"Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with you." –Stealer's Wheel
Chapter 1: Table for Two, Please
Personal Log of Samus Aran: Log File 11700
There are some days when I regret my choice of profession. I've lost count of the vacations and leisure trips that have been interrupted by the call of duty; what good is earning money if you never have the time to spend it? At least it seems the Galactic Federation has finally found a good reason to pull me away from my R a Space Pirate fleet has been spotted traveling through Federation territory. It was hard to miss them; the Pirates had deployed several dozen ships of varying sizes. While this alone was enough to send the Federation into full-on panic mode, the Pirate fleet's behavior is even more disconcerting; it has repeatedly ignored Federation colonies and installations during its exodus. Even the vulnerable, certainly appealing targets have been passed up in favor of their apparent destination; the borders of explored space. Something is up with the Space Pirates. And the last time something was up with the Space Pirates, they had uncovered the highly radioactive mutagenic material known as Phazon. Naturally, being the Federation's leading expert on killing Pirates, I was commissioned to follow the fleet to its objective and either destroy the fleet, take the objective for the Federation, or both. While I hope for a smoothly-executed mission, past encounters with the Pirates do not make that seem likely.
***
There were some days when the Master Chief regretted his choice of profession. Well, he would, if he had been given a choice. As it stood, he supposed, there are worse things than being trained and modified since childhood to be a living weapon. After all, you could end up being a bounty hunter; those guys never seem to get any respect, especially not from the military. But between fighting an uphill battle with the Covenant, trying to find and stop a series of super weapons that could kill all life in the universe and keeping the Flood from escaping captivity, what he wouldn't give for a few vacation days. There was always another crisis around the corner, and the Master Chief wished he could be given a respite every now and then, if only a short one.
Chief, focus! Of course, as the AI program residing in his armor had just told him as he ducked out of the way of a plasma bolt, the middle of a firefight was not the best time for wandering thoughts. His mind quickly ran over the situation; the USNC had located another Halo and had sent him with a battalion to destroy it. But as per usual, the Covenant had beaten them to the punch, and were now fighting them in a vicious ground war over control of their "sacred ring." The valley he and his unit were trying to pass through was crawling with Covenant soldiers, and the now-blasted landscape reflected their hour-long struggle. Both of them were too dug in, too well-fortified; someone needed to break this little stalemate of theirs.
Guess whose job that is?
"Did I say that out loud?"
Cortana scoffed teasingly. Don't think you were the only one who had come to that conclusion.
"You could've at least told me."
"Master Chief, sir! Sir!" One of the marines on their left flank was calling to him in near panic. Ducking along the rocks they were using as cover, the Chief made his way over to the marine.
"What is it, soldier? Covenant trying to out-flank us?"
Uh-oh.
Through Master Chief's visor, Cortana could see that the soldier was looking at a portable scanner; he must be the team's tech expert. On the device's screen was a motion-detecting radar showing a huge mass of bogeys approaching the ridge to their left, directly in between the marines and the Covenant.
"N-No, sir! Unidentified energy signatures!"
The Chief focused on the ridge in question. "Looks like somebody else is coming to join the party."
They broke into view with a thunderous, collective roar that rose above the din of the continuing battle. While definitely alien, they were also definitely not Covenant, with a somewhat humanoid body structure covered with various armor pieces and equipment. Their relatively thin limbs ended in clawed appendages, and the alien beings were armed to the teeth. They moved with speed and agility, leaping high into the air to catch the attention of both sides and silence their own fighting. The strange attackers were on top of the Covenant first, firing rapid bursts of energy from guns mounted on their arms and extending small scythes from their wrists to slash at foes in arm's reach. The stunned Grunts fell like flimsy shacks before a raging hurricane, and the ones that survived the initial charge broke and ran, screaming. The Elites lasted a bit longer, holding their own against the attackers before being overwhelmed by superior numbers with the loss of their Grunts. Most of the Jackals ran as well, and the few that stood their ground managed to inflict some damage before the Elites protecting them fell, and then they followed suit. A second group of attackers appeared, their attention now on the stunned marines.
"Aw man, Chief, sir, if they did that to those Covenant buggers, what're they gonna do to us?!"
"Calm down, son, we've got a lot more guts than the Covenant."
Yeah, and they're gonna end up all over the ground if we don't do something fast.
"Don't you start chickening out too, Cortana." The Chief loaded a fresh clip into his rifle. "Come on, let's show them who they're dealing with."
***
Samus had seen quite a few strange things in her days battling the Space Pirates. A huge, living cyborg brain. Ghosts of insane Chozo. A planet trapped between two dimensions. This, however; this bizarre circular space station as large around as a standard-size moon and apparently with its own atmosphere and plant and animal life despite its strange shape; it certainly wasn't at the top of the list, but it earned a close rank. She perused the readings her ship's scanners were giving her; the bulk of the Pirate fleet had landed on the far side of the ring, while a small strike force had broken off from the group and landed in a mountainous area directly below her position. It made sense that while the majority of the fleet set about constructing a base for themselves, they would send a team of their better fighters off to start searching for their objective. It seemed like they were expecting a tough fight to come knocking on their doorsteps; Samus smirked, she wouldn't want to disappoint them. As she instructed her ship's auto-pilot, Samus opened the compartment holding her Power Suit and started getting herself dressed for work.
***
It had been vicious. Lacking in melee weapons of their own and faced with a foe that sought to close the distance as quickly as possible, casualties had already been heavy as several marines found themselves gutted within the first few minutes. But then the unit sent to rout the Covenant squad had returned, and things got really hairy. It was all the Chief could do to keep himself from being buried under the weight of enemy soldiers. He had been backed into a corner for who knows how long, felling dozens of attackers as he fought with a fury he was rarely forced to use, finally gaining a respite as his few remaining opponents hesitated and then fled. After taking a moment to catch his breath, the Chief emerged from his little alcove to find that the battlefield had become a slaughterhouse. He was used to the horrors of war; how could he not be? This, however...this was downright despicable. The ground was littered with the brutalized corpses of both Covenant and human, their bodies insultingly stripped clean of weapons and equipment by the aliens who had killed them. Who are these beasts, he thought to himself, these creatures who take the ferocity practiced by the Covenant to an entirely different level?
These poor souls…
"Cortana..." In the midst of the carnage, he'd forgotten about the fragile little AI program that had been hitch-hiking on his armor's computer for some time now. She usually kept silent during battles such as these, and the Chief realized that it was obviously with good reason. It was different for him, when the "kill or be killed" instinct took over. But for her, who could only stand by and watch, a powerless observer with a front-row seat for the madness of war, it must be incredibly hard to deal with. But there would be time for mourning later; when given the choice between avenge and mourn, the Master Chief would gladly choose avenge. "There's nothing we can do for them at the moment. I need to know who the hell those guys were and where they came from. Are you getting anything from Covenant transmissions?"
Nothing conclusive. Mostly outrage over the slaughter and vows to bring down these "devils" as they've taken to calling them…
Master Chief scoffed. "Suddenly I don't feel so special anymore."
It seems our visitors have landed a hefty fleet on the far side of the Halo.
"Then that's where we're headed. Whatever they're here for, it can't be good."
Whatever you say, Chie- Cortana paused, then shouted Wait! I'm picking up something closing in on us!
"What is it? Covenant?"
I'm not sure. Stay sharp, Chief, it's closing fast!
He didn't have much time to contemplate the warning before the cause for alarm came into view; a strange humanoid clad in bright orange armor with a wicked-looking gun attached to the right arm.
***
Samus tilted her head to the side at the sight of this strange soldier. Green armor covered most of his body, framing an orange visor that covered and concealed his entire face. Strange, she thought, is there some significance with his relation to her colors? Is he using Chozo technology too? Another bounty hunter wielding powers stolen from the race that sired her? Of course, why limit herself to asking questions? A simple command activated her suit's sensors and they began scanning the soldier.
***
"If he's Covenant, somebody should tell him to stop ripping off my color scheme."
Take it easy for a second, Chief. Maybe this guy's not a threat.
He realized the murder of his troops had enraged him more than he had thought; he needed something to shoot at, badly. The Spartan equivalent of venting, he imagined. "Yeah, and I suppose that cannon on his arm is for blending smoothies. Either he's Covenant, or he's one of those new guys. And either way, I'm bringing him down."
Drawing an SMG with one hand and a Plasma Rifle with the other, Master Chief took aim at the stranger and opened fire with a burst of bullets from the SMG.
***
The bullets ricocheted harmlessly off of the shield surrounding Samus' Power Suit, causing the Hunter a great deal of confusion. This...this stranger was using metal-encased projectiles? Without any sort of energy or plasma enhancement? Regardless, if he fired upon her, that must mean he is a threat. Samus' Power Beam began humming as she charged it up and brought it to level with the soldier.
***
The Chief quickly ducked under a ricochet "Uh-oh."
Chief-!
The Master Chief took a rolling dodge to avoid the large energy blast that erupted from the stranger's arm gun.
"I think I'm gonna need a bigger weapon."
Normally, this would be the time where he would start searching the ground for something suitable. But seeing as the mysterious attackers had grabbed most of weaponry, the Chief would need to make do with what he had on him until he could find something else. Holstering the SMG with one hand while firing the Plasma Rifle with the other, he ran for some cover. He was happy to see that the Plasma Rifle's shots had actually made some impact, albeit not a large one. Regardless, it was a start.
***
Samus shielded her face from the blue energy bolts, her brow furrowed. It was nice to see this guy wasn't going to be some pushover, but the weapons he was using were completely alien; her scans so far had been largely inconclusive, but the one thing they could tell her was that he wasn't using an ounce of Chozo technology. On the plus side, it meant she wouldn't end up facing her own weaponry being against her. But this might be something entirely new, something beyond Chozo standards. Fingering the button for Missiles, she approached her foe's hiding place with caution.
***
You really think this guy's going to stand around and wait for it to blow up? Cortana said skeptically.
"I'm kinda hoping he won't know what it is."
The piggybacking AI sighed Yes, because nobody uses handheld spheres for explosives anymore.
His back pressed against his cover, the Chief leaned his head out to take a look. The moment orange visor met with green visor a few feet away, both armored soldiers went into action; Samus aiming her Arm Cannon and pressing the Missile button, the Chief tossing the frag grenade from his hand. The two explosives met in mid-air, delivering a proportionately powerful detonation that hurled Samus back several feet and depositing her on her rear. Shielded from the majority of the blast by his cover, the Chief took a peek to see how his target had fared.
"Oh, there is no way he survived that."
You've lived through worse.
"Yeah, and?"
Lo and behold, however, as the dust cleared, the Chief could see the orange-clad stranger sitting several feet away, shaking her head to brush off the shock of the explosion. Maybe he was just imagining things, but he could swear he could see a very angry glare coming from behind visor as she raised her Arm Cannon and pointed it at his face. The Spartan dove across the ground into a roll to avoid her shots, taking another leap towards a Needler lying obscured in a small ditch. Grabbing it as he landed, he emptied the weapon's entire clip at Samus in a single continuous burst. Instead of puncturing the target, however the purple shards simply burst on impact with Samus' shielding.
"That thing's really starting to piss me off."
***
This guy was really starting to piss her off. Fighting Space Pirates all her life had given her some rather irritating situations, like when that one Trooper had lunged at her with his scythe, missed, tripped, and ended up stabbing a crate full of Phazon behind them, killing himself and blowing out one of her Energy Tanks in the ensuing explosion. But tossing a grenade into her Missile placed this stranger near the top of her list. To hell with taking the cautious approach; this guy had to die.
***
Samus had been shielding her face from the Needler shots with her free hand, and as soon as the barrage ended she brought her fully charged Arm Cannon out from behind her back and let loose. The sudden attack caught the Chief by surprise, and the burst of energy threw him back against the cliff wall behind him and crippled his shields. He quickly shook off the shock of the two impacts and looked back up to see that…his opponent was gone.
"Where'd he-?"
Chief, above you!
The Spartan looked up in time to see Samus, having leapt several feet into the air up and towards him, aiming another Missile in his direction. He rolled away from the first shot, which cracked the wall where he had been standing, and took a leap of his own to escape the second shot. Samus landed on the spot where her first shot hit, but instead of attempt to give chase, she simply flicked her left wrist forward, snapping forward a small latch-like device that flung out a stream of energy and hooked itself onto the Master Chief's shoulder. A single yank on the Grapple Beam, and the Chief was sent flying backwards. Instead of simply go with flow, however, the Chief twisted himself as he flew through the air and rammed his elbow into Samus' face when he was close enough, knocking the bounty hunter off her feet and landing on his side himself. As he rolled into a crouching position, he muttered "At least that still works."
Not waiting for his opponent to recover her balance, he leapt at Samus, ready to attack again. As he hurtled through the air, Samus simply stared at him for a moment, then leaned forward and…disappeared. As the Chief landed, he took notice of two things; the first, that Samus was suddenly standing behind him, the second that there were suddenly small glowing orbs lying at his feet.
"Those can't be-"
See? Universal concept.
The Morph Bombs went off like very violent firecrackers, tossing the Spartan a few feet into the air. The Grapple Beam snatched him out of the air again, this time pulling him forward too quickly for him to react. As he landed in front of Samus, her free hand grabbed his chest plate and pulled him forward until they were face-to-face, while the business end of her Arm Cannon was shoved under his chin. Samus glared at her opponent through their visors, so concentrated on her anger towards this stranger that she didn't notice her HUD alerting her to the approach of a dozen Pirate Troopers approaching her from behind until they were right on top of them. She pushed the Master Chief away leapt backwards to give her some space, and turned her gaze up towards the cliffside.
***
I think our friend may have called in reinforcements, Chief. Cortana reported dryly as the Chief regained his footing. I'm picking up a dozen alien energy signatures catching up with us.
"I think we can officially say this has been a bad day."
The Space Pirates burst into view, taking a flying leap from the ridge behind the Chief. To the surprise of both, Samus immediately opened fire on the new arrivals, knocking one out of the air with a charged shot and firing furiously at his comrades.
"...Huh."
Chief, I'm getting the feeling that maaaaaybe we were a bit hasty. Our friend here doesn't seem to be an ally of the aliens that attacked us; now might be a good time to lend a hand and show a gesture of our good will, hm? Cortana said in a very prompting tone.
"Yeah, yeah, I heard you."
A Pirate, completely ignoring the Chief, landed a few feet in front of him to get another angle at attacking Samus. Master Chief taught him to pay attention to his surroundings by peppering him with SMG bullets at point-blank range. Samus had backed herself into a corner, keeping her back to the wall ass he fired on the Pirates. Holding her own, she seemed to falter briefly when she noticed the cyborg charge up and drive his fist into the neck of the nearest Pirate, finally alerting the surviving attackers to his presence. Samus took the opportunity to unload two more charged blasts into the distracted attackers, felling one and wounding the other. Realizing that they had lost their offensive advantage, the Pirates turned and fled, and the two watched them leave. They turned and looked at each other, and an awkward silence ensued.
"Alright, here's the thing." Chief started, not wanting another prodding from Cortana. Samus stared at him blankly from behind her visor. "My squad's been wiped out. The area's crawling with those clowns from the Covenant, and now those new jokers too. And we're stuck here, in the middle of them both. As much as I like playing the lone soldier, I would prefer having someone watch my back rather than shoot it. Sound good?"
The orange-clad stranger continued staring at him for a minute, apparently weighing her options, before responding in a feminine voice that the Chief found mildly surprising. "Agreed."
Now, see Chief? Being a diplomat without using your trigger finger isn't so hard, is it?
The Spartan ignored Cortana's teasing. "Glad to hear it. The name's John-117, but most prefer to call me by my rank, the Master Chief. You?"
"I am Samus Aran, a bounty hunter."
Master Chief offered his hand to Samus. "You seem like a pretty tough guy, Samus, it'll be a pleasure working alongside you."
Samus laughed lightly, then reached up with 'his' free hand, clasped a latch on the underside of 'his' helmet, and pulled the helmet off. A woman's soft face emerged from under flowing golden hair, almost the complete opposite of her cold and hard exterior, and the Chief froze.
Chief-? Your heart rate just spiked, are you alright? Were you wounded at some point? Cortana must not have been looking through the Chief's eyes if she was asking that question. 'A pleasure indeed.' he thought almost absent-mindedly.