0830 hours September 03, 2581 (Military Calendar)/
Epsilon Eridani System, UNSC battleship December's Hail
Blast doors; stern of the ship Orbit around Earth
The Master Chief gulped as he looked through the plexi glass that surrounded the blast doors. He looked down at Earth, more that 10,000 meters away. He knew the next mission was no picnic, since he was informed in the ALPHA-CC, straight from ONI. Which was the top priority channel. He executed a perfect about face to do a head count quickly.
"4, and me it's 5. Ok team, I hope you're ready for this," Master Chief tried to say this without fear in his voice. But it was hard, since he wasn't well versed; he didn't know what weapons would be needed, or even who he was fighting for or against. But like the leaders before him, he tried to be the best, so he could influence his team to be the best they could be. He knew if he fell apart, his team would be nothing without him. "This won't be easy, and you know that. Our mission, John?"
John, the AI, took a minute to think, and then answered, "I checked it out, all you have to do is go down to Earth, assignation is at the White House, and pick up the president. When you have him in your possetion. Call for pick up. Only then will a Pelican pick you up, and dock back here, at December's Hail."
The Master Chief sighed. This mission caught them off their feet. But this would be a lesson to Master Chief and his Spartans; never let your guard down, not even for a minute. They were informed less than 2 hours ago. The Spartans suited up in minutes, and check their inventory before they were fully ready.
"John," Master Chief scuffed out. "Why won't there be Pelican drop off."
"Sorry, Nick, due to the high amounts of Covenants, the UNSC has sent out all their available Pelicans and Marines. By the time you reach planet Earth; which is estimated to be 4 minutes and 32 seconds, there will be available Pelicans done with their current drop offs." John took a deep breath.
John, the AI, was named after the Master Chief from the 2550's. In his memory, he had given his life to destroy the last of the Covenant ships. He infiltrated the Covenants home planet, set a bomb inside the core, and set it off. He knew the Covenants were after him, and weren't far behind. He knew if he left the bomb unguarded, the Covenants might diffuse it. In the years they fought against the humans, they had learned too much from them. He sat back and waited till his death. That killed the last of the warships and Covenant bodies. Cleaning up 2 or 3 more ships in space, and that was the end of the Covenants. Before he went down with the alien world, he said one last thing on his COMS that no one will ever forget. "This is the true meaning of 'a life spent, not a life wasted'."
But not to their knowledge, that wasn't the only alien world. Like Earth and the many human invested planets, there were more that were even more advanced then the old Covenant world. And now is when those Covenants came out to fight to gain revenge.
John, the AI, had chosen his own appearance; he chose a MJOLNIR IV suit. He decided he wanted to look like the Master Chief, if he were alive this day. Even thought the Master Chief would be 54 years old and most likely unable to fight. The injections the Spartans got wore off after about 50 years. And since the injections brought out all the latent strengths, when it wore off, it would leave your body drained.
The MJOLNIR IV suit is not different than the III, or the II, or even the I. It protected the same places, but it could camouflage to the background automatically from the eyes of the enemy. In real, the MJOLNIR armor is a blackish green tint.
It also showed a wider range of it's Motion Sensor, and was color coordinated. The enemies were red, allies green, and civilians blue. And the Motion Sensor didn't zoom in on movement, but heartbeat.
A major improvement was that it had an onboard AI. Master Chief's was John, and each of Master Chief's Spartans had one each, that most brought out their form. This onboard AI made calculations a cinch, and when needed more information, transition didn't have to travel back to base, and get back, which could take up to 10 seconds; your AI could quickly inform you, since it was linked up to ONI. And as Cortana—rest in piece—did with Spartan-117, the onboard AI could help dodge enemy fire, and even give you calculations on how, or when to move.
"John!" Master Chief said silently, turning off his COM to the others. "Don't call me Nick in front of the guys, I'm Master Chief."
"Sorry, sir, I am at fault."
Master Chief turned on his shared COM again.
"Ok Spartans, as soon as I open the blast doors, we will be sucked out as a lack of atmosphere. Set your boosters toward the White House."
"Pinpointed on the map." John added, as an X appeared on everyone's maps of Earth from outer space.
"If you were to get separated, regroup outside the White House lawn," Master Chief ordered. "There will likely be Covenants, so be careful. That is all. Good luck."
Master Chief went over to a pillar, 10 meters away from the blast doors. He opened a side hatch, and pulled out a red handle. He pulled on it quickly. The Atmosphere was sucked out, and made the SPARTANs feel like they were being pulled. But their MJOLNIR suits kept them bolted down fast, and would only move if the Spartans wanted to be moved.
"Ready?" Master Chief asked as he turned and looked at his Spartans.
"Sir," The Spartans replied. "Yes, sir!"
Master Chief released the gravity from inside of his suit, and he was quickly pulled out of the ship. He turned on his boosts, and was quickly pulled toward the X on his map. He would turn around, but the pressure of the gravity, and the force of the boost could tear his body in half.
As he entered the atmosphere of Earth, his coolant automatically turned on inside his suit. It became cooler, so the heat he was getting was cancelled out. He pierced the atmosphere like a hot knife through butter. A shield of flames surrounded the Chief as he passed through, as quick as a bullet. But the MJOLNIR took the damage. The Spartans shield, which had been upgraded many, many times before, shimmered blue and white, but as the atmosphere started to be left behind, the shield started to return to it's opaque self.
When he passed through the multiple atmospheres, he could see the blue oceans, and wide green lands. He knew how beautiful Earth was, and the people on it, and that's why the UNSC protect it with their life. When he passed all the atmospheres, his boosters shut off by overheating.
He turned around to see the Spartans, and do a head count.
"5… good. We're all here… and alive."
He knew of the dangers of going through the atmospheres, but he never paid dangers much mind. His job was to follow orders, not question them. Despite they could have been turned into ashes and rained down to Earth, or they could have been ripped in half. He knew he was in for a long wait, the ETA was 4 minutes and 32, and only about 30 seconds passed.
As he reached near 2000 meters, Master Chief heard Ada, the smartest Spartan, ask her AI how much time was left.
"52 seconds and counting CPO Lockheart."
"Thank you, Devine."
She looked at Master Chief as Master Chief looked at her. She pointed to her wrist, asking the Master Chief if he was deploying the chute. He shook his head.
"Do it when I do."
The Chief turned back around and faced the Earth.
1000 meters
He wondered if he should do it now, but no, he wanted to get closer. If he did it now, they would be wasting time.
750 meters
He felt his heart racing as he neared the ground. From here, he could see the large cubed wall that defended the White House. And the machine guns that were stationed at each of the 4 corners. These guns were already firing at the Banshees and Phantoms that flew around the perimeter.
500 meters
The Spartans played with their handles, ready to press it anytime.
250 meters
Master Chief held his handle as well. He breathed a passing breath, and drew it back swiftly.
150 meters
"NOW!"
The Chief unleashed his chute, as he slowed down, he wondered if it would be enough to slow and stop the heavy, but light MJOLNIR IV suit. He was going way to fast. He looked down at the others, who were now under him, since he pulled the handle before they did, and got a head start on slowing down, and saw that they deployed theirs as well. He felt a feeling of sickness as the ground was nearly under him
50 meters
He tightened his grip around the guiding handle, and guided himself toward the White House lawn. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, hoping to make it. His instincts would kick in when he touched the ground, which is why he closed his eyes. Or was it John who would kick in?
25 meters
He could see the Covenants fighting against the humans, and wondered if he just had killed his team and himself by pulling the lever too late. He pulled back his legs to his chest, ready to roll as soon as he hit the ground. He would have turned on his boosters, but it was too over heated from the atmospheres. He saw the floor rush up to him, and the last thing he saw was the Covenants breaking into the White House through doors and windows.
… Then everything went black…
CHAPTER 2 ==========================0845 hours September 03, 2581 (Military Calendar)/
Epsilon Eridani System White House Square
White House Lawn On Earth
Master Chief slowly opened his eyes. He was on his back, facing the sky. He looked at the clouds as they moved ever so leisurely. He could have sworn he saw a cloud shaped like his MA8B.
His MA8B was the best weapon so far in the Spartan arsenal. It was light, compact, and quick firing. It could fire 25 12 millimeter rounds per second. In a minute, it unleashes whooping 1500 rounds. But it had a decent side. If put into manual firing, it switched to a 9 mm piercing round. It was hollow tip, and could go through the Covenant shields, and the house behind it.
Master Chief shifted. He was uncomfortable in the position he was in, so he laid up. He scanned his surroundings, and saw that White House Officers were protecting the team; who had been knocked out from the fall… or dead…
Master Chief stood up and started to fire upon the Covenants. He pressed the trigger once, and an automatic shower of bullets hit a Brute. It pierced his unprotected skin. 5 bullets passed through his skin, and hit the Grunt behind him. The Grunt quickly hit the ground, as the shots pierced his skull, but the Brute stayed standing. It let out a shout of pain. The officer turned to the Brute and fired their MA9B.
Like always, the White House operatives were 1 step ahead of the Spartans. Their weapons, the Spartans had never seen before, non-the-less, know it was out yet, were much faster firing, and most likely hurt a couple times more. The Master Chief was going to have a talk with the UNSC about that. The Spartans were supposed to be the best, but how can they be the best without the best equipment.
Master Chief noticed some off his team members stirring, but before he could help, 3 officers in white armor confronted him. One of the officers had Grunt blood on him, which was not much, since Grunts never bleed much anyways.
"Sir!" The main officer said, the one officer had 3 's and 2 's on his suit, a Sergeant First Class. "Nickolas-238?"
Master Chief nodded. "I am Nickolas-238. What is it Sergeant?"
The Sergeant looked uneasy, like he had something to say, but wanted to hide it.
"We are waiting for your pick up, Master Chief."
Master Chief shook his head and scrounged his eyes hard.
"How long have me and my team been out, Sergeant?"
The SFC took a minute to think.
"I'd say… about 4 or 5 minutes. You and your team landed pretty hard." He turned and pointed to them, most still on the ground, some now standing and shaking off their lethargies. "We've been protecting you since then."
Master Chief nodded and put a hand on the SFC's shoulder.
"We owe you our lives."
"No problem, Master Chief."
Master Chief went over to his standing teammate, Dilon, the strongest SPARTAN.
"Dilon!"
"Sir!" He said as he snapped to attention and gave a quick salute.
"Are you ok?"
Dilon let go a little, and nodded.
"Yessir, I'm finer than ever."
Dilon dropped his salute and opened fire on the Jackals that were getting close to the knocked out Spartans. The Jackal's shield disabled from a shot from a Officer's MA9B, and the rest of the bullets Dilon fired went into the Jackal, sending trails of blue-purple blood up to 12 inches away. The Jackal fell to his knees, holding its gut, where the spray of bullets went into. It then fell to the ground, lifeless.
Master Chief shook the rest of the sleeping SPARTANs, stirring them too. Luckily, they were all alive. Master Chief let out a sigh of relief.
"Good to have you back," Master Chief exclaimed, not aware that his happiness was teeming. "And all alive."
The Spartans stood up and gave a sloppy salute.
"Phantoms! Need back up!" An Officer's voice came over the public CC.
Dilon looked up at the sky, and saw the Phantom. He turned back to the Chief, to see what he would say.
The Phantom was like a Pelican, a drop off and pick up ship that carried units. It also was equipped with 4 quick firing Plasma lasers. But unlike the Pelican, there was more than the cockpit and the drop area. There were corridors that lead to medic rooms and such. Seems the Covenants had learned more from the humans than the humans learned from the Covenants.
"Get your weapons ready, Spartans." The Chief said as he cocked his gun. "We're going into the White House."
"We're not helping them?" Eddie, the fastest Spartan said in disbelief.
The Master Chief shook his head. "Negative. Our mission is to extract the president. Once the president is safely off the ground, then we can request permission to fall back and fight. Understood?"
"Understood." The Spartans spoke as one person.
The Master Chief walked; crouch like, toward the White House porch. The door was busted in, from when Master Chief saw the Covenants break in. He did a recon as he stepped into the house, his team covering his 6. When the coast was clear, he stood up straight.
"John?" Master Chief said as he put his hand to his ear region, to hear well over the battle sounds outside. "What room is the president located in?"
"You should know by the fact that there's a UNSC flag across the double white doors. Other than that, I have no info. The White House doesn't trust anyone with a map of this place. If it were to fall into the wrong hands, the secrets of the White House, and the world would be revealed."
"Thanks, John." Master Chief turned to his team. "Did you all hear that? Going as 1 large group is dangerous, as we have a hard time dodging Plasma if there are too many off us around. So let's slip up into 5 different teams, everyone on their own."
"Aye, sir," The Spartans replied.
The Spartans took each separate routes, each covering each other's blind spots, before they went their separate ways.
"Remember, when you find the president," Master Chief told his team through his COM. "Place a white marker on your map. If you need help, place a black marker on your map, understand?" The Chief was answered by 4 yellow blinks on his HUD.
He then took the only route left to go. The president's house was big, and it may be minutes before they even find the floor his room is on, but he was certain they'd do it in time.
As the Chief turned around a corner, he was faced by 3 Grunts talking. He turned back the way he came, and slide up against the wall, listening to their conversation. But their language was not understandable, but another secret feature of the MJOLNIR IV suit is the translation of the Covenant language. So when the Covenants weren't talking English, they could still understand anyways.
"We don't need him, one human won't make a difference," Their accent was weird and hard to understand, but Master Chief made due.
"Idiot, Babal," The second Grunt spoke. "This is the leader of the Spartans. If we capture him, the Spartans will give up. They won't give up his life."
"Yeah," The third Grunt now spoke. "This distraction is only a distraction. Right now, Mera 'Gamumee is headed for December's Hail with an army of Covenants. With the Spartans down here, the ship is unprotected. As the puny humans still can't destroy our Covenant ships!"
The Master Chief's jaw dropped. He was surprised at what he heard. Uncaring for how loud he was, he screamed over the COM.
"John! Transmit this message to the vessel December's Hail! The Covenants aren't going for the president; they're going for Dr. Kelly!"
John took a second to absorb the shocking news.
"Right away, Chief," John exclaimed.
The Covenants got scared by Master Chief, and ran away with their hands in the air, screaming.
"Run away! They're here!"
The December's Hail answered back to Master Chief.
"Master Chief, if this is what you truly heard, then we're in danger, we have sent a Pelican to your location. Gather your team and rendezvous outside the back of the White House.
"And the president, we'll send Marines down on the Pelican meant to pick you up. The Marines can handle the Covenants until more Marines can come pick him up. Your new mission will be to board the Covenant ship and wipe out the units aboard."
The Master Chief called to his Spartans.
"Team, come in," He said. "Come in team?"
There were 4 yellow lights that blinked on Master Chief's HUD, signaling that the Spartans were there.
"New mission. We are to rendezvous outside the White House, on the back lawn, and get picked up. The Covenants were never gunning for the president; they were going for Dr. Kelly, this was a distraction. Massive forces of humans are down here, and none are protecting the ship. Sorry to say, the president can be replaced, but Dr. Kelly… he can't be replaced by anyone. So this mission is top priority. Execute mission."
4 more yellow blinks signaled a confirmation from all the Spartans.
A few minutes later, the Spartans all met outside the White House. From a distance, they could see the Pelican coming down from the sky. The same, plain old Pelican. They had gone this far in technology, and they can't even remake the Pelican a new design.
Since the 2550's, there have been quite a lot of advances. Like the Spider; a slick new, blue hover car that traveled at over 3000 meters per second. The Spider had no tires, so it used UNSC technology to hover inches off the ground. It had mini-guns on the side of the headlight. It could be retracted and controlled by the passenger side. The Spider also had 6 missiles installed onto the spoilers. The missiles homed in onto targets and followed them until the target, or the missile is destroyed.
Or the Anaconda; a train that runs off of tracks. The Anaconda has 6 cars, each which can hold up to 85 Marines. The Anaconda runs on pillars that stick out of the ground, 24 inches in the air. It pulls the Anaconda toward the pillar, and that's what makes it move and not fall. The train is empty of its seats, and can be loaded onto air or sea transport ships. And like the Pelican, it's strictly a transport ship, that's why the Anaconda is lightly armed.
The last advance is the Water Stryder. This ship is the largest ship ever created. It stands 30 meters high, and is over 1,000 meters in length. This sea vessel is 3 things. 1, it's a transport ship that can hold air, or land transports, or even land units like Marines. 2, it's a battle ship. It is heavy loaded, and has nuclear missiles that can be fired underwater. It has 30 missile pods, and can scan the waters faster than any ship made at 7000 knots. And 3, it's a submarine that can dive to the bottom of the deepest ocean. The Stryder can dive up to 8,000 leagues under the sea.
The Pelican hovered slightly over the green grass of the White House lawn. The Spartans loaded up as the Marines that the Pelican dropped gave them cover fire. The Pelican started to lift up and shot up into the stars.
"Master Chief, can you hear me, Master Chief?"
"Yes, COM 1?" Master Chief replied.
COM's were computer monitors inside the UNSC HQ, which had human traits, and thought like one. There were over 20 COM's in all.
"Master Chief," COM 1 repeated. "You will be dropped off at the Covenant blast door. December's Hail will fire 25 missiles at the same place, aimed at the blast door. The shield around the ship will most likely break."
"When it does," Master Chief interrupted her. "We will have a little time before the shield is self-repaired."
"Correct. So you will have to use the boosters to get close and land on the blast door. By then, we will most likely have hacked into the Covenant system and tapped into the door, and open it."
"Right." Master Chief sighed and looked at his team. He was scared, because unlike any other mission, if they failed this mission, not only will the only remaining Spartans be wiped out, but also the only one who can 'create' more Spartans will be taken away. And with those odds, the human race will start to crumble. And soon, the Covenants will win.
"Alright team," Master Chief spoke with a sudden burst of confidence. "You all heard that. Now let's go and make it true!"
"Sir," The Spartans said with sudden confidence filled in them as well. "Yes, sir!"
CHAPTER 3 ==========================0935 hours September 03, 2581 (Military Calendar)/
Epsilon Eridani System UNSC Pelican
En Route to Covenant Ship Orbit around Earth
Master Chief looked out toward the advancing Covenant ship. He could see December's Hail from the head window, and the Covenant ship was reaching it fast. They had been trading shots for a while, the Covenant ship and December's Hail. The Chief also noticed the MAC guns on December's Hail were destroyed. But as the Pelican neared the blast doors, the pods were activated, and 25 missiles were fired toward the blast doors. The Pelican shook from the continues explosions.
"Go Spartans!" Master Chief spoke as he jumped out of the back of the Pelican, and turned on his boosters. He went straight for the blast doors, and hoped the shield was destroyed, if not, he would ricochet and be shot away, and the mission would be failed. He closed his eyes as he passed the shield. He sighed a breath of relief as he latched onto the blast doors of the Covenant ship.
"Accessing Covenant database." John said through CC-SPARTAN, which was a Chat Channel that could be heard all the way to the December's Hail. "Be done in a minute."
That was another advance in the human technology. It had channels that could be entered by entering the name of the channel and the password. The SPARTAN CC was, name; SPARTAN and password; Dr. Jack Kelly. There were millions of channels that can be accessed. Each with different purposes.
The door opened, and the SPARTANs jumped inside the Covenant ship.
"Done."
"We can see that, John," Master Chief quickly replied. "Thank you."
The Master Chief stood up and covered the Spartans as they stood up and organized themselves. Master Chief looked at his surroundings, he saw 4 doors in this hanger. 3 with red illuminating lights coming for the edges, and 1 with white.
"Entered Covenant vessel," Master Chief said in CC-SPARTAN. "Carrying out mission."
"Roger that, Master Chief," A reply came from December's Hail. "We're rooting for you. December's Hail, over."
Master Chief looked back at his team, to see if they were ready to go. They were.
"Alright team, let's move out."
"Sir, yes, sir!"
Master Chief moved toward the white door, knowing that the red ones were locked doors. The door swung open, and in that hallway were 3 Jackals, and 4 Grunts. The SPARTANs fired on Grunts, dropping them instantly.
Eddie, who was the fastest Spartan, shot forward to attack the Jackals in hand-to-hand. The rest of the Spartans kept fire on him minimum by firing onto the Jackals shield, so they wouldn't get from behind it. Eddie reached the 1 Jackal, and he punched through the shield, disabling it.
The team fired onto that Jackal, making sure they didn't hit Eddie. The bullets went through the Jackal, killing it immediately.
Eddie then turned around and kicked the next Jackal's shield, disabling that ones. And before the team could fire, Eddie grabbed the Jackal and threw it toward the last Jackal. The flying Jackal dissolved the shield. Then Eddie hit the wall.
As both Jackals stood up with disabled shields, the team opened fire on the front one. The bullets ripped through him and hit the back one, killing them both as one.
Eddie backed up to where the team was, and when he did, the team pressed forward. They rounded the corner and saw 3 Elites. The Elites grunted and took cover behind the many corridors in front of the Spartans. From time to time, they left their hiding spots to unleash a few rounds of Plasma on the Spartans.
"Mack," Master Chief said loudly. "Snipe them."
"Aye." Mack was the best sniper there was, he could snipe a dot from 5 miles away. His suit was also specially made to help his sniping skills, as it helped in homing in and keeping a steady hand. The armor added 5x to any weapons homing system.
The next time an Elite came out from its hiding place, it got 1 shot to the middle of its forehead. The JKS-14 round went through the Elite's shield, making it shimmer blue and white, and dissolve, and finished by going through his head, and hit the Elite behind him. They both fell, dead.
"Ha!" Mack said as he raised one hand in the air. "2 for the price of 1!"
The last Elite was taken out by all the SPARTANs. They all opened fire onto the Elite. The shield around him was destroy, and he was down on the floor in seconds. This hallway was clear of any Covenant units.
The team marched on, trying to find the control room. After a while inside the Covenant ship, and after taking down only 10 more Grunts, they found the control room.
"This ship was almost empty," Ada told Master Chief. "Maybe most of the Covenant's are down on Earth… But why would they attack December's Hail when they are at a weakened stage… Seems to me like the Covenants can plan."
"Either way, Ada," Master Chief said after thinking about what she said. "We have to destroy this ship. Dilon? Explosives."
Dilon placed a couple of rounds of explosives under the ship's control panel. They set the timer for 2 minutes, since the ship was most likely empty. When the time was set, the Spartans ran for the docks. There, the SPARTANs hijacked a Phantom, the Covenant drop ship.
They exited the ship by breaking through the energy field that covered the dock door. The Phantom headed for Earth, as they needed to pick up the president as well.
"Mission complete," Master Chief called out in CC-SPARTAN. "Covenant ship obliterated."
When he got no reply, he remembered the new Covenant alloy attached to the ships made human-based contact treacherous. But only rumors were true, as when humans tried to contact the Covenants didn't answer back anyways. So they couldn't be proven.
The Phantom had no trouble going through the atmosphere, but the heat passed through like metal over fire. But when the Spartans hit the ground, they got an incoming message from December's Hail.
"Help! A rebel ship has kidnapped Dr. Kelly! They demanded you go to their planet in Epsilon Demitri System. They also said for only 3 people to go, no more. Hurry and get Dr. Kelly back."
The Spartans looked at each other with worried eyes.
"Could it be possible?" Ada asked a rhetorical question.
"I heard that our transmition couldn't be passed through Covenant alloy," Lynn, Mack's AI explained.
"So it's true," Ada replied.
"What is it, Ada?" Master Chief asked her back.
"The Covenants started an uprising, which called out all our Pelicans. When we got to Earth, the only Pelican left would pick us up to get us to the shield. But the Pelican was controlled by Marines, who then passed the controls to us, so all the Pelicans had a drop off far away, and the others, there were no pilots." Ada took a deep breath. She was tired from talking so much, but she had to get it out. She was as smart as the stupidest AI, and knew a lot about a lot. "So inside the Covenant alloy, we can't hear any UNSC transmitions, so December's Hail's cries of help were useless."
Once we finished our mission, we got out of the Phantom, and the distress call came in, but it was too late. And about these rebels, could they have formed an alliance with the Covenants, or did they take advantage of them?"
"Either way, Ada," Master Chief spoke softly. "We're getting Dr. Kelly back."
CHAPTER 4 ==========================1650 hours September 08, 2581 (Military Calendar)/
Epsilon Demitri System Covenant Phantom
Orbit around Rebellia Massive Rebel Planet
Ada concentrated down at the planet known as Rebellia. This planet was known for it's massive rebels that resided inside it. But unlike other rebel planets, there was no need to hide inside the asteroid. The planet took place outside, and from space, the greens lands and blue oceans could be seen.
"All right Spartans," Master Chief broke through Ada's concentration. "I have chosen who to take. I need fast moving people, and people with hawk eyes. So I choose you Eddie, and you Mack. Gear up."
"Yes, sir!" They said as they gave him a salute. In the corner of their mouths, a smile started to form.
Mack grabbed a sniper rifle he called 'True Shot'. In his 6 years he had his rifle he had never missed.
Eddie traveled light, so he could move even faster. He grabbed his 12-mm handgun with scope. And his always trusted M12D.
Ada was filled with sadness, as she wanted to go down and help, but she hid that feeling at the back of her head. "Why Master Chief? Why fast people and people with hawk eyes?"
"Simple Ada… The spot the rebels called us out to is surrounded by 4 buildings. That means over 150 windows and 4 rooftops to sniper us from. I need people who are too fast to get caught by snipers, and people who can snipe you 3 times faster than you can snipe him."
"How do you know where they called you out to?"
Master Chief sent a display to Ada's screen. It showed the map of Rebellia. The gigantic city of Kairo Rebel, the capital of Rebellia.
"They sent us a map yesterday. They don't want any problems, they just want to be left alone by us, who have always attacked them when we had the chance." Master Chief shook his head, ready to express what he really thought, but he held back his real feelings, and gave his second opinion. "But I think they're using this as a chance to kill us, and Dr. Kelly, then there will be no more Spartans to kill their people."
Ada nodded in agreement. She knew he was right, but she had rather not say it. "If you need a quick pick up, me and the rest of the Spartans are ready."
"Well said, CPO Lockheart. I'll take you up on that."
"Aye, sir," She added with a smile.
"Take us down, Ada."
"Aye, sir."
The Phantom took a nosedive into Rebellia's atmosphere. As they passed the burning atmosphere, Master Chief noticed it was hotter when they passed through, than it was on the Pelican. Maybe that was the Covenant's weaknesses…
Master Chief pushed the thought back until later, when he saw Kairo Rebel. He could see the large white walls surrounding Kairo. As they neared to about 5000 meters, the Chief saw that at each of the 4 points, North, East, South, & West, there were large gates, with 2 manned Stationary Gunners. This had to be a mistake. The Stationary Gunners were produced in a Covenant sweatshop. Why would the Rebels have one?
Was this gunner stolen, or have the Covenants made an alliance to destroy the humans?
"Drop us in the city limits of Kairo Rebel, Ada," Master Chief said through CC-PHANTOM, which he had created just as they were landing, and put the Spartans in it.
In the CC's, there were also ranks. If you were higher than the next man, you could be put into it, but if they were of lower rank, you would get a message asking if you accept to be put into it. It was really handy for quick, private chat lines.
"Aye, sir." She replied in the same CC as she stared at the little red box on the top right corner of her HUD. It read "PHANTOM-CC", telling her she was in that CC.
The ship started to slow its speed. The Phantom dropped on the sandy ground, and clots of sand were sent flying all around. The back blast door opened, and Master Chief, Eddie, and Mack jumped out, with their weapon of choice.
"Be careful, Chief, remember, we're here for back up," Ada called over the CC to Master Chief. The Phantom took off, and the giant gate of Kairo was less than 50 meters away from the Spartans.
The men handling the gunners turned to the Spartans. Master Chief wondered if they would fire, or if they knew they were called here. Master Chief had a bad habit; he would ask himself questions that are stupid, and that he already knew the answer to. Kind of like the great Captain Keyes' habit of chewing the end of the pipe he had from his father. Except this habit was embarrassing. That's why no one knew about it.
Master Chief started walking toward the massive gates. The gunners followed him every step of the way. Even though the Chief held his M12D in the air, to show he wasn't going to fire, the gunners looked like they were going to shot him anyways. Did they have that much hatred for them?
The guards behind the metal bars of the gate opened the door. The Spartans stepped through, and were greeted by nearly 2-dozen guards armed with pistols. The guards seized their weapons, leaving them bear.
"Why did you only bring pistols? Are you that careless?" Asked the head guard.
"No," Master Chief replied to him as he handed them his grenades. "I'm just confident."
The guards snarled at him, but the Chief kept his calm. "This way. A convoy will take you to our leader." The head guard mentioned as he pointed to a long bus, that had about 10 guards in it. The Chief wondered why there were so many, it seemed if they were walking into an ambush, and everything about the bus felt wrong. But the Spartans entered with no fear.
The bus, once loaded, started on its trip. The bus lifted off the ground, as it had no tires, and used Opgravity to float.
Opgravity was made for gravity. In physics, it mentions that every force has an equal and opposite force. Since there was none for gravity, Opgravity was made. It used anti-gravity technology to hover above the ground.
The bus ran through the city, showing the Spartans how the true city worked.
The Chief saw someone stealing jewels from a jewel stand. 3 guards came by and roughed him up a little, then they pistol whipped him, and knocked him unconscious. That's when they put the cuffs on him and dragged him away.
The Chief wondered why they were so brutal to each other… they were all rebels.
The bus halted abruptly, sending the Spartans forward, but they quickly pulled back.
"Get out!" The driver opened the door on the side of the bus. It was an average, yellow bus. The type of bus that was used nearly 600 years ago. But now it was fitted with future technology.
The Spartans stepped out, and they quickly noticed that they had an even worst point of view. The map details were off, and instead of 4 buildings, there were 10, over 500 windows and 10 rooftops. This spot was beautiful. There was grass with many flowers in it. The trees were tall, that it covered most of the roofs from where the Spartans were. This seemed like a 20th Century place. Seemed like the Rebels were living in the past.
There was a 1 way street, which bent around at the last building, and continued to lead out to the rest of the city. There were 6 buildings that were adjacent to the street, and about 2 buildings behind the set of 3s. So there were 5 buildings on each side of the road.
There was a slight blow of wind, and Master Chief held his hand near his concealed assault rifle. He swiped at the air, as much pollen and ragweed filled the air. There was enough to kill an allergenic person.
A door opened at the last building on the left side of the street. A man dressed in black, surrounded by 20 guards poured out of the small door. They carried M10D Pistol, which was standard issue to the Spartans 13 years ago.
The group stopped in front of the Spartans. "Thanks for arriving on time." The leader called out, as he stepped from behind the men in black. "Punctual as I expected."
Master Chief didn't like this, so much protection for unarmed Spartans. Was it that the Rebels feared the Spartans? Enough to go over the top with protection?
"Where's our Doctor?" Master Chief asked in a loud voice. "We want him back, is he ok?"
The leader nodded. "I am—"
"We don't care for introductions," Mack jumped in front of the leader's words. "After today, we'll never see you again."
The leader nodded as he beared a slight grin. "That's what I'm hoping for. To never see you, or another Marine again."
"This is what you want?" Master Chief asked.
"This is what all rebels want! To never be harassed by you sons of bitches! To never have to hide, or run, or fight! If all the humans died except us, I'd be ok with that! That's why we sided with the Covenants!"
The Spartans got a look of surprise on their faces. So it was true that the Covenants were allied with the Rebels. It didn't make sense… the Covenants never took any prisoners or had any allies. Why did they suddenly take up the Rebels?
Ada, who was listening to their conversation from the Phantom, relayed all she was hearing back to ONI and December's Hail. They recorded this into their info file, this was the first time ever the Covenants had allies. Ada figured the ONI spooks would be bombarding her with directions and things to do for them, which were why she was glad human transmition couldn't enter the ship, but could exit it.
That is also why they couldn't make peace with the Covenants. Once the Covenants were in range, they took no prisoners. There was no time to negotiate on the battlefield. And when trying to contact the Covenant ships, no trans could surpass the Covenant alloy. Unless the Spartans found the home planet to the Covenants, they can't negotiate. Or unless the Spartan's found a Covenant CC. The CC transmition could reach all the way to the other side of the galaxy. But this was hard, as no one knew if Covenants even used CCs.
Which is why most are pissed off. The home world was found. And peace could've been negotiated, but it wasn't, instead it was blown to smithereens. And since then, the Covenants have rioted tediously. And now the humans want to negotiate peace.
In a way, the humans were like the rebels. Fight when it's convenient. But when things get hot, they want peace and love. Everyone thought this was the wrong way to handle this, but no one wanted to say anything, since they could be charged with conspiracy and insubordination. And those are serious charges.
The Chief seemed as if he was going to strike the man from Mack's eyes, but he knew that the Chief would not sabotage this mission for a few thrown words.
"Give us Dr. Kelly." Master Chief demanded as he put out his hand to shake the leader's hand. "And you'll get your peace."
The leader respectably shook the Spartan's hand. "Release the doctor." The leader called over his walkie-talkie.
"Send in the Banshee, Ada," Master Chief rang to the Phantom in space. "Pick up for Dr. Kelly."
"Roger that." Ada answered back, as she nose-dived into Rebellia's atmosphere.
From a distance, Master Chief could see Dr. Kelly run out of a building. "Hey, Spartans! I'm safe, it's ok!"
The Spartans let out a silent breath of air, his hot air smogging up his visor. But the Doctor had a grim look on him. "I'm sorry to say-" He started to say as he pulled up to the group. "The December's Hail crew was killed when I was kidnapped."
The Chief, under his visor, gritted his teeth. "Don't worry about it, Doctor. You're safe now, and that's all that matters."
As the Chief finished, the Phantom's roar grew loud. It was in sight now, and would hit the ground in a few seconds. But while it came, the leader back away, into the building he came into. As he reached the door, he stopped to look back at the departing Spartans.
The back hatch opened, and Dr. Kelly hopped in. But the Spartans made no movements.
"Now!" master Chief screamed over his external speakers. "That was for Dr. Kelly! Now this is a matter of the December's Crew!"
With that, the Master Chief opened fire onto the leader's group. 15 of the 20 guards dropped from shots to the upper body. The rest of the guards ducked inside with the leader between them. The snipers inside the buildings fired onto them. The Spartans quickly moved to dodge the bullets.
"Mack! Find and destroy!"
"Aye, Chief!"
Mack searched the windows with his 10x zoom, trying to find the snipers. But had no luck.
"Chief, we got 6 Rogue enemies headed for you, arrival in—" Ada started, but got cut off by a voice she knows all too well.
"1 minutes 2 seconds." Divine cut in front of Ada, his own master.
From a distance, Master Chief saw 6 busses, most likely full of Rebels headed for their location.
"Thanks guys." Master Chief said, as he slowed down his pace and dodged closer to the rest of the Spartans. "Alright guys, the point of this is to teach them a lesson. They kill our people; we kill theirs. Fire at will."
"Aye, Chief." Collective voices called at him.
The Spartans inside the Phantom got out to help out. Dr. Kelly on his own piloted the Phantom. He was ready to pick up the Spartan's at any time.
A sudden fire of a special rifle some knew as True Shot shocked the Spartans. Everyone knew that 1 shot fired meant 1 enemy dead. On some occasions, maybe even 2 or 3. The Spartans all turned to see Mack had made his mark. A Rebel fell out of the window he was stationed on. He fell 4 floors and hit the bottom with a crunch!
The bus was now closer, not enough, but it let out its troops. This way, the bus wouldn't be in danger of getting fired on, and it would risk explosion. It was weak to fire, and was extremely flammable. 1 bullet may even sometime cost the explosion. The Rebels started on their foot quest. They started firing on the Spartans, but the Spartans were all too ready, and the bullets went to waste. As the blast of 1 of the Rebel weapons hit the grass in front of the moving Spartans, they could see something they saw every week. Plasma.
The Covenants even gave the Rebels their weapons. But that wasn't all, a shrieking noise filled the air, and it wasn't long before the Spartans saw a trio of Banshees fill the sky.
The Spartans took no time to talk, but just opened fire onto the Banshees. Mack shot one of the external wings, and the hit Banshee, which struggled to stay afloat. It fought with itself, but finally lost, when the left wing hit the ground, brushing it off. The Banshee shredded the ground for a few meters, until it finally burst into flames.
The second Banshee however, was only struck 1, when the bullet of Ada passed through the bottom, and through the newly made hole came blood. The Banshee touched down softly in a decent flower patch, throwing flowers into the air.
Eddie ran over to the untouched Banshee and pulled open the back. A Rebel lay dead there, as 3 bullets went through his head. Eddie pulled him out and took his spot. The Banshee roared life, and dusted off. It soared through the air, as Eddie tried it out for the first time. When he finally got use to the controls, he started to give chase to the last Banshee.
Back on the ground, the Spartans opened fire on the oncoming Rebels. The front line fell to the ground, but there were still many lines behind them. As Mack fired onto another Sniper, Rebels rushed out of the buildings surrounding them. This was easily unmatched. Only 5 Spartans to over 200 Rebels with Banshees. But each Spartan could take about 50 Rebels alone without any wounds, so it was evenly matched anyways.
A Rebel rushed Dilon, but with Dilon's enhanced strength, he easily grabbed the tiny Rebel by both hands and started to pull. He stretched the Rebel fiercely. Despite the cries of pain from the Rebel, Dilon kept stretching him. There was a crack, and blood smeared over the Rebel's shirt. There obviously was a tear in the skin under the arm. The Rebel hit the ground as Dilon let him go. The Rebel looked up at Dilon with watery eyes. And got 6 to the face from Dilon's assault rifle.
Unlike Master Chief, Eddie, and Mack, the rest of the Spartans were heavily armed with Assault rifles, grenades and a handgun; the M12D. All the weapons Master Chief, Eddie, and Mack had were Master Chief's assault rifle, Eddie's M12D, and Mack's True Shot.
The Master Chief ducked out of the way of a Plasma blast from close range. He rolled, jumped back as another threaten to burn through him. When he landed on his back, he shot a quick succession of 3's, as he hit the 2 Rebels that were shooting at him. They both dropped easily, as no armor made them easy targets to kill.
He had to be quick, as a Plasma grenade was dropped from a nearby Rebel, in his futile attempt to kill all the Spartans in 1 move. There was no chance of dodging the grenade, so the Master Chief caught the Plasma grenade, and tried to throw it. But it was stuck to his shield.
Ada's quick thinking got him through it though. She fired controlled-burst onto the Chief's armor, until it flashed red, and disappeared.
And with the armor deteriorated, the Plasma had nothing to grab hold of, so it dropped to the ground slowly, and its adhesive glued to the grass.
The Chief pulled back behind Mack, so his shield could recharge. Without a shield, the Rebel's Plasma would easily burn through him. And dispel inside him, leaving the burning where it last left off.
The Chief's internal speakers sounded the alarm, and his HUD flashed red as the shield refilled slowly. When it got to half way, the alarm quit, and the red flashing turned into normal colors again.
The Plasma exploded into bluish green smoke, and sent grass flying meters into every direction. This shrouded the Rebel's sight of vision. But with the Spartan's enhanced vision, they could nearly see clearly over the Plasma fog.
They took this time to fire a rain of bullets onto unsuspecting Rebels. Everything seemed to be going fine on the ground.
Up above the Earth, 50 meters in the air, Eddie was getting the hang of the Banshee. He duck and dove, trying to polish his skills. But his fun was killed, as a Banshee flew into the scene and fired onto the Spartans on the ground. Eddie trailed this rogue Banshee as it tried to hit and run.
The Banshee ducked between 2 buildings, as Eddie followed it. When he reached it, he found it was waiting for him. He took a pulse Plasma on his left wing as he tried to swerve right. Smoke sputtered from the newly opened gash. Eddie found it hard to stay afloat. And as well, seconds later, he was declining at a 20 degree angle, headed straight for a building.
Eddie pushed down on the control stick, and dived to miss the building. But he was soon on a collision course with the ground. He opened the back door by pushing a button on the control panel, and waited for the Banshee to reach the ground. When it was meters away from the ground, he jumped out, and struggled to fix himself, to land straight on his feet.
He landed with a thud, hard on the ground. He quickly buckled his feet to ease the pain, and fell backwards onto the bristle grass. He stared at the sky for second, admiring it, until the Banshee that took him down came back around. He could not move, or reach for his weapon, as it was several meters from his position. He wrapped his arms around his visor, to cover any Plasma that hit him in the face, though it had no use, as if Plasma were to hit him, it would burn through his arms and hit his face.
He heard a screech, several bullets ricochet, and an explosion.
Eddie opened his eyes to see Master Chief, Ada, and Dilon standing over him. Eddie sighed and smirked under his visor. "Thanks for saving my neck, guys."
He got a collective, "No problem." from the group. Who after they said their peace, went back into the hot zone for more battle. Eddie, saw the Banshee, crumpled near a small playground. The Banshee had managed to mangle the jungle gym, and turned it into a burning metal prison for the Banshee.
Eddie followed the team into the mist of the battle. Seemed these Spartans had much more experience than the Spartans of the past. And it showed in great amounts.
TO BE CONTINUED…