"This is Blue Leader to Overwatch; we have entered the Covenant base and are searching for the Imperial Admiral now" reported Master Chief John-117.
"Overwatch here, Blue Leader," Axel's voice sounded on the comms. "Orbital sensors indicate the Admiral's likely position deep within the central chamber, guarded by elite Sangheili forces, it should be showing up now on your Hud. Exercise caution."
On his Hud a minimap of the structural layout of the base which was revealed from their initial scans showed Every Squad in Blue Team that was inside the base, the location of where the Imperial Admiral was at.
Acknowledging the warning, John signaled the team to halt as they approached a large blast door. With a swift nod to Linda, he motioned for her to take position. She disappeared into the darkness, her movements barely perceptible even to John's enhanced vision.
Moments later, Linda's voice came over the comms. "Two guards stationed outside. I have a Clear shot."
"Take them out," John ordered quietly.
A pair of muffled shots rang out, followed by the thud of bodies hitting the ground. John gestured for the team to move forward, as they prepared to open the blast door.
The team assembled around the blast door ready for whatever was on the other side. Fred approached the controls and started inputting a sequence of commands to bypass the locking mechanisms.
Moments later, the door began to slide open, revealing a vast, dimly lit chamber. The room was filled with covenant chatter, alerting them to the presence of more enemies within.
"Advance slowly," John ordered.
As quietly moved into the chamber, they could see groups of Sangheili zealots scattered all around. Their unique armor had helped the Spartans identify them.
John motioned for the team to split up, each Spartan moved to a strategic spot to get a good shot on the zealots.
Kelly and Fred took the left flank, silently eliminating a pair of zealots with synchronized melee strikes that killed their targets before they could raise an alarm. Linda positioned herself on a raised platform, her sniper rifle trained on a trio of patrolling guards who walked beneath her vantage point. With three rapid shots, she eliminated them, their bodies falling to the ground.
However, another group of zealots had entered the chamber from another room and spotted their fallen comrades. And they were not alone. Suddenly, a larger, more formidable figure emerged from the shadows of the chamber. It was Xytan 'Jar Wattinree, flanked by his personal guard.
The Imperial Admiral was an imposing figure even amongst the Sangheili, standing much taller and broader than his elite guards. His ornate armor shone with a menacing luster in the low light and his eyes burned with an intense fervor that spoke volumes of his dedication to his cause.
"Engage!" John commanded before the zealots could react. Immediately blue team opened fire on the covenant zealots. The zealots that had energy swords had charged in for close quarters combat.
Fredrick, alongside 3 other Spartans took out their own energy swords to counter the incoming zealots. Meanwhile John, Samuel, and Williams focused on Xytan 'Jar Wattinree who was already charging at them alongside 4 other zealots.
John faced Xytan 'Jar Wattinree while Samuel and Williams split off to engage the zealots who were of no threat to them.
As John stood face to face with Xytan 'Jar Wattinree, the two of them were almost the same height while John was slightly shorter than the Imperial Admiral.
As the two of them began exchanging blows, the Imperial Admiral showed his skills as a veteran warrior, his movements fluid and filled with intent. Each swing of his energy sword would be a death sentence for a normal soldier, but John was no normal soldier, he was a Spartan, enhanced with the greatest enhancements that his body could take pushing him to another level when it came to war.
Grabbing his own energy sword from his back, he blocked the incoming strike from the Imperial Admiral who was surprised at the weapon that the Demon in front of him was using.
"It seems you humans, aren't as weak and insignificant as I thought" Said Xytan 'Jar Wattinree as he took a step back. John didn't respond to his statement as he wasn't much of a talker when it came to fighting, it's better to just get it over with then waste time exchanging words.
Charging forward John had raised his sword high. Xytan 'Jar Wattinree parried attack, the clash of their energy swords resonating through the chamber. Each strike filled with the weight of their respective convictions, the Admiral's loyalty to his own cause of re-uniting the Covenant and John's unwavering determination to protect humanity and complete his mission.
Their duel intensified, a dance of calculated moves and lightning-fast reactions. John's reflexes allowed him to match Xytan 'Jar Wattinree blow for blow, their energy swords sparking as they clashed again and again. The Admiral's years of combat experience were evident, but John's enhanced speed and strength kept the balance. But this didn't stop Xytan 'Jar Wattinree from landing a hit with his fist on John's helmet causing a small crack to appear in his visor.
Meanwhile, Samuel and Williams engaged the zealots. Their energy swords cut through the air, each swing a testament to their training and enhancements. The zealots fought with honor and skill, but they were outmatched by the Spartans' superior tactics and physical abilities. Samuel's strikes were precise and fast, while Williams utilized his agility to outmaneuver his opponents, striking whenever he caught them out of position. Under these circumstances, the zealots didn't last long.
Back in the heart of the chamber, John and Xytan 'Jar Wattinree fought on as the Imperial Admirals moves became more aggressive, his attacks aiming to overwhelm John's defenses. But John remained focused, his mind clear and his movements precise.
Eventually he had managed to land another hit in John's side with his energy sword. But what he expected to happen didn't happen as his energy sword was stopped by John's energy shield preventing it from penetrating his armor. This was thanks to the new Type-IV energy shield which was currently only used by the Spartans as it was still in experimental stages, in short it was a counter to the covenant's energy sword preventing it from penetrating the Spartans armor so that ambushes and assassinations conducted against Spartans would be unsuccessful.
The shield could still be overwhelmed if the Spartan can no longer move. How it works is, the shield would stop the energy sword from penetrating the armor no matter how hard the energy sword is swung, but if the energy sword is concentrated on a single point in the armor for an extended time, then the shields will be overrun and will no longer be able to stop the energy sword from breaching the armor.
Surprised by this turn of events, the Imperial Admiral was stunned for a moment, seeing that his weapon didn't penetrate John's armor.
Using this chance, John had kicked him in the side, sending him flying into the nearby wall. Xytan 'Jar Wattinree quickly recovered and was in the process of standing up as while John was already in striking distance and gave the Imperial Admiral an upper cut causing his body to leave the ground for a few seconds before he fell on the floor coughing up blood.
Xytan 'Jar Wattinree shouted in disbelief, "Impossible! Me, defeated by a mere Human? I won't allow it!" He struggled to stand up, but John delivered another blow that knocked him back down onto the ground. "This fight is over Imperial Admiral; you have lost and soon enough your forces on the planet will suffer the same fate" said John as the rest of blue team had came over and secured the Imperial Admiral.
The other zealots lay dead around the chamber as their fight took much less time than John's. Within the rest of the facility, the other spartan teams had managed to capture the Fleetmasters who were in a separate location than the Imperial Admiral.
As blue team left the covenant base with the Imperial Admiral tied up, cheers had erupted from within ranks as John escorted the Imperial Admiral to a transport. Once on the transport Xytan 'Jar Wattinree was transported to Axel's ship for a face-to-face meeting with the Imperial Admiral.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the uncharted region of space. Catherine was onboard her research ship within the UNSC exploration fleet. They had just come across a Shield world that looked to be completely covered with an outer layer.
As the Fleet got closer to investigate, a part of the planet's outer layer had opened and forcibly pulled the fleet inside. Captain James G. Cutter was on his flagship as the alarms started blaring.
"Cortana what's going on" Cortana replied, "We're being pulled into the planet's atmosphere, Captain. Defying the gravitational pull is impossible at the moment."
Captain Cutter gritted his teeth. The last thing he needed was for something like this to happen. "Cortana send a distress signal" said Captain Cutter as he pressed a button on his command chair "Prepare for impact" he shouted, his voice sounding over the ships PA system.
As the fleet was forced inside, they found themselves in a vast artificial landscape. Huge spires of metal and stone rose up from the surface stretching up to the top of the Shield World.
Onboard Catherine's research ship, her eyes widened at the sight before her. "This... this is Forerunner architecture," she murmured.
"Cortana is this what I think it is" Asked Catherine.
"Yes, Dr Halsey, my scans show that this place is identical to the information that we have about the Forerunner shield world Requiem" replied Cortana.
"This is a major discovery" said Catherine as she forgot about how they entered the planet and instead opted to go and investigate the surface of the planet.
Their arrival, however, didn't go unnoticed. The Ur-Didact who was imprisoned and in a hibernating state, was still in partial control of Requiem's systems. He had used this arrival of those whom he knew were humans to bring about his reawakening. He First started to block the Human AI from being able to detect some of the things that he was going to do, while also manipulating the exploration fleets signal to lead them to Requiems core to release him.