"Hold!" Yelled Omega teams leader. The five Spartans forced the three jackals back with suppression fire. Jason lobbed a grenade into the hallway as two brutes turned the corner. The five Spartans ducked behind what little cover they had as the grenade detonated. Shrapnel and two corpses launch through the air. The unprotected backs of the three jackals tore open from the storm of shrapnel.
"Command, this is Omega team. Mission successful, the enemy has been stone walled."
Their mission had been to stop a covenant force from taking a military supply base outside London. They had succeeded but it had cost their team greatly. Six of them had been sent on the mission and now only five were going to return.
A battalion of U.N.S.C. marines were on there way to this position and would arrive in seven minutes. They had to get out of here by then. They had very strict orders to not be seen by any U.N.S.C. personnel. This was all do to the fact that they technically didn't exist. Spatch and Nate took up firing positions to cover the team in the open as Nick radioed in for a pickup. Spartan 221 leaned against a wall looking into the sky. She didn't hide her emotions well because Jason noticed the slightest changes in her movements. Jason reached over his back and placed his MA5B assault rifle to the magnetic plates. He slowly walked over to where Christian's body lay prone on the ground. He had been hit in the face by a sniper as he covered their retreat. All of them had a sense of family with each other and this loss hurt them all, but it hurt Stephanie the most because she and Christian were actual family. They were fraternal twins who both had been selected for the Spartan 2 program.
Stephanie would never voice her pains because of her training but it still hurt her to loose him, maybe even more so then one of her other comrades. Jason slid his arm around Christian's body and lifted him up over his shoulder. They couldn't leave any trace of them here.
"Incoming pick up, six o clock." Nick said over team com. Jason's green status light winked on in Nick's H.U.D. telling him he understood. The Pelican transport dove into the courtyard. Its thrusters screamed as the pilot slowed the crafted and steadied it. Nate and Spach ran to the Pelican and jumped in. Jason ran up to it and handed them Christian then got in himself. He turned around wondering what was taking Steph and Nike so long. They both stood around a pile of rubble that started to glow red. Jason reached for his assault rifle.
The ground melted away and Nike and Steph put 30 rounds into the face of a surviving brute. They then turned and ran for the Pelican. The marine had to have been close enough to see the transport leave but Jason knew they would never know what it was transporting. The Earth was being over run and everyone knew it but the remaining Spartans wouldn't stop fighting.
The Pelican rose at an 80-degree incline towards space. The five Spartans stood holding onto handrails as the ship left the atmosphere. In space the battle had died down significantly. The U.N.S.C. had some how managed to force hold out long enough for reinforcements to arrive. The 22 ships turned the tide of battle in space. The Covenant had lost more then half its ships to the orbital M.A.C. guns.
Waiting in space for team Omega was a prowler class vessel named the Anatole. It was a prototype that used reflective mirrors to enhance its stealth ability. The Spartans never liked being in space but they had no choice. The Anatole was a good ship but it could hardly defend itself if it was engaged in combat.
The Spartan Pelican pulled into the only hanger the Anatole had. The ship was bigger than a standard prowler class but the only difference it had was that it had a drop pod launcher aboard. The drop pods were usually an O.D.S.T.'s way from ship to planet but because of the defenselessness of the Anatole had it so the Spartans aboard had a way out if the ship was ever in danger of falling. The Spartans exited the back of the Pelican and stood at attention.
"Spartans, take all you gear to the armory and load up, then report back to the hanger." Jason yelled this over team COM. They all saluted and left the room. Jason turned around and walked back into the Pelican and picked up his dead comrade. He carried him out and put him down then opened his team roster and labeled Christian as DIA.
"Spartan 201 report to the Bridge."
Jason wondered why they had called him to the bridge. He turned and ran out the door. He punched in the code to the express elevator and got in. He keyed the location into the computer and the elevator shot up.
The doors opened and Jason walked to the end and waited for the Captain to call him over. The bridge was a buzz with movement. Officers ran from computer to computer tapping in commands. If Jason didn't know any better he would have figured they were getting ready for a fight.
"Spartan 201." Jason ran to the Captain as he called out his name. He saluted the Captain.
"At ease specialist." Jason's stance didn't change he just moved his right foot out a half inch. "We have some bad news. At 0900 hours the Covenant first appeared in space around the earth." Jason knew this but he listened anyway. "At 0920 hours we engaged the main covenant fleet. They out numbered us 4 to 1, our fleet normally wouldn't have survived the engagement but because of the orbital M.A.C. platforms the battle wasn't a total slaughter. At 1032 hours our fleet of 142 ships had been reduced to 37 and of the 25 orbital M.A.C. guns only ten remained. The covenant's battle fleet consisted of 276 ships still vastly out numbering our own. Our ships formed up around the M.A.C. platforms and prepared for an attack, but at approximately 1042 hours more then half the covenant fleet jumped out of system, leaving only 98 ships behind. We only have speculations as to why they left but we believe that it may have something to do with a secret operation on the planet Onyx. Twenty minutes after the majority of the covenant fleet left the system the remaining ships engaged our fleet. The battle was grim and more then half of our ships were destroyed. The covenant fleet almost pushed through the line when a second battle group showed up. This new fleet was commanded by Admiral Dancrof he moved his fleet behind the advancing covenant fleet. With these reinforcements we managed to push back the covenant. They currently are behind the moon regrouping for another attack. We are not going to be here for the party. Omega team will go on a mission to rescue certain priority figures from the planet Onyx. I just figured I should inform you of the whole situation before we embark because the Admiralty has given me orders to send you where I think fit; I personally believe you should make the choice where your men go." Jason knew that the earth would need them to defend it if the covenant broke through the line. They already had troops on the ground, that were proving to be trouble for the marine defenders, but he knew that the Spartans would be useless in a naval battle.
The Captain wanted a decision now and Jason knew it. "Sir, permission to take on the Onyx mission."
"The mission file will be sent to you en route to the planet, but I have a partial mission report that I can give you now."
Captain Mitchell reached over to the Captain's chair and pushed a button. A small message icon appeared in the top left corner of Jason's H.U.D.
"We will embark immediately. That will be all." Jason saluted and left the bridge.
Going down the elevator he opened the mission file.
Mission top priority
Classification: Top Secret
Code word encryption: none
Planet: Onyx
Data Collected: Proteus sensor outpost
Transmission intercepted: From Planet A.I. (see attached file) Basic outline was a warning to all U.N.S.C. personnel on the emergency E band. Possible Covenant threat and possible Non-Covenant threat.
Scan of Planet Summary: The planet was covered with alien drones (see attached file referring to Sentinel) Covenant fleet amassed over planet. Very strange slipspace anomaly in planets core. Planet Side A.I.'s last message came and said as followed. "This is U.N.S.C. A.I. serial number 01593, Surviving U.N.S.C. personnel traveled to planet core (See attached files on movement) there they found a rupture in space. Some kind of haven for the forerunners. They passed through this field and disappeared from radar. Possible rescue unknown. "(See attached files for possible rescue.)
Jason didn't know what his team was supposed to do. From what he got out of the file it seemed to him that they didn't even know if their targets were still alive. The doors opened and he walked towards the hanger. An alarm started to sound and Jason ran for the hanger. The sound signaled all hands to battle stations. This meant that something bad had happened to the fleet if a prowler was being sent in to help.
He came to a stop as he entered the hanger and saw his squad looking around confused. He walked over and opened a COM channel with them.
"We have a new mission. All the information I can give you is in the file I just sent to you."
Jason turned his head as the ship dove to the right. A tiny picture of the Captain appeared in Jason H.U.D. "Spartan 201 we are under attack, the fleet moved towards the moon to attack the advancing covenant when three Covenant destroyers appeared out of slipspace 300 meters off our bow. All ships near by have orders to do anything they can to stop those ships from destroying the orbital platforms. I am ordering you to abandon ship. You are to take the prototype Black wing transport and proceed with your mission. Good luck and God speed."
Jason looked at the craft in the corner of the hanger. It was a streamline ship about the size of a long sword fighter craft. It was the smallest ship to have a slipspace generator. It was designed for stealth so it only had minimal weapon capabilities.
"Omega team grab all your gear and load it into the Black wing on the double!" Jason yelled. The Spartans grabbed their equipment and ran. Jason ran for the gun rack on the wall and grabbed two MA5B assault rifles and a BR 23 battle rifle. His team loaded all their equipment and ran off to get the second supply. Jason ran on board and placed his weapons on the ground behind the others weapons. Nick ran on and placed the last crate of ammo he had down. He ran for the cockpit and sat in the chair. The ship was made specifically for them so his Mjolnir mark 6 armor fit perfectly.
Jason ran to the back of the ship as Nick started to run it through its preflight. The rest of Omega team ran up the ramp and secured the equipment for the flight. Jason hit the ramp lift and ran into the cockpit. He sat down in the copilot seat and strapped himself in. The rest of the Spartans sat in the seats lining the wall in the troop compartment and prepared for the flight.
They didn't know what was going on but they followed Jason's orders regardless. The ships engines started to ignite as the Anatole launched to the left. This time sirens blared, the ship had been hit. Jason looked at Nick and he knew what he meant. In that little signal Nick caught that Jason wanted them to get out of there now. The Black wing rose from the deck and turned around to face the hanger door. Another collision rocked the ship and the power went out.
Nick keyed in the doors open code but nothing happened.
"Sir, the doors won't open!" Jason knew what was happening, the ships reactor was over loading. The power from all none essential systems were being purged to relieve some of the stress on the core. He had only one option; Jason ran for the weapon controls and aimed the crosshairs over the door. He pulled the trigger and two 30 mm machine guns tore through the door. The air inside the shuttle bay launched into space for a second until the second blast doors fell.
Jason squeezed the trigger and the 30 mm rounds bounced off of the blast door. He hadn't accounted for a blast door being automatically dropped if the door was breached. He turned to Nick in the pilot seat. He wasn't sure if the ship would be able to ram through the door without being damaged.
Captain Mitchell held onto his command chair as another impact shook the ship.
"Status report." Captain Mitchell yelled to Second Lieutenant Geary.
"Sir, engines are down, reactor is overloading, all weapons are inoperable, and we have massive hull breaches throughout the ship."
They were done for. The Anatole was now nothing more then a floating bucket. His ship was going down and he and everyone aboard were going with it. He had already ordered all hands to evacuate the ship but almost no escape pods left. There wasn't any way the crew could get to the escape pods with all the hull breaches.
"Have the Spartan team made the transition to slipspace yet?" he asked Lieutenant Geary.
"Sir, most of the radar systems are down so I can't be sure but I don't have any record of them on my screens."
How can that be, Mitchell thought. As long as they left the ship their IFS transponders should have left a….
"Get me a camera feed of the shuttle bay now!"
Lieutenant Geary quickly typed commands into her computer. "Video feed established."
Captain Mitchell stood in horror. The Spartans ship hovered in front of a blast door. They hadn't even been able to get off the ship.
"How much time until reactor overload?"
"Two minutes and thirty seconds."
"Get me all possible power to that door and open it."
Jason opened a COM with Nick and was about to voice his plan when the red light on top of the door started flashing. Jason sat back into his seat and strapped in as the blast door started to open. A text message appeared in front of Jason, it read.
"Spartans this is Captain Mitchell, good luck and good bye."
Nick pushed the throttle to the max as the doors came to a slow halt at the top of its tracks. The ship burst from the hanger and flew directly on an axis toward the incoming U.N.S.C. carrier Bristole. The Spartans ship had to get behind it in order to shield it from the pending explosion of the Anatole's reactor.
The captain watched as the Spartan's ship cleared the Bristole's bow then looked at his crew one last time and couldn't have been more proud. His eyes moved to the timer in the corner of the view screen and thought as it hit zero.
"God speed Spartans, God speed."
Chapter twoJason tightened his grip on his seat as the shock wave hit the ship. The ship rattled back and forth shaking so much that some of the equipments harnesses broke and weapons and ammunition went flying.
"What is the charge on the slipspace capacitor?" Jason asked Nick as the ship stopped shaking.
"87 percent, we will be able to jump in twenty seconds."
Jason plotted out the course for the slipspace jump on the computer in front of him. The computer calculated the trip to take fourteen ours. As Jason went to enter the command the screen scrolled info across his screen.
"Slipspace wake detected, stream accessible, reconfiguration course to intercept advisable."
Jason reconfigured his command and entered the new coordinates. The trips time recalculated and showed the new projected time. Four hours, Jason didn't know whether to be pleased or not. Their ability to piggyback on a slipstream wake meant that the Captain had been right and the Covenant fleet had jumped to Onyx.