A strange, ring shaped world drifts in space, next to a red gas giant, various climates visible on different parts of it. A single steel colored ship drifts by, barely visible against the black vacuum of space. The words Pillar of Autumn are visible along the side, and a single glass window is the only part of the ship not colored steel. Two fire control officers sit in their stations, looking outside through the glass window into space. While risky, placing the bridge at the front of the ship provided the crew with better view, and therefore they can make better decisions. A single man stands behind another pane of glass, showing various routes and data. He is visibly old, around his mid-fifties. He wears a simple grey uniform with a Captain's insignia pinned to the front, along with various medals.
A row of holopanels line the wall behind him, each projecting a different AI, all colored a cool blue, showing that despite the situation, they were all calm. The man turns to face the holograms, distress visible on his face. He looks towards the first one, projecting the figure of a soldier, wearing standard marine armor. "All I need to know, is did we lose them?"
The AI sighs, looking past the Captain and at the screen showing the current data. "I think we both know the answer to that."
The Captain shakes his head. "We made a blind jump, how did they-"
"Get here first?" The AI interrupts, reading the captain's expression. "The Covenant ships have always been faster, as for tracking us all the way from reach, at light speed, my maneuvering options were limited."
The captain turns away from them, and begins pacing the deck. "We were running dark, yes?"
Another AI, the figure of a wolf, cuts in sarcastically. "You're forgetting the giant hole we made when we jumped."
The First glares at the wolf AI, and continues. "He means, until we decelerated, no one could have missed the hole we tore in slipspace." The captain pauses, leaning down and examining one of the crewman's screens. "They were waiting for us on the far side of the planet, that gas giant." The crewman taps a few buttons, and a beeping sound begins coming from the screen.
"So where do we stand?" The captain asks, standing up and walking back towards the holopanels.
A dragon shaped AI begins speaking. "Our fighters are mopping up the last of their recon group now, but I'm detecting multiple battle groups approaching, make it 3 capital ships per group. And in about 90 seconds, they'll be all over us."
"That's it then, bring the ship up to combat alert alpha, I want everyone at their battle stations."
The first AI looks at the captain, his face serous, although showing a small amount of anticipation. "Everyone, sir?"
"Everyone." He says, and various crewmen begin running to their stations. "And give our old friends a warm welcome."
In the main hold of the Pillar of Autumn, a marine on the top floor waves blue light batons to guide a pelican dropship into place. On the bottom deck, Marine's begin talking, readying weapons, prepping tanks and jeeps, or just loitering, until a soldier with a Sergeant Chevron walks past them. A female voice comes over the loudspeakers, directing people to their positions and alerting them to report to their stations. The sergeant barks out "You heard the lady, move like you got a purpose!"
Several marines snap to attention, making two rows. The Sergeant walks between the row, then spins around at the end of it. "Men, keep your eyes downrange, fingers on your triggers, and we'll all go home in one piece. Am I right marines?"
The marines answer in unison, obviously looking forward to fighting. "Sir Yes Sir!"
The sergeant cracks a smile, as the marines brake ranks and run out of the small room they were in, up a large ramp and into the main hold. "Mmm-hmm, damn right I am." He follows the marines, walking instead of running. As he reaches the top of the ramp, he loads his assault rifle. "All you Greenhorns who wanted to see the covenant up close, this is your lucky day."
In one of the cryobays, a raised observation platform looking down on the room, two techs look at a single computer screen. The Characters
X
- CORTANA
1 0 CRYOSTOR. 23.4.7
(PRIORITY
ALPHA)
UNSEAL THE HUSHED CASKET
Appear on the screen, and the first tech gasps. "Whoa."
The second nods, and begins typing. "Right, let's thaw them out." The first tech runs into a corridor and out of sight, and the second looks up. "Okay, bringing low level systems online. Cracking the cases in thirty seconds. They're hot! Blowing the pins in 5….." The tech that had left earlier walks into the cryobay, in front of a row of cryotubes. Each holds a different armored figure, most wearing green colored armor, but one wearing black. Steam hisses from the side of the tubes.
The tech in the observation bay looks down at them. "Tubes show green, cycle complete." The cryotubes hiss and the panel covering them raises up. "All vitals look normal, no freezer burn. Alright, you guys can climb out of the cryotubes." Roaven, the Black armored Spartan grips the sides of his tube and pulls himself up, then climbs over the side. He removes his helmet and inhales deeply, glad to get some fresh air. He has Black, spiked hair and green eyes. The others do the same, each climbing out of their tubes and looking around. Max, one of the Spartans wearing green armor, removes his helmet, revealing his shaggy brown hair and blue eyes. Kurioto, identifiable by the spikes on his shoulder armor, chooses not to remove his helmet, staying silent and watching the others. Ariel, the only female of the group, also chooses not to, looking at the tech.
The tech stands in awe for a moment, then regains his composure. He opens his mouth to speak, but the captain's voice comes over the loud speaker. "Bridge to Cryo 2, this is Captain Keyes. Send the Master Chief to the bridge immediately."
The Tech hits his com. "But Captain, we'll have to skip the weapons diagnostic and-"
"On the double, crewman!"
"Aye aye sir." He says reluctantly, then turns to the Spartans. "Skipper seems jumpy, we better get moving. Well find your weapons later" He turns again and calls up to the observation room. "You better get to your evac group Sam!"
"Right! I just have to reset the diagnostics and I'm out of here." A pounding noise comes over the closed door to his left. "Oh god, they're trying to get through the door! Security! Intruders in cryo 2! The door explodes open and an elite, a biped figure clad in blue armor, with 4 mandibles for a jaw and slightly hunched over, runs in and shoots sam in the chest. Sam falls to the ground and reaches for the picture of his wife, who he hadn't seen in 3 years due to the war. The Elite pins his arm to the ground and looks at the picture, tilting his head to the side wondering why it was so important to him. He raises his plasma rifle and shoots sam with a shot to the head, killing him.
"Sam! Sam! Come on, we've got to get the hell out of here!" The crewman says, a small amount of panic in his voice. The Spartans replace their helmets and run after the crewman, who opens one of the two doors out of the bay. "This way!" He runs down the hallway, and a door at the end begins to open, but an explosion in the room beyond it kills the tech, flinging his body a few feet down the hallway.
"Come on, we'll go this way." Max says, pointing out a pipe that was in between the cryobays hallways. They each jump over it and run down the hallway adjacent to the other cryobay, dodging explosions as they went. The room that they were originally going towards before the tech was killed had several wires swinging around, as well as a fire in it. They turn and crouch under a half sealed bulkhead, where a plasma charge kills a tech. The bulkhead on their left begins to close, sealing away several covenant borders.
They continue moving the other way, where three techs are running out of a different room past a bulkhead, pursued by covenant troops. One of the techs is hit in the back by a plasma bolt and killed, and another makes it through the bulkhead. The slower one behind him calls out "Wait for me!" Trying to make it before the bulkhead begins closing. A plasma charge goes off, killing him, and the bulkhead begins closing, sealing away more of the covenant. The group of Spartans continue on, moving through a narrow hallway where a door slides open, revealing a covenant elite. A hail of assault rifle fire barrages it, and it retreats behind another door which locks behind it. Two marines run past the Spartans, guarding the locked door. As they continue on, they come across another group of crewmen behind a makeshift barricade, firing at covenant behind yet another closing bulkhead. A single marine was firing his assault rifle at the same target, lending some much needed firepower to the crewman's efforts.
After the bulkhead seals the marine turns to the group of Spartans. "Captain wants you on the bridge ASAP, better follow me." With that, he turns and leads them through another room, full of wounded Marines, and past another fight, were a crewman is killed by a plasma charge and the bulkhead begins to seal. The Marine leads them to an area that leads into the bridge. "Captain Keyes is waiting for you."
The Spartans walk onto the bridge and approach the glass screen where captain Keyes is standing. The Captain turns to face them. "Good to see you all. Things aren't going well. Your AIs did their best, but we never really had a chance."
Shiro, the human AI, cuts in. "A dozen covenant superior battleships against a single Halcyon class cruiser. Given those odds I'm still content with three……make that four kills. So Roaven, sleep well?"
"No thanks to your driving, yes."
Shiro smirks. "So you did miss me." A loud explosion rocks the ship, making the captain and Spartans grip the wall to avoid falling over.
"Report!" Captain Keyes calls, climbing to his feet again.
Shiro puts his hand against his forehead, thinking. "Must have been one of their boarding parties, I'd guess an Anti-matter charge."
One of the fire control officers turns to face the group. "Fire control for the main cannon is offline!"
Shiro grimaces. "Captain, that cannon was my last defensive option."
Keyes nods. "Alright then, I'm initiating Cole Protocol Article 2. We're abandoning the Autumn. That means all of you AI as well."
Takeshi, the wolf AI, cuts in. "While you do what, go down with the ship?"
"In a manner of speaking." The Captain muses, chewing on his pipe, due to the fact smoking on a bridge wasn't allowed. "That ring, I'm going to try to land the Autumn on it."
Dresden, the dragon AI, glares at the captain. "With all due respect, this war has enough dead heroes."
"I appreciate your concern, all of you, but it's not up to me. Protocol is clear. Destruction or capture of a shipboard AI is absolutely unacceptable, that's means you're all leaving the ship. Lock in a selection of emergency landing zones, upload them to my neural lace, and then sort yourself for a hard transfer."
All of the AI look at the captain, each other, then nod. "Yes Sir." Shiro says, and the others agree.
"Spartans, this is where you come in, get your AI off of this ship, Keep them safe from the enemy, if they get a hold of them, they could learn everything. Troop deployment, weapons research, earth."
Shiro looks up, having finished his task. "The Autumn will continue evasive maneuvers until you initiate a landing sequence. Not that you'll listen, but I'd suggest letting my subroutines handle the final approach."
"Nice work, Thank you. Are you all ready?" The Captain asks.
"Right, do it." Shiro says, and the Spartans each walk to a holotank, minus Kurioto, and take their AIs data chip. Roaven takes Shiro's, Ariel takes Dresden's, and Max Takes Takeshi's. They each insert the data chip into a slot in their helmet, allowing their AI to talk to them, from inside their head in a manner of speaking. The Captain hands them each a sidearm, and they load them, running out of the bridge and into the mess hall, where a small skirmish was taking place. Kurioto begins picking off the grunts, small cowardly figures only kept in line by the elites, that carried methane tanks on their back and communicated in grunts and barks.
The other Spartans concentrate fire on the Elites, quickly finishing the skirmish. After reloading, they gather weaponry, Ariel and Roaven taking Assault rifles off of dead Marines, Kurioto staying with the scoped sidearm, the closest thing he had to a sniper rifle, and Max picks up a plasma rifle, testing it out against a wall to make sure it still worked. They Continue onward, clearing another group of covenant with concentrated fire and moving down an eerily quiet hallway. As they round a corner, they come upon a group of Marines fighting a single elite, who kept ducking in and out of an alcove.
Roaven creeps forward silently and smashes the butt of his assault rifle into the Elite's back, using his augmented strength. A sickening crack rings out, and the elite falls to the ground. One of the Marine spots the Spartans and gapes. "Wow, Mark Vs!" Another explosion rocks the ship, and one of the Marines looks around. "What the hell? Did something just hit us?"
Another marine nods. "Move in, Back to the Airlock!" The marines jog down a wide hallway to where two more Marines were standing guard beside an airlock. The Spartans follow, and a blue explosion rips open the door, killing the two marines standing beside it. Covenant troops poor out of the airlock, evidently using it to attach their boarding craft. Roaven drops down in a crouch and sprays bursts of fire at the advancing troops, while Max and Ariel fire over his head. Kurioto slides along beside them, firing nonstop. The marines lend their fire as well, and the attack is defeated.
The Group presses on through a narrow hallway, single file, where a group of plasma grenades detonate ahead, and the body of a tech is flung into the wall. Only a small contingent of covenant awaited them, and they defeat them with small bursts of fire. They see a group of marines ahead, and turn down a different hallway, flanking the group that the marines were suppressing. Max fires a full automatic barrage of plasma fire and yelps as two vents open up on the sides, as the rifle burns him, having overheated. He scoops it up again, now cooler, embarrassed.
They continue on, coming to the cryo observation room where Sam was killed. Roaven kneels down and places the picture of Sam's wife on Sam's chest, then looks down into the cryobay where several elites where. "Looks like the covenant wanted to catch you napping." Takeshi says over their coms, and they press on to a damaged section of the ship, where several explosions fill a hallway where an elite was waiting. Another group of explosions kill the rest of the covenant their, and they proceed cautiously through a group of maintenance access tunnels to where two techs were hiding. They quickly gun down the covenant, Max discarding his plasma rifle for a new one once it made a fizzling noise but no plasma bolts came out.
They move through another hallway to a group of stairs where a squad of marines is pinned by covenant on the landing above them. Kurioto and Roaven hang back, covering Max and Ariel as they advance and clear the upper floor. They advance with the Marines through another, wider hallway, with windows showing the space around them. They see three lifeboats launching, the third being destroyed by a covenant plasma beam. "They're destroying the lifeboats, they really don't want us on that ring." Shiro muses, and they continue on, killing a group of grunts with little difficulty.
The blast doors close behind them, separating them from the marines, so they cut through more maintenance access ways. Roaven rounds a corner and comes face to face with a grunt, firing full auto at point blank range. They step over the body and come across an opening, where a group of marines was combating more covenant. The door slides open and they attack the covenant from the side, pushing onward. They come across a pile of grenades, and prime and throw them into the only group of covenant separating them from the last lifeboat. The explosions rip apart the group of covenant, and they vault over the barrier, sprinting into the last lifeboat. They strap themselves into the rows of seats along the side, and Roaven sits in the pilots chair. Ariel hits the button in the back of the lifeboat, sealing the exit. "Punch it!" She calls, and Roaven begins tapping commands.
"Give me a minute to interface with the controls." Shiro says.
Roaven shakes his head. "No time, I'll take this thing down myself." The escape pod blasts out of the airlock, and flies away from the Pillar of Autumn. "Approaching minimum safe distance." The Lifeboat flies under the Autumn, as several plasma bolts begin to hit it."
Max looks down at the ring world as they fly towards it. "What is that thing?"
Roaven shakes his head. "Hell if I know. But we're landing on it."