Hi everybody, here's my 1st Fanfic, I'm Brazilian, which means that I don't speak English as my natural language, so I'm not the best writer you'll find out there. I'm a big Halo fan and since there are no Brazilian Fanfic sites for Halo, I decided to make my first English one. I hope you enjoy and please let me know if there's something wrong.
Warm Introduction
0130 Hours (Ship's Time), September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar) / UNSC Cruiser Pillar of Autumn, location unknown.
"Gentlemen, for those of you who don't know yet, Reach has fallen, we made a blind jump to God knows where and those Covenant bastards managed to follow us! We're going to unleash hell on them until we're able to get out of this ship, and then, we're going to unleash hell on them once AGAIN, but this time on their own turf!" said the tall, muscular and battle hardened Staff Sergeant Pete Stacker in front of a 12 men squad. He was walking in the middle of two lines formed by 6 marines each. A Sergeant's Cap on his head and an MA5B Assault Rifle on his hands, Pete always had a second weapon in case of emergencies, his always faithful M6D Handgun.
"Sir, yes sir!" a chant echoed trough the barracks of the Pillar of Autumn as the Marines set themselves for battle. Some of the men had years of war before them, they held their Assault Rifles as if it was everything left in their lives, and at that moment, it was everything that kept them from falling apart on the hands of the Covenant.
"We're heading to the Commanding Deck so we can reinforce the security of Captain Keyes!" he continued "I want guns blazing all the way, better yet, I want guns blazing right trough the skulls of those aliens!"
The sergeant is a tough, grizzled veteran who has seen war in every corner since he joined the Corp. He had bruises and scars to prove it, one of them right under his left eye, which he kept with proud to remember him of the horrors of this war.
The place was full of Marines running with their squads, Warthogs and Scorpion Tanks getting in formation and Pelicans setting to dust off. Stacker straightened his cap and held his weapon tight against his shoulder while running to the corridors that led to the Commanding Deck.
Their footsteps were barely heard with all the noise of the battle going on right ahead. He knew that most of the ship was guarded by Navy personnel since almost all the Marines were at the Barracks, but most of the Swabbies weren't made to fight, that was a Leatherneck's job.
Three crewmen found themselves pinned down at the far end of a corridor, a pack of Grunts led by a Blue Armored Elite shot against the thick pillar that the humans were using to take cover. The 6'3" Sergeant pulled his MA5B and fired against the enemy, his piercing bullets glanced at the Elite's energy shield. The alien turned and faced the incoming humans, his four mandibles opened as he screamed some sort of battle cry, the alien leaned and readied his Plasma Pistol, but 13 Assault Rifles firing at the same time is a hell lot of fire power, even for a 7'4" armored son of a bitch like the Elites.
"Anytime you want mate! You know where I am!" the Australian descendant Chips Dubbo screamed as the Elite fell riddled with piercing bullets.
Stacker almost felt sorry for the poor Grunts who had been left alone without a leader, the little aliens weren't too much of a threat, but when led by Elites and at great numbers, they could become a hell of a challenge. They screamed and squealed as the Navy personnel shot them down one by one. "Damn! They're even uglier when they're dead!" Private Leonard screamed as he kicked one of the dead Grunts. The Sarge checked his ammo, 42 bullets left on the magazine, a good number, enough for another shooting. The crewmen approached the Marines with a tired smile on the face.
"OK sailors… You're joining my team!" Stacker ordered "Try to keep up; we'll leave you guys next to the escape pods!" Pete checked the new members of his squad, two of them wore a red uniform and one of them yellow, all of them held an M6D. The Sarge knew that they were going to slow the rest of the team down, but both the Bridge and the Escape Pods were near, there was no reason to leave them.
The gray and white corridors of the Pillar of Autumn looked like the same, the only way to find the Bridge was to find the Mess Hall first, which was an easy task since there were small signs on the floor and walls pointing out. Stacker and his squad kept running until they reached the passage for the Hall, as soon as the last man stepped in, a blue shiny ball flew over their heads. Sixteen men running through a small passage, whoever threw that Plasma Grenade couldn't have missed.
"God damnit! SPREAD OUT!" Pete screamed with all his strength. The Yellow uniform of the Crewman was the last thing he saw. The bright explosion blinded him for a few seconds; he felt the heat of the plasma bolts missing him close. "I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!" someone screamed with a desperate voice, Stacker held his Rifle high and started to shoot, he heard some of his men shooting too, but another Plasma Grenade was thrown and another explosion sent Pete flying through the corridor. Elites and Grunts screamed and laughed at the other side, it was a lost battle, and he hadn't even reached the Bridge.
"I think we got ourselves some Alien Bastards to kill right Stackie?" a strong and enthusiastic voice filled Stacker's ears. A dark skinned hand was everything he could see. He grabbed the hand that helped him to get up. "Let's clean up this mess!" said Staff Sergeant Avery Junior Johnson, a long time friend of Stacker, the man stood at 6'4", and was a legend amongst the Marines. Johnson shouldered his MA5B, and so did Stacker, they started to shoot and walk back into the mess hall until the doors in front of them closed with a soft and gentle "click". Stacker checked his squad, Cpl. Guiterres, Pvt. Leonard and PFC. Fitzgerald were with Stacker, the rest was scattered or dead. He gave a quick look to his Assault Rifle, it marked 00 bullets, without thinking twice he took out the empty magazine and reloaded the weapon, 60 new bullets ready to get inside some covenant's body.
"Johnson, we need to stay put and let no one pass! We must protect the Bridge!" Stacker warned Avery who gave a quick glimpse to the mess hall.
"Okay ladies! Take cover, we're going to protect this place with our own lives, no split-chin son of a bitch is going to pass this hall!" Johnson ordered to his marines. Stacker and Johnson stood side by side behind one of the tables; the rest of their squads took cover behind the walls so they could flank the incoming enemy. The doors in front of them opened, one by one a group of five Elites got inside the room, followed by a hell lot of Grunts. Their armors were so shiny that looked like they just got out from the manufacturing, while the Marines' were already covered in blood and plasma.
"Rock n' Roll, let's get ready people!" Stacker yelled and dodged some green plasma bolts coming from the Grunts pistols. Johnson by his side, they covered each others back shooting everything that moved and didn't wear an UNSC uniform. A ridiculous amount of plasma shots covered the entire room, the Elites jumped and rolled as the humans tried to hit them. "Say hello to my little friend!" Johnson got up and threw his last grenade at a group of Grunts, the explosion killed three of them and damaged the shields of one of the Elites, Stacker got up too and the two sergeants took down the big alien in no time!
"I can't get a clear shot without having my ass burned by those stupid ass mother…" Johnson couldn't finish his sentence, some one yelled behind them "Look Sarge! A Mark V!"
Stacker turned around just in time to see one of his lost soldiers, Private Chips Dubbo, getting in the mess-hall with a terrifying, yet relieving image. A 6'8" soldier, wearing a green armor and wielding nothing but an M6D Hand Gun. The man was part of an elite group of soldiers, soldiers from a Navy super secret project called SPARTAN-II project, they were trained to handle all weapon, drive every vehicle, and neutralize any threat. Although covered by the MJOLNIR Mark V – armor built exclusively for these Warriors – it was possible to notice the strong and muscular man behind it.
The Master Chief Petty Officer SPARTAN 117 walked inside the room firing his weapon with perfect precision, each bullet fired found a home inside a grunt's head. The soldier made the fight look so easy that the Marines started to get out of their covers and add their fire with the Chief's. One by one the Elites fell, if by the precise shots of the Master Chief or the rain of bullets from the Marines, it didn't matter, the enemies were dead! The SPARTAN moved and left the mess-hall to save many more lives, as for Stacker's squad, their mission was accomplished, the bridge was safe.
"Well, damn!" Pete started "You monkeys almost looked like soldiers back there!" the marines laughed, one by one they approached the Sergeant and once again they were forced to reload their weapons. Johnson looked the rest of the squad, counting with the two Sergeants there were 9 Marines standing still. Avery's squad got separated during the firefight.
"We must abandon this ship, and I know that most of you would love to leave this place on your drop pods, land feet first and blast the crap out of those aliens, but you can't always get what you want!" Stacker said as he turned to one of the doors "We're heading straight to those escape pods, and hope that the rest of our squads had the same chance!"
The group joined the other survivors as they prepared themselves to evacuate the ship.
"Sir, I suggest that some of us stay and wait for the Captain!" said a confident and brave marine. His armor was incomplete, and his face was half-shaved, he probably didn't have time to finish the job!
"Oh my God! What the hell happened to your ugly face son?" Johnson asked, but didn't wait the answer "Good call though, I would stay, but I got some alien ass to kick down there!"
"Don't forget to save one Escape Pod for the Captain" Pete completed…
"The rest of you, out of this ship ASAP! Go, go, go!"
