Kyle's POV

Master chief led us through a short hallway and then we were under fire almost as soon as we left the ship. Master Chief opened fire immediately with an incredible accuracy I thought only computers could hit. Whatever was firing at us was a new kind of enemy that I hadn't seen or heard about before. They were these weird glowing bug-like things with what looked like swords as their arms. That's new.

I hid behind some crates and a barricade near the entrance and shot a couple rounds into a few of them, momentarily surprised as I watched them practically disintegrate into nothingness in a flash of embers. Weird, no bodies. What even are these things? As I was still contemplating the strange phenomenon, Master chief started advancing and I hurried out of my barricade to follow him, shooting more of the strange beings along the way with him.

For every one I shot, he killed three, switching weapons and reloading occasionally like he had done so a million times before.. He seemed to be going along a specific path that I couldn't identify with my basic helmet display. We continued for quite a while through the deep forest, and every once in a while he would paus for a bit. During this time I noticed a decrease in his killing speed, likely from verifying our path forward before continuing. As we progressed I focused on following him and staying alive. When I finished with the closest ones after we stopped again, I looked around and saw him quite a ways ahead, no hint of hesitation or fear at all despite the seemingly increasing number of enemies. How did he get so far?

I caught up to him and tried to shoot a thing that teleported behind him but missed as it teleported away. He finished off the last two and we eventually came to a clearing with some other soldiers. A transmission from Lasky came in as we approached. He asked, "Chief, its Lasky. We've getting reports of friendlies pinned down near your position, can you assist?"

Master Chief started engaging while Cortana said, "Commander, this is Cortana. We're on our way." Aren't we already here though? I started engaging as well and I heard someone say, "I thought he was dead." Well this spartan definitely isn't dead. I heard another say something about Prometheans. I guess that what the new aliens were called. Another said, "Holy mother of..."

Every once in a while, I'd get way from him again but I could mostly always find my way back by tracking a new path of fallen Promethean weapons. I mostly hid behind barricades and provided supportive fire while he did the hard stuff. We moved ahead and I saw a beam of light aim right at my forehead. I ducked before it could hit me. I quickly tried to run after Chief and bent over backwards as the beam lit up the space in front of me. I fell on my back, off-balance from dodging, and widened my eyes in fear as a third beam lit up my chest. However, another marine was able to kill the Promethean sniper before I had to tempt fate a third time. Phew, that was close, I almost got roasted. I looked back up front at Chief and watched him for a sec as he progressed ahead and kept shooting. I still couldn't get over how efficient of a soldier he was. I wasn't the only one having a hard time keeping up. I looked around at the slightly out-of-breath men around me and realized that I was also getting a bit tired.

I was so caught up that I realized he had moved on and I had lost sight of him. Oh crap! I got up and ran towards where I had seen him last and looked around, there! He was surrounded but it looked like he had it under control. I started shooting some of the Prometheans around him anyway, making sure to not get close to him and accidentally hit his shields with friendly fire, even if he'd probably be ok. He finally killed all of the Prometheans and came to a door. There were no other people around and I walked up next to him as he put Cortana in the door control console. Then, on some unspoken command, he got on a turret and started defending the position. I realized he probably anticipated the incoming enemies because they were likely linked to whatever the door was protecting and would try to stop us from opening it. I shot a few incoming dog-like aliens with him, getting on the other turret.

I guess Chief said something to Cortana because I jumped as she scared the crap out of me by suddenly yelling, "YOU DO YOUR JOB AND I'LL DO MINE, OK?!!"

I looked back at the console in concern for a second, but quickly returned my focus to the incoming Prometheans as I couldn't afford to look away for long. What the heck was that about? I think I heard about an AI disease called rampancy that can make them aggressive as they get older, Is she going rampant?! I stopped for a moment, but shook my head and kept shooting. Right now, I have to focus on this.

We killed incoming Prometheans for I don't even know how long before finally Chief got off the turret and grabbed Cortana, who was a blue orb instead of the familiar blue woman I had seen before. I got off the turret and started shooting from behind cover as he came back around.

I thought he was still with me when I realized a bit too late that he had left me. Aww come on, I'm supposed to be his escort! I quickly went through the door. Coming through I saw that there were dead Covenant as well as Prometheans this time. They're working together?! Suddenly I heard Del'Rio say over the radio, "Mayday Mayday, Code Red! Hostile elements attempting to gain entrance to the Infinity bridge." I could then hear an officer in the background say, "They're outside the hatch!" After which there was a loud crashing sound. "Doors breached! Doors breached!" He shouted. Then I could hear yells and fighting faintly in the background. I cringed, and continued listening to rest of the transmission. Del'Rio shouted again, "All units return to the Infinity Immediately! That's an order!"

Stolen novel; please report.

I made my way outside again and happened to see Chief once again. He was getting on a pelican and I hurried to get on it after him. Are we going to take back the ship? I could hear the Pelican pilot up front say, "This is Pelican Five Nine Five. We have the Chief onboard and are outbound for rally point Alpha Sierra Foxtrot." I looked around the ship. Besides me and Chief there were 4 other Spartans! The same four I met briefly after crashing for the second time. We arrived at the rally point and I was about to get out after everyone had already disembarked until one of the 4 Spartans stopped me and shook his head at me like I needed to stay. I sat back down a bit confused and dissapointed. What the heck? Then where am I going? I watched dejectedly as the Chief and the Spartans shrunk from view and the Pelican carried me away, all alone.

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Steele's POV

Pain, small at first, but growing to be just barely bearable woke me. I squinted my eyes and then fully opened them to the soft light of a long recovery bay room. I squinted again. Why does everything look weird? It looked unreal, too sharp and vibrant to be true. I raised my hands and looked at my palms first and then turned them over to the backs. There were black edged scars running where the black lines had been from before. My legs showed the same kind of scars. There was also a thing on my arm.

As I sat up, the first thing I noticed was that my muscles were a lot bigger than before. I squeezed my hands into fists, tensing the new muscles to get a sense of their strength. The pain was still there but it was pushed to the back of my mind at the new discoveries. Pain was something I could deal with.

I swung my legs over the bed and placed my feet on the floor. I slowly rose to my feet and took of the device on my arm. Getting dizzy I leaned against the wall, closing my eyes. The dizziness passed and I opened my eyes, once again overwhelmed by the sharp vision. Dang, I am a lot taller than before, probably at least 6ft 2. I was also extremely thirsty and reached for the glass on the desk beside the bed.

I put my hand around it and picked it up two inches before it slipped and thunked back onto the desk. I frowned, maybe the glass was slippery. I grabbed it again, this time harder. The glass shattered in my hand, a few pieces digging in slightly. I opened my hand and the glass fell from my hand to the floor, water mixed with a little blood dripping from it. How in the world did it shatter so easily? I didn't even grab it that hard. Man, this is gonna take some getting used to. I wrapped it in a bandage on my desk.

I took a few steps forward...and fell over on one knee and my hands. That was unexpected. I tried getting up, only to fall back down again. Dang It, come on now. I slowly rose to my feet, firmly planting them widely to get a better center of gravity. I took a few steps forward, my legs feeling like dead weights, but I noticed that somehow, it felt like the room had reduced gravity, like I was in space or something. I licked my lips and took a few more, getting bolder as I reached the door, only tripping once and stumbling a few times. I never thought I'd have to learn how to walk again but here I am. I leaned on the door, what should I do now?

I heard footsteps and looked up, expecting some one to be there but no one was. The footsteps continued, getting louder. I looked down the straight hall and saw someone at the very end. That couldn't possibly be the source? It sounds like they're right in front of me. I looked down the other end to see if there was anyone else but there wasn't. I shook my head, this can't be right. I know they improved my hearing too, but I didn't expect this.

I waited a bit for the person to approach me, the sound of their footsteps much louder, clearer, and sharper than before. The noise rose but not so much that it was ridiculously so. As the person slowed their pace, I realized I was in a hospital gown. I made sure it was tied before clearing my throat and saluting. I saw that it was a Commander and expected him to say something to me.

He stopped, looked me up and down, and kept walking. Confused, I lowered my hand. Why didn't he say anything? Well, I should probably lie down again. I still need to recover. I slowly walked back, still dumbfounded by the weird gravity.

Just as I sat down, I heard footsteps and a minute later a doctor came in, typing on his tablet. He looked up an saw me awake, his eyes showing a bit of surprise. He approached me and said, "Sleep well? How are you feeling?"

"There has been some dizziness and falling, slight pain, and difficulty grabbing things." I said, gesturing to the broken glass.

The doctor nodded, "These are normal side effects. You stood as well?" He asked. "Yes, how long was I out?" I asked.

He was still typing but said, "Exactly 4 days and 6 hours."

4 days! No wonder I have recovered so much. "How long till I can be up and active again?" I asked.

"Well," he looked up from the tablet, "Based on your recovery rate, I'd say about a week and 4 days from today. Give or take a day. I'd rest for a few days and then take walking slowly, maybe a few steps a day and then increasing the amount each day. We will need to administer vitamin and mineral injections after each of your five meals so report directly here. I'll have someone bring in your lunch." He said, putting the device I took off back on and looking at my monitors, taking down the data. The monitors required me to be attached only by the thing on my arm.

"One more thing, why is the gravity so weird?" I asked, watching his calculations for how high my protein needed to be per meal.

"Ah, That's right, you were unconscious. We moved you to a UNSC carrier in orbit around Atrius so you could recover in a microgravity environment. No one knows that you are here so I'd keep a low profile. I have all I need, remember to take it slow." He said and walked out the door.

I laid down and sighed, putting my hand up to my face, surprised to feel bandages there. I forgot I had bandages on my face. No one has seen my face since the augmentations. That's probably why the Officer didn't say anything too.

This is going to take some time to get used to.