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Project Shadow Spartan: Chapter Two
Posted By: Shadow Spartan and Arinoth Koby<silent_shadow13@hotmail.com, stklego@hotmail.com>
Date: 9 April 2003, 8:29 PM
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Project Shadow Spartan: Chapter 1
Chapter One: Jupiter moon; Io, 16th, 2562
Io was a barren wasteland. The lakes of molten sulphur let off huge amounts of heat and steam into the very thin human-made atmosphere and the volcanos shook the weak moon crust as they exploded outwards large columns of more lava consisting of various unknown gases. The Master Spartan's (same rank as Master Chief, but different series) MJOLNIR-X armor did nothing to block the intense heat given off from the surface. He could feel the sweat from his forehead, running down his face, as he and his team of eight Spartan-III's sprinted down the slope of a huge mountain that towered over the molten landscape. Still pursuing them, a large group of Covenant Ghosts, and a prototype vehicle called the Shadow (which is the equivalent of a human Warthog) appeared and continued to fire random shots at the fleeing Spartans, while trying to catch up with them. The Master Spartan and the remains of his team were only armed with assault weapons, and were also low on ammunition. Logically, the Master Spartan should've tried to surrender awhile ago, but like his trainer Chief Petty Officer Mendez used to always say after a briefing "Live to fight another day." Also, the Master Spartan was well aware that the Covenant didn't take prisoners.
So, after the military base and power plant was overrun and destroyed, he high tailed it out of there, with whatever remained of his squad. He knew that he had around three Spartans unaccounted for, and could only assume the worse for them. Attempting to forget about them, he twisted his torso around and fired the last rounds in the clip of his MA7C battle rifle. The bullets did nothing to the armored alien warthog and did very little damage to the scout bikes. He turned back, jumped over a boulder, and released the empty clip from his rifle. He inserted his last clip of 7.62 armor piercing rounds into the rifle, cocked the weapon and attempted to catch up with his team, which were waiting for him at the base of the mountain. They fired quick bursts of ammo at the pursuing force, and then had to reload themselves.
The Spartans had come into the battle, thinking it would be a quick victory, and didn't pack a lot of ammo, weapons or grenades. They used what supplies they had at the base and power plant then fled the area with very little ammo. Now, the whole team was left with virtually nothing. The Master Spartan reached his team, but did not stop and merely waved his arms frantically, yelling into his radio...
"Go go go! don't stop, keep your lazy asses moving" he yelled. His team fired a few more rounds, and then ran after their leader.
They were now on open ground, and the heat was intensively hot. The lakes of molten sulphur were burning their skin, as the armor did virtually nothing to stop it. The vents were having a hard enough time trying to filter oxygen for their users. However, they had been trained to endure punishments, similar to this. The Master had always been told not to look back at his enemies, but he felt the need too. He turned and wasn't surprised to see the Covenant force decreasing the distance between them.
Suddenly, the Master Spartan heard a deafening roar throughout the sky. He looked to see what the hell is was and swore out loud to himself. He quickened his pace and ordered his Spartans to do the same. But, it was too late. A meteor, roughly the size of a Pelican dropship smashed right into the wide open space between the two forces, running across the plains. The resulting crash, led to a large explosion of rock, flame and molten sulphur. The Master Spartan and his group were blasted forward from the explosive crash, and the Covenant were all blasted backwards from the blast. The radio was filled with screams, as three of his men were covered in molten sulphur, which was powerful enough to burn right through the MJOLNIR-X armor and melt them to carbonized skeletons. The Covenant experienced the same fate as the three Spartans, leaving only one wounded Ghost and the Shadow, which had lost two of its occupants.
The Master Spartan and the remains of his team were buried in smoldering rocks. The armor was blaring alarms in the Master Spartan's hears and he chinned a control to dim them. His shield was gone, and he could definitely tell that his left leg was broken. His static radio was filled with moans and groans of pain, experienced by his fellow Spartans. The MS did his best to uncover himself and attempt to help his suffocating team. He crawled over the layer of debris and found the remaining five Spartans of his team. They all seemed to be find, except for Spartan-224, who was completely knocked out and seemed to have suffered a broken arm and rib. The MS knew it was impossible for them to continue on and hoped that the Covenant force had been weakened as well.
"Ian, is your radio working?" the MS asked a Spartan, making sure no one was coming to attack them in their weakened state. The tall and muscular Spartan turned and nodded his camouflaged helmet.
"Yes, it is working."
"Good, call the Hyperion and tell them we need immediate evac, mention our weakened state and loss of life." The MS felt a surge of sadness go through him as he remembered his fallen comrades. Ian, or Spartan-216, nodded again and switched to FLEETCOM. While he did this, the MS inquired who they had lost. He still had Amanda, Sonya, Jamie, Ian and Terrence with him, which meant that Kyle, Derek and Lisa had perished. He bowed his head momentarily, but was shaken out of his state of depression from Ian.
"Sir, Pelican is on its way" he said. The MS nodded, and they all waited. Within twenty minutes, the roar of a Pelican's engines sounded throughout the area. It hovered above the ground, and a Crew Chief, sitting in the troop bay, waved them forward. The Master Spartan was helped up by Ian and Amanda, and helped in, while the other two Spartans carried the unconscious Terrance aboard. The crew chief helped support the MS's leg on a seat, made a makeshift splint, then helped out Terrence. The Master Spartan stared back at Io, as they lifted off from the ground and headed out to the UNSC destroyer class vessel waiting for them.
Another stab of regret and sadness struck him as the landscape which they fought on disappeared. As they continued to climb, the MS could make out the wreckages of the Covenant Ghosts, who had been chasing them. The Shadow seemed to be abandoned. He shrugged, and then hung on tight as they cleared the atmosphere and made their way into the entrance to the Hyperion's cargo bay.
A team of medics were waiting off to the side, as the Pelican touched down on the cold, steel flooring. The crew chief helped the MS out first, who was immediately put on a stretcher and rushed to the medical bay of the vessel. The remaining medics looked after Terrance and whoever else was hurt. The Master Spartan, or Trevor, was in a state of calmness, thanks to the morphine that was injected into his system. His helmet had been removed and he could feel his hot, sweaty face beginning to cool down as he was rushed down the halls of the ship. The medical bay was a spherical room, lined with cots and bunks for the wounded. There were separate holding areas for the critically wounded and other rooms which held medical supplies. The main part of the med bay was loaded with injured marines, all collected from the surface of Io. Trevor was ushered into one of the separate rooms, which was occupied by only three marines, who seemed to be dead, but the doctors were doing their best to keep them alive. The Master Spartan was transferred to a cot, where he was injected with a special bone regrowth drug and was also forced to gulp down several pain killers. He lay there in a state of numbness as the drugs went to work. Eventually, the pain in his leg started to dwindle, and he was able to sit up. As he did, Captain Cody Miller walked in, hands behind his back, and head bowed. However, he raised his head when he saw the Master Spartan staring at him. Trevor tried to salute, but he still didn't have enough strength to move around. Miller smiled.
"Good to see you Master Spartan, glad you weren't killed down there in that hell hole" he said. Trevor didn't say anything and merely looked at the Captain, who began to pace around his cot.
"The situation is grim my friend. The UNSC High Council is ordering all ships and UNSC personal to fall back into the Inner planets. We have been fighting a losing war since day one, but this shows who we have less than a few weeks probably until we are wiped out of existence" he said, shaking his head as he spoke. Trevor's eyebrow raised.
"Sounds like fun" he said dryly. Miller chuckled.
"The battle for the Inner Planets will be our last stand, and if we can't pull it off, then there is nothing left for humanity to do. We cannot run, as all our colonies are gone, and we don't know what lies beyond this system of galaxies. We have to pull through here, or else it's just all over." The Master Spartan was just getting more and more depressed as the Captain drawled on about humans being wiped out.
"The colonies floating inside Jupiter's atmosphere have been abandoned and the Covenant have destroyed all our military bases on the surrounded moons. The Hyperion and three other destroyers are collecting what's left of the military forces and survivors of various colonies. Once we are done that, we head back into the asteroid field and begin our last few weeks of fighting" the Captain finished, turning to face Trevor. The Master Spartan looked up at him, and then laid back down injected more "drugs" into him. Trevor then drifted into a restless sleep. Miller smiled. Although the man had lost a lot of people down there, he knew that this Spartan wasn't going to give up, despite all the losses.
Cody turned, left the bay and took a lift up to the bridge of his destroyer. He stood on the command deck and looked towards his communications officer.
"Report. How is the evacuation going?" he pondered. The young lieutenant turned in his seat.
"We're all done sir. We just picked up a squad of ODSTs, fighting near the defense perimeter on Io" the man said. Cody nodded.
"Anything else?"
"Nothing sir...what the hell?" Cody turned to look at the man, but the lieutenant was punching in commands at his console.
"Lieutenant?" Cody asked. The man turned.
"Sir, I have been picking up a strange signature for the last few minutes. It seems to be an old Longsword fighter that was put out of commission nine years ago" he said with slight confusion in his voice. Cody cocked his eyebrow, then his eyes widened.
"Keyes?" he whispered, and then ran to the man's console.
"Show me" he demanded. The lieutenant pointed near Jupiter's polar caps and sure enough, the Longsword floated just out of its orbit. Cody pressed several buttons, and then grabbed the headset that the lieutenant wore.
"This is Captain Cody Miller of the UNSC destroyer Hyperion to unidentified Longsword fighter, positioned near Jupiter's polar caps. Please identify yourselves, or we will be forced to engage" he said, his voice thick with authority.
The lieutenant punched in several more commands, and one of the cameras on the destroyer's hull zoomed in on the horribly damaged fighter. It appeared on the screen. There was a period of static, and then a female voice answered.
"This is AI construct Cortanna of the UNSC cruiser Pillar of Autumn," the voice said, "I am here with Spartan-117 of the Spartan-II series."
Captain Cody Miller's eyebrow rose and he smiled, preparing to respond.
"Master Chief...."
TO BE CONTINUED: CHAPTER TWO, COMING SOON
By: Shadow Spartan and Arinoth Koby
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