The year is 2562, a so called hostile alien race, referred to by all of humanity by this simple human translation, "covenant" , is sweeping ever closer to the last beckon of hope, Earth. There is however, time for one last roll of the dice, the last surviving member of omega squad Max Power and SPARTAN -117 , must at all costs protect above all the location of earth from falling into the clutches of the covenant from the dusty reaches of the Eris.
"Max..….Max…MAX" a voice seem to shout from a distance.
Max was a stocky man, only probably about 5"4 but must have had the build of a scorpion tank, but he was as sure to be as tough as one. This led to him getting the nickname Maximus. As max lay there still in a daze after the concussion wave of the lotus anti-tank mine which only exploded only a few meters in front of him. Max knew he was in deep trouble, as the sound of the flashing energy bar on his heads up display indicated to him that the shields that protected his chemically altered body had been drained completely leaving him in a vulnerable position.
"On your feet soldier" the voice seem to command, "On your feet NOW!"
The force of this last word was all that was needed for the instinctive training of the Spartan to kick in to high gear, and forced max to ignore the pain and bleeding and to get on with the mission at hand, securing a unsecured NAV COM with the exact co-ordinates to Earth's space. However Max was not alone on this thrilling ride, because standing next to him was the best of the best, SPARTAN -117. To any Spartan this mission should have been a piece of cake, but this piece of cake was turning bitter every minute.
"john, by my calculations we won't be able to make it to the NAV COM in time if we carry on our present course" a badly wounded max, gurgled.
"we will have to see about that, I have no intention of losing this fight" the battle hardened Spartan commanded.
The planet Eris, was not actually a planet to which every ordinary man, women and child had grown up knowing, but was a planet that had been completely engineered and constructed under the watchful eye of the UNSC. This "Artificial" planet was the main base of all UNSC vessels operating in the system, for them to be able to repair, refit and rearm. Another added bonus of having an artificially created planet is the fact that the planet's surface is riddled with maintenance and engineering tunnels just big enough to fit a small dog or two really pissed off Spartans.
After suffering significant losses, the pursuing covenant forces had been forced to pull back and regroup, as the last encounter with the dreaded Spartans had cost them the life of their commanding officer killed off by shrapnel from the exploding lotus anti - tank mine. With the hours passing by and the Spartans getting ever closer to achieving their goal, the covenant force commander, Shi Kai, a pure breed from the covenant home world, has decided to make a all out dash to secure the NAV COM before the Spartans erase the all important co-ordinates from its memory banks.
"300 meters before we reach the first opening and closing fast" barked 117
"Roger" Max responded with equal roughness
"250 Met….."
A loud explosion ripped though both ports of the internal speakers of Max's and Spartan's 117 suit of amour, both men were hurled high into the bright scorched sky for what seem for them to be a life time. For what had happened, was that after the covenant forces had regrouped they pushed on after the Spartans…..HARD and now the full force of the covenant ground forces were now using everything at their disposal to eradicate the demon filth which stood before them.
After the near death experience earlier, Max would have thought by now at last that he time had come and he could pass over to the other side knowingly that he did his duty to the core and that no matter what the condition of his body, his spirit would be intact just enough to lock horns with the devil and show him that know one fucks with a Spartan….NO -ONE!. However this outer body experience, was just that an experience , as truth of the matter was that cooling fluid from his armoured suit had mixed with the blood which was now running like a river from his veins, to create a highly hallucinogenic compound which was causing him to fantasise about the reality which surrounded him. Spartan 117 however was a different story, this battle hardened soldier has had his scrapes and injuries in his time and this for him was just another day on the job.
"Max, if I have to drag you all the way over do the damm NAV point that's what I am gonna have to do, but you are not going to die yet, there is far to much room in hell to one Spartan let alone your gear as well".
Grabbing hold of the Spartans arm with a firm but still shaking grip, max mustered the courage to speak, after all it would be a bitch to throw in the towel now.
"I would not give those covenant bastards the pleasure, sir"
"Good, now…..MOVE IT!"
Shi Kai looked forth toward where the alien filth had once stood and to where the plasma rounds had struck only moments ago.
"Good…..now go forth and bring me the skull of the one that they call Spartan 117"
A hastily assembled recon squad was dispatched to adhere to Shi request, which consisted of a loki pair and several vengeful Elites. The Loki were a species that were bound to the covenant race due to the rapid expansion of the covenant homework. A single loki has the same armour and weapon ordinance equivalent of that to a single UNSC destroyer. So a Loki pair is about to really shake up the party.
As the covenant squad started to advance on the position of the fallen demons, a sudden move in the cloudy mist to what seemed to be a outline of some sort of mystical creature.
Than a sudden and unsuspected command shrieked over the radio…..
" They are alive? How can this be ? , the rounds should have vaporised them to atoms how are they still standing?"
"Fall back, fall back!"
Even though the Loki pair have enough firepower alone to punch a hole in a ship in the UNSC fleet, taking on a pair of Spartans was almost suicide. With this in mind the order to fall back was almost open arms, as they turned around to flee back to the safety of their command barracks, a pair of armour piercing rounds hit the lead pair of elites straight in the back of the head causing their personal shields to fail and ripping directly underneath their helmets, causing the contents of what was once their there highly intellectually superior brain to be scattered on to their visors.
Max looked up through the mass of destruction that was falling all around him, to catch a glimpse of what if anything the burst from his rifle had caught his intended target.
" O fucking rah, I ripped that one a new A - hole" Max said spitting the last of the blood from his mouth.
" Keep your shit wired son we are not out of the woods yet!"
Realising that the Spartan was right, the already battle wore Max, once again retrained his battle rifle on the fleeing covenant forces, only to find him self being dragged off in the direction to the maintenance tunnel and the cause of all the problems…the NAV COM.
After shoving Max down the tunnel and throwing him self down afterwards, he then sealed the tunnel that lay open behind him with one well placed plasma grenade of which he "commandeered" from one of the dead covenant troops. With the tunnel now secured for a short while from the overwhelming covenant forces which were now massing on the outside, both Max and Spartan 117 took the opportunity to draw there strength before they continued on there journey.
"We haven't got time for all of your horsing around, I am not having you jeopardise this mission just because you want to cap some elite in the back of the head" Spartan 117 shouted at Max
"Look, after what I have been though in the last 8 hours I think that I deserve some sort of revenge after those picks have tried to kill me off not once but TWICE" said Max
"You know that's not how us Spartans deal with battle, you know that trying to get revenge on the enemy can cloud your judgement, especially with the stakes as high as they are now."
"Sorry 117, I don't know what I was thinking"
"Just as long as it does not happen again, this mission is already FUBAR as it is and please call me john, only those back at command call me Spartan 117"
Begrudgingly, John knew that what Max had done was understandable in these circumstances as john was surprised that he, himself had not cracked by now with the constant threat of death from the covenant forces. However, john had to push these feelings aside if he and max were ever going to complete his mission.
Back in the command barracks of the covenant forces, Shi Kai, was starting to come to terms with the recent losses that the troops under his command has suffered at the hands of the Spartans, when the news that the Spartans had managed to go underground and seal the entrance to the tunnel.
"WHAT !" Shi Kai screamed
This news what not received with the exact response that he staff was expecting.
" I want all of you to understand this, if I don't have the heads of those Spartans in my chambers, I will have all of your heads instead!."
Normally, threats such as this would have normally just be put down to the mating season, but this however was something different entirely. The mere fact the Spartans had escaped there fate, not once but twice, had pushed beyond the limits of his endurance.
Meanwhile, back in the tunnel with john and max…..
"John, I know that the location of the nav com is classified, but considering are current situation, I don't think that it would matter if I knew the location so that I can find a more suitable path."
To make absolutely sure that the covenant did not know the location of any nav com, the big wigs back at UNSC headquarters made sure that only personnel with alpha level clearance knew the exact location of the most important nav coms. Even though john has always been a one to stick to the rules and regulations of the UNSC high command, he had to consider the situation at hand and giving that Max was sure not to say anything off this rock he desperately need to get to the nav com before the covenant did.
"Well last report that we received from the planet before it was attacked was that the nav com was enroute to a secure facility located at LAT: N360 ; Long: W025, however, the nav com never made it."
"well, in that case how are we supposed to find the damm thing sir?"
"Just before communication was lost with the convoy carrying the nav com, the lead commander of the convoy managed to send out a distress signal, giving the exact co-ordinates of the convoy and we were able to confirm this using one of your spy satellites orbiting the planet before they were knocked out by the covenant forces."
This was true, due to the spread of the covenant force throughout the system, all unsecured nav coms were ordered to be put under "lock and key" to ensure that the co ordinates for earth we kept safe under the watchful eye of the UNSC.
"So, where exactly is the com unit located then sir?"
"Approximately 37 kilometres from here, and if we continue on our current course we shall make it in 45 minutes."
All that john got in a form in way of a response was a simple nod of the head and that was all that was needed to make sure that Max fully understood what was asked of him.
Back in the command tent of Shi Kai, a weary intelligence officer approaches Shi Kai to give him news of the mission progress.
"Any news of the location of the nav com device?"
"well sir, are latest Intel seem to suggest that that the nav com device was not successfully delivered to the secure facility like we first expected"
"No, well then where on this godforsaken planet is this device then?"
"Well sir at 0400 hours human time, we intercepted a transmission from the planet indicating that they were enroute to the secure facility. Then at 04:56 hours we intercepted another transmission indicating that the convoy would be unable to make it to the facility in time die to are arrival. As a result of this, the commanding officer put the device in a storage yard approximately 37 Kilometres from their intended target."
"How far is that from are current location?"
"Well sir, from our current location we are currently 2 hours away if the entire battle group is to move at once. However with your permission, I wish to for a small strike team that will be able to reach their destination within the hour your excellence."
"Well I don't have any choice now do I!"
"Well sir, if you request that the whol…."
Before the officer dare finish the sentence, he could see that the Shi Kai was becoming more and more irritated the more that this conversation continued on further.
"As you request Sir"
After the pair of Spartans had been running for the past 45 minutes, with all the sweat that was pouring down their red faces neither of the Spartans seem to noticed the fact that both of their internal sensors were picking up thermal spikes from their bodies due to their excessive running, but finally they had reached their objective…..the nav com device.
"This all that we are after?" Max exclaimed.
The device was no more than a few centimetres in length and the same in the height and width. The metallic box seemed to draw in all of the light in the surrounding area, as if a small black hole had been created in the palm of Max's hand.
"Well what did you expect?"
"something a little more…..cleché"
Before john could respond to this outlandish remake, the sound of two inbound fliers from the covenant strike force penetrated the air with such force it was like standing in the engine room of a UNSC destroyer. In one fell swoop the two filers opened fire upon the Spartans positions opening of what the human would say "opened up a can of whoop-ass"
"Duck and roll…..DUCK AND ROLL NOW!"
But it was too late, several of the jettisoned plasma rounds had found there intended target Max. The two rounds that hit Max's armour reached the temperature hotter then the sun. Just as quick as they arrived, they left…
"MAX!" john exclaimed
"O now is personal!"