"Shipmaster, I am detecting a human distress signal.  We have no ships in that area, so it must be brutes," said a bridge officer.

"Perhaps.  We shall break from the fleet and investigate," replied shipmaster Usze 'Taham.  He transmitted his intentions to the flagship and received permission to depart.

The CCS-class battlecruiser turned to starboard and jumped to the location of the broadcast.  On arriving, they found a heavily damaged UNSC cruiser floating in space.  No other ships were in the area.

"Fal 'Vadum, take a Phantom to the ship and examine it for clues.  We will search the area for the mongrels that did this," ordered Uzse.

"Yes, shipmaster," replied Fal.

He joined a group of Elites at the hanger.  They boarded the Phantom, which promptly exited the ship.  A short, silent ride later it came to a halt at one of the hangers.  The armored doors had been melted away by plasma weaponry, so the Elites commenced a zero-g insertion.  They moved immediately to the airlock, but found it open already.

Every door they came to was open.  Blood was splattered all over the walls and floor, but there were no bodies near the airlock.  As they moved further into the ship, they found a few bodies, but with no weapon injuries.

Fal turned towards the front of the ship and said, "Something isn't right here.  To the command center."

"Boarding party, this is the Glorious Retribution.  We have located the mongrels responsible for this incident.  They have escaped into slipspace and we must follow them.  We will return when they have been destroyed."

"Good hunting, Glorious Retribution," replied Fal.

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Closed Halo fan fiction story.

updated Mar 26 '11 by Russell