Author's Note: This is something I wrote a long time ago. I might not get around to finishing it right away because of my Star Wars fic, but I'll update what I have pretty often. Enjoy.
Halo 2: The Forerunner Chronicle
"Wake up Chief!"
"What is it?" The Master Chief opened his eyes, staring at Cortana's hologram.
"We're almost at Earth. What'll we find when we get there?" Cortana looked worried. The Chief didn't usually see her worried, but then again, she was inside his helmet most of the time.
"I don't like to think about it. I'm just thinking of what I'll do if I find Covs." He got up and walked towards the weapons locker in the rear of the Longsword-class Interceptor. It was locked, but with the massive amount of strength his armor gave him, he ripped off the door like a piece of toilet paper. Inside was an MA5B assault rifle, some magazines, and four frag grenades. The MC grabbed it all and slung the rifle over his shoulder.
"Dropping out of slipspace in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1..." The lines blurring the viewscreen faded into stars. There was a beautiful blue planet in front of the fighter, shrouded by white clouds.
"Identify yourself Longsword!" barked a voice from over the COM. A UNSC Destroyer came into view from the other side of Earth.
"UNSC Destroyer, this is Cortana of the Pillar of Autumn requesting an immediate meeting with the head of the fleet. I've got Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan 117 on this fighter with me."
"What about Captain Keyes?" came the reply, this time from a different man, probably the first one's boss.
"Dead. We're the only survivors."
"Control copies. Continue on your current course. Platform C5 in Washington DC's Akrayd Military Base."
"Roger that Control. Cortana out."
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A lone Marine Lieutenant was waiting for the Master Chief when he landed. The Master Chief followed him, carrying the MA5B and the M90 Shotgun that had saved his life against the Floodies. They walked out of the hanger into a large translucent blue dome. Insides were about a hundred soldiers, all of them looking stronger and taller than average soldiers did. There was a man in front of them, a Latin-American man with gray hair. He wore the insignia of a Chief Petty Officer in ONI SpecOps.
"Chief Mendez!" The Master Chief ran over to greet his old commander. Mendez saluted and the gesture was returned.
"Spartan 117. What happened back there?"
"It is a long story, sir. We need to strike back against the Covenant now, sir. I wiped out their whole armada back at Halo."
"Halo? What are you talking about?"
"Master Chief!" said a man standing on a podium in front of the soldiers. "I am Admiral Stanforth, the current commander of all UNSC Naval Ops. What happened?"
"Well Admiral, we made a blind jump from Reach and came out near the gas giant Threshold. There we found a strange metal ring, which we called Halo. The Covenant Armada chased us, and we were forced to bail out onto the ring world. Before we bailed, the Captain gave me Cortana and then he took the PoA down and landed it manually on Halo." It took John an hour to tell the tale of his exploits on Halo.
"So there were no survivors? Human, Covenant or Flood?" asked Stanforth when he was done.
"No sir, I have no reason to believe there were."
"I see. Well, you're dismissed Master Chief. I suggest you familiarize yourself with the Spartans."
"The Spartans sir? They were on the ground when reach was glassed?."
"CPO Mendez has one hundred new Spartans. There have been major advances in weaponry since you left, and I believe you'll want to practice with them. I'm going back to command to see what they want," said Stanforth.
John saluted and shouted, "Spartans! Ten-hut!" The Spartans stepped to attention and saluted the Admiral as he walked out of the room.
A tall Spartan walked up to John. His features seemed familiar, yet distant. "John, it is good to see you again!" He hugged the MC, grinning wildly.
"Who are you Spartan?"
"It's Sam. My body was recovered, you know that. You weren't at the funeral because there wasn't one. They flash-cloned me and I was sent to join the new generation of Spartans. To help the Chief train them; to get my body re-augmented. I've been with these Spartans on Earth ever since. And you're not the only one who got promoted. I'm a CPO. I'm ready to get those Covenant bugs back. Everybody, Kelly, Linda, Jim, all gone. You must be pretty torn up about it."
"I've had a lot of time to think about it. It took me a week to get here from Halo. Introduce me to your Spartans Sam."
Sam and the Master Chief walked through the ranks, inspecting the younger Spartans. Then they and Chief Mendez went off to one of Washington DC's best restaurants for a drink, and to reminisce about old times.
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The next day, the Master Chief went down to the Spartans' shooting range to look at the new weapons. He found Gunnery Sergeant Tom-235. "Sergeant, Admiral Stanforth told me their have been weaponry advances since I've been gone. Can I see what he was talking about?"
"Certainly Master Chief." He walked over to a weapons locker and pulled out a rifle. It looked like an MA5B for the most part, but the barrel was longer and had ridges in a corkscrew pattern all along it. "This is the MA6T, a laser assault rifle. The power pack," he pulled out a small plastic box that looked like an MA5B clip, "is inserted into the same slot as where a mag would be inserted into on an MA5B. They'll recharge over three hours. Each one gives you one hundred shots. You can't shoot in bursts of more than fifty. Care to take it for a spin on the range?"
"Yes sir." The Sergeant handed over the MA6T, and the Master Chief took it out to the range. A bell rang and a man-shaped target popped up. The Master Chief sent a red beam of energy into the target's head, disintegrating it. "I like it Sarge. Can you give me a couple bandoleers of power packs? After Halo, I'm never going anywhere without a gun."
"Sure. Here you go." The Sergeant pulled out two bandoleers of ammo from the locker, and John strapped them on.
"Master Chief!" said Admiral Stanforth's voice inside his helmet. "Report to Sector A, briefing room 1."
"Yes sir. I'm on my way.
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Admiral Stanforth sat in front of Sam, Chief Mendez, and John. "Based on what Cortana's told us, we have discovered the location of another Halo. You and the Spartans will be escorting a research team there. They will try and figure how to harness the power of Halo in some other way than to wipe out all life in the galaxy. We want the Spartans there to protect them in case of a Flood outbreak. The UNSC Carrier New Jersey will be taking the pre-fab buildings and several hundred Marines, though you Spartans ought to be able to handle whatever you find. The New Jersey leaves tomorrow. The Master Chief and Captain Orus of the New Jersey are in charge of the mission. On behalf of all humanity, I tell you good luck. Dismissed."
The Master Chief, Sam, and CPO Mendez jumped up and saluted. After Stanford had left, John said, "You two are going to be my second-in-commands, okay?" His friend and his former teacher nodded. "These places are like paradise, so I need you to make sure the Spartans keep their guards up. If 343 Guilty Spark survived, we're going to have a problem with his Sentinels. I'm going to make sure Cortana is with us."