Zero Vs Ripa.

Chapter Two, The Chase.

Soon after I had recovered from my wounds on the Forerunner planet I decided to go find what was helping the humans. I know for sure it wasn't one of them but what was it..

Whatever it was, I had definitely ran into it before. It had been following me throughout that entire campaign. Always watching. Waiting. And thinking about it now, that's probably how the humans won. How they got the upper hand. I just never noticed until now.

But that was about to change..

I set out from Malurok on a new ship the C.N.V. Unwavering Conviction. A CSO Class Super Carrier fitted with much more armour and weaponry than my last ship. It was there that I met with my son. Thel 'Moram. He was young and very eager to fight on the front lines. Whether it's out of bravery or suicidal foolishness, I'll never know.

The moment we got to the bridge we entered slip space. Our destination. The dead Forerunner planet. I wanted to see if I could find any trace of what was there when I was. I know there was something among the humans. I know it was helping them. And I just couldn't let that continue.

We exited slip space and as we did, The Conviction was immediately under attack.

It was a small human vessel, no bigger than an SDV Heavy Corvette. It ran circles around us and used only it's main batteries. No missiles. No Mac Cannon. Just really large bullets that weren't even enough to penetrate our shield system. The Shipmaster turns to me asks "What should we do, Arbiter?" He looks at me, waiting for my answer. I look outside to see the human ship drift away from us. "Follow it." My eyes narrowed while I stared at the vessel, thinking to myself. Is that thing on board? What are they doing? Is it a trap? I was so confused. "But keep your weapons trained on it." The tone of my voice deepened with concern and the Shipmaster acknowledged it. "Understood. Full ahead!" He barked. "And frontal cannon crews make ready to tear that ship apart!"

The miniscule human ship opened a slip space portal and zoomed straight into it. We, of course, followed it.

Upon exiting the other side of the portal, our ship was immediately sat upon by two separate human fleets. "It was a trap! Open fire on all targets!" The Shipmaster shouted, clearly angry.

Sounds of plasma being fired from our cannons could be heard all around the bridge and repeated like an annoying echo. Flashes of pink, yellow, white, blue and purple could be seen from our screens as the Unwavering Conviction unleashed it's wrath upon the other ships.

"WAIT! NOT THE ONE WE FOLLOWED!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as the carnage unfolded. Luckily the ship we followed had raced past the two fleets, giving it some time to gain ground. If only just a little. The Shipmaster nodded and repeated what I shouted but in a calmer tone. He saw my fiery eyes narrow onto it again. I am determined to find out if it's there or not. I WILL find out.