Chapter 1
The cover of the Cryo Tube hissed open and a wave of fog rolled out from the cracks. The lid reached its up most position and locked into place. An armoured hand reached out and gripped the side of the container. It flexed, as an arm, then a torso, followed it. The armoured body stepped over and out of the cylinder. He glanced around the room; it was full of other pods, all empty now. I must be in the Cryo station of the ship, thought the armoured man. His armour was a metallic black, with pieces of silver, and covered him from head to toe, with a golden visor that shielded his face.
He stretched as the disembodied voice of a girl spoke to him through the speakers in the room, "Good Morning, Spartan-472. Did you sleep well?"
The Man nodded, "Yes, Thank you Navi. And call me Prowler."
"Yes, of course. How could I have forgotten?" Navi replied.
"Where are we?" Prowler asked as he did a few stretches.
For a few seconds, there was no reply. Then there was a thunderous crash that shook the ship. Prowler was tossed to one side, but was quickly back on his feet.
An image appeared and flicked above a podium on the far side of the room. Prowler walked to it and saw the form of a small blue girl with wings, resembling a character from a 20th century video game. She had chosen that form based on her name and her odd sense of humour. She sat cross-legged, floating a few inches off the top of the podium.
"Sorry about that," said Navi, once the shaking stopped and her image cleared and focused, "We exited Slip Space a few hours ago and are currently holding position over an odd object. My sources confirm it to be one of the ring worlds, Halo."
Prowler took a moment as the information sunk in. Halo. He had heard of this before. He remembered reading the reports. To his understanding, Halo was a super weapon and, when activated, it would destroy all sentient life in this part of the galaxy.
"And that crash?"
"Enemy boarding parties. Mostly Brutes and Jackals, since the Covenant have spilt."
Prowler groaned lightly from within his helmet. "Where are the others?"
"Already on the Ring. The Covenant must have been waiting for them to leave before attacking." A door to the right of Navi opened, "Follow that hall and get yourself some weapons."
Prowler nodded and left for the door. Behind him, Navi's form flickered and disappeared from above the podium. Prowler followed the hall, without interference to the armoury, where he took a BR55 Rifle, AKA the Battle Rifle, and a hand full of ammunition clips, which he stuck into the pockets around his waist. He grabbed a few fragmentation grenades, which he hooked onto his waist as well.
Now, well equipped, he ventured into the hall and was greeted by another enormous crash and an explosion. An alarm sounded as Prowler staggered back to his feet and, simultaneously, he switched his visor to infer-red, to see through the smoke. He quickly ducked back into the doorway, for what he saw was a hoard of Brutes, an Ape like alien with unbelievable strength and endurance. They stood at about 8 1/2 feet tall. And Jackals, a vulture like alien with energy shield like dome attached to a device on their wrists. They stood at about 4 feet tall. Prowler himself stood at about 7 feet.
The dust had cleared and the Jackals had started to scout ahead of the Brutes. Prowler kneeled and hoisted up his rifle to firing position and loosely held a frag grenade in his hand. The Jackals wandered in front of the doorway. The closest Jackal was down instantly from a shot to the head. The others turned to see a small brown ball bounced towards them. They stared at it, realizing that it was too late, as it exploded as they turned to flee. Prowler smirked from his hiding spot behind the door. He heard the Brutes let out a cursing growl. They ran to the fallen Jackals and were met by another small ball, which exploded just as they got near. Before the dust had time to clear and the Brute time to react, Prowler was on them. After a few seconds Prowler stood triumphantly over the fallen bodies of the enemy boarding party. He wasted no time; he slapped a full magazine into his rifle and continued down the hall.
He made his way to the Bridge, meeting minimal interference. There were only a few enemy squads on the path he chose, but he made short work of them all.
At the Bridge, he found another group of Brutes and Jackals. This group was armed better then the others. The Brutes had their Brute Shots, which was a type of grenade launcher. The Jackals had their shields and Needlers, these fired thin long purple needle like projectiles in quick secession. The needles would dig themselves into the skin of their Victim and then they would explode causing extreme damage. While other Jackals had no shields, but wielded a Particle Beam Rifle, a powerful alien version of the sniper rifle.
Prowler peeked around the corner to check on the crew's condition. A few of the lesser crewmen lay dead on the floor, while the Captain and a few staff sat at the back wall, alive. Two Jackals were guarding him, one with a Needler and the other with a Particle Beam Rifle. There was a Brute at the controls, trying to figure then out. He had two more Brutes guarding him, all three had Brute Shots.
Prowler levelled his rifle with the head of the Beam Rifle wielding Jackal and fired. The Jackal stumbled and fell back with a cry. With a dying reflex, it squeezed the trigger on its Rifle, sending a slim plasma beam through its partner Jackal; they both fell with a dull thud. The Brutes turned to the fallen Jackals, then to Prowler himself. They raised their weapons and fired. The Spartan quickly pulled back behind the wall as the shots flew past and exploded harmlessly in the hall. Prowler kneeled down next to the door and reloaded his rifle. He reached to his back pouch and pulled out a few Plasma Grenades he had picked off a few Jackal bodies earlier on. He listened as the Brute grunted among themselves. He knew he had to act fast in order to save the surviving crew members.
Two of the Brutes made their way over to the door way, while the third went back to the control pad. As they came around the doorway, the first was met by a glowing blue ball which stuck itself to the Brute's face. The Brute let out a terrified yell and threw up his arms as the ball exploded. Prowler quickly picked up the Brute's Brute Shot, which landed by him, and dashed towards the second Brute. The Brute shot a few shots off, which Prowler dodged and slid past the Brute and jumped onto the Brute's back. The Brute threw down its weapon and went into a rage, trying to get the Spartan off its back. Prowler hung on and placed a Plasma Grenade on the side of the Brute's head and jumped off. The Brute made an attempt to remove the small explosive, but to no avail.
Prowler stood and took a second to catch his breath, turned and charged into the Bridge of the ship to finish off the third Brute, who turned to meet him.
"Stay back, Human!" grunted the Brute, "or I shall kill these others!" it pointed its Grenade Launcher at the Captain and his staff.
"Hold on, now…" Prowler said calmly, and backed up a step. "I'm sure we can come to an agreement."
The Brute roared with laughter, "Like what, Puny Human."
"You lower your weapon and leave, and I wont kill you where you stand."
The Brute began to laugh again, harder this time. He started to say something as the long knife attachment on the Brute Shot impaled itself into the Brute's head. The Brute's laugh gargled as he fell into a furry, bloody mess on the floor.
Prowler smirked inside his helmet and walked over to the Captain as he stood, "Are you okay?"
The Captain nodded, "Yes, yes. Thank you, Soldier. We owe you our lives."
"Sir, glad to see you're safe." Navi's voice rang out as her image blinked into existence over a podium next to the main screen.
The Captain got straight to work, "How many more are left on the ship?" he asked as the living crew members took to their posts.
"Not many. Any that are left seem to be evacuating. What ever they were up to, they either know that they failed, or they already got what they came for."
The Captain nodded, "Spartan." He turned to Prowler, who stood at attention, "Go down to that ring, join up with the rest of your squad, and find out what's going on."
Prowler saluted, "Yessir!" he turned spot to face the door.
"Wait, take me with you." Navi's voice came from behind him.
Prowler turned and looked at the Captain, who nodded. Then he walked over to the podium where Navi's image was and placed his hand through her image. Her form simmered and vanished as Prowler's hand sparked briefly.
"Alright. Lets go." Navi's voice said again, from inside his helmet his time.
Prowler nodded and turned to the door and left for the Hanger to catch a ride down to the alien ring world, Halo.