thats an awesome idea fryboy, needler grenades, when you throw them tuns of needles fly out of the grenade and attach themselves to your enemies and then they explode, it is a sweet idea i can see it now, you are going to capture the flag but it is surrounded by all the enemies you throw two needle grenades on both sides of the flag they explode and kill all the enemies that were stupid enough to stand close to it and then you make a smooth get away with the enemy's flag [Edited on 6/17/2005]

Like the covie version of the frag gernade

Exactly, i call it the needle grenade. Except its fryboy's original idea, so i am not taking the credit, i'm just expanding on his idea.

EAGLES5 is your Xbob Live name EAGLES5?

well, i don't know about the needler grenade...especially since the needler doesnt really do any damage unless its a group of needles together, and something that would scatter them would only hurt crap at really close range. like in their teeth. and i don't get what the robot idea was. i have no idea what that meant, or what you were trying to say. sorry.

yes my GT ismy bungie name

Well Brilliant you usually use grendaes for close range and when the grenade explodes it sends the many needles, like 40-50 maybe, needles flying and they stick to the nearest enemy, then explode. It would be useful. [Edited on 6/17/2005]

The robot idea was basically a walking, on the ground Sentnial. It would use the weapon I described or whatever weapon you choose, seens how it's your story. This walking Sentnial wouldn't take orders from a Ring Moniter but a Forerunner AI or a super computer. The robots would super-intelligent and have the ultimate means to kill Flood, a Shotty and a blue Sentnial Beam (possibly a stronger one?).

What about a new covie weapon? I'd like to see a covie shotgun. It would fire a burst of blue needles into an enemy and cause the body to explode after a few seconds.

What about a super soaker type gun that shoots acid. It would eat right through the flood.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Spartan_J13 [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Neon_Dragon Hello Sir_brilliant, remember me? blah blah blah.[/quote] Hey i remeber you and also i did get my avatar changed(well actually i just got another account, but who cares) ( i still could use some help with the avatar thing) [/quote] What avatar thing? [Edited on 6/18/2005]

well, i hear the idea's and such, but there are some problems with them. for instance, the covenant, as stated in the books, don't make much new technology. most of the stuff they have was based on the forerunner technology they found. they don't just come up with new weapons so easily. so there can't be any guns that are simply made to fight against humans or flood, because they aren't smart enough, in that respect, to make such things. we may see weapons that they could have had before, but why would there be a covenant shotgun? doesn't make sense, at least for them, being that every weapon they have is based around firing a single shot at any target at a time. humans, on the other hand, are a bit different... and the new chapter will be up soon, but since its long, might be up tomorrow morning for you guys, which means really early for me. no worries, cause it'll be awesome.

[quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Neon_Dragon [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Spartan_J13 [quote][b]Posted by:[/b] Neon_Dragon Hello Sir_brilliant, remember me? blah blah blah.[/quote] Hey i remeber you and also i did get my avatar changed(well actually i just got another account, but who cares) ( i still could use some help with the avatar thing) [/quote] What avatar thing?[/quote] Im trying to get my avatar so its the one i use when i play halo 2.I alreeady linked my gametag to xbox.com [Edited on 6/19/2005]

Chapter 23 “Who was first contact?” The Master Chief held onto a single handlebar, positioned at the mouth of the hatch of the Pelican. It was coming into the city. The view would have been terrific, had in not been for the huge Covenant ship floating above it, encompassing the entire sky, making the huge city seem like a medieval town. “405th out of Diego Garcia” yelled the sergeant from the cockpit. He stood over the two pilots, holding onto both of their seats to stay standing, while the rest of his platoon, all 4,, of them, sat and waited to get back to combat, hoping that the steel between them and a 400 foot drop kept its height. “But don’t expect a big welcome. The Covenant wiped most of them out before they hit the ground.” The Pelican slowed, then veered right, passing tall buildings that were over the low cloud line. For whatever reason, it seemed like the fog was the only thing not affected by the fighting, still there, although giving a small tactical advantage to all of Earth’s forces. “I can only imagine how pissed those environmentalists are now, seeing that the one thing they’ve been trying to get rid of forever is helping us out more than they are,” quoted a marine from inside the Pelican, reminding John of a news report he’d read before the Covenant came. How ironic, he thought. How typical. Then the Pelican started it’s descent into the city. Coming out from the small layer of fog, a battered city showed its face, with every building carrying some sort of battle scar. Broken windows, bullet and plasma scarring, missing floors. The Pelican soared just 50 feet from the ground, and blue streaks of plasma filled the sky, all firing from inside the city. The Covenant had taken command of it. All ground forces would have to be taken care of first, before anyone engaged the cruiser. This would be a volatile mission. “Mount up, marines! Dust off in 20!” The ODST’s got their gear in order, getting their helmets on and checking their ammo. Each one made sure their weapons were in perfect firing order, just short of shooting them. John was glad to see that he knew the crew flying with them, although under better circumstances. They were the same marines he’d seen at the Cairo only a few weeks before, who’d threatened him about using their corner in one of the station’s gym’s. Irony… Passing more buildings, some of them still had lights on throughout most of them, meaning there wasn’t enough time to evacuate everyone properly, and that the Covenant controlled all power within the city, but weren’t using any of it. John knew that this wasn’t a good thing, because there would be civilians present. He glanced back at his team, and they all gave a short thumb’s up, registering his thoughts exactly. A small landing pad with a lone marine standing near it shown brightly, the lights to help guide the pilots to it. Several tents showed that they’d been here long enough to set up camp, and that there were possibly wounded. First they’d have to find the CO and figure out the exact situation, and work from there. As the Pelican descended towards the ground, dust and rubble shot out from under it, making the marine cover his face with his arm. As the wheel’s touched the ground the Sergeant turned to the crew of the Pelican. “Pile out! Go go go!” The five ODST’s rushed out, moving as fast as they could. The Spartans followed suit. “I’ll evac the wounded. If you need a hand chief, just give us a call.” “Understood. Spartans, get those wounded aboard ASAP.” They sent a unified ‘acknowledged’ signal, and jogged down the ramp of the landing platform. Ahead of him stood a lone marine, while a few others who looked like they’d been through hell and came back with plasma scars the size of their arms sat around it. He walked up to the marine, who held the same weapon as John did, the new SB73. Like the BR55, it only added on to that model, providing a single shot and fully automatic blessing to the mix. What better time to try it out. “Corporal Perez, A company. Cp’s this way,” he motioned with his head. Turning and going down the ramp, John followed, setting the new gun to single shot mode. The sun was at the twilight point where it was still too bright to look at without having trouble looking at it, yet calling towards all to watch its magnificence. It reflected off of buildings and ground, and out of those fallen marine’s eyes. The only constant in the universe, it appeared. Following the Corporal, he could see one marine helping another to the landing platform, and behind them were two circular tents. He recognized them as medic’s, and saw blood on the ground all around it. “Look, a Spartan” the wounded one said in disbelief. “I guess the brass do give a -blam!-.” Getting off the ramp, one medic pumped on a marine’s chest, yelling at him to come around, but nothing happened. “C’mon, c’mon!” Looking in the tent on his right, one medic and a marine stood over another marine, the medic putting a needle in his arm. “Stay with me marine!” Running across what used to be the normal road, the sidewalk was filled with more wounded, although John did give a sigh of relief that blood wasn’t flowing through the streets. One orange cot carried another marine, and a medic kneeling right next to him. “I’m calling it. It’s 1900.” “The lieutenant got hit as soon as we dropped in,” said the Corporal, while looking at his superior officer with dismay. “Who’s in charge now?” “Sergeant Banks. He’s pinned down up front. C’mon, I’ll show you.” They ran through a blackened room and up the stairs, where several marines traveled through as well, all wounded and on their way to the transport. Turning a corner at the edge of the staircase, a chaingun could be heard rattling, and then stopped. “No no, behind that ST,” one marine shouted to the one on the chaingun. “Yeah yeah yeah.” “Three more, coming left!” “I’m running low man!” The Corporal stood behind a wall for cover, and another marine was sitting with his back to the battle behind, being a liaison for all marines to the front. “Hey Parsons!” “Yeah?!” “Is it clear?!” Just as he asked, the wall next to Parsons burst in to flames, with rubble flying off from the Plasma fire. “You tell me!” “Jesus Christ,” Perez mumbled to himself, then turned back to Parsons. “Friendlies, moving out. Covering fire!” They ran out of their cover and onto the balcony, which gave sight to a huge Covenant turret, around less than half a click from their position. It charged up and fired, but the blast went past the building, and blocked itself from his sight. Checking the ground, John spotted a group of Grunts running across the street, and he toggled his scope, letting off one shot for each one, puncturing their heads. After dropping three, he ran towards another ramp, which led to the CP and the street below. “Grunts, down low,” one marine remarked as he spotted them behind the CP’s position, under the ramp. John looked at them from above and they opened fire, hitting his shields once while he unclipped a grenade and dropped it. The Grunts ran wildly around to avoid the blast, but were too clumsy to get away. Checking to see if any were left, their bodies hit the ground with a satisfying thud, giving a clear line to his directive. A far wall produced another Grunt, but aiming quickly allowed John to blow it away without much fuss. The marines moved in and made sure the area was clear, making a perimeter. John found the CP lying on a wall near a chaingun next to a dead man. The CP was hit, but not badly. He made his way over and reloaded his weapon. “Damn, am I glad to see you. Never thought we’d get so much attention.” The Covenant plasma turret loaded another charge, and then fired, hitting a nearby building and shaking the ground underneath them. The building hit was the closest one to them. They would be its next target. “We’ve got to take that thing out. Cover me.” John looked over the ledge, and saw a 15 foot drop, filled with Grunts and Jackals, all heading towards them. Cars littered the streets, as well as randomly placed telephone booths and other street-legal accessories. They may come in handy. Letting off a few bursts at the enemy, the CP grabbed the dead marine’s radio. “Tech HQ, this is Sergeant Banks. I’ve got hostile artillery 200 meters north-north east of my position. Bring smoke, over!” A group of Grunts ran in between several cars, and John unclipped a grenade and threw it at one of the cars, exploding it and the surrounding cars as well. Smoke piled and more Jackal’s and Grunts came through it. Setting his gun aside, he grabbed hold of the chaingun and rained bullets on the Jackal’s, who couldn’t hold their shields up from the onslaught, eventually dropping them and themselves. Blue blood began to litter the road while more enemies came out from a collapsed building complex just 50 meters ahead of them. The plasma turret continued firing at the building, trying to drop it, and each blast produced another sun. The heat from each blast scorched his shields, and had a rough influence on the marines. “Dammit HQ, is anybody on this freq?!” “Sergeant, this is Major Easley. Hang tight, we’re inbound.” Three Longsword fighters flew overhead, letting off a deafening scream. Each one dropped two bombs right on top of the turret, just as it charged to fire. The blast made its previous ones seem insignificant, filling the sky with a light blue. “Verify deliver of ordinance on target.”

“Dead on, Major. Target neutralized.” The Covenant forces stopped coming, and marines ran through the street, stopping any stragglers. Just before John left, the Sergeant got up, clutching his left side, and held out his SMG. “Take my weapon. You’ll need it.” Packing away his SB73, he grabbed his own SMG and held both out. Running out onto the street with the few marines, he let off a short burst into a nearby Grunt and Jackal, and headed towards the collapsed building. Rubble and concrete blocks littered the streets, giving both cover and a weaving path to follow. The inside of the collapsed building was dark, lit mainly by the gunfire from both Covenant and UNSC forces. Random bursts of plasma and bullets fired, although the noise of falling Grunts and Jackals rang through John’s internal speakers. Moving through the wreckage as fast as possible, a small Covenant force had managed to stay secure in an enclosed area, with only one known entrance and exit. He’d just come upon it. Turning the corner, plasma fire burst on his shields, barely giving him a moment to find cover. The rest of the marines caught up, and noticing the Spartan had hesitated to enter the enclosure, stopped just short as well. One pulled out a flash grenade and looked directly at John, who nodded. “Grenade out! Cover you’re eyes and ears!” The flash grenade was a special type of grenade, made to stun the enemy as opposed to killing them immediately, and for reasons of damaging the surrounding area or keeping the enemy alive while the user is not harmed. Although they were in ruins of a building, there was still concrete above them, and no one knew how strong it was, or whether it could sustain the blast of the average frag grenade. Three seconds later, it detonated, releasing a chemical induced flash brighter than the sun, and louder than a collision of trains. The Covenant forces, to say the least, were stunned. “Clear it out!” The marines moved in and opened fire, while their enemy simply allowed it to happen, unable to defend themselves in any way. John opened fire on any targets of opportunity he found, unloading his SMG clips into them. When it was all clear, he made his way across the room, and saw an exit on his right, leading out to the building’s other side. He climbed a small ledge of gravel and spotted five Jackals with raised shields, slowly making their way towards him. A Shadow, a Covenant troop transport, moved behind them only twenty meters away. Seeing that he hadn’t been spotted, John dropped one SMG and pocketed the other, grabbing the SB73 and toggling the scope. Opening fire on the nearest target, he missed its head, hitting the shield instead, and getting their attention. They quickly formed a Roman barrier, moving slowly with their shields in front of them, making their way towards him, firing through the small openings on the shield’s edge. He reached for a grenade but found only empty space, and aimed as best he could. The Shadow also opened fire at him, but from the distance, could not pass the gravel barrier as easily as the Jackals. Then two Warthogs drove out from the left of the street, making road kill of the Jackals. The Shadow kept firing but fled, seeing it was outnumbered. “We could use you on the gun, Chief!” Leaping towards the opportunity, he saw that the drivers and passengers were those same ODST’s he flew in with, and gave a quick nod as he grabbed hold of the Gauss rifle on the back. The marine floored it, and another Shadow came out from the right, giving John his first target. Shells came out of the Gauss rifle and into the heart of the Shadow, while the other Warthog, armed with the three barreled machine gun, unloaded into the other side. The Shadow erupted only a few moments later, unable to take the torrent played upon it. The two Warthogs drove past the wreckage and turned left on the street, giving everyone a view of the open town. Street signs still hung in normal area’s, perfectly lit, as well as bill-board advertisements, one of which resembled the same Warthog they rode in. “More Shadows, down low!” Driving the Warthog on the edge of the street, two more Shadows became visible, floating above the ground under them. John opened fire on the nearest one and the shell hit the cockpit, killing the pilot and disposing of the controls. Another burst tore through its fusion drive, stopping it and killing all within. The other one continued firing at him, and it flared his shields, but didn’t drop them. He fired one shot and hit its backside, but a tunnel shielded it from any more fire. “Meet it on the other side.” “You got it Chief!” The other Warthog sailed past them on the street to their left while they continued on, coming upon another intersection. Several cars stood in the street, waiting for their drivers to return, while a few Jackals used them as cover. Killing two birds with one stone, John delivered a selfless shell into the car, exploding it and the other cars behind it, as well as the Jackals. Turning on the intersection, the Shadow came into view and John made sure not to miss, unloading another two shells into its front, exploding it near another group of Jackals. The driver followed the windy road, and several Grunts and Jackals became visible from their turn. “Their mine!” yelled the driver, as he kicked the clutch and downshifted, slamming on the gas. John was grateful; he would have felt bad for destroying the road for a few minor enemies. “Ghosts, making a break for it!” the Australian passenger barked, spotting two Ghosts come from in between buildings. “Quick-” “I’ve got ‘em,” another one shouted from the other Warthog. Letting loose with the machine gun, it ripped through the back of the Ghost, tearing the Covenant metal and making an example of it to its partner, who only lived to see it blow. John fired another shell into it, and it blew right through it and the pilot. Two more Ghosts came from across the street, firing directly at the Warthogs. The armored plating held off the fire, but started to melt from the intense heat. Neither soldier on the turrets needed a second opinion. They opened fire on both Ghosts, not giving either a chance. Driving along the road produced another Shadow, this one heading straight for them. It carried a Ghost in its belly, which John fired at and destroyed, causing the explosion to take the Shadow down with it. Two more Ghosts came into view, and one shot from the Gauss cannon took it out. “That’s one-” said their faithful passenger, watching the other push its turbo jets. The other Warthog drove in from the left and braked right in front of the Ghost, careening it into the air. John shot it midair, giving a blue tinge above them. “-that’s two! C’mon, who’s for more?!” And as though the universe heard his plea, several more came towards them, but John kept his cool and fired one shot at a time, not giving a second chance to any of them. Suddenly, a Phantom flew above the two Warthogs, firing at both from its three turrets. Each shell that flew into its hull let out a green burst of light, which slowly changed blue, and gave a decorative hole in it. After placing three in it, the driver turned onto another street and a building came between them, but another was flying just above this new street. Firing at the new target, it lowered and dropped off several large things, too far ahead for any of them to make out. “Oh crap mates, we’ve got Brutes!” They jumped out from the moving Phantom, onto the streets, and opened fire on the Warthogs. The first one toppled over from the fire, while John kept them at bay. The slowed Phantom came directly overhead, and another Brute landed on the hood of the Warthog. He wanted to open fire on it, but at this range, both the driver and passenger would be killed. The Brute hit the passenger out with such a force, that John knew there would be no way to survive. It then swung its arm around and took out the driver, making the car automatically brake and stop. Jumping out before the Brute could follow, he pulled out his SB73 and ran around the car, then fired two shots directly at where he believed would be the Brute’s heart, and hit it three times in the face with the butt of the gun. More plasma came from behind him, as several Brutes edged closer to him out in the open. Starting to open fire, he noticed another car, hopefully still in working condition, right near the group of Brutes. Firing upon it, the fifth bullet breached the fuel chamber and caused it to explode, throwing the Brutes farther onto the street, where they ceased moving. Standing in the middle of intersections was always a bad place to be, as he remembered from basic training, and he turned right to see if any more Brute’s were there. The Phantom overhead didn’t seem to notice him, for the moment, but they would in time. Two more Ghosts came towards him, both piloted by Brutes. He took out his SMG and opened fire on the first one, but only scratched the front of it. The second one he deliberately didn’t fire at, but the pilot felt no sympathy and let loose with all the plasma it had. His shields drained quickly, but when it was close enough, John jumped on the wing and kicked the massive Brute off, taking control of the Ghost. The Phantom overhead now noticed him and opened fire, but he needed to lead it away from where the marines were attacking, at least until they could set up base. He opened fire on the Phantoms, and they started to follow him.

Good, he thought, this will give them the time we need. Turning around, John pushed on the turbo jets and rocketed onto a bridge, where now two Phantoms and two Ghosts followed closely behind. He silently thanked the Covenant genius in making Ghosts so that it could only use the turbo drive when it wasn’t shooting, giving him a huge advantage against the other Ghosts. Whenever they opened fire, they fell farther behind, and the Phantom turrets were too slow to keep up with him. Soon, the bridge started to shake from the miss-firing of the Phantoms, making it unstable. The two Phantoms began firing at targets above and ahead of John, hoping they would fall and hit him, allowing them to take out their demon. A huge electronic bill-board loomed ahead and they fired, but it held firm, only collapsing when he had just passed it. One Phantom tried to cut him off, but was hit by the falling bill-board, which crushed a section of its hull and turned it upside down, scraping it’s topside on the hard concrete. The Phantom’s collapse had caused the underground highway ahead to shut down, and John read an electronic signal display just before he went into it. Highway Access Denied; Automated Highway Shutdown, it read. Slamming on the turbo, smoke of exploded vehicles clouded his sight and made him switch to infrared, where he could see the massive doors closing. Bending down as low as possible, he squeezed the acceleration as hard as he could, and heard the Ghost whine from the stress put on it. Reaching the doors, the top and bottom of the Ghost hit the steel doors and threw him off of it, his armor scraping against the ground as he moved 40 kph, making enough sparks to make any caveman fire-crazy. The two Brutes in the Ghosts behind him, however, couldn’t see past the dense smoke and hadn’t heard their target’s explosive maneuver. Only when it was too late did either of them notice the closed doors in front of them, at which they had no time to stop. The Chief saw two small explosions through the door, penetrating only the seams. Standing up, the Covenant cruiser showed up on his HUD, displayed as Nav point alpha. It consumed the entire sky above the city, only giving off a single light from its grav-lift. Then small lights seemed to fall out of the sky. First a few, then tens, maybe hundreds, each one probably coming from the ship. They were similar to the plasma fire given off by the Covenant ships, but something made John think differently. Then five of them landed near him. Each ODST is forced to, at one time or another, take a suicide fall onto a planet’s surface with a small landing pod, made for only one person. Though the rate of survival has increased exponentially year after year, it still made sure that not everyone would join their group, because of the somewhat insane state of mind one would have to be in to do such things. The five things that landed near him seemed to be some sort of life pods, like those used by the ODST’s, and each began opening with a rush of air coming through. Two more landed one only ten meters in front of him, another farther to his left. Watching the closest one, the front shot out only a few meters to his left, leaving only an open hatch and an Elite, wearing Black armor he’d only seen once before: on the Pillar of Autumn, just before leaving the first Halo ring. They were the best of the best, their elite Elites. This one jumped out and shook his head violently, each jaw tendril swishing with the head’s movement. A few more came out, all holding a small light in their right hand, all looking at the one in the center, barking at them. The best he could make out was ‘wort wort wort.’ The ‘commanding’ Elite threw its arm out, and an energy sword came forth from it, while the rest followed suit. John pointed both his SMG’s at the Elite, but the noise of a few more to his right took his gaze to them, but his guns still on target. A few on the edges started forming a circle around him, and he backed up, knowing that if they made one that his back would be defenseless. Dropping his right SMG, he grabbed a plasma grenade that he’d taken off a dead Brute and activated it, tossing it towards their leader. It quickly moved out of the way, but another behind it was stuck, and exploded, confusing those immediately near it. Taking the opportunity, John fired at the Elites who’d been affected by the blast and ran at them, dropping one and taking another’s shields down. The other four ran after him, but John was able to fire several bullets in his target’s mouth before its partners could intervene. Turning quickly, he threw his gun as hard as possible at another, and it flung its head back hard, but the Elite kept upright. John bent down and grabbed a dropped sword, but an Elite to his right charged and hit him hard, making him drop it. The Elite tried to tackle John, but could not overcome his strength, and was hit twice so hard that its shields dropped as well. John grabbed its sword arm and made it cut itself in half, then stopped another Elite from doing the same to him by holding half the Elites body, along with its sword. The two swords collided and caused his screen to fizzle for a moment, until he took the other Elites’ half body and smashed it into his attacker, throwing it off. It fell to the ground but wasn’t out, while the other two lunged at him together, hoping to catch John off guard. He jumped hard and out of their paths, and then landed on one’s head, making it collapse under his weight, while throwing his sword at the other and cutting a large gash in its center, taking out its heart.

Only one Elite remained, the one that had to be their leader. It growled at him harshly, but gave no ground to him. Activating another sword, they circled each other, both recognizing the destructive power they both yielded, waiting for the other to strike first. The Elite seemed to be moving its free hand towards its back, meaning it would try to grenade him, so just as it was halfway to its back, John lunged at it. The Elite perry’d and blocked, but barely held John off. He kept swinging at the Elite, but each attack was thrown off. Moving back, the Elite grabbed the upper hand by catching John’s sword in between his own using the space inside the two blades of the sword. It turned its sword faster than John expected, but he held on to the shaft firmly. The blades both fizzled and warped, something he was unprepared for and had never seen. The Elite took its chance and threw a plasma grenade at the Chief, but he caught it. The grenade stuck to his hand, and John quickly set all his shields in between his hand and the grenade, and forced it to pulse, shooting it back at the Elite. It exploded on impact. Bending over for a moment, he panted and tried to catch his breath. Thinking he saw something in his peripheral vision, John dropped the sword and replaced it with his SB73, aiming it directly at another Elite. But this particular one had its back to him, and was running away. Why is it…? Thoughts of the Covenant battle over the second Halo ring and of Lord Hood’s words rang through, making him lower the gun. “Chief, where are you? We cleared out all the wounded and most of the City of Covenant ground forces.” He was glad to here Fred’s voice, and cleared his throat before replying. “I’m just outside of the city limits, of interstate highway 21. Can I get a pickup?” “Sure thing. Be there in a few.” The channel closed, and John walked over the battlefield he’d just created, and picked up the SMG. It was bent in a way he’d never seen; almost in half, as though he grabbed the sides and just pulled them both down. Tossing it over his shoulder, John grabbed an energy sword and deactivated it, but heard a noise behind him. Turning quickly, he saw only an old man, with a thin white beard and a younger woman beside him. He waved her off as John made his way towards him. “Sir, you really shouldn’t be here, it isn’t safe. I’ll call for an evac team to pick you up.” “That won’t be necessary.” The old man spoke English perfectly, but had a Chinese accent, although did not have any extremely well defined characteristics that would show such. “There is something you should know.” “Sir, I must insist-” “You cannot take me! And you will listen!” the old man snapped. Why doesn’t he listen to me? I’m doing this for his own benefit. “You must hear my words, for they only portray the truth which you do not yet understand, yet must.” Now curious as well as somewhat annoyed, John stopped for the moment and listened to the old man. “It is said that one stick is easy to break, but that many are difficult. The more sticks there are to break, the harder it becomes to accomplish.” The old man took one out of a pocket and broke it, and dropped the pieces. Then took a handful, as much as he could fit, and tried again, but failed. “Try.” Taking the sticks in his hand, John crushed them easily, with little effort. The old man walked over to a large block of cement, recently taken off of the house behind the old man, perhaps his own. “Can you break this?” This is pointless. “Why should I?” “If you cannot break it, you may say so.” Well, I’m still waiting, so why not. Picking up the cement block, he focused on breaking it, and pushed with all his strength. It started to crack, then broke in half. “You have a gift which few have been granted,” the old man said while stroking his beard. “The power to break one stick is possessed by all. The power to break many is possessed by few. But the power to break from something, so strong that it could be considered that each stick were a single atom of it, is something only few ever have been able to accomplish. As I believe less than I have counted with my fingers. Samson was one of them. You are another.” “But this is just a physical strength. It doesn’t mean anything for battle.” “Ahh, it has everything to do with battle. And with everything else in life. You see, breaking the stick is a challenge to be overcome, just like fighting a war and feeding an animal. Some are simpler than others. One must always be aware of how many sticks he can break, for if one loses that, then he loses all. But you can do much more than that. I have seen it. So have you. The enemy force is not simply an enemy, a target. To you, they are but a challenge, as every enemy is. Soon, you will learn this. There are others you must deal with, and they will be heftier than the boulder you had so carefully disposed of. This is what makes you special. Remember, the power is not in your muscle or bones, but in your heart, mind, and soul. You have conquered two of these, yet the third keeps you from where you can be. Find it, and not even the greatest building can plunge you into darkness.” Two Warthogs drove up the street, turning John’s attention away from the old man. Will drove one while Linda drove the other, Fred holding the turret in Will’s car. “Ready to leave whenever you are, sir.” “Fine, let me just say good-”turning back to where the old man had been, and seeing him walk back into his house. He let a few seconds pass, where he was completely dumbfounded by what had just happened, but shook it off. “Lets go, we’ve got a cruiser to take down.” Getting on the turret, the light from the Covenant’s ship died, and it started to rise off from its position, going higher and higher into the sky. “Master Chief, this is comm. HQ. Lord Hood requires you to meet him at coordinates 29344 by 49 as soon as possible.” “HQ, we’re about five minutes away from those coordinates. Stand by, we are en route.” “Understood. Comm. HQ over and out.” “You heard the man, let’s move out. We don’t want to keep the Admiral waiting.”

not only has a new chapter been released, but i also have a new webiste up, curtusy (i can't spell anymore, been up to long) of Hunter 22. Its the last link in my sig, and there are forums and the entire story. Unfortunately at the moment, it is very disorganized, but i will fix that soon. It is also not downloadable, at least for the moment. any ideas on that anyone has will be greatly appreciated.

Brilliant, you truely live up to your name. Incorperating the E3 demo was an amazing idea. I don't know about the stick thing. It was pretty meaningful, but it seems odd that someone would say that at that moment. It would make much more sense to see a scene like that if, say, all were doomed. Like if the MC was stuck in a jail, while the Covie fleet was about to bombard the Earth, and he was losing control of himself, and then the old man tells him the stick thing. And then he busts out of the jail, andsingle handedly destroyed the whole covie fleet with his bare hands... Lol. Good chapter.

yeah, i guess that would be cool, but...i kinda like the randomness of it. i guess it'll be more appreciated later on in the book.

Good chapter Brilliant.

very nice, a great mix of action and plot to keep the reader interested, i skipped lunch to read it.(Although i ate lunch after i ate it)

I' check the bungie forums quite frequently and every time i would take a peek, and every time i would see this post but i never checked it out. well this time i said "okay im gonna see why this has 4000 replies" i spent two hours sitting here reading this story then, and all this time i had no idea that something this good was sitting here, the book is GREAT. i really enjoyed your work so far and i hope you keep up the good work P.S. sometime try to put the whole book on one page so we dont have to read peoples replies in betwwen chapters. i'll be looking for the next chapter!

actually, since you mentioned that, i want to let everyone know that there is a new website featuring my book, just click on the sig to get to it. all the chapters are posted in order, and hunter 22, who set up the website, was gracious enough to also make the story neat. but, to tell the truth, it probably is a good idea to repost the entire story again, although it will take a whole bunch of space...and my patience. lol, i'll do it anyways.

Great Chapter, But about the whole E3 thing there are some problems 1. That event happend in Africa 2. Alot of thos lines are clearly used in Halo 2 on the 2nd and 3rd levels Other than that it was good stuff. Plot thickend and lots of action. But that whole part with the china men was wierd and something i dont happening with the MC. [Edited on 6/19/2005]

well, i just remembered it, and thought, 'hey, that'd be so sweet if i could implement that in my writing!', and decided to do it. i changed all the things that would have messed up the story, like johnson being in the pelican and cortana being with mc, and i did change or just get rid of any lines i saw that were in halo2. as for the ending...don't worry about it for now. i'm sure some things will be changed during my editting of it, but it won't make much sense until the end of the book. so don't stress about it. i don't think anyone can figure it out without my inside info. oh yeah, and as for the date and place where it occured, that can be changed easily, but i haven't decided where it was going to be yet. thats also why there is no date, because i've been trying to work everything out, but its...whatever. now that schools over for me, i'll spend the next couple of days editing everything i have, with the help of a few friends, and repost the entire story edited. the only problem is that i have 3 different files of the story, each one different, and a file for every single chapter as well...gives me alot of sorting to do. [Edited on 6/19/2005]