N O V A

_Part One: We Lost_

Nova woke to faint voices and static radios. He cracked opened his eyes, soft golden rays of sunlight snuck through the green material of the tent he lay in. His head ached as the Spartan sat up. He was laying on the same metal table he was placed on before he blacked out.

As the young Spartan moved to leave the table, Nova felt a sharp and consistent pain in his right bicep. He looked to his arm, noticing that the right bicep armor plating was missing. In it's place was white gauze and other reddened bandages. As he touched the bandaged wound, Nova could still hear radios and voices. Some of the voices sounded stressed, but some of them seemed to be laughing. Like they were having different conversations.

Nova stood up on his own two feet. He felt weak for a few seconds but his strength returned. He slowly walked to the entrance of the tent. As he did so, Nova could see that his helmet waited for him on an old metal supply box. The Spartan picked up the helmet and slipped it on, hearing the pressure change as it hissed and locked around his neck.

Nova stepped out of the tent, seeing the landscape before him. They were atop a small hill that just overlooked the tops of pine trees. Farther down the hill was a crashed Pelican and torn tents. As well as barricades made of scraps. Standing at the top with Nova were the Marines who had rescued him. The Spartan walked to the small group. He counted four standing around as large radio setup. One of them had been pressing nearly every button to try and get a signal.

As the heavy Spartan approached, the group of Marines turned.

???: "He's alive..."

The Marine who stood directly behind him nodded.

???: "Good work, Pérez"

The Marine who had been pressing buttons on the radio setup nodded as well, giving a slight wave to Nova.

???: "Thank you, sir"

Nova gave a strong nod to the men. As he did, a notification came across the center of his hud.

> > AI Not Detected < <

The man who seemed to lead the group of marines approached Nova, looking slightly up towards the Spartan's face.

???: "Sergeant Cole Bautista"

He had pointed a finger towards himself, before turning to his comrades and naming each of them.

Cole: "That's Pérez, our technical genius and medical-man. The other two standing behind me are Hardey and Carmine. We're what's left of the crew who escaped the Infinity's destruction"

When the marine finished, Nova looked to the piece of the halo ring that was missing. Floating in space were shards of the Infinity.

"How many of you escaped before the crash?"

Sergeant Cole thought for a moment before speaking.

Cole: "Nearly fifteen of us packed the back of that crashed Pelican"

The man pointed to the crashed vehicle near the bottom of the hill. Nova nodded in response.

"What happened to the rest?"

The sergeant fell silent.

"I assume they were hunted down by the Banished?"

The sergeant only nodded. Nova looked to the men who sat at the radio, and put a hand on Sergeant Cole's left shoulder.