Vandread Fan Fiction ❯ VanDread - Halo The Second Stage ❯ Negotiations ( Chapter 4 )

VanDread Halo The Second Stage

Disclaimer: I don't own VanDread-The Second Stage or Halo, they belong to their respective companies, Halo belongs to Bungie while VanDread The Second Stage belongs to GONZO, so let's just leave it at that all right?

Chapter 4

Negotiations

< >: Thoughts

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

In the Nirvana…

The Nirvana was currently approaching an unknown station that was somewhat similar to the very space station they had been able to get to when they had first met Rabat, however, this one seems to be rather different in design and Magno identified it as a Outpost Mission, some sort of resting station as well as a trading center. As soon as they were able to get within communication range, they got greeted by a bald man with gloves and wearing black colored clothing as well as a belt carrying pouches, the man was built like a bear and he had the naturally had the attitude of one as well.

“Who the heck is this? I can't believe someone's still using that old Colony signal!”

Buzam was the Commander on the scene and decided to speak about their desire to trade. They had begun to run a bit low on some food supplies and needed to refill some of it, and they had plenty of things to trade, and judging by the initial scans of the station before them, they were going to have their hands full, and the bear of a man was quick to respond.

“You want to trade for supplies?! Hahahahahaha!!! I hate to break it to you ladies, but we're kind of short on that ourselves and we're not hotel either, so why don't you find someone else to barter with.”

Buzam however was not phased and spoke.

“We only need some types of supplies while we have a considerable amount of materials to trade, as well as the expertise of our skilled engineers. They can be helpful in doing maintenance in your station as well as repairs.”

“Really? What sort of supplies are we talking about here you're willing to trade lady?”

Buzam recalled the lists of materials that they had on hand, though they had expended a large amount of the pilfered resources from one of the Harvesters' resource worlds to create Parfait's Power Armor prototypes, they had plenty left over that were all of high quality and were worth trading, there were also stacks of spare parts, fuel, materials for making gun powder, a large supply of spare UNSC Weapons, equipment, and Body Armor, as well as Tarak weapons and munitions..

Buzam got out a data pad and imputed all the information and sent it to the man in question, the Commander then allowed the data to be transferred and as soon as the man got the data and looked at it, he gave a very shocked look and then he faced Buzam with a serious stare.

“That's QUITE an offer, how can we be sure that you're not lying to us?”

Buzam replied.

“The only way you will find out is if you let us onboard the station, I will talk to the leader then and see if we get a deal. So, is that offer of technical help as well as spare supplies enough to open negotiations?”

The bald man looked at the side, apparently getting orders from something outside of the monitor's visual range. After a minute or two the man faced Buzam and spoke.

“The rule here in Delta Six is eat or be eaten, if you don't care about what happens to you once you're on this station then feel free to come onboard.”

With that done, the crew knew that they were going to be allowed onboard the station.

Cortana turned to face the crew and spoke in a very off hand manner.

“I get the feeling the guy hasn't had a bath in years. Maybe we should have him take a bath in the Megele fashion, I get the feeling that could work.”

The women laughed a bit and even Buzam managed to chuckle as well as Magno did. As soon as the humor winded down, the Nirvana got to see the station in which they got the transmission, that was when the Spartan IIs walked in with John in tow as well as the Spartan IIIs, and Kelly was the first to comment on the appearance of the station.

“Now that is a dump.”

The crew had to agree, the station looked like it was literally being held together by duct tape, chewing gum, super glue, and a LOT of prayers as well as curses, the station had been through hell and it could be seen as sections of the station appeared to have suffered heavy damage, some were breaking off, there was also signs of extreme structural failure and more besides, all in all, the station looks like it was on it's last legs and could fall apart at any minute.

Fred spoke.

“Got to give them credit to be living in that run down death trap, I'm surprised the central power core hasn't gone critical yet. No one would feel safe in that death trap.”

Catherine walked in and she only needed a glance at the image to agree with Fred's assessment as she looked the station over, while she was no structural engineer due to her profession, her first glance at the image of the Delta Mission was more than enough to allow her to diagnose the exact extent of the station's damage.

“Several sections appear to have been breached, the discoloration markings on some of the rends and gashes suggest fire damage from internal fires or external exposure to high intensity energy, some areas appear to be sealed off to prevent vacuum, there also appears to be fairly recent carbon scoring, the defensive weapon systems of the station appear to be shoddy or badly damaged at best, and near useless at worst, their scanning systems also appear to have more blind spots than a dog has fleas, so whoever these people are, they seem to be already having enemies hitting them on something of a regular basis. This might make coming there a risk, there is a chance that the survivors might be suffering from shell shock and pent up frustration as well as rage, that will mean that the people there are very much on edge and it won't take much to provoke them.”

Magno nodded at Catherine's assessment and spoke.

“I'd imagine that the situation would make the people in the Mission station rather hostile towards outsiders. Still, we don't have much in terms of choice at the moment, we need some extra supplies and we can trade off the stuff that we can afford to give away. Cortana is there any sign of Harvester activity?”

Cortana shook her head as she used her link to the Clarion Spy Drones which were currently out on a long range recon run, considering the sorry state of the Mission's scanners the last thing the Nirvana needed was being blindsided by the Harvesters.

“No sign of them yet Captain, I'll remain on the Nirvana on standby just in case we do encounter any Harvester forces.”

“Good, Master Chief, I need you and your fellow Spartans to be part of the negotiation team, while I normally would only send a small team there to help out, it would be far better not to take chances.”

“Yes Ma'am.”

“One more thing Chief, the analysis of Dr. Catherine is right, for all we know, the people in the station might have hostile intentions, but do not use lethal force unless the situation calls for it, understood?”

“I do Ma'am.”

Magno nodded and gave the order for a negotiation team to be assembled.

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

As the Nirvana drifted in, Bart was currently working on getting the ship into dock, to be honest, this was a first for him to try docking into a station area as he had never done this before in his life, but there was always a first time for something. The now bald navigator listened to the incoming instructions and followed Buzam's orders for the docking procedures. Cortana was naturally willing to act as rear guard to the Nirvana as she continued to scan the place before them with the Clarion Spy Drones.

The Nirvana was not going to go and take unneeded risks at this moment and Cortana was not going to let what happened last time happen again, no one was going to get the drop on her while she was on watch duty.

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

In the Shuttle Launching Bay…

Barnette took out a sack of her favorite rifles as well as a gun case as Jura and Parfait were on the scene, Jura never got around to figuring out just what was it about old fashioned projectile weapons that got Barnette's crack up, she always collected those weapons, cleaned them meticulously, and always treated them like precious items.

“Why are you carrying all that Barnette?”

Barnette smiled a bit at her blonde friend and answered the question.

“Hey, we're going to be in some close quarters fighting and if that happens, these will be worth using.”

Buzam arrived just as the Spartans also came on the scene with their weapons already present for this excursion, Buzam then spoke that they were there on a diplomatic action and close combat was to be avoided at all costs, which disappointed Barnette as she was hoping to finally get her guns to be into the heat of things. It was then that one of the Spartans looked at her gun collection, and the Spartan in question was Fred.

Fred looked at one of the weapons and spoke.

“An old M60E4 Light Infantry Machine Gun, chambered with the 7.62x51mm NATO Rounds, developed in the early 21st century which is the same rounds used in our MA5C Assault Rifles, I haven't seen one of those in ages.”

Barnette looked at the Spartan with some surprise as she had expected the Spartan not to care about such things. However, despite this being the first time she had revealed her gun collection, this Spartan was able to determine just what sort of weapon she used

“You know about this?”

Fred nodded and spoke as he looked at Barnette's gun collection.

“We took history classes in military history after all. I had thought with all the preferences to lasers on your world, you'd have the same thing.”

Barnette however replied with a smug expression.

“I wanted to stand out a lot from the norm, besides; the situation will be close quarters fighting so no sense not having weapons made for this, even if we're not supposed to do any fighting if we can avoid it.”

Fred nodded as the other Spartans were ready, the Spartan IIIs came in carrying a reserve supply pod that had the usual supplies and equipment, while the women thought it would be unnecessary, the Spartan IIs agreed with the younger Spartan IIIs, they had no idea what might happen in there so no sense not being ready for anything.

The pod had a large number MA5C ICWS Assault Rifles, BR55 HB SR Battle Rifles, M6G Magnums, M90A Shotguns, and a large number of M7 Caseless Sub Machine Guns, along with an extra stack of MA5K Carbines. They decided not to bring any Megele Laser Rifles as well as their Covenant based weapons in favor of stocking up and more of the Tarak Assault Rifles. There were also a good number of UNSC Medi-kits as well as a large amount of Frag Grenades. There were also Grenade Launcher attachments for the MA5C ICWS Assault Rifles.

The MA5C ICWS Assault Rifles could have their flashlight attachments removed and replaced with grenade launchers, making them fairly effective in dealing with light armor class vehicles and giving normal infantry forces a run for their money, the weapons however not to be used at the moment since there was no need for the Spartans to use them yet, and this was a diplomatic mission after all, the fact that it was a diplomatic mission also meant that the Spartans would not be armed with lethal rounds for their weapons and would need to carry non lethal rounds first, therefore in their weapons current load with the exception of the M6G Magnums, the Spartans were armed with Tactical Training Rounds or TTRs. These weapons were the 26th Century version of paint balls, but they were far more dangerous than regular paint balls.

Tactical Training rounds used a special plastic polymer shell to maintain their bullet profile and flight characteristics like normal paint balls would have, the TTR had an internal proximity fuse that was timed to melt the shell once it was at least 10 centimeters from contact, that allowed the red paint inside to splatter on the target just like a normal paint ball round. However the paint was mixed with a highly effective anesthetic and would immobilize the nano-fibers in clothing, rendering a person unable to move when hit by the round and also the tranquilizing effect on the body part, making the target unable to move for a few hours, and it could be used to subdue targets depending on where they are shot.

The Spartans hoped not to resort to shooting anyone on the Mission at this moment but they knew better than to take unneeded risks at this point and time.

Tom and the others placed down the pod and saluted the elder Spartans with the senior Spartan III wearing his SPI Mark II Armor speaking for his comrades.

“The pod's ready for loading Sir!”

Fred nodded and spoke.

“Good, load up the pod, I don't know if we have to use it just yet, but better be fully prepared for anything.”

“Yes Sir!”

Tom and the other Spartan IIIs took the pod in as Buzam arrived while Hibiki came along, dressed in his full Marine Body Armor and carrying his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle. The Tarak teen then saluted the Spartans namely his mentor John. As soon as the Spartans responded to the salute, the Tarak teen explained just why he was there.

“I want to join the mission Chief, just in case extra support is needed.”

John thought it over, while giving Hibiki more experience in dealing with other human cultures was considered a good idea, he was not in the mood to let Hibiki get caught into a situation which could be dangerous, the fact was that since he was the pilot of the Vanguard that formed the VanDreads also weighed on the Spartan, the VanDreads were very important for the defense of the Nirvana if they were dealing with very powerful Harvester forces and while there was no sign of the Harvesters as of yet since Cortana's Clarion Spy Drones had not seen them.

However, Hibiki wanted to come along for the ride and therefore John decided to let him get some training on how to deal with people who were similar to Rabat though not in the very same league as the traitor to the Human Race due to selling them all out to the Harvesters. However he was not going to let anything happen to Hibiki at this point as they still needed him out there should the Harvesters bring any heavy weapons into the battle field.

He then decided to charge Hibiki with Dita's safety as well as Jura's as the two were badly needed to be in the making of the VanDreads, Dita's VanDread was very much needed for sheer firepower and Jura's VanDread was custom made for defense and both were certainly needed if all things went down the drain the second the Harvesters showed up.

Hibiki was more than willing to follow the orders of the Spartan and with that out of the way, the team got into the shuttle and moved out while escorted by Dita's Dread. As the team was underway, Cortana and Bart were now ready to maintain their vigil over the station while the Nirvana Fire Teams were assigned for security detail in the Nirvana along with the Talvernian soldiers. They were needed to handle security for the Nirvana alongside the Security Teams to make sure that the Nirvana was not attacked from behind.

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

In the Mission…

The men of Delta Six were making rude comments at the Megele women as Jura, Barnette, Dita and Buzam as the women moved through the station. Jura was not bothered by this and Barnette merely glared while Dita, being the young bubbly and cheerful young woman that she was at heart was not bothered by it all, Gascogne ignored it as well as she was straight to the situation before her and the others as well, though Parfait was not the least bit happy with the comments when they entered the area.

But their actions towards the women of Megele died a horrible death with the sounds of heavy boot prints and the Delta Six welcoming group were greeted by the sight of the Spartans, both the Spartan IIs and the Spartan IIIs who were in their SPI mark II Armor the super soldiers of the UNSC were joined by Hibiki who was dressed in his Marine Body Armor and carrying his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle on his hands. The young Tarak male looked at the people and didn't like the way they looked at the rest of the Nirvana team, but he knew that with the Spartans around, the idea of them attacking the Nirvana party was nil at the moment. No one here might have seen a Spartan before, but they were going to get a very clear cut answer if they tried something outright stupid.

The Spartans scanned the crowd and they were not impressed, considering the fact that the men and women were armed with weapons that were nigh useless on their MJOLNIR Power Armor then the Master Chief nodded to his reformed Blue Team as well as Team Saber and Team Katana, the Spartans nodded as they took out their weapons with skilled ease and readied them, Linda readied her BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle as she left her SRS99D S2 AM Sniper Rifle on her back, Kelly had her MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle while her M90A Shotgun was ready, Fred readied his own MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle as well as his BR55 HB SR Battle Rifle, Tom, Lucy and the other Spartan IIIs also readied their MA5K Carbines as the Master Chief led the team followed by the other Spartans with him leading the group.

Every so often the Spartans would scan the crowd and cradling their weapons in a very relaxed yet deadly and serious manner, sending the message to the people of Delta Six to keep their aggressions to themselves lest the Spartans would react with great force. John knew that he and his fellow Spartan IIs were more than a match for the people here since he and no doubt his brethren could wipe the floor with them, however, they came here in peaceful terms as the Spartans had activated the safety systems on their weapons. That could quickly change however and they were more than ready and able to fight back if it comes to that level.

Buzam was rather content with the presence of the Spartans in their party, the younger Spartan IIIs were more than able in a fight despite being very young and the veteran Spartan IIs were very convincing as they moved along with Parfait commenting on the massive repairs that they would have to do. The commander would have preferred a smaller team to handle negotiations on this mission but since the Master Chief was assigned as their combat specialist and his skills were quite good as well as that of his fellow Spartans, they would be needed just in case things got ugly for this mission, plus they would keep the people of the Delta Six from trying something stupid. She could see that these were desperate people though why she was not very sure just yet. But she knew that desperate people would commit very rash things when they were given the chance.

Barnette still carried her Glock 9 and was ready to use it when the time came, however, the presence of the Spartans and their own formidable weapons made her carrying her guns somewhat redundant but she was adamant to bringing weapons from her collection of old fire arms and since the Spartans didn't seem to mind in the very least if she brought them she decided to bring as much as she could afford to carry with her. She wanted to see the weapons of the UNSC in action for herself and also see just how the rest of the Spartans operated as a fighting unit. Seeing the Master Chief in combat was impressive enough, to see the others was something she was not going to pass up for anything.

Jura was along for the ride as she wanted to see this place for herself while Hibiki managed to keep Dita from making a scene as she wanted to take pictures of the place, while Hibiki knew that Dita was not harming anyone, he was not going to let the people of this place get the wrong impression and do something that could result in a fight, Pyoro looked at this and commented that Hibiki might be afraid of the people here, but the Tarak teen remained cool under pressure as even when a he saw a young girl sticking her tongue out at him, he relaxed and focused on the task at hand.

As they reached the rise, the same man who had talked to them earlier looked at them….and from the scowl he had on his face he was not happy with the appearance of the armored Spartans. The Spartans were also not happy at the moment though their emotions were hidden and so were their faces by their armored visors. The Master Chief glared at the bald man and sent the silent warning.

`If this is a trap, you're the first one I'm going to deal with.'

The man then spoke.

“This way.”

As they made their way into the room, the party were quick to find themselves in something that resembled an arena of sorts. And then on the other end from a turned on light, they spotted a woman who wore a tight fitting body suit and had deep purple hair, and a figure most men would love to get their hands on, she was beautiful by most standards and certainly athletic, meaning that she no doubt must be of a very physically demanding background. The woman looked at them and decided to speak.

“So you are the people who decided to drop by Delta Six? What sort of reason do you have for coming this nick of the interstellar woods?”

Buzam spoke then to start the negotiations.

“We have already made the offer to your second in command so I do not understand why we have to repeat our offer.”

“You don't need to, but I am curious as to why you come all the way here and I want to know where are you all from since you seem to be quite the varied bunch.”

Buzam answered that, but kept in mind that telling the people that the Spartans were from earth was not a viable idea, there was a chance that if the truth about the Spartans being from Earth came out, then things were going to get very ugly.

“Many of us in the ship come from Megele, three men are from Tarak and the other are from Talvern, and the ones before you are from the planet Antareus.”

Antareus was used as the cover name that would serve to be the Spartans' fictional home world and would make sure that the Spartans were going to be given a good level of secrecy so they would not be placed under suspicion, there was the chance that if the Spartans were revealed to be related to Earth then things would get ugly. While it was true that the Spartans were from earth, they were not related to Earth in the sense of being the Earth that this dimension had, no one else knew of the events that brought the Spartans here in this dimension and explaining something that no one would be able to confirm or believe was asking for too many headaches.

The woman swallowed the idea for now and then spoke.

“I see….all right then, I suppose that you all have been told by Patch that here on Delta Six we have the simple rule of eat or be eaten. So here's my proposal, you have quite the deal to offer, but if you want to get our help, you have to fight for it, is that all right with you?”

Buzam thought this over and decided that they were already this far so they would have to see the ending through.

“Fair enough, so who will you fight?”

“I will decide that soon enough and what is your name by the way.”

“My name is Buzam A Calessa.”

“Nice name, now mine is Liz and we'll keep it at that.”

“All right Liz, so who exactly is it that you will be fighting?”

“Hold on, I want to speak to the leader of those armored guys with you.”

Buzam looked at the Spartans and one in particular, while Fred did hold a much higher rank than John, John was still recognized as the overall leader of the Spartans and with that in mind, the Master Chief moved forward while placing his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle on his back with a clang, that sound was enough to make some of the people in the room move to reach for weapons but the woman shook her head and the people decided to lower their weapons under the command.

As soon as that was done the Spartan spoke to the woman.

“I am the leader.”

Liz nodded and then spoke seriously.

“Would it be hard to ask if I get to see your face?”

The Spartan decided to agree for the moment and removed his helmet, getting some surprised reactions from the residents of Delta Six as they never saw anyone as pale as he was, The Spartan ignored those comments as he had heard them all before from the UNSC as well as the pirates when he was first among them all those months before. He then cradled his helmet under his arm and then looked at Liz to see what she was going to say.

Liz gave a smile and replied as she looked at the now revealed face of the Master Chief as the Spartan held his helmet in his hands while.

“Well now….you happen to be a rather handsome guy aren't you? A bit on the pale side though….tell me, how long have you been wearing that suit of yours?”

“Ever since I was eighteen, now that I did as you asked of me, have you made your decision?”

Liz smiled and stood up and pointed….at him.

“I want to fight you pretty boy.”

John was emotionless when he needed to be but this was surprising him, of all the people he expected Liz to fight, he was expecting it to be either Gascogne, or Buzam but not him. He had no idea what she was up to but in his mind….no one would dare to fight a Spartan one on one. But since he agreed to the terms, he had to see this through, of course he would have to keep tabs on his attacks as well as his physical strength.

Hibiki was shocked, this Liz woman must had been out of her mind, of all the people she could pick to fight, she had to pick his mentor! Was this woman out of her mind?!

“She's got to be kidding?! She wants to fight the Chief?!”

The Spartan had no idea what was the point of it but decided to agree with it, if this was the only option available to them then he would do it, however he kept in mind that the people in Delta Six despite their hostility were not the real enemy and harming them was to happen only as a very desperate resort.

The Master Chief began to feel a sense of déjà vu, when he and the survivors of the Pillar of Autumn's crew along with his fellow Spartans, and other key UNSC personnel as well as Dr. Catherine were in the Gettysburg/Ascendant Justice, the lead officer Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb used the threat of the Covenant coming to fight in convincing the Eridanus Rebels in his old home system to repair the ship. That was a bloody fight and the Master Chief heard The Vice Admiral speak to the rebel Governor named Jacob Jiles when the Covenant came en masse.

“My duty is clear, to protect the men and women of Earth - not a pack of privateers and outlaws.”

The Spartan however knew that while The Vice Admiral made a sound tactical decision to warn Earth of the coming Covenant Fleet and trading lives for time, it still saddened the Vice Admiral as he heard the man utter the words of regret as he had promised the Eridanus Rebels who helped them that he would give them amnesty, instead sent them to their deaths.

“This is not the Alamo and I am certainly not colonel William Barret Travis, though I dearly wish I were. No, we're running, we're trading hundreds of lives for millions. Hundreds for millions... Duty be damned….I am still going to rot in hell for this. Go Cortana, get us out of here. And God forgive me.”

Danforth Whitcomb eventually gave his life along with ONI Lieutenant Elias Haverson, their deaths bought them time to warn Earth of the coming assault and the NOVA bomb no doubt going off destroyed almost all the ships of the Covenant Invasion Fleet which was 500 strong a death sentence to the human race in his dimension. Hopefully it would not come to that, the Harvesters were already causing too much destruction for them to waste their energies in fighting fellow humans.

“All right…”

Liz grinned, this was a chance to burn off some steam and this guy was going to be good entertainment, but since she needed to get him away from his gear, she decided to speak a bit more.

“But hold on, why don't we fight fair? How about you lose the weapons and the Armor you have on?”

The Spartan shrugged and decided to agree, and the people around the arena were smiling and laughing as well as shouting out for the fight to begin, they thought that Liz was doing the right move be having the guy before them stripped of his Armor and weapons. The Spartan moved to a nearby cubicle and removed his MJOLNIR Powered Assault Armor as well as his weapons and he was now wearing standard UNSC military clothes and was now before the people and Liz who had apparently moved to the floor of the arena armed with some sort of handle which she revealed to be some sort of energy sword, though not in the same caliber as that of the Energy Sword used by the Covenant.

The Spartan was not that worried, his training in CQC, Martial Arts, and armed melee combat might not be in the same league as Fred and Li, but he was more than able to hold his own as Liz got ready to attack.

Liz wondered just how good this guy was without his gear and weapons and she was eager to find out, the stress was getting to her and she needed a release from the stress as well as give the people a good show to see. However she had no idea that the guy she decided to pick a fight with was one of the UNSC's best Super Soldiers.

Fred, Linda, and Kelly looked on with the other Spartans, while the rest of the Nirvana crew looked on at the soon to come fight before them. Hibiki had no idea what was going to be the outcome of this fight, but he knew for a fact that it was not going to be in the way these people hoped it would be.

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

In the ring…

The woman attacked the Master Chief but the Spartan moved in a cool and efficient manner and avoided her attacks, he had to admit that this was the first time he would be fighting without any of his gear, but that hardly bothered the Master Chief as he had been trained at Reach to be strong in body and in mind thanks to Chief Mendez, plus the woman was already showing that she was not very skilled with that sword as he moved easily and evaded the attacks, keeping himself calm and focused, which was not very hard for someone of his training and experience to do.

Liz was getting angry, she had expected this to be simpler now that the guy had no weapons and armor, but it seemed that she was wrong as this guy was moving to fast and too quickly to be a regular person. She tried all manner of attacks and the Spartan continued to dodge and weave through her attacks and she was getting annoyed.

However she didn't have to wait long as the Spartan dodged another attack and threw a light punch at her. The Spartan had toned down the power of his punch to avoid a life threatening blow, but while the blow was not enough to outright kill someone, it was more tha enough to stop Liz in her tracks and make her back away from the Spartan she could only stand for a second before falling to her knees in pain.

Liz gasped in pain as the punch that slammed into her stomach sent pain all over her body, the blow was enough to make her stagger back and clutch her stomach in pain at just how hard the Spartan could hit. She felt the urge to throw up and when she spat out something in her mouth…it turned out to be blood.

She looked at the Master Chief as John-117 merely stood there and he spoke.

“For the record Liz….the Elites have better sword skills than you.”

<What the hell?! This guy punches like he's got titanium for bones?! I've never been hit that hard before!>

Patch and the others in the audience were shocked at the sight before them, Liz's second in command tried to use the hidden panels to stop the Spartan and give Liz an opening, but the Master Chief stopped from colliding with the panel and then he merely punched the panel and literally ripped it clean off the floor and it was sent flying and landed in a loud heap.

Liz got up and her once smug look was replaced by fear as the Spartan merely moved his hand away, totally unfazed by the fact that he had just ripped a solid metal plate clean off the floor. She had thought that by forcing the Spartan to leave his weapons as well as remove his MJOLNIR Power Armor, she would have a chance, but now it seemed that things were now in the favor of the Spartan. It was then that Hibiki decided to speak.

“Hey lady…”

Liz turned and faced the young man as John's protégé gave her a very smug look.

“You know….of all the guys you picked a fight with, the Master Chief's the worst kind. If he wanted to, he could break every bone in your body into powder with his bare hands without the MJOLNIR. Hate to say it….but you have picked the WRONG person to piss off.”

The Spartan then reached behind him and revealed his support weapon, the people of the Delta Six Mission gasped as the Spartan ignited his Energy Sword and spoke to Liz with the weapon aimed right at her.

“If you want to have some entertainment Liz, then try and get it.”

Patch was about to make a move once more when all of a sudden, he found himself facing Kelly who rushed to his direction and she was armed with a Combat Knife to his throat, the fastest of the Spartans proved her nickname as `Rabbit' once more, she had spotted the move and rushed there before any of the residents of the mission could stop her.

Patch gulped as despite being tall for his age, the female Spartan was taller that he was and she was already pressing her Combat Knife to a very vulnerable area that had his ceratoid artery, one wrong move and the Spartan could slit his throat and kill him, and with her level of strength, she could easily tear his head off if she wanted to, Kelly spoke to him in a very serious tone.

“Don't you dare try that again….or I'll tear you apart so fast you would think you were in a blender.”

The others tried to move to attacking Kelly, but they were quickly greeted by the weapons of the Spartan IIs and the Spartan IIIs.

Liz could see that this was turning bad and as much as she hated to do it she had no choice but to surrender. With that on hand, the Spartan deactivated his Energy Sword and then placing the weapon aside. It seemed that negotiations were going to go on after all. But she had to admit, this guy was good….very good. The Spartan then offered his hand to her and she accepted it, and she noted the firmness of his grip as well.

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

In the bar…

Liz sighed as she drank her whisky as she looked at the Spartan who was now back in his full armor and looking at the bar. She had to admit that seeing him back in his MJOLNIR was something of a disappointment, she kind of liked the way he looked, his pale skin notwithstanding. At the moment, she had recovered from the beating she got and had to admit that fighting this guy was certainly something she had no idea about. She then decided to have something of a conversation with the Spartan.

“So, what's your name?”

“Excuse me?”

“You do have a name right? I certainly can't just be calling Chief or Master Chief all the time, I don't know you that well.”

John thought about it and decided to just give his codename, rank and serial number, that was normal procedure and he was not going to reveal that much classified information anyway, he might have loosened up a bit, but that certainly didn't mean he was going to blatantly ignore military protocol.

“United Nations Space Command navy, Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra-117.”

Liz couldn't help but feel a sweat drop coming on her head and realized that maybe it was better for her to just stick with calling him Master Chief or just Chief, it would be a lot better that way and was not so straining on her mind.

“I guess you're a hardcore military guy, so asking your real name's out of the question, all right Chief, mind if I ask you a question?”

“Go ahead.”

“All right….what exactly are you, I saw the way you fought you know and the way you moved, not to mention I saw you rip apart a single sheet of metal plate it was nothing but a wooden board with a fist, you are not completely human are?”

“No, I was enhanced with genetics enhancement as well as cybernetic implants.”

“Okay then, so how did you get mixed up with the women of Megele anyway? As far as I know, women from that world aren't exactly friendly towards men.”

“It's a long story. How did you wind up as leader of this Mission Station?”

Liz sighed and replied.

“I wasn't voted and I didn't fight others for this position either. I took it because there was no other way, the people here needed something to give them some measure of hope no matter how stupid that might be to some people. Anyway, I have to admit that the deal you guys give is very tempting, so I agreed, if the food supplies you can give us will help make sure that we survive a lot longer, and the spare parts will be welcome too, is there anything else that can be offered from you guys?”

“Why ask me? You should have asked the Commander for that?”

“Just thought I'd ask.”

The Spartan thought it over and recalled the large stocks of Tarak nutrient pills that were still in the supply section of the Nirvana, there was at least enough pills to last a full three to six years, no doubt this was possible due to the original purpose of the Nirvana when it was retrofitted by the men of Tarak to be their fleet's flagship. The pills were currently still in storage and were very much worthy of consumption, none of the women from Megele liked the pills, and the same could be said for everyone else even though Bart still preferred those and Duero still trusted them. However, despite his own preference for normal food, the Spartan was raised to be practical in mindset and he had already analyzed the value of the food pills.

On one hand, they were very easy to manufacture and required almost no effort to prepare saving on resources, time, and materials, they were easy to store in any container and were able to remain fresh and usable for years. They were able to be also able to be mass produced in large quantities, and while they lacked the taste of real food, they were very much able to provide all the needed vitamins, minerals, nutrients, calories, carbohydrates and more to the person without the mess and fuss of being made in a kitchen. The other fact was that they were filling and could provide enough energy for many hours of work, they were quick to digest and were non fattening. The last observation was a slight oversight on his part, but it was a truth that was evident.

The pills would certainly be more than welcome despite the lack of taste and while Bart might not like it, the trade seemed to be a very good idea on his part.

“We do have another supply we can get rid of.”

“That being?”

“Tarak manufactured food pills, the Nirvana had crates worth of them, you can have them if you want it.”

Liz was immediately interested and made that obvious with her next question.

“Just what sort of food items are these?”

The Spartan explained what they were and also how much they had on hand and Liz surprised him by agreeing stating that while the stuff might taste bad, they could get used to it and the energy given by the pills would certainly help keep them going for as long as they needed to be going, every little bit could help their people in the long run and that was all that mattered to Liz. The Spartan agreed with that and decided to call in the request to Buzam and Magno, and he would wait for the reply.

He then scanned the people in the bar and the spotted someone that he quickly recognized and that was when the Spartan tensed up and quickly moved into action. This person was very much in need of his attention.

Liz wondered what was going on as the Spartan suddenly made his way to the direction of a certain table.

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

The person the Spartan recognized was none other than Rabat himself, the mercenary traitor to the human race was currently drinking some brandy when he heard heavy foot falls that he suddenly recognized as the foot falls of someone in heavy armor and he only knew of one person who had that kind of armor on.

He looked and did an impressive spit take in that instant as he recognized the Spartan.

“PPPPPHHHHHHHFFFFFF!!!”

Rabat had no idea that the new ship he had heard docking with Delta Six was actually the Nirvana and had he known that before then he would have vacated the premises but now it seemed that fate had other ideas for him, he reached for his pistol and shouted out a curse the massive man who was already making his way towards him.

“YOU DAMN FREAK!!!”

The trader and Harvester spy had no time to react when the Spartan quickly rushed in at super human speed and pushed up his arm as he was getting ready to aim the pistol at him, the Spartan then tightened his grip and Rabat heard the sound of his bones cracking under the superior strength of the Spartan and he shouted in pain as he was forced to drop the weapon he had prepared and then he was hit by a fist in the stomach.

He fell to the ground with a loud moan and the Spartan looked Rabat with absolute contempt and disgust though that was hidden away by the MJOLNIR Mark VI and his visor and the Spartan looked at Rabat and then placed his foot on Rabat's chest and spoke seriously.

“So we meet again traitor, came here to finish what you and your clients started?”

The people in the bar were shocked by the events before them but the Spartan was not concerned with their thoughts as he looked at the traitor of the whole human race before him and he spoke once more in a much more serious and deadly tone to the man before him.

“Did you come here to see how many other people you can sell off to the Harvesters for your greed? Knowing you, the answer is yes you traitorous bastard, and now I have an answer to that.”

Rabat barely had time to curse the Spartan as John-117 without hesitation, took out his M6G Magnum from his hip and spoke in the same tone that he had used towards the mercenary spy when they first met back in the Mission Station months before as he aimed the gun at Rabat's forehead.

“Rabat….by the laws of the UNSCDF and the UEG, I hereby find you guilty of high treason, you sold out the human race to the Harvesters for money and for your own personal safety, your actions have resulted in destroyed worlds, still unaccounted dead, and now the fact that the people of this Mission have lost their homes, loved ones, and more besides because of your actions in working for the Harvesters, for that there is only one punishment…death.”

With the sight of the Spartan taking out his Magnum before him as well as the fact that he was feeling even more helpless as his body was in agony, the con man and spy of the Harvesters realized that he was about to die, and in that moment, he fell deeply into fear and spoke out.

“No! Don't do it!!! I'm sorry!!! I'll give you all the data I have…. just don't kill me!!!”

The Spartan however was unmoved, he had made a promise to kill Rabat and he was going to carry it out without hesitation or mercy, he had killed humans before and while he disliked spilling human blood before and during the UNSC-Covenant War, he knew the order of killing traitors to the UNSC and the Human race in general was right, the idea of letting people who betrayed their race live was wrong. And the scope of Rabat's crimes told him that death was the only course.

“I don't think so Rabat….I promised you once that if you and I ever meet, I would kill you, and you know something Rabat? When I make a promise…”

“NO!!!!!”

BANG!!!!!

Rabat had no time to say anything else as the roar of the UNSC side arm was heard in the bar, the mercenary had only a micro-second to feel the impact of the M6G Magnum round as his body stiffened up as the round tore easily through skin and bone right through brain matter. The con man knew that he was dead in that moment as he lay on the floor, but that was not over as the M6G's 12.7x40mm M225 Semi-Armor-Piercing High-Explosive Round, or the SAPHE in shorter terms, exploded as the inner explosive core in the bullet was ignited by the built in delay action fuse, this type of round was considered lethal and crippling, depending on where it hit, and the head was the worst of it.

The sound that resembled that of a melon hitting the ground at high speed was heard as Rabat's head was blown apart….leaving his body decapitated by the explosive round. The Spartan then spoke with absolute finality.

“I keep it, you will never sell out another world and it's people ever again traitor.”

Liz looked in horror at the sight of Rabat's head and took out her side arm and aimed it at the Spartan as she and the others in the bar grabbed their weapons, they were shocked by this and were ready to fight though there was no doubt that the Master Chief could easily kill them if he wanted to. The leader of the Delta Mission shouted at the Spartan in shock and anger.

“Why did you kill Rabat?!”

The Spartan placed his M6G Magnum down and replied.

“Because he was a traitor, it was he who helped the Harvesters begin their genocidal campaign on humanity. He betrayed fellow humans and left them to the inhuman actions of the Harvesters, it was he who told the Harvesters of your worlds.”

“What?!”

“We gathered a great deal of evidence that Rabat is responsible for the successes of the Harvesters as he is their spy, if you want proof, then you will have it. But if he was here, then he will have no doubt brought the Harvesters along to finish the job.”

Liz spun at the turn of events, she had just witnessed Rabat, who was something of a suitor executed by the armored Spartan and accused of being a traitor to the whole human race, she wanted answers for this action.

“What's going on here?!”

The Spartan however then spoke through the comm..link system. He knew for a fact that if Rabat was here, then there was no doubt that the Harvesters were not going to be far behind.

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

In the Nirvana's Command Bridge…

Magno was shocked by the news the very second the Spartan Commander spoke to them all in the bridge.

“What?! Rabat is onboard?!”

The Spartan nodded as he was on the view screen of the Nirvana, the rest of the bridge crew were not the least bit happy at the news of the con man and Harvester spy being there yet again to make life miserable for them all.

“Yes Ma'am, if he is here then the Harvesters will not be far behind, I suggest the Nirvana's Dread Squadrons get ready as well as the Fire Teams, we can expect company soon.”

Magno then knew that if Rabat was around then the Harvesters were coming this way soon enough, she gave the order for all the Nirvana's forces to get ready, she then looked at the Spartan seriously as she knew that if the Master Chief had met Rabat, there would be a mess, and she had been there at the time that Rabat fought the Master Chief and what the Master Chief promised Rabat if they were to meet once more.

“Master Chief….what of Rabat?”

The Spartan merely replied.

“He's been dealt with Captain.”

The Captain sighed and knew just what that meant, the Spartan had killed Rabat, the idea of humans killing each other was not new to the elderly woman as she knew history to be filled with conflict between humans, she never liked it and that was why her crew had never killed any men from Tarak unless it was unavoidable, they had avoided that for some time now, but this was unexpected and it shocked the elderly woman that a human life was taken by another. It still sickened her to think of humans killing one another, but she knew that considering Rabat's crimes, it was something that would happen soon enough.

“I see…I might not like the idea of you doing what you did, but as much as I hate to admit it, that man had it coming. I want you to be ready for the arrival of the Harvesters Master Chief, defend that station until they were annihilated.”

“Understood Captain, we need to have the data we got of Rabat's activities and his crimes so we can prove his alliance with the Harvesters to the people here.”

“Understood.”

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

Later…

Liz felt her stomach lurch at the information she was reading at this moment, all the files that the Nirvana's crew have gathered, as well as reports from Rabat's own NAV Com were revealed to her, Utan had been heartbroken and had tried to avenge her dead master, but the Master Chief was unimpressed, the orangutan's attacks on the Spartan's Paeksis enhanced MJOLNIR Mark VI was as effective as it was to use a tooth pick to scratch a steel wall.

The Spartan however didn't kill the orangutan but knocked it unconscious and decided to show some mercy to the animal as it cried it's heart out on the body of her fallen master before attacking him, he struck with a light blow to knock the orangutan aside and place it into the grip of unconsciousness. The Spartan placed the now unconscious orangutan into a set of highly effective restraints and had the animal sent back to the Nirvana, namely to the Forward Unto Dawn's cryogenic bay, he would condition a cryo-tube to suit Utan's biology and when they found a suitable world, they would drop her off there. It would be hard for something as domesticated to return to the wild, but the Spartan believed it to be the right course, and besides, there was also the chance that they could find a new master for Utan.

As the orangutan was taken away under the watchful eye of the Spartan IIIs, the Master Chief along with his fellow Spartan IIs decided to arm the people of the station, The Spartan IIIs quickly high tailed it back to the Shuttle and took out the crates that had the spare UNSC and Tarak weapons.

Liz looked at the Nirvana party and spoke.

“I…I….can't believe it, Rabat sold us out to the Harvesters?”

Buzam nodded she had been shocked by the sight of the trader having his brains blown out by the Spartan but knew that it was bound to happen, if others had found out about Rabat's activities, they would have killed him, and with him out f the way, there would be no other worlds that were going to be attacked.

“We had a hard time digesting the information ourselves when we first found it, but it is true….Rabat betrayed the human race to the Harvesters and he is no doubt responsible for all the people here in Delta Six, including you and your fellow survivor Patch, for losing everything, he's gone now.”

Hibiki then spoke.

“That still doesn't mean it's over, Rabat must have contacted the Harvesters and it won't be long before they get here, what kind of weapons do your people have?”

Gascogne nodded.

“Hibiki's got a point, what kind of weapons do you have on this station?”

Liz shook her head.

“Not much, some personnel weapons and a few hand guns, we mostly use what we can find, the shielding on the station is pathetic, the armor plating is about to fail or is failing, and our sensors are completely worthless. In fact, the only reason we haven't been overrun was the fact that we do everything to minimize the power output of the reactor to make it look like this station's nothing but a wreck.”

Buzam could understand just what sort of life these people led, hiding from the Harvesters and holding to their sanity as well as their lives. Now that the Harvesters were coming, they needed something to give them the will to fight. She decided to get things going as she faced the Spartans and the others.

“We need to get things underway if we are to beat the Harvesters here and now! Hibiki!”

Hibiki looked at Buzam seriously as she gave him his orders.

“I need you and Dita to head back to your respective machines and got out there to support our forces ASAP!”

Hibiki nodded and replied.

“Count on it.”

Buzam then faced the Spartans as well as Barnette, Jura, and Gascogne.

“Barnette, Jura, Parfait, Gascogne, and I will work with the Spartans to evacuate the people of Delta Six to the safest place on the station, once they were all there, we need to set up defensive positions to hold off the Harvester advance. Chief, it's your call.”

The Spartan thought it over and knew that the best chance they had was to get the people in a very centralized location they were spread too thin and had to be in one place which was defensible from counter attack, there was no doubt in his mind that the Harvesters would find ways to attack them. He turned to Patch as well as Liz and spoke seriously.

“Where is the safest and easily defensible location in this entire station?”

Liz replied.

“The best place is the Central Control Room, it's one of the few areas of Delta Six that is still relatively intact and harder to get into.”

The Spartan nodded at that, the central control room would be a logical choice for a safe location, however, it would also mean that the Harvesters would know their location and converge on them, it was risky, but they would have to stay there, not only would it give them the best chance to defend the people of the Mission, as well as make sure that they were going to eliminate the Harvesters in one place than go about the station chasing them. However, he decided to get the people who could fight into this situation.

“Patch, how many of your people here know how to fire a gun?”

The hulking man found himself being stared at by the Spartan and the sight of his own visage looking back at him through the visor of the Spartan's helmet. He pulled himself together and answered the Spartan's question.

“Most of us know how to hold a gun but with ammunition supplies very low, we don't get a lot of chances to train.”

The Spartan thought as much and looked at the pod, he quickly thumbed a special UNSC override code and soon the pod opened to reveal it's cargo, much to Liz and Patch's surprise as the Spartan turned to them.

“You're about to get your chance, have the women and children brought into the central control center and have several teams act as rear security guards. The rest of you form up into teams and follow our lead.”

Patch wasn't much of a military guy, heck he disliked the military back in his days on his world, but there was no doubt in his mind that arguing with a near seven foot tall super human wearing a powered assault armor that was terrifying to look at and carrying the meanest rifle he had ever seen in his life was not the healthiest of ideas. With that in mind, the bald muscle bound man called all the men who were available and they were then armed with Liz getting her Flame Thrower, an old fashioned style weapon yet effective. As soon as weapons and ammunition were distributed to the people the Master Chief began to order the forces into an even distribution.

Fred was assigned several of the men of Delta Six while the same was done with Kelly and Linda while the Spartan IIIs were also divided evenly to space things out and as soon as the evacuation was underway, they got an incoming communiqué from Cortana that the Harvesters had finally arrived, only this time, it seemed that they were coming out in force this time.

Hibiki and Dita made their way to their respective machines as they knew that they were needed to support the rest of the forces outside, and as they made their way to their machines, it was not long before the Harvesters showed up to cause mayhem on the Delta Six Mission. However, the Nirvana and it's crew were more than ready to greet them as the Dreads and Longswords take to the battle in formation.

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

The battle in the Delta Six Station was already well under way as several Boarding Craft came out of nowhere using their stealth systems to deposit their cargo, however, the Harvester Shock Troopers were now escorted by what appeared to be floating blobs of light, these strange entities appeared to be clouds of nano-machines that were able to open doors and override control systems through touch and then hacking into the system. These creatures also seemed to be able to refract laser based attacks, Jura found this out the hard way as she attempted to use a trio of Laser Rings to fight off the first batch.

However it was later discovered that while the blobs had the ability to refract laser or energy based weapons, they were not meant to handle physical attacks or solid kinetic rounds as Barnette's antique gun collection proved their effectiveness in combat alongside the projectile weaponry of the Spartans. The Spartans decided not to use grenades or the grenade launchers for the MA5C ICWS Assault Rifles due to the danger of compromising the already damaged super structure of the Delta Six Mission Station. But even without the use of the grenades, the Spartans were already beating the living daylights out of the harvester forces that were closing in.

The Master Chief then contacted Hibiki in hoping that the young Tarak teen and Dita would make it back to their machines and that they were safe from attack.

“Hibiki! How far are you from your Vanguard?”

The COM crackled and in came Hibiki's voice.

“We're almost there, I've escorted Dita to reach her Dread and I'm already boarding my Vanguard.”

“Good, we need to get the Harvesters away from the Mission! Focus on wiping them out with close range attack and don't use the VanDread's main guns at this range!”

“Understood Master Chief!”

It was not long before both Hibiki and Dita were away from the station and into the depths of space as energy trails, missile trails and more were all over the place. The area of space was littered with ruined husks of Cube Fighters and several husks of Longswords, thankfully the Dread pilots were able to avoid getting shot down as they knew that without Gascogne to fly the Dreki for a rescue and retrieval mission they could ill afford to be shot down. The Cube Fighters could very well capture them and take them to their ships which was the last thing any of them wanted.

The arrival of the VanDread formed by Dita and Hibiki was a welcome sight and the two wasted no time in engaging the Harvesters in deep space, Hibiki however kept in mind that using the VanDread's main guns was out of the question due to the proximity

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

In the Bridge…

“This is Meia to Cortana, we need fire support bad, can you fire a barrage of weapons fire on the Harvesters? We need fire support fast, without Gascogne to fly the Dreki, there's no way for use to refuel, rearm, and fight back!”

Cortana shook her head while she was still in the holo-tank.

“Negative, the blast waves could very well hit the Mission, the Harvesters are too close to it for me to get any accurate firing solutions.”

“Understood! Bart! Can you use the Nirvana's plasma weapon systems to take them out?”

Bart shook his head at Meia's request.

“No way, even if I can guide the beams away from you and the others, there's still a chance I can hit the station. Cortana is right on this one Meia! You and the other Dread pilots need to get them away from the station for me and Cortana to have a full blown chances of wiping them out without endangering the people in the Mission.”

Meia had to agree with Bart and Cortana's decision and quickly ordered the Dreads to do their best to try and lure the Harvesters away from the station to give Bart and Cortana a better chance at dealing with the Harvesters, the force before them at the moment was a massive number of Cube Fighters, and several teams Seed Ships. With Gascogne there in the Delta Six Station, there was no way for the Dreads to rearm and therefore they would have to ration their shots as best they could with the situation before them . The Longswords however had no problem with the situation as they unleashed their firepower on the Harvester forces before them as the Nirvana moved a bit more to get the right firing angle as well as wait for the signal to take out the Harvesters once delta Six was clear of the firing zone.

Cortana quickly spoke to John as she tapped into his MJOLNIR Mark VI' COM system.

“Chief! What's the status in there?”

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

Inside the Delta Six Mission the battle was still ongoing and this time, Jura was currently armed with a much different set of weapons and that included an old fashion MP5 Submachine Gun handed to her by Barnette while Buzam had placed aside her whip and reserved it for close combat engagements and was currently wielding an old fashion Ak-47 Kalashnikov Assault Rifle while Gascogne who had already secured the people who were not fit to fight, was fighting alongside them with an Ma5C ICWS Assault Rifle. The Spartan IIs were also going their best with Tom and Lucy coordinating the defensive situation. The men of Delta Six might not like the idea of being under the command of the Spartans but the sight of how the Spartans fought told them that picking a bone with any of them, even the younger ones was a very dangerous idea.

Along with the Spartan IIs and Spartan IIIs the only Spartan I was there as well, Franklin Mendez was in his basic Marine Body Armor and wielding a Br55 HB SR Battle Rifle and despite looking a lot older than most, the men of the Delta Six Mission could see just how deadly this man was as he cut down threat after threat before him.

The Master Chief drained the magazine of his own MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and spoke as he loaded a fresh magazine into his weapon.

“We're getting rather cramped in here Cortana but we're holding the fort! How many Boarding Craft are still out there?”

“At least four more and they disgorged their units!”

“Great. We'll hold the line here.”

As the battle began to turn to the favor of the pirates as the Dreads finally forced away the Harvesters from Delta Six, the Spartans began leading a section by section counter attack with the men of Delta Six and there were blobs of plasma like energy all over the place as the nano-machines were splattered while the bodies of the Harvester Shock Troopers were all over the place.

As soon as the news was reached that Hibiki, Dita, Cortana, Bart, and the other Dread pilots had defeated the space borne forces of the, the people in the Delta Six station were happy that the Harvesters were driven back and now came the hard task of cleaning up the mess and of course, they would have to help the people of Delta Six be more capable in defending themselves in combat.

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

Weeks later…

It had taken some time to clean up the remains of the Harvester forces that attempted to finally end Delta Six. The Harvesters had no idea the Nirvana would be on site and thus had only brought a small team of boarding craft with Harvester Shock Troopers available, they only used the floating blob like entities for their main assault. With those annihilated piece meal by the Spartans and the now better armed residents, the work in repairing and retrofitting the station began.

The Master Chief and the rest of the Spartans brought in a large number of crates containing UNSC issue weapons, munitions, armor, and supplies while Franklin Mendez handled the training of a basic soldier's contingent of the Delta Six's population, while some of the people tried to stand up to the senior Spartan I, they were quickly reminded that this old man was not to be messed around with. The trainer of the Spartans as well as a decorated UNSC Marine officer was going to whip them into shape no matter how much time he did or didn't have.

The Spartans were also aiding their trainer in teaching the men and women volunteers of the Delta Six Mission on how to train themselves better and since they were working on this task, the people began to ease their wariness of the Spartans.

Parfait and her crew were already out in their space suits working on repairing the Station as well as adding new features into the station to help them. They worked in improving the shielding systems of the Station to give it a stronger line of defense in case of attack by the Harvesters, along with this was repairing and retrofitting the scanner systems of the station in order to give the station some extra measure of protection and stronger sensory systems. The alloy armor was now being replaced by Titanium A- Armor Plating that Cortana had been able to manufacture and send out to seal the many torn up sections of the station, that and the ablative coating certainly helped in making sure that the station was now more than able to handle a sudden attack. The scanning abilities of the Delta Six Mission Station was upgraded by a small wing of Clarion Spy Drones that were able to maintain recon sweeps hundreds of light years ahead of the normal sensor systems of the Mission, this gave the people of the Mission a deadly edge on first response.

The defenses underwent a major overhaul as well in order to increase the station's survival, the Nirvana's crew began to install a number of 50 mm Point Defense Guns to counter Harvester Boarding Craft as well as Cube Fighters, as well several other deadly weapons such as the 110mm Rotary Guns which were used by the Longswords. The Nirvana crew also added a set of GUA-23/AW/Linkless Feed Auto Cannons, these were used in Vulture Gunships as well as the Hawk VTOL units, The crew also installed backs of Weapon/Anti-Vehicle Model 6 Grindell/Galilean Nonlinear Rifles or Spartan LASERS which were modified to take power from the Power Core of the Delta Six Station. And to complete the Point Defense Guns for the station a number of X23 NNEMP Cannon turrets, the EMP shots would scramble smaller threats and allow the rest of the forces of Delta Six to launch a massive counter attack.

The Nirvana crew had been able to make several modified 1200 High-velocity Gun Turrets, these were normally the weapons used by the Grizzly Tanks that they had on storage at the moment. The turrets were placed in regular intervals around the Delta Six station's structure and were powered by their own fusion power cells and were automatically controlled by several fire control stations which were installed by Dr. Catherine who created a special computer control system that was based on using a `dumb' AI.

As being the head of the Spartan II Program as well as the head of the MJOLNIR Armor Projects as well as the developer of all new generation UNSC `Smart' AIs, Catherine had no problem creating AI programs. There were two UNSC AI classifications, the `Smart' AIs which Cortana formerly belonged to, as well as `Dumb' AIs.

The `Smart' AIs were created from flash cloned human brains in the same way Cortana was based from Catherine herself. While this gave them amazing learning curves, creativity, and storage capacity, it did limit them in the sense that they were only able to remain functional for seven years, once that happens, they would think themselves literally to death, another danger was Rampancy and that was something most UNSC personnel wanted to avoid as Rampant AIs were a danger to all. Thus they were either terminated or deleted before they reached that level.

The `Dumb' AIs however had no ability to learn outside of their established operational parameters, while this limited them in the art of being creative, this limitation detached them from the risks of Rampancy, and grants them unlimited operation time. This meant that while they were perfect in their areas of expertise, they were not able to adapt to anything else.

Catherine programmed the `Dumb' Ai directly from the designs of Chief Mendez himself who agreed with the idea as the senior UNSC officer as well as Spartan I was very capable of the job. The avatar of the newly created AI matched Chief Mendez down to his trademark facial scars. The newly created AI was more than ready to do it's work as soon as the rest of the weapon systems were completed as well as field tested. The new AI christened well enough as Leonidas, and wore the same armor as an old class Spartan hoplite. This was able to actually make the gruff and by the book mentor of the Spartans grin slightly.

Apart from the 1200 High-Velocity Gun Turrets, there were also other turrets such as the ones such as the 90mm High Velocity Cannons used by the Scorpion Tanks, these were somewhat faster than the 1200 High-Velocity Turrets and worked in conjunction with their bigger cousins for a greater wall of firepower. This made them deadly to all attackers in their range and those were soon to be tested. They also managed to create a large number of Archer Missile Pods to add more power to Delta Six, these were also supplanted by a number of. modified Argent V Missile pods as well as ASGM-10 Missile Pods, the same kinds of missiles used by the Longswords of the Nirvana.

The Nirvana's crew also took some M66 Gauss Cannons which were quite capable of ripping into even the heaviest armor though that was not possible in firing the weapons together at once. The weapons were also supported by an array of the M68 Gauss Canons, and while these were smaller, they fired faster and could unleash a hailstorm of weapons fire. There was no way for them to build a full scale magnetic Accelerator Canon for the station since the power supply of the station couldn't handle it.

The station's internal systems were also repaired; corroded wires and circuit boards were replaced with new ones. Security fields were installed into key access areas, as well as defensive positions along with guard stations with a full armory and Emergency First Aid Treatment station in place just in case the Harvesters could break into the station. The rotten sections of the Delta Six's plating were replaced by Vanadium Steel as well as well as the damaged section of the frame of the station were replaced by TR Steel Alloy. Once the repairs were done, the pirates, and their Talvernian allies were also on routine patrols with the Talvernians in the Vanguards while the women of Megele were in their Dreads escorted by the AI controlled Longswords.

The actions turned the once rotting and derelict station into one hell of a fortress, Liz and Patch had to admit that their once defenseless home was not turned into a veritable fortress that no sane person would dare to attack. They were also amazed by the arrival of surplus food, Tarak nutrient pills, medical supplies, spare parts, Tarak and UNSC weapons as well as ammunition. They were also given special manufacturing tools and machines to help them be more self sufficient. The Nirvana crew also located what appeared to a good site for a vegetable farm as well as a cloning facility and as soon as that was operational, the people of Delta Six could start breeding and growing all their food stuffs.

The station's new communication systems had also given the Delta Six people a chance to contact other worlds and inform them of the death of the Harvesters' only human agent as well as feed them reports on the current progress of the Harvesters.

The ships there were also there in the Delta Six Hangers were given full overhauls as well as needed repairs, most of the ships were already old and needed to be replaced, but with some elbow grease, and a lot of hard work, the ships were brought back to life, they were outfitted with weapons from Megele using the spare weapons for the Dread Squadrons as well as weapons from the UNSC Arsenals. The pirates were also able to give them a wing of the modified Vanguards to further increase their offensive and defensive abilities.

The pirates were not all that happy for the delays, but they knew that giving these people a fighting chance against the Harvesters was something that they could never turn away from, seeing that the people before them were all the refugees of worlds destroyed by the Harvesters. They knew these people deserved a fighting chance

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

In the finally restocked bar of Delta Six…

Liz drank her newly acquired supply of whisky as she thought about that had happened in the span of a month. Their station which was once run down and looking like a mess was rebuilt and turned into a massive fortress, they were now armed like a small army and given enough supplies to last for years. It was a godsend, and while Liz had given up in believing in a God or Goddess ever since the fall of her and Patch's home world, she felt that fate had finally been kind to them after all they had endured.

As she finished her drink, she looked at one spot in the bar in particular, the same place Rabat had been executed by the Spartan only going be the name Master Chief, back then she wouldn't mind being around the man despite his arrogant attitude, but after learning that he was the man responsible for all the suffering of the people in this station, including her and Patch she felt no sense of pity, only a tinge of regret for not being the one to make Rabat pay for his crimes. The man had been the reason for the losses, the agony, and more for all the people involved. Had she known about it before, she would have gladly shot him dead.

The fact also remained that with him gone, the Harvesters would no longer have an agent to feed them information that could lead to other worlds being reduced into barren lands the way her and Patch's world had been reduced to, as well as the worlds of others. There had been no doubt that the very moment that Rabat's crimes had been unleashed to the public of Delta Six there was great anger and regret that they had never gotten the chance to gain their revenge.

“Lost in thought?”

Liz turned to find the Spartan in question before him, dressed head to toe in his MJOLNIR Mark VI Armor and her face looking back at her through the reflection of the polarized golden visor that the Master Chief had before him.

Liz nodded as she poured yet another drink to her shot glass and spoke.

“Yeah….I wished that I had known about the crimes that bastard committed, I would have killed him on the spot…I know killing him won't bring all the people he helped the Harvesters kill back to life, but at least they'll sleep better in the afterlife now that he's gone.”

“You believe in?”

“In there being a divine being out there as well as heaven and hell? I gave up my world's faith ever since it was burned down, Master Chief. But this time, I guess that I can believe that not all mankind is lost. I might have lost some of my faith in God or a Goddess, but I guess my faith in people, humanity itself is restored. Thanks to you and the crew you work with, at least I know we all have a chance to beat these bastards, it's a slim chance, but better than laying down and letting them kill us without a fight.”

The Spartan said nothing and Liz spoke to him while getting another shot glass.

“Look….I know for a fact that you're on duty and all…but you have time for a drink?”

The Spartan wondered about that, truth be told, he had never drank a single drop of alcohol in his entire life, and he was not sure about how to act, Spartans don't drink that much unless it was for energy and sustenance. However, he also knew that something like that was a gesture of respect among others. Besides, for a civilian, Liz had done well enough in defending the mission, and after all she had been through, at least she could have some peace.

The Spartan took off his helmet and placed aside his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle on the nearby table as well as his helmet and sat down.

“One drink.”

Liz smiled as she poured herself a good amount and then she filled the glass of the Spartan. As she drank her drink slowly, John did the same and as soon as they were done drinking, Liz turned to see the view outside, the Dreads, Longswords, and the Vanguards flying about as well as the new weapons and armor on her new home comforted her as she looked at the Spartan.

“You know…part of me wishes you guys could stay here and help out in keeping the Harvesters away….but I get the feeling you are better off traveling out there and fighting those bastards.”

“I guess so.”

Liz looked at the Spartan and smiled a bit more….for a guy who was really pale, he was certainly good looking in a very primal fashion. Seeing him move and fight was shocking as well as slightly entrancing to say the least, she was tempted to try and get him to join her in her newly refurbished room, she wanted to see if he was a very capable guy in bed as he was in the battle field, but decided against it. However, he and his comrades had done more than their fair share of making life easier for them all, and that was enough. Besides, there was a chance this guy already had a partner, and she was not in the mood to be fighting another woman who was no doubt equal to the Spartan before her.

“Master Chief?”

“Yes?”

“I wish you the best of luck out there, there's still going to be a lot to do, I can bet after all you and the pirates have done to the Harvesters, they'd be wanting you dead.”

John nodded and Liz offered her hand for a handshake.

“Promise me that you'll make those inhuman bastards pay for all the lives they ever took for their own greed and insanity.”

John nodded and shook Liz's hand.

“I promise.”

With that, the Nirvana left Delta Mission Station to continue on with the rest of the mission, the pirates and the people from the UNSC had no doubt in their minds that the Harvesters were not going to be blind for long, eventually they were going to find out that Rabat had been killed by the Master Chief and the only source of information they had outside in space concerning the other human colonies had just been taken down.

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

In the Bio-Park…

The Master Chief looked out in space while he was in the Nirvana's garden and was deep in thought when he heard someone speak.

“Deep in thoughts Master Chief?”

John turned to see Franklin Mendez walk up to him and he saluted his commanding officer and father figure, Franklin returned the salute and then both Spartans, First Generation Spartan and Second Generation Spartan looked out at the sight before them.

“Yes sir…there's a chance the Harvesters are going to be sending out special units to hunt us down now, there's no way they can ignore us Spartans for long.”

“True, but even still, we do what we have to in order to win. These Harvesters are not going to give up, that much is certain so we shouldn't either. You did well to get this far Master Chief.”

“Thank you sir.”

“But there is one lesson I hope you haven't forgotten.”

“Sir?”

“A leader must be ready to send soldiers under his command to their deaths. That was what I taught you back on Reach.”

“I know sir….but we need to save as many human lives as possible, we can't afford to lose too many lives.”

“I take it Dr. Catherine had a conversation with you about that?”

“Yes sir.”

“Fair enough, but keep in mind that we have to be ready for that time when it comes. There is no such thing as a victory without sacrifice, remember the soldiers who you and the others were named after?”

John had not forgotten his history lessons concerning the battle of Thermopylae and the fate of the Spartans who gave their lives when the Persians sought to conquer Greece, he began to see what Chief Mendez meant, the Spartans lost their lives to buy the Greek city states time to prepare and arm up to face the Persians. Now he and his fellow Spartans were in that same position, they were now the few who defied the Harvesters who sought to conquer and harvest humanity who they were once part of.

“I haven't forgotten sir.”

“Good, that time come again that you have to sacrifice lives John. There is a difference…”

“Between a life well spent…and a life wasted.”

“Good…come on, I think it's time we had a drink.”

John was surprised by that, as far as he knew SCPO Franklin Mendez, the man never had a drink, but he was not going to turn down his commanding officer. The two left and arrived at the Forward Unto Dawn section of the Nirvana and there in the main hall was a large pitcher filled with a strong drink, no doubt brandy and already there were several glasses filled though there were glasses filled with fruit juice. There in the hall were the other Spartans all bare of their helmets, even the Spartan IIIs were there, with the helmets of their SPI Mark II Armors removed. There was also Catherine and Cortana.

Cortana smiled at John solemnly and spoke to her guardian, friend and protector.

“Glad you made it John. Come on, it time we salute the others.”

Catherine nodded but in her case, she had a cup of hot coffee as she avoided alcohol at best. She knew that normally she would have preferred not to be in this occasion as she felt the still lingering guilt she had, but she couldn't turn down her Spartans. It was time that she thought back on their lives as well.

As the Spartans took the glasses, Franklin started it out for his side as he knew his fellow Spartan Is.

“To Avery J. Johnson, James Lee, Nolan Byrne, Gladys Wilson, Gilly, and to Morales.”

With that, Franklin drank his shot and it was now the turn of the other Spartans, John was the first to start it out as he thought of all his fellow Spartan IIs.

“To Sam.”

Kelly nodded and spoke next as she held her glass.

“To Grace.”

Fred was next to speak with his own glass.

“To Malcolm.”

Linda was next as well.

“To Will.”

The cycle then repeated for the Spartan IIs as they remembered their fellow Spartans who were either Killed In Action and those who were Missing In Action.

“To James.”

“To Kurt.”

“To Fhajad.”

“To Randall.”

“To Sheila.”

“To Kirk.”

“To Rene.”

“To Li.”

“To Anton.”

“To Vinh.”

“To Joshua.”

“To Isaac.”

“To Jai.”

“To Adriana.”

“To Mike.”

“To Douglas.”

“To Alice.”

“To Keiichi.”

“To Jerome.”

“To Maria.”

“To Cassandra.”

With that done, all four members of Spartan Blue team took their drinks and then it was the turn of the Spartan IIIs and Tom summarized it well as he and his fellow Spartan IIs raised their glasses.

“To all fellow brothers and sisters in arms.”

The Spartan IIIs drank their drinks just as Cortana and Catherine did the same. In a nearby corridor was Magno and Buzam, along with Gascogne, Hibiki, Bart, Duero and the three Dread pilots Dita Liebely, Meia Gisborn, and Jura Basil Elden along with Barnette. Barnette then spoke to the others.

“What in the name of the Goddess are they doing?”

Duero spoke.

“They seem to be honoring fellow Spartans, no doubt the ones mentioned were either labeled as Killed in Action or Missing in Action.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“It's a custom back on Tarak to make a toast and say the name of a lost comrade before drinking. It makes sense in that regard, they fought a collection of alien races for the past thirty years of their lives, no doubt despite being Spartans, there would have been losses on their side. They were literally fighting a losing war from what I understand so there were losses for them.”

Bart and Hibiki were well aware of the custom and Magno agreed. The elderly woman knew full well how things were in the past and she could easily see that this was a solemn occasion for the Spartans and therefore they were not supposed to be interfering or disturbing the scene. Buzam nodded as well.

“We should leave them be, this is something that we're not part of.”

Dita sighed and looked at John and she spoke.

“Mr. Green Alien….looks so sad.”

Hibiki nodded at that and so did Jura and Barnette, Magno looked at Catherine as the woman looked very deep in thought as she held her mug of coffee, she had a feeling that the head of the Spartan II Program had a deep load inside of her and she was curious about that matter, but decided to leave that alone for now.

“Let's go.”

As the crew let, the Spartans drank another round and decided to eat their meals for the night together as they did so long ago.

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

To be continued…

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

Author's Notes:

Well now, it seems that Rabat finally get's a bullet in the brain for his betrayal of the human race, it was bound to happen eventually so don't be surprised, after all, Rabat's not the first human the Master Chief ever had to kill, however, in this fic, he thankfully is the last one the Spartan has to kill, and in this case, the Master Chief has VERY good reason to kill the bastard.

I know a lot of guys who hate Rabat will be happy, however, the anime version of this guy turns out to not be all bad in this case, since this is my story and I had placed hints in the first VanDread Halo story that Rabat will eventually get what's coming to him for all he had done for the Harvesters.

Rabat's death ends his service to the Harvesters, so what does it mean for the people of Earth now that their top agent has just been dealt with by the Spartan? And what will happen now that they realize that they are no longer dealing with one Spartan, but several Spartans?

You can bet things are going to be hectic for the Nirvana crew and their allies, but for the next chapter, I have something for all my fans that will REALLY wake you all up and take notice….we have yet another thing from the Halo universe drop by in the VanDread Universe, no it's not the UNSC ships as well as Jessica, but it is something that is going to be very moving in the world of VanDread Halo…

And it's something MASSIVE in terms of ship types…and here's the deal….it's Forerunner…here's the trailer for all my readers so I hope you are ready for this!!!!

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

Trailer:

The pirates looked at the images before them and they were very much shocked by the sight before them, the thing looked to be some sort of ship, but unlike any ship that they knew of

Cortana and Catherine looked at it very well, and so did John, but each of them gained their information in very different ways and circumstances.

John had seen this brand of ship before, it was the ship that powered High Charity, the home city of the Covenant before the Schism, and had been the Flagship of the last of the High Prophets, the Prophet of Truth, he knew just how deadly that ship was and how massive it was as well. He had been imprisoned by the Covenant in the ship when he had tried to kill Truth, but he had been captured and held there before he broke out and eventually landed in Africa to be rescued by Johnson, the Arbiter, and a band of UNSC Marines.

Cortana had gathered all the data that she could get while she was in High Charity as well as evading the Flood's leader Gravemind, as well as gathering all the information she had been able to get her hands on while in the data mainframe of the Ark.

And Catherine was shown the information regarding the ship before them as she had seen the information when she had been speaking with Joyous Rebirth back at the Shield World of Onyx.

Both women spoke at the same time.

“That's a Forerunner Dreadnaught…”

“What?!”

Magno and Buzam were confused by this, however, the senior pirate officers could tell from the expressions of both Cortana and Catherine, that they were familiar with this ship type and who built it. They had NEVER Seen this ship design before and the two pirate officers couldn't shake off the feeling that the ship before them was something totally different from anything they were familiar with.

The Spartan IIs and Spartan IIIs knew that something was wrong and Kelly saw the way John stood that he was not liking the implications of seeing a Forerunner Dreadnaught. The other one watching John was also Franklin Mendez, the senior Spartan I knew that this was a very serious matter since he could tell his former student was deep in thought as he gazed at the Forerunner Dreadnaught.

The Master Chief had only one overriding thought.

<We can't let this ship fall in anyone's hands….especially the Harvesters!>

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

Now this will really be a hell of a ringer now won't it? How did a Forerunner Dreadnaught, a Key Ship land in the world of VanDread? What does this mean for all involved in the world of VanDread? Can the pirates do something about the mammoth ship? And what will it mean if the Harvesters get their evil hands on this ancient but no doubt still functional and deadly Forerunner vessel as well as all the data inside of it?

Wait and see!