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Spartan-X by SilentStrider
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Spartan-X Chapter 1
Date: 23 December 2003, 6:55 AM
*NOTE*- The Spartans in this story are the ones referred to in The Fall of Reach that were in combat areas too far out to be called in for the mission at Reach
0900 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calender)/
Bespin System, UNSC Hospital
Planet Bespin, Capital City
"Fire in the hole!" yelled Adam-121. The plasma grenade flew over the heads of his squad members, Robert-213, and Alex-174 They were all Spartans, the best in the UNSC. The plasma grenade exploded in a blinding flash, meters away. Robert-213 stood up and pointed his MA5B at the Elite who threw the grenade. The elite drew up its weapon but it was too late. Robert's armor piercing rounds tore through the alien's flesh. It screamed and fell to the ground. "Good work", said Adam. The Spartans rose from behind the cement barrier they were taking cover behind.
They were on a special operation on the planet Bespin, or what was left of it. The Covenant had attacked 5 days earlier, sending troops planet-side rather than glassing it from orbit like they always do. This puzzled ONI. The squad of Spartans' main objective was to neutralize all threats in the capital city. The Spartans met heavy resistance at a Rock and Mineral Museum for some weird reason. They were fighting to take over this hospital for 2 hours. The covenant rampaged through, slaughtered all of the patients, and turned it into their base of operations from what it seemed.
"Robert, take point", said Adam through the com link. He was the squad leader. Robert's status light winked on his HUD. They walked silently down the corridor. Multiple contacts showed up on Adam's radar. "Robert move up twenty paces and clear out the room on the right." Robert nodded and moved up. 'Why the hell does he always send me?' he thought after he checked his radar and saw the red dots on it. Adam always sent in Robert headfirst into the worst scenarios. Robert slapped a fresh clip in his Assault rifle.
Two elites and four jackals were in the room with their backs to the door. They were studying a weird boulder with weird symbols on it. Robert moved up silently behind them. He reached out for the closest elite and snapped it's neck. Robert let a plasma grenade fall from his pouch and dived behind some cover. The remaining covenant spun their heads and raised their weapons. BOOM! Pieces of warm flesh splattered all over the walls. Robert finally exhaled. "Area secure," he said in his comm.-link
Adam and Alex studied the rocks. "We have to tell ONI about this," Adam said. "Go check the next couple of rooms Robert." 'Once again', Robert thought. Robert moved to the next room over and found twenty elites armed and ready for his arrival. Robert sprayed thirty rounds at them before the volley of plasma hit him. His shields instantly dropped and one bolt hit his leg and sizzled at his armor. Robert dove behind a purple crate. "Lots of contact! They got me pinned down!" he yelled in the comm. Two status lights winked on his HUD. The plasma bolts kept coming. Melting everything around Robert. Then a stream of 7.62 rounds pounded at the elites from the doorway. Robert stood up and let off a burst. A bolt of plasma from a gold elite melted the barrel of his Assault Rifle. Robert crouched back down. He looked up at Alex just in time to see a plasma grenade latch itself to Alex's visor. Alex yelped and then did the only sensible thing- dive into the crowd of Covenant. BOOM! The explosion rocked the building. A chunk of what was Alex's helmet and head bounced up and off of Robert. "Nooo!" yelled Robert.
Two gold elites remained. Robert drew his M6D pistol and sprinted across the room at the Covenant before Adam even realized it. Adam already had a frag grenade primed and in mid-throw. Robert was swinging the butt of his pistol at the nearest elite when he saw the grenade bounce in between him and the two elites. Boom! The whole world crumbled around Robert. Immense pain tore into his side and he fell to one knee. He was now extremely furious. At that moment he had lost all control. He brought up his pistol and aimed it at Adam's faceplate. Adam's face was full of fright. He heard his shield's alarm going off. Robert's finger steadied on the trigger. BLAM! BLAM!
Spartan-X Chapters 2 &3
Date: 26 December 2003, 5:34 AM
Note* Ok sorry about the MJOLNER shield error in my last chapter. I've fixed it.
0600 Hours, August 31, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
Bespin System, UNSC Headquarters
Planet Bespin-Secure Court Room
"Spartan Robert-213", the judge started, "You are being tried for the murder of Spartan Adam-121, a fellow soldier in your squad." the judge said in disgust. "How do you plead?" "Guilty." said Robert. "Then I hereby sentence you to execution at 1200 hours. He couldn't believe what he had done.
Chief Mendez and Master Chief would have been ashamed of him. 'I deserve to die' he thought in his head.
Seven hours later he stood unarmored in a chair at Bespin's main UNSC Headquarters. Two doctors were preparing to give him the lethal injection. Robert's face showed pain and remorse. He played the incident with Adam over and over in his head. 'Why did I do that?' Robert stared blankly out the window and saw purple dots on the horizon. "What the hell?" he said out loud. The doctors turned and took a glance.
Multiple alarms began to blare. Seven Banshees came into view and took a bombing run on the HQ. They destroyed a few buildings on their fist pass. They turned and were preparing for a second pass. Marines came pouring out of the buildings and sprinted for stationary turrets. The Banshees soared overhead. The turrets turned them into big balls of fire and sent them crashing down into the base, causing more damage. The marines saw the wreckage and left their turrets and began to cheer. All was thought to have been won and then low rumble began to start. Colonel Brackards voice boomed over the intercom. "Incoming Covenant Dropships!" 40 fully equipped Marines stormed outside immediately. 4 dropships landed 100 yards away from the base. The U-shaped behemoths unloaded 32 Covenant soldiers. 8 Grunts, 2 Jackals, 16 Elites and 2 Hunters. As soon as they set foot, snipers began to pick them off. The Covenant charged at the Marines. A hail of bullets tore through their ranks and took out a few Grunts and Jackals but merely bounced off of the Elites' shields. The Covenant retaliated and dispersed a wave of plasma from their weapons. Marines screamed as the plasma melted their armor onto their flesh.
Robert tried to stand but forgot about the steel clamps on his chair. He grunted in anger. The Marines were dropping like flies. Some of them were hiding behind huge crates not daring to poke out. The whole firefight had been transformed into nothing more than a slaughter. The Covenant were throwing their new updated plasma grenades with a 1 second fuse once it hit solid ground. It was hell for the Marines. Explosions rocked the base. Robert sat tense in his chair "I have to do something!" he yelled. After the marines all died he would be the only real defense for the installation.
Corporal Walkers was huddled behind a crate. He was the last marine on the battlefield. He was sobbing and shivering with fear. He peeked out and saw an elite coming. "Aaah" he whimpered. He held in his tears and scrambled for his M90 Shotgun. Then the Elite jumped out in front of him. Walkers screamed and the tears came out. He looked in the Elite's eyes and saw nothing but hatred. Walkers buried his face between his knees and awaited death. The Elite began to laugh. It raised its foot high in the air. CRAM! Walkers skull was crushed instantly. Robert winced at the sight. He was still clamped to the chair. He was beginning to consider trying to break the clamps when a Sergeant walked in the room. "Alright you bastard" the sarge started, "You can help, but if you even look at me the wrong way, by god I will paint these damn walls with your brains. The doctors release the clamps on the chair. The Sarge tossed Robert an Assault Rifle and led Robert to the room where his MJOLNER MK V armor was being held. Robert put it on as fast as he could and ran through the double doors that led outside. He was glad that he would have another chance to serve the UNSC.
An Elite was there to greet him. The very Elite that had just killed Walkers earlier. The Covenant soldier tried to bludgeon the Spartan with it's needler. Robert rolled to the side with ease and fired 20 shredder-rounds into the Elite's shields. The shield flared up and died out just as fast. Robert tackled the Elite to the ground and gave it the same death it gave to Corporal Walkers. Robert lifted his boot from the mess he had just made and continued forward. He made his way across the landing pad and came across four Jackals, two Grunts, and an Elite. Robert pulled out two plasma grenades and threw them both at the Elite simultaneously. They both latched on to the Elite's chest-plate. The fellow Covenant tried to dodge but the dual explosions splattered them all into pieces. Robert checked the rest of the facility. He was just about to make a transmission stating the area was secure when two Hunters smashed through two crates next to Robert and began to charge their fuel rod guns. Robert threw a grenade way over their heads and it landed behind the behemoths. The hunters turned around to see where it landed, exactly what Robert wanted them to do. Once the Hunters turned around Robert unloaded on them with his Assault Rifle. The shredder rounds pierced and ripped through their exposed backs. Both of the uglies went down in a cry of agony. "Area secure", he murmured into his com-link. Half an hour later he was back in the same chair restrained without his armor. Robert heard a loud roar. He looked out the window and saw two men in suits come out with ODST bodyguards. "ONI spooks', Robert said to himself. Moments later the same two men seated themselves across from Robert. One man had gray hair buzzed down to a skin fade and the other man was bald. The gray haired man spoke first, "Hello Robert". "Who are you?" Robert asked. "That is not important" the bald man exclaimed. "You are responsible for eliminating the Covenant threat here and saving the lives at this military base?" "Yes, sir", Robert replied. The gray haired man spoke "Your efforts here today proved that your life may be worth something." Robert nodded. "There is a Covenant battle-cruiser on its way to Bespin right now. It will be in orbit within two to three hours. It quadruples the size of the biggest Covenant ship we have ever encountered, and it also single-handedly destroyed five UNSC Destroyers. We believe its only a matter of time before it prepares to glass Bespin. "There are no ships or orbital cannons to defend our planet save for one Halcyon-Class Ship." Robert was tense and eager to hear more. "What do you want me to do?" asked Robert. The bald man took a deep breath and began "We have proposed an idea to the Admiralty and we were given permission. You will go on a mission to destroy that Covenant ship." Robert's face was flushed with confusion.
"We will provide you with the best stealth ship ONI can provide and it will get you within range of the cruiser. Then a decoy auto-piloted cruiser will make a pass near the Covenant ship. We are presuming the ship will fire on the decoy, thus lowering its shields for you to penetrate on your own. You will board the ship via thruster pack and C-4 and carry aboard two HAVOK Tactical Nukes." "You are suggesting I blow it up from the inside?" Robert asked. "Affirmative" the gray haired man replied. 'Like the mission that got Sam killed years ago' Robert thought in his head. The memory sparked something in Robert's mind. "What are my extraction options?" he demanded. "There are none" the gray haired man said coldly. "You were scheduled for execution today?" he asked. Robert nodded. "Well consider this your last chance to serve the UNSC and save millions of lives here on Bespin rather than going out with a lethal injection to the arm." "I understand", Robert said. 'Killing two birds with one stone' he thought. The two men saluted Robert and stood up. "One last thing", the bald man started. "Your name is no longer Robert-213, your MJOLNER armor now has that plasma shielding that makes the elite's so damn hard to kill and your new Code-name is Spartan-X."
Chapter 3
Note* Spartan-X and Robert are the same people. Don't get confused.
0600 Hours, August 31, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
Bespin System, UNSC Headquarters
Planet Bespin-Main Armory
Robert paced around the armory looking at the inventory. Rows and rows of weapons were placed in little slots in the aisles. He grabbed his personal favorite, the MA5B Assault Rifle. He pocketed ten extra clips of ammo for it. Then he grabbed an M90 Shotgun just in case a firefight got up close and personal. He grabbed fifteen extra shells. He holstered his sidearm, the M6D pistol. He had eight fragmentation grenades on his belt. Next he went to the room where his armor was held. It was now blue instead of the olive green it once was, and a big X was painted on the front. "Pretty", Robert said. ONI must no of wanted him to be mistaken for another Spartan or something. He slipped it on as fast as he could and proceeded to the hangar. He noticed he had a meter for his new shields.
Spartan-X immediately spotted the ONI Stealth Ship. The word EXCALIBUR was painted on the side. It was a small ship; about the size of a Pelican and it was painted black. The two men had told him that it had cloaking capabilities. Robert jogged toward it. As soon as he came near, a hatch opened and he stepped inside. He examined the interior. There were leather sofas on each wall for luxury and small cryotubes. "Welcome", a female voice said. "I am Katana, your AI and pilot for this mission". A holographic image appeared at the cockpit. She was modeled after a Japanese woman in ancient times. "Are you ready to begin?" Katana asked. "Yes", Spartan-X replied. Robert sat down at the pilot chair and said "Punch it".
The ONI ship rumbled and it fired its thrusters. It sped out of the shuttle bay and up to the clouds and the blackness of space in a matter of seconds. Katana and Robert stared out the front viewports and and saw the Covenant ship looming ahead. A bright gargantuan ball was forming at the front end. "They're preparing to fire!" Katana yelled. The ONI stealth ship sped towards the behemoth of a ship. It was invisible to sight and radar. They veered in towards the ship hull. They were now within 50 yards of the ships hull. "Showtime", the Spartan said. He took in a deep breath. This would be his last mission. He knew he deserved every bit of pain he might endure. He had killed a fellow Spartan, and he knew he had to be punished. Katana's voice broke his thoughts. "I'm coming with you", she said. "I can relay all tactical data to you." Robert nodded. He pressed the small button underneath the projector and the AI cube popped out. He grabbed it and placed it in the port in his helmet. A cool liquid sensation filled his head. It was comfortable.
"Look over there", Katana said. Spartan-X looked out of the front viewport and saw the decoy Halcyon ship make a pass by the Covenant cruiser. "Here goes nothing", he mumbled and he activated the hatch. He was immediately sucked out into the vacuum of space. He activated his thruster pack and veered toward the cruiser's hull. He watched the decoy ship as he floated. He bounced off of the ship's plasma shields a moment later. Two separate balls formed at the ships front end at launched towards the decoy ship. PHZEEW! The plasma shields were dropped so the torpedo could pass through and left Robert to slam into the hull. He led out a breath of relief. He started to slide down the side but he grabbed onto a little wedge. He pulled out the C-4 and immediately began to plant it. He set the timer for ten seconds and then he boosted away from it. BOOM! When the smoke cleared a large gaping hole was visible on the ship's hull. He boosted towards it and floated inside the ship. As soon as he passed the hole he immediately fell to the floor of the ship. "Artificial gravity", Katana said.
Robert drew his Assault rifle. He studied the interior. He was in a corridor and the walls and floor were a dark purple. "Good, no welcoming committee", he said. Then he heard a humming sound and the "hatch" to his left opened and revealed two Elites. 'Never mind', he thought. "Uh oh", Katana said. Robert threw a frag grenade and leapt behind a purple "crate". The grenade detonated and sent the Elites tumbling forward. Their shields absorbed the damage but were depleted. Spartan-X rolled out and let loose a full automatic spray at them with his assault rifle. Brrrrrrrt! The rounds tore into their flesh and they both fell. "Well done", Katana said. "Im detecting radiation up ahead, it might be some kind of generator. We should check it out." "Yes", Spartan-X replied. A NAV point appeared on his HUD. 200 meters away. He stepped toward the door the Elites appeared out of. It lit purple and opened with a hum. "Weird", he said out loud. Spartan-X walked down the long corridor and took a left. He nearly stepped all over the squad of Covenant waiting. 3 Jackals and 2 Grunts. Robert immediately began to unload his AR on them. The two Grunts fell and Roberts ammo counter read empty. The bullets merely bounced off of the Jackals' shields. Robert pulled out his shotgun. Blam! Blam! The Jackals were blown away.
Robert neared the NAV point. He stepped through a hatch and entered a large chamber. It was about the size of a football field and it was full of crates with UNSC weapons and vehicles scattered about. The NAV point lingered above three 12 foot tall red cylinders filled with red liquid. "What is this place?", Robert asked out loud in bewilderment. "It looks like the Covenant hold some interest in our weaponry after all", Katana said. Spartan-X hurried over to the cylinders and pulled out one of his HAVOK Tactical Nuke. "One of these babies should do it", he said out loud. He sighed and began to set it up. He set the timer for five minutes. He wanted time to reflect on his life before it blew. "I guess this is it", Katana said. "Nice working with you", Robert replied. "I've already sent a transmission to the Admiralty". Robert was thinking about his childhood. He could barely remember his parents. He heard multiple humming sounds at once and saw Covenant troops pour into the room. For a split second he considered letting them kill him but he decided he wasn't going down without a fight. He sprang into action and sprinted for the nearest Warthog. 10 Elites began to close in on him. Robert jumped in the back of the Warthog and grabbed the chaingun. He let loose a barrage of bullets and the Elite's barely had time to respond before they were all mowed down. The Spartan searched the room for any more Covenant. He came across a Grunt furiosly tapping at a holo-panel near a large hatch. Robert ran up behind it and kickd the Grunt as hard as he could in the back of the head. The Grunt slammed into the holo-panel and died. The large hatch responded to whatever was just toggled on the panel and opened. It revealed the interior of an escape ship. The walls and ceiling were purple of course and there were plenty of the weird Aztec looking designs on the wall as well. The timer for the nuke on Robert's HUD read 3:07 remaining. The Spartan walked over to the cockpit.
"Try inserting me right there", Katana said. A small NAV marker was positioned on a small slot. Spartan-X inserted her cube in the small slot. Seconds later her holographic image appeared on the dashboard. "Wow", she said. He face was flushed with bewilderment. "I only have limited access to their BattleNet bet I have a complete record of navigation data of their controlled space. Interesting." 2:00 minutes remained. An image appeared next to her. A planet with what looked like nothing but grass and hills.. "This is the Grunt home-world", she said Another planet popped up, but this one was a desert world. "The Jackal's and Hunter's home-world ", she said. The next planet popped up and this one was much like Earth with mountains, rivers, oceans, and islands except most of the land was purple. "This is the Elite's and Prophet's home-world," She finished. "Figures", Robert said. He was getting quite sick of purple by then. Katana revealed another picture. This one, however, was not a planet. It was a giant ring-shaped world with mountains, lakes, and an atmosphere. This is believed to be a holy relic to the Covenant. They believe it is a creation of their Gods. "I would hate to oppose any race that could build such a thing." Robert said. 1:28 remained.
Robert reconsidered his mission. He had a new one now. "Can we inform the Admiralty?" he asked. "I'm trying", she started. "I can't make contact. They are busy repelling Covenant ground troops", Katana said. Robert cursed under his breath. He made up his mind. "Katana, do you want to go on vacation?" 1:11 "We have very strict orders Spartan-X", Katana replied. "To hell with those orders", Robert replied. "We have valuable information and I'm not gonna sit here and blow up with it." Katana nodded. "Let me interface with the controls", she muttered. Robert ran back to the large room and began throwing crates of ammo and weapons into the back of a Warthog. He would need all of the guns he could get if he was gonna assault a whole planet. He drove the Warthog and parked it into the escape ship. It was a tight fit. A few seconds later, the ship rumbled and moved forward. They zoomed out of the port and now flew out in space. :43 "I want to see it blow," Spartan-X said. They waited until the HAVOK nuke detonated. A big flash of fire blossomed from the center of the ship and rippled across the hull. There was a blinding light for a few moments then the whole ship exploded into a thousand pieces. It was interesting to see the ship's plasma shields contain most of the explosion. Katana was the first to break the silence. "Where to now Spartan-X?"
Spartan-X Chapter 4
Date: 5 January 2004, 6:57 AM
*Note- Spartan-X and Robert are one and the same people.
0700 hours, September 3, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Commandeered Covenant Escape Ship, Bespin System
near planet Bespin
"Set a course for the Elite and Prophet home-world," Spartan-X said.
"Going after the Covenant leaders probably would be the most
reasonable idea, but how are we going to do this? You are only one Spartan," the AI Katana reasoned.
"I'll think of something," Robert replied. In his head he knew what impossible odds he had. He would need to remember all of his training to pull this off; but then again, he disgraced all of his training when he killed his fellow Spartan, Adam-121.
'Dammit', he thought. Katana stayed silent as Robert thought.
They were both in an escape ship that was hijacked from a now destroyed Covenant cruiser. A Warthog with crates of ammo was parked in the ship.
"Okay", Katana started. "I'm going to try out the slipstream capabilities of this ship", she said. She was locked in a moment of concentration. "Amazing", she said. "With their technology we should be able to get there within 2 hours. It's incredible. They have their own section of slip-space dedicated to the transportation to their home-planets, and they are the only ones who can use it."
"Just get us there", Spartan-X responded.
Katana began to speak again. "The entrance and exit to their section of slip-space are controlled by various portals and wormholes. There is actually one portal nearby. It is camouflaged in every way possible to the UNSC. This is one of the ways they travel so fast."
Robert stood up and walked over to the crates of ammo he piled up into the back of the parked Warthog. He looked through the weapons. He had the new issue Battle Rifle with a scope, two Submachine Guns, one Jackhammer rocket launcher and the S2-AM Sniper rifle with a custom Oracle scope.
"Linda used these," he said out loud. It had been a while since he had seen other Spartans besides his now dead squad. He continued with his searching and pawed through the last crate. It was filled with loads of ammo for his guns.
"I have enough weapons for a platoon", he muttered. He would have to choose wisely what to take with him in situations. Spartan-X walked over to the cockpit.
"Like what you found?" Katana asked.
"Yes", Robert replied. "I only wish I had a squad to help me." He sighed. "I'm gonna get some rest Katana. Wake me up if you come across anything."
She nodded but was nearly ignoring him. She didn't care about anything right now. She was soaking up tons and tons of information from the Covenant network, and she wanted more.
The Spartan sat in the chair and laid his head back. Once he fell asleep, he began to dream. The Spartan dreamt of Adam. Adam's face filled his mind. Adam was just staring at him and then a bullet hole appeared on his forehead and began to gush blood.
"Robert, Why?" Adam pleaded.
Katana's voice ended the nightmare. "Spartan-X! Wake up!"
Robert shook his head and snapped to attention.
"What is it?," he asked.
"I've found out some new information on a different species the Covenant fear." Katana said.
Katana revealed pictures of the various species. They looked like zombies from the old Earth films. "They are believed to be held here". The picture of the giant ring came up again. "They call it Halo," Katana said.
"What do you mean by held?" Robert asked.
"They are trapped under ground and under heavy surveillance by the ring's "defenders", she replied. "I can't find anymore information."
Robert thought for a moment. "Is there any chance of allying?" Robert asked.
"No way", Katana said. "They aren't exactly intelligent. And all they yearn to do is infect every living thing. Their species is basically a virus. They don't have any technology at all."
Robert checked his mission clock. According to Katana's original ETA of 2 hours, they only had about twenty minutes left.
"Spartan-X." Katana yelped.
"What is it Katana?" Robert replied, "There seems to be a few other ships in slip-space with us. They are hailing us."
"Dammit", yelled Robert. He looked out of the front viewports and saw a huge type of ship he had never seen before. It had what looked like huge cannons on its sides.
"They request we identify ourselves. They know what ship we escaped from and exactly how it went down."
Robert cursed under his breath. "Do you have any type of response to give them?" the Spartan demanded.
"I'll try", Katana said. A moment passed. "They bought it! she yelled. But they are charging their weapons!"
The cannons on the sides of the ship glowed and then released a blue flash.
Robert shut his eyes and awaited death. Nothing happened. He looked out of the front view-port. A long beam was protruding from the cannon. At the end of the beam a big blinding light was forming.
Katana yelled "They have created a worm-hole!"
There were small Covenant ships and two bigger cruisers entering the worm-hole.
"My data says those are research teams." Katana said. "They must be going on some scientific expedition.
"What the hell are they going to research?" Robert said.
"Get clear of the worm-hole!" he yelled.
"I can't! It's pulling us in."
The big hole loomed closer. It was a huge tunnel filled with millions of colors, all changing.
"Where is it going to take us?" he yelled.
"I have no idea" she replied.
They were now inside of it. It was like a roller coaster. They took huge dips and sharp turns. The colors blazed through the tunnel and flashed. The whole ship rumbled violently. Robert was using all of his super-human strength just to merely brace himself.
A warning flashed up on Robert's HUD. It was his mission clock. Robert's heart sank. The mission clock's date was counting down rapidly by the hundreds.
"Katana" he beckoned.
"I know", she replied.
This went on for ten minutes. Robert finally saw the light at the end.
They blasted out of the worm-hole and were now near a gas-giant and a small moon. Robert was relieved at the sight of black space again.
Robert's mission clock read September 3rd, 98,665 B.C
"Oh my god", Spartan-X said.
"That worm-hole took us back approximately 101,217 years," Katana said.
"What the hell do the Covenant want to research so far back in time." Spartan-X demanded.
Katana gasped. "Look," she said.
Robert saw the small research ships flying in towards a large object between the gas giant and the moon.
"I'll be damned", Spartan-X said out loud.
It was the huge ring. It was Halo.
0900 hours, September 3, 98,665 B.C
Commandeered Covenant Escape Ship, Unknown System
near artificial ring Halo
Robert marveled at the beauty of the Ring. It had an Earthy landscape with oceans, lakes, and mountains.
"Why do they want to research this place?" Robert asked.
"Maybe they want to learn more about their heritage or meet these "gods" of theirs." Katana reasoned.
"Whatever they want to do, it's probably not the best for the human race." Robert mumbled. "They sucked our asses in here. I'm going to make sure the only thing they research is their body count after I'm done with them."
"Amen to that", Katana responded. She was surprised at how human her response was.
The two Covenant cruisers and the small research ships were now within the atmosphere. Each ship was heading in a different direction.
"Weird", Robert started. "Who would build such a paradise to house a virus".
Their escape ship was now entering the atmosphere. The ship rumbled as it plummeted deeper into Halo's sky.
"I can't guarantee a safe landing," Katana said.
Spartan-X just nodded. He was busy examining the landscape of the ring. The ground was now nearing closer. They were headed for some grassy plains and hills from what Robert could see. He saw small structures too, in the distance.
"Impact in five seconds", Katana yelled.
Five seconds later Robert found himself on the floor after
bouncing hard into the ceiling.
"Ow," he said. His vision was blurry and his shield's alarm was going off.
"Spartan-X! Can you hear me?" Katana asked with a hint of worry in her voice.
"I'll live," He responded. "Open the back hatch".
The hatch opened, revealing the grass and trees. Spartan-X stepped out and examined the area. A huge structure loomed in the distance.
"That looks like a good place to start," he said. "Wanna come?" he asked Katana.
'I can't take all of this data with me' she thought. She had acquired so much information from the ship's computer. It would be hard to part with it. "Okay", she sighed.
Robert walked up and pulled her cube out and inserted it into his socket. He enjoyed the liquid sensation while he could and then walked over to his weapons. He examined the Warthog for any damages and then got in. Robert backed out of the Covenant ship and then accelerated towards the structure.
"Nothing like a nice morning drive", he said. The scenery was beautiful. Soon he got close enough to examine the structure. It sat on an incline and was about 40 feet high and had a kind of dome ceiling. There was a large opening in the front and a small chimney like structure on top. Spartan-X squinted to see it and it fired a large blue beam straight in the air.
"Whoa", he said.
"Strange, Katana muttered.
Robert drove up to the front of the building and hit the
brakes.
"We should take a look inside", Katana said.
Robert nodded and stepped out of the LRV. He grabbed a Battle Rifle and two frag grenades. Robert walked cautiously up to the entrance as if waiting for a firefight. There was a hallway inside that was dimly lit. As Robert paced through the long hallway he found some familiar looking symbols on the wall. But this time they were holographic. The hallway lead to a large chamber. There were a couple of holopanels and large glass cages. Most of the glass was broken though.
"These holopanels are similar to the Covenant ones", Katana said.
Spartan-X wasn't really listening to her. He was investigating the greenish and yellowish blood that was splattered every where. There were also burnt fragments of metal laying around.
"There was a battle," Robert said
"No doubt," Katana said.
"Spartan-X, I'm picking up multiple contacts moving in on the structure.," Katana warned.
"Dammit."
Robert sprinted out of the room and into the hallway. He heard the whine of Ghosts. He crept up to the entrance to get a look. Robert snaked a fiber-optic probe out to get a look. There were four Ghosts all speeding towards the Warthog. All of them were piloted by Elites.
Robert sprung out and began to fire at the Ghosts with his Battle Rifle. A wounded Elite fell out of the seat of it's hovercraft and was immediately pulverized by the Ghost behind it. Robert threw a frag grenade and ran for the Warthog.
The grenade detonated and sent all three remaining Ghosts flying. Spartan-X was already in the gunner seat of his Warthog by then. He grabbed a hold of the chaingun and mowed down the Covenant survivors.
"How the hell did they find us so fast," he asked.
"They weren't looking for us," Katana replied.
"I intercepted their intercom and they were taking something called an "index" to their ship and were ambushed by the flood and lost their way."
"I thought the flood were contained," Robert said.
"I guess someone released them."
Robert jogged over to the dead Elites. He found a green device in one of the Elite's hands. It was shaped in the letter T.
"This must be the index," Robert said. He bent over to pick it up.
As soon as he had it in his grasp a small blue metallic object appeared right in front of him.
It spoke. "Hello, I am 343 Guilty-Spark."
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