Return of the Spartan
Chapter 1
DATA ENTRY: .kt.
YEAR BY SOLAR CALENDAR: 11/14/2558
LOCATION: UNSC space. Currently orbiting an Inhospitable planet. Name of planet is Sokisha. Named after Japanese heritage pioneers that discovered planet and researched its qualities in 2510. Approx. 2 week Slipspace distance from Reach remnants. Aboard the UNSC Cydonia-class Super prowler Star Shadow. YOU DIDN'T SEE THIS!
Stephan recorded this data along with several other things. He was a smart A.I., one of hundreds now being implemented into the UNSC ships. Stephan was under a year old, basically built to be especially for the Spartans and could transfer to other systems when one was inactive. That way if they were to die, he could move to another team member, or a system he could record data and get a recovery team for him/her. He was part of a recovery team himself. To be more direct, he was Cortana's replacement drifting within the Master Chief's helmet.
He was especially interested in the ship he was on. It was the most extensive build of prowler amassing at exactly 785 meters long, 355 meters wide, and 149 meters in height. Its Slipspace system was a special advanced system. Along with the standard stealth equipment that set it above the rest of the ships, plus it had extra stealth equipment and extensive offensive equipment to set it as questionably one of the best fighting machines. Most other Prowler ships have enough to give air support in infiltration/exfiltration missions, or like the Strike Prowler, to blow a hole in defenses and then disappear. The Super Prowler however, can appear out of nowhere and tear up groups of ships that are larger than it. Plus, there is only two other ships like this in build. The only people that know their existence are those who built it, witnessed it, and have been aboard it.
The ship had a bubble on the front for a deck. From there, the ship extended out like an arrowhead down 4/5 of the ship. The last chunk was squared off. This unique design helped it, like other Prowlers, stay hidden in deep space and move swiftly through both space and Slipspace.
He enjoyed picking the Chief's brain of all the things he experienced. Most of the data within Cortana's portable database was lost because that data had never been recorded anywhere else. The only facts left behind were first hand from the troops who had managed to survive the tragedies. Master Chief's mind was easily the greatest and most extensive set of recordings, including the deaths of the last Prophets and the once existent bond between the Sangheili and humanity. He was part of a team of Spartan-4's and Spartan-2. The recovery mission was of a ship lost nearly 30 years ago. It was named the Spirit of Fire and had reportedly found a shield world like Requiem and battled the Covenant. The reason this ship was interesting was for a reason Master Chief told very few.
He had immediately tried to dig up what was left of the Spartan 2's after returning to Earth and losing Cortana. The last transmission released from the ship was that it had lost its Shaw-Fujikawa drive and was now drifting aimlessly in the general direction of Reach. It never managed to arrive as it was moving very slowly to preserve power. When they first deployed to Harvest, an inventory was taken, showing three Spartan 2's. If the crew was smart, they should be preserved in cryo-pods.
Master Chief was currently in cyclical-sleep as well, along with the Spartan 4's: Grutsky, Johnson, Smith, and Aria. Johnson was just a nickname, given in honor of the late Sergeant Major Avery Johnson. This Johnson was a sharpshooter, and sometimes a smart mouth, like the good old Johnson. They were part of a team called Alpha Cross. They were in Slipspace and would return to 'normal' space within a few minutes. While they were prepping a Pelican in dock A, Stephan was drifting throughout the ship systems, doing miscellaneous stuff to help around with Madelyn, the ship's smart A.I.
Madelyn. Now she was an interesting character her design was rather common for the early 2010's. She had black, curly hair that rode down to her elbows, a gray shirt with scribbling that supported a local softball team. She wore short shorts and flip flops. In proportion to a human, she was 5'5". She had a Nor-Eastern accent that gave her a kick in her voice. She was a rather upfront and fun loving, according to her core logic. She was rather annoyed when under attack and didn't like firing weapons. She much preferred working the stealth equipment. Often enough, Madelyn would line up the shot and let someone else fire it.
He, on the other hand, loved collecting data on things, studying them, and going in the field. Stephan also rather enjoyed taking over weapons and blasting away at Covenant. The bastards deserved a good thrashing. His compact core logic explained him as one that enjoyed observing from afar, and jumping hands on with things he enjoys. His avatar was 1960's mobster. He wore a leather jacket, with a white under shirt. He had gray slacks and black loafers. And resting upon his brown, shoulder length hair, was a black fedora with a white band.
This projection appeared as he stopped in the cryo-bay room. The full body figure stood with his right knee bent in slightly. "So, are they ready?" He asked the head scientist on the ship Dr. Chakov.
"Vust giz me a minute." He replied in a heavy Scandinavian accent. "Ze sleep-veducing drugz are taking effect. Zey vill be out shortvy after ve exit Slipspace." The doctor turned from the holo-pad, and Stephan turned to the cryo-tubes. Each individual one held some of humanity's finest troops. The four Spartan 4s had a different armor setup for each, SNIPER armor set on Johnson, as he was the sharpshooter with teal and steel armor and a silver visor. Smith had an EVA setup, red and gold armor with a black visor. Aria had a HAZOP setup with a purple visor and deep blue and hunter green armor. Grutsky, the group leader behind Master Chief, had a OPERATOR setup with a vivid, red visor and onyx with aquamarine trim. He had never seen the helmetless face of any of them.
Stephan could almost feel the jolting of the ship as it left Slipspace. He tapped into the camera feed and watched the swirling clouds of the methane covered planet. One match would probably light up the entire atmosphere, it was that thick. Then, Stephan tapped into the cryo-bay and watched the vital signs of the team as they came to.
The first to awaken was Aria. She was a light sleeper. It took a lot of sleep-inducing chemicals to keep her down. Master Chief was next, without a limp and stepped out triumphantly until he saw Aria was already out, stretching. Next was what they called a tie, even though Johnson actually came to .035 seconds faster. Stephan kept this information to himself to keep the arguments down between the rivaling siblings. Plus Grutsky was stumbling out like a drunk from a bar on St. Patrick's Day. Finally, after another 1.2 minutes, Smith came to and stepped out with a small limp that regained feeling in 30 seconds.
As they walked by and off to the armory, Master Chief pulled Stephan's chip from the holo-pad and placed it in his helmet. Instantly, Stephan released the cooling sensation of the fluid that linked them together. He traveled through his neurons and pathological psyche. He watched through the Master Chief's visor and other cameras, watching carefully what the others chose for weaponry.
Aria picked up a BR55 and a M6 pistol. Johnson took a sniper rifle and a MA5. Master Chief took up a shotgun and a rocket launcher. Smith took a Spartan Laser and M7 submachine gun. Grutsky lifted out a DMR and a heavy grenade launcher.
They then headed over to the deck. They moved in a formation, two in front, three in back. Master Chief and Aria walked in front and the other 3 in back. He listened in on the conversation. Master Chief started, "Now that we're here, on one of the most secretive ships in the entire service, I can tell you what we are after on that ship. Our goal is to retrieve the remaining Spartan 2's on the Spirit of Fire."
"Anything else sir?" Grutsky asked.
"If we can, we need to recover any lost, old technology of the earlier decades. Any important figureheads, like a scientist or if the Captain is still alive."
"Sounds like a search warrant more than a recovery mission." Smith inquired.
"Yeah, those things may have deteriorated and the people probably have died by now." Johnson said. Aria stayed quiet, soaking in the information. They approached the Pelican and boarded. Each took a seat, Spartan 4's on the left and Master Chief on the right. The panel that operated over dock A opened enough to let out the Pelican. It drifted silently across the port side of the Spirit of Fire. The once great letters painted on the sides of the ship were reduced to SFIPII CF FIKF. The entire ship was riddled with holes, some only impact from asteroids or only a few decks deep. Several holes were punctured all the way through the ship or a large portion thereof. Just under the slanted walls were several docking stations next to each other. According to the little amount of information gathered, the furthest to the stern of the ship would be closest to the cryo bay and a dumbwaiter. It was also the only one without an airlock covering it.
The ship drew into the pre-described bay and dropped. The bay didn't have an atmosphere or gravity, and the shield separating the vacuum of space and bay itself flickered. The room, when the shield was on and it could be seen, was a large open space with only a pedestal in the middle for the Pelican to land on. Several other pedestals were available, as what once sat on them was pulled out into space long ago. Crates were anchored along the walls. A catwalk system ran over the bay itself with lights dangling from the ceiling even higher. A lift was positioned center on the rear wall. It stopped in front of a special glass covered observation catwalk that led to a sort of control room to the far left with an office and glass windows. The office appeared to have its lights on, casting little light in the empty hangar.
With the pilot and copilot separated from the rear of the troopship, the Spartans dropped out and scattered across room. Five lights could be seen moving around in the darkness of space. Aria moved under the protruding control tower. Johnson leapt onto an empty pedestal to the left and went prone with his rifle on a bipod. Grutsky took cover behind a nearby crate on the forward end of the hangar. Smith camped under the empty pedestal to the right of the Pelican. Master Chief approached the lift in the rear and stepped up. He pulled up on the switch, but it didn't budge.
"Damn." John said. "No power out here at all." He flashed his light first left, then right. When looking right, he saw an 'in case of emergency' ladder. His armor clanged loudly with each step until he pressed his hand against a hatch and peered into the hallway. From what Stephan saw, it was a classic steel wall and a few active airlocks. Only darkness was viewable past either of them. Master Chief turned and clunked down the hall into the control room. It had a leather swivel chair, a desk with several drawers, a computer and a holo-pad. Several sheets of paper were scattered on the desk and floor. Master Chief slid Stephan's chip out of its slot in his head and placed it into the ship's system.
Stephan's dashing avatar appeared almost immediately before Master Chief. "Well I got good news and bad." Stephan started. "After checking up on the systems, the good news is the captain's Neural Implants have left a path that can be operated to reach the cryo-bay."
"So what could be the bad news?" Master Chief asked.
"I dropped in on the observation deck, and from what it appears, the best the machine could predict, there is a small, minute chance that we may just happen to…" Stephan stalled the inevitable.
"Come on! Spit it out." Master Chief growled.
"Well from what it appears, this ship is on a course to collide with Sokisha." Stephan finished.
"You've gotta be shitin' me." Master Chief said, jaw agape as much as it could be in his helmet.
"I shit you not." Stephan retorted sarcastically. A small smile crawled across his face. "Let's get to work then." Stephan's arms began to move with the rhythm he set up. "Ba ba da di ba da di da." His arms stopped pointing at the lights, which lit up with ease. "Zi da di da di ba ti." Now his arms pointed at the shield gate which turned back on and stayed on. "Ba di da da di za!" He now had each arm pointed at a separate vent, which blew atmosphere into the hangar. "Don't worry, I got all the airlocks along the way."
The Spartan 4s responded without voice and gathered at the lift. They drifted up into the glassed over catwalk. They gathered at the airlock as Stephan flicked on the lights on the other side. The door slid open and they charged through to the next one. This new systematic gate was similar to that of the Pillar of Autumn. Two levels, one of titanium-A and an inner glass door. Each slid open as they should to show a hallway of all open airlocks down to the end.
However, this one hadn't closed all the way and instead had been blocked with a canister of flammable material. It was also similar in structure to the ones on the Pillar of Autumn. Blue ones usually related to the cryo-bay, red were explosive, and yellow had something to do with supplies. Stephan brought up a map of the ship's interior to show them their path. On the other side of that bolt head they would turn left and take a dumbwaiter up 3 levels for the closest entrance to the cryo-bay. The Spartans moved up the hallway until Stephan spoke over the COM. "Stop. I think I saw something on a camera."
He brought the camera feed up on their HUDs and showed the camera from just inside the room on the right corner of dumbwaiter entrance. It showed the butt of the canister on the right, and the steel colored hallway to a bulkhead that was closed. It showed some sort of mosquito like creature dart past in front of the camera. Stephan stopped the video, re-winded to the best view of the creature, stopped, and enhanced the image. The Spartan-4's had no idea what it was, but Master Chief grunted in aspiration the second he saw it. "Damn. The Flood are on the ship too. That means we have to move quickly."
"The Flood?" Aria asked. "What's that?"
"Probably that!" Smith bellowed out, pointing at the creature as it crawled along the side of the canister. Grutsky rose his DMR to scatter the thing, but Master Chief stopped him by placing his hand on the rifle.
"Careful. Shooting the canister could blow a hole into an unknown nest of them or vacuum." Master Chief explained as he pushed the gun down. Grutsky dropped his rifle to his right knee and breathed. Before Stephan could interrupt again, they heard a sizzling noise as a grate fell to the ground. Then a bright beam of blue shot across the entrance, missing the Flood Infection form and struck the canister, erupting in flames. A bright ball glowed and scattered as the bottom portion of the airlock was blown off. In the resulting fire, with all lights blown out, the bright blue light within the Forerunner Sentinel glowed sinisterly as it turned to face them.
"Move! Now" Master Chief said as the laser opened fire. The Spartans dove behind the extended airlock edges.
"What do we do?" Johnson said.
"Shoot it till it dies." Aria said, standing and firing her BR55, which blasted the Forerunner, sending it down. It crashed and exploded into blue flames. The Spartans moved down the hall in a rush now to get to the survivors before the Flood or Sentinels got to them.
They charged through the flames and called the dumbwaiter. Their shields were wearing thin by the time the dumbwaiter arrived. Master Chief was sweating in his suit as they got onto the cool, ventilated dumbwaiter. It lifted them about 2 and a half levels before emergency stopping. With the locks in place, the lift couldn't move in any direction. The hatch 1 and a half levels above them opened up and Flood Carrier forms jumped from the edge to dodge the piercing blue light chasing after them. Each one looked like a hideously deformed Kig-yar or Sangheili with large hunches in their back. The hunches however, were more like malignant tumors, ready to burst form their spines to birth 10 more Infection forms. There were three in total, two Kig-yar and one Sangheili. Each belly flopped off the glass floor and exploded midair.
Infection forms scattered as Forerunner Sentinels glided out of hallway and down the chamber. The airlock a half floor above them opened as Combat forms jumped from the ledge and landed on the Sentinels. Smith caught an Infection form mid jump and crushed it in his hands. The sac was where their juices and most internal organs were located. Crushing that almost instantly killed them. The Combat forms were mostly Sangheili and Human. They clung to the Sentinels as they barreled into the walls. Some exploded, about five survived.
"Move Alpha Cross. Operation 009'er" Grutsky screamed as it began to rain Flood and Sentinel. Three boosted Aria and she clung to the ledge. Two launched Johnson and he grabbed her legs. This continued until they made a human ladder. Master Chief grabbed onto Grutsky and climbed to the top. Grutsky followed, next Smith, then Johnson, and then Arial climbed the ledge. Master Chief fired a rocket at the wire that the dumbwaiter had stopped on. A loud bang followed by the scream of the brakes as the super heated metal clanged against itself. The dumbwaiter plummeted with the Combat forms. The Sentinels actually followed them down.
They didn't get very far before a loud, thunderous boom echoed through the shaft. By the time they turned to face the Spartans, Stephan had already closed the airlock. The Spartans saw the auto door that led to cryo-bay. Smith, currently at the front, didn't hear what Stephan said next. He instead charged forward and head-butted the door, which didn't budge. "What gives?" Smith said as he backed away.
"Well definitely not the door." Stephan said over the COM sarcastically. "As I was saying, the door is locked from the inside. Only I can unlock it, and I can't guarantee it will stay open long." Stephan's avatar then spawned into the cryo-bay. Instead of a modern and more convenient style, this was just one long hallway. Most modern designs might be two or three short halls, or just one large room. As he slid the different commands out of the way, he could feel this unsettling feeling in his logic core. He felt as if he was being watched, and not by a Flood or Sentinel, it was something more of on his level. This is impossible he computed to himself, this should have deteriorated long ago. Just as the control to open the door appeared, a loud screech erupted over the intercom. The Spartans outside had to cover their ears. The screech halfway sounded like it said "Noooo!". To solidify this theory, the figure appeared grainy in front of him.