a few seconds, the Xenocide fell over backwards, completely knocked out. The last two Xenocides each received blasts of plasma and EMP. They fell over and seized to exist.

Titan turned to look at the survivors gathered in the lobby. Majority of them were marines, but he could see a few civilians. The marines had their weapons up.

"What the fuck are you?" one of them demanded. Titan held his hands up.

"My name is Titan, we are Spartans" he said.

"What's a Spartan?" asked another marine,

"The enemy of the Xenocides" Titan answered. There was a small cheer from the marines and they greeted them. Titan didn't have time for celebration however.

"Let's go, there are dropships out back, we need to look for more survivors" he said. A marine grabbed him.

"Titan, sir, we are all that's left of Washington's habitants" he said. Titan's eyes went wide and he counted the survivors. Forty-one.

"Holy shit..." he whispered.

"Sorry sir, the Xenocides were really strong" he said. Titan shook his head.

"Don't apologize soldier, let's get out of here" he said. The marine nodded and they moved. The survivors formed a single file line and moved through the bank, into the vault and out the hole into the Pelican dropships. As Titan ushered them through, his COM link beeped.

"Echo 256 to Titan." It was the dropship pilot.

"Titan here, what is it?" asked the leader of the Spartan IIIs.

"Xenocides forces have been dropped off a few clicks away from our position, closing fast" he said, his voice filled with worry.

"We're on it" Titan said. He signaled to the Spartans with him and they ran ahead to the dropships. Several of his Spartans were crouched around wreckage, weapons up and pointing at a group of individuals walking towards them. Without warning, they fired.

Bullet rounds flew around them. Two marines helping a young lady into one of the ships fell over from bullet wounds. Titan rushed to them, ordering his men to return fire. Plasma flew back at the Xenocides, but they walked forward, flinching slightly at the plasma, but still firing their own weapons. They looked like nightmares, advancing on them. Titan fired his EMP rifle and watched one go down. He quickly assisted the other wounded marine, and then rolled, avoiding volleys of bullets aimed at him. The Xenocides began targeting one Spartan at a time. The shields on Spartan 232 disappeared and he took several rounds to his chest and head. The Spartan fell over, blood flowing from his cracked visor. Titan looked away and helped more people into the ships.

"This is Echo 256, we're filled up" reported the pilot.

"Get out of here" ordered Titan, firing more EMP rounds.

"But sir, we can't leave you behind" said the pilot. Titan watched another group of Xenocides get dropped off by another Pelican dropship. He shook his head.

"We'll defend the other dropship, don't worry about us" Titan answered, firing more EMP rounds.

"Good luck sir, and thank you" the pilot said. Titan saluted the dropship and helped the last of the survivors into the dropship. Suddenly, a Jackhammer round flew through the air and struck several garbage bins two of his Spartans were hiding behind. They flew backwards, blackened and covered in each other's blood. Titan whirled around and watched another Jackhammer round fly at them. He dove forward as it flew over his head and erupted on the bank wall. A marine and two men were obliterated in the explosion and another marine was wounded. Titan stood, running to the wounded marine.

"Take that Jackhammer out!" he ordered. The Spartans concentrated their firepower on the single Xenocide, which fell over. Just as it fell, it fired another round, which blew up two more Spartans running to a wounded Spartan. As Titan helped the wounded marine in, another marine appeared in the hole.

"Some people aren't going" he yelled. Titan rushed into the bank and without a word to the old lady and her daughter, he picked up the lady and ordered the marine to do the same. They carried the two outside. The old women shrieked as bullets flew around them. The marine carrying the daughter took a round to the head and fell backwards dead. Titan moved quickly, dumping the old lady into the troop bay and running back to the daughter. As he did, several rounds struck him in the back and his shield bar began beeping an alarm at him. He ignored it and grabbed the women. He lifted her, feeling his shield disappear and a bullet hit him in the leg. He grunted and nearly fell over. The women screamed, but he didn't fall. He limped to the dropship and put her inside. Two more rounds hit him in the back and he fell against the ship. Alarms blared in his suit. He stood up and yelled at the dropship pilot to leave. As it slowly accelerated into the air, several more rounds caught him in the leg and torso. Titan coughed up blood and he fell to his knees. Finally, a Xenocide fired its sniper rifle and the single 14.5mm round struck Titan in the chest.

The Spartan III leader stopped moved and more blood flowed from his mouth. He could feel the bullet fly through his body like a red hot razor. It punctured his lung and he began to choke. Slowly, Titan began to fall forward. He looked around him and could see his Spartans meeting similar fates. Titan however had one last duty. He couldn't let these Xenocides chase after the dropships. Strapped to his thigh was a single HAVOK nuclear mine, which he unstrapped and slammed onto his ruined chest. He felt hot tears flow down his face as he activated the bomb. He only had five seconds to look around. The dropship above him left. The people were safe. Titan closed his eyes and fell forward, his life dimming to nothing. Before he hit the ground, the mine detonated.

Titan and his remaining Spartans disappeared in a blast of flame and destruction. A small wave spread out and knocked over buildings and smaller structures. The bank fell to the ground; the Spartans around Titan were vaporized. The Xenocides stood for a few seconds, confused, then the large blast wave hit them and they fell apart. Washington was now completely destroyed, but the survivors were free.

Shade looked up from the wounded marine he was attended. In the distance, a large mushroom appeared and the ground shook. He activated his radio.

"Nemesis?" he called.

"Wasn't me" replied the big Spartan.

"Matrix?"

"I'm here"

"Titan?" No one answered.

TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade

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