Editing Halo: Hunters in the Dark

The [[Swords of Sanghelios]] are informed of the activation of the Halo's firing sequence and [[Arbiter]] [[Thel 'Vadam]] sends [[N'tho 'Sraom]], [[Usze 'Taham]], and the [[Huragok]] [[Drifts Randomly]] to [[Earth]] aboard ''[[Mayhem]]'', where they meet with the UNSC at the deactivated [[Portal at Voi|slipspace portal]] that leads to the Ark at [[Voi]], [[Kenya]]. Osman places Richards in charge of representing the UNSC during the mission, with [[Spartan-IVs]] [[Frank Kodiak]] and [[Elias Holt]] serving as a security detail. Mann and Lamb are relocated to the portal's site, while Drifts works on activating the portal. [[Olympia Vale]], an expert in Sangheili culture and [[Sangheili (language)|language]], serves as a liaison between the two groups. Richards and Kodiak experience difficulty at suppressing their disdain for the Sangheili and the Spartan challenges N'tho to an alleged "friendly" duel—N'tho had cut off Kodiak's arm during the [[Human-Covenant War|Covenant War]]. The fight is interrupted when Drifts activates the portal and a [[Retriever]] promptly exits. The construct begins mining Earth for resources, but it is quickly defeated by {{UNSCShip|Endeavor}}. The team meets aboard ''Mayhem'' to discuss the next course of action; while Richards insists on waiting for ONI's permission before entering the portal, N'tho decides that they cannot waste time waiting for administrative consent and prepares to enter the portal. However, another Retriever exits the portal and attacks ''Mayhem''. After a brief engagement, the vessel defeats the construct and continues through the portal, much to Richards' and Kodiak's chagrin. ''Mayhem''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s crew is soon shocked to discover that the trip through the portal will only take a couple hours, rather than several weeks as they expected. As ''Mayhem'' exits [[slipspace]] over the Ark, the ship is attacked by a group of heavily armed Retrievers. ''Mayhem'' crash-lands on the Ark's surface, with the crew only suffering minor injuries. Soon, the mission's team—Mann, Lamb, Vale, Richards, Holt, Kodiak, ten UNSC [[Marines]], N'tho, Usze, [[Kola 'Baoth]], [[Zon 'Vadum]], and Drifts—leave ''Mayhem'' and begin venturing towards the Ark's [[Installation 00 Citadel|Citadel]] to stop the Halo Array's activation sequence.

After passing by a pod of peaceful [[Sky Leviathan|leviathans]], the team encounters a pack of predatory [[Blind wolf|blind wolves]]. Although the group manages to evade the animals upon Vale's advice, they are promptly discovered and attacked by [[chaefka]]. The blind wolves are drawn back to the group as a fight breaks out between the animals and the team. While three Marines are killed, Vale is injured and hears the aforementioned unidentified voice. Vale loses all memory of current events and is lured away from the battle by the voice. She encounters a friendly chaefka, who further leads her away from her team and towards the Citadel. Meanwhile, the rest of the team manages to kill most of the attacking animals, with the remainders fleeing from the area. When Vale's disappearance is realized, Richards sends Usze, Holt, and Lamb to track her down, while the rest of the team continues on towards the Citadel. Those responsible for tracking Vale discover her footprints and those of a chaefka leading towards the center of the Ark. While Richards sends three Marines to return to ''Mayhem'' with the dead, she injures her leg shortly after and returns to the ship for treatment with the rest of the Marines. As they continue on, the cold weather becomes dramatically worse and the team encounters a [[Mammoth (Installation 00)|mammoth]]. To their surprise, the mammoth allows them to ride on its back; N'tho and Mann predict that the mammoth is under the influence of an [[ancilla]] of the installation. Meanwhile, increasing snowfall prevents Usze, Holt, and Lamb from following Vale's footprints and communication attempts with the rest of the team prove unsuccessful. The group resolves to continue to the Citadel, hoping to either encounter Vale or the rest of the team. Along their journey, they discover a sharp increase of temperature as they reach the faltering center of the Ark. After passing the ruins of ''[[High Charity]]'', the group is attacked by four [[armiger]] constructs. The armigers knock trees and rocks down the mountain, which barely miss the group. The three make a stand and begin eliminating the constructs, as more arrive at the area via self-made [[slipspace portal]]s. Usze and Holt, with some help from Lamb, manage to destroy most of the armigers, while the few remaining constructs flee. However, the armiger's attack further displaced the group from tracking down Vale's location.