Disclaimer: NONE OF THIS BELONGS TO ME (except for the few characters and places that I made up…. Those are mine… .) Halo, Halo accessories, and the entire mythology as a whole belongs to Bungie, not me. Just wanted to get that straight.
0001 Hours November 3rd, 2526 (Military Calendar), Remote Scanning Outpost Overseeing Eye, On the edge of the Epsilon Eridani System
"Do you understand your objectives?" the authoritative voice crackled in Cody-223's COM, he looked at one of the screens that projected a view of the outside of the ship he was on, See No Evil, he got a clear view of the wings, bat-like in shape, and fitting for the ships stealth purposes. According to Lieutenant Commander Ross, (his team's commanding officer) had said, this ship was the perfect choice for the mission. Cody placed his finger to the transmit button on his helmet.
"Yes sir, I understand." he said with a calm tone of voice.
"You think that you are capable of briefing your team Squad Leader?" Ross asked.
"Affirmative" and then he heard a clack as the COM channel closed. Looking across the cargo bay he saw half of his squadmates look up and acknowledge him. Looking at the screen again he saw another ship of the same model move to fly parallel to theirs, the ship known as Hear No Evil was, like the ship he was currently on, a Chiroptera-class vessel and it carried the other half of his squad.
Chiroptera-class vessels were never that big; due to the stealth ablative coating that had to be constantly maintained after every mission to make sure the ship was able to be invisible to the radar. These models were customized specifically to hold small squads and move them from one place to another silently.
He opened a COM channel between him and his team and pressed the transmit button.
"The Lieutenant Commander just briefed me and he wishes for me to brief all of you on what we have to do." he said into the helmet mic.
"Why didn't he just brief all of us sir?" a female voice replied almost immediately
"Because, Kate, he's afraid that a strong signal could be tracked, he doesn't want to risk our element of surprise." he answered. Kate-531 groaned into her mic and Cody remembered that Kate preferred things to be much simpler. That didn't necessarily mean she didn't enjoy a challenge now and then.
"Anyways, three hours ago the UNSC (United Nations Space Command) lost contact with Remote Scanning Outpost Overseeing Eye after it neglected to make its hourly report. The UNSC and Ross have reason to believe that Insurrectionists are responsible."
"So the Innies are going to be our first victims huh?" said the soldier sitting across from the Squad Leader. He was tensing and ready for action. Eric-472 always enjoyed what he did.
"Innies" was a nickname the Marines had learned to call the rebels.
Because it was better to think of the enemy as not human even though they were. He thought. The soldier sitting next to Eric, Brandon-323, chuckled a little.
"You sure you don't seem a little too excited Eric?"
"We're Spartans, Blondie, we were made for this."
"Our mission is simple," Cody continued, "infiltrate the scanning outpost and neutralize whatever threat we come across, with any means necessary. These ships are going to escort us to a position about 200 meters from the installation. From there we're going to make a zero-gee jump to one of the exterior repair hatches and use them as a way inside, so sorry Michael, no sniping will be done today." Cody heard a sigh over the COM. Michael-256 was the team's designated sniper and he usually got grumpy if he couldn't bring a sniper rifle along with him.
"Acknowledged Squad Leader" Michael said, though his voice was a little more enthusiastic than Cody predicted. Then again this was their first mission, everyone was excited.
"Glad to hear it Spartan," He said with a smile, "Steven you're really quiet over there, you alright?"
Steven-274, was the quietest Spartan in the group, Cody had learned during their time together that he didn't usually have that much to say.
"Ready to go Squad Leader, our pilot says ETA is two minutes."
"I copy." the Squad Leader replied. Closing the COM channel he picked up the M329 Designated Marksman Rifle (DMR) and removed the magazine and after seeing it was full placed it back inside. He also picked up an M6G Magnum Sidearm and did the same, just as satisfied. He placed it in a holster on his waist and slid a sound suppressor onto his DMR, twisting it to lock it in place; this mission would require them to be quiet. He then checked his suit to make sure it was air tight, any holes and he would die of depressurization in the vacuum of space.
His suit was form-fitting and matte black, resembling a full body version of a Kevlar vest. His helmet was the same color as the body suit and had a clear visor, though when he pressed a button on the side it filmed over with an opaque silver film that covered his face from view.
When he was sure that the suit was good to go, he grabbed a Thruster-Pack (T-Pack) and attached it to his back with a click noise confirming it was on. Eric and Brandon did the same.
The Spartans across from him decided to equip themselves with MA2B assault rifles and M6G magnums. The assault rifles were silenced, as they were thinking the same thing he was.
Cody clicked another button and his Heads Up Display (HUD) flared on the inside of his visor. Hs vitals appeared at the top of his vision reading his status as perfect condition while on the bottom was a motion and thermal sensor and the vital signs of his teammates. Above Eric and Brandon's heads were arrows with their designation numbers.
"IFF tags are working." Cody said, satisfied.
"We have reached our destination sir." Kate said calmly over the COM. and then it clicked off. Cody knocked on the side the wall between him and he pilot, and the bay doors opened and the air rapidly escaped from the cargo bay. A fifteen minute timer appeared on his HUD in the upper left corner which represented his oxygen supply.
"Everyone check you O2 levels." He commanded.
"A-Ok" Kate said cheerfully.
"Fifteen minutes and counting." Michael replied.
"All systems go." Steven said in his usual, almost boring tone of voice. The Squad Leader took one last look across and the two Spartans stood up and each gave him a thumbs up.
"Ok then Team Phoenix, let's show the boss what we can do."
The Spartans ran to the edge of the cargo hold and jumped into the vacuum of space.