SPARTAN-Z173, given the name Orion at birth, stood overlooking the bridge of the UNSC End of Winter using the holographic map to monitor the ship's position in slipspace.
"Dammit this is a task better suited for an AI," Orion mumbled to himself.
"Maybe when we finally get back to an ONI base we can ask for one." Andrea-W247 spoke from behind Orion's left side.
"Why do you have to move so silently?" Orion asked her. "You could at least give me a warning.
"Makes me better for when we go on real missions she answered. She was Team Zulu's stealth expert.
"I thought you were on your bunk polishing your visor."
"Polished." She showed Orion the shining Recon helmet she was so proud of. "Besides, Garrett's playing that god awful music again and I needed to get away."
Garrett-G167, the teams tech expert and right flank, enjoyed listening to old ballads and instrumentals that Andrea couldn't stand. "I don't know what he sees in that crap." Andrea finished.
"To each his own." Orion replied as he finished setting the final coordinates to the ship's navigation computer. "If it helps him concentrate then so be it. We should arrive at the Bronze Sword of Freedom in a few hours. You should get something to eat."
"That might sound appealing if the table wasn't right next to the bunks."
"Well, take your food down to the cryo bay if it bothers you so much." Orion told her with a frown. "But we're a team and you need to learn to deal with things like this."
"Sorry sir." Andrea said. "I'm used to being on my own and not having to deal with distractions."
As she walked down the ramp to the cargo bay Orion wondered if there were any exercises he could put the three of them through to build their teamwork.
"Sir!" Garrett saluted as Orion walked toward him.
"At ease Spartan," Orion told him. "Sit down with me for dinner. How are the engines?"
"Fully repaired and working at maximum capacity sir." The engines had taken a few hits on the last mission while leading rebels away from Earth.
"Where are we headed toward next?"
"The Bronze Sword of Freedom called us in to dock. Not sure why but we'll be there in a few hours.
"Damn ONI spooks. I wish they'd at least tell us what we're doing next." Spartan Team Zulu was a special operations team created by the Office of Naval Intelligence to complete missions too challenging or too important for normal marines to complete. Although sometimes they were a bit too secretive about the missions until the Spartans were already there.
"Well if they're not telling us over the comm we know it'll be important." Orion said pushing the remains of his food aside. "I'm going to get some rest. Make sure the ship is on course."
"Will do, sir." Garrett answered. As the Spartan commander climbed into his bunk he heard the quiet trickle of music as Garrett turned on his favorite song while walking toward the bridge.
Orion woke up to Garrett's voice over the comm. "Commander! Andrea! You better get up to the bridge immediately!"
He jumped out of bed, sprinted up to he bridge, and saw what made Garrett sound so frantic. The Bronze Sword of Freedom was under attack by Covenant Remnant ships and seemed to be losing.
"Dammit!" Orion exclaimed. "Try to get them on the comms!"
"Already tried, sir. I think their communications system has been destroyed."
"Prepare for dock, Spartan! We've got to get on there and assess the situation from inside the ship."
Orion quickly sat in the main pilot chair and steered the ship into the Bronze Sword's emergency docking port.
"Arm up, Spartans!" Orion yelled to Garrett and Andrea. He then ran down to the ships armory and started to put his armor on. As he was securing the last strap on his right boot Garrett walked over to him with weapons in his arms. He put an assault rifle, a shotgun, a magnum, and a couple of case-less submachine guns at Orion's feet. "What are your orders, sir?" Garrett asked.
"We get on that ship and shoot every alien bastard until we find Captain Arbor and get him and any remaining crew off it before it goes critical."
"And if he's dead?" Garrett asked.
"Then we save the remaining crew." Orion pulled on his Mark VII helmet and lead his team onto the burning ship.
Captain Arbor fired his pistol at the Grunts coming toward him and his surviving squad of personnel from the hallway in front of them. Arbor and his men were holding a position in an open space which connected two hallways, one containing the Grunts and one leading to the ship's emergency docking ports. He had called Spartan Team Zulu about an hour before the Covenant remnants had appeared and he hoped the Spartans would arrive soon. He didn't know how much longer they could hold out. Most of the men he had with him were pilots and navigation experts he had rescued from the bridge. Only two of the people fighting alongside him were marines. Arbor assumed the rest had been killed when the Remnants boarded. Another explosion rocked the ship and the Bronze Sword's chief engineer went down, hit by an overcharged plasma pistol shot to the chest. Arbor picked up the man's Battle Rifle and continued shooting at the mass of aliens trying to break their position.
Orion sprinted down the Bronze Sword of Freedom's long hallways hoping to find survivors. He knew the Remnants had boarded the ship and knew there wasn't much time to save any surviving crew members. The last time any aliens had taken a ship this size they had brought a bomb with them instead of trying to control it themselves.
"I hear fighting up ahead." Andrea said over the comm. "Some of the crew must still be alive."
"Double time it!" Orion yelled and sprinted even harder. He rounded a bend and saw Captain Arbor and a group of about 7 people holding off against waves of Covenant.
"Captain!" Orion shouted, firing off his Assault Rifle at some Jackals getting reading to arm plasma grenades.
"Just in time, Spartans." Arbor told him. "I don't know how much longer we could've held off. I need you to evacuate these people ASAP."
"What about you, sir?"
"I need one of you to clear a path through these bastards so I can get to the bridge. The ship's onboard AI insisted he could assist us until help arrived. In fact he has. There'd be a lot more Remnants charging us if he hadn't locked a lot of doors. But now that we're leaving I don't want him staying behind with all the information we've gathered in the last two weeks."
"Garrett! Andrea! Get to the bridge and secure the AI there!"
"I'm in charge here, Spartan so stop giving orders!" Arbor yelled while throwing one of his last frag grenades.
"With all due respect, Sir," Orion started. "It would be more efficient if two Spartans went to get the AI while you and I evacuate the crew. They can get it done faster and will have less of a chance of failing.
Arbor, seeing reason, agreed and Orion sent Garrett and Andrea toward he bridge. "Everyone, make your way down the hall to the End of Winter!" Orion told the surviving members of the Bronze Swords crew. He then pulled out his shotgun as three Brutes made their way to the front of the crowd of aliens still trying to kill off the rest of he humans.
Garrett and Andrea ran through the packs of Grunts and Jackals still hanging back toward the front of the frigate.
"Look out!" Garrett yelled as he spotted a pair of Hunters at the end of the hall they were running through. The Hunters donned the purple armor of Remnant troops and charged their fuel rod cannons, aiming them at the oncoming Spartans. Andrea fired three shots from her sniper rifle and one of the Hunters fell. Garret launched a grenade from his grenade launcher at the other one. The grenade lodged itself in the Hunter's chest and it exploded. The Hunters body-less legs collapsed on the ground. Finally they reached the bridge...only to find a locked door.
"Let us in!" Garrett shouted. "We need to get you to safety with the evacuated crew!"
"I've watched your progress." A disembodied voice said over the intercom. "There's someone behind you. "
Garrett and Andrea turned around sharply and came face to face with a Brute Chieftain armed with a gravity hammer. Andrea fired the last shot from her sniper rifle but it barely touched the beast's shields. She discarded his rifle and pulled out her sidearm. Garrett put his grenade launcher on his back, knowing that it would do no good this close to the Brute. As he pulled out an assault rifle he suggested a strategy to Andrea over the comm.
Andrea nodded curtly and charged at the Brute, pulling out her combat knife as she did so. Garrett opened fire with his assault rifle, destroying the Brute's outdated shield system so Andrea could leap on top of the monster and plunge the sharpened blade into its neck. The creature fell with a roar, it's gaping mouth and surprised eyes showing that he wasn't as strong as he thought he was.
The remaining Covenant have really let themselves go, Garrett thought to himself. Outdated equipment and almost no order amongst them.
Garrett and Andrea turned around when they heard the door to the ship's bridge hiss open. They walked inside and saw the holographic figure of a man still trying to save the doomed vessel.
"I'm glad you've come." He told them. "The ship is failing fast. The reactor core is damaged."
"Then we need to get out of here now." Andrea said. "Our ship is prepped to launch."
"Can either of your suits support an AI?" The AI asked. Andrea and Garrett looked at each other. "No." Garrett said. "One of us will have to carry you in our hand."
"Please be careful." The AI told them. "I don't want to be crushed if you meet any more remnants."
"I'll take him." Andrea said. "You have more ammo."
Garrett nodded and Andrea pulled the AI chip out of the ship's computer.
Orion fired his shotgun at a jackal in front of him then primed a grenade and threw it toward the rest of the aliens that plagued the Bronze Sword of Freedom.
"Get to the End of Winter!" he shouted at the last marine and 3 remaining crew members. Then he spirited away, toward the Remnant threat, a pulling out his combat knife. He hoped that Garrett and Andrea had secured the AI and were on their way back. He didn't know if he could hold the Remnants back by himself. He sliced through a Grunt's neck and spun around, punching another in the side of the head. A red plasma bolt hit him in the side, draining his shield by a quarter. He looked for the Brute who shot it and was tackled. Orion tried to grab at the hairy mass that pummeled him but his shield made his hands too slippery against the greasy matted fur. Suddenly the animal went still and he was able to push it off. Garrett ran toward his commander and helped him up.
"Commander, we've got the AI." he yelled. "It said the reactor core is going critical!"
"Then stop talking and let's go!" Orion said, pushing Garrett in the right direction.
They ran as fast as they could, leaving the Covenant Remnants in the dust. When they finally made it back to the End of Winter, Orion grabbed the AI from Andrea and ran up to the ship's bridge. He inserted it into the ship's computer and it gunned the engines.
"Hang on!" Orion yelled to everyone. As they moved away from the Bronze Sword, they watched it slowly burn until the flames reached the reactor.
The ship exploded and the Spartans saw Captain Arbor bow his head.
Orion watched the ship's computer screens flash as the AI monitored their velocity so they could jump into slipspace.
"My name is Apollo." The AI said. "Your ship is very impressive. It's not the cargo ship it looks like."
"It was created by the Office of Naval Intelligence to be the ultimate ship. Not only does it have an advanced stealth system, but it has the fire power to blow a hole in a Covenant Cruiser. Not that you see many of those around nowadays..." Orion told him. "How much longer until we get back to ONI Juliet Base?"
"Initiating slipspace field now." Apollo told him. "It should be another 14 hours. You should get some rest, Spartan. I can take care of the ship."
"Wake me when we get close." Orion told him. As he walked toward his bunk, he hoped that ONI would let him keep the AI. It would cut down a lot of time between missions. Orion turned on the speakers in his helmet and fell asleep to the sounds of soft piano and violins.