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The New Hannibal by Halcyon-713
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The New Hannibal: Chap 1./Excerpt
Date: 13 September 2004, 1:10 AM
The New Hannibal
By Halcyon-713
Prologue/Excerpt
"God damn you!" barked the Master Chief, and spat blood onto the floor. The hull suddenly tilted at a fifty degree angle, and the Elite slipped on John's warm blood. It lost its footing, and slid out of the hull and plummeted to the ground below.
The Master Chief grabbed onto a handful of power conduits, and watched as the Elite hit the rapidly approaching earth. The front of the Ebro impacted the ground, and the Master Chief let go of the power conduits, slumping back to the rear of the bridge, and slipping into unconsciousness.
The Elite had been successfully damned.
Chapter 1: Snake and Bear Trap
0713 Hours, Thursday July 13th 2553 (Military Calendar/)
Damascus System, aboard UNSC Cruiser Zama,
Over UNSC Colony Tarsus
A dream, the Master Chief though. It's just a dream. A harmless dream. It's not real!
The Master Chief's eyes flickered open, waking him from his nightmare. The lid of the cryo-tube hummed open. Mist flowed gently out onto the floor. John turned his head back and forth, and felt the stinging coldness from the tube wear off.
He looked around crowded room of Cryo-Bay E. About three dozen or so regular Marines were stepping, naked and clumsily, out of their cryo-tubes. They each regurgitated a slimy green mucus-like substance, and started to dawn their clothes.
Over the intercom, the crisp voice of a woman spoke, ordering Fire Teams Zeta through Sierra to move to the Zama's bow. The Master Chief swung one pale, naked leg over the edge of the cryo-tube and stood up. The Marines paused and looked at the massive man, and then went back to waking up and prepping gear.
John walked to a separate room, and laid down on a medical bench. A pair of techs stood behind a computer console, activating machinery. Robotic arms reached from the ceiling of the room, and started attaching M JOLNIR armor parts to John's body. After the procedure was complete, the Master Chief donned his helmet, and stood in the middle of the activation platform for his armor. As the pillars began to turn and glow a bright goldenrod, the female voice came back on the intercom, spilling forth orders to Boarding Teams Bravo and Charlie.
After the MJOLNIR's shields read full charge, he chinned a control and a burst of static electricity ripped at his body. The shield bar dropped to a sliver, and the armor pulsed a warning. They recharged, and he left the room. Almost on cue, the crisp voice spoke again.
"Master Chief, report to the bridge. Repeat: Master Chief, Spartan-117 report to the bridge."
The Master Chief left Cryo-Bay E, and turned towards the elevator lift at the end of the hall. He rode it up three decks, and the door hummed open. Four Marines stood with their MA5B assault rifles leveled. The lead Marine waved the Master Chief forward, and the others went back to a delta formation, with the lead Marine crouching down slightly so that his squadmate behind him could have a clear line of fire.
The Master Chief turned a corner ahead, and strode onto the large bridge of the Zama. At the head of the bridge, seated in the Captain's Chair, was Commander Rebecca Dreyer. She was of medium size, and wore a standard UNSC CO uniform. Her hair was a dark red, with light grey streaks in it. She wore a pair of bifocal spectacles. Her eyes were a deep hazel-grey that made her eyes seem like pieces of coal.
Commander Dreyer turned, and the Master Chief saluted. She returned the gesture, and extended her hand. This gesture was odd to the Master Chief, and it took an extreme amount of control to not crush her hand with his super-human strength.
"Greetings Master Chief," she said in the crisp voice he had heard over the intercom, "It is unfortunate that we didn't meet under different circumstances."
"Ma'am?" John asked.
"The Covenant are here, Master Chief. We don't know why, but they are. Tarsus is an R&D colony. We were simply on patrol through the sector when they appeared on radar. They appeared at extreme range, but we're not fooled. We believe that they will attempt a pinpoint Slipspace jump."
"Ma'am, number of ships?"
"So far, we only count one. However, it is one of their flagships. More are probably on the way," she turned towards one of the bridge officers, a Lieutenant Commander, "Lieutenant Salvatore, status on the MAC cannons?"
The officer turned towards Commander Dreyer. The Lieutenant was male, strongly built, and had tan skin. "Ma'am, MAC cannon at 87% and climbing at a rate of 4% a minute."
"Good, rotate and arm all forward Archer missiles to coordinates 0.0798457113. Launch all Longsword squadrons and have them take a flanking position around us," Commander Dreyer ordered.
"Aye, ma'am," Salvatore responded, and turned back to his console.
An explosion rocked the ship. The commander fell forward, and the Master Chief caught her.
"Ensign Antonich, status report!" Dreyer barked.
"Captain, the Covenant ship, it just appeared on the port side and fired a pulse laser blast," the Ensign consulted his terminal, then added, "Ma'am, they've launched their boarding parties!"
"Goddamnit!" the Commander shouted, "Then we shall retaliate accordingly. Launch our boarding parties. She turned to John, "Master Chief, I want you on one of those parties. Go! GO! GO!"
The Master Chief darted off the bridge, and rode the bridge elevator down one deck. He got off, and dashed towards the nearest party. There were nine Marines in the party. Three had MA5Bs, and the others M9D shotguns. The Master Chief looked behind him, and saw a weapons locker. He reached out to get it, but a blast door sealed behind him, blocked him from weapons.
The blast door in front of them opened, to reveal a long, clear, Plexiglas tube stretching over to the Covenant ship. The Master Chief and his boarding part dashed ahead. To the left and right of them, more tubes stretched across, both human and Covenant. The boarding party reached the other side, and came across a large Covenant door. One of the Marines pressed a series of buttons on a control panel, and the doors happily slid open.
The Master Chief looked up after the door slid open, and stared directly into the smiling face of an Elite sitting in the seat of a plasma turret. The Shade turret fired, and the Master Chief lunged.
The New Hannibal: Chapter 2
Date: 21 September 2004, 8:22 PM
Chapter 2:Scorpion and Fox
0745 Hours, Thursday, July 13th, 2553 (Military Calendar/)
Damascus System, on board unidentified Covenant Flagship
Over UNSC Colony Tarsus
The Shade turret fired, and the Master Chief lunged. He struck the Elite in the jaw-bone with an open hand palm strike. The Elite's head rocked backwards, breaking vertebrae. The Master Chief dropped to a forward fighting stance. The Elite straightened itself, and found the firing yoke of the turret. It fired three bursts, one scorched the Plexiglas boarding tube, one struck a Marine in the chest, and the third smacked squarely into the Chief's chest. His shields flared and died, and blisters formed on his skin.
The Chief lunged forward again, and grabbed the firing yoke from the Elite, and pulled it in another direction. The turret swiveled around and fired blindly. The Chief and the Elite each grabbed the yoke with both hands. They fought in a deadlock, swiveling back and forth. The Chief jumped, and kicked the Elite in it's jaw. It tumbled out of the Shade turret and lay struggling on the floor. The Master Chief hurriedly jumped in, and brought the turret to bare on the rising Elite. He fired four consecutive shots, the first three took down its shields, and the forth melted away it's arm. It stumbled back, and regained its composure. With it's intact arm. It lunged again, and the Chief around the throat.
The Chief felt his air-pipe start to close off. The muscular Elite had him. He grabbed the firing yoke, and pulled it back. The Shade turret was now looking up at a forty-five degree angle, with the Elite's solar lexis on top of the barrel. The Elites strength laxed, and gave the Chief the opportunity to fire. He did. He pushed the firing yoke, and super-heated plasma blasted the Elite away. The Chief kept up a hammering wave of fire against the dead Elite, just incase. When he was finished, the Elite's corpse was fused to the wall.
The Master Chief's radar pulsed. Four red blips showed up behind him, approaching fast. He turned the Shade turret, and brought it to bare in the direction. The Marines inside the tunnel ran out, and took flanking positions on either side of him. Four Jackals came idling down the hall, shield generators on, and plasma pistols on overcharge.
"Fire!" the Master Chief barked, and the Marines opened fire on the Jackals. One of the Jackals released their overcharge shot, and it impacted a Marine in the chest, boiling away the battle armor that he wore. The Chief fired with the plasma turret, cutting through the Jackals' shields like layers of tissue paper. A Jackal's shield generator failed, and a plasma bolt impacted him. The overcharge shot he had ready released, and slammed into the unprotected side of another. That Jackal stumbled forward, releasing its shot. The shot screamed an inch over the Chief's head, and the heat levels in his suit spiked. A Marine charged in, and fired a shotgun round directly into the stumbling Jackal. The Marine snapped a crisp side kick into the last Jackal, and then fired another round into that one. The Chief hopped out of the turret, and policed the Jackal's pistols.
You six," the Master Chief selected six of the Marines, "Help your friends that are injured. You," he pointed to the Marine that had rushed the Jackals, "With me."
"Sir, yes sir!" The Marines barked in unison. The marine that John selected him followed him down the hall.
"Name and rank, Marine?" The Chief asked.
"Sir, Sergeant Clyde Scipio Fox," he responded.
"That was a pretty brave thing you did back there, I'll need that kind of bravery with me."
"Sir, I just saw an advantage and took it, nothing all that special."
"In any case, I'm going to need your help. Now let's go before more company arrives."
" Sir, yes sir!"
John and Sergeant Fox turned down a corridor, and walked slowly, checking each turn. The Chief had two plasma pistols drawn, and the marine had a shotgun. They came to the end of the corridor, and the Master Chief saw two blips on his radar. He peeked his head around the corner, and spied two red Elites, with their backs turned towards them. Only one of them had a plasma rifle drawn, swinging it back and forth.
The Chief leaped from behind the protective cover, with both pistols on overcharge. He released them, and both collided with an Elite, draining their shields.
"Now, Sergeant! Grenade over-top!" the Chief barked.
Fox sprang from behind the corner, a grenade primed. He threw it side armed, and it skittered to a halt at the feet of the sprawling Elite's. One of them uttered a cry of surprise as the grenade went off. Bits of bone and flecks of alien blood splattered the hallway.
The Master Chief and Fox walked down the hallway. They approached the Elites' corpses, and the Marine kicked one and it rolled over, sprawl eagle. The Master Chief exchanged one of his plasma pistols for a rifle. The other rifle he handed to Fox.
"Hm, threat of the universe my ass," Fox said. He took out a toothpick and stuck it in his mouth.
The pair approached a doorway at the end of the hallway. The Chief stood in front of the door way, plasma rifle aimed at it. Fox crouched at the controls, and typed a series of buttons. The doors slid open to reveal a pair of Jackals, shields on, but their plasma weapons yet to be drawn.
"Get clear!" Fox yelled. He reached into a pocked on his uniform, and retrieved a grenade. Not a plasma grenade, not a frag grenade, but a grenade unknown to the Chief. He instinctively leaped behind the nearest corner. The grenade went off, and a green gas filled the hallway. Fox sprinted down the hall, a handkerchief at his mouth, coughing. He turned and looked at the Chief's position.
"Don't stop there! Keep moving!" Fox barked, "That stuff is contact nerve gas!" The Chief didn't need telling twice, and bolted double time up the hall. The gas cleared to reveal the two Jackals face down with their shields still on. One gave a final twitch, then stopped moving all together. Fox sat down, panting. He looked pale, and was sweating profusely.
"You alright, Fox? You look winded."
He smiled. "Fine, sir. I think I might've gotten a whiff of the stuff. That gas stings like a bitch," he panted, and stood up. "I'm good to go," he said. John looked into the marine's mountain grey eyes, and he saw that he was just like him: a cold fighter to the core.
"Let's go," the Master Chief said, and shouldered his plasma rifle. They approached the doors at the end of the hall again, and re-opened them. This time, there were no enemies to surprise them. They were in a cargo room. There was a veritable jungle of Covenant communication pods, equipment, and vehicles. There were six Banshees, a pair of Banshees, a dozen or so communication pods, eight Ghosts, and three new vehicles that the Chief had never seen before.
It was small, even smaller than a Ghost. It was still shaped like a ghost though. But instead of the anti-grav pods being under wings, they were placed at the front and back. On the left and right side of the vehicles, were two fuel rod guns, and at the front was a plasma cannon.
Fox hopped onto one of the things, and keyed a control. It rose two feet off the ground, and hovered. He pressed a button, and it turned to face the Chief.
"Goblins," Fox said, "I used one in the Battle of Tresimene II. Climb on one."
The Master Chief hopped on, and pressed the same button Fox had. It activated and hovered. The Master Chief took hold of the steering column, and found it had the same controls of the Ghost.
"Will these fit in the Covenant hallways, do you think?" John asked.
"They should," he responded. Fox rode over to the nearest hallway, and it slid open, he pressed forward, and the Goblin fit easily into the hallway, with room for perhaps two more Goblins. "They'll fit," he said, "Come on, let's go," he added.
The two rode down the halls uninterrupted. Up halls and down halls were crossed without incident. When they came to doors, they would swing the Goblin towards it, and open it. Once, while doing this, they stumbled into a hangar bay. Unlike the other rooms, this one was inhabited.
At least four Banshees were lying empty on the ground near them. There was a dropship over them, and had loaded two of them into the U-shaped part. On the ground was where the real trouble lied in wait. Six or more red Elites were helping with the lifting, and staying on guard. A dozen Jackals were walking around, storing cargo. Grunts pushed trollies of weapons, super-cooled methane, and communication pods. Fox and John could see all of this from the second level. On the level they were on, were four Shade turrets with Special Ops Grunts in the gunner seats. The entire Covenant force turned their eyes on the invaders. One of the Grunts warbled a shriek of surprise, and two of the Elites barked commands in their alien tongues. Scores of plasma bolts filled the air, and rushing this way and that.
The Chief and Fox zoomed forward, and headed towards the turrets. They both fired their twin fuel rod cannons simultaneously. One of the shots was a clean miss. But the others collided head on with the turrets. One was vaporized, and the other two were flipped legless off the ledge. The last turret brought it's gun to bear on Fox's Goblin. Their fuel rod cannons wouldn't recycle fast enough. The Chief turned and drove on a collision course with the turret. He fired a trio of plasma bolts that melted the head of the Grunt inside.
"Incoming!" Fox barked. The Chief turned his head, and saw that one of the Elites had climbed into a Banshee.
"Damn!" The Chief yelled. He hopped out of the Goblin, and into the Shade turret. He pushed the headless Grunt and got behind the controls, turning it towards the Banshee. It rushed upwards, preparing to go into a diving run. The Chief fired a stream of plasma at it. A handful were clean misses, but the majority slammed into the Banshee. The single-ships miniature shield system failed after the first shot, and the rest of the shots melted away at the alien armor. One of the bolts cut into the Banshee's right wing, melting it away. The Banshee turned in a continuous left loop, and smashed into the dropship's cockpit. It exploded in a shower of sparks.
The dropship's anti-grav system failed, and it plummeted to the level below, crushing the Elites, Grunts, and Jackals. Fox got out of his Goblin, and slumped against a column. He was panting heavily, and sweating again. He looked even paler. His chest rose and fell quickly. He turned and vomited over the edge of the level. No matter how much of a fighter Fox was, the nerve gas was obviously taking serious effects on him.
"Sergeant Fox, your seriously ill. You need to get back to the Zama," the Chief told him. Fox used his weapon to help himself up.
"No way sir, I'm still up for fighting," He responded, still panting.
The Chief helped him around his shoulders. "No, your not. Take one of those Banshee's and go back." Fox looked concerned, panted a little less heavily, and the nodded. He got back in the Goblin, and rode off the ledge. He got into a Banshee, and brought it off the ground. The Chief walked over to a console, and pressed a button. The hanger wall dissipated, and the Banshee Fox was in flew over to the adjacent Zama.
Something was off about the space outside the Covenant ship. It looked a maroon red. Then it dawned on him. Both ships were entering the atmosphere. They were going to land.
A blast door nearby hummed, and the Master Chief grabbed Fox's shotgun, aiming it at the door.
"Damn," John said, "just another busy day here in hell."
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