A/N: After Halo: Reach came out I realized that my story was lacking in information and have such been revising the story and rewriting entire chapters, I hope my readers find this to be satisfactory.
Disclaimer: I don't own Halo. Halo is owned by Bungie, Microsoft and 343 Studios.
"SPARTAN-090, is one of the many Spartans who can find a clear path through anything. He is both strong and brave like the rest. He is even as stubborn as his team leader sometimes. He is one of many of my SPARTAN-II's to lose their homworlds to the Covenant. He takes it more personally than the rest, for his world was the first to be attacked, Harvest. In his eight year absence from Harvest, he had come to look upon Reach as his new home. When the Covenant come and they will eventually come, he will face them much like he faced them on the from now nuclear winter covered plains of Harvest through the green forests of Octavian II and the great cities of Byzantine V and he will continue to fight them to a bitter end,"- Dr. Catherine E. Halsey
07:45 Hours August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar)/ Epsilon Eridani System, Reach, Highland Mountains
The war had come to Reach, one of the UNSC's crown jewels, as no one had expected, not even SPARTAN Team Theta or as they were once know as Silver Team, had expected this. Their mission was a failure; they had attempted to prevent the Covenant invasion of Reach, to no avail. There were only four of them, against hundreds of thousands: Sean-140 along with Victoria-131, Daniel-053 and Marcus-090.
They had been ordered by Spartan-104 to find air support and if unable, exfiltrate Reach and attempt to send a ship or a fleet to retrieve the rest of the Spartans should Reach fall. Normally not one to run from a fight, Sean knew his orders and would carry them out regardless of obstacles.
He and his team moved down the windy road. The M831 Troop Transport that they had acquired swerved as Sean sped up and then used the handbrake to swerve around a corner. The M831 wasn't exactly built with the concept of four Mjolnir clad Spartans in mind. That didn't really stop Sean, like any plan that ever went awry he simply improvised. Likewise the other Spartans were holding on by the central rail in the back of the M831.
One would who didn't know him, they'd question his driving. To those who knew him including his fellow Spartans, Sean was an expert behind the wheel of any vehicle, UNSC or Covenant. His brown eyes were focused on the road ahead of them; he kept vigilant for anything unexpected.
In the side passenger seat next to him was his number two and team marksman, Victoria. Victoria-131 or Tori for short was a native to Reach, where as Sean was from Earth, Daniel was from Sigma Octanus IV and Marcus was from Harvest.
Her piercing blue eyes weren't visible behind her helmet's visor, though Sean usually could tell a look with out even seeing her face. She scanned the surrounding area, her SRS92SCS-S2 AM sniper rifle at the ready.
Daniel-053 and the number three of Silver Team, was sitting behind Tori. His left hand held on to the central rail while resting on his right shoulder was W/AV M6 G/GNR or better known as the "Spartan Laser."
The Spartan Laser was one of Daniel's favorite weapons of choice. On his back was a M41 Jackhammer rocket launcher, a weapon that he had wielded since the beginning of the war. Daniel was well-known for his demolition skills and such it was simply a task explaining of how big the explosion was, what type charge to use and where do you want it.
Sitting on the opposite side of Daniel was Marcus-090, the teams scout. If there was any trail that needed navigating Marcus was the Spartan for the job. A excellent tracker there was very little he couldn't find, he like several other Spartans including Frederic-104, Sean-140 and himself were extremely skilled hand-to-hand and melee combat. He was also somewhat of an introvert and the teams lone wolf.
Sean suddenly heard something, moving in quickly. He pulled the M831 over and jumped out. He was well-known amongst the Spartans for his extraordinary hearing. If he heard something out of the ordinary, then that usually meant that trouble was afoot.
Reaching over his back he grabbed his M90 combat shotgun, a weapon that he preferred over any assault rifle. Resting the shotgun on his right shoulder with the barrel pointing up, he placed his left hand on the asphalt.
He couldn't feel any tremors in the ground. Looking up he heard the familiar roar of the Shortsword bomber, he saw three of them fly overhead turning towards the unseen threat. A fourth one appeared shortly thereafter however a green blast struck its right wing, sending it spiraling into the forest below and exploding the massive fireball. Its ordnance on board exploded seconds later setting off several secondary explosions, incinerating trees in a radius of several meters.
He then heard the familiar scream of the engines of the Covenants mainstay attack flyer, the Banshee. Its engines could be heard from kilometers away, Sean knew that they were a sitting target out in the open.
"INCOMING! Hostile air, scatter immediately!" He ordered as he sprinted to the nearest tree taking cover behind it. It was times like this he actually wished he had a rocket launcher. The shotgun was still in hand. Tori to cover behind a tree next to his, while Daniel and Marcus took cover in the tree line on the opposite side of the road.
At first only one Banshee flew by, followed by a couple of Spirit dropships. Eight more Banshees flew by in a near-perfect double V formation. Behind that formation five more Spirit dropships and three of the newer Phantom dropships followed suit.
A lone Banshee made up the rear guard of the Covenant aerial assault force. It spotted the abandoned M831 on the side of the road. The Banshee swooped down to get a closer look. The pilot deemed the abandoned vehicle not as a threat and pulled up and flying out of site.
Sean slowly crept out from behind the tree. He didn't see any hostiles in the area. The howl the Banshee's engines could still be heard. He saw two M19 rocket launchers in the back of the Warthog.
Sean sprinted towards the Warthog. He grabbed the two M19 rocket launchers in the back. Turning around he heard the familiar howl of the Banshee's twin engines. Looking up he saw the alien flyer.
It dived towards him, the howl of its engines turned into a scream. Contrails emanated from its wing booms. Knowing he had little time to spare, the Spartan began to run to the tree line as a green charge powered up in the enemy flyer's Fuel Rod Cannon was locked on the M831.
He sprinted at full speed with the two M19 rocket launchers resting on both of his armored shoulders. Despite how fast he's running the Banshee was by far more superior in terms of being faster than a lone SPARTAN-II on foot. He knew he had only a minute or two at best before the Covenant flyer was upon him.
He knew the Covenant's flying death bringer was devastating on the ground troops and Spartans on foot. In Sean's mind he calculated the likelihood of him taking on a Banshee and the chance of survival of said taking on the flyer. Not too surprisingly the odds were very slim to none.
The Banshee's twin "light" plasma cannons opened up, a few blue blasts impacted on his shields causing them to flare. Most of the plasma fire was directed at the abandoned Warthog TT. He turned his head to look over his right shoulder as he saw the fuel rod gun fire a green glob out of its central barrel.
It was then that Sean remembered that the extra rockets have been loaded up in the back of the Troop 'Hog. The fuel rod projectile struck one of the cases containing the extra 102 mm shaped explosive charges. The M831 exploded into a fiery inferno causing the nearby half-ton of MJOLNIR clad Spartan hurdled chest first into the asphalt.
Sean's helmet flew off as he impacted the asphalt. Fortunately his armor was intact minus his helmet. He looked up to see that his helmet had rolled over to the side of the road. He the looked at the two rocket launchers, both was intact minus a few dents and scratches on the tubes, but useable regardless.
He rolled onto his back and jumped up. Without his helmet he knew his shields were of no use. Setting the rocket launcher on his left shoulder down on the near his feet he raised the one on his right shoulder and aimed it at his airborne foe.
The Banshee rolled into a dive towards the lone Spartan. Standing his ground he flipped open the targeting reticule on the side of the launcher. The reticule glowed blue until it was brought over the alien flyer. Its blue color faded to red as a homing signal and diamond locked on to the airborne menace.
The homing signal chimed, blinking twice giving him the signal that target lock had been acquired. He squeezed the trigger as both rockets sped out of the tubes with a smoky contrail behind the two 102mm shaped charges.
The first rocket was dodged by the Banshee. The second hit its target on the Banshee's port wing boom, causing the Covenant attack flyer to tumble and spin into the tree line exploding in purple plasma like explosion. Just before impacting the trees, the stricken craft's pilot an Elite Major Domo managed to bail out and survived but not without grievous injury to himself.
Sean discarded the empty rocket launcher as he surveyed the wreckage of the downed Banshee. He saw a shape move in the wreckage of the enemy flyer. He raised his armored right hand up to about as high as his shoulder and then closed it into a fist.
Recognizing the signal for forming up, Tori was the first to move in the open, followed by Marcus and then Daniel who had retrieved Sean's helmet. Tori moved to Sean's right, keeping her sniper rifle at the ready. Marcus moved to Sean's left with his MA5B Assault Rifle ready.
Daniel came over with the Spartan Laser on his right shoulder and Sean's helmet in his left hand. He handed Sean his helmet, who looked at his reflection in the golden visor. This wasn't the first time his helmet flew off.
The first time had been only four years after the Harvest Campaign on the distant colony world of Byzantine V, once the most important outer colony in the UNSC. The world of Byzantine V which orbited the star Iota Persei, a shining jewel of the Outer Colonies and a near-hardliner UNSC supporter.
That was until the Covenant attacked it, while simultaneously attacking the nearby Mu Arae system. Admiral Preston J. Cole and his battle group raced to Mu Arae to defend one of the few remaining Outer Colonies, New Gettysburg. That left then Admiral Pierre Petan in charge of Byzantine V's defenses. During the ground battle, Silver Team as they were known back then attacked in the massive counter offensive per Winter Contingency.
During the fighting he was wounded when the Sparrowhawk he flew into battle was shot down. Through the course of the fighting his helmet was knocked off, resulting in getting the scar on the right side of his face that went from the bottom his fore head, barely missing the rim of his right eye and straight to his right jawbone.
The Elite, a Zealot class, to be precise was quickly on the receiving end of his M90 after nearly decapitating him with its energy sword. The second time was on Miridem where he was sent to guard and protect Dr. Halsey, while she was conducting a xeno-archeology survey on some ancient ruins found on the planet.
It quickly turned into a firefight as the Covenant also found the world. During the chaos his helmet was knocked off by a Wraith mortar tank. Amidst the battle Dr. Halsey was captured, an event that Sean blamed himself for happening, which coupled with the loss of his fellow Spartan, Sheila. Both events were ultimately outside of his control as he and his team had remained behind to buy the two of them time to escape.
He came out of his musings as he put the helmet on. An audible hiss was heard as it was sealed on contact with the seals mounted on his neck piece. He motioned for the Spartans to move out. The Four Spartans went up to the wreckage of the Banshee. The shattered pieces of it were nearby.
"A shame you had to destroy it, this would have been a good scout vehicle," Tori said as she inspected the downed flyer.
"I agree," Marcus added. He looked up at Sean. "Looks like we're walking,"
Sean nodded his head; it was true without a vehicle they would be walking. It wasn't something new to him, just an inconvenience. He looked at his left wrist, the armored gauntlet was noticeably bare of any desired items or weight. He reached down to the hard case on his left hip and brought out his TacPad.
The TacPad was a device that Team Leaders usually had with them, to make minor calculations or upload latest BNet information or GPS locations, it also held a team roster and information for logistics. Daniel walked over behind the Banshee when he noticed the badly wounded Elite Major.
"Mates, take a look-see at what I found," Daniel reported, his Australian accent was ever present.
The three of them walked over, Sean put away his TacPad and held his shotgun at the ready. Daniel stood over the Elite with his Spartan Laser aimed at its head. It looked up at the first Spartan then at the other three; he glared at them with a hateful look on his face.
"You humans will burn, when the grand majesty of the fleet, turns this world into glass," the wounded Elite spat at the four Spartans. Sean pumped his shotgun as he brought the barrel of the M90 to the Elite's head.
"Not today," Sean replied coldly as he pulled the trigger. The 8 gauge buckshot slammed into the unshielded Elite's head killing it instantly.
Sean pulled out his TacPad and looked at it. He couldn't believe what he was reading. He looked up at his fellow Spartans; their orders had just been rescinded. It was now not matter of winning the battle it was a matter of surviving the battle. "Admiral Freemont is dead, the super carrier Trafalgar has been destroyed along with the Bucephalus, Royal Sovereign, Dawn of Futures Past, Cold Harbor, Aurora, Solaris, Daedalus, Farragut, Sun Tzu, Kirov … the list goes on, as of now all United Nations Space Command forces have been ordered to withdraw from Reach, Cole Protocol has been authorized. Message ends –Stanforth," Sean read.
"Where do we go now?" Daniel asked.
"According to the GPS, Parker Air Base is 20 km on the other side of that forest," he pointed at it the he paused briefly before continued. "If were lucky they might have a space capable transport for us to get off Reach,"
"If they don't?" Tori asked.
"We'll make for the ship breaking yards in Aszod, according to the battle net, its one of a few places that has space capable transports left on Reach," he replied. "Leave all that you can behind we need to move fast,"
Rising up his right arm he made a fist before forming an open palm and indicated to move forward. It took them 30 minutes to get from one side of the forest to the other when they reached the clearing.
They saw a hill, which they climbed up. The four Spartans walked up a nearby hill, what they saw on the other side was devastation. Suddenly the ground shook as a Covenant Cruiser flew overhead, turning towards the North. Looking down they saw the air base, Sean turned his head to the others.
"The airfield's still operational, lets get going before we're stranded here," said Sean.
At Parker Air Base, UNSC Marine Corps Sgt. Jorge Vasquez and his detachment was all that was left. The base had been hit early on by both Banshees and a Covenant Corvette. There wasn't much here except for a GA-TL1 Longsword, that no one here knew how to fly.
He sat under a tent that had been constructed to keep cover as most of the structures had been hit from the air. He looked over at the fallen control tower; the once tall structure was on its side. The tower looked like it had been hit by either a plasma torpedo at the base or was hit by a mortar round from a Wraith.
The main security checkpoint at the entrance of the airbase wasn't much. The concrete bunker that had once housed two M247H heavy machine guns and one AIE-486 chain gun was now little more than a pile of concrete rubble as half the bunker was decimated in the bombardment. Only one of the M247's was active, the chain gun was in a myriad number of pieces and the other M247H was completely destroyed.
Pfc. Jonathan Walker couldn't believe it, three weeks out of boot on his first deployment on what was said to be the most secure planet in UNSC controlled space, fighting the Covenant. Nearby was an ODST Corporal, Cpl. Bauer. William Bauer was an enigma when it came to ODST's; he originally had been stationed on the Majestic. It was rumored that he had been promoted six times and demoted four and that Maj. Gen. Nicholas Strauss had tried everything to get him out of the military.
It was a sad thing but the UNSC needed every soldier they could get their hands on, even insubordinate ones. Manning the remaining M247 machine gun was Spc. Ivan Stukov of the UNSC Army. Stukov and his squad had been ambushed by three of the fast and hard-hitting Revenants. Those that were left were slowly picked off one by one until Ivan was last one remaining.
The Spartans reached the airfield and were approached by a group of Marines. Walker was the first to greet the Spartans; he quickly led them over to Vasquez and the remaining troops. Bauer and Stukov both came over as well. Bauer unlike many other ODST's didn't really give a damn about the Spartans, truth be told he could've honestly cared less. The way he saw it was: they are soldiers, we are soldiers, they fight covenant, we fight covenant, not too much difference there.
"Sergeant Vasquez" said one of the marines.
Sgt. Vasquez turned and acknowledged the marine and then looked at the Spartan, and then he looked back at the computer.
"What's the situation Sergeant?" asked Daniel.
"Not good, we've lost a good portion of the fleet, while we have inflicted heavy enemy losses; the Dawn Under Heaven, Basra, Blucher and the Invincible, Gettysburg, Alliance, Euphrates, Vittorio Veneto and the Gorgon along with several other ships have been destroyed or crippled," replied Vasquez.
"What of the Pillar of Autumn?" asked Sean
"She jumped just as we started losing MAC platforms, the only other ship up there that is in good condition is the cruiser Warspite,'' replied Sgt. Vasquez
"Is there anyway to get off this planet and to the Warspite?" asked Marcus.
"There's a GA-TL 1 in that hangar," replied Vasquez, pointing at the hangar on the other side of the airstrip.
"However a pair of Banshees watches for anyone crazy enough to run across the airstrip to the hangar. A few marines and a couple of pilots attempted this. They strafed them, no survivors. Besides, no one here knows how to fly a Longsword," stated Vasquez.
"I know how." replied Sean. "Theta 3, Theta 4, you'll take out the Banshee when it comes down to strafe us. Try to get the second Banshee if possible, just take it out so we can get to the hangar, Theta 2 your with me."
Three green acknowledgement lights appeared on his HUD, as he and Theta 2 moved into position. He looked over to where Vasquez and his men were gathering all remaining gear.
"Sergeant, get your men ready." ordered Sean.
Daniel and Marcus moved to where they had a clear view of the airstrip and the adjacent hangars. The two Spartans and five marines charged toward the hangar with the Longsword in it. As expected a Banshee swooped down and started strafing them. The Banshee managed to get off a couple rounds when an M19 missile impacted and destroyed it.
Marcus and Daniel started running across the airstrip when an explosion hit the airstrip. Marcus turned and saw a nearby hangar destroyed. There was another explosion that engulfed and destroyed the airfields command center.
"Theta 4, come on, we are leaving!" ordered Sean.
Suddenly a blue streak of plasma impacted the Spartan, leaving nothing but a smoking crater where the Spartan once stood. The ramp of the Longsword lowered when an explosion took out the side door of the hangar on the left side of the fighter. Three Elites and seven Grunts emerged firing at the Spartans and marines. Two of the Grunts died quickly. One of the marines took a round from a plasma rifle in the side. Two Elites were about to charge at them when a red beam blasted through them and the five other Grunts.
"Theta 3, get that marine inside the Longsword!" ordered Sean.
As Daniel carried the wounded marine into the Longsword, the Spartans and marines took out the rest of the Covenant forces, and then boarded the Longsword. The Longsword hovered and then flew forward out of the hangar. Sean sat in the pilot seat, and noticed that the second Banshee had turned around and flew straight toward the Longsword.
Sean moved his right hand on the right hand control stick, moved his finger toward trigger. When the Banshee was in range, Sean fired the 110mm rotary guns, shredding the Banshee. The Longsword streaked toward space.
While the Longsword sped off towards space, in the crater a green armored hand pulled up the damaged body of Marcus-90. He looked up as the interceptor moved through the clouds and past the Covenant Cruiser that glided over him.
"Good hunting, Silver Team," Marcus said aloud as the fighter vanished from his sight.
Unaware that Marcus was still alive, the GA-TL1 soared through the air, a pair of Banshees attempted to stop them; Sean quickly destroyed them with little damage. He briefly looked around at the occupants of the fighter; he still couldn't believe Reach fell.
Tori looked back at Reach, her homeworld was now burning and she was leaving it behind. "Leszek emlékére Reach," she said quietly in her native language.
Sean stared out at the abyss of space remembering his team mate's words. All around the fighter was wreckage and destruction of both UNSC and Covenant ships ranging from the remains of Covenant Corvettes to the gutted hull of the retrofitted Phoenix-class Colony Ship Barbet. Sean noted that some of the fleet's most illustrious ships were stationed here, such as the super carrier Trafalgar and the Marathon-class Cruiser Leviathan. In the background were Reach's two natural satellites of Turul and Csodaszarvas.
"I hope we can get this ship to the Warspite without getting shot at again" Vasquez muttered.
"Don't worry sergeant, we'll make it." replied Sean.
Just as he said that, two squadrons of Seraphs and a squadron of Banshees, appeared. Sean accelerated the Longsword, barely making it outside of their targeting range.
"UNSC Warspite, this is Spartan One-Four-Zero can you read me, over?" asked Sean.
A short time of static followed before the comm. system finally replied.
"Affirmative, Sierra One-Four-Zero." replied the Comms. Officer.
"Request permission to land, over?" asked Sean.
"Sierra One-Four-Zero, permission granted, land in Bay 2, over." answered the Comms. Officer.
"Roger, I'll need a medical team, I have a wounded marine, over and out." replied Sean.
On the bridge of the Halcyon-class cruiser Warspite, Captain Andrew Monroe stared out at the void, near the TAC screen the ship's AI Hera watched patiently. The communications officer then turned to him. Monroe turned to him, when the communications officer requested.
"What do you have, Lt. Harrison?" He asked.
"Sir we have a Longsword, heading straight for us, they have a SPARTAN on board," Harrison replied.
"Hera can you confirm?" Monroe turned to the AI.
"Yes sir, at present velocity they should reach us within a few minutes," She paused briefly. Monroe knew there was a second part to it; she could see it in his eyes. "They're being pursued by a large number of Covenant fighters,"
"Well, looks like we'll have to provide some fire support for them," he turned to Harrison. "Open up a channel to the Longsword,"
"SPARTAN, can you hear me, this is Capt. Monroe. Commander of the UNSC Warspite, you leave those Covenant to us, just get on board, Monroe out," Monroe said.
He turned to the TAC screen, surveying it closely. A grin appeared on his face, a grin that Hera knew all too well. Monroe looked up at the navigation.
"Navigation bring us about to course 340 by 000, Weapons have all port side 50 mm PDG's standby to open fire," he commanded, and then he turned to Hera. "You got the point defense guns Hera, as soon as the Covenant show their ugly mugs, blast them,"
"Aye, aye Sir," she replied as she flickered off the pedestal.
The massive cruiser turned as it was preparing for a port side barrage. To anyone who had ever served on the Warspite, that this was the ship living up to its reputation, first one in and the last one out.
The 50 mm defense gun turrets swivel onto its target. The Longsword dived below the hull of the ship, giving its point defense weaponry a clear shot at the enemy. The Covenant fighters didn't last more than second against the point defense guns of the Warspite.
The Longsword flew into the Warspite's hanger bay, after the marine was taken to the med bay; the Spartans were led to the ships cryobay, where they would rest until needed. The Warspite flew into slipspace, the Battle of Reach was over and the UNSC had lost. It's second most important planet and the proverbial "Earth's doorstep," had just been annihilated, leaving Earth as the last great bastion for humanity.