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Halo 2: Revenge of a Spartan by LostRock
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Chapters 1 & 2
Date: 9 March 2003, 8:02 PM
0736 Hours, September 11, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
UNSC Longsword #3346, Sol System
The Master Chief awoke...and immediately started gagging. Cryo fluid was still lodged in his throat. He spat it out quickly, and got out of the cryotube.
He remembered dreaming...which was odd, since no one dreamed while in cryosleep. He dreamed that he was back on Halo, in a foggy and otherwise nondescript area. He was in MJOLNIR armor, but realized he had no weapons on him. He panicked.
Suddenly, there was the sound of children laughing and playing. He ran toward where he thought the children were. Sure enough, there they were. But these were no ordinary children. They were the Spartans. Linda, Kelly, Sam, everybody was there in front of the Chief.
They grinned at the Chief. And, strangely, the Chief found himself grinning back at the children. But without warning, the children started running. The Chief, startled, tried to keep up with the children, but he couldn't. They faded away into the fog. The Chief, running faster, reached out and cried, "No wait! Come back! Don't leave me alone!" But he tripped and fell to the ground, and everything went black...
Tears silently rolled down the Chief's cheeks. He still remembered how his teammates had been taken away from him by the Covenant. He still vowed vengeance on them.
After wiping the tears from his eyes, the Chief walked to the bridge. He smiled. He could see the blue ball of Earth rapidly approaching outside the view port. Almost home, he thought. But something was wrong.
He squinted with his enhanced eyes at Earth. Yes, there was something wrong. The clouds were gray and mixed with...explosions.
Oh God.
The Chief quickly grabbed his helmet and put it on. Cortana piped up as soon as it was secure. "Chief!" She said cheerfully. "It's good to see you awake! I've been bored as hell and--what's wrong?"
"Look out the view port," the Chief murmured.
There was a pause. Then Cortana whispered, "No..."
"The Covenant must have destroyed the rest of the colonies," the Chief growled, his clenched fist trembling. New tears now came from his eyes. Not another tragedy.
Then the audio communications console chirped. The Chief tore himself away from the spectacle of the Earth after the console chirped five times. He walked towards it.
"M-master Ch-chief Spartan 117 reporting," the Chief mumbled after turning on the mike.
"Sweet Georgia Brown! A Spartan! I heard you guys hit the extinct list!"
The Chief sighed, annoyed, and heard the communications officer being scolded by someone of a higher rank. Cortana was still strangely silent.
"Er.. Sorry. This is the UNSC destroyer Relentless. Did you just arrive in the system, sir?"
"I believe so, yes."
"Good, we need all the help we can get. The Covenant arrived here about 6 hours ago and sent thousands of dropships to the Earth's polar regions, at least that's what I've heard. I'm going to patch the captain through, one moment."
After the communications officer signed off, a new voice came on. "This is Captain Liskman. It's good to hear from you, Master Chief. I heard that you and the Pillar of Autumn were off on a mission to infiltrate the Covenant homeworld. What happened?"
"Snags," the Chief replied. "And I'm sorry to say that Captain Keyes or any of the crew did not make it. I am the sole survivor."
"I don't understand, Chief. Did the Autumn try to handle 5 destroyers? Even so, there should be survivors."
"Just dust and echoes," Cortana suddenly interrupted. "And hello, Captain. I am the UNSC A.I. Cortana."
"Hello," said Liskman. "Tell me, how could there be no survivors?"
"It's a long story that we need to tell in the security of your own ship, Captain Liskman. It's rather cramped in here. Could we please come aboard?"
The captain, who sounded startled and a bit annoyed, replied, "Of course. Liskman out."
And after punching in the coordinates to the Relentless, the Master Chief and Cortana stared at the Earth for the longest time.
1014 Hours, September 11, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
UNSC destroyer Relentless, Sol System
"It was a day after Reach fell," Cortana said, now comfortably in a holotank. "We made a blind jump into an unknown system. As always, the Covenant were hot on our tail, and there was a definite chance that the Autumn would fall. But it wouldn't fall to system's planet, no. Instead, it would fall to a ring-shaped world called Halo."
"Fascinating," Captain Liskman exclaimed, his eyes wide. He and the Master Chief were seated at the senior staff room's table.
"You haven't heard anything yet," said Cortana, her expression dead serious. "The Master Chief was awoken and he raced to the bridge. There Captain Keyes briefed him. Keyes knew that the Autumn had no chance of surviving; it was already damaged from the battle of Reach. So he did the only thing he could do: manually pilot the Autumn down to Halo's interior, which strangely had a surface much like that of our own Earth: landforms, oceans, everything."
"Impossible!" Captain Liskman cried. "Could it be a long-lost UNSC station?!"
"Please, Captain," Cortana held up her slightly translucent hands. "Like I said before, this is a long story, and you still know nothing yet."
"Sorry," Captain Liskman said, blushing. "I've just been so very jumpy from all the battles around Earth. Please, continue."
"Anyway, Captain Keyes gave my processing core to the Master Chief for safekeeping in his helmet. The Chief was to get off the Pillar of Autumn before it went down. We managed to fight our way through the ship to the last lifeboat.
"We also went down to the interior of Halo. We broke the atmosphere too quickly, and hit the surface hard. We survived. As for the marines onboard, some were dead, some we couldn't distinguish if they were just unconscious.
"We ran. Along the way we met many Covenant warriors. They had unloaded their warriors onto this world quickly. The Chief and I went to looking for survivors, and we found many, near these odd cannons pointing directly into the sky. I never found out what they were for, but they were firing the whole time.
"On the Covenant battle net, I found out that Keyes was still alive, but imprisoned onboard one of the Covenant ships. We staged a successful rescue mission for him. We then found out that Halo was some sort of weapon. The Covenant were looking for the control room of Halo, and we had to get there first.
"We attacked an island where there were many Covenant signals. We found a secret underground passage that was so large we needed to take a dropship down. When we got to the end of the passage, we found there was a group of snowy valleys, which was odd, since snow was not supposed to be natural. The ring world was supposed to be artificial; there was no reason for precipitation to occur.
"The control room was at the end of the valleys. We got there just in time, because the Covenant were only a few steps away from it, and we easily eradicated them. The Master Chief put me into the control room's console, and I learned everything about it, knew everything that was going occurring on the ring world, and so on. I found out that aliens known as the Forerunner built Halo. I inspected all the information I had from Halo?and saw something very, very bad."
TO BE CONTINUED
Halo 2: Revenge of a Spartan, Chapter 3
Date: 22 March 2003, 9:06 PM
Author's Note
Hi,
Sorry about the beginning of my story; it was pretty blah. I was just testing the waters of my writing abilities.
I'm also sorry about the long wait for this new installment. I've been getting a lot of homework lately, so I had to get that out of the way first. I'm glad to finally get this posted.
Ciao and enjoy.
The Chief and Cortana explained the Flood, the Monitor and Halo's true purpose, and finally finished with how they got off Halo.
Captain Liskman, who had managed to stay quiet the whole time, pried, "Did you scan for survivors?"
"Yes," the Chief replied. "Nothing survived."
"Well," said Liskman, stretching, "That was quite a tale. You two were very lucky."
"But now it is time for you to tell a tale," said Cortana. "What happened here in Sol? Have the Covenant taken complete control of Earth?"
"Ah, of course, I still need to brief you," murmured Liskman. "I guess we shall have to sit here a little longer.
"The Covenant first attacked Zephyr Prime. The UNSC forces there are still giving the Covenant a tough time. They've been battling for a couple days, and I suppose that both sides are starting to grow weary. However, the Covenant could not be contained in the system; a couple thousand dropships plus a few dozen escort ships managed to sneak out of the battle and made their way to Sol. We were able to defeat the escorts, but the dropships made their way to the Earth's surface. There are too many rookie marines on Earth, and the Covenant are starting to win. We need immediate reinforcements if we hope to repel the Covenant."
"Those reinforcements are me," declared the Master Chief.
"I agree, Master Chief, you are the best man for the job. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to inform the Office of Naval Intelligence of this conversation so they can discuss it...and, we have something in store for you and Cortana, Chief."
"Like what?" said the Chief, his expression quizzical.
"We all like to call it," said Liskman, with a grin on his face, "VALHALLA."
1326 Hours, September 11, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
UNSC cruiser Leviathan (flagship), Sol System
The firing range on the massive cruiser was much quieter than usual. All techs and marines had been cleared out and only those with enough clearance were allowed in. Only a couple dozen people stood in the room now; mostly ONI spooks and high-ranking officers, including the famous Admiral Stanforth.
In the middle of it all was the Master Chief. Everyone was staring at him with smiles on their faces, and not just because they were happy to see the greatest soldier ever to be a part of the UNSC. The Chief was in his brand new VALHALLA armor. He looked himself over, inspecting the new suit; all while Cortana ran analyses on it.
"This suit is a little more amazing than your old one, Chief," Cortana said delightfully. "It's still just like its predecessor, but lighter and able to withstand more rounds from plasma. Speed is also slightly augmented."
This suit is badass, the Chief thought with a grin.
"Well, Chief," Admiral Stanforth said after clearing his throat, "I suppose that it's time to give the suit a warm-up. I know you and the rest of us have been dying to see the suit in action. You are the sole user of it. How about taking a lap around the room?"
The Chief immediately went into action, running so fast that he could barely feel his feet touch the ground. He then came to a stop in front of the crowd. Everyone gasped, seeing as how he had run an 80 by 50 yard room in 16 seconds.
Looking up to see the shocked faces on the crowd, his attention was caught instead by their hair. The Chief had run so fast that it looked like they'd been in a tornado.
"You'd better be a little more subtle, Chief," whispered Cortana. The Chief softly snorted with glee.
"Bravo, bravo," said Stanforth. "Now let's exercise your dodging skills and see how powerful your shields are."
Hatches suddenly opened in the wall. Automated .55 caliber guns protruded out menacingly and opened fire.
The Chief had been ready the moment Stanforth had finished talking. He rolled out of the way and where he stood previously was covered in bullet holes.
But the guns were also quick. They turned and fired on the Master Chief. The Chief dodged again, but let himself get hit in order to count the number of bullets he could take. 12...15...18 bullets hit the Chief as he finally sprang out of the way. He was surprised; his previous shields could only take 8 shots like that!
"Good! Now try out these new weapons," Stanforth said with a grin, motioning to the table over near the Elite dummies. "Two are evolutions of ones you've used before, but one is a brand-new weapon. First, try out the M92 double barreled shotgun."
The Chief picked up the weapon and blasted the closest Elite dummy in the range. The stuffed model shattered into bits, and not a recognizable part of it was left.
"The MA7B battle rifle," the admiral pointed out, "has a slower firing rate than your assault rifle and comes with a 5x magnification scope."
The Spartan took the rifle and aimed for a dummy about 50 yards off. He fired off ten bullets, and the dummy sagged to the floor.
"Finally," said Stanforth, "the latest SMG, which fires even faster than the assault rifle."
The Chief put the gun on his large shoulder and blasted a dummy. After the firing ended, the dummy looked like a dozen teething dogs had gotten to it.
"Well, that concludes the demonstration," Stanforth said, he had the rest of the crowd clapping their hands. "Now, how about—"
"Admiral Stanforth, we have a situation!" a panicked voice said over the speakers in the room.
"What's going on, lieutenant?" replied Stanforth, now alert.
"More Covenant ships have made their way out of Zephyr Prime!"
The ONI spooks gasped, but the military men, including the Master Chief, stayed calm.
"How far into Sol are they, lieutenant?"
"Fortunately, their Slipspace engines were damaged, and they're at Neptune but are closing the distance to Earth quickly!"
"Well, that's it, then," said the admiral. "Chief, I'm now assigning you to the Junto, a ship identical to the Pillar of Autumn in everything but name and crew. Your mission is to capture one of those Covenant vessels intact."
The Chief did a double take. "Sir? You're reactivating my Section Three mission?"
"That's right, Chief," Stanforth replied with a grim expression. "If we can—and we WILL—repel the Covenant, one of our top priorities is to sneak into their homeworld. But this time, we will NOT take one of their Prophets hostage. We're serious now: we are going to DESTROY their planet."
2048 Hours, September 11, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
UNSC Junto, Sol System
Captain Ben Franklin chewed on his lip as he stared at the tactical display in front of him. A bad habit, he thought, but this was not the place and time to worry about bad habits.
On the tactical display, there were five large red markers. They were 2 Covenant destroyers and 3 frigates. Franklin knew that they knew they didn't stand a chance: there were still about seventy UNSC ships defending Earth. But it didn't matter to the Covenant; they threw every last warrior they had at human forces. They would fight to the death.
The captain heard heavy footsteps behind him. He turned around, and found saw that the Master Chief had come to the bridge.
"Master Chief," he said with a slight smile.
"Captain Franklin," the Chief replied, saluting.
"At ease," said Franklin with a sigh. "So, what do you think of this?" he said, referring to the tactical display.
"I'm not sure what you mean, sir."
"I mean, what sort of plan do you have to capture one of those ships? I have some ideas, but I'd like to hear yours."
"Well...I remember at Chi Ceti 4 the UNSC Commonwealth blew a hole open in a Covenant ship, and me and my teammates used thruster packs to make our way inside it. The shields lowered every time it fired its plasma."
"Hmmm..." Franklin scratched his chin. "Well, unfortunately, we have no Shivas or thruster packs. I have a plan: We get above a Covenant ship and take out its shields. Meanwhile, you go out the airlock. The escaping air should give you enough momentum to reach the damaged ship."
"Interesting," Cortana piped up over the com channel. "I like your thinking, Captain."
"It gets better," Franklin grinned. "You infiltrate the ship and get to the hangar. You drop the hangar entry shields so reinforcements can arrive. Then, with support, you take control of the bridge after all Covenant have been eliminated. What do you think?"
"Very well," said the Master Chief. "We'll be ready and waiting on the maintenance deck."
Franklin turned away as the Chief left the bridge.
"Sir, Covenant at 9 'o clock! Distance: ten thousand klicks!" shouted the navigations officer.
The Chief made his way through the hallways of the Junto. Techs and marines alike stared at the Chief and whispered among themselves. However, crowds immediately dispersed when the klaxons began blaring.
A rack of battle rifles protruded in front of the Chief as he made his way down a narrow hallway. He took one, and, checking to see that it was locked and loaded, continued his pace. He came to the end of the hallway, which had doors to the maintenance lift.
"Well, Chief, here we are," said Cortana as they reached the lift. "Back to the grinding stone."
"Grinding stone to you maybe," said the Chief as he entered their destination in the lift's keypad. "But this is my life, and I'm ready to live it some more."
Cortana chuckled all the way down the shaft.
There was there was a far-away rumbling sound surrounding the Chief. He could not tell if it was from the Junto's guns firing, or if the Junto was taking hits. He didn't want to think about it now; his main focus was to get onboard one of those enemy ships.
Half a minute later, they were on the maintenance deck. Suddenly, the com channel turned on.
"Chief!" Captain Franklin almost yelled over the channel. "We are in position! Go, go, go!"
The Chief grinned. It was time.
He opened the lift door. which was a large room with airlock doors. Outside the doors, he could see the battle raging on Earth, as nuclear-scale explosions parted clouds and created an almost-mystifying view. The Chief would be down there soon, or so he hoped.
The Chief noticed the door controls were on a large beam facing away from the windows. Perfect. The Chief came up to the beam, and, with his back facing the controls and his hand poised on the emergency airlock lever, he was ready to go.
There was an odd moment of silence as the he opened up the control panel. The Chief contemplated how many ways this operation could go wrong, and wondered if he'd make it out alive. Then Cortana spoke.
"What if we miss?"
The Chief slowly grinned, and reassured himself and the AI, "I won't."
He pulled the lever.
Halo 2: Revenge of a Spartan, chapter 4
Date: 27 March 2003, 6:58 PM
Author's note:
Finally, what happened after the preview trailer. Enjoy.
The room had become a hurricane from the escaping air. The Chief crouched, trying to keep himself in the ship till he was ready. He silently counted the three, and then let himself be whisked away with the air.
The Chief "sailed" through the escaping air at an astonishing rate. He estimated he was going about 120 kph. He decided not to move and kept his rifle clutched to his chest, as there was the risk that he could veer off-course.
He saw that he was coming up on a Covenant frigate and decided that this would be the ship to hijack. It was strangely beautiful, its teardrop shape mystifying. However, it was pocked with holes from the Junto's guns. Good, its shields were down, then.
"Chief, be careful. We're going to hit this ship pretty hard, and your shields might drop." Warned Cortana, breaking the silence of space.
The Chief grunted in response. He was tense; worried that he might simply slide off the hull of the frigate and fall like a meteor into the Earth's atmosphere.
Suddenly, they were close. 50 meters...40 meters...30...20...10...
.... And contact. The Chief hit hard, as Cortana had warned him. His shields dropped to a tiny sliver, and he started twirling. Panicked, the Chief tried to find something to grab onto, and saw some of the frigate's hull was protruding. He clutched it and hung on for his life.
"Think of something quick, Cortana," The Chief said in an anxious voice. "I can't stay like this forever."
"Hang on...literally," said Cortana. "And...there. Magnetic boots activated." The Chief swung himself so that his feet were positioned towards the hull, and his feet instantly stuck to the shiny surface. He was now standing on the Covenant frigate while it was in geosync orbit.
The Chief got out his Lotus mine. He planted it on the frigate and stepped back about 30 feet. He activated the remote detonation, and there was a bright explosion for a few seconds, but it disappeared into the cold, airless space. The Chief was also proud of his first kills in Earth's defense: several Covenant bodies floated out of the gaping hole of the frigate.
The Chief stepped through the hole into the hallway of the ship. He didn't deactivate his mag-boots yet; for the artificial gravity was no longer in the corridor. He couldn't tell if the Covenant knew he was onboard. For all they knew, it had just been a stray missile that hit them.
He slowly made his way down the corridor, and reached a door. He opened it, went through, and shut it again quickly.
"Okay. Mag-boots deactivated." Confirmed Cortana.
The Chief turned...and jumped back.
He found himself face-to-face with an Elite. Worse, it was holding a plasma sword and was "smiling" menacingly at the Chief. The Covenant raised his weapon to kill the Chief instantly.
The Chief thought quickly, and brought up his battle rifle. He stuck it directly in front of the Elite's face and fired. The Covenant screamed, but it was not hurt; only stunned. The Chief then kicked the Elite back, and it impaled itself landing on its sword.
The Chief took a sigh of relief but it was cut short. Grunts wielding needlers suddenly appeared and spat out deadly explosive magenta-colored rounds. The Chief ducked behind a nearby crate and said to Cortana, "This was a lot easier when I had backup!"
"Well, hurry then!" urged Cortana. "Get to the hangar! Here's a nav point!"
The Chief glanced at the distance marker on the nav point.
Ugh. 700 meters away. Better get going.
The Chief jumped out as the needler rounds popped on his shields. He saved his ammunition and smacked the Grunts with his rifle one by one. He decided there was no time to waste, and started to sprint down the corridor leading to the hangar. He skidded to a halt and opened the door.
Oh, shit.
Three Hunters were prowling around on the lower floor, and there was a dropship, its gunner alert. A platoon of Grunts and Jackals were patrolling the central bridge of the room, accompanied by two Elites.
The Chief doubled back and thought about what to do. The dropship probably wouldn't be able to hit him if he ducked behind part of the frigate's frame, and the Hunters were too far down to get a good bead on him. So the Chief decided to dispatch the platoon, using a method that would prove effective.
He primed a plasma grenade and lobbed it.
The blue, fiery sphere gracefully flew down towards the platoon and stuck to a Jackal. The Covenant soldiers panicked. There was the imminent explosion, and nothing was left where they had been but a rainbow of alien blood.
The Chief took a look around. The dropship had already left, but so had the Hunters, meaning that they would come see what happened.
Better get the marines, now.
The Chief went to the panel used to open the hangar doors. He keyed it, and the force fields on the doors went down. He then turned on his com system and said, "This is the Master Chief. The hangar is ready for reinforcements.
Instead of Captain Franklin's voice, a new person piped up. "This is Sergeant Rodger Young. We copy Master Chief; we'll be there, double-time!"
Not less than a minute later the two dropships moved in swiftly and turned to let their cargo disembark. The Chief was pleased to see that they were the Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, the "Helljumpers." They were the most elite human soldiers besides him.
Just as the marines hopped out, the three Hunters came back into the hangar, now on the same floor as the Chief and the marines. The Hunters seemed to do a double take from seeing the humans.
The first heavy Covenant decided to charge in, raising its massive shield weapon. It had no chance, however, as a dozen battle rifles opened fire and mowed it down.
The other two thought wiser of their situation and stood back and charged their fuel rod guns. As they finished charging and let go of their fiery ammo, the humans took cover behind crates.
As the Hunters hammered away at the humans' cover, the Chief yelled, "Who has a rocket launcher?!"
"Me, sir!" replied a marine hastily, and before the Chief could ask him if he could use it, the marine had already stood up and was taking aim with the large weapon. The Hunter's destructive fuel rounds blazed past the marine as he launched his explosive payload. There was an explosion between the two Hunters. When the smoke cleared, one's charred body lay on the floor while the other was bleeding and limping. The marine tossed a frag grenade and the Hunter went flying into the air, and landed with a heavy thud on the floor.
Everyone stood up, relaxed and relieved. The Chief stood in front of the marine and asked, "What's your name, soldier?"
"Sir, Private Elgien, sir!"
"Well, Private, I'm going to make sure you got a medal for what you just did."
Elgien beamed at the Chief's promise.
"Alright, marines," said Sergeant Young, "let's get to that bridge! Go, go, go!"
The Master Chief led the dozen marines to the next door. After he opened it, he saw that Grunts were waiting for him and the two squads. Unfortunately, they were packing some dangerous heat, the prototype fuel rod guns. Everyone doubled back, but one marine was not so lucky. The fuel rounds collided with him, and he flew back. He couldn't even scream because the ammo had melted his head first.
With a vengeance, the marines came out and their battle rifles spat at a semi-automatic rate. The grunts slumped over, but they still had a chance of taken a few marines with them. Each gun had some sort of trigger that the Grunts held on to in order to keep the weapon from going critical. The Chief had never been able to see how they deactivated this weapon; perhaps a fellow Covenant pressed a button on the thing to turn it off.
"Take cover!" the Chief commanded.
The marines were able to get back before the fuel rod guns exploded. They peeked out, and, seeing that the corridor was empty except for some Grunt gore pasted on the walls from the blast, continued on.
The Chief noticed that the ship seemed less guarded than most Covenant ships that he had boarded before. He didn't know if the Covenant frigate had taken heavy casualties, or if they were using all their troops in the battle for Earth. Nevertheless, the Chief kept on his guard.
In a matter of moments, the Chief and the marines were outside the door to the bridge.
"Covenant forces detected," said Cortana over the com channel, "about two dozen. Use extreme caution."
The Chief opened the door and peeked out. A handful of Elites were in front of the bridge's main console, overseeing the battle raging outside the ship. They were armed with plasma rifles and swords, some with weapons in both hands. Scattered throughout the room were Grunts and Jackals, with needlers and plasma pistols.
The Chief closed the door and turned to the marines, their faces anxious.
"Okay, here's what we do," said the Chief. "We all throw grenades into the corners of the room, and be sure not to hit the central console. That'll create some chaos while we mop them up with rifles. Got it?"
The marines nodded quickly.
The Chief opened the door and gave the signal. Grenades flew everywhere, and then silently fell towards the corners of the room. A multitude of explosions came only a second later. Covenant bodies were ruptured and went sailing. The Elites at the console panicked and tried to escape, but were caught in the barrage from the marines' rifles. They gave cries of "Esruc uoy namuh sdratsab!" before falling. Wounded Jackals and Grunts were also finished off.
Satisfied, the Chief and marines walked into the room. Fortunately, the central console was unscathed. The Chief walked up and looked at the alien equipment.
"Okay, Chief," said Cortana. "Put my processing core in that slot to the right of you."
The Chief turned and saw a small slot. He pulled Cortana out and stuck her in. There was a flash from the console, and there was Cortana in holo-form, standing face-to-face with the Chief.
"Good work everyone," said Cortana, grinning. "I now have control of the ship. There are no other Covenant forces onboard, which could be good or bad." She then said over the com channel, "Captain Franklin? Mission accomplished. We're preparing to dock with you for repairs and tech inspections."
"Thank you marines, Cortana, Master Chief," replied Franklin. "It seems the future of the human race is beginning to look up."
TO BE CONTINUED
Halo 2: Revenge of a Spartan, Chapter 5
Date: 18 April 2003, 3:52 AM
1246 Hours, September 12, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
Dropship Delta 10, Antarctica, Earth
The five Pelican dropships flew over the vast Atlantic Ocean due directly south. The sky was unusually grey, but not just because it was cold. The destruction from buildings blew dust all over the world, making it a dark, gloomy place no matter where you were.
The Master Chief sat in a dropship, securely fastened to the seat closest to the drop exit door. He was armed with his M6D pistol and a battle rifle. He was fully maxed out with grenades and ammo. He was ready to fight.
The Chief glanced north as he saw a flicker of light in the distance. Another nuke, he thought. He learned that the humans and Covenant were evenly matched, so UNSC had no choice but to use nuclear weapons. Everyone could only hope that the Earth wasn't a glowing radioactive ball when the battle was over. The ozone layer could be repaired again, like the UN did in 2134, but there was a concern that there wouldn't be any ozone left to replenish once the Covenant were gone.
"Okay, let's review, marines," Cortana said over the com channel, breaking the Chief's train of thought.
"There's a large Covenant force stuck on Antarctica. Their dropships were destroyed by orbital UNSC attacks after they touched down. Right now we're racing the Covenant's available dropships coming to pick them up. We need to completely eradicate this division so that when their ride comes there's nothing left to rescue.
"Also, note that we'll be fighting on about half a meter of ice. Do not, at any time, use grenades or rockets. Hidden holes in the battlefield could be deadly for not only the Covenant but also your fellow marines."
Hearing this, the Chief put his grenades in the compartment under his seat. As he looked up, he could see snow covered land. But there was not only white along the icy terrain: the Chief could see a rainbow of shapes scattered everywhere over about one square kilometer, their sizes varying. And they were moving.
"Hostiles spotted," Cortana warned over the channel.
The marine opposite the Chief, Sergeant Ross, pulled out his sniper rifle. He peered into the long gun's scope and opened fire. The Chief watched and could only hope that Ross was making good shots. The Pelicans circled around as they prepared to land.
Touchdown. Making a final shot, Ross put away the sniper rifle and brought up his SMG.
"CHARGE!" He cried.
The Chief and the rest of the marines jumped out of the Pelican. He observed the battlefield for a few short seconds. It was much like the assault on one of Halo's islands in the search for the Silent Cartographer, only on a much larger scale. Covenant forces were everywhere, some controlling Shade stationary guns. Elites fired their plasma rifles in short, controlled bursts so as not to drain the guns' batteries. Hunters, the main target of most of the marines' weapons, were overwhelmed and took potshots with their large fuel rod guns at the humans. Jackals and Grunts blasted away with needlers and plasma pistols. Meanwhile, the humans, armed with every non-explosive weapon available, made up five platoons and were moving in quickly into the Covenant's camp.
His adrenaline pumping, the Chief dove into battle. Peering into his scope, the Chief picked off the Shade gunners with his battle rifle, one by one. He noticed his shields were dropping and looked up from his scope. A group of Jackals had noticed him and were now pounding away at his invisible protection. The Chief ducked behind a communications uplink crate and prepared to toss a grenade.
"Chief!" Cortana spoke up. "You put away your grenades, remember?"
The Chief cursed silently, realizing his error. He let his shields fill back up as he looked around for a plasma weapon to take down the Jackals' shields. Not a single one in sight. There was only one option left.
The Chief jumped out from his hiding spot and barreled towards the Jackals, the shots from their plasma pistols making the air crackle around him. He leapt into the air over a Jackal, raising his rifle. He brought it down right between the Jackal's eyes, crushing the birdlike skull. The other Jackals did not turn their backs quickly enough to face the Chief, and he blasted all of them with the rifle.
In other parts of the battlefield, the marines were not doing so well. The Covenant were using their plasma grenades recklessly. The explosives sent blue flames flying up from the human troops' feet, and left them without said body part and most of the rest of themselves. Marines that had been charging towards enemy lines behind their unfortunate comrades slid and fell into the gaping holes in the ice. Those that were able to make it to the surface of the water were picked off by the Shades.
Though the humans were down, they were not out. The troops quickly encircled the remaining Covenant and mowed them down easily. The blood the Covenant left resembled that of snow cone-making ingredients.
"Good work, marines," Cortana congratulated the marines. "...Hang on. Incoming hostiles. Must've been a patrol unit that was called back when the fighting started. 2 klicks away and closing."
"Get ready, marines," yelled Sergeant Ross. "We're not done with this thing yet!" The Chief locked and loaded his weapon. His work was never finished.
An indicator appeared in the Chief's HUD. He looked to where it pointed and could see figures coming closer and closer in the distance. He could make out several Ghosts, and something that was larger than a Ghost but smaller than a Wraith tank. It appeared to have hover technology like all Covenant vehicles.
The Chief turned to see a white-faced marine offering him a sniper rifle. "Sir," said the marine, "You may want to have a look at this."
The Chief looked into the gun's scope, which was cranked up at 10x magnification, towards the incoming aliens. Yes, the larger vehicles were definitely hovering. But that wasn't his concern. It was the figures onboard them.
The Chief had, at first, mistaken the shapes hanging off the sides of the vehicle to be Hunters, but they were much more rugged. The creatures were about eight feet tall and appeared to be very muscular and heavy. The brown fur scattered about their limbs and torso was rough and dirty. The uncovered skin was like living rock. The armor covering the creatures' torso, arms and head seemed to be a lighter, flattened version of the Hunters' shield weapons. They had horrifying faces, with small, dangerous eyes, gaping mouths and snorting snouts. Their guns appeared to be a variation of a fuel rod weapon, and had a menacing scythe running along the bottom. The beasts also had belts of red cylinders, possibly a new kind of grenade.
"How could the Covenant already have new allies?" Cortana whispered in the Chief's ear. "They only recruited the Hunters about a month ago."
The Chief didn't feel like seeing what these new Covenant could do, so he wrapped his finger around the trigger of the sniper rifle and looked for a target. He got a bead on one of the large beasts and fired. The bullet pierced the Covenant's skin straight through the chest. The Chief stared in disbelief as the creature did not wince, but instead roared with anger. The bullet had broken through the beast's shield as well as its flesh.
Anything can be killed from a direct hit to the skull. These guys can't be that tough, the Chief thought as he took aim at the beast's head. A shot went straight between the eyes. The Covenant fell and rolled away from the vehicle, dead. Satisfied, the Chief put down the sniper rifle and brought up his battle rifle, as the incoming aliens were only hundreds of meters away.
The Chief turned to the marine sergeants and said, "These new Covenant have very thick skin. Tell your men to go for their heads."
"Yes, sir," the marines replied in unison.
Suddenly, plasma fire soared just above the Master Chief's head. He turned to see that the Covenant were now in firing range. The hovering alien craft had turned to reveal a miniature Shade gun mounted in the back. The pink-purple lance danced towards the marines, peppering them with fire as they took cover behind crates.
The humongous Covenant stepped out from the new vehicles and the Ghosts. They fired their fuel rod weapons at they charged at amazing speeds for their sizes. Bullets pinged off their armor like so many small pebbles in a tin can. The beasts rapidly approached a group of marines and slashed with their gun scythes, ripping the poor troops to ribbons.
"This is not good," said Cortana. "I called for backup, they should be here in a matter of seconds."
"We have to do something now," The Chief said. "We're not going to last in the next few seconds."
Grabbing a squad of marines, the Chief led them to the undamaged Shade guns. The Spartan and the other soldiers climbed into the gunner seats of the powerful artillery. They opened fire on the creatures, and the smell of liquid metal and burning flesh filled the air. One by one, the Covenant fell to the powerful plasma. In a few minutes, there was nothing left of the enemy forces but large, green-bloodied corpses and burning hulks of vehicles.
The remaining marines cheered at the victory. "Yeah, that's the way to do it!" "Way to kick some ass, marines!"
The Chief said to Cortana, "Can you find out what the hell those things were?"
"Hacking into the Covenant Battle Net..." said Cortana, "Hmmm...the transmissions seem to designate these new Covenant as 'Brutes,' if I'm correct. Also, those new vehicles are called Shadows."
"Well," said the Chief, looking into the sky at the approaching Pelican dropships, "I really don't feel like seeing what those things can do in large numbers."
TO BE CONTINUED
Halo 2: Revenge of a Spartan, Chapter 6
Date: 4 May 2003, 12:43 AM
1027 Hours, September 13, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
Dropship Foxtrot Charlie, atmosphere above Africa, Earth
The Spartan was, for about the eighth time that day, out to kill some aliens. The weary Master Chief decided that this would be his last mission for a spell, and he would get some well-deserved R and R at a UNSC stronghold.
The VALHALLA-clad warrior had taken part in several miscellaneous engagements all over the globe, including the deserts of Australia, the cold lands of Siberia, and the temperate, thick woods of the Boundary Waters. The Covenant were still putting up a fight, but depending on how you perceived it, they were weakening, little by little. No more reinforcements were able to make it to Sol.
The last dozen hours had been hell. The Brutes, the Master Chief had discovered, were even more deadly than he had first predicted. The ruby cylinders on their belts released phosphorous chemicals into the air, giving Marines severe burns. Once, while the Chief was in Chicago, he had ducked out of the way of a Brute's superheated plasma, and the wild ammo smashed into an already-weakened skyscraper. The falling building created many casualties on both sides. Plus, Brutes and Hunters as a combined force were so deadly together that it took many rockets to take the beasts down.
The Chief, relaxing momentarily in the snug aircraft, thought of his former identity. He never had known why his parents had named him John...
"Well, Chief, I have the briefing for our latest mission," Cortana spoke.
"A couple platoons of Marines engaged Covenant forces on Madagascar, and they have been almost completely eradicated from the enemy's guerilla tactics in the dense jungles. We've been inserted into a platoon of Helljumpers who are delivering relief for the remaining Marine forces. We have to make an airborne drop because the Covenant possess a surface-to-orbit gun, which tore most of the Marine's Pelicans to pieces. In fact, we're probably in the Covenant's sights right now."
"Understood," said the Chief wearily.
"Ok, Helljumpers, this is it!" said the Pelican pilot. "We're almost over our destination. Opening drop doors now!"
The drop light turned red and the doors opened, and there was a tiny storm of air inside the Pelican. The Chief stood up and held tight to the safety mesh behind him, as did the Helljumpers. The Spartan peered out slightly, looking at the relatively puny island of Madagascar. There was a bright shape coming from the surface. And it was getting bigger.
"Shit..." the Chief said under his breath. "Incoming enemy fire! Brace for impact!"
Bewildered, the humans became tenser than they were previously. A few seconds passed, and suddenly there was a large "thump" and a small fire broke out on the port side of the craft.
The Chief shakily looked out at the additional Pelican. Its starboard engine had caught fire, and the Helljumpers onboard it had detached their camouflage Warthog and leapt out.
"It's now or never!" The Chief said to the pilot.
"Copy that!" was the reply, and the drop light became green. The Helljumpers fell first, and the Spartan encouraged them with yells of "go go go!"
After making sure his parachute was secure, the Chief jumped out and began his freefall. He looked behind his shoulder to see the burning Pelicans retreating and narrowly dodging the Covenant firepower.
John turned back to see the Helljumpers. Everything seemed normal; no one looked like they were going to have trouble with their chute. Minutes went by as the freefalling continued, until a tiny "beep" came from the soldiers' helmets' audio. They pulled their release straps almost simultaneously, and began sailing down peacefully.
The Chief sensed something wrong as he flew down over Madagascar. There wasn't any fire from Shades trying to attack him and the Helljumpers. Had they thought that all enemy forces had been destroyed, or had the Marines been able to put the Shades out of action?
"Cortana," John said, "Are you still detecting enemy movement from the island?"
"Yes," replied the AI, "why?"
"I'm not sure yet."
Suddenly, the Spartan found himself not much more than 30 yards to the ground, where the Helljumpers were waiting. The Chief hit the ground with a hard "thud," and removed his parachute.
"Okay, Helljumpers," said Cortana via com channel, "let's move out and find that missing platoon."
"Piece o' cake," declared a soldier.
The humans spread out from the field that they had landed in and proceeded into the jungle. The Chief's eyes darted in every direction, in case there were Covenant snipers about. It had been about half an hour of searching in the forest when John picked up a signal.
"This is Fire Team Bravo calling any UNSC forces. We need reinforcements and/or pickup. Does anyone copy? Over."
"Affirmative, Fire Team Bravo. We have a lock on your signal. ETA ten minutes."
"Copy that."
Seeing the nav point in his HUD, John called the Helljumpers and pointed them in the right direction. Moments later, they came across the Marines' camp. Men were sitting by emergency tents, stocking up on ammo and sharpening knives. The Chief heard groaning from inside the tents, most likely the wounded.
"Good to see you, fellas," said a sergeant. "I was beginning to think we were screwed over. Where are the Pelicans?"
"They'll be here as soon as we've confirmed all ground-to-air enemy artillery has been destroyed," said Cortana.
"Thanks for knocking out their Shades," said the Spartan. "We wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for you."
The sergeant popped the Chief a quizzical expression. "Eh? What're you talking about? We've been holed up here the whole time, and we haven't sent out any recon."
"Then who took out those guns?" demanded a Helljumper.
"Hell if I know," replied the sergeant.
"Cortana," said the Chief, "indicate the last point of enemy movement. We can find the Covenant from there."
"Let's see...there." A new nav point popped up on John's HUD.
"Let's roll, Helljumpers," said the Chief.
The soldiers made their way into the thick foliage. One man got out his combat knife and began thwacking the large vines. The Spartan looked at the nav point as it turned from hundreds of meters to nineties...eighties...and finally, they came into a cleared area of the jungle.
The Covenant camp was a mess. Elites hung to the sides of the Shades, dead. There were body parts from all the Covenant species, and charred bodies of Brutes and Hunters lay there as well. John saw the large Covenant gun that had been firing at them. It looked like a Shade with a 20-foot-long barrel, and it had an enclosed cockpit. The cockpit looked damaged, as if it had been forced open.
The Chief kicked over the ugly body of a Brute. He widen as eyes to see that it had plasma wounds.
John shivered, remembering the horrifying Marine recording he had found in a chamber of Halo. Captain Keye's squad had found an Elite's body covered in plasma burns. Of course, he knew what it had been from...the Flood.
Could the Flood have come to Earth? It didn't seem too likely; The Chief had only heard reports of Covenant activity. Suddenly he wished that he had a new double-barreled shotgun; he didn't know how well his battle rifle and SMG matched up against the unnerving infection forms.
"Look!" Cortana exclaimed. "There's some matted-down grass at two o'clock. Maybe whoever attacked the Covenant went that way."
Butterflies now in his stomach from his musings, John motioned towards the broken blades of grass. The Helljumpers nodded and removed the safeties of their weapons.
They quietly made their way back into the jungle, and found themselves in another small clearing. Suddenly, the Chief's eyes bulged as he saw movement all around him and the other soldiers.
"Not good," he muttered, and put a finger on his SMG's trigger.
A Grunt voice came from behind one of the trees, and it said one of the most ludicrous things the Chief had ever heard in the Human-Covenant War: "Don't shoot! We come in peace!"
TO BE CONTINUED
Halo 2: Revenge of a Spartan
Date: 4 June 2003, 4:32 AM
Oog...so late...school...homework...blah blah blah and other excuses.
I need to crash.
"Don't shoot! We come in peace!"
If the Master Chief were not wearing his helmet, the Helljumpers might've laughed their asses off if they could see his incredulous expression. The situation was incomprehensible: a Grunt...telling the humans not to shoot?
There was a rustling from behind a bush, and a Grunt stepped out, both of his hands in the air. This Grunt was unique, however. His armor/methane pack was a shiny greenish emerald color, vaguely resembling John's VALHALLA armor. He did not appear to have any weapons.
The humans' entire arsenal was targeting the creature. They were ready to fire if the alien showed any suspicious movement.
"Chief, what are you waiting for?" Cortana nearly screamed in the Spartan's ear. "He is the enemy! Pull the trigger!"
Every nerve in John's body screamed at him to do this. But the Chief just couldn't do it. Deep within, he had a growing curiosity of this new development.
The Grunt had stopped in front of John. He seemed calm, but John could see a slight quivering in the alien's legs as he looked into the leveled barrel of the Chief's rifle.
The stumpy creature extended a clawed hand and said, "I mean you no harm."
An awkward silence took place. The Grunt moved uneasily and squeaked, "Uh, what's wrong? Can you understand me?"
"I understand you all right," replied John, "but why should we trust you?"
The Grunt sighed. "Well, I suppose there is no reason to. But I want you to hear my and my brethren out."
More Grunts emerged from the foliage with all sorts of weapons: clubs, plasma swords, standard plasma weapons and some sort of long-barreled sidearm, most likely a sniper rifle. The surprised soldiers nearly panicked from seeing so many enemies surrounding them.
"My name is Tatak. I am the leader of the Grunt Liberation Force."
"Grunt Liberation Force?" Cortana said over the Spartan's external speakers. "There have been no reports of rebellion within the Covenant ranks."
"What makes you think we leave evidence behind?" said Tatak, slightly uneasy from the new voice emanating from the VALHALLA armor. "We burn all bodies of our fallen brethren, which is why you did not see any of my comrades' corpses in the Covenant camp. Besides, we have so far only attacked isolated groups of Covenant."
"But why?" the Chief queried. "Why are you attacking your own alliance?"
"Alliance??" Tatak said incredulously. "Ha! From the moment we 'joined' the Covenant, We have never been respected and both sides of this war have slaughtered us. We are known only among the Covenant as gas-suckers and cannon fodder. One day I thought, 'Enough! I cannot watch my people being enslaved and killed!' So I have formed this underground army to take back our freedom, and we are rapidly growing. Soon, we will overthrow the Prophets and Elites, and return to our swamp world of Gruntalia."
"So, you wish to form an alliance with us?" Cortana asked.
"Yes. It is clear that the Covenant are fighting a losing battle, and now is the time for our people to strike and regain our freedom. We can only beat them with you, and you can only beat them with us. Please, human...for both our races."
"It's not in my place to decide," said John. "But I'll take you to someone who can."
1459 Hours, September 13, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
LOCATION CLASSIFIED
John now found himself in a conference room in a top-secret UNSC stronghold, sitting at a long, rectangular stainless-steel table. He slightly winced as the bright ceiling lights shined on his pale, clammy face.
There were M.P.s standing in the corners of the conference room. They kept an ever-watchful eye on the alien guests sitting on one end of the table: Tatak, along with his advisors, chatted among each other.
At the other end of the table sat the top-brass military men and leaders of the UNSC. They warily looked at the Grunts, talking in hushed voices.
Both sides had been doing negotiations for about an hour, speaking of how the Grunts would assist mankind and vice-versa, and what would be done between the two species after the war was over. The Master Chief sat there as an observer, keeping a neutral glance. Finally, Admiral Stanforth spoke up.
"Tatak? Come forward please."
The little Grunt jumped out of the relatively large chair and walked up to the Admiral.
"After careful consideration, we have decided that we are capable to living up to your terms of peace and cooperation."
"And we, yours," said Tatak, still getting used to the English language.
"Then from this day forth, may all humans and freed Grunts live and cooperate with each other." He reached out a hand and shook Tatak's claw.
"And," added Stanforth, "We shall have to put this agreement into effect right now. A siege on New York City has just been reported. We will need all the help we can get. All UNSC forces have been ordered to recognize your soldiers as allies in the battlefield."
As everyone began filing out of the room, Stanforth stopped John and said quietly, "Chief, I know that you need some rest, but we could really use your help out there. Will you go into battle just one more time today?"
"Of course, Admiral," said the Chief. "It's what I was trained for."
TO BE CONTINUED
Halo 2: Revenge of a Spartan, Chapter 8
Date: 1 August 2003, 2:56 AM
I'll be genuinely surprised if anyone remembers this series. I have not updated since May for many reasons, most just having to do with being lazy or busy. Anyway, I thought I'd update again before I fall too far behind in your memories; I'm going on vacation for a few weeks.
1638 Hours, September 13, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
Dropship Delta Echo, Atlantic Ocean, approximately 34 km away from Manhattan
John sat quietly by the exit of the Pelican, checking that his SMGs were fully loaded and he had a sufficient amount of grenades in his armor's pouch. Something was different about the usual dreary atmosphere of the dropship.
The cause of the change was sitting right next to the Master Chief: a trio of green-armored Grunts, clutching needlers and plasma pistols. They spoke in soft barks and squeaks to each other, sometimes glancing over at the Marines sitting across from them.
The humans stared silently back at the little creatures. They each had separate opinions about the new life forms aboard their vehicle: a few men had suspicious faces, not breaking their stares from the aliens. A couple of men were grinning, glad to have some new allies. One Marine had a haggard expression, weary from so much battle, viewing the Grunts as merely new soldiers. The pilot of the Pelican had been gracious enough to keep the drop door open so that the dropship's passengers could have a view of where they were. The soldiers looked out onto the seemingly endless water, until something new came into view.
There were a few audible gasps from the Marines, and one muttered "God in heaven," as they stared at a large pile of debris, made up of concrete and steel beams. They saw a pair of sandaled feet and what once was a robe. There was no mistaking it: lying before them was what remained of the Statue of Liberty.
"Bastards," Cortana noted quietly as the Pelican pulled away.
The soldiers had seen nothing yet, however. As the dropship flew over the metropolis of New York City, they saw smoke slowly rising from shattered buildings; very few were relatively intact. Throughout the entire circuit of the streets, there destroyed civilian vehicles, and flashes of plasma and bullets alike lit up the dark avenues. It was fairly quiet, except for the distant thump of explosives and cackle of automatic fire.
"Ladies and gentlemen," said the Pelican pilot in a mock-formal tone, "the plane is preparing to land. Please make sure all trays are in their upright position and that all portable electronic devices are turned off."
His SMGs in their holsters and his battle rifle sitting in his lap, John prepared to disembark. He looked out on the terrain before him: the base of operations for the Marines was none other than the World Trade Center memorial park. Yelling Marines and Grunts and moaning from the hospital tents interrupted the normally calm atmosphere. The bullet holes and stains of blood (in several colors) were unsettling as well.
A female sergeant greeted the new dropship.
"Sergeant Molly Tucker reporting, sir," she said to John. "Follow me, please."
As the Chief walked through the human-Grunt camp, he was pleased to see that the two species were already getting along well. He saw outside one tent that a pair of Marines were teaching a couple of Grunts how to play poker. John also saw a few aliens doing the same, teaching the humans some sort of game revolving around levitating marbles.
The VALHALLA-clad Spartan then found himself in a command tent. It was empty except for a large table with a few types of maps on top of it: one of the subway routes, one of the streets, and the biggest was a large hologram of the entire city.
"Here's what's up," said the sergeant.
"New York City has become a major rally point for the Covenant. They've weakened so much over these last few days, and now their numbers are small and far apart, except here. There was an enormous armada of dropships that arrived 12 hours ago, and they've set up camp at the tallest still-standing building."
It dawned quickly on the Master Chief, but Cortana spoke up first.
"The Empire State Building."
"Correct." Tucker seemed unfazed by this new voice coming from the armor; perhaps she had already been filled in on Cortana's presence in John's suit.
"That's not the bad part, however. According to intel, the Covenant have an explosive device equivalent to that of a nuke. It's on the top floor of the building, no less. The Covenant are threatening to turn New York City into a nuclear wasteland."
"Why not just pull back all of our forces and bomb the building?" queried John.
"The bomb is supersensitive, it will go off if there is any heat higher than 400 degrees Fahrenheit that comes in contact with it. Besides, the Covenant have their eyes on us right now. Any sign of us bringing out Longswords and they do a kamikaze."
John sighed heavily. "So, it's all or nothing, huh? What is my mission?"
"You are to guide a group of Grunt technicians through this subway here" -she pointed to the map—"and bring them safely up to the top floor of the Empire State Building, so that they may disarm the bomb."
It was to be a legendary task: there would be a hundred or so floors with about a thousand rooms, filled to the brim with Covenant.
"Understood," replied the Chief.
A half-hour later, John, three squads of Marines and a platoon of Grunts trudged warily past the base's defensive line. They were now on their way to what the Marines had decided to nickname "Satan's Tower."
As they marched parade-style down a seemingly quiet avenue, the Covenant showed up. A squad of Jackals, two Brutes and a pair of Creeps, which were assault carriers.
The Grunt-human force had been ready. They fired a duo of rockets at the Creeps, destroying them. The Marines and Grunts then rushed forward to face their mutual enemy.
TO BE CONTINUED
Halo 2: Revenge of a Spartan, Chapter 9
Date: 22 August 2003, 6:12 AM
"CHARGE!"
The Grunts and Marines, led by the Master Chief, blitzed the Covenant that stood before them. The Brutes and Jackals came forth from the smoky hulks of the destroyed Creeps.
The Grunts let their Needler rounds fly, and they immediately glided towards the two nearest Jackals. One of the aliens held his shield in front of him quickly, deflecting the pink needles. The other was not so lucky; the shards stuck into his body and tossed him around in a tiny explosion.
Another trio of Grunts smartly overcharged their plasma pistols and let the large green rounds go on the remaining Jackals. The Covenant were able to put their shields in front of themselves in a protective formation, but it was no use. The powerful plasma immediately disabled the blue shields, and the Jackals were completely vulnerable. Another volley of plasma, and the Jackals were nonexistent.
Meanwhile, the Marines were also faring well against the Covenant. The Brutes, with no supporting infantry, were suddenly vulnerable. John and the other humans quickly surrounded the enormous aliens, and with a few well-placed shotgun rounds and a thick volley of automatic fire, they were dead.
"The GLF doesn't seem like the average Grunts we come across," Cortana said to John. "I daresay they're even mored skilled than the Covenant spec-ops Grunts."
John grunted in agreement, then spoke up to the Grunts and Marines.
"We have no time to lose. Let's get to the subway."
There were a few "Yessirs" and the assault team moved on.
With the help of Cortana hacking into some of the still-intact spy satellites that weren't destroyed in the initial Covenant attack, the humans and Grunts were able to safely make their way through the quiet streets of the city. They needed minimal casualties for the siege of the Empire State Building.
"Approaching subway entrance," Cortana later said. "Use caution."
The team walked tentatively to a corner of a building that hid the nav point indicating the subway entrance. John looked out, and there was a squad of Covenant guarding the stairway leading underground: a pack of not-yet-liberated Grunts, plus a trio of Jackals and an Elite.
The Spartan turned to one of his Grunts and said, "gimme a plasma grenade."
The former Covenant reached in his armor and presented the blue-orange device. John took it, and turned back to the stairway. He estimated the Covenant to be about 75 feet away, and made a strong lob to one of the Jackals, though with his augmented strength it was nothing but a gentle toss.
Like onboard the Covenant ship earlier, there were a few seconds of panic in the Covenant group, and then they were no more. The Master Chief motioned the assault team forward, and they had taken not a dozen steps when Cortana said, "Alert! Massive movement coming from beneath us! The Covenant must've heard the explosion! Fall back to cover!"
With noticeable anxiety in their steps, the Grunts and humans quickly ran back to their previous position. They then turned around and crouched by the corner of the skyscraper.
What happened next was much like watching blood spill from a fresh wound. Dozens of Covenant spilled from underground; Elites, Brutes, Jackals, Grunts, and a pair of Hunters looked around to see who had killed their guard.
"Oh, Jesus Christ," moaned one of the Marine privates.
"Stuff it," growled a sergeant.
"How many rockets do we have left?" said the Master Chief.
"Six between the three of us, sir," said a Marine, referring to himself and two others."
"Target the Brutes and Hunters. We'll clean up the rest," said Cortana.
A few seconds later, the rocket gunners sprung into action, and sent three, then another three 102 mm surprises straight towards the Hunters and Brutes. The Hunters quickly met their end, as did the Brutes, but some of the latter aliens were only wounded.
The other humans and Grunts sent their grenades flying.
"Frag out!"
"Fire in the hole!"
"Heads up!"
The remaining Brutes were decimated, as well as the other soldiers around them. The Master Chief's SMGs took care of the Covenant stragglers.
With no time to waste, the human-Grunt force ran down the stairs and past the ticket booths, then vaulted over the gates. They then found themselves in the lobby of the station. The usual graffiti and grubbiness was present there, but so was a pile of Covenant equipment in the corner of the lobby. The team inspected the cache, and was pleased to see there were plenty of guns and grenades.
The Chief turned and noticed that a few Grunts had found shoulder-hoisted fuel rod guns, who squealed with joy. They called their fellow aliens over, and had them assist with the bulky weapons. John watched carefully. First, the Grunt holding the gun held some kind of safety trigger. Then, the assisting Grunt would press a small button on the back, and the fuel rod gun was good to go.
"So that's how they do it," said Cortana, nearly making the Spartan jump.
"I wish you wouldn't do that," said John with exasperation.
"I know," Cortana affectionately replied.
With their newfound ammunition, the assault team plunged into the darkness of the normally active subway tunnel, flashlights on. They did not worry about the trains; with the city under siege, and all civilians evacuated, who would bother running the transports?
Ten minutes later, they came across an abandoned train, probably evacuated during the initial attack. It had been left peacefully enough, but it seemed something had forced its way in: The rear door had been torn off its hinges and lay on the track before them. The tunnel had been too narrow to go around.
"Careful, they could be anywhere," murmured a Marine.
Left with no choice, one by one, the assault team boarded the train. The Marines went in first, careful to guard the Grunts. The scenery was terrifying. Some lights were off, while others went on and off, stuttering. The poles that were normally in the middle of the train had been torn out of their sockets, bent, and thrown to the sides.
They soon reached one part of the train that was completely dark; it had lost all electricity.
"Flashlights on," John whispered.
What happened next could have scared any man on the Earth shitless.
There before the Marines was a pair of Brutes. Their gruesome faces were extra-shocking from the glow of the flashlights. The ceiling was too short for their large bodies, so they were nearly stooped over the Marines before them. They both let out bloodcurdling roars.
Two Marines, not five feet away from the Brutes, gave horrified screams in reply.
"Get DOWN!" John said, quickly pushing the Marines in front of him to their knees. He then brought up his SMGs, and the man beside him did the same with his shotgun. They peppered the giant aliens with bullets, as did the Marines on their knees. Screaming, the Brutes fell back, revealing a squad of retreating Grunts. Another hail of bullets brought them down.
"Son of a bitch! SON OF A BITCH!" screamed one of the vanguard Marines, getting up and spraying the corpses with additional lead.
"Knock it off!" said another man.
The Master Chief snatched the battle rifle out of the crazy Marine's hands. The man once again fell to his knees, then curled up in a little ball, sobbing.
John put a comforting hand on the traumatized man's shoulder.
"It's okay, it's okay," he said softly. He took a canteen from another Marine and gave it to the man. The poor fellow guzzled down the whole thing.
"Feel better?" inquired John.
The man nodded, sniffling.
"Well," Cortana said, "I'm not picking up any more movement. That must've been all of them."
"Right," replied the Spartan. "Let's blow a hole open in the front and get out of here."
"Excuse me, sir," said a human voice behind him.
The Chief turned to see a gangly African-American sergeant.
"Sergeant O'Neal, sir," the Marine said quickly. "Before I was drafted, I was learning how to drive one of these things. Maybe I can get us to our destination quicker, and with the train, we'll have some cover."
"Smart thinking, Sergeant," Cortana commended. "Marines, Grunts: break the windows. We're going in shooting."
Things were quiet in the lobby of the subway station. Jackals paced up and down the floor beside the tracks. Elites stood quietly next to the concrete columns surrounding the floor. Grunts were sleeping softly, curled up into balls. Brutes leaned against the walls, snorting. Hunters stretched their spines.
Suddenly, one of the Jackals perked up. He heard a rumbling coming from down the tunnel. The rumbling was getting louder, louder—then, a sudden squeal interrupted it. Then the squeal got louder and louder...then the sound was right around the corner.
Then it all happened at once.
The last thing the Jackal saw was the Master Chief firing his SMGs—and then the alien's body became riddled with bullets.
As the train kept moving, more and more soldiers were revealed. They were all firing out of the large broken windows of the train. They barely tried to aim—the moving transport gave them a wide volley of fire. Some of the Marines and Grunts tossed a few grenades into the lobby, then brought up their weapons again. Shotguns, SMGs, battle rifles, pistols, plasma pistols, needlers and sniper rifles all roared over the squealing brakes of the train.
The Covenant had just been pulled into hell. All their bodies shook from the bullets and explosions that chewed up their bodies. A rainbow of blood sprayed on the walls of the lobby, rivaling the graffiti.
And the train came to a complete stop.
Sergeant O'Neal opened the doors up for his passengers. Careful not to slip on their spent brass, the Grunts and Marines stepped off the train, inspecting the bloodied and bullet-ridden lobby.
"Good work, team," Cortana said, "No enemy forces detected."
John exited the lobby and made his way up the stairs. When he reached the top, he saw his goal three blocks down.
The Empire State Building.
Satan's Tower.
TO BE CONTINUED
Halo 2: Revenge of a Spartan, Chapter 10
Date: 21 September 2003, 4:07 AM
Private Gavin peered into his scope and cranked it up to 10x magnification.
A few blocks away stood his victims: two Elites, guarding the doors of the Empire State Building. They did not give any signs of noting his presence.
Better make this quick, Gavin thought, and held his breath.
He slowly moved his S2 AM sniper rifle so that it was targeted at the crown of the alien's skull...and pulled the trigger. Crack! Quickly, he turned to the other Elite, just as it looked, shocked, at its dead companion. Crack! He too was eliminated, his brains splattered against the wall.
Private Gavin let out a huge exhale, then turned and said, "Guards neutralized, sir."
Next to Gavin lay the Master Chief. They were just peering over the top of the stairwell of the subway station.
"Good work," said the Spartan. "Cover us as we approach the building. Once we give you the all clear sign, run up with us."
"Yes, sir."
Quietly, the two dozen other humans and the Grunts ran up the stairs. They had their weapons ready, their eyes scanning the windows of the beaten buildings for snipers. Running down the right side of the avenue, they came to the door of Satan's Tower and crouched by it but not in front of it.
"Move up, Private," John said over the comm channel.
Taking another quick look at the buildings around him, Private Gavin hung his sniper rifle on his back and took off in a somewhat panicked dash to his teammates. Suddenly, there was a sharp chirping sound and Gavin fell to the ground, a large hole in his head. He was dead.
"SNIPERS!" yelled a sergeant. "They know we're here! Get into the building, NOW!"
The fire team rounded into the smashed entrance of the Empire State Building, but of course, this was not such a safe place to be either. In the vast lobby, there were about three dozen Covenant soldiers of all types waiting patiently behind shield emplacements for their preplanned ambush. They opened fire immediately.
It was a horrible position for the Marines and Grunts, as they had no cover whatsoever, save the shield emplacements, but to use them was suicide because the enemy was no more than ten feet or less in front of them. Plasma rounds rattled the humans' bodies. A plasma grenade flew and stuck to one soldier, taking out him and two others. The Chief quickly jumped in front of as many of the now-panicky Grunts as possible to protect them and began pounding away at the Covenant with his SMGs. With their inaccuracy, he was able to take out many warriors.
"Use the fuel rods!" cried the Chief to the Grunts. The aliens quickly calmed down and brought up their heavy arms. Two well-placed shots took out a score of Covenant.
Amid the chaos, John noticed out of the corner of his eye a small cylindrical object on the ground. He quickly picked it up and examined it, and realized it was a plasma sword.
"Try pressing that small rectangular button," suggested Cortana.
John did, and the blade activated...three inches in front of his face. Startled, he drew the sword into a safer position. Quickly thinking back to his brief fencing lessons and watching holovideos of medieval battles, John charged the remaining Covenant with his newfound weapon at his side. He stabbed viciously at a Brute, piercing his skull. The Spartan heard an Elite approaching him from behind and turned to lash out—only to find that the Elite also had a plasma sword. The Covenant blocked the blow, and struck back. The Master Chief parried, and separated the alien's head and left arm from the rest of his body.
The firefight continued for another minute, and finally the ambushers were all dead. John evaluated his losses. He had lost almost half of his men, and five of his Grunts were KIA. Not pretty, but the mission could still be accomplished.
Cortana spoke over the long-range comm channel. "Command, this is Cortana. Fire Team Easy is close to neutralizing target. Make sure that means of escape is en route." She then ended the transmission.
"We should try the elevators. We don't know for sure if the Covenant knew how to turn them off. The logical place for the explosive would be on the top floor."
The Master Chief pushed the Up button by the two elevator shafts and, miraculously, the doors opened. The remainder of the fire team filed into two of the elevators, and hit the 102nd floor button on the large panel.
The soldiers shifted nervously around inside their cage, thinking about all the possible things that could go wrong when they stepped out of the shaft. Had the Covenant mined the shaft? Was there going to be another ambush? They couldn't know.
They kept their eyes on the floor indicator, counting down to their arrival.
88...89...90...91...92...93...94...95...96—
BOOM!
The humans and Grunts were flung back from the sudden explosion that smashed open the doors. The elevators' automated emergency brakes brought the lifts to a halt.
The smoke cleared, and there before the fire team were two Hunters. One colossal alien charged a lift with its massive shield raised to crush its victims. However, the stupid oaf did not realize that the elevator's door did not take up the whole height of the wall. The Hunter's melee weapon banged against the two feet of wall that was over the entrance of the lift, and the awkward impact caused the alien to stagger back. The occupants of the elevator used this to their advantage, and turned the beast into Swiss cheese with their ammo.
When the other Hunter saw his bond brother fall and ran to avenge him, the other lift's passengers (including the Master Chief) rushed out of the shaft and nailed the alien in his soft, orange backside, and he collapsed by his friend.
"Hurry, we have to get to the stairs!" urged Cortana.
Making sure there were no more Covenant around, the fire team rushed to the door labeled "Stairwell." Quietly, they made their way up six flights of stairs, to make sure that none of the building's foreign inhabitants did not hear them.
Finally, they reached a door that read "102nd floor."
John holstered his SMGs and brought up his battle rifle, to insure that he did not run of out much-needed ammo for the battle that was sure to ensue. He then turned to his crew and whispered, "Get ready."
The Spartan flung open the door.
Staring back at him were about sixty flabbergasted Covenant.
He opened fire and rolled out of the entrance to make way for the other soldiers.
About ten Covenant perished before they began firing back.
A little more than a dozen humans and Grunts had come out of the stairwell when suddenly there was a "beep" and the stairs exploded killing the remaining part of the soldiers. The Covenant had apparently wired the stairs.
The fire team was stunned for a second, then returned fire back at the aliens.
"You sonsa' bitches!" screamed a Marine.
The Covenant were not protected like those were back at the entrance of the building. However, there were more of them and they gave plenty of hell back to the fire team. More and more warriors fell to the ground from both sides, until finally there were only six living creatures left in the room: The Chief and two of his Grunt techs, and an Elite with two Jackals, standing twenty feet in front of the bomb in the corner of the room.
Time seemed to slow down. The win was on the line.
One Grunt, with his overcharged plasma pistol, took out a Jackal's shield. The Chief finished him with his own lead. The other Jackal took out the first Grunt with a shot to the skull. John turned and began pounding away with his battle rifle at the Jackal.
The Elite, realizing all was lost, began running towards the bomb. The second Grunt, his pistol overcharged, shot at the Elite, dropping his shields and causing the alien to stagger. The Elite then got back up and shot at the Grunt with his plasma rifle.
Just as John killed the Jackal, he saw how things were unfolding between the two other warriors. Panicked, he tried to jump in front of Elite's plasma, but it caught the Grunt in the head, and the small alien collapsed.
"No!" John cried, his last means of disabling the bomb gone. He fired in rage at the Elite.
The Elite took the bullets and kept on running. He was ten feet from the bomb...then five...two...one...
One of John's bullets caught the alien in the throat. He collapsed, but not before his claw fell on a large button on the bomb, and it emitted an ominous beeping noise.
Time came to a screeching halt.
TO BE CONTINUED
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