Disclaimer: Halo belongs to 343i, Bionicle belongs to LEGO.
CHAPTER ONE
SHIELD WORLD 0001 - REQUIEM
'LOCKUP' FACILITY
FEBRUARY 16th, 2558
Lieutenant Matt Clarke stepped away from the glowing hard-light hologram showing the inner surface of the artificial planet. Ignoring the two coloured dots on the Forerunner artifact- those were Fireteams Majestic and Crimson's problem, not theirs'- he focused in on a single continent- and then looked to the left of it.
Thirty dots were shown, hovering above the water. He checked his PDA again, pulling up the coordinates that were taken from a captured Storm Covenant database- they matched! That was the location of the Forerunner cache that the Covenant was after- at least, before his team had raided that command post…
TWO DAYS EARLER – FEBRUARY 14th, 2558
GD79-TC PELICAN STRONGARM-54
EN ROUTE TO FORERUNNER STRUCTURE DESIGNATED 'BEACON'
"Hey, LT, how much further do we have to fly?" Staff Sergeant Richard Michaelson called from across the troop transport's cargo bay. His answer wasn't delayed.
"What, would you like to walk instead? We've crossed over three rivers already- the last one was running quite fast, too. If we were on foot, by the time we got there, the Covies might have either activated the Forerunner tech inside- which would be bad for everybody involved- or our job would be stolen by one of the other fireteams who don't have a flight-ophobe on board."
"Just saying, I have a bad feeling about these craft. They were made by the lowest bidder, you know!"
"Oy, what you saying about my bird?" A voice comes from the pilot's cabin- the third member of Fireteam Apex, Corporal Peter Samuels.
"Nothing, just that it's a pile of crap that will be turned into a cloud of free-floating particles the second one of those Forerunner anti-air cannons that the Covenant just loves to spam all over the place looks at it funny."
"No offense, but have you seen what Forerunner technology is capable of? Look around you- they have quite a bit of a technological advantage over us, even with them all gone and only their caretakers remaining."
"Oh, both of you give it a rest. We'll get to the objective, kill the Covie bastards squatting there, then use whatever technology we scrounge up at that location to beef us up even more." That was the fourth- and final- member of Fireteam Apex: Sergeant Jeremy Martinez.
A red light comes on in the troop bay. "LZ coming into view, looks like the Covies have detected us."
"Oh great, now comes the fuel rod cannons, then the screaming, then the fiery crash."
"Quiet down, Rick. Pete, give them a taste of the missile pods."
"Aye, sir." Corporal Samuels flipped the safety glass covering and pressed the button to fire the left wing missiles, which let loose a flurry of ANVIL-III missiles. The missiles flew across the gap, and impacted the two Phantoms lifting off from the clearing in front of the Forerunner spire. The result was somewhat enjoyable, if you liked firework displays, as the two Covenant craft detonated in brilliant blueish-purple explosions. The Covenant still on the ground started to retreat inside, but were too late as the Pelican's 70mm chin-mounted gatling cannon whirred to life and turned the Covenant soldiers into multicoloured puffs of mist.
The Pelican quickly swung around, dropping off the three ground-pounder SPARTAN-IVs, who used their suit's inbuilt thruster packs to land safely on the ground. "We'll secure the structure, and hold it until the garrison troops arrive to fortify it. Pick us up then, eh?"
"You got it, LT!" With that, the Pelican took off, to maintain air coverage for the team- preventing additional Covenant forces from landing. The team quickly proceeded into the Forerunner structure. Aside from a few Covenant Zealots, there were no other enemies inside- and they soon found out why. Sentinels were floating around in the various upper levels, the ground littered with Covenant corpses with energy weapon burns. Oddly enough, the Sentinels on Requiem never attacked UNSC forces, although they were more than hostile to Covenant soldiers and Promethean constructs. Still, the soldiers of Fireteam Apex gave the Forerunner robots a wide berth.
Very quickly, they cleared the site, and placed beacons down for ordnance pods to be dropped outside. When the pods dropped, though, a single Covenant soldier ran out of the structure- apparently very well hidden during their sweep, and barely made it to the edge of the woods before one of the ordnance pods dropped on its head- with obvious effects. Fireteam Apex quickly ran back down to the bottom level- an entire inner wall of the facility had vanished, revealing a chamber that was not there before. In the center of the chamber, an energy shield had been raised, covering a Zealot Elite, who were doing… something… with a piece of Forerunner technology. Between them and the Zealots, however, were ten Jackals, three General Elites with swords- and a single, massive Hunter, its armor scorched by what could have been Sentinel Beams.
"Take cover!" As Lieutenant Clarke uttered the order, Forerunner portable cover walls popped up in front of his team, which they were quick to hop behind. Moving their guns out of cover, they used their smart-linked scopes to deliver precision hits without exposing their bodies to danger- for the most part. The Jackals died quickly, knocked off balance by a shot to their partially exposed arm and then finished off by shots to the head. The Generals were tougher to deal with- and they were closing fast. One of them was suddenly cut off by a cover wall popping up in front of it, with the Covenant soldier slamming into it at full tilt.
The other two Generals were almost within range, when Fireteam Apex popped back up with their scavenged Plasma Pistols equipped. Two overcharged blasts later, the generals were unshielded- easy prey for Rick's M395 Designated Marksman Rifle. The Elites were quickly dispatched, the third Elite nailed with a plasma pistol shot and then drilled between the eyes shortly after navigating around the cover wall. And then the Hunter finally decided to join the battle.
The next few minutes consisted of a mad scramble around the room, searching for a Forerunner weapons cache, a Covenant supply station, anything with the firepower capable of taking down a raging Mgalekgolo. In the middle of the battle, the Forerunner device activated, showing a large star map, with a list of coordinates. The Zealot pushed down on a single set- which zoomed in on a landmass, with dots hovering over the shore. And then a humming noise echoed through the chamber- the Sentinels were coming. Beams of white-hot plasma cut through the air, impacting the Hunter, burning into its gestalt body of worms- and coming out the other side. The Hunter finally let out a moan and fell to the ground.
Fireteam Apex turned to the Zealot, which looked at the group, before grabbing two plasma grenades and sticking them to the Forerunner artifact in the center of the room. A flash of blue- and the artifact was destroyed. The shield quickly dissipated- the Zealot had no shields after the detonation- and everybody fired at the same time. The Zealot virtually melted under the combined discharge of the Sentinels' plasma beams and the SIV Fireteam's bullets. With all hostiles dead, the Sentinels suddenly turned around and headed for the door. Lieutenant Clarke watched them go- they reached the outer door of the complex, and vanished into slipspace portals. At the same time, UNSC Army Pelicans arrived, dropping off their complement of troops and Warthogs, then flying off. The Troopers began setting up automated turrets in the entrance hall and the ground level of the facility, getting ready to occupy the structure.
Strongarm-54 circled around, and picked up Fireteam Apex, after they had finished assisting the Army Troopers with setting up their defense network. "So, what did you find down there, LT?" Corporal Samuels asked, shortly after taking off.
"Hell if I know- the Covenant destroyed it too quickly. Isn't doing so a sin in their culture?"
"You can never tell with these fanatics. It could be good to do one day and the worst heresy the next."
"Hmm. I guess you're right."
'LOCKUP' FACILITY
FEBRUARY 16th, 2558
Lieutenant Clarke pulled up his comm system. "How much time do we have left?" The answer was swift. "Three hours, LT, then we're all taking a stellar bath in Epoloch."
"Thanks for the mental image, Samuels. I'm ready for pick-up."
"Affirmative, be there in a few seconds."
"A few seconds? Where are you, Corporal?" A Pelican suddenly appears, flying towards the Lockup Cartographer. "Really enjoying that active camouflage that Infinity's Engineers gave you, huh?"
"Damn right, especially for this mission you have us set up for."
"How many Marines were you able to convince to come along?"
"Not many, just seven individuals. Four of them are Air Force- they brought their own birds too!"
"That's more than I was expecting. What do they fly?" Clarke reaches down into the Cartographer, pulling out four data collection devices. The map display shuts off, it's information- and it's data- all downloaded onto the devices.
"Two Broadswords and one Longsword, why do you ask?"
"Just curious." Walking forward, Lieutenant Clarke steps off the edge of the tower, and into the cargo bay of the Pelican. The doors close behind him, and he feels the slight pull of G-forces as the Pelican hits it's afterburners.
ONE HOUR LATER
REQUIEM EASTERN CONTINENT- 80 KILOMETERS OFFSHORE
"Okay, we're here. Sergeant Martinez, you're up first. Your target is the large craft designated Central Transport. We'll fly above it, you'll drop off on top of it."
"Got it. What happens when I land?"
"Head for the nearest access port. Here, you'll need this." He handed Martinez one of the data sticks. "I took this from the Lockup facility. It holds both a section of data on the shield world- and schematics for the type of ship you'll be boarding. Once you're at the command console, open the command frequency, try and take control of as many ships as possible. Don't ask how I know this, it was just something that popped up when I was looking at the Lockup Cartographer."
A few seconds after that, Sgt. Martinez hopped out the back of the Pelican, his jetpack guiding him onto the large two kilometer long vessel ahead. The Marines followed- all of them wearing SPI armor. The Lieutenant checked the status screen- thirty seconds later, everybody's status lights blinked green.
A few minutes later, it was his turn. "Corporal Samuels, Sergeant Michaelson? It's been an honour serving with you. Here, take these data sticks- they'll help you with navigating around the big one and powering it on."
"You too, LT. See you on the other side." And with that, Lieutenant Clarke jumped out the back of the Pelican, lining himself up with the Forerunner craft beneath him, making course corrections when necessary. Seven seconds later, the twin Broadswords flew overhead, followed by the Longsword. "Good luck, guys." He landed. Hard. He slowly climbed to his feet, and checked the time counter on his HUD. 105 minutes remaining. Should be enough time to get the ships started up and out of the planet- that is, if Crimson couldn't stop the shield world from dunking itself into its star.
(85 MINUTES ON THE CLOCK)
LT. Clarke found an access panel, and opened it up. Climbing inside, he was greeted with the appearance of a Sentinel, which scanned him- and then moved away. He started walking in one direction- and his comm system activated.
"To get to the control room, go the other way."
"Right. How is Martinez doing?"
"Sergeant Martinez is nearly at the transport's bridge. I'm sending him the command codes now."
"Good. What about the Fortress team?"
"They've managed to find a hangar bay. Problem is, there are Covenant forces on that ship- they're in for a long fight. What is good news, however, is that the Covenant is in the process of turning the ship on."
"How is that good news, Aeona?"
"Because then two individuals don't have to run all over a 50km vessel in a mad scramble to flip the systems online?"
"Good point."
(75 MINUTES ON THE CLOCK)
Sergeant Martinez reported in. "I've secured Central Transport, moving it to the big ship now. I've managed to also take control of five additional vessels- that program sure is something."
"Her name is Aeona."
"Of course. Thanks, Aeona."
"No problem. I am happy to assist."
(64 MINUTES ON THE CLOCK)
He had finally got to the Dreadnought's bridge- after having activated the fast transit system allowing him to use the ship's portal network, which he utilized to get to the engine room, power it on under Aeona's guidance, and then quickly moving himself back to the ship's command deck. Sgt. Martinez had taken the time to dock additional craft inside the Fortress' large deployment bays- much to the confusion of more than a few CRS cruisers that were inside. All that were left was Central Transport, five Dreadnoughts- and the massive Fortress. He plugged his data stick into the command console- and Aeona quickly queried for command access to the other dreadnoughts. It would appear that they picked the right one, as the other four dreadnoughts suddenly blinked green- command access accepted.
(51 MINUTES ON THE CLOCK)
"Aeona, patch me through to Sergeant Michaelson."
"By your command."
"...shit, Aeona, don't scare me like that."
"...utenant? What's the problem?"
"The problem is that we're almost at the point of no return. If you keep going, you will not be able to make it back to the hangar bay in time to successfully evacuate the planet."
"LT, we knew the risks when we agreed to go on this mission. Plus, we're nearly there anyway!"
"...fine. Godspeed, gentlemen- the rest of us will be waiting ever-so-patiently for you to get your asses in gear."
(16 MINUTES ON THE CLOCK)
"Aeona, how are Sergeant Michaelson and Corporal Samuels doing?"
"They've reached the bridge and are clearing it of Covenant forces now. Local Sentinel forces are helping them."
"Tell them to report in when they're done. We're cutting it way too close here."
"Will do, LT."
The four dreadnoughts had been moved into the Fortress' capital deployment bays- to the misfortune of the CRS cruiser crews, as Covenant nanolaminate hulls went up against whatever exotic metal that Forerunner craft are made out of- and the Forerunner material won. The CRS cruisers were crushed up against the roof of the capital deployment bays like tin cans. Central Transport itself was docked in what was being called CDB #5.
(10 MINUTES ON THE CLOCK)
The Fortress' IFF switched from yellow to green- and a familiar voice chimed over TEAMCOM. "We've secured the Fortress- what next?"
"Aeona, plot us a course out of here!"
The massive Fortress-class shifted ponderously to starboard, angling itself for the entrance portal. Lt. Clarke's Dreadnought followed alongside. "Come on, team, move faster!"
And then the view outside the portal changed- they were now looking directly at the star. It wasn't fair- there was still seven minutes left on the countdown clock, they were so close, and now-
"Screw it, entering slipspace now!" Corporal Samuels' near-hysterical voice pierced through TEAMCOM, and a massive portal appeared in front of the Fortress. At the same time, a heavy battery on the Fortress swiveled around, and fired off a barrage of whatever exotic energies the Forerunners used for ammunition. By the damage it had dealt to his dreadnought, it was undoubtedly effective, and had it been a more coordinated placement of shots, it would have most likely rent his ship asunder. There was no time to ask what had happened- his own ship was entering a slipspace window, and the large dome that held the Fortress' command deck had already gone over into slipspace. And then… the vibrations set in.