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Halo: The Battle Within by Bryan D. (A.K.A. B-Man)
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Halo: The Battle Within. Prologue & Chapter 1
Date: 21 February 2004, 10:15 PM
Halo: The Battle Within
Prologue
White specks of light from distant stars reflected off the wreckage of "The Pillar of Autumn" The ship was one of the most talked about ships in the UNSC. It had a history...Captain Jacob Keys had outsmarted the Covenant Armada just five years ago, but he was lost to an unseen threat...the Flood. The Flood were parasitic life-forms...they latched to your body, and invaded it...gathering your memory of the past and present, but held your future in their hands. Jacob Keyes, fought for his mind, he held on to his memories, and most importantly, the vector for Earth...the last living planet of the human's...
Chapter 1
Epsilon Eridani System
Approaching Earth
0500 hours
April 9th, 2557
Gawain Keyes snapped back to reality...he caught himself dreaming of his Dad again...the thought of a Flood invading his father's brain, the thought of his father leaving him at birth, the thought of how much he missed him. Gawain was handsome, 6'3", brown hair, lady killer, just like his Dad. As he sat up in bed, he felt sweat trickling down his back, when suddenly Private Drostan burst through the door...
"Captain, we need you on the bridge A.S.A.P, we're about to dock!"
Gawain slipped on a gray, captain jumpsuit and ran to the bridge. He got there just in time; he looked at a view screen and carefully guided the ship into the docking bay. As he walked down the landing ramp, he saw a huge green figure in front of him... the green warrior stood almost 7'5" and had scorched and scratched armor.
"Master Chief I presume." said Gawain.
The green warrior replied in a gruff voice "You must be Jacob's son; I fought alongside him over five years ago."
Gawain wanted to ask about what his Dad was like but he didn't get the chance. They needed to leave again. The only reason they came to earth was to pick up Master Chief. They needed him to escort a "special" cargo to the Covenant controlled planet "Castle of the Majestic." It would take two days to get there, even in slipspace.
"Let's roll Chief." Gawain ordered in a commanding tone
Onboard UNSC Ship: The Eagle's Black Talon
Upper Atmosphere above "Castle of the Majestic"
0730 hours
April 11th, 2557
1st Lieutenant Moina Ula walked into the room at a quick pace.
"We don't have much time, so I'm going to have to brief you very quickly."
"Understood" Master Chief replied.
"Our recon shows that the Covenant have snipers positioned in these four towers, each guarding sentry position, over the main gate."
Moina said, as she pointed to photos taken from a stealth jet flying over the base. The planet had recently been taken over by the Covenant. They had renamed it "Castle of the Majestic." And the name stuck. The Covenant base was almost a HQ for all Covenant activity.
"Your mission is to neutralize the snipers from long distance, sneak into the base, carry our 'care package' into the covenant structure, arm it, and get the hell off the planet...understood?"
Master Chief snapped his hand into place forming a crisp salute. The mission was suicide. It didn't matter, he was a Spartan, he had escaped death many times, and he wasn't about to let himself be killed without putting up a fight.
"Yes lieutenant."
"Then get going to the shuttle bay...oh, you might need this"
Moina said as she tossed a M6D pistol into John's hands. John thanked her, then turned smartly on his heal and walked out the door.
John walked down to the armory, when he was done cleaning his weapons, he examined the specs on his suit, everything was at 100% operational level. The suit was one of the most technologically advanced as well as one of the most expensive pieces of equipment the UNSC had ever made. You didn't have to move in it, it reacted to thought at lightning fast speeds. The suit had a built in shield covering every square inch of it. After he got the suit on, he strapped his MA5B Assault Rifle to his back, slipped four M9 Grenades and about 20 miscellaneous clips of ammo into his utility belt. He put his brand new pistol from the lieutenant into the holster, threw his M90 shotgun onto his shoulder and finally picked up his S2 Sniper Rifle to take care of the sentries. He had to be prepared for anything.
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I'm a slow writer, so I won't post the next chapter until I'm postive I have another one for the next time.
Halo: The Battle Within. Chapter 3
Date: 2 March 2004, 3:45 PM
Chapter 3
Surface of "Castle of the Majestic"
Unknown Ground Location
1010 hours
April 11th, 2557
John looked over his weapons, his sniper rifle and shotgun had been sucked out of the ship during the explosion. All he had was his assault rifle, pistol, and ammo. He still had the clips to the sniper and shotgun.
"A lot of good these will do me," He thought to himself, as he threw them down, crushing them into the ground with one swift stomp. None of the Marines had sniper rifles, or shotguns. It was very unfortunate; he wished he still had Linda. She would have had his back in any situation when he needed her.
He had to be ready for the worst; he didn't have a sniper rife and he had to figure out how to take out those snipers, or at least avoid them. Pondering the way he was going to do it, Caradoc interrupted his thoughts.
"Sir?"
"What is it private?"
"I just wanted to let you know, all of the Marines are suited up, and really to kick some ass."
Master Chief sighed to himself; the Marines were never ready before him. He was getting sloppy.
"Thank you for letting me know."
"No problem Sir."
Master Chief quickly finished examining his weapons. He strapped his assault rifle to his back, and holstered his pistol.
"Ok team, I have a plan..."
Onboard UNSC Ship: The Eagle's Black Talon
Upper Atmosphere of "Castle of the Majestic"
1010 hours
April 11th, 2557
Explosions rocked down the side of the "Black Talon"
"Damage report!" Gawain yelled out.
"Sections X through Z gone; Sealing now." Moina Ula responded calmly.
Ten minutes ago, a Covenant ship spotted them and opened fire. They couldn't have drawn any more attention to themselves, short of transmitting "Hello, we are new the neighborhood." to the attacking Covenant ship.
"We have to get the upper-hand in this battle. We are sitting ducks." Gawain thought to himself
"Private Anyon."
"Yes Sir?"
"Ready 'Archer Missile Pods' A to Z, and the MAC guns."
"Done Sir." He responded
"Fire at will. Blow those aliens back to the hell-hole they come from."
"Sir, yes Sir!" Enthusiasm cracking through the Privates voice
The missiles firing rocked the ship slightly. Twenty-six white missiles streaked toward the Covenant ship, followed quickly by five slugs of molten metal. As the missiles hit the ship, the shields flickered, and then faded. As the shields were down, the MAC slugs impacted along the starboard side of the ship.
The shields re-sealed, and covered the entire ship as explosions erupted from inside.
"Scratch one Covenant ship sir." Anyon said, smiling.
Gawain was surprised at the poise of this young man. He timed the missiles so perfectly, that it was almost shocking. It was very rare that anybody could have the shields re-seal as it exploded without the help of an AI.
"Nice shooting Anyon. But unfortunately, that is only one ship out of about fifty. Let's get moving, take us behind that moon before any other ships spot us."
The Covenant would stumble upon the debris from the last ship. But if all went well, they wouldn't be in the system when that time came.
Surface of "Castle of the Majestic"
Covenant HQ
1030 hours
April 11th, 2557
Master Chief crept up on the Elite in front of him. He slowly, and silently, pulled out his pistol. Holding it butt end first, he swung for the Elite's head. He felt and heard bone cracking under his strength. The Elite fell to the ground dead. Master Chief took the alien's plasma rifle and dragged the body into the bushes. He could use all the weapons he could find.
After policing the gun, he turned around and waved. All at once, seven Hell-Jumpers emerged from the trees around the base.
Master Chief turned on his COM.
"Ok Maries, get to your positions. We are going to have a lot of company in a few minutes..."
Surface of "Castle of the Majestic"
In Trees Behind Covenant HQ
1030 hours
April 11th, 2557
"How are you doing?" Caradoc asked
"I think I can stand up..."
Private Kemble stood up slowly, putting his weight on his one good leg; he patted Caradoc on the shoulder.
"I can go with the rest of the group, I don't need you to baby sit me Cara."
He put a little weight on his other leg.
"See! I'm fi..."
With a loud cracking sound, he collapsed to the ground screaming.
"YOU HAVE TO BE QUIET! Be strong...the last thing we need right now are thousands of aliens attacking us while you lay on the ground screaming." Caradoc told him is a stern voice
Caradoc muffled the screams coming from Kemble with his hand. He felt compassion for him, and yet they both had to remain strong.
"We are going to make it out of this alive...I promise you that..."
Halo: The Battle Within. Chapter 4
Date: 9 March 2004, 3:25 AM
Chapter 4
Surface of "Castle of the Majestic"
Covenant HQ
1045 hours
April 11th, 2557
Master Chief dove up and over a low wall; a plasma grenade had landed next right to him seconds ago. The grenade finally blew up, and Master Chief felt the heat come over him. A blue haze came over the wall, and his shields diminished half way.
"Good thing I wasn't by that thing." He thought to himself
Rising to his feet, he fired a three round burst into the head of a charging Elite, sending fragments of bone and blood flying. More concerned about the grenade, Master Chief didn't notice the grunt firing a plasma pistol at his back. He got hit with a charged burst, and it brought his shields down to zero percent. Diving to the side, he pulled out his pistol, rolled 180 degrees and fired his pistol eight times. Five shots caught the Grunt in the chest, and it went down, exploding, as it's methane tank ignited.
***
'Neghux threw a plasma grenade at the green warrior. He had seen it kill many of its "brothers." "The Infidel" moved to the side, and then dove over a small wall.
"Coward." 'Neghux snarled, "I guess I'll have to take him head on."
'Neghux threw his plasma pistol to the side; the weapon's energy cell was depleted. While running at the warrior, he pulled out his plasma rifle.
He held onto the trigger, firing blue energy at the wall; until the green warrior got to his feet and shot at 'Neghux. He felt a sharp pain as he heard his own helmet crack. And he fell to the ground, in a bloodied mess.
***
'Zuc turned around and witnessed one of his superiors get shot in the head.
"At least he died valiantly, running into battle." He thought to himself.
Realizing his luck of having the Infidel turned away from him, he squealed with delight as he happily charged his plasma pistol.
When he finally fired it, he saw the Infidel jump from the surprise when it hit him. Suddenly, he dove to the side, turned in the air, and fired a few shots at 'Zuc. Amazed by his luck again, three of the shots missed as he dodged them. Grinning, he fired a few more balls of plasma at the green warrior who was busy flying through the air. Suddenly, five more shots caught him in the chest. 'Zuc felt his lungs collapse, and he started to fall, he felt the bullets passing farther through his body, until finally they got to his tank. "This can't be good," he thought to himself. The methane tank exploded and the thought was no more.
***
Master Chief got up from the ground. He stood there examining his weapons, waiting for his shields to recharge; he had barely gotten out of that one without injury, and that's the last thing he needed. After his shields were at one-hundred percent, he jogged over to the group of Hell-Jumpers that had developed.
"What do we need to do next?" one of the Jumpers asked.
Master Chief thought back over the last thirty minutes. The trouble started happening when he got out into the open, in the front of the base.
Surface of "Castle of the Majestic"
Covenant HQ
1035 hours
April 11th, 2557
Master Chief ran as fast as he could towards the main gate. If he ran fast, maybe the snipers won't see him. He glanced up while running. He saw one of the Elites aiming for the shot. The other one was asleep, no matter, it was about to be woken up.
"Shit..."
The Elite fired. The bullet, if you could call it that, was a long purple dart, similar to the ones used in the "Needler," only longer. Twisting his shoulders perpendicular to the gate, he dodged the bolt as it grazed by him, centimeters away from his forearm. His arm behind his body gave him an advantage; he reached for a M9 Frag grenade, and used his momentum to throw the grenade into the sniper tower. Moments later, he heard a satisfying "Thud" as the grenade exploded. Purple blood splattered over the sniper tower railing and landed on top of Master Chief in a shower of gore. The body flew over the side, and it hit the ground in front of the gate with a crunch.
Finally getting to the gate, he made sure he kept his back to the gate. Leaning back, he got out of the line of fire. Between the shooting, and the grenade, the other Elite was surely awake now. Master Chief peeked his head out. A shot rang out. He felt it come millimeters from his head.
"I won't be doing that again..." He said to himself.
"How can I get around this?"
Slowly scooting along the gate, he crouched down and picked up the dead sniper's plasma grenades. After arming two of them, he threw them into the line of fire. The Elite, not an experienced sniper, shot for the plasma grenades. Master Chief seized the opportunity, and threw another frag grenade into the manned sniper tower. Another bang, another body over the edge. Master Chief could now move about freely...for now. He took his C-4 charge and planted on the gate. A timer with 1:30 minutes showed up on his heads-up display...he quickly ran a safe distance away, and waited. A huge explosion rocked the entire base, as the gate flew into two pieces of solid metal. Master Chief jogged through the smoke and fire and entered into the base he was surprised to see only one Elite standing there.
***
Master Chief's mind caught back up to what was happening.
"Sir? Hello? Anybody home?" the Private kept asking
"What is it?"
"What do we have to do next Sir?"
Master Chief cocked his pistol and checked his ammo.
"Load your weapons boys; we are making a house call, and the house is coming down..."
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I just thought I would let you guys know, I'm going to be taking a little break, but stay tuned for Chapter 5...coming soon...
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