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Halo 2: From the Maw Onwards>>> by Mr.Master
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Halo 2: From the Maw Onwards>>> (Part 1) (Chapter 1)
Date: 11 October 2004, 4:08 AM
(i)This is my first fan fiction story and I'd like to thank LostRock, Velker, and SlitThroat for my inspiration. I'm open for recommendations and comments. E-mail me.(/i)
(b) 0200 hours
Approx.20000 klicks from gas giant Threshold
Exact Date unknown. Approx 20 mins. From destruction of Halo
LongSword Interceptor(/b)
The Master Chief groggily came awake. He started to move his hands in order to rub his eyes, and encountered his visor. Wow, I must have been out cold for a while, thought John. Suddenly Cortana's voice burst into his helmet. "Chief? Chief!" "I'm here, Cortana, responded the Chief. What's our situation?". "You've been out for about 20 minutes, starting when the sudden acceleration of the Longsword fighter caused your head to smash against a bulkhead. John got up and looked at his reflection in the viewscreen. Sure enough, there was a small dent near the back of his helmet. "Is there any recording device on this ship that could have captured whatever happened from the time I wiped out up to now?" "Pop me into the data slop and I'll see if I can't access the external video cam. It may have been wiped out by the explosion's Ionization rays," replied Cortana. The Chief inserted Cortana in the Data Slit and watched her hologram pop up on the display tray. "Let's see...got it! The external cams aimed in the direction of the explosion should do it. Transferring video clip to you helmet." The Master Chief saw a small blip appear on his HUD, and depressed a small button on his helmet. The video stream activated, and suddenly John was staring out of the camera's 'eyes'. John watched The Pillar's hanger slide by, then the whole Autumn disappear and then he was staring at Halo. Just then, an interestingly bright dot appeared on the bottom of Halo. The dot rapidly increased in size, until it was a distinguishable mushroom cloud. The cloud continued to grow, until a distant rumbling could be heard, and the ring cracked cleanly into first two, then four, then seven pieces. Slowly, what remained of Halo drifted towards Threshold, gradually gaining speed as they were sucked in by the gas giant's incredible mass. With smug satisfaction John shut the video clip down. "How are the ships vital functions holding up, Cortana?" "Power: ninety-eight percent. Oxygen: ninety-seven percent. Engine Coolant: Full. Computer database: Fully Functional. Navigation Database: Fully Functional. Controls: Fully Functional. Cryo: one hundred percent. All Minor Systems functioning at full capacity". "Excellent. How Far to the nearest remaining colony?". "I've been keeping us in slipstream for about ten minutes, on a straight trajectory to Plemus Prime, one of the farthest out remaining colonies. We should arrive within two days." "Hmm..... sounds good. I'm going to prime the weapons, just in case." The Master Chief backtracked to where he had woken, and found his trusty M90 Shotgun and MA5B assault rifle awaiting him empty, scratched and burnt from his furious fight through the Pillar. He then went to the Armory and found a few AR clips, a M6D pistol, and some pistol clips. No shotgun shells, though. Or, for that matter, the shotgun he'd been expecting to find on its customary rack. Strange, thought the master chief... John also grabbed a couple of frags and a medkit to take to the bridge. As The Chief rounded the corner leading out of the armory his visor was suddenly filled with glistening black Armour as he came face to face with a Spec. Ops. Elite! As John dived back to the armoury the Elite took a swing at him with the butt end of the stolen shotgun, impacting with the Chief's left arm. John had not felt the need to activate his shield, and the blow came fast and hard followed by a resounding (i)crack(/i)! Rolling out of the way John restabilized himself and was about to reinstate who's boss with his .55 cal pistol only to have to dive away yet again as a spattering of shotgun bullets ricocheted off the floor where he had been only moments ago. Crouching behind a bulkhead, the Master Chief hastily reinstated his shield. As he waited for it to slowly recharge, he took stock of the situation. If he weren't on a ship, the obvious answer would be a frag. Alas, a grenade inside a Longsword was not a good idea. However, it slowly dawned on John that in any standard UNSC Longsword, the armory was specially enforced and armoured in the case that ammunition blew, or a frag detonated. Quickly the Chief pulled the pin on his frag and waited about two seconds before lobbing it at the Elite. It detonated the moment it landed at the Elite's feet, before he had a chance to react. The explosion shook the entire craft. Peering out behind the bulkhead, John saw the Elite's body and stepped out, now (i)fully(/i) awake. Cortana, silent until now, spoke up. "Chief, how's you're arm?" He responded with a groan of pain, buckling over. Slowly he stood up and made his way to the main medical closet. There he picked out a flexible cast, NuSkin spray, and a bottle of painkillers. He took one right away, sighing with relief. Whew, I haven't been hurt like that in a while, thought John. "Chief, are you all right? Answer me! "I'm fine, Cortana. Just direct me to the Cryo chamber so I can sleep this off till we arrive at Plemus Prime. "It's straight across the hall from the Armory. How could you miss it?" "Shut Up." "Hmm....That Elite must have already been aboard when we took off from the Autumn" mused Cortana as The Master Chief lied down in the Cryo tube. "Monitor the systems while I'm out. Wake me if anything unusual happens". "Copy that, chief. See Ya"
As he swiftly fell asleep, John's last fleeting thought was wondering what he would find at Plemus Prime........
TO BE CONTINUED...
Halo 2: From the Maw Onwards>>>(Part 2) (Chapter 1)
Date: 12 October 2004, 1:20 AM
This is my second installment and i hope it turns out to be good......
1225 Hours
Exact Date Unknown. Approx.2 Days Since Destruction Of Halo
Central Planet of The Plenusian System, Plenus Prime
Longsword Interceptor
As John slowly came awake in the Cryo tube, Cortana began briefing him. "Chief, sir. We've entered the Plenusian System. Plenus Prime should be coming into view about now. I suggest we head to the Bridge." "Of course Cortana" replied John. Stepping out of the Cryo tube, he flexed his left arm, no longer broken or even visibly damaged. Remembering the Elite that had caused the injury, John activated his shield, heading for the bridge, stopping off at the Armory for some firepower. There would be no surprises this time around, thought John as he pumped his M90 Shotgun. At least, that's what he thought until he was squinting through the front windscreen in disbelief at a Covenant Corvette engaging a UNSC Cruiser. "Oh, my god." mouthed The Chief.
Instantly becoming a flurry of movement John reinstated manual controls, Inserted Cortana into the Data slip, buckled up in the pilot's seat, and activated the intercom. Instantly the roar of voices died down on the radio as the Chief tuned in to the UNSC Destroyer The Relentless' Communications Officer. "This is Spartan 117, Rank Master Chief, onboard a Longsword, coordinates 63-54-68. Does anybody read? I repeat, does anybody read? "Roger Spartan 117. This is the communications officer Leut.Sparrows of the UNSC The Relentless. We have a visual on you". "Roger Leut.Sparrows, this is Spartan 117, requesting permission to speak with the highest in command on you're ship". "Permission Granted. Transferring now." "This is Admiral Kardoza. You can explain yourself later. At the time, we have over twelve million settlers on Plenus Prime and a large resource stockpile. These resources are vital. I am asking you to accompany my very best Marines in the Defense of this planet against the hundreds of dropships that have already set up camps across the planet." "I'd be glad to help, sir. After all, it's my job, isn't it?" "Right you are, Master Chief, right you are. You may dock at hanger 5, closest to the Armoury, where I suspect you'll like what you see." "Roger Kardoza".
The moment the radio died down John was all business, directing Cortana to fly the Longsword into Hanger 5 while running down the hall towards the Armoury. At the Armoury John quickly grabbed a MA5B, some clips, more Frags, more Pistol Clips, and a pair of high explosive Satchel Charges. Hefting his Shotgun, John waited patiently for Cortana to land the Longsword. However, before he pulled Cortana out of the Data Slip, he told her to download the Longsword's external camera vidreel to his MJOLNIR battle suit. The information contained on that vidreel could prove vital if proof of Halo's destruction was needed. Quickly he slipped Cortana into her slot and stepped onto The Relentless. Hanger 5 was in Chaos. Marines were running everywhere, shouting curses and oaths, charging in and out of the huge main hallway doors. Warthogs zipped along carrying important engineers and Marines. About 20 warthogs were lines up at one end of the Hanger, with about five meters between them. One by one, a Pelican clamped onto them. Suddenly a Marine was pointing in the direction of the Pelicans, and gesturing him to follow suit as he ran to the Pelicans. John noticed that ten of the Warthogs were troop carrier editions, nine were standard with LAAG guns mounted in the back. One was actually an ATV. The Marine gestured to the Pelican with the ATV and shouted over the noise "I'll take you to the Armoury and inform you of the weaponry upgrades, but from them on you're in command-come back to the Pelican after we've been to the Armoury." As John jogged to the Armoury, he noticed that the standard white lights had been deactivated and replaced by low-power red lights. Apparently the Covenant has done some damage, thought John. Best to get off this ship ASAP. As soon as the Marine had typed in the entrance code to the Armoury, John was handed a strange looking rifle resembling a cross between an MA5B and an M6D. Sleeker, more compact, and packing a 3x SmartLink scope, the Battle Rifle was fit for combat in the 25th century. John was about to head to the Firing Range when the Marine shouted over the chaos that there was no time. The Covenant had scored a critical blow against The Relentless and the ships main power supply was dying out. Without engines, the Covie Corvette could easily maneuver behind the Destroyer, out of the way of the MAC Cannons and most of the newly installed Lantern Rocket Pods. John realized that the Destroyer would be helpless against such an attack. Admiral Kardoza had apparently come to the same conclusion as Evacuation Klaxons began going off. By this time The Chief had already buckled up as the Pelicans took off from Hanger 5. On his was down to Plemus Prime John was filled in on the story by Sgt.Bellhouzer, a German. He explained how the Covies had exited slipspace on the opposite side of the Planet as The Relentless was shipping supplies planetside. As the enemy prepped to fire The Relentless was then only just coming to full combat state. The Corvette scored the first hit with a volley of Plasma aimed at the Bridge. The Admiral managed to swing the ship to the side, causing the Plasma to impact the side of the ship. However, the Plasma had hit a power generator providing power to hundreds of Lantern Rocket Pods. The Destroyer managed to fire a volley of MAC rounds and Rockets at the Corvette, disabling its shields. However the next volley of Plasma impacted the belly of The Relentless, damaging the main Reactor and causing power to stutter and the engines to shut down. Even as the Sergeant spoke, hundreds of escape pods jettisoned towards Plenus Prime. Covenant boarding parties hastily latched onto the empty docking bay clamps. This cant be happening again, thought John as he watched The Relentless activate emergency thrusters, vectoring towards Plemus Prime. As John watched the UNSC Destroyer roared past his Pelican.....
TO BE CONTINUED……..
Halo 2: From the Maw Onwards (Part 3) (Chapter 1)
Date: 12 October 2004, 1:23 AM
My third installment……yippee!!!!
1226 Hours
Exact Date Unknown. Approx. 2 Days Since Destruction Of Halo
Central Planet Of The Plenusian System, Plenus Prime
Planet Surface
Stepping out of his Pelican John saw that the others had all landed safely on a high plateau. John also saw four Zeppelin-class crafts unloading scorpions, all kinds of Warthogs, over one hundred additional Marines and Engineers, crate after crate of food and ammunition, prefab building supplies, and additional weaponry. Watch Towers had already been set up, along with prefab buildings and a command structure, where John was heading. Plenus Prime was a lot like Earth, with Frozen Wastelands, baking deserts
(like the Plateau they were stuck on), and beautiful forests and jungles. However, all the water had been condensed into huge Polar 'pools', perfectly circular giant oceans of a deep green colour over 20000 feet deep. Inside the Command structure John met Major Harolds, currently in command of the Marine Corps Of the Plenusian System, or MCOPS for short. "Master Chief Reporting, sir." "Ahh...Spartan 117. Take a look at the mapdisplays of the planet. They describe our current situation." On the largest display John saw hundreds of green dots reading 'escape pods', along with red triangles reading' suspected Covenant Positions', and large red hexagons reading 'Covenant strongholds'. Also on the map were yellow Octagons with no readings. "What are these yellow Octagons, Major?" "Those are search and rescue parties manning Troop Carrier Warthogs aiming in the directions of the Escape pods homing beacons. We estimate that there are over 200 Marines out there, separated from our main group. Unfortunately, we can't get to all of them very quickly. Also, their comm. and NAV. beacon channels have been jammed by the Covenant. You and Sgt.Bellhouzer's platoon of 48 will take to the air in your 5 Pelicans, designate a staging area that's near all of the Pods, and manually set NAV. beacons in all the marines' helmets. Once you've designated a staging area, send us the NAV beacon and we'll sent supplies to the location. Once you've set the NAV beacons, which you should be able to do at point blank range on ground level with the Marines, report back for you're next assignment. Clear?" "Clear, Major". "Good. You are Dismissed."
Staring through a pair of binocs out the back of his Pelican, john called out to the Pilot: "Head to that clearing. See the smoke?" "Aye Aye, Chief. I'm Bringin' her down." The Master Chief and Sgt.Bellhouzer's Marines had already spotted 5 Pods, with no casualties so far. With eight Marines in each pod, the Sergeant's Platoon had already rescued 40 Marines, with no enemy contact. It had been exhausting. This was the last pod his Pelican was scheduled to rescue. It had taken quite a while to find, and the rest of the Platoon in the other Pelicans had already completed their quota and had landed at Camp. The Chief had chosen another Plateau as the Staging area, and reported its coordinates back to Major Harolds at the MCOPS Camp. That had been over three hours ago. The Pelican was running out of fuel. Only the Chief and a few Privates remained outside the Camp. As the Pelican lowered to the ground, a bolt of Plasma slammed into the face of the Marine opposite of John. Instantly the Chief unbuckled and jumped onto the ground, rolling behind a stump. First Contact!!! Time to try out this new Rifle, thought John as he popped up and took aim at a nearby Elite. Three consecutive shots brought down his shield, and another two in the chest sent him toppling over to the ground. By now the rest of the Marine's were out and picking targets. Shouting with joy, a group of marines taking shelter behind their Escape Pod ran out and met up with the Chief. A Corporal explained how they had been surprised and forced to retreat. The Pilot and two of his Marines were KIA, leaving only six men in addition to The Chief and his six Marines. The Covies were backed up behind a group of boulders. There were six elites and four Jackals. All seven Grunts had been eliminated. Quickly the Chief barked out orders "Okay Marines, on the count of three I want half of you to pull the pins on your grenades and wait one second before lobbing them over the boulder. The other half of you, have your Battle Rifles aimed and at the ready. One, Two, THREE!" A second later, six Frags flew over the bolder, detonating almost instantly, killing all four Jackals and decimating the Elites shields, injuring them also. The elites jumped out of the way, only to be massacred by the Marines. "Good work marines. Grab you're dead's dog tags and pile in".
Back at the MCOPS Camp in the Command Structure, The Chief was being debriefed:"....nearly 200 Marines! I'm impressed, Chief!" "Thank You, Major. My next assignment?" "Ah yes. You, Sgt.Bellhouzer's Platoon of forty-eight, and fifty-two additional Marines will board one of our Cormorants along with portable artillery, Scorpions, Warthogs, and supplies. You will be accompanied by several armed Pelicans. You're objective is simple: Discover the location of The Relentless, and rescue any survivors, especially Admiral Kardoza and the Command Crew. You're leaving in 0052 hours. Be ready. Is that clear?" "It's clear, Major." "You are dismissed".
TO BE CONTINUED...
Halo 2: From The Maw Onwards>>>(Part 4) (Chapter 1)
Date: 3 February 2005, 4:38 AM
"It is useless for sheep to pass resolutions in favor of vegetarianism while wolves remain of a different opinion"
William Ralph Inge, D.D. 1860-1954
1227 Hours
126 Hours Since Destruction Of Halo, 2552
Central Planet Of The Plenusion System, Plenus Prime
Planet Surface (Airborne)
Watching noncommittally the raindrops sliding down the porthole, the Master Chief scanned the mountainside for any signs of a recent burn up caused by The Relentless. Of course it was futile, when faced with the supercomputer powers of an ONI detection scanner. The Chief had rejected the idea of a scanner, trusting his eyes far more. And as a side effect, the scanner diminished the one thing to do while flying just 500 feet from sea level. Scanning for the Admiral's ship. He considered having a debate with Cortana. Although it would mean hooking in to the nearest terminal, as she was in the Navigation Room. Besides, he told himself, it just isn't the same to hear her through a terminal. Currently he reviewed his position. Stuck in the Command Room with hardly a view, as the room was protected in the belly of the ship. Sergeant Bellhouzer was in the Turret Control Room, giving the young Marine pups a quick lesson on how to aim and fire a Lantern Rocket Pod from a moving Cormorant. However, by the Chief's definition a 180 minute lecture was not "quick". Nothing to do, no one to discuss the operation with...until a sudden idea struck. With a light tap on the shoulder (light by the chief's definition, not Major Harold's...), he got the attention of the Major, Commander-In-Chief of Operation KillHouse.
Cursing loudly, Harold proclaimed "Ouch! What was that for?"."
"Sorry sir. Requesting permission to take stock of the armory and test-fire select weapons. Sir."
"Permission granted, Spartan 117. Report back at 1350 hours or in the case of a spotting. Shouldn't be too long now"
Harold glanced at the ONI scanner and sighed. By this time John was already in the Main Hangar, heading for the Armory.
At the Armory, John was greeted by a wiry young Marine of the rank Sergeant-At-Arms. The Sergeant immediately recognized the Chief's intent and directed him to the Shooting Range. However, the Chief was surprised when his guide ushered him into a small side room marked ONI Research+Development . His guide, Mark Zen, explained how he had gotten a call from the Command Room notifying him to welcome the Chief and to show him some of the ONI prototype weapons aboard. Using an invisibly latch handle to open a previously unnoticed hutch, Mark produced a small, sleek, black sidearm. Zen elaborated:
"The pistol is designed after an ancient 9mm design of the 20th century, the 92FS. However, there the resemblance ends. The weapon, dubbed the 93FS, is a completely new breed. With a bullet capacity of 30+1, coupled with a small clip size, there is no need for supply drops. It also has a completely new type of bullet. Imagine a .45 caliber bullet, taking up only 5mm of vertical space when in the clip. Now imagine a tiny injector needle connected to a super- compressed helium bottle. As the bullet is loaded into the chamber, a tiny fraction of a single percent of the amount of helium in the bottle is injected into the bullet. The bullet expands to the size of a .45 caliber in less than a millisecond, and is capable of firing at 40,000 feet per second with the pull of a trigger, due to an unusual method of propulsion. Amazing, isn't it?"
After capturing the chief's attention, Mark Zen continued.
"Now you're probably realizing that if the bullets are full of compressed helium, the bullet can't be propelled by gunpowder and it will have no shell. Thus, the bullet is propelled by a 'ball' of compressed helium. The helium is so compressed that it turns in on itself like a black hole, and does not diffuse into the air. The bullet is forced into the ball by a blast of helium from the gas bottle. The enormous pressure of the helium ball automatically forces the bullet to the center of the helium ball, and the immense pressure forces it into a perfect balance. And with just a wisp of gas from the bottle, the bullet is blown out of balance in the direction of the muzzle. The immense pressure forces the bullet out at incredible speeds and-Whammo! 40,000 feet per second. But perhaps the biggest advantage of this weapon is this: the helium in the bullet corresponds poisonously with san unknown substance in the blood of Grunts, Jackals, and Elites. Unfortunately Hunters are immune not. Tests show the poison to severely numb the alien senses. Now to the specs: A standard M6D sidearm contains only 12 bullets. Times that by 2.5, times the firepower by 3, times the accuracy by 2, times the Feet Per Second by 4, and you have the 93FS-MSA [Marine Side Arm]. I rest my case" Finished Mark as he smiled, thinking of all the possibilities undoubtedly flitting through the Master Chief's head...
The Master Chief accepted the weapon and handed the Marine his M6D. Zen explained how to care for the weapon;
"Always keep it in you're new holster when not using it, and keep it locked! In order to clean the weapon and oil the slide, you must first remove the Helium Sphere. Be warned! The Sphere is in a constant vacuum when in the weapon, and it is automatically encased in a special vacuum shield using a magnetic field. You must never, never let that Sphere come into contact with pure Plutonium. In fact never bring it close enough for a Geiger Counter to shake itself loose. To put it shortly, the reaction between the two elements is negative, as Plutonium rejects the highly compressed helium Sphere in a very negative way. Other than that, you should be fine, although this weapon is a prototype, subject to less than a quarter of the tests a standard weapon goes through before it is available for Military use."
As Zen continued his lecture Cortana was duly recording it from a nearby Terminal. After all, you couldn't count on the Chief to watch for every little detail.
As Mark gestured towards the Firing Range, the 'sighting' klaxon went off.
"Master Chief to the Navigation Room--Master Chief to the Navigation Room..."Sounded the PA.
Quickly Mark produced his own 93FS and handed John a handful of spare clips.
"Master Chief Sir! You're Pelican will be waiting for you in Docking Bay 5, be there in ASAP."
Without so much as an acknowledgement to Zen John was out the Armory door and jogging through the Main Hanger, suddenly a flurry of activity. Heading into a side passage marked 'NAVIGATION' he moved towards the farthest door. Swiping his access card, he came face-to-face with Major Harold. Apparently the Major had left the Command Room for the Navigation Room.
"Good to see you, Chief. The sighting occurred just moments ago. It appears to be the burnout trail left by The Relentless , but we lack visual confirmation as the burnout occurred on the far side of the mountain we're bypassing just now."
John noticed a tactical display on the wall showing Harold's Cormorant circling around a mountain small in diameter but apparently standing over 3 miles high! Quickly the Chief got down to business.
"What's our situation, Major?"
"We will be in visual contact of The Relentless ETA 5 minutes. The Scanners can't pick up life signs until we hit the far side of UnNamed Mountain due to high concentrations of Lead in the mountain itself."
"And what exactly are you implying sir?"
"That we have no clue whether or not there are survivors from the crash, whether this is an ambush and the burnout is fake, or whether the burnout is real, there are survivors, and the Covenant are attacking!"
"I see. What information do we have relevant to the situation that could be of any use?"
"Only that which the burnout tells us. If it is authentic, the crash occurred exactly three hours and forty-three minutes ago. Anything else is a guess at best, a wild speculation most probably."
"When will we touchdown?"
"After ETA to the far side of UN Mountain (UnNamed Mountain), a hot-drop for you in just 15 minutes...or an hours wait while we prepare a landing and simultaneously engage enemy forces."
"Understood. My briefing, sir?"
"Ah, yes. The object of Operation KillHouse is to extract as many Marines and friendly Non-Combatants as possible. Priority goes to Admiral Kardoza and the Command Crew, naturally. You are briefed. Report to Hangar 5, where--"
"My Pelican will be waiting. Already on it, sir. See you dirtside."
"Good luck, Chief."
As Spartan 117 exited the Navigation Room, he slipped Cortana into her slot. The moment she was connected, her voice sounded reassuringly in his helmet. Well, somewhat reassuringly...
"Leave me in there with all those old gray haired bogeys! Do you have any idea how boring it is to listen to the Major discuss Cuban cigars? Or his Grandma's great old Lemon Cake? Don't think I'm gonna forget this one Chief! Why, if I had my way..."
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