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HALO II: The Ardan Landings by MaxThndr
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HALO II: The Ardan Landings Chapter 1
Date: 5 February 2002, 1:11 am
::BEGIN TRANSMISSION::
::ARCHIVE FILE:117::
::ARCHIVE INDEX:2552::
::ARCHIVE SUBINDEX:HALO 1::
"THE HALO HAS BEEN DESTROYED! REPEAT: THE HALO HAS BEEN DESTROYED! REQUEST PERMISSION TO LAND UNSC LONGSWORD PHOENIX AT ALPHA DOCKING BAY 319. PLEASE RESPOND AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!"
::END TRANSMISSION::
::SEND TRANSMISSION:SIEGE ALPHA DOCKING STATION::
The UNSC Longsword fighter Phoenix flew over large cities for hours before finally reaching the Alpha Docking Station (ADS.) The fighter had been running low on fuel and received a large blow to the right wing after barely escaping the Forerunner Halo construct. It had flown through space until it finally reached the planet Siege. On Siege lied the last hope of the now-veteran Master Chief. The Chief had fought the Covenant many times in the past, but this time was different. This time, billions upon billions of lives were on the line: both human and nonhuman. The destruction of the Halo had also left a lasting side effect: the flood virus was now free to spread among 25,000 light-years and nothing could stop it. Nothing, except Spartans.
Phoenix flew past skyscrapers and other aircraft to a large complex. It flew through an opening and slowly made its way towards docking bay 319. The large gate closed behind them, making a loud noise. Finally, Phoenix hovered over the docking area. The ground under the ship slid open, revealing four clamps. The clamps rose and attached themselves to four spots located on the bottom of the ship. Slowly, they lowered themselves back into their original place.
The fighter door opened and the Master Chief stumbled out, still soaked in cryo-fluid. He got up and wiped himself off. Upstairs, a door opened and a five men made their way to an elevator. The transparent glass chamber lowered and the men walked to the Master Chief. They stood in front of him and saluted. Master Chief responded with a salute of his own.
One of the men stepped in front of the rest. "Hello, Master Chief. I am Commander Arin. I will be working with you on examining the occurrences on the Halo and I shall be working with you on future missions. Right now, though, you should head to the doctor and get yourself cleaned up."
"Nice to meet you, commander. I will head to the doctor immediately, I just need to go pick up my A.I., Cortana." replied the Master Chief.
He climbed up the ramp and walked to a panel at the front of the ship. He pulled out a chip and placed it into his head.
"Finally! I was getting tired of sitting in there, waiting for you to wake up." snapped Cortana.
"You know, it seems like you were having fun, I could put you back if..."
"...NO! No, it's ok. I can come with you."
The Master Chief took the elevator to the third level and walked down a hall to a door with a big red cross on it. He pushed a button on the side panel and the doors slid open. Inside, someone was sitting a chair facing away from the Master Chief. As he walked in, the chair spun around, revealing Dr. Halsey.
"Glad you could make it, Chief."
HALO II: The Ardan Landings Part 2
Date: 6 February 2002, 11:40 pm
CHAPTER II
ÝÝÝÝ"Dr. Halsey....you're...you're...." stuttered the Master Chief.
ÝÝÝÝ"...alive? After all the years, I figured you would already know that I'm quite a Spartan myself." interrupted Dr. Halsey.
ÝÝÝÝ"How did you escape? I thought the Pillar of Autumn crew were the only survivors."
ÝÝÝÝ"If you still remember, the Spartan-II project was just beginning when the Covenant attacked. Well, the plans were that the project would take place on a rather uninhabited planet. At the same time, I had plans of researching the mysterious matter you found. I did a little research and found that the patterns on the rock can be traced to the Halo structure. So, I chose to use the nearby planet Siege as our base of operations for the Spartan-II project. We contacted the inhabitants on Siege to make arrangements for our arrival. They told us that we were free to come and examine the planet prior to our final settlement. So, a few members of the UNSC and I boarded a ship and flew to Siege. When we arrived, we heard about the destruction of Reach and all of the Spartans."
ÝÝÝÝ"Yes, all of the Spartans were K.I.A. except for me. I managed to escape, along with Captain Keyes and about five hundred Marines, on the Pillar of Autumn. Unfortunately, the Covenant followed us to the Halo complex and tore us apart. Cortana and I were the only survivors."
ÝÝÝÝ"How horrible. At least you did what you had to do...for Earth. Chief, you've got a lot of information to catch up on, we better get started."
ÝÝÝÝ"I'm ready, where should we start?" replied the Master Chief.
ÝÝÝÝ"First of all, I need everything you happened to pick up or record or remember from the Halo. Please remove your helmet and your suit and give me everything you have brought with you."
ÝÝÝÝ"Well, I haven't really brought anything with me due to a little problem I had in escaping, but I do have Cortana and Captain Keyes' helmet recording chip."
ÝÝÝÝThe Master Chief took off his helmet and his suit and gave the helmet chip to Dr. Halsey.
ÝÝÝÝ"Chief, we have a lot of upgrading we have to do, both to you and to your artillery. But before I tell you about what you will be upgrading to, I need to inform you about what has occurred while you were on Halo. Surely, you haven't forgotten the Cole Protocol, right?"
ÝÝÝÝ"Yes, I remember." replied the Chief.
ÝÝÝÝ"Well, there is currently an intergalactic conflict we are having based on a Cole Protocol violation. Earlier this month, a UNSC ship encountered a Covenant fleet close to the planet Ardan. The Captain of the ship believed that if he landed on the planet, then he would be backed up by the planet's armed forces. Unfortunately, he was wrong and the Covenant conquered one-fourth of the planet. Luckily, they were unaware that there are more humans living in cities all around the planet. These communities are far more technologically advanced than we are but this may soon come to an end, as the Covenant are slowly advancing on their location. This has led me to begin the Spartan-III project. The new Spartan soldiers have already been selected. You will be using advanced armor, a new, advanced HUD, new weapons, and new vehicles. Your mission will be to land on Ardan and neutralize all Covenant threat. Please try to bring back any Covenant information and/or Covenant technology if you can. Be aware, though, that the Covenant on Ardan are also technologically advanced."
ÝÝÝÝ"Don't worry, Dr. Halsey, this will be a piece of cake."
ÝÝÝÝ"Great, 'cause the mission starts in a week." replied Dr. Halsey. CHAPTER III
ÝÝÝÝ"Step right in here please," said an aide.
ÝÝÝÝThe Master Chief walked into a small chamber. A stationary fork surrounded him. The aide pressed a few buttons on her panel and the fork's prongs shot a red beam to each other. She pressed a few other buttons and the fork began revolving.
ÝÝÝÝ"This is to determine your current health and to determine what you will be needing before you start training,"
ÝÝÝÝAfter a few minutes, readings began to show up on the aide's monitor. She looked at them and typed something up. The machine made a noise and the beam changed to a dark orange color.
ÝÝÝÝ"The readings show that you are healthy, but that if you don't upgrade your armor now, the new Covenant plasma weapons will disintegrate your shields with one hit, and if they can break through your shields in one hit, you wouldn't wanna know what a hit to you without shields would do."
ÝÝÝÝThe machine started beeping and finally slowed down and stopped. The beam melted into the air. The aide went to the monitor again and checked the readings. Finally, she entered a send address and pressed a button to send the information to Dr. Halsey.
ÝÝÝÝ"Thank you for your time, Master Chief." said the aide.
ÝÝÝÝ"No, thank you." the Master Chief said as he left the room.
ÝÝÝÝThe Master Chief walked down a series of hallways to a room with a sign saying HALSEY. He walked in to find Dr. Halsey looking at the new MJOLNIR armor in a glass case.
ÝÝÝÝ"Hello, Chief. Please sit so we can discuss your mission briefing and the details of what will be occurring in the next few days. First of all, you will need new armor. Your current MJOLNIR armor is far outdated and will be destroyed easily with the growing Covenant technology. Tomorrow at 0500 hours, you will report to the testing facility to update your suit. Now, allow me to explain the features of your new suit. First of all, the suit is equipped with a new and improved Heads Up Display, or in more familiar terms, HUD. Your new HUD will feature the option to enable a display of the suit and see which areas of your body have been damaged. This will be essential since the more damage an area takes, the more likely it is to disintegrate and reveal your body, which is very dangerous in battle. Another feature of your new HUD is the on-screen chargers menu. It shows all forms of charging in one area on your right side. These bars include plasma weapons recharge, flashlight charge, and your shields, and any of these can be turned of. As for the actual suit, it is now equipped with more areas to place your weapons and ammunition. You are now able to carry two small guns and a large one or just two large ones, or whatever you want the combination to be. Also, the suit features night vision, infrared vision, a heat scanner, and a thermo-suit, which adjusts your body heat to blend with that of the environment in case your opponents are using heat scanners. Are you still with me?" questioned Dr. Halsey.
ÝÝÝÝ"Yeah, sure. I'm listening. Continue, please." replied a worn-out Master Chief.
ÝÝÝÝ"Great. Next on your agenda: you will need to equip yourself with new weapons, vehicles, and technology. I cannot tell you too much about weapons, you will need to speak to Commander Arin on that matter. I can tell you about the new vehicles you will be using, though. The two main vehicles you will be using will be the Cobra MBH and the D12 Skyhawk. I'm sure you are familiar with the Skyhawk. The Cobra, on the other hand, you will need to familiarize yourself with. The MAV45 Cobra Main Battle Helicopter will be your tertiary source of transportation and destruction once you arrive on Ardan. It can carry up to three passengers and is very powerful, no matter what it is used for. You will be using the Cobra when you are done with your missions to transport yourself to your next destination. When you're in the Cobra, please follow the intercom instructions from the crew of the Echo 516. There is much more I can discuss with you about the vehicles you will be using, but we are short on time. Any questions?"
ÝÝÝÝ"No, no questions. Continue." replied the Master Chief.
ÝÝÝÝ"Ok. On to your mission. Your mission will be to land on Ardan using the Pillar of Autumn's sister ship, Doomsday. During landing, MAKE SURE YOU ARE CLEAR OF THE COVENANT! If the Covenant find that you are there, they will move forth with their invasion. Once on the surface, stay clear of the Covenant and find the location of the humans there. You will assist them with repairs and you will help them prepare an army to fight Covenant forces. If at any point during the mission you find that the Covenant are advancing, hide in the underground cities built by the people of Siege. During the course of your stay, make attempts to build ground machinery to decimate Covenant forces. I will provide Doomsday with advanced plasma autoguns that you will try to set up on the surface. For a more detailed mission briefing, please check the records in the test lab under the name PROJECT: ARDAN. Once again, any questions?" finished Dr. Halsey.
ÝÝÝÝ"Yes, just one question. What will I be doing for one week?"
ÝÝÝÝ"Good question, Chief. Why don't you follow me and find out." answered Dr. Halsey.
ÝÝÝÝDr. Halsey got up and left the room. Master Chief followed. They walked down a long hallway to a service elevator. Dr. Halsey pushed the T button. The elevator's doors closed and it moved down. After seven seconds, the doors opened once again. A cold wind blew into the elevator as they stepped out. The Master Chief looked around. He was surrounded be Scorpions, Warthogs, and various other vehicles he had never seen before. Straight ahead was a large shelter with a sign that read AMMO BUNKER. Next to the vehicles stood large autoguns. Around the vicinity was a large barbed wire fence. As the Master Chief was examining, hundreds of Marines walked out from every direction.
ÝÝÝÝ"Doctor, where are we?" asked the Master Chief.
ÝÝÝÝ"Welcome to training, soldier." came her reply.
HALO II: The Ardan Landings Part 3
Date: 7 February 2002, 11:00 pm
CHAPTER IV
The Master Chief walked up to the keyboard and pushed the LOWER key followed by a 1 and the EXECUTE button. The MJOLNIR armor lowered within the glass case. The case opened and the Master Chief walked up to the suit and pulled it off its holder. He put on the suit and looked in the mirror. The suit was new and shiny, unlike his old suit, which had sustained more than enough damage after the many Covenant, Flood, and Sentinel attacks. He examined all the improvements Dr. Halsey and her crew made on the armor.
He grabbed the helmet off its shelf within the glass case and held it under his left arm as he left the room. He walked down the hall to the elevator. He stepped inside and pushed the T button just as Dr. Halsey earlier. The elevator began to lower, making a beeping noise floor by floor. Finally, it arrived on Training Grounds. The Master Chief lifted his helmet and placed it firmly on his head.
He looked around through the clearer visor, no one in sight. He pushed a button on his side and his HUD appeared on his visor. The improved Heads Up Display had much more options to monitor his health and everything he was using. He walked up a little forward and examined the area more closely before jumping into the nearest Warthog and driving as quickly as possible to the ammo bunker. While he was driving, Autoguns sprung from their hiding spots and all turned toward him.
"Uh-oh" said the Chief as the guns all made clicking noises simultaneously.
He drove the Warthog as fast as he could until the guns began to shoot. Bullets flew all over the place, a few even hitting him. He managed to slide the Warthog sideways and flip it over in front of the ammo bunker for protection. He ran as quickly as possible to the nearest gun and picked it up. It was a rocket launcher. He grabbed two extra rockets and two pistols from the shelves before running out the door again.
As he ran, the Master Chief heard a loud boom followed by a squealing noise. He turned around to see his parked Warthog flying directly at him. The Chief ducked just as the Warthog flew over him and into an Autogun, destroying it. Behind him, the ammo bunker was transformed into just ashes. The Master Chief turned to the right of the bunker to see a Scorpion tank with its barrel aiming at the bunker. Slowly, the barrel turned to face the Chief. All around, him autoguns popped up and turned to face him. A Skyhawk flew directly above his head. Hundreds of Marines swarmed into the area, guns pointed at the Chief. The Chief thought he was doomed for when he heard a loud noise.
"TRAINING, TERMINATE!" blared Dr. Halsey's familiar voice on the loudspeaker.
As he headed towards the elevator, the Master Chief sighed that he didn't manage to defeat his opposition. He walked up to door and pushed the button. The doors slid open and Dr. Halsey stood inside.
"What's going on, Chief?" she asked him.
"I don't know. I haven't trained for so long and yet, I thought I was prepared. Guess not." he replied.
"Don't worry. This was just a test to see your individual capabilities. Don't forget that you won't be alone on Ardan," she reassured him.
"Now, go get some..." she began.
"DR. HALSEY, PLEASE REPORT TO THE TESTING LAB IMMEDIATELY. I REPEAT, DR. HALSEY, PLEASE REPORT TO THE TESTING LAB IMMEDIATELY. THIS IS AN EMERGENCY." said a voice over the loudspeaker.
"What could that be?" she asked as the Master Chief walked into the elevator to join her.
She pushed the 5 button and the elevator began moving. When they arrived, they walked down the halls to the lab. The doors opened after she typed in her password and got her eye scanned. She walked to another doctor, who seemed to be in a hurry.
"Dr. Halsey, we are receiving a message from Ardan that the Covenant forces are preparing to advance. We are being notified to send our crew ASAP," said the doctor.
"But we're not ready! We still have extensive training we need to send the Marines through. There's just not enough time!" yelled Dr. Halsey.
"It's ok, doctor. We're ready to go if they need us," replied the Chief.
"Are...are you sure, Chief? I mean...what if you don't...or...there's just not enough time for that!" yelled Dr. Halsey in response.
"Doctor, they need us. We can't let them lose this battle, or else we'll be next. I've got a mission and I'm gonna complete it!" said a determined Master Chief.
"Very well. Doctor, please get the Doomsday ready. I'll get the troops ready. Chief, grab what you need and get aboard the ship, 'cause you're going on a joyride!" yelled Dr. Halsey.
HALO: The Ardan Landings Chapter 1 (rewritten)
Date: 23 April 2002, 2:07 am
0800 Hours, August 27, 2552 (Military Calendar) / Epsilon Eridani System, FLEETCOM Military Complex, planet Reach
"Assembled here tonight," said Dr. Halsey, "are all surviving Spartans save three, who are otherwise engaged on fields of combat too distant to be easily recalledÖ"
0600 Hours, November 13, 2552 (Military Calendar) / UNSC Phoenix, planet Siege
United Nations Space Command INTERCEPT PRIORITY TRANSMISSION 05247B-48
Encryption Code: PhoenixLanding
Public Key: file /phoenix-siege/
From: Master Chief Petty Officer 117
To: Ardan Alpha Docking Station Control Tower
Subject: URGENT- Inbound UNSC fighter
Classification: Public (Docking Directive)
/start file/
Attention Docking Bay crew. There is an inbound UNSC Longsword heading towards docking bay 319. Please prepare for docking. Thank You.
/end file/
The fighter had been running low on fuel and received a large blow to the right wing after barely escaping the Forerunner Halo construct. It had flown through space until it finally reached the planet Siege. On Siege lies the last hope of the now-veteran Master Chief. The Chief had fought the Covenant many times in the past, but this time was different. This time, billions upon billions of lives were on the line: both human and inhuman. The destruction of the Halo had also left a lasting side effect: the flood virus was now free to spread among 25,000 light-years and nothing could stop it. Nothing, except Spartans.
ÝÝÝÝÝThe Phoenix flew at reduced speed through many docking gates until it reached 2 large open doors with "319" painted on them in red paint. As the ship flew inside, the gate closed behind them, making a loud noise. Finally, Phoenix hovered over the docking area. The ground under the ship slid open, revealing four clamps. The clamps rose and attached themselves to four spots located on the bottom of the ship. Slowly, they lowered themselves back into their original place.
ÝÝÝÝÝThe fighter door opened and the Master Chief stumbled out, still soaked in cryo-fluid. He got up and wiped himself off. Upstairs, a door opened and five men made their way to an elevator. The transparent glass chamber lowered and the men walked to the Master Chief. They stood in front of him and saluted. Master Chief responded with a salute of his own.
ÝÝÝÝÝOne of the men stepped in front of the rest. "Hello, Master Chief. I am Commander Arin. I will be working with you on examining the occurrences on the Halo and on future missions. Right now, though, you should head to the doctor and get yourself cleaned up."
ÝÝÝÝÝ"Nice to meet you, commander. I will head to the doctor immediately, I just need to go pick up my A.I., Cortana." replied the Master Chief.
ÝÝÝÝÝHe climbed up the ramp and walked to a panel at the front of the ship. He pulled out a chip and placed it into his head.
ÝÝÝÝÝ"Finally! I was getting tired of sitting in there, waiting for you to wake up." snapped Cortana.
ÝÝÝÝÝ"You know, it seems like you were having fun, I could put you back if..."
ÝÝÝÝÝ"...NO! No, it's ok. I can come with you."
ÝÝÝÝÝThe Master Chief took the elevator to the third level and walked down a hall to a door with a big red cross on it. He pushed a button on the side panel and the doors slid open. Inside, someone was sitting a chair facing away from the Master Chief. As he walked in, the chair spun around, revealing Dr. Halsey.
ÝÝÝÝÝ"Glad you could make it, Chief."
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