In the inky, absolute black of space a light appeared. Only a pinprick in
the infinite darkness, gradually growing till, with a burst of charged
particles and electrical plasma, a rift over half a mile wide and mile high
ripped in to normal space.
Onboard the UNSC station 'Protector' orbiting Earth, red alert was sounded on all levels. Scanners and weapons were aligned on the rift (The problem with Sub-Space is that no scanner in existence can scan across the rift to Sub-Space, it works the other way too, if the Covenant were making a jump to Earth they would be blind in normal space until they arrived). All the crews tensed at their stations waiting.
Sitting at the comm. computer, Private Dyane Cole on his first real action, sat nervously, sweat on his forehead, hoping to receive a signal. The Covenant never tried to make contact. They are on what can only be called a religious crusade. From captured species (The Covenant is actually a group of many different species) we have acquired an understanding of the main language they use to communicate and learnt that there can be no compromise with out total conversion to their religion.
Mankind had no desire to go back to the so-called Holy Wars.
Religion is still present on Earth and the colonies but in a minority. It isn't punished or ridiculed, its just people have woke up to being in control of their own destiny. Everyone had learnt about the horrors in the 21st – 23rd century at school. Nazis, Genocide, suicide bombers and nuclear war because conflicting beliefs. They weren't ready for religion again.
Private Dyane Cole's headset crackled to life, nearly giving him a heart attack in his twitchy state.
# This is Cortana, A.I Construct from the Pillar of Autumn. Security Clearance Alpha 683 Omega, requesting docking co-ordinates#
Relief flooded through Dyane's veins, the Pillar of Autumn was a UNSC ship and the security clearance was nearly the highest possible, if it wasn't for the Captain and the Master Chief.
The relief was so great he almost slumped back into his chair in ecstasy, luckily the training took over and his hand slammed onto the Open Communication button.
# ALL LEVELS, TARGET IS FRIENDLY! , REPEAT TARGET IS FRIENDLY!!! , HOLD FIRE AND STAND DOWN!#
"Codes accepted and docking co-ordinates received" Cortana relayed to Master Chief.
Living inside his neural interface was beginning to grate. Here she was, used to living in the systems of an entire battleship and stuck inside a genetically grown, super soldiers' armour. Its not that the Master Chiefs' head was a bad place to be, he was a hero, saving the Galaxy, maybe the Universe, from the weapon of Halo.
It was the endless wait, Master Chief slept during Sub-Space, Cortana was awake the whole time thinking about the war with the Covenant. She was programmed with top-level military tactics and every simulation she had run, if the Covenant found Earth the war was over. The Covenant would win.
Chapter 2
The sleek, matt black craft emerged from the disturbance of the rift and set a course for the station.
Cortana woke the Master Chief from his sleep in the Cryo Chamber and both were surprised by the sensor readings. Earth has always been well defended, but most of the entire UNSC fleet was stationed in a light orbit around the blue, green rock.
"I don't like this, too many of our ships here. Something's wrong." said Cortana.
"I'll give you one guess at what it is." replied Master Chief.
Just then the Comm. Unit burst to life.
#This is the UNSC station 'Protector', the Covenant have discovered Earths' location. Dock with maximum haste and report to Admiral Stevenson#
#By the way good to see you#
"Good to see you too 'Protector'" Master Chief said with true feeling.
Though he was conceived in a test tube and born in a lab, he still had human emotions. The training taught him to suppress the feelings, but they showed through sometimes, usually at times of inaction, during battle he was a machine.
They were bred for combat and trained since birth, The Spartan Project was the military code name for his kind. Using genetic modification and the latest powered amour they were super soldiers. Able to take incredible damage and still function, they were mankind's best hope against the Covenant.
Knowing this, the Covenant launched an orbital raid on the Spartan training complex. Master Chief, aboard the Pillar of Autumn escaped the raid, as far as he knew he was the only remaining Spartan.
The docking went quickly and smoothly. The hanger crews, swarming towards the ship to get it refuelled and ready for action, stopped and stared in awe as Master Chief strolled down the entrance ramp. Everyone had heard about the Spartan massacre on Reach, and heard rumours of a surviving Spartan but none of them had seen one in the flesh.
"Good to have you with us Sir." Someone called out.
Master Chief acknowledged with a nod and headed straight for the bridge.
"Talkative fella ain't he?" said one of the hanger crew.
"Button it and get back to work marine, don't you know there's a war on!" bellowed the Sergeant in charge.
Chapter 3
Around the planet of Felour another fleet was amassing. Smoother and sleeker than the Human ships the Covenant's were also faster and better armed. Captain Jen'raik, over seven feet tall and adorned in gleaming gold armour, stood on the bridge of the Covenant flagship 'Devine Light' and studied the sensor readouts. All available ships had been converging on Felour for days now. The attack was almost ready.
In the end they acquired Earths' co-ordinates by sheer luck. The battle cruiser 'True Path' encountered a human scout ship by chance. Its was totally shut down, no power signals of any kind. The boarding action was quick and decisive with only a handful of humans taken prisoner.
It turned out that the ship was shut down to allow emergency repairs to the main Sub-Space generator. That didn't interest the Covenant. What did interest them was the fact that they had the ships' captain and the ships' A.I captured. The captain died under interrogation; first the prisoners were executed in front of him every time he refused to answer. The captain had been in command of the vessel for 4 years and he saw many of his friends and comrades murdered because of his refusal to comply, it was hard but compared to the lives that would be lost if they found Earth it was nothing.
That was when the physical torture began.
Amazing his captors, he withstood constant intense pain for two days before passing away without giving them anything, not even his name or rank.
That left the A.I which proved even more stubborn than the captain. They couldn't hurt it or bribe it, but they could hack it. It took two months of the best computer people the Covenant had to finally get what they wanted. Not only did they have to hack an incredibly complex system, they had to do it in a totally unknown programming language.
With Earth's co-ordinates the Covenant were confident of their final victory, but they didn't just want to defeat the humans, they wanted to break them. All the other species the Elites' had 'converted' to their religion had fell within two years of their discovery, but they had been fighting the humans for over twenty years now.
Recently some of the other races, especially the Grunts, had been less than happy to take orders from the Elites, and there had even been an attempted mutiny onboard the destroyer 'Heavenly Strike'. It was crushed easily and all the perpetrators were publicly executed, but it got the High Priests worried. They needed an outstanding victory to show their strength and get the troops back in line.
Captain Jen'raik growled in happiness, the closest thing to a smile for an Elite, as the last of the ships dropped out off Sub-Space and moved into position.
Everything was ready.
Onboard the UNSC station 'Protector' orbiting Earth, red alert was sounded on all levels. Scanners and weapons were aligned on the rift (The problem with Sub-Space is that no scanner in existence can scan across the rift to Sub-Space, it works the other way too, if the Covenant were making a jump to Earth they would be blind in normal space until they arrived). All the crews tensed at their stations waiting.
Sitting at the comm. computer, Private Dyane Cole on his first real action, sat nervously, sweat on his forehead, hoping to receive a signal. The Covenant never tried to make contact. They are on what can only be called a religious crusade. From captured species (The Covenant is actually a group of many different species) we have acquired an understanding of the main language they use to communicate and learnt that there can be no compromise with out total conversion to their religion.
Mankind had no desire to go back to the so-called Holy Wars.
Religion is still present on Earth and the colonies but in a minority. It isn't punished or ridiculed, its just people have woke up to being in control of their own destiny. Everyone had learnt about the horrors in the 21st – 23rd century at school. Nazis, Genocide, suicide bombers and nuclear war because conflicting beliefs. They weren't ready for religion again.
Private Dyane Cole's headset crackled to life, nearly giving him a heart attack in his twitchy state.
# This is Cortana, A.I Construct from the Pillar of Autumn. Security Clearance Alpha 683 Omega, requesting docking co-ordinates#
Relief flooded through Dyane's veins, the Pillar of Autumn was a UNSC ship and the security clearance was nearly the highest possible, if it wasn't for the Captain and the Master Chief.
The relief was so great he almost slumped back into his chair in ecstasy, luckily the training took over and his hand slammed onto the Open Communication button.
# ALL LEVELS, TARGET IS FRIENDLY! , REPEAT TARGET IS FRIENDLY!!! , HOLD FIRE AND STAND DOWN!#
"Codes accepted and docking co-ordinates received" Cortana relayed to Master Chief.
Living inside his neural interface was beginning to grate. Here she was, used to living in the systems of an entire battleship and stuck inside a genetically grown, super soldiers' armour. Its not that the Master Chiefs' head was a bad place to be, he was a hero, saving the Galaxy, maybe the Universe, from the weapon of Halo.
It was the endless wait, Master Chief slept during Sub-Space, Cortana was awake the whole time thinking about the war with the Covenant. She was programmed with top-level military tactics and every simulation she had run, if the Covenant found Earth the war was over. The Covenant would win.
Chapter 2
The sleek, matt black craft emerged from the disturbance of the rift and set a course for the station.
Cortana woke the Master Chief from his sleep in the Cryo Chamber and both were surprised by the sensor readings. Earth has always been well defended, but most of the entire UNSC fleet was stationed in a light orbit around the blue, green rock.
"I don't like this, too many of our ships here. Something's wrong." said Cortana.
"I'll give you one guess at what it is." replied Master Chief.
Just then the Comm. Unit burst to life.
#This is the UNSC station 'Protector', the Covenant have discovered Earths' location. Dock with maximum haste and report to Admiral Stevenson#
#By the way good to see you#
"Good to see you too 'Protector'" Master Chief said with true feeling.
Though he was conceived in a test tube and born in a lab, he still had human emotions. The training taught him to suppress the feelings, but they showed through sometimes, usually at times of inaction, during battle he was a machine.
They were bred for combat and trained since birth, The Spartan Project was the military code name for his kind. Using genetic modification and the latest powered amour they were super soldiers. Able to take incredible damage and still function, they were mankind's best hope against the Covenant.
Knowing this, the Covenant launched an orbital raid on the Spartan training complex. Master Chief, aboard the Pillar of Autumn escaped the raid, as far as he knew he was the only remaining Spartan.
The docking went quickly and smoothly. The hanger crews, swarming towards the ship to get it refuelled and ready for action, stopped and stared in awe as Master Chief strolled down the entrance ramp. Everyone had heard about the Spartan massacre on Reach, and heard rumours of a surviving Spartan but none of them had seen one in the flesh.
"Good to have you with us Sir." Someone called out.
Master Chief acknowledged with a nod and headed straight for the bridge.
"Talkative fella ain't he?" said one of the hanger crew.
"Button it and get back to work marine, don't you know there's a war on!" bellowed the Sergeant in charge.
Chapter 3
Around the planet of Felour another fleet was amassing. Smoother and sleeker than the Human ships the Covenant's were also faster and better armed. Captain Jen'raik, over seven feet tall and adorned in gleaming gold armour, stood on the bridge of the Covenant flagship 'Devine Light' and studied the sensor readouts. All available ships had been converging on Felour for days now. The attack was almost ready.
In the end they acquired Earths' co-ordinates by sheer luck. The battle cruiser 'True Path' encountered a human scout ship by chance. Its was totally shut down, no power signals of any kind. The boarding action was quick and decisive with only a handful of humans taken prisoner.
It turned out that the ship was shut down to allow emergency repairs to the main Sub-Space generator. That didn't interest the Covenant. What did interest them was the fact that they had the ships' captain and the ships' A.I captured. The captain died under interrogation; first the prisoners were executed in front of him every time he refused to answer. The captain had been in command of the vessel for 4 years and he saw many of his friends and comrades murdered because of his refusal to comply, it was hard but compared to the lives that would be lost if they found Earth it was nothing.
That was when the physical torture began.
Amazing his captors, he withstood constant intense pain for two days before passing away without giving them anything, not even his name or rank.
That left the A.I which proved even more stubborn than the captain. They couldn't hurt it or bribe it, but they could hack it. It took two months of the best computer people the Covenant had to finally get what they wanted. Not only did they have to hack an incredibly complex system, they had to do it in a totally unknown programming language.
With Earth's co-ordinates the Covenant were confident of their final victory, but they didn't just want to defeat the humans, they wanted to break them. All the other species the Elites' had 'converted' to their religion had fell within two years of their discovery, but they had been fighting the humans for over twenty years now.
Recently some of the other races, especially the Grunts, had been less than happy to take orders from the Elites, and there had even been an attempted mutiny onboard the destroyer 'Heavenly Strike'. It was crushed easily and all the perpetrators were publicly executed, but it got the High Priests worried. They needed an outstanding victory to show their strength and get the troops back in line.
Captain Jen'raik growled in happiness, the closest thing to a smile for an Elite, as the last of the ships dropped out off Sub-Space and moved into position.
Everything was ready.