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Project: Shadow Spartan, Chapter 3
Posted By: Agent Shade<silent_shadow13@hotmail.com>
Date: 14 July 2003, 10:24 PM
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John raised a reanimated katana sword created by Lancelot and leveled it at his son, who was circling around him. Sam had put the MJOLNIR-X armor on for this part of his training and John watched how well he interacted with it. As John lowered his katana to striking position, Sam reached back and whipped out both of his crafted plasma battle blades given to him. He twirled them both in his hands and watched John as he swung his katana over his head and brought it down on Sam's head. Sam raised one of his blades to block the sword, and then used the other to slash at John's ribs. John back flipped away, Sam swiping at his feet. The ex-Spartan regained his balance and stabbed out at Sam quickly, who twirled one blade in front of him, snapping the katana in too. John cursed as he dropped his busted practice sword.
"God damnit, that's the second you've broken" he said, chuckling afterwards. Sam shook his armored head and put both his blades back.
"Dad, I'm having a problem with these swords" he said, taking them back out and observing them. John raised an eyebrow.
"What's up?" he asked. Sam tossed one of the blades to John, who caught it.
"I wish to fight with just one" he said, grabbing hold of his chosen blade and gripping it with both hands. John looked at him.
"Just one? But son, you get more power with two" he protested.
"Dad, I find I have better coordination with just one blade. I don't have to worry about what's in one of my hands, while using my other hand to block. It isn't easy, even for someone like me" he explained. John nodded, and then realized he should be a bit easier. His wife had even told him to let Sam feel comfortable in what he does and if this was what he wanted, this was what he'd get.
"You're right there Sam. All right, you fight with that one, I will fight with this one" John said, raised the blade aloft and charging at Sam, who crouched low and came at John. John brought his blade down to Sam's side, but the Shadow Spartan spun away in the air, stopped and stabbed out at John, who smashed his son's sword away and came at him again. Sam spun with his sword and used his momentum to slash at his charging father. John watched the blade come and he brought up his own to block it. He was successful in blocking, yet the momentum Sam had had, sent John staggering backwards from the recoil. That was all Sam needed, who jumped over John and came up behind him, sword at his throat.
"I win dad" he whispered and John smiled. He dropped his blade and turned. He took of his son's helmet and looked into his eyes.
"I think you are ready" he said, staring at Sam who grinned.
"You think so?" he asked. John nodded.
"You've defeated me in every training exercise, ranging from martial arts, to various weapons to the way of the sword. You are ready" he said defiantly. Sam grinned and sheathed his sword.
"What happens now?" he asked. John looked over at Lancelot, who stood by Cortana, watching them.
"We do one more practice, this time, with an AI in your armor. Now, you've chosen Lancelot as your designated AI." At the sound of his name, Lancelot raised his sword at Sam. "Lancelot will then be integrated into your armor and you will fight me with my own armor, and I shall have Cortana with me" John said. Sam grinned.
"Awesome" he said. John knew it would be and he knew why Sam was excited. He had never seen John in his armor, and because of the new enhancements that Cortana had given him, his armor would be better than it was before, almost like his son's.
John yanked both Lancelot and Cortana, and then took out their processor cubes. He handed Sam, Lancelot's cube, while John walked over to his cot and began putting his own armor on. Sam inserted Lancelot's cube into one of his data slots in his helmet, then began chatting with the black knight. John began slapping on the parts off his armor, and finally finished it off by slipping helmet on. His Heads Up Display light up, showing him diagnostics and other valuable information. John adjusted his boot treads and glove sensitivity levels, then reached over and grabbed Cortana's cube. He inserted it into his data slot and Cortana slipped into the armor.
"Just like old times John" she said, her voice echoing through the helmet's speakers. John grinned.
"Just like old times" he repeated. John turned to face Sam, who was battling a fake opponent with a sword. John watched him for a moment, before clearing his throat. Sam turned and looked at John.
"Dad, you look sweet" he said, marveling at John's appearance in his armor. John grinned, then grabbed one of the plasma battle blades and leveled it at Sam. Sam grabbed his own plasma blade, drew it out of its hilt and crouched low, both hands on the sword hilt. The two of them stared at each other, not moving. It was dead quiet. John couldn't even hear his breathing. He was about to charge, when Sam made the first move. He was almost on top of John, sword held aloft, when the entire complex shook violently, knocking them both to their feet.
"What the fuck?" John roared standing and observing a data console nearby. There were cameras posted around the dome and five of them were gone. However, one camera eight, John could make out figures in green armor moving around the dome. He looked at Sam.
"Shit! The Spartan-IIIs are here!" he cried out. Sam put his sword back.
"Good, let's kill them" he said, rushing to the weapons rack and grabbed a MA5B assault rifle. John nodded and grabbed a MA7B battle rifle. The complex shook again and the two of them staggered to keep their balance. John looked around and could see dents along the roofing of the dome.
"Cortana, what happened to the auto defenses?" he asked.
"They aren't responding they must have planted electronic jamming devices in them" she said frantically.
"How the hell did they get close to the dome without being spotted?" he asked, loading his battle rifle.
"The camouflage I'm assuming. I honestly don't know" she said. John cursed. He hated it when Cortana didn't know. The ex-Spartan grabbed ten clips of ammo, then ran to the center of the room. He looked at his son, who was crouching low, assault rifle pointed at the door. John shook his head.
"No son, you've got to get out of here" he said, looking at the door which was starting to bulge open. Sam looked at his father.
"Don't be a hero dad, you can't take on all of them by yourself" he said.
"That's not the point, if they discover you; they will destroy you before you even have a chance to fight them"
"They won't destroy me, I will kill them" Sam replied.
"I'm talking about your identity. If they find out you are my son, they will destroy you, if not totally, then emotionally" he said. Sam looked up at John, weapon still pointed.
"Mom?" he asked. John nodded and Sam lowered his head.
"But I can't leave you" he protested.
"Son, I don't want to leave you either, but I've fought these guys before and I can hold them off, you must leave" he said, raising Sam to his feet.
"How though, they've got the entrance surrounded." John ran to his cot, tossed it aside and revealed a trap door. He opened it, revealing a ladder than extended into a tunnel system below.
"I dug out a tunnel in case something like this happened. Follow the tunnel, it will take you right to the lifepod" he said. Sam hesitated again, looking at John. John's patience was running thin.
"Sam, just go! Now!" he yelled, shoving him into the tunnel. Reluctantly, Sam grabbed hold of the ladder and began to descend into the depths.
"I will see you later dad" he called. John smiled.
"I love you son!" he yelled, then slammed the trap door shut. He quickly covered it up, and then turned to face the door. Slowly, the Spartans were blowing their way through. John eyed the Jackhammers near the rows of weapons and grinned. He dropped his battle rifle, rushed to the weapon rack and took hold of two of the rocket launchers. He loaded them both and grabbed two extra rounds. He then leveled them at the door, grinning.
"Plug you ears" he said to Cortana, who laughed. John pressed the firing triggers, and two 102mm rockets flew at the door, blowing it wide open. Light poured into the darkened room and John could make out three armored figures walk in, weapons up. John fired again, and then reloaded. As he did, he watched his rockets.
His volley of rockets struck two Spartans dead on, blowing them up and wounding the third, who fell out of the complex and into the vegetation beyond. As John reloaded, he tossed two fragmentation grenades, and then repositioned himself as four Spartans rushed in, firing wildly. He fired, killing two more Spartans and wounding the other two. He reloaded quickly, fired his last rockets, killing the wounded Spartans, and then grabbed two SMG 900 sub machine guns. He cocked both weapons, grinned and walked forward, firing the weapons.
Josh couldn't believe that six of his Spartans were dead. He had a Jackhammer out and was watched other Spartans back away from the entrance to the dome as bullets flew out. Two of his Spartans fell on the ground, wounded from bullets that had breached their shields. A single figure emerged from the dome, and stood on the dead Spartan's, wielding and firing two sub machine guns. Josh grinned.
"It's the Master Chief! Kill him!" he roared, leveling his Jackhammer.
John heard Josh's voice and turned to him, still firing his weapons. He watched the Spartan-IIIs leader fall back as continuous bullets weakened his shields. Finally, as John wounded two additional Spartans, his weapons stopped firing. He dropped them both and rushed at a Spartan. He swung his fist, catching the Spartan in the side. His enemy responded with a blow to the head, but John ducked, punching twice, and spinning in the air, kicking with both legs at his enemy's helmet. The Spartan fell over, unconscious. John felt pain sear through his back, and he turned to see another Spartan attacking him. John blocked two of his attackers' blows, and then lashed out with his knee, making contact with the Spartan's stomach. He could hear the sounds of weapons being loaded, then brought the wounded Spartan up to face him. Bullets fired from its colleagues slammed into the Spartan's back, who screamed out in pain. They stopped and John threw the nearly dead Spartan at them. Four Spartans collapsed in a heap. John was about to continue, when a 102mm rocket slammed into the ground in front of him, sending John flying backwards.
Klaxon alarms filled John's ears as he skidded along the ground and smashed into a boulder sticking out of the ground. Cortana let out a yelp as well, then her cooling presence vanished. He lay there, defeated and watched through a cracked visor as the remaining Spartans surrounded him, weapons trained at him. John chuckled.
"Well, go on now, pull the damn triggers" he growled. The group around him parted and Josh stepped forward, blood all over him.
"You killed my Spartans you fucker" he growled back and John grinned.
"They attacked my dome" he responded.
"Why did you create this dome? What were you creating in the dome?" Josh asked. John shook his head.
"You know as well as I do that I won't tell you" he said. Josh nodded.
"Yes, I figured this" he said. And with that, Josh swung his rocket launcher forward at John, who saw nothing but blackness after that.
Josh tossed the empty launcher aside and took off his helmet. He spat on his old mentor's armor, and then turned to look at the complex.
"Begin searching that place, I want to know what the fuck he was doing in there" he said to his Spartans, who all rushed inside. Josh stood by John's body, looking down at him. He couldn't believe that this old Spartan had killed six of his young, deadly Spartans. It was unthinkable. Josh's group at lowered down to forty Spartans and this pissed him off. He shook his head, looking up at the sky.
He and a small team of Spartans, the ones with him, had managed to capture an old, unused UNSC corvette that had been stored in Military Outpost Gamma Twelve. Josh knew of the threat that John exposed to them and also knew he had to be taken out. Josh didn't believe in going after John's wife and left her alone, hoping that John would be weak as he worried about her. They had been successful in hacking into the FLEETCOM data net and locating John at this dome. Whatever he had been creating here, was gone, making Josh even angrier.
He stood up, staring at John's body once more, then reached down and pulled out the battle blade that was strapped to his back. His eyes gleamed maliciously as he stared at the awesome blade that shimmered plasma in his hands.
"This is incredible" he whispered, turning it over in his hands, and then swinging it around him.
"Maybe this was what he was creating?" he asked himself, unstrapping the sword's hilt from John and strapped on him. He sheathed the blade and stood ready for more weight on his back.
There was none and Josh grinned. He turned and watched Ian approach him.
"New weapon?" Ian asked and Josh nodded, taking out the sword again. Ian gazed at it.
"Awesome. We have a problem" he said. Josh put the blade back and looked at Ian.
"What now?" he sighed.
"Roger reported that the corvette's sensors detected a small craft leaving this planet and calling for UNSC assistance. An Excalibur frigate known as Redman entered the system a few minutes later, picked up the craft and left" he explained. Josh looked at Ian, anger rising.
"What was on the craft?" he asked. Ian shook his head.
"I do not know. Roger couldn't catch up to it. He assumed it was a lifepod, because it didn't jump out of the system" he said. Josh decided not to take out his anger on his second in command and relaxed.
"Very well, let's finish up here, then leave" he said, walking back to the dome, Ian behind him.
Vice Admiral Jameson sat at his desk, head in his hands. He had just received the news that John's dome had been discovered by the Spartans. He sighed, and gulped down the last of the bottle of Jack Daniels that was beside him. He then raised the empty bottle to the window behind him.
"To you John" he said, and then tossed the bottle aside. It seemed as if everything was doomed now. Jameson had hoped at least the Shadow Spartan or even John had survived, but it was reported that no survivors had been found. He sighed out loud, and leaned back in his chair. As he began to drift off, his door chimed.
"Wha-Oh, come in" he said, sitting up. The door opened, revealing a darkened figure standing in the opening. Light from the hall prevented the Admiral from making out the person's face, but the huge bulk and size of the figure made him nervous.
"Who...Who are you?" he asked. The figure stepped in, the door closed and Jameson stared at the huge Spartan that stood in his office.
"Oh my god" he whispered. The Spartan looked at him.
"Vice Admiral Jameson, I am Samuel, son of the Master Chief of the Spartan-IIs and created for one person; to kill the Spartan-IIIs" he said, his voice deep and booming. Jameson stood, still staring at the Spartan, and then grinned.
"John's Shadow Spartan" he said.
TO BE CONTINUED
By: Agent Shade
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