Vandread Fan Fiction ❯ VanDread - Halo The Second Stage ❯ Prologue ( Prologue )

VanDread - Halo The Second Stage

Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to VanDread or Halo….

Prologue

< >: Thoughts

***************

In the other world…

Dr. Catherine E, Halsey took a look at her patients' vital signs and could see that Team Katana were going to pull through at this point and would recover, it had taken them some time to figure out how to deactivate the `Slipspace Cryotubes' that the Spartan III Team were found it. So far they were trying to find a way out of this shield world that they were currently in.

“How are they doing Dr. Halsey?”

The woman turned to face Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez who looked at the young children in armor over and she replied.

“They're be fine, the vital signs look very much normal and there's no sign of any internal or external injuries. Where are Kelly, Linda, and Fred?”

“They're out doing recon work at the moment. This world we're in is certainly different from anything I have seen in my years.”

“I believe that this is a Dyson Sphere, the Forerunners must have been able to command quite a technological edge in order to actually construct a successful Dyson Sphere as well has have the resources and machinery to make this device function.”

The young Spartans woke up a few minutes later and were not wearing their SPI Mark II Armor and they were all pale, a very obvious characteristic for those who wore armor; it still galled Catherine that James Ackerson had attempted this, of course she was no different in that regard, when she started the Spartan II Program many years ago, she had kidnapped, or in more `gentle' words, conscripted the members of the Spartan IIs and turned them into what they were now, it was something that had been a great source of guilt for her.

She had taken their chances to live normal human lives, and condemned them to the lives of Super Soldiers and while they had proven to be very much capable in their own rights in combat and had been the last hope of the UNSC in the wars with the Covenant, she still felt great guilt at what she had done, she had never shared this guilt to anyone, though she had no doubt that Mendez and some few others knew of it. She had once thought that by saying that she was sacrificing the few to save the many, but that train of thought did little to salve and heal her conscience on the matter. She knew that there was no way she could convince Fred, Kelly, and Linda, along with the other Spartans who she considered her Spartans as they had been fighting too long to consider giving up and living normal lives, but these children, she still had a chance to make things right for them and while she knew that it would take time, while they were here in Onyx and in the Shield World of the Forerunners, she had all the time she needed to try to change them.

“I need some time alone to check them and the others Petty Officer Mendez.”

“Right.”

The Senior UNSC officer and Spartan I was busy checking out the place that they were in and waited for the arrival of the other Spartans and he looked about, it still made him feel a bit overwhelmed by the fact that they were actually inside a planet of all things and it was something that he knew would make things even more interesting. The Spartan I then wondered just how the war effort between the UNSC and the Covenant going, as much as he wanted to be back there for combat with the enemy, there was not much he could do until Dr. Catherine had found a way to open a door for them to get out of this massive planetary bomb shelter that the Forerunners had built.

It had been a while since he had been assigned to training the Spartan IIs and while they had improved, they were still children in his mind and while they were more numerous, and cheaper to field in most regards, plus they were successful in their missions, the UNSC officer was not quite happy with the fact that nearly all of them were going to be lost, Beta Company was completely annihilated, and only Tom and Lucy were the lucky survivors, and even that that was stretching the definition of the word luck. Tom had been traumatized and Lucy was rendered unable to speak by the horror of the battle that Beta Company had taken part in. Mendez shared his doubts with one of his students, Kurt or rather Lieutenant Commander Kurt Ambrose as he was called, but Kurt assured him that they would do well, they did so, but he knew Kurt was badly hurt by the deaths of all the Spartan IIs under his command, which was why he had instituted the harder training regimes as well as the illegal drug known as Drug 009762-OO and it increased the areas of the frontal lobe that dealt with strength, endurance, aggression and tolerance to injury, allowing Gamma Company Spartan IIs to fight longer and better when they should have been already dead or in a coma, of course, the drug had the tradeoff of making them lose rational thought and also made them highly unstable in a fight, not to mention they would lose higher brain functions if the mutagen transformed them without restraint. This would also turn them into violent being who were hyper-aggressive, irrational, and psychotic, those facts, which if left unchecked and then combined with their exceptional military training, could make the Spartans become deadly threats to the UNSC as much as the Covenant were.

Mendez had not been a big fan of Kurt's move with the matter, but understood that after Alpha Company was annihilated and Beta Company was nearly destroyed, the Spartan Commander would want to do anything to save the lives of his soldiers. The mutagen was countered by two other drugs, one was Drug 009927-DG or miso-olanzapine, an anti psychotic drug to counter the mutagen's powerful and deadly effects along with Drug 0091267-PX or cyclodexione-4 which was an bi-polar integration drug. Both were effective to counter the effects of the mutagen, but both had be administered regularly to avoid the Spartan IIIs from losing themselves.

Mendez rubbed the bridge of his nose and then ran his right hand's fingers on his scars and wondered what would this isolation lead to, they had no medicines as of yet to administer to the Spartan IIs who were with them and that worried him, as much as he had his doubts about them, they were good fighters and he would not like having to kill them if they went wild, and he had no doubts Kelly, Fred, and Linda would not like it as these children were Kurt's Spartans, but if worse came to worse…

“You don't have to go that far Mendez.”

The Spartan I turned to Catherine and replied in his usually gruff and professional voice.

“What do you mean by that Dr. Halsey?”

“Killing them if they lose it….I can try and save them, I don't like what Kurt did, I never thought he would go that far, but he had good reason. Losing that many people under your watch…can force you to do things that are illegal, but right in your mind..”

“How did you know?”

“I am not just the head of the Spartan II Program, creator of Smart AIs, AND founder of MJOLNIR series Mendez, I am a doctor as well, I KNOW what that mutagen will do to them.”

“Then you know that I will do what I have to in order to ensure your safety and that of the others Dr. Halsey, you and the others are too important to lose.”

“I know, let's just hope that things don't go that far.”

“We don't have the medicines for that Dr. Halsey, I'd give them at least two weeks, maybe less. It is comes to it….do what you have to.”

Catherine E, Halsey knew that what Mendez said was true, she had found Kurt's files and read them extensively and knew well about Kurt's compassion and desire to bond with others, John , Fred, Linda, and Kelly might not have liked it at first but after he freed them from Gen. Howard Graves, they trusted him completely, Kurt was the only one who could outmatch John in war games when they fought with each other. She had read how anguished Kurt was when Alpha Company was annihilated to the last Spartan, and Beta Company was obliterated except for Tom and Lucy.

She knew that what Kurt did was wrong, but she was not going to give up until she found a way to help heal these children.

It was then that they got an incoming message from Kelly.

“Chief, Ma'am, this is Kelly! We found something!”

**************

Later…

Mendez, Dr. Catherine, Tom, Lucy, Ash, Mark, Olivia, and the members of Team Katana, who were now ready for anything, Cade-G012, Max-G078, Leena-G023, and Jake-G051 arrived at the coordinates handed to them by Kelly and arrived to see a massive structure in the middle of a large island connected by a solid energy bridge. In the front were the other Spartan IIs and Fred stepped forward and both Catherine and Mendez came forward with the UNSC officer spoke.

“What have you found?”

“This structure took us a while to find Chief. But this thing is huge. As far as Linda could see with her scope, there appear to be no defenses of any sort at the moment. But can't be sure entirely once we go in, as far as we can see here in this area, this is the only structure that appears to be here so far. The architecture outside matches that of the Covenant in some respects but the rest are definitely Forerunner, we have no idea why it would be here, but it seems to be something of importance as far as we can see to be built here in this Shield World.”

Catherine looked at the structure….it resembled a pyramid, just like the pyramids back on Earth, namely in the country of Egypt. There appeared to be massive obelisks that were glowing on the four counters and what appeared to be lights on regular lines around the pyramid. Fred was right in her mind, why would the Forerunners build this here in this Shield World?

“We should take a look inside.”

Mendez shook his head.

“I do not think that is a wise idea, there may not be any defenses outside, but what about inside?”

“We don't have much choice Mendez, we might find the answers we need in that facility. It might also help us find a way out of the Shield World as well. If the Forerunners build Onyx as a bomb shelter, then there must be a way out of it as well. There might even be answers as to why this place was abandoned.”

Mendez sighed, he had high respect for Dr. Catherine as they had worked together for a number of years ever since he was part of the DI unit assigned to the Spartan IIs, he had a bad feeling but seeing as they had nothing better to do at the moment, they decided to go ahead. He then nodded and Fred touched the control panel and then the Light Bridge was online. As they crossed it, the team got a better feel of the massive island before them and saw that it was surrounded by a vast sea of water, Catherine moved closer and took out her data pad, typed in some commands and took out a special sampler and took a reading of the water and found that it was fresh water, perfect for drinking.

“Amazing, this water is fit for human consumption.”

Dr. Catherine moved on with the others and it was not long before they were before a massive energy door and then Dr. Catherine stepped forward and place d her hand on the pad and it glowed as if scanning her and when the light disappeared, the doors opened and then to their surprise, a floating robot appeared, or rather a single glowing eye and it spoke in a very respectful voice.

“Ahhh….Reclaimers have arrived at Shield World 002 at last! Greetings to you, I am Construct H-067 Joyous Rebirth, how may I be of service?”

Catherine had heard about this type of machine from John when the Spartan had rescued them from Reach months before and while she was wary of the machine, it seemed to be non hostile. Taking a chance at finding out more, she spoke to them while telling the others to lower their weapons, Cade, Max, Leena, Ash, Mark, Olivia and Jake did so as well as Mendez, Kelly, Fred, and Linda.

“What is the purpose of this installation Joyous Rebirth?”

“This facility is known as the Genesis Sanctum, my creators, the Forerunners had built this to serve as the hub of anew civilization to be established in the event of the activation of the Halo Rings, this facility is able to house at least three to four hundred thousand sentient beings as well as those of your race Reclaimer, it is equipped with all the needed materials and equipment for civilization to begin anew, as well as facilities for learning, manufacturing, medical needs, agriculture, construction and more. It also houses…”

“Medical needs?”

“Why yes! Over the many millennia of existence, the Forerunners have cataloged all the relevant biological data concerning all sentient species in the known Universe, including that of your species Reclaimer, why do you ask that? Surely you would have known as you are the child of the Forerunners?”

Kelly whispered to Fred via COM system.

“You have any idea what that floating light bulb is saying Fred?”

“Not a clue, Ma'am seems to handle this better, so let her do the talking.”

“Roger that.”

Catherine ran the idea over and over in her mind, if that this Construct said was true, this could be the answer she was looking for on how to treat the members of both Team Saber and Team Katana. It was a chance that she was not sure of at the moment, but it was better than doing nothing as well.

“Joyous Rebirth, can you scan the full physical profiles of a sentient being?”

“Why yes Reclaimer, though I have not detected any biological anomalies within you yourself and you have shown no signs of Flood Infection as well. Are you referring to your other companions by any chance?”

“Yes, I would like you to scan the ones behind me.”

The head of the Spartan II Program pointed to the Spartan IIs and the flying Monitor moved to them and then she spoke to the Construct.

“Can you do a full scale biological analysis for any anomalies?”

“Of course.”

The Spartan IIs were about to fight but the older Spartans shook their heads in warning and Mendez spoke evenly.

“Do as Dr. Catherine ordered you to do soldiers!”

The Spartan IIs nodded and allowed the Monitor to do it's work and it spoke only a few words, engrossed on scanning the Spartan IIIs.

“Hmm…”

“Oh my…”

“That is distressing.”

As soon as Joyous Rebirth was done, it moved to Catherine and spoke to her.

“I must say that I am very concerned with at least seven of these subjects you have asked me to scan Reclaimer, two of them are in good physical health but the others are a different matter, while they had shown the physical features of your species, I have detected some very troubling anomalies within their frontal lobes of their brains and that is very worrisome. Have you any knowledge as to how they were subjected to these changes?”

“They were given some very powerful….drugs so to speak and that has led to the alterations. This drug is being countered by two others but they must be administered regularly as well.”

“I see….whatever this crude medication is, it is highly destructive in the long run, such mutations could very well reduce the subjects to…well, non sentient beings.”

“What was that?!”

Cade And Ash as well as the others were angered and were about to attack the Construct when Mendez gave them a warning look, that made them calm down as well as the fact that Lucy and Tom were there as well.

Catherine knew that she was taking a risk but continued with her question.

“Is there anything within the archives here in the Sanctum that can help them be able to control the changes without resorting to drugs?”

“I believe so, the medical data archives of my creators may have the answers, however, they must be allowed to remain in Cryo-stasis for me and my fellow Constructs to administer the right methods and solutions.”

Catherine nodded and spoke once more,

“Is it all right if we remain here in this facility until then Joyous Rebirth?”

“You do not need to ask that Reclaimer, as the child of my makers, you and your companions are very much welcome to remain here in the Shield World for as long as you deem fit! Come, I will guide you to the Medical section of the Sanctum so we can begin the procedures.”

“Thank you, I wish to see the procedures myself as well.”

“Of course Reclaimer, it shall be done.”

**************

For the past few weeks the Spartans and both Mendez and Catherine remained inside the Sanctum while Dr. Halsey was in the Medical section of the Sanctum with Joyous Rebirth, working on the process of healing the damage done by the mutagen in the minds of Ash, Mark Olivia, Cade, Max, Leena, and Jake. The UNSC's top scientist had to admit that the archives of the Forerunners was very impressive and the information was wondrous and vast, and it amazed her, Joyous Rebirth was also eager to be in the company of Catherine Halsey and while they were treating the Spartan IIIs of Gamma Company, the two would trade as much information as they could between one another. There was plenty of food and drink in the Sanctum and even Kelly said that this was the very first time she had eaten this good in years.

Mendez and the rest of the other Spartans including Tom and Lucy were allowed to remain in the comfort area of the residential district of the Sanctum and did as much as they could to gather all the needed information, the Forerunners' technology was very impressive and would prove helpful to the UNSC as soon as they found a way out of the Shield World.

The procedures to help Gamma Company proved to be fairly effective, while most of the damage was reversed after several more tests, the effects of the mutagen were not wholly erased, but the seven members of Gamma Company were no longer in need of taking the two drugs and had better control over the `animal parts' of their frontal lobes so their higher mental faculties were very much intact and safe for now. That was a great relief to Dr. Catherine, and that allowed her to try and act like a mother to them, to try and work on convincing them to stop fighting.

The process was not easy as all seven of the Spartan IIIs including Tom and Lucy were not planning to give up their desire to avenge the deaths of their families and friends due to the war with the Covenant, and while they had not attacked Catherine, they were very much resistant to the woman's attempts to change their ways of thinking. The good doctor however was very stubborn and adamant in her attempts despite the hostility shown to her by the younger Spartans when she stared to do what she could to erode their will to fight. They would reply that the Covenant had taken everything from them, their homes, their friends, their families, and they wanted to avenge them no matter what.

Catherine knew that these children reminded her very much of three Spartan IIs who were the only three who were not keen on being part of the Spartan II Program years before. They were Mike, Jai, and Adrianna, or rather, Gray Team, when the three of them were conscripted and told as to what they were doing on Reach, these three did their absolute best to escape from Reach and no matter how many times they had been caught, they were still going at it.

These three gave Mendez and his DIs a considerable amount of headaches over the past years, Adrianna and Jai were the ones responsible for at least the highest number of broken toes, arms, fingers and noses on the DIs who had at first used Electron Batons to subdue them when they were caught, but due to their training and physical abilities, the DIs resorted to using tranquilizer rifles to capture them. Jai and Adrianna had some sort of friendship and that had been her key to convince Jai to remain, she had chat with him and told him that there was a drug that he could take that would allow him to forget everything, including Adrianna, as well as the fact that since his Flash Clone had already died in the orphanage there would be a heck of a storm if he returned. That had been enough to convince jai to return and stay in the program, at least for a while, but in the end he remained with Adrianna and then they were paired with Mike and they formed into the Gray Team.

Unlike their other Spartan IIs who were very much comfortable with rules and regulations, as well as working within the authority of the UNSC, Gray Team was more independent and not above questioning orders and they were not above doing things off book. While some of the other Spartans disliked that, she considered the independent streak of Adrianna, Jai, and Mike to be an asset in their own right, the last she heard of them was when they were enforcing the Cole Protocol and also going to attack the Covenant behind their lines, they were by far among the few Spartan IIs who were still using the older Mark IV and in the gray color as well.

She placed those thoughts aside for now as she and the others tried their best to learn as much as they could while they were in the Sanctum, she knew that Mendez and the other Spartan IIs, HER Spartans were hoping to go back there and support the UNSC no matter the result. She could never blame them for their loyalty to the UNSC. But they still had a lot to do in order to find a means of heading back to Earth. That was why when she was not working trying her very best to weaken the will of the Spartan IIIs to stop them from fighting, she would gather all the information that she could in order to find a way.

The information here could very well tip the scales in the favor of the UNSC once they arrived back to Earth, but they had to do what they could since according to Fred, Will before he died, and Linda, the Covenant had found Earth already. The news made her blood run cold and she hoped once this situation with Ackerson's Spartan III Project was over, she would do what she could when the chance came.

It was then that Joyous Rebirth guided them to a teleportation grid room and the Construct explained that this could be used to send specially trained Forerunner personnel to areas where they were needed, one of which was the outside Sentinel deployment center where even he was not allowed to go.

Fred asked Joyous Rebirth the question.

“Why are you not allowed up there?”

“The reason is fairly simple Reclaimer, as my duty is to make sure that Genesis Sanctum, I am only allowed to go there if there is a need for a more direct approach, I am after all a recorder and observer AI unit, not a full fledged combat model, thus my functions despite being very advanced and vast are still limited to maintaining the functions and operation of the Sanctum itself as well as other key facilities here in the Shield World. I only have a base Sentinel Beam to defend myself from attack, but it is not enough to face an entire army Reclaimer.”

“Is there any way to deactivate the Sentinels outside the sphere?”

“I am afraid not Reclaimer, the only way to deactivate the Sentinels is to destroy the main power core node, and that is ill advised as that would render the Shield World vulnerable to invasion, the Biomass scanners will also deactivate and that would render the world open to possible Flood infestation.”

Catherine then spoke to the

“Is there any way for us to leave the Shield World without being attacked by the Sentinels?”

“Yes, you must have a ship that can release a transponder code that is recognized by the Sentinels as that of a friendly Forerunner ship. If you have that, you can leave the Shield World when you wish, though I would advise against it as there is the fact that the Halo Rings might have activated. If you were to leave at the wrong time, you might very well be killed when the Rings fire.”

Mendez then spoke seriously to the Construct.

`Would you try and stop us if we decide to leave?”

“I most certainly will not! You and your companions are the children of my creators Reclaimer, and thus you have authority on many matters, I was built to safe guard this world and all of those who would use it to be safe if the worst happened. While I do not understand why you would leave this beautiful world, it is your decision. If you leave then I will fall back to my secondary programming directive, and that is to maintain and supervise this Shield World until it is needed once more as a shield against the sword.”

“Is there any shipyard outside of the Shield World in deep space?”

“Yes, there is an operational shipyard outside near the Dyson Sphere, it is a construction and maintenance facility but it is not able to make higher class ships for extended operations, merely transportation and scouting vessels, it can be upgraded to a more advanced facility to produce better ships, but that is about it, The facility itself had heavy particle shielding and is very much safe for habitation if needed. Would you like me to activate a Slipspace portal to the facility Reclaimer?”

The others then looked at one another and Catherine nodded, they had time to plan this all out and Catherine nodded. They watched when the Monitor activated the teleportation grid, but suddenly the portal began to glow very erratically.

“What's going on?!”

Joyous Rebirth looked it over and replied.

“Something odd has happened….it seems that the Slipspace Portal as opened in a different location than the facility. Give me a moment.”

The others waited and they were understandably nervous until the Monitor spoke.

“The portal has somehow been redirected, the portal seems very stable and there seems to be no danger on the other side, however I cannot specify what has happened, but I have no doubt that there is not much danger through the portal, however the portal is not stable and I can only hold it for at least half an hour until I have to reset and repower the systems to make up for the mistakes, however, at this point, what you do now is up to you Reclaimer, I can only hold the portal for s short time if you wish to take a chance in seeing where this altered portal will lead..”

Kelly wasted no time and got out her MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and spoke.

“I'll go ahead and check it out, if anything is wrong, I'll head on back.”

The others looked on and nodded with Fred and Linda at the ready, as well as Tom, Lucy, Ash, Mark, Olivia, Cade, Max, Leena, and Jake as they readied their weapons. Kelly then stepped through and soon enough they waited. Minutes later,, they heard the sound of Kelly whistling the all clear signal that Mendez, Catherine, Fred, and Linda knew. As the Spartans moved ahead to secure a perimeter, Mendez went next and as Catherine was about to step through the portal, she turned and spoke to Joyous Rebirth.

“It's time for me to say good bye. It's been a pleasure talking with you.”

“It has been a pleasure speaking to you as well Reclaimer, should you and your people return, I will be more than happy to let this Shield World open for you when the time comes.”

With that, and the fact that none of the others returned harmed, the woman walked through the portal.

**************

In the Nirvana…

Dr. Catherine and SCPO Mendez as well as Fred, Linda, Tom, Lucy, Ash, Mark, Olivia, Cade, Max, Leena, Jake, and Kelly looked all the data over as the elderly Captain of the Nirvana explained the situation with the Harvesters, while John and Cortana told them the information that shocked them considerably…

The war between the UNSC and the Covenant was over, and the UNSC had won the battle, with the help of the Covenant Separatists, the Master Chief went into full detail about how the Elites had found out about the Halo Ring's purpose and how they had been deceived by the Prophets and sided with the UNSC.

Kelly and the other Spartan IIs had been somewhat familiar with the whole event, but the Spartan IIs were not and many of them were not very welcoming of the news that the Elites were now on their side. Many of them and those who made up the Spartan III program were all orphans of the UNSC-Covenant War and they all vowed revenge on the Covenant which was why the agreed to take part in the Spartan III Program in the first place, which was headed by Colonel James Ackerson. To think that the war was over was something that they were having a very hard time believing, as well as the fact that the UNSC had aligned with the Separatists and the Elites as well.

The information about the fact that they were in another dimension however was something the really caught the others, of all the things they had thought were possible using the technology in the Shield World to escape from it, the fact that they had been able to use Slipspace to open a dimensional gateway was something that even Dr. Catherine E, Halsey had not considered with her plans as she had no idea that this event would occur when they had only planned to have ship ready to take them back to the UNSC so they could help in the war effort as best they could. They had not expected to land in a new dimension, far from it…

Parfait then told them that their attempt had conceded with the Paeksis, massive power fluctuations in the previous battle with the Harvesters and both their attempts must have somehow crossed over as this Paeksis was the prototype model and had quite a great deal of quirks as it was a semi sentient power source.

Dr. Catherine expressed great interest in the technology and then they headed back to the situation at hand…the battles with the new foes known as the Harvesters. When they were told that the Harvesters were once from Earth, but had gone mad and sought to destroy all other humans for their own survival, they were all surprised, the only one remaining calm was of course SCPO Mendez who was unfazed by the reports handed to them by the Master Chief.

The leader of the Nirvana Fire Teams then showed the records on the worlds that had been attacked, as well as video records of the Harvesters current standing forces and what had been happening in this world when he and Cortana got there. How they had been part of the Nirvana's crew ever since they were in this dimension. As well as how Cortana had turned from an AI to a living breathing woman.

That was yet another bone of contention as Dr. Halsey had no idea how could Cortana have a human body of all things and she decided to examine her later, but it was nice to her in some degree to see Cortana again as well as John himself, both of them were very important to her as Cortana was something of a daughter to her and John….well, that was a very different story as well.

After the Master Chief was finished with his report on the Harvesters and the threat they posed on the human colonies here in this dimension, Kelly spoke first.

“If you need help John, you've got it. I'm with you.”

Linda nodded as well.

“Same here.”

Fred nodded. While he was at a much higher rank than John, he had always respected and trusted John and he knew that John was a lot more experienced dealing with the Harvesters than he was. Fred had never fought the Flood before and these Harvesters were certainly different from the Covenant that he was familiar with.

“I'm with you on this.”

Franklin Mendez knew that with the situation as it was, there was no way they could replicate the event them to return to the UNSC and since there were enemies to fight, he was all right with that and nodded to his former student.

“I'll do what I can. If this is the situation here and no doubt no matter where we go, these Harvesters will be hunting us, we might as well fight.”

The other Spartans were not very happy but they could do little at the moment and it was something that John had to watch out for. He had no idea that there was another Spartan Program going on and he wondered just how these would do in a fight with the Harvesters. he knew he would need as many allies as he could get and so did the Nirvana, the war with the Harvesters was going to go to a whole new level soon enough and he knew that sooner or later, the Harvesters would unleash new weapons, except these would target him most of all.

Catherine thought about how much things had changed. She was wondering what was going to happen once they were going to meet these Harvesters. The only things she hoped for was that they would get the chance to contact Earth, if what John said was true, then the UNSC would be able to rebuild and she wanted to be there to see it all happen.

There was no doubt however in her mind that these Harvesters would not take kindly to the losses they have suffered thus far.

<They no doubt are already blowing a gasket as the old saying goes.>

**************

On the Harvester home-world…

The Council was very much in an uproar at the news of the loss of yet ANOTHER Battleship and knowing that this was done by the VanDreads was something that was like a burr shoved up their rear ends. They wanted to kill the Nirvana and the news of the latest weapon tests proved to be very promising, this new weapon could very well destroy and cripple the VanDreads…

And their new weapons to deal with the Spartan were ready…their Spartan Killers were ready, and soon, the Spartan will fall!!!

**************

To be continued…

**************

Author's notes:

Not too much now is it? It's not the best at the moment, but you have to make do with what you can make at the time available to you.

This is the Prologue of VanDread Halo The Second Stage after all, and therefore, there is no action at the moment as the Spartan IIs and the Spartans IIIs get ready for what will be a new campaign, however, with Catherine's desire to have the Spartan IIIs stop fighting to lead the normal lives that they had before the wars broke out, can the Spartan IIs be seen in combat?

We'll just have to wait and see in the long run now won't we?

As for Jessica al-Cygni Johnson, she will make her debut in the coming chapters of VanDread Halo The Second Stage and she is as tough, skilled, and gung ho as her father Avery J, Johnson was. And since Johnson is a Spartan I due to his time in Project ORION, you can say that Jessica is a Spartan I.I and will be the very first to be featured in this story.

However, keep in mind that she will NOT be the only one in the coming chapters, feel free to speculate on who else is joining the gang soon.

The Nirvana will not be alone as many had asked me if I will bring the UNSC Spirit of Fire into play, I will, but it will not be the only ship as well from the UNSC forces, Hold on to your hats as the Nirvana will be joined by not one, not two, but THREE UNSC ships, what classification they are and who are onboard….I'll leave that up to you readers to figure out.

Bye and see you all on Chapter 1 of VanDread Halo the Second Stage!!!