Mantle's Approach exited slipspace, along with several Covenant liches. I stood beside the Didact on the bridge; he was wearing his armor again, and had his eyes focused to what was in front of us. This area of the galaxy had no planets, and the first thing that came to view was a Halo: Installation 03.

The ring was large and silver, and it was surrounded by countless asteroids. I began to wonder how on earth Mantle's Approach would be able to get close enough to the station, to extract the Composer. The liches were already moving in towards the station, and soon phantoms were arriving alongside of them. The Didact watched as the onslaught began, but it was hard to tell from here.

The Didact turned to me. "Emily, I need you to board that station and locate the Composer for me. The Covenant will take care of any hostiles. But, if there are any humans on board do not let them take you away from your objective. Use any means necessary to find the Composer for me. You will know it when you see it,"

I didn't like the sound of that, and I wished the station was abandoned. "I am loyal to you Didact, but I don't want to kill my own kind,"

"Killing is not your objective, but whether you like it or not, your kind on that station will suffer casualties."

I sighed, and did not want to dissuade him. He was expecting me to find the Composer, and perhaps kill my own kind if necessary. I didn't want to, as much as I wanted to be on his side.

Then I thought of two ideas: a ceasefire between the Covenant and the humans on the station, and get them to evacuate. If the Covenant refused that, then my backup plan was to keep them away from the Composer until the station was evacuated. That way no one would have to die, and the Didact would be free to take the Composer.

But there was the matter of what would he do with it once he had it? There was a high chance he would go to Earth with it. Perhaps that would be the time to possibly risk my life to stop him, and tell him how I felt. Maybe he wouldn't kill me after all, now that he seemed to be starting to like me as well. But if only I knew for certain what his ancilla was helping him find inside his Forerunner heart.

I decided to respond with this, "I will do what needs to be done then."

The Didact nodded in trust. "Once you have led the Covenant to it, I will order all Covenant forces to retreat and report back to me. My Prometheans will take you back to safety on my ship as I take the Composer."

I put my mind off human casualties. "Very well, send me onto the station," I said.

The Didact put his hand on my shoulder. "Good luck Emily," He said, and I looked into his eyes for a moment with love, and then I walked over to his Promethean Knights waiting for me at the exit.

The two Knights grabbed hold of me and teleported. I shut my eyes and waited for it to be over, and then I landed on a hard metal ground. I opened my eyes and the sound of gunfire was heard all around me. The Covenant had already begun engaging the humans in the station's hangar. Most of them were scientists, and a few of them were Marines. I was glad there were no Spartans to assist. I quickly got up off the floor and out of the range of fire.

Several Elites were muttering in language I did not understand, but I could only guess they were commanding the Grunts and Jackals. I backed away into the hall behind the firefight in the hangar, and decided it was best to find out who was in charge. They could perhaps know where the Composer was.

I bumped into something invisible behind me and turned around, an Elite appeared growling before me; its jaws wide open and then it snarled in words that sounded like gibberish to me. Then I had an idea.

"Give me your active camo, I can use it to sneak by the human forces and locate the Composer," I told the Elite. The Elite growled angrily and spoke Sangheili once again. Why didn't these Covenant speak English like the ones we had a truce with?

"Look, whatever you said, I don't speak Sangheili. Your job is to keep the enemy busy. My job is to find the Composer, the Didact said so. If I stay out of sight then the human forces won't spot me, and I won't be rescued by them. I work for the Didact, not them. Just give me your camo and we can get this mission done." I said to the Elite calmly.

The Elite responded and this time he spoke English, "Fine human, but do not expect me to cover for you." Then he took off a light blue glowing module from the belt of his armor and gave it to me. I took it and he ran off with his energy sword before I could thank him.

I clipped the module to my belt and hoped it would work. I raised my arm in front of me and could not see it. I was invisible and I began to run towards the firefight. The Covenant forces had driven the Marines back into another room and the hangar's entrance had been sealed off. No one saw me sneak by. The sound of screams was heard and the scientists were only armed with Magnums. They didn't seem to be doing so well since there was no Spartan to assist them. I was glad the Master Chief was absent.

Suddenly, the camo began to wear off as I slipped out of the second room and came to a corner. Dead Marines surrounded me, and the Grunts were waddling around shooting them, as if double checking to make sure they were dead. I became visible again and felt vulnerable; as if any moment, the wrong side would find me and take me back to where I didn't want to go.

I discarded the camo device and dropped down to the lower level, and saw the orange beam from Mantle's Approach scan the station. The Didact definitely did not know where the Composer was. That meant only one thing: I had to find it before he or the Covenant found it in order for my plan to work.

I ran towards the metal staircase and climbed up to the next level, and then the level after that. A pair of Elite Zealots were engaging the Marines in front of me. The Elite in golden armor signaled me to run over. Right through the warzone, was he crazy? I guessed we were close.

I ran towards the Marines and pushed them aside, giving them barely any time to react. "Where did that girl come from?" One of them shouted, but I paid no attention, and ran up the stairs towards the two Elites.

One of them tossed a plasma grenade in hopes of keeping the soldiers from following. Bullets soon began to fire again as the Marines got back on their feet. The two Zealots were too agile for them. The Zealot in the golden armor grabbed me.

"Get out of here human! Find the damn weapon!" He growled, and then he pushed me through the next door sealing it behind me. Brave one indeed.

I had stumbled into an empty hallway completely clear of humans and Covenant. My guesses were the Covenant had either killed everyone in here or had not reached this part yet. I wandered down the hall into a circular room that was lit up in the middle with a set of computers. It was far too quiet and I spotted a locked door on the far side of the room. My heart started to beat fast again, it made me wonder if whatever was behind that door, was something that was not to be found by anyone who did not work on this station; The Composer. I thought, and then I walked towards the door.

"Hello, is someone there?" A voice came from the other side of the door. The voice belonged to an old woman I did not recognize. I began to wonder if it was a good idea to answer, maybe they were in charge here; that could get me the inside scoop as to where the Composer was.

"Open the door, I'm a friendly." I responded, and it took a few minutes for someone to answer. My ceasefire idea seemed like a good plan: Get the Covenant to surrender, and evacuate the station, the Didact could take the Composer and it would be done. No one would have to die. Yeah, it sounded like a good plan. This could perhaps, be my first step to unveiling the Didact's good side if I succeeded.

The door opened and a female scientist, who looked like she was in her mid-50's or 60's appeared. "Come in quickly, before they breach this area." She said quietly, and I followed her into the square-shaped room containing a computer, and a large window that appeared to be shut.

"I don't know where you came from, but if you can explain to me why we are under attack from the Covenant that would help." She said,

I decided to be honest. "My name is Emily; I'm not UNSC unfortunately. although you sure could use someone from there right now to assist you with this problem. Who are you?"

"My name is Sandra Tillson, head of Ivanoff Station." She replied.

So this woman was the head of this station, all I needed to know was where the Composer was, and to start my plan up. Things were just way too easy for me right now.

"The Covenant are looking for a Forerunner weapon that you may have dug up from that Halo. Did you see that enormous pea-pod shaped ship outside? I'm here on behalf of the commander of that ship: The Didact. He wants that weapon back. But I'm not here to cause trouble; I'm here to make peace. Regardless of what goes down, the Didact's gonna take that thing anyway," I told her.

"Wants it back? It can't leave the station," Dr. Tillson replied, and then she pressed a button on the large computer. The window opened and I realized the room was an elevator. We began descending and I looked out the window to see a wide open space, which I guessed was the heart of the station. In the middle of the room was a peculiar-shaped tall metal tower, with light blue lines running from the top to the bottom. It was the only thing in the room that looked abnormal and Forerunner-related. That was the Composer.

"It took us three months for us to excavate it, and we required the assistance of one of the largest UNSC frigates to help us relocate it here. It's not going anywhere." Dr. Tillson continued.

I sighed, the Composer was huge, no wonder that was the response I got. I was hoping the Composer would be easily movable but it wasn't. It was the largest weapon I had ever seen. But then again, the Didact still probably had a way of taking it. No matter, I had to start the evacuation. The Didact would wonder why I hadn't reported back to anyone answering to him, but it was a chance I had to take.

"Doctor, I'm sorry, but this is a Forerunner we're talking about. If you think Forerunners, are extinct they're not. The Didact is a Forerunner, and I don't know how he'll take the Composer but he will. I know what he's capable of, and if he takes it, he will probably test its power on this station. I'm going to negotiate a ceasefire. It won't be easy, but I'll find some way to do so. Get the UNSC forces you have here to start evacuating the station. I'll take care of the Covenant. The Didact sent me here, but I don't want him to kill anyone on this station." I said,

"What is the Covenant do not relent?"

"Then I need you to assemble all UNSC forces to keep the Covenant away from the Composer. They will not hesitate to tell the Didact where it is once they realize that I have not done that. If the Didact takes the Composer, he won't wait around for this place to be emptied,"

Dr. Tillson was shocked and concerned, but she also understood. "I'll....I'll, get the soldiers to start the evacuation. I hope you know what you're doing, the Covenant are merciless, and I don't know how you will get them to listen to you,"

"I can be very persuasive, especially since I answer to the Didact and so do they,"

Dr. Tillson sighed. "Be careful,"

"I will."

Then I left the room.

**********

It didn't take long for orders of evacuation to start being heard on the intercom all around the station. I walked into the large open room, and took a look at the Composer. The open space around it was metal and sand, no sign of Covenant forces. The Didact had not scanned the station in a while.

Everything was going as planned. But then I thought back to what Tillson had said about the Covenant being merciless. She was right. Even if I tried to talk to the Covenant to make a ceasefire, that could fail. The Covenant's job was to help me reach the Composer, but not to stop killing humans. These Covenant were more aggressive than the ones we had a truce with.

I looked over my options as I walked down the ramp toward the Composer. It was even more massive in size the closer I got to it. But Mantle's Approach was more than twice the size of this thing. The truth was, I answered to the Didact, but the Covenant would never answer to me regardless. The Elites that I spoke to, they didn't seem very happy about covering fire for me, and loaning me their tools to sneak around. They hated me, I could feel it.

The Didact would have to wait, and that may have him question my loyalty to him; however, that risk would hopefully be worth it. I didn't know how long an evacuation process took on a station this size, but time was running out, and part of me wanted it to finish fast.

The sound of shuttles leaving the station was heard, and soon defenses were coming online. Covenant liches were slowly weakening in response, but then the sound of an explosion from outside was heard a few minutes after the first shuttle launched. It made my heart sink, knowing the Covenant must have shot down that shuttle, right after it left the station. I could hear the sound of battle everywhere, yet I didn't want to think about the number of people that were dying. A number of Marines were stationed on the higher platforms surrounding the Composer. One of them was in a large robot called a Mantis; a new addition to the UNSC.

"You may want to get somewhere safe, especially if the Covenant breach this area." One of the Marines, came up next to me.

I looked at him in silence, and my facial expression clearly said: I'll get safe all right, but not anywhere with you. I'm going to be with the Didact. The Marine read the look I had but didn't know where I was planning to go.

"Attention, all personnel please evacuate the station immediately. Covenant forces closing in." Dr. Tillson's voice still rang through the intercom. Why hadn't she got on an evac shuttle? How many people were on this station, or better yet, how many evac shuttles had launched?

I looked up to the upper window on the far side of the room and was terrified to see a pair of Hunters and an Elite Zealot standing from the observation elevator I was once in. Then the beam from the Didact's ship swept through the room. I watched in terror as phantoms began pouring into the room through the shielded window, which had not been sealed off.

The phantoms began dropping in forces. I ran into the line of sight in front of the phantoms to get their attention.

"STOP!! PLEASE!!! NO ONE HAS TO DIE!" I cried, but no one listened to me. I felt like I had just become invisible again, as if no one knew I was there, or what I was trying to do.

A ceasefire was impossible with the Covenant. Elites in Ghosts were dropped in one side of the room and two Wraiths in the other. I ran up the nearest metal ramp and took cover behind the door and the battle raged.

The Mantis was alert right away and then another one came trudging down the ramp to my right and they split up. One went for the Wraiths, launching multiple missiles, while the other one went for the smaller ground forces in Ghosts and those who were on foot, and fired the machine gun. The firefight was intense, and all I could do was watch in devastation of my failed plan, but it was about to get worse.

The Didact's beam from his ship once again scanned the room, stopped right on the Composer flashing, briefly and his voice was heard. "So you have found it. Eliminate the human hostiles and retreat at once. My Knights, retrieve her!" I knew he was referring to me at the last sentence. But as soon as I heard him say "eliminate hostiles" that was his evil side taking over him once again.

The sound of gunfire got even louder and an explosion was heard to my right. While one Mantis had taken down one of the Wraiths, the other one had rammed it over and it blew up. A horde of Banshees came flying into the room, and overwhelmed the other Mantis. The Mantis walked down towards me and started aiming upward at the Banshees, firing its machine gun while the missiles reloaded. Grunts carrying plasma grenades on each hand were also charging towards it as well. Even one of the Elites had hijacked one of the turrets. It surprised me that a Mantis could be overwhelmed that fast.

The Mantis had caught fire now and could explode any minute, but suddenly the Covenant held their fire, and began to retreat from where they came in. What was happening? Were they reporting to the Didact? I could only guess they were. All was quiet as the last few forces left, but the silence did not last. Suddenly a strong orange light was seen from afar, and then something grabbed me from behind. I was instantly teleported to safety as the room's ceiling shattered.

I was back on the bridge of Mantle's Approach and looked to see the Didact with his back turned to me, standing in front of the controls. I walked beside him and looked out the large window. I could see the room the Composer was in, the outer hull had broken off completely, causing the place to give in to the pressure. Pieces were scattering into space.

"Ah you are just in time, thank you Emily for your efforts." The Didact said.

I didn't respond, but how could I? I found the Composer for him but that was not what I really wanted to do. The ship's tractor beam extracted the Composer from its foundation, which seemed to shake the whole station and it went into its place inside Mantle's Approach.

"Bring up the remaining humans on screen." The Didact commanded to his ancilla. The window changed to view of a group of panicking scientists. All I could do was watch, and not do anything without costing my bond with him.

"And now, your Composition." The Didact said, after watching the scientists panic upon learning the Composer was taken. Then I watched in horror as the Didact waved his arm, across the screen. On the screen, an orange beam from the Composer flooded the station, all the scientists screamed and disintegrated to digital particles that became piles of ash. I gasped, and backed away from the Didact, and from the window.