Halo – Destiny Crossover
Part I: Swords of Sangheilios
Chapter 1
A Swords of Sangheilios cruiser had engaged and pursued a Remnant corvette, which soon entered a blind slip space jump. Following the corvette, the cruiser had been transported to an unknown star system that bared strange resemblance to the Human home system. The Remnant corvette had vanished among the planets…
"Navigator, have you found our positioning yet?" the Shipmaster, a Sangheili adorn in gold armor, asked as he studied the planet that his ship was orbiting. The navigator scrambled with his monitor before turning to the leader.
"No, sir. I have not yet been able to locate us on our grid. Despite the layout of the system, this appears to be a new one that we've yet to travel to and add to our navigation logs." The navigator scanned through the known systems in his computer.
"This planet looks like the human home world of Earth. How can we not have that information available to us?" The shipmaster stood up and walked to the observation glass. No doubt about it, it looks exactly like Earth, but withered by age. "Any signs of that rebel ship?"
"No, shipmaster, we lost reading shortly after we left slip space." Said a pilot as the shipmaster glanced over the planet once more before returning to his seat.
"Hail the closest human civilization. We must find that corvette before they dig in."
"Aye, sir." The comms officer said, before adjusting his equipment to find a channel. "Strange…There seem to be a lot of dead channels here. But I found a weak one…This is the comms officer of the Sword of Sangheilios cruiser Illuminating Blade. We are in pursuit of a rebel ship and have lost contact; requesting assistance."
There were several minutes of silence before a voice came over the radio. It was not a human voice, and made only of angry garble. The shipmaster made a decision to send a small recon team to the surface, composed of Sangheili soldiers, a quad of Unggoy and Kig-Yar, and a Huragok.
The Phantom carrying the troops set down in an aircraft graveyard, and then returned to the cruiser. The party search for hours in the scrap yard to find some line to the humans or rebels, only to come up empty handed. The party wondered through a jungle of rust until they reached a large, open are with a wide view of the land. The Elite Ultra ordered a Jackal sniper to scout the area ahead from the top of a truck. After scanning the other areas in view through its Beam Rifle, the Jackal announced it saw a group of unknown contacts, but not human. They were bigger than humans, and used strange weapons. The Ultra had the sniper stay where it was while he went with the rest of the group to make contact.
The group took cover in a nearby building, and watched over the Ultra as he approached one of the creatures.
"Greetings. I am a soldier from the Swords of Sangheilios cruiser Illuminating Blade…" Before he could finish, the larger creature drew his weapon and fired at the Ultra. The Ultra drew his Plasma Repeater and fired back while back peddling to the garrisoned building.
"What did you say that was so offensive?" Said an Elite Minor as he fired his Carbine at the hostiles.
"I said nothing of offense, but if they wish to test our strength, then so be it." Said the Ultra. A shoot out raged for several minutes, as the sheer numbers of the fire team was more than what the unknown aliens could handle. Not even a Grunt was lost. Soon as the conflict ended, the Ultra recalled the sniper and contacted the cruiser. "Shipmaster, we made contact with unknown forces on the surface. They were not humans, and were hostile to us."
"Have you found any means of contact with the humans?" The shipmaster asked as he watched the comms officer fiddle with his console.
"No, sir. There is nothing but scrap here. I find it hard to believe any humans could be thriving in this environment."
"Very well. Continue your search, and we will continue to hail anyone we can locate."
"Aye, sir. Out."
As the Ultra spoke to the Shipmaster, the rest of the team inspected the bodies of the hostile creatures. One was small and wielded a little pistol like weapon, with blue sticks in the belt around its waist. The other was slightly larger, but had four arms instead of two, wielding a bigger weapon than the underling. The hovering machines that aided them lay in a shredded scrap pile that the Huragok took interest in. An Elite Minor spoke out.
"These creatures seem eager, yet show little capability in their endeavors. They must be scavengers or pirates of some sort." He grabbed the rifle that one of the larger one dropped. "These weapons are strange. They track targets like our Needlers, but they lack power and velocity."
The Elite Major then spoke, "Surely the humans did not fall to these creatures. Unless there is more to them than we have seen so far."
The second Minor spoke, "We must not underestimate them in this case. That would be foolish." The Minor watched as a Grunt kicked the busted robot. "This may have only been a small patrol. We must expect more of them to come for us."
"Worry not, brother. Our ship has made contact with the humans. A Phantom is inbound to transport us to their location." Said the Ultra as he approached the group. A Grunt hopped around happily.
"Me feet tired from walking. Ground cold and painful." It said.
"Me thinks dirty metal scratched leg." Said a second Grunt.
While the Grunts complained about the planet's despairing features, the Phantom had returned and made off to the location given by the humans. The coordinates receive led the group to a city with a giant white orb floating above it. The pilot hailed the city for lading, and a port was opened for it in a large plaza. As the Phantom landed, a crowd of people gathered and stared in wonder of what could be aboard it. The Ultra and Major Elites were the only ones to leave the Phantom, and were met with mixed reactions of their appearance. The sounds of voices were hushed as a figure in white came forth.
"You must be the ones from the large ship in orbit." He said, looking to both Elites.
"Yes. I am Dovo Vacam. My shipmaster has tasked me with making contact with your people, and to request assistance." The Ultra said to the man, who stood a foot or more lower than him.
"Yes. I was told that you chased another ship into our system, and have lost contact with it. Come and we will speak more in my observatory." The man said, motioning the two to follow him. "I am the Speaker of the Traveler, the large body you see above us. I am tasked with communicating between the Guardians here and the Traveler itself. You have come at a very peculiar time, my friends."
"How so, Speaker? Do you reference those beings out in the rust fields?" The Major asked as they walked through the plaza.
"Not just them, but also the Hive on the Moon, the Cabal of Mars, and the Vex of Venus. Those creatures are known as the Fallen, by the way." The Speaker informed. He told the tale of the Traveler and the Darkness, and the situation of the enemies the City has. From the conversation, the Elites learned they were not in the same system as they had thought, but a twin system. The Remnant corvette had made a blind jump into a twin system that was plagued by several species of alien that sought the destruction of the humans there, and the Traveler itself.
"This is troubling, brother." The Major said to the Ultra. "If we know not of where we slipped to, how will we return to our home?"
"We worry of this later. First, we must deal with the rebels, and then we worry of our trip home. If given enough time, we will find our way. Hopefully before the enemy finds theirs, and calls for reinforcements." The Ultra said, though he too felt uneasy of the situation. "I will inform our shipmaster of your situation, and see if we can lend our aid. The Remnant is here, and we will find them even if we must scour every planet."
The Speaker nodded to them. "Our people will aid in what ways we can. Though remember we must first deal with our own problems before yours. Before we can begin helping you, we must first deal with the Fallen and Hive on Earth. My Ghost told me prior to moments before your arrival that a Guardian has been found on Earth by another Ghost. Please. I need you to find them, and return them here safely."
"I will relay your request to the shipmaster. We will do what we can." The Ultra said as he and the Major turned to depart for the Phantom.
The Ultra told the story of the Speaker and his people to the shipmaster upon his return to the cruiser. After a long discussion, the decision to aid the Guardians and the ones they protect was made, and battle plans were fabricated. Several teams were sent to Earth in search of the Remnant and establish a planet-side forward operating base, while a Spec Ops team was sent to find the newly resurrected Guardian. Dozens of Grunts, Jackals, Hunters, and Elites boarded Phantoms and Spirits bound for Old Russia on Earth.
Chapter 2
A team of six Special Operations Elites ride in a Spirit dropship down to a remote area further away from the rest of the deployment zones, landing near a road littered with destroyed vehicles. The ship departs when the team is out, and the Elites enter a large wall structure. Wondering through the halls of the run down facility, they find bodies of the Fallen strung all about. After several minutes, the team exits the facility into an open area with rundown buildings and still more dead Fallen.
"Hm. This Guardian is vicious despite being dead for several years. "Said one of the Elites. They continue through the area an enter Dock-13, where they begin to hear a shootout inside.
The team activate their active camouflage and rush in to find the Guardian being struggling over a blade with a Fallen Vandal. One of the Elites quickly walked over and stabs the Vandal in the back of the neck with his wrist dagger, and flung the body to the side.
"You must be the Guardian we're seeking." He said as he and the others decloaked. The Guardian and his Ghost looked at the large creatures in dark steel colored armor. The Ghost gave thanks to the Elites, and informed them that they need to get the ship behind them airborne so they can retreat to safety. Before more could be said, another wave of Fallen had appeared, and the Guardian left with is Ghost in the ship while the Elites engaged the hostiles. Most of the lesser Fallen were killed without much effort by the superior weaponry and skills of the Elites, but the Captain proved to be a bigger threat. He had snuck around the combat at the beginning while the Elites were preoccupied by the Dregs, Shank drones, and Vandals.
When all was quiet, the Captain ran up behind one of the Elites and blasted him with his weapon. The brute force of the weapon's firepower had dropped the Elite's shield and greatly wounded him. The Captain dodged between the beams of the old dock to avoid the fire from Plasma Rifles and Needlers, which his own shield protected him from what shots managed to hit. The Elites quickly surrounded him and cut his path off, laying down heavy fire and suppressing him behind cover long enough for the leader of the Elite team to run up on him and impale him with an Energy Sword. The battle was over. The wounded Elite was shouldered by his comrade, and the team made their way out of Dock 13. When the team reached an open area, the leader called for a dropship to extract the wounded warrior. The other five had to stay and assist a pinned Grunt squad under heavy attack. The encounter was just north of their location, near the entrance to the Rocket Yard. By the time they arrived, the squad was dead and the Fallen had disappeared.
Several miles away from the Divide, in a place known as the Skywatch, two teams of Elites escorting four Hunter heavy units were engaged in a battle with the Fallen as well as a new enemy. They were corpse-like, but very much alive and armed with strange and powerful weapons. While one team fought the Fallen who were taking cover in an old building, the other team fought these new foes that were emerging from strange vessel looking structure buried in the ground a little to the west, directly below the Fallen's elevation. While the larger and better equipped creatures used ranged weapons, there were smaller ones that would attempt rushes at the Hunters, who in turn would simply smash them with their large shields. These strange enemies turned to piles of bone and dust when they died. The battle slowly turned for the better for the Swords, and the walking mummies retreated into the weird structure buried in the ground while the Fallen were entirely wiped out in the area. The two teams regrouped just before the entrance of the structure.
"We must push these beasts back into the ground from which they emerged. Hunter team two will give chase, and team one will guard the entrance." Said the Ultra of team one, who had superiority over both teams of Hunters. Grunts first, the second team cautiously entered the structure of glowing green and hardened emerald. The remaining ghouls were dug in well, as the Grunts stood no chance as they reached the more open areas of the chamber. Under the cover fire of the Jackals with shields, the Elites managed to take cover behind a pile of crates.
The close range combat between the Elites and Jackals, and the giant yellow crust monsters fared short as the strange purple weapons were minor annoyances to the sheer fire power of the Plasma weaponry. However a much tougher foe had emerged from the darkness of the cavern. A large undead warrior with a giant blade charged forth, cutting the Kig-Yar infantry with little effort. The Elites piled the firepower on him, plastering his rotted armor with plasma grenades and Needler rounds. Just as the beast knocked aside the cover of the Elites, a Hunter rush him and knocked him away. The giant showed little weary, as he rose just as swift as he fell and a great clash between two Hunters and the warrior ensued. The swordsman would bring his blade down on a Hunter, and the Hunter would block it and his bond brother would knock the yellow knight away. After once last assault by the monster of the deep, the Hunter pair charged up their Fuel Rod cannons and blasted the weakened soldier into oblivion. With the battle now over, the remaining members of team two emerged to see that team one had suffered losses from an assault by a second sword bearing demon. Several Unggoy lay dead, and a Hunter squatted beside its fallen bond brother. The Elite Major from the second team spoke to the Ultra of team one.
"What are these creatures? They have proven to be more trouble than the Fallen we've fought so far." The Major said looking from the mourning Hunter to the Ultra.
A voice called out from behind them, "This is the Hive." The warriors of the Swords spun around and saw a lone mechanoid Guardian making her way down to them. "They seek to spread from our moon to our home planet, and spread the darkness to our people."
"The Speaker has sent a warrior to aid us?" A Minor Elite asked, looking to his superiors and then to the female robot.
"That's correct." Said the Ghost as it floated over to the Elites. "Your forces sort of charged blindingly into this reclamation of Earth plan without any formal knowledge of your opposition."
"So it would seem. We were not told that there were two forces fighting for control of your world." Said the Ultra. The Ghost floated past the group and examined the dead Hunter.
"The Hive have not taken as much of Earth as the Fallen, so this should be the last place to encounter them. Though, they may have burrowed in other locations. The only other place so far is the Lunar Complex, where Hive Wizards have been encountered by other Guardians."
"Then we must go. A ground base is needed if we wish to continue our advancement." The Major said to the Ultra. "If there I still an enemy stronghold here, we will delay progress."
"There is a force already deployed there." The Guardian said. "That's how we learned of the Wizard's presence. A fellow Guardian is fighting alongside your forces against the Hive."