He had seen the thick black pillars of smoke from the air, thousands of them dotted across the city that stretched to every horizon, and they painted a hellish picture of the once proud beacon of man's continued perseverance. It was a near perfect recreation of the video images he'd examined of the planet's previous annihilation, though at that time great covenant ships had hung in the air above with their menacing blue-burning engines and shimmering purple frames. Emmett-G355 had still been in training then, only weeks away from his graduation into the true ranks of the Spartans, and had only been deployed after the planet was glassed. He had been upset at the time, angered at the Covenant's relentless slaughter and his commander's decision not to send his company to Reach, but now as he gazed upon the ruined city he found that he felt...

_... nothing_. 

His calls for landing clearance were never received, or rather they never got him a response, and after nearly an hour sitting in orbit he finally brought the landing cruiser down from the interplanetary transport whose autopilot had carried him back to reach. The crew was dead, the ship empty, as the Flood infection they'd discovered on Pharyx-9 had claimed them all and so now the ship hung silently in orbit like a gravestone. Emmett brought the cruiser down onto an empty platform at one of the UNSC's inner-city outposts and came out of the bay door with rifle at the ready but nothing appeared to welcome him. The halls of the office were in disarray, abandoned; the armory all but looted; and the Spartan passed by the overturned desks and pooled stains of red that had long dried into the carpet with nothing but a passing glance. Exiting the dark, empty halls Emmett's heavy boots crunched against broken glass as he stepped out onto the terrace, pulled the LxVII Thermal-Eye Binoculars off the magnetic strip on his waist, and looked down to the streets below. [i]10... 50... 100...[/i] The number of shambling, twisted figures rose quickly as he scanned down the block and realized the entire area was infested, the concentration being directly below him at the UNSC building's street entrance. 

"Shit..." He finally muttered aloud, breaking the silence that was enclosing him.

>"PFC Bennewitz of Echo Outpost, Emergency Civil Defence, ID 2517D13. This is a NA class broadcast on a multiple secure channels. Requesting >backup to Miranda St. metro station maintenance room in the east bound tunnel. Squad is negative. Electromagnetic locks in place on door. >Password is Echo Zulu."

Emmett's channel scanner finally picked up a signal coming over an emergency channel and his HUD displayed an estimated area from which it was being broadcast. It wasn't too far, half a dozen blocks, but he would have to find a way around the monsters below. There was a building next to his, one with several large windows and that stretched the majority of the street. If he could just find a way over there... 

A clatter from the office caused the Spartan to spin around, gun raised with finger on the trigger, and he spent a long moment staring into the darkness. Emmett would have to find a way across and fast.

They were coming.