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My first Halo story in a long time, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the Halo universe, at all. Nor do I make money from any of this.

Epsilon Erdani System. Planet Reach. Aboard UNSC Cruiser Arcturus.

The dead husks of hundreds of once-proud UNSC warships floated in the void of space, charred from plasma and derelict. Their crews either have long abandoned their vessels, or perished with them. Thousands of great men and women, commanders and subordinates alike, gave their lives to defend one of the last few homes mankind had. They gave their lives in a fight against one of the most dominant, technologically superior enemies man has ever witnessed.

The Covenant.

A coalition of different alien species from all over the known and unknown universe, with only one goal in their sights. The utter destruction of all mankind. When the UNSC first made contact with these aliens, they only received this cryptic message from their ship, translated into English.

Your destruction is the will of the Gods… And we, are their instrument.

Lieutenant Commander David Jackson stood upon the bridge and gazed hopelessly upon the destroyed vessels as they appeared through his monitor. Their IFF tags still were functioning, and each ship was identified, their commander listed, and the number of crew onboard. Jackson felt like he was rummaging through dead corpses.

UNSC Frigate Betsy Ross. Commander: Commander Kaleb Bates. Crew: 87.

UNSC Frigate Savannah. Commander: Commander Bruce Phelps. Crew: 96.

UNSC Cruiser Southern Star. Commander: Captain Rebecca Dane. Crew: 403.

UNSC Carrier Second Dawn. Commander: Rear Admiral Patrick Ward. Crew: 2259.

The commanders onboard these vessels were dead for sure, along with most of their crew. UNSC personnel were proud, and most would demand to go down with their boats rather than leave their crews to perish. They wanted to give everything to protect what little they had left.

Covenant ships groundside were now glassing the planet with pillars of plasma, burning anything and anyone to oblivion. Great cities crumbled, mighty soldiers fell. Nothing was safe from a driven monster powered with brutality. Jackson knew Spartans, the UNSC's much-fabled super-soldiers, were fighting on the ground a hopeless fight. But along with these Spartans, stood marines, ODSTs, and even civilians taking up arms to fight against a tidal wave that wouldn't stop until everything was consumed.

Jackson's heart burned. He had lived on Reach all his life, he was born there, he joined the navy there, he trained there, and Jackson would've died there if Naval higher-ups weren't forcing him and his crew to make a hasty retreat. He could remember the orders clearly. Abandon all defensive positions. Retreat back to Earth. Bolster Home Fleet.

"Sir." First Lieutenant Amanda Bern called out. Her uniform was crisp and clean, but her red hair unkempt and sweat dripped down her forehead. She knew the Covenant was looking for the Arcturus. "Scan complete, sir. No escape pods found. Just chunks of titanium."

"Scan it again. I'm not leaving anyone behind." The Lieutenant Commander replied slowly as he straightened out his uniform, his hands brushed over two of his medals. The Purple Heart and the Congressional Medal of Honor. He earned the former from a plasma bombardment on Reach, burning nearly half of his body while he struggled with civilian evacuations. The latter was a different story.

They handed these things out like candy now, the Medal of Honor. Jackson guessed to boost morale of the civilians back on Earth, making nearly everyone seem like heroes, 'putting themselves in danger for the salvation of mankind itself.'

To Jackson, it was all bullshit. He didn't earn it, or at least he didn't feel like he did. If you earn it by watching friends burnt to a crisp by plasma, buildings full of people crumble and fall, and seeing the most powerful human fleet get ripped apart and destroyed like the ships were nothing more than pesky flies, then David Jackson was a damned hero. He briefly considered removing the medal and slamming it against the bridge's viewport, but decided against it. The crew needed a cool-headed leader, as all of them were high-strung from watching Reach burn. High-strung was a bit of an understatement, as most of them were Reach-born too. Including Lieutenant Bern.

Bern turned to her commanding officer, "Sir, we can't afford to sit here and search dead ships while the Covies look for us. We're going to get-"

Jackson glared at the woman and snapped back at her. He barely was able to contain his searing anger, "Do your job, Lieutenant. Your brothers and sisters are out there in those ships, dead or dying. Your family gave their lives to defend this planet, in those very 'chunks of titanium.' Some may still be out there. Give them a chance; they would have done the same for you."

Bern sniffed and turned back to her console, "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir."

"Don't be." Jackson nodded as he looked back towards Reach. Her oceans boiled, her land reduced to glass, skies burnt bright red from the raging fires and what was left of the cities like New Alexandria were invaded, pillaged, wiped off the map. He could remember his wife's final transmission, from the top of the ONI Headquarters in New Alexandria, just before it was completely glassed.

Her panicked message came late at night or early in the morning - he didn't know. But he would remember what she said. Janet's voice was filled with fear as she told him about the condition of the city.

"Oh my god! The just hit the hospital!"

Just imagining a building burned with a plasma bombardment from a Covenant Cruiser wasn't pretty, but a hospital? But the aliens didn't care, as long as they destroyed anything built by man. Jackson clenched his fists.

"Most of the inner metropolitan area has been glassed, along with any of the remaining evacuation sites. All of the remaining evac vessels have been shot down."

When Jackson heard this the first time, all he heard was his wife, but when he focused on the memory, he could hear others in the background. His eyes closed as hard as he could, remembering how the city burned.

"Ma'am?" A male voice called out. "We got someone requesting to use the elevator to the ground floor. They say they're Spartans. Noble team or something."

"Let them down, now!" Janet yelled back as she continued her transmission. "David, the Covenant are moving in! Where are those Frigates?"

He didn't know what to tell her at the time, though he knew that the Frigates were destroyed en-route.

"Baby, the Frigates are on their way, but you need to get out of that building."

"Oh god, the Cruiser's coming our way!"

Jackson pleaded with his wife again, "Janet! Get out now!"

"I can't. We're still dumping files and the elevator is still climbing a hundred damn floors!"

The sound of a Covenant plasma cannon charging filled the transmission.

Janet screamed over the radio as loud as she could, the sound of destruction attempting to choke her out. "David, I love you!" Her voice perished after that, the transmission cut.

Jackson's hands trembled as he stood on the bridge of his ship. His wife had been dead for three days now, the ONI Headquarters fell with her. These alien freaks killed his wife and destroyed everything, and now he was being forced to retreat.

Looking back up with composure, Jackson saw through the viewport of the Arcturus the aliens burning away anything that was left, burning fires crisscrossed across the surface, their little trademark. Moisture stung the Lieutenant Commander's eyes.

"Sir. Scan complete. Still no escape pods, and contact with the Cruiser Cassiopeia has been lost. Four Covenant Cruisers are pulling up from the planet's surface, heading our way." Bern reported as her eyes darted from panel to panel across her console, her hands were shaking violently. She didn't want to die.

Jackson sighed as he removed his cap and dropped it to the cold, steel floor. "Alright." He began sullenly, defeated. "We're pulling back. Set the Arcturus for three random slipspace jumps before setting coordinates to Earth."

"Aye, Commander."

He could feel the shift of his vessel in his gut as it changed its course and prepared the slipspace drives for a jump. Taking one look back, Lieutenant Commander David Jackson looked up at Reach.

His home.

Now gone.

It's good to be back on the Halo section again.

Review and such.