So, this is Halo:Survival Evolved. I came up with this after playing the game Subnautica, because the idea of a ship crashing on a planet, leaving the survivors to fend for themselves appeals to me. That said, there are several key differences.

survivors.

Universe.

planet has land.

Enjoy, read and reveiw!

-Shadow

John 117 groaned as he pulled a large chunk of metal off of his legs and stood up. The sky above him was cloudless, the ocean, a clear blue, both in stark contrast to the remains of the UNSC Razor's Edge. The bridge had collapsed nearly a mile beyond him, and past that, he could see rocky cliffs and a tall, black structure. The light cruiser had been transporting a work crew to build a new mining colony here, on the remote planet of Z-926, or Krylon. In addition, it had held several Spartans, a small force of regular UNSC soldiers, and, since Krylon technically belonged to the United Sangheili Council, a small group of Sangheili troops from the Swords of Sanghelios, the planet's dominant faction. Among them had been Arbiter Thel 'Vadam, John's friend and ally.

'Hope he wasn't killed in the crash.'

Over Krylon, the cruiser had experienced a sudden failure of all systems. Out of his armor at the time, John had been halfway to the life pod docking array on impact.

'Guess I really do have luck on my side.' he thought as he moved through the rubble, stepping carefully over the charred corpse of a crew member.

A few meters away, a movement caught his eye. The door of a mostly intact life pod, which had clearly not been launched, had opened, and a person stepped out. He raised his hand as she came closer, allowing him to inspect his fellow survivor.

She wore the civilian clothes of one of the miners, her shirt ripped in a few spots. Dirt and ash smeared her pale skin and her blonde hair was coated with the stuff. She limped towards him.

"You alright?" he called out.

"Yeah. I hurt my leg on landing, but I'm pretty sure it's not broken."

"I'm John. Spartan 117, Petty Officer Master Chief."
"Shayla. I'm one of the explosive technicians for the mine."

"Alright Shayla, what do you think we should do."

"I think our best bet is to work our way up to the bridge," she pointed to the ruin of the massive structure, "and keep an eye out for other survivors along the way."

"Good thinking. There should be a distress beacon in the bridge, if it survived, we can call for help."

The two had already begun to move forward, picking their way through the rubble, when Shayla let out a yelp.

"Wait a sec!" she shouted before dashing back the way they'd come.

A few minutes later, she returned with a handheld radio and two bottles of water. She tossed him a bottle and held up the radio.

"Every life pod has one. We can use this to make contact with any pods that launched, see how many people made it!"

"Good idea. For now, let's get going. If we get up on the bridge, we'll have a better chance of reaching the pods since we'll have more range."

Sliding the water bottle in his pocket, he set off into the wreckage, preparing himself for the chance that they were the only survivors.

Rtas 'Vadum watched as Thel slammed his fist into the wall of their life pod, rage flashing in his eyes.

"Damnit!" the Arbiter roared collapsing onto the pod's seat. Rtas hooked his claws on the ladder and poked his head out the top hatch as his commander let out another string of curses.

The pod was anchored now, due to his own realization that if they were drifting at sea, they could quickly end up too far from the wreck of the ship to make it back and search for survivors. About a mile away, he could see the twisted remains of the ship's bridge, the rubble peering through the smoke of the crash. The armory was missing entirely, and the life pod docking bay had broken off on entry, landing on the opposite side of a small island where the ship had crashed. Beyond the bridge, he could see high cliffs and, past that, a tall, black structure jutting into the sky.

He slid back down the ladder, preparing to tell Thel about their situation, but before he could, the pod's radio crackled with static and blazed to life.