I hope you like this story about the Chief and the Reds and Blues. It's not finished yet, but I think there will be about 4 chapters by the end. I chose to write this from Grif's perspective because he is the character I identify with the most out of all those in Halo and RvB. Please enjoy this story, and thanks for reading!
Chapter 1
"Grif! What in Sam Hill are you doing!?" Sarge's grating voice jolted Grif from his dream about donuts. Donuts that were most definitely not pink... or glazed. "I told you to help secure alien technology!"
"Sarge, I've secured alien technology," Grif began, stretching his tired, flabby limbs. "I secured a computer, three laser guns, and a cool shield! All of this while doing as little actual work as possible, I might add. I think I've secured enough, so it's time I secured myself a well-deserved nap!"
"Can it, dirtbag!" Sarge snapped. "You could secure yourself a hammock and a vacation to Bermuda for all I care, if you did even half the work as Simmons!"
"Thank you, Sir!" Grif heard Simmon's annoying voice echo from somewhere in the vast chambers of one of Chorus' many alien temples. How he heard Sarge was a mystery.
"Simmons?" Grif questioned, "But all he found was a hand dryer!"
"And that hand dryer will prove vital to the development of Chorus' culture! It was one of those fancy automatic hand dryers that you just stick your hands into without touching anything. Besides, paper towels are just so darn expensive!"
Grif sighed exasperatedly. He hated hand dryers. That is why he normally never washed his hands. He appealed to Colonel Sarge one last time, "So, I'm never going to actually do half the work as Simmons, huh?"
Sarge gave an evil and yet gleeful little chuckle and replied, "If I didn't know you better, I'd say you were getting smarter." The bright red armor-clad Colonel had been lecturing Grif with his shotgun clutched tightly in his hands the whole time. The old fool never let go of the thing. The always-present firearm did not even make Grif nervous anymore. It had been so many years.
"Fine, I'll get back to work, crazy old man." Grif rolled his eyes beneath his orange helmet and started to walk away.
"Excuse me?" Sarge yelled after him.
"I'll get back to work, crazy old man, Sir!" Grif repeated back over his shoulder.
"That's better!"
Grif plodded through the winding, creepy hallways looking around for anything valuable. He began to wonder where Matthews was. He could just get that kid to do all of the work for him. On second thought, Matthews would just find a way to mess everything up while simultaneously being extremely annoying. Grif really missed the days when Donut was the biggest idiot he had to deal with. After about ten minutes of exploring rooms, Grif was out of breath. He sat down for a minute behind a pillar in a giant atrium. Grif looked around to see if Sarge was watching. He was not paranoid, he just had been on the red team for a very, very long time and knew to never underestimate Sarge's ability to ruin breaks.
After about fifteen minutes, Grif heard a yell. He jumped to his feet, spewing apologies to Sarge. He soon realized that there was more than just one voice making noise; there were other voices, as well as gun shots. So, good, no Sarge. Grif thought to himself how there once was a time when he would not have cared about getting caught napping. He was not sure if he liked the new version of himself that actually sometimes cared about following orders.
Grif wished whoever was fighting would keep it down so that he could get some rest. Deciding that he might as well see what was going on, Grif turned and looked around the pillar to see two of his friends (well more like acquaintances) fighting with a strange, green-armored foe. Washington and Carolina did not look to be holding back on the stranger, and despite their incredible combat abilities, the newcomer seemed to have the upper-hand. With incredible speed, Carolina rushed the green foe, knocking the assault rifle from his grasp, she dodged expertly around his blows, landing hit after hit. None of her punches or kicks seemed to phase the green enemy, though. Carolina could not dodge forever, and when her combatant connected with her chest-plate, the force sent her flying backwards across the massive room. Washington ducked as Carolina flew overhead, firing steadily at the green stranger with his battle rifle. A flash of yellow energy appeared to block each bullet, proving the former Freelancer's efforts to be useless.
Grif wondered who the stranger could be. It looked like he was wearing the same Freelancer armor that Wash, Carolina, and the Reds and Blues had, but it seemed different somehow. The mysterious warrior looked to be as strong as, if not stronger than, the Meta, and whatever shield he was using seemed to be much more advanced the the bubble shields that Grif had seen freelancers use. Could this be another Freelancer or, maybe, another mercenary? Grif was almost starting to care a little bit.
With a leap, the green stranger closed the distance between himself and Wash, ripping the Battle Rifle from Washington's hands and breaking it over his knee. Wash quickly dodged backwards, out of range of his enemy's long, powerful arms. The black and yellow warrior then pulled a combat knife from a sheath on his leg and readied himself for attack.
"So, are we going to attack him together this time, or…" Washington started to ask. Before he could finish his sentence, Carolina charged past him to engage their enemy. "...Just rush in blindly one at a time to get pummeled," Wash finished his sentence with a sigh. Grif could see a faint blue light appear over her shoulder and a voice call out a reply to Washington.
"Sorry, buddy," Church's voice apologized, "She's in one of her competitive moods, right now. It's kind of terrifying!" Grif had forgotten that the annoying, mean blue guy was with the freelancer chick. Was he still calling himself a ghost, or is he an AI now? Grif did not really care.
"Well heaven help us, then, but we really need to coordinate to eliminate this target," Wash called back to Church, frustratedly.
"Dude, you wanna tell her that? 'Cause I'm not going to try to convince her."
Washington slashed at the green foe with his knife, who blocked the attack with an armored forearm. Washington retreated backwards before his enemy could retaliate, replying, "Come on, Epsilon! What are you afraid of? She can't exactly punch an AI!" Carolina ran and flipped over her combatant to kick him in the back to knock him off balance.
Church answered, "Let's just say that I don't want to end up in her desktop's recycle bin, okay?" Washington tried to take down his off balance enemy, bringing his knife down to stab the stranger in the back, but the green combatant extended his arm and thrust Wash out of the way like the former Freelancer was made of straw. The stranger regained his balance, and kicked his foot out to send Carolina tumbling as well. Both Wash and Carolina kept their distance from their foe for a minute, catching their breath. Grif wondered how somebody could possibly beat a guy that strong. He was just glad that it was not his problem.
"You wanna maybe come up with a plan now?" Wash called out to Carolina.
"Fine, Wash!" Carolina agreed begrudgingly. "Epsilon, what have you got for me?"
"Well, I don't know what to tell you," Church began. "This jerk's armor is a fortress, and there's no way to even think about damaging it until we break through his shields."
"So you don't have a plan?"
"Of course I have a plan! I'm Church! I'm too awesome to not have a plan! If we keep hitting him, his shield should break. My expert analysis shows that, for whatever reason, his shields have a weak point at the head area. Keep hitting him there, and the shield will break all over his body."
"Great! Get ready to put all your attention into my speed boost, Epsilon!"
Washington called out, "Hey! If you're just going to punch the guy, could you throw me your pistol? I'm a better shot than you anyways!"
"That's debatable!" Carolina objected, throwing the magnum to him anyway. She used her speed boost to charge the stranger at full speed.
"Oh, come on! Give me that at least!" Wash yelled, aiming the pistol at the stranger's head. Carolina used her momentum to slide swiftly between the stranger's legs, grabbing his knee as she passed and flipping onto his back. She began to punch the top of the stranger's head, each strike met with a yellow flash from the shield. Washington was having trouble getting a clear shot at the stranger with Carolina on his shoulders, but he did manage to fire a couple of rounds into the green warrior's visor area.
The stranger was able to get a hold of Carolina. Holding her by an arm and a leg, he lifted her off of his shoulders and slammed her body into the ground. Before the giant man could finish her off with a lethal punch, Washington fired three rounds into his shield, emptying the clip and knocking the stranger a step backwards.
"Here, catch!" Washington called out, throwing his empty magnum at the stranger. The adversary obeyed, catching the pistol by the grip with ease. The green warrior did not, however, see the knife that was thrown expertly right behind the pistol. Before the stranger could react, the blade had struck him right in the visor.
The energy shield caused Washington's knife to bounce off, but the green armor flashed yellow brightly for a moment, then sparkled and flashed with a hundred little yellow lights like frayed ends of string. It seemed as though the shield had broken.
"Shield's down!" Church yelled. "Assault rifle, there!" The AI fragment must have put a waypoint on the stranger's rifle which still lay on the ground where it had fallen, for Carolina rushed straight towards it with her super speed. The aqua-colored freelancer retrieved the assault rifle, and then began spraying bullets at her adversary. The green warrior leaped up into the air at an unbelievable height, dodging Carolina's bullets. He hit the ground hard, cracking the floor and sending both Carolina and Washington sliding backwards. The powerful combatant then rolled quickly behind a pillar for cover.
Carolina was about to rush him when Washington grabbed her arm, saying "Wait! We can't keep rushing in like this! This guy is too good!"
"I can beat him, Wash!" Carolina objected.
"Yes you can, with a plan," Wash persisted. "We've taken care of his shields, we just need to be careful if we want to finish him off." At that moment, the stranger stepped out from behind his pillar casually. A yellow wave washed over his armor.
"Yea, his shields are back up," Church declared.
"Great plan, Wash!" Carolina said sarcastically.
"His shield recharges!?" Washington exclaimed in disbelief. "How can it recharge? That is the most unfair shield ever! Of all time!"
That was when Grif heard the stranger speak for the first time. "Stand down, soldiers." The green man ordered with a deep, gravely voice that sounded more intimidating than his seven foot figure looked. "I'm here for Forerunner technology, and I will have it."
Church replied, "If 'Forerunner' means 'alien' then sorry, buddy, you can't have it. This is our stuff!"
"Chorus is a UNSC colony, and, as a representative of the UNSC I plan on searching these ruins whether you like it or not."
"You are from the UNSC?" Wash asked.
Carolina butted in, "The UNSC have abandoned this planet and left it to almost destroy itself in civil war, so screw you! Now, a couple of mercenaries are building an army of space pirates to come here and kill everyone, so, unless you're going to help with that, get off our planet and let us find the technology necessary for us to defend ourselves!"
"I am not here for your war," the stranger replied, "and I'm not here because the UNSC ordered me to be here. I'm here to find Cortana, and if you aren't happy with that then, fine, I can live with having to fight you." The stranger put his fists up, ready for a fight, and Carolina raised her assault rifle in readiness as well.
"Wait!" Washington yelled. "Did you say 'Cortana'?" There was no response from the stranger, but he had turned his helmet towards Wash and seemed to have his attention on him now. "Are… are you…" Washington began, unsure of himself. "Could you really be the Master Chief?"
"I am Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan 117, yes," the stranger responded simply.
"Carolina," Washington said to his companion excitedly. "This guy is a hero! He's the one who ended the Great War!"
"The one with the aliens?" Church asked.
"Yea!" Washington nodded, "I heard about him when I worked for the UNSC to track down you, Epsilon. He's a Spartan. The SPARTAN Program was a super soldier program that Project Freelancer was based on. That's why our armor looks like his."
"Yea, thanks for the history lesson, Wash, but, seriously, why does that matter?" Church asked.
"Because he's a hero, and we should help him!"
"He's trying to take Chorus' alien technology, Wash," Carolina objected.
"Well, I at least would like to know what exactly he wants. Maybe he can help us learn about this alien technology."
"I've got to admit it," Church declared, "Wash is right. Delta seems extremely interested in the fact that he called these aliens 'Forerunners.' This guy could teach us a few things."
Carolina sighed, "Fine."
"So how about it, Master Chief?" Washington asked. "Are you willing to at least meet with us and our other friends here and explain to us what you are after?"
Grif peered intently from his hiding place. He had to admit, he did care a little bit about what was going on now. He had not heard about Master Chief since back when he had heard something about Master Chief blowing up the whole Covenant armada. Was the Covenant the aliens? Ugh, he had completely forgotten about the whole thing, and it was too much work trying to remember.
The Chief had not answered Wash's question yet. Grif wondered what the intimidating soldier was thinking about. The Red Team member could not exactly see what the Chief was looking at because of his green helmet, but it seemed like the super soldier was staring at Church. Maybe Grif was just going crazy. Finally, Master Chief gave an answer.
"Fine, I will talk to you and your friends," the Chief declared. Suddenly, he was looking in Grif's direction. Spartan 117 grabbed the gun from Carolina's hands and fired a round at Grif.
"Oh shoot!" Grif exclaimed, ducking behind the pillar and covering his head with his hands.
"Contact!" Chief explained to the two former Freelancers. "Possibly hostile! Yellow armored soldier, listening to our conversation, positioned behind pillar at ten o'clock!"
"It's orange!"
I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this little story. Who do you think would win in a fight between Master Chief and Carolina and Wash? Chief has all of his enhancements and his incredible Mjolnir armor. Plus he has a recharging shield that the Freelancers are never shown to have. On the other hand, Wash and Carolina are experts at stealth, tactics, and hand-to-hand combat. Plus, Carolina has her speed boost and the Epsilon AI. Enjoy the next chapter and be ready for, without any spoilers, an enemy to be introduced!