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HALO: Combat Evolved - Pillar of Autumn
Posted By: Cameron Eades<masami_kun@hotmail.com>
Date: 17 September 2002, 2:16 am
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"Cortana... all I need to know is, did we lose them?" asked Captain Jacob Keyes with a trembling voice. "I think we both know the answer to that."
Cortana is a holographic AI. Unlike most other AI's knowledge systems, Cortana's was extremely complex.
"We maid a blind jump.... How did they- Get here first?" Cortana interrupted.
"The Covenant ships have always been faster. As for tracking us all the way from Reach, at light speed my maneuvering options were limited."
The Covenant was an alien race that waged a holy war with the humans for unknown reasons.
"We were running dark, yes?" Keyes asked as he checked to make sure the pilots were doing all right.
"Until we decelerated. No one could have missed the hole we tore in subspace." There was a slight pause. For a second it was unusually quiet in the Pillar of Autumn's bridge. "They were waiting for us on the other side of the planet." Cortana finished.
"So, where do we stand?"
"Our fighters are mopping up the rest of their Recon picket now, nothing serious. But I've isolated approach signatures from multiple CCS- class battle groups. Make it three capital ships per group. And in about Ninety seconds, they'll be all over us."
Even after hearing this, Captain Keyes remained calm. For that is how he was trained, to stay calm in bad situations. "Well, that's it then. Bring the ship back up to Combat Alert Alpha. I want everyone at their station."
"Everyone sir?" Cortana asked with doubt.
"Everyone" He replied. "and Cortana...." He added. "hmm?" "Let's give our old friends a warm welcome."
"I've already begun."
"Attention all combat personnel. Please report to your action stations." Said a female voice over the loudspeaker.
"Fifth Platoon, secure airlocks on Deck Eleven. Fourteenth Platoon, rendezvous with 22nd Tactical at Bulkhead Charlie Fourteen. This is NOT a drill."
"Whoa... sir?"
"Right let's thaw him out"
"Okay, bringing low-level systems online. Cracking the case in thirty seconds... He's hot! Blowing the pins in five!"
"Tube shows green, cycle complete."
"Sorry for the quick thaw master chief. Things are a little hectic right now. The disorientation should pass quickly."
"We'll have you battle-ready stat"
The chief didn't say much. He didn't have to. His job was to obey orders and win.
"Chief, please look around the room. I need to get a calibration reading from your suit's diagnostics."
He looked around at the fifty or so cryo tubes. He looked up at the two technicians that opened the tube.
"I'm bringing your health monitors online, sir."
"Vital signs look normal. No freezer burn. Okay, sir go ahead and climb out of the cryo tube."
The master chief wasn't too crazy about cryo-genic sleep, but he didn't have a choice.
"I gave you a double dose of the wakeup stem. Take a quick walk around the cryo bay and meet me at the diagnostics station when you are ready."
The master chief was no ordinary UNSC soldier. He was part of a project code named Spartan-II. He was taken to the military at the age of six. He is nearly invincible. His MJOLNIR armor grants him rechargeable shields, a HUD or heads up display, and other things useful for combat such as the ability for a "smart" AI such as Cortana to literally get inside his head and give him useful tips while in battle. His bones are reinforced. He has been genetically enhanced. He can run at speeds up to 70 kilometers per hour. He is technically a cyborg.
"Stand on the red square please. I know the ordinance techs usually take care of your targeting sensors, but we're short of time Chief. Just look at each of the glowing flashing panels to target them. When you lock on, it'll target them.
He locked on to each one. Each changed colors and the Chief know his HUD was online.
"Ok Chief follow me to the energy shield test station"
Fire teams: sensors show inbound Covenant boarding craft. Stand by to repel boarders.
"Ok bring his energy shields online."
"Alright, shields read as fully charged."
"Ok sir, take them down to test the automatic recharge please."
"Recharge normal, It's showing green across the board."
Bridge to Cryo two. We need the Master Chief at the bridge immediately.
"Captain, we'll have to skip the weapons diagnostics and- On the double crewman." Keyes interrupted.
"Aye aye sir.... The skipper seems jumpy, we better get moving. We'll find ya some weapons later. Hey Sam you had better get to your evac group."
"Affirmative. I just have to shut the computer down and I'm outta here!
Suddenly there was banging on the door to the technician's room.
"Oh god! They're trying to get through the door!"
There was an explosion and the door opened and two of the "elites" came through the door. The elites are a Covenant race that is almost as strong as the Master Chief. They have a very deep voice that somehow, the translation software cannot translate.
"Security! Intruders in cryo two! No please don't shoot! Ahhhhhhhhh!"
"Sam? Sam! No. C'mon we've got to get out of here. This way!
The master chief followed the technician through a hall. But just as the technician was about to open the door, it exploded, killing him. The master chief jumped over a few pipes and found another way around. He ran through multiple hallways to get to the bridge. Marines were everywhere, some dead, some hiding, and some battling the Covenant.
"Chief! The Captain needs you on the bridge ASAP! You better follow me."
He followed the marine to the bridge.
"Captain Keyes is waiting for you, sir."
The master chief approached Keyes slowly and calmly.
"Captain Keyes" said the Chief with quiet and cool voice.
"Good to see you master chief. Things aren't going well. Cortana did her best, but we never really had a chance."
Cortana appeared next to Keyes.
"A dozen superior battleships against one halcyon- class cruiser. Given those odds, I'm content with three... make that four kills." She turned to the Chief. "Sleep well?"
"No thanks to your driving, yes."
"So you did miss me."
Suddenly there was a large explosian, and a shrill scraping sound.
"Report!" The Captain yelled.
"It must have been one of their boarding parties. I'd guess an anti-matter charge." Cortana said unsurely.
"Ma'am fire control for the main cannon is offline!" A crewman yelled.
"Captain, the cannon was my last offensive option!"
"Alright, that's enough. I'm initiating Cole Protocol Two. We're abandoning the Autumn. That means you too, Cortana."
"While you do what go down with the ship?" Cortana asked sarcastically.
"In a manner of speaking, yes. That object we found, I'm going to try and land the Autumn on it."
"With all due respect, sir. This war has enough dead heroes."
"I appreciate your concern, Cortana. But, it's not up to me. The Protocol is clear. The destruction or capture of a shipboard AI is absolutely unacceptable, and that means you are leaving the ship. Lock in a selection of landing zones, upload them into my neural lace, and sort yourself for a hard transfer."
"Aye, aye sir." Cortana was obviously worried.
"Which is where you come in, Chief. Get Cortana off this ship. Keep her away from the enemy. If they capture her, they'll learn everything: force deployment, weapons research.... Earth."
The Covenant had already destroyed many planets that had been colonized by humans. But, if they found Earth, they would either glass it right away, or they would do what they did to Sigma Octanus IV. They were looking for something on Sigma Octanus IV. But they eventually glassed it too.
"I understand" The master chief knew how important Earth was to any human living on Earth or not.
"The Pillar pf Autumn will continue evasive maneuvers until you initiate a landing sequence. Not that you would listen, but I would suggest letting my subroutines handle the final approach."
"Excellent work Cortana. Thank you. Are you ready?"
There was a pause.
Cortana sighed and said, "yank me."
Captain Keyes bent down and pulled out Cortana's chip and placed it inside the Master Chief's MJOLNIR armor.
"Hey, your architecture isn't much different from the Autumn's...."
"Don't get any funny ideas." Cortana tends to get strange ideas when inside the Chief's head.
Captain Keyes handed the Master Chief a pistol.
"I don't keep it loaded, so you'll have to find ammo as you go."
The Master Chief left the room. He kept an eye open for ammo for his pistol. He found some in a hall, loaded his gun, and continued. He tried to hurry, but didn't want to draw attention. He came to a room with three grunts.
The Grunt, the weakest Covenant race. They stand about a meter tall. Even with translation software, they sounded like a mixture of mice and dogs. Their battle strategy mainly consists of fight, run, hide, and then eventually, die. They are only a large threat when in large groups.
He quietly got behind one and pistol whipped him in the back of the head. He Quickly shot the other's life support system. The grunt grabbed his throat and fell to the ground. Just as the third grunt even acknowledged that someone was there, he punched the grunts chest. The grunt fell to the floor. He picked up a couple of plasma grenades that the grunts dropped.
The Chief quickly proceeded. As he approached a door he heard plasma shots. The Covenant used this for their weapons. He ran into the room to help the marines. There was a wounded marine next to him.
"Here Chief... Use this..." The marine grunted and struggled to speak.
The marine handed the Master Chief an MA5B assault rifle. The Chief ran towards the Marines that were having the battle with the Covenant.
"Those marines could use some help, Chief. Do what you do best." Said Cortana.
There were two elites battling five marines... The marines were losing. The Chief wasn't used to handling elites. He has had multiple hand-to-hand fights with them. He thought that he would try and get behind them while they fought the marines. But two grunts appeared and warned the elites of him. So he stood back and fired on the elites. Two more of the marines had been injured. The Chief ducked down to avoid fire directed at him. A grunt appeared behind him and fired three shots at him. All three hit him. His HUD began to flash... His shields were down.
"Keep your head down, there's two of us in here, remember!" Cortana yelled.
"Die devil!" The grunt yelled angrily at the Master Chief.
He fired two shots of which pierced the grunt's skin. He yelled in pain and fell to the floor. He turned his attention back to the elites... and the two grunts. The Master Chief remembered the plasma grenades he had picked up off the grunts.
"Fire in the hole!" The Master Chief yelled as he threw one at the easier target, one of the grunts. It hit him in the chest, and stuck to the grunt.
"Get it off! Get it off!" The grunt yelled and ran towards the two elites and the other grunt.
The Master Chief ducked down to avoid debris. Then there was an explosion. When the Master Chief looked up, there were no grunts or elites.
The marines stayed behind to aid the wounded marines. The Master Chief proceeded. There was a very loud scraping sound. It hurt his ears even with the advanced ear protection. He approached two marines in front of an empty lifeboat bay. Then there was an explosian. Killing them both. Then a group of Covenant came through the bay, one elite and two grunts.
"I'm gonna take 'em up close!" A grunt said confidently.
"reidlos , ti yrt neve t'noD" An elite calmly said.
The Master Chief wandered why the translation software wouldn't translate it. He didn't have time to battle them. He ran as fast as he could right past them, went through a blast door, closed it, and locked it so they couldn't follow him.
"How did they get in through that lifeboat airlock, Cortana?" The Master Chief asked.
"They're using our lifeboat airlocks to attach their boarding crafts. We go out and they come in." Cortana replied.
Combat teams on decks five through nine, fall back to secondary defense options.
The Master Chief resumed. He heard gunfire from a room down the hall. He hurried. He figured that the more time he wasted the less marines would make it. He rushed into the room. Ten or Fifteen marines were fighting tons of Covenant.
"Covenant! On the landing above us!" Cortana warned the Master Chief.
The Master Chief signaled for six marines to follow him up the stairs and once they got up the stairs for five marines to move around the other side while one marine followed him. He and the marine ran up the starboard side taking out any Covenant they saw. They encountered an elite. Master chief signaled for him to fire at the elite, full automatic. The Chief put one finger up, kicked the plasma rifle out of the elite's hand, punched him, and put up to fingers. They both fired at the same time doubling the normal damage to the elite. It then fell over on the ground, dead. He and the marine approach the blast door and met the other team of marines.
All hands. This is the Captain. Prepare to abandon ship. Combat teams: repel boarders until the Ops personnel are away. Good luck. Keyes out.
The Chief and the marines ran down a hall and came to a window. He looked at the exterior of the ship being clobbered by Covenant plasma torpedoes.
"The Covenant are destroying the lifepods.... They really don't want us on that ring.... Warning blast doors closing! We have to use the maintenance access ways. Follow the nav point on your HUD, it will lead you to an opening." Cortana was like a talking blueprint of the Pillar of Autumn. She knew every single detail of the ship.
The Master Chief followed the nav point to a maintenance access way. He crept into the long hallway. It was too dark in there. He turned on the flashlight installed on this helmet. He looked for an exit that was clear of Covenant activity. He approached another exit.
"Motion trackers show all clear."
The Chief moved up into the room. Nothing was in there, so he proceeded.
Combat teams Sierra through victor. Prepare for evac.
The Chief arrived in a hall with twenty or so Covenant soldiers. He tossed the other plasma grenade at an unsuspecting grunt.
"Nooooo ho hoooooo!!" the grunt yelled and did the usual, he ran toward the other Covenant. Killing them all. He went into the hall.
"There's one last lifeboat!" Cortana shouted. "Quickly get aboard!"
The Master Chief ran into the lifeboat.
"Now would be a very good time to leave!"
"Punch it." The Master chief said calmly.
"Aye aye, sir" The lifeboat pilot replied. "We're disengaged. Goin' for minimum safe distance."
The ring-like object came into view.
"What is that thing Lieutenant?" Asked a marine.
"Heck if I know, but we're landin' on it."
The Pillar of Autumn came into view. It was taking multiple hits from Covenant plasma torpedoes.
"I knew it! The Autumn is accelerating, Keyes is going in manually!" Cortana said angrily.
"Heads up everyone, this is it. We're entering the ring's atmosphere in five..." The pilot warned everyone.
"Sure you wouldn't rather take a seat?" Cortana asked the Master Chief.
"We'll be fine." He assured her.
"If I had fingers, they'd be crossed."
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