Disclaimer: I do not have intelectual property of the Halo franchise. Some of the names and locations have been taken from the works of Eric Nylund, author of three out of the four official Halo novels. These are used without permission, and are not intended for monetary gain. Halo is a trademark of the Microsoft Corporation and Bungie.
The Secret of Cluster
Chapter 1
1157 hours, April 14, 2547 (Military Calendar)/
Camp Refuge, UNSC Outer Colony, Planet Cluster
The bunker was shaken violently from yet another mortar round. Within, amidst the cracked concrete and spent shell casings, stood three of the UNSC's finest soldiers. Sergeant Major Christopher Jennings, his bald head glistening with sweat, supported himself on one of two Titanium-A slabs that had been used as both a shield and a plug for a massive hole in the side of the bunker. Corporal James Waters nursed a sizeable gash on his shin with shaking hands, entering the first stages of shock. But the other, who towered over the two by a head-and-a-half was Adam-102, one of the legendary SPARTAN-II super-soldiers. He stood, unfazed by the surrounding explosions, assessing the situation. Nearly half a ton in his well-worn MJOLNIR armor, he was a reassuring pillar of support for the other two.
"Ammo count?" the Spartan turned to the Sergeant.
"Not much," the Sergeant rubbed his neck nervously. "About two clips of Armor Piercing rounds for the Assault Rifles. Half a clip of pistol ammo. Fourteen eight gauge magnum slugs, not that they'll do us much good at this range. And three SPNKr missles."
"What about those LOTUS mines?" Waters said, rolling his pants back over his leg. Waters, even in his current state of shock, was calm. The shaking hands weren't nerves. He was one of the Elite Orbital Drop Shock Troopers (ODST), steeled against the hopeless odds they were now facing. Something as simple as shock couldn't affect him. Rather, his hands were shaking in anticipation. Being that he was trained for action, patience was never his forte. He wanted to bring the fight to the enemy, an admirable quality, but a dangerous one.
"Those will only kill so many," Adam replied. "Besides, they have to be in range, and it appears they are intent on keeping their distance from us."
"I guess," Waters laughed, "they finally learned to never fuck with a pissed off Spartan, huh?"
Though Adam was never keen on the kind of language used by the ODSTs, he couldn't help but share his sentiments. The Covenant had definitely learned to never get into close combat when Spartans were involved.
Another mortar round impacted, and melted a gaping two meter wide hole in the bunker's hardened steel dome. Droplets of rapidly cooling steel pinged off of metal and concrete surfaces, and the overpressure of the impact knocked Jennings and Waters flat. Adam stumbled, but crouched to retain his footing. The Covenant's aim was definitely improving, and the next shot would likely enter through the fresh hole, and detonate inside the bunker. Even a Spartan could not survive such a direct attack.
"Are you two okay?" Adam asked.
The Sergeant stood, a slight trickle of blood oozing from his ear, and patted Waters on the shoulder. "We're both fine," he said, "So what's the plan?"
Adam walked over to the empty shotgun on the ground, and recovered a handful of shells. He slid one into the shotgun's receiver, and cocking it, said, "We're taking the fight to them."
Two motionless figures crouched in thick jungle foliage. Beyond them lay a passage through a shallow crevice, so several fully armored soldiers could stand abreast. Up ahead, a third figure moved silently through the brush, stopped, and made several hand gestures, telling the other two to wait for the signal. The signal, of course, was the triplet explosions of three LOTUS anti-Tank mines. The trap was set, and the kill zone was prepared.
Adam emerged onto the path, brandishing a Covenant Plasma Rifle in one hand, and a Plasma Pistol in the other. Weapons pilfered off the bodies of a Covenant Grunt patrol unlucky enough to get in Adam's way. He paused momentarily to consider the weapons he held. They seemed strange, not just because of the shape and ammunition. The UNSC's weapons were easy to understand. Simple mechanics in a compact package, designed to throw as much hot metal and fire in the direction of the enemy as physically possible. The Covenant weapons were, to a certain extent, disposable. Once the power core was depleted, the weapon was often simply abandoned and never recovered. It seemed a waste of room and a waste of resources for a species that was so methodical.
Adam cleared his mind of his thoughts and focused on the upcoming attack. The goal: decimate the Elite presence on the ground, causing the other species to panic and, hopefully, leave them alone long enough to escape. It wouldn't be long until the Covenant found what they were looking for and glassed the planet from orbit.
The sharp staccato fire of an Assault Rifle echoed through the crevice, and Adam retreated back into the tree line. A patrol had tripped a line that was rigged to fire two Assault Rifles until they were empty. They weren't meant to do damage, as much as they were meant to get the attention of the Elite's rear guard. When they walked into the crevice, they would get a nasty surprise.
A group of two red Elite Majors and three blue Elite Privates rounded a bend in the crevice… and walked right into the second trap. The forward Elite tripped on the wire, and set off half a dozen primed grenades. The concussive force and flying shrapnel overloaded four of the Elite's personal energy shields and tore the aliens to ribbons. They all collapsed, but one Elite, missing skin and armor on one half of his body, staggered to his feet and searched franticly for an enemy to return fire to. From the tree line, and fist-sized rock hurled toward the Elite, and crushed his skull.
That should get their attention, Adam thought to himself. He waited patiently, crouched in the bush, invisible to the untrained eye. He checked the power left in his two weapons. The Plasma Pistol had enough energy for a single charged shot, and the Plasma Rifle was down to 10 per cent. Adam also felt around his belt for the two plasma grenades he had taken. He wished he could risk exposure to police the weapons from the fallen Elites. In all likelihood, the ones they carried had never been fired, and so would have a full charge. But Adam could already hear the stampeding footsteps along the trail, and knew better than to let his guard down. Besides, if everything went according to plan, he wouldn't even need to fire a single shot.
A single black-clad Special Forces Elite rounded the corner, brandishing a glowing energy sword and shouting a war cry. He was followed by a dozen more, then twenty, and when Adam counted thirty, he tapped the detonator on his gauntlet. The first of the LOTUS mines exploded down the trail in a hell storm of molten metal and fire. All thirty Elites stopped in their tracks and turned toward the source of the explosion. They started back the way they came, and Adam hit another detonator. The second LOTUS mine went off, tearing two dozen of the Elites to pieces. The overpressure caused by the mines also triggered the fuses on several of the Elite's plasma grenades, creating even more havoc with secondary explosions.
Adam waited to detonate the third mine. He could faintly hear voices and scattered plasma fire coming from down the trail. Slowly, the stampeding footsteps approached, becoming near-deafening as they grew closer. But as five dozen elites rounded the corner into Adam's field of vision, they stopped, and winced in horror. Thirty Elites lay before them, or rather, what would constitute thirty Elites. A huge swath of the path had been charred, and small pools of solidified glass lay where the plasma grenades had detonated. The leader of the group, and Elite in the gold armor of a Ship Master, dropped his plasma rifle, and drew two Plasma Swords. His jaw mandibles spread wide, and he shouted a cry for vengeance and blood. The rest of the Elites followed suit, and followed their commander right into the path of the final LOTUS mine. It detonated, and half the Elites were immediately cut down, including the Ship Master. But the remaining Elites continued, unfazed, down the path, thirsty for blood.
When the last Elite had disappeared into the distance, Adam counted to sixty, and motioned for the others to form up. Silently, Jennings and Waters moved forward. They fell in behind the nearly invisible Spartan. Jennings let out a low whistle, alerting Adam to their presence. Adam, with a series of quick hand signals, ordered them to stay in the dark, and follow fifteen meters behind him. He gave the "go" signal, and they moved.
After picking up two fresh weapons, including one of the senior Elite's energy blades, Adam made his approach to the Elite encampment, being careful to always note the positions of the two noncoms. If they got into an unexpected firefight, he wanted to be sure that the two soldiers would be able to escape, and hopefully get the word out to the inward colonies, warning them of the Covenant's rapid approach. Ever since Adam had been assigned to remain on station at Camp Refuge five years before, he had been kept out of action. It seemed strange to just keep a Spartan around for the hell of it, so he doubled up his training, not just staying alert and fit, but actually improving his already impressive abilities. He had increased his speed, thinking he would even be a match for the lightning fast Kelly, and although it was nearly unnoticeable when in his MJOLNIR armor, Adam also increased his strength. He had trained himself extensively on every weapon available, and even on some nearly-depleted samples of Covenant weaponry. And so, while some other soldiers had grown soft, Adam was prepared when the Covenant finally arrived.
Adam stopped at the opening to a massive clearing, and nearly stumbled at the sight of thousands of Covenant warriors occupying the space that had been recently evacuated by the Elites. Diminutive Grunts, Vulture-like Jackals, and the bipedal behemoth Hunters squatted in trenches, talking amongst themselves, enjoying the brief reprieve from the harsh orders of their commanders. A group of Grunts were busy wrestling with a rival group of Jackals, barking and squawking in indecipherable tongues. A minor distraction that Adam hoped to take advantage of.
The Spartan retreated back to the other two soldiers, and gave them another series of sharp, concise hand gestures, ordering them to stay close, stay low, and stay quiet. Adam figured that they would have only a few rough patches of cover between them and a squadron of parked Phantom drop ships. IF they could reach one and manage to disable the pilot without a lot of noise, they could slip away unnoticed long enough to link up with a UNSC ship. There were far too many variables for Adam's liking, but there was little time remaining. Since they had left the bunker, the energy mortars had stopped firing. Something about that didn't sit right with him, but he didn't have the luxury of waiting to see how things panned out. A few more hours, and the entire planet could be glassed.
The three soldiers approached the tree line of the clearing. Adam stepped up the magnification on his MJOLNIR suit's visor, and saw half a dozen sniper towers, each with two Jackals looking in different directions, collectively giving them a 360 degree field of vision. Too long out of cover, and the Jackal's would spot them, and their stealth would be ruined. Worse yet, those Jackals were notoriously good snipers, so Adam may well never know if he had been spotted or not before he died.
Another problem came from the two wounded soldiers in toe. Water's had received a large wound on his leg, giving him a slight limp that would be more noticeable when they started to move. While Jennings only had superficial wounds, he was an older man, not necessarily capable of the speed required for the upcoming operation. Although they were fine soldiers in their own right, they were no Spartans. Adam hadn't had the time to get acquainted with the abilities of those now under his command, and had no idea what they could and couldn't do. When Adam was still a member of Green Team, he was part of a flawless, cohesive unit, able to inflict maximum damage while taking on few - if any - casualties. Every Spartan more or less fended for themselves, no necessarily needing anyone to watch their back. But with ordinary humans, they had to be protected.
Adam shook his head clear, and moved along the tree line in a crouch. He watched as the Covenant unloaded large blue-purple crates from drop ships, and transport them to the center of the encampment. One of the feuding Jackals accidentally bumped into a Hunter, and was a moment later crushed under a massive boot. The Hunter uttered a subsonic growl at the warring groups, who quickly scattered and returned to their duties.
The Covenant seemed to fall into somewhat disorderly activity when the Elite's weren't around to give orders. Those who already had assignments seemed to continue without letup, while those who didn't were content to lounge around or squabble with the other species, lowering their state of alertness to nearly nonexistent. It seemed the only ones with any vigilance were the Jackal snipers in the towers. They peered into the distance, their amazingly good eyesight magnified from the scopes on their rifles. The more they moved, the more Adam felt their piercing gaze pass him by only a few centimeters. It took all his strength to not fire the first shot and take the snipers down.
After only a few minutes of slow, deliberate advancement, Adam and the two soldiers stopped behind an outcropping of boulders to rest. Waters needed to replace the blood-soaked gauze covering his wound. They were thankfully down-wind of all the Jackals, who also had excellent sense of smell. There was no doubt in any of their minds that they could be smelt just as easily as they could be seen. When the gauze had been replaced, they double-checked their ammunition. Adam relieved Jennings of his SPNKr rocket launcher and three rockets, giving him a plasma pistol and a Magnum instead. The man was becoming exhausted, and therefore less stealthy as they trekked onward. Less weight to burden him would, in turn, make him quieter.
When everything checked out okay, they continued on. After another few minutes of crouch-walking, they came upon open ground, about fifty meters of cleared vegetation. This was a big problem. Their luck was slowly running out, and an unsheltered sprint across open ground? The idea of a sniper alley came to mind. Adam had to make a distraction, bring the Covenant's attention toward some space within the camp.
Adam thought for a second, and then came up with a foolish plan. But at the moment, there was simply no other way. He removed two fragmentation grenades, and strapped them together with surgical tape from the med kit. He pulled the pins, and hefted the twin explosives as far into the camp as he could. They had a five second fuse, so Adam counted to three, and blindly ran for the opposite tree line. He was half-way across the clearing when the grenades detonated. The entire camp erupted into mass confusion. Superheated Plasma and purple Needles fired in the direction of the explosion, killing a few of the unfortunate Covenant soldiers in the way. The subsonic rumbling indicative of a few dozen pissed off Hunters rattled Adam's bones, and with that, the fire ceased. Adam had made it to the other side without being spotted, and turned to check on the other two. He cursed under his breath
Waters and Jennings still crouched at the opposite end of the clearing. He hadn't thought of the fact that humans couldn't sprint anywhere near as fast as Spartans. There was no way they could make it across the clearing in time. And now another problem was upon them. That last maneuver alerted the Covenant to their presence. Sweep teams were quickly organized, and they began fanning out in search of their assailants. Adam could see the two making hand gestures to each other, and then saw a "go" signal. He braced for another quick sprint. He eyed the nearest patrol, and when they weren't looking, he burst from his hiding place, running at full speed to the opposite side.
Halfway across the clearing, Adam could clearly see Waters pull the pins off two grenades, and lob them into the camp. When Adam did it, it was simply foolish. THIS was suicide. The Covenant were now on alert, and would no doubt notice the trajectory of the grenades. There would be no way to survive the ensuing onslaught of plasma bolts and needle shards.
The grenades detonated, this time much closer to the tree line. A group of Jackals were torn to shreds by the shrapnel, and they collapsed into puddles of their own blood. Adam's assumption was right. The Covenant most certainly noticed the attack. All Adam saw was a slight movement in the bush, and a blistering rush of projectiles burning the trees and dry grass to cinders. He stopped suddenly, and dropped to his stomach, making as small a target as possible. The motion was more training than anything else. Not only were the Covenant LOOKING for him, but with the SPNKr launcher strapped to his back, he was very noticeable. He slowly rotated, and when he faced the direction he had just come from, he bolted again.
Adam made it to the tree line, and, strangely, no shots were fired in his direction. Not a single one. He increased his visor's magnification, and scanned the encampment. It seemed all the Covenant were moving out, heading toward a site where they had begun an excavation project as soon as they arrived. Adam increased the range on his radar to encompass the entire camp, and got no reading. The Covenant had completely abandoned the site, leaving weapons, crates, methane tanks for the Grunt's environmental suits, and any vehicle slower than a Ghost behind. They just up and left.
Three clicks on his radio, and Adam received the "form up" signal from someone on the far side of the camp. Not foolish enough to cross enemy territory, he carefully made his way around the camp in the cover of the bush. When he arrived at the source of the signal, he was shocked at the sight of Waters and Jennings resting against the trees. They looked at him, and they all shared a light chuckle.
"Well I'll be damned," Jennings said. "We thought you'd be toasted by those Covie bastards for sure."
"Like I said before," Waters added, "they know not to get into ground engagements against Spartans. I mean, they're dumb, not suicidal."
"Speaking of suicidal," Adam cut in, "what the hell were you two thinking with that grenade trick? You could have been vaporized."
Jennings stood, and hefted a confiscated Fuel Rod Cannon, the Covenant equivalent of a Rocket Launcher. "The way I see it," he said, "we could have either sat there and waited for death to come for us, or we could do something about our situation. Ten more seconds, and those Jackal's would have been all over us. We at least had a shot at dodging from long range. We would have been smoked at point blank."
Adam shrugged, a difficult maneuver in his movement-exaggerating armor. He couldn't argue with them. In retrospect, they made all the right moves, given the situation. It didn't matter that their actions would have been futile, what mattered is that they were still trying to survive, despite impossible odds. Adam was beginning to think that these men might not be all that different from him and his Spartan brothers.
"Okay, so what's the situation?" Adam asked.
"Well," Jennings said, patting the Fuel Rod Cannon, "we have three of these little beauties. We have two dozen plasma grenades, and we also pilfered three captured Assault Rifles with twelve clips for each."
"That, and I finally found some biofoam for my leg," Waters added. "I'll be able to walk just fine."
Adam smiled to himself. Where hopelessness had once resided, he now felt a rush of confidence. Though it would be difficult, there was the very real possibility that they may all survive the Covenant invasion on Cluster. It may be a long shot, but with Spartans and a few motivated Marines, anything was possible.
"So, what's the plan then?" Water's piped up.
Adam walked over to one of the Fuel Rod Cannons, and replaced the Rocket Launcher on his back with it. He also picked up an Assault Rifle, a dozen clips, and loaded the weapon. He cycled the action, and turned, saying, "The plan hasn't changed. We're going to go to that excavation site, and find out what they were looking for. After that, we're going to kick as much Covenant ass as possible."