Prologue. 0300 hours- 11/6/2552: Readings taken from the memory banks of an ONI encrypted terminal.
:Accessing_encrypted_files:_password_
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The five figures watched, silhouetted against the harsh sunlight, as the planet spun on it's axis.
The second silhouette, notably female-looking, flinched, her fingers flicking against those of the man next to her of their own accord, as a great explosion spread over the Theras Plains and rippled across the seas.
"It's okay, Kara," The man murmured, his voice deep and rough.
The woman turned her head to look at him, the scar on her left cheek glinting in the light.
"No, Dan, it's not okay. None of this is okay..".
1. 7/ 29/ 2552 - 1090 hours - Checkpoint Echo - Unidentified planet within the Outer Colonies.
The Spartan swung his heavy fist at the alien's face, then ripped the combat knife from its place on his chest and plunged it through the Sangheili's body armour, spurting out purple blood. Drawing his pistol from the magnetic plate on his thigh, the Spartan raised it over his knife arm and fired a shot straight through the Elite's head and out the other side.
"Down and out," he growled, yanking the knife from the Elite's chest.
He felt the plasma fire from neighbouring Unggoy and Elites drain his shields as he rolled behind a battered barricade, trying to buy enough time for his shields to recharge.
"Charlie Control, this is Sierra-379. I'm hemmed in on all sides here! My pair is compromised: I'm one Spartan down and I barely have time to recharge my shields! Requesting for back up, repeat, requesting for back up, over!"
"Roger that, 379, Falcon inbound on your position - back up request granted, over," came the slightly muffled reply from inside his helmet.
Feeling his shields recharge, Sierra-379 popped out over the front of the barricade, headshotting as many Grunts as he could until he was out of pistol ammo.
Ducking back down behind the barricade, his HUD informed him that a UNSC Falcon was close to his position with four Spartans aboard. Looking up into the sky he saw the tilt rotor descend from the skies with both heavy machine guns, each manned by a Spartan, blazing at the hoard of Elites and Grunts, who were now in full retreat.
The two Spartans who were not manning the turrets jumped from the hovering Falcon and sprinted across to where 379 was hiding, swatting aside any Grunts foolish or brave enough to attack them.
One of them, a Spartan with a white stripe down the middle of his helmet, designating him as a medic, kneeled down next to 379 and checked him over for damage.
"You okay, Dan?" he asked, his voice amplified by the internal speakers in his helmet.
"Affirmative, just a little stuck," replied Dan-379, depolarising his visor to give a weak smile.
The other Spartan who had jumped from the Falcon snatched a grenade from the magnetic plate on his upper-arm, pushed the button down and threw it straight into a group of Elites.
Two Elites managed to roll away, but the rest were sent flying into the air as the frag exploded, killing them instantly.
The two Spartans manning the turrets detached them from their mounts and jumped down, breaking up a cluster of Grunts with their heavy fire. The Falcon's rotors accelerated as it began to take off, but a lucky throw from a wild Grunt sent a plasma grenade sticking onto it's left rotor, exploding in a pool of 3,000,000 degree plasma and snapping it off instantly.
The turret Spartans gunned down the Grunt instantly, but not before the fire from the explosion spread to the Falcon's engine and caused the fuel to catch fire.
"DOWN!" yelled one of the Spartans, just as the Falcon was launched into the air by the force of the explosion and sent crashing down, wrecked, only a few meters way from where the two Spartans had been.
The five Spartans were now in full combat mode, chopping up Elites and Grunts with fire from the turrets and from special-issue prototype rifles.
Finally, after an action-packed twenty minutes, the Spartans were left standing on a pile of alien bodies, scarred and battle-weary.
"Charlie Control, this is Sierra-379. We have secured Checkpoint Echo, minus one casualty, repeat, one casualty... Jared is dead, over."
"379, can you confirm?"
"Affirmative, Sierra-386 is KIA."
"Understood, 379, we're sending in an evac team right away, over and out."
Dan clutched his rifle between his knees as he sat in the back of the Falcon, this time flanked by two Hornets, dispatched on his recount of what happened to the other Falcon.
He stared across at the medic sat across from him, Graham-341.
"What?" said Graham, his helmet sat on his lap.
"Could you have saved Jared?" asked Dan.
"No, he was dead before we got there. I'm sorry."
"Okay."
The Spartan clutching the left turret, Janice-178, looked across at Dan, her visor depolarised. Her armour was bulkier and heavier than the other's, with neck protection and thick plating on the front and back, designed for a heavy-weapons operative or bomb-disposal personnel.
"Dan, we've got Banshees coming in portside!" she yelled, already spinning the turret round to face the approaching purple aircraft.
"Dispatch both Hornets - use .50 cal armour-piercing rounds!" he replied, poking his head out the side of the Falcon to sight the Banshees.
While Janice informed the Hornet pilots of their orders, Dan and Graham loaded their rifles and each covered the turrets, with Dan crouching next to Janice and Graham next to the other Spartan, Uri-257. The last of the back-up, Spartan Francis-312, was giving a continuous stream of commentary to Charlie Control on their whereabouts and current situation.
The Hornets both fell back towards the three Banshees, their rotors spinning and swivelling as they engaged in an exhilarating dogfight, with the heavy armour-piercing rounds smashing into the Banshees and the scorching hot plasma burning through the Hornet's armour.
With Janice and Uri's help the two Hornets managed to overcome one of the Banshees and sent it crashing down to the ground, where it exploded in a ball of blue flames.
However, the two Banshees focused their fire on one of the Hornets and shot both of it's rotors off, leaving it twitching helplessly in the air before plummeting out of the skies.
Dan quickly contacted the remaining Hornet and ordered it to fall back, as close to the Falcon's cargo bay as possible. The pilot obliged and turned back towards the Falcon.
Once it was near enough, Dan grabbed hold of two frag grenades from a storage container and ran, full speed, out of the cargo bay and into the air.
With a heavy clunk, he grabbed hold of the Hornet's landing skids and pulled himself into a crouch on one of its troop platforms.
"Fly straight towards the Banshees!" he yelled, the words coming through inside the pilots cockpit.
"Aye, sir!" the pilot responded, though clearly frightened.
Once it was close enough to the Banshee on the right side, Dan leapt off the platform and landed heavily on the roof of the aircraft. He ripped open the canopy, activated a frag grenade and shoved it in, before slamming the canopy closed and diving straight off of the roof.
And away from the explosion.
The Banshee tore itself apart with the force of the explosion, debris flying everywhere. Dan soared across the sky. He'd got the timing just right. With a metallic thunk, his fingers grabbed hold of one of the remaining Banshee's wing struts and locked itself around them. The Banshee pilot ducked and weaved his craft through the air, desperately trying to shake his unwanted passenger off, but to no avail. Repeating the process he'd used to deal with the previous Banshee, Dan once against leapt off of the roof and into the air.
Dan spread his arms out like a falling angel and bent his knees as he fell through the air, like a skydiver, except there was no parachute. Through the neural interface implanted in the back of his skull, he locked up his armour in the skydiving position so as not to worry about maintaining it constantly. He then focused on the task at hand: in this case, not becoming a red stain on the ground.
Out of the corner of his eye he spotted the Falcon, drifting towards him, with Janice visible in the cargo bay, yelling at him to to come closer. With his armour still locked up, he twisted himself to the side, executing a perfect rotation and bringing himself closer to the Falcon. Once again he rolled, until he had to stop so he didn't crash into the Falcon and out the other side. The Falcon drifted closer, and - yes! His fingers locked around the landing skids and he deactivated the lockup of his armour, heaving himself up into the cargo bay.
He lay on the metal floor, panting slightly. It's not often that Spartans tire, but the energy and skill with which he had to exert to destroy both Banshees and rescue himself from becoming a small crater in the ground had taken it right out of him.
The Hornet trailed behind as the Falcon came into view of a Marine manning a lookout tower.
"Charlie Control - this is Tower Seven, we've got them!" he said into the COM, relief evident in his voice.
"Received and understood, Tower Seven, commence landing and refuelling procedures, over."
Repair and Refuel crew poured out of the metal huts surrounding the landing pad, trailing pipes and fuel tanks, as an M831 Troop Transport Warthog came into view over the horizon.
The Falcon's rotors spun slowly as it touched down on it's landing skids with a dull thunk. The crew swarmed around it, immediately checking it for damage and refuelling it. The Hornet touched down also, and a second swarm of engineers moved to check it over.
Dan and Janice were the first to climb out. They were greeted by a UNSC Officer, who seemed both wary and excited by the sight of these majestic super-soldiers.
"What's your status, Spartans?" he asked, after snapping to attention.
"Green, sir," Dan replied, speaking for all five of them.
There was a loud honking sound from the Warthog's horn as it spun it's tail end round to face the five Spartans.
"All aboard, guys!" yelled the Marine driving the 'Hog, once again honking the horn.
Dan and the four other Spartans climbed in to the troop bay in the back of the 'Hog, dipping their heads down under the roll-cage bars.
With a screech from it's spinning wheels, the Warthog drove off down the road, bobbing up and down as it's suspension overcame the many potholes and bumps in the tarmac.
2. 1600 hours - 8/1/2552 - Unknown beach on Zanzibar, a planet in the Outer Colonies.
"Green light! Red team - go! Blue team - go! Green team - go!"
The deep voice of the technician rang in Dan's ears as his SOI/EV - Spartan Orbital Insertion/Entry Vehicle - detached from it's docking bay and slid towards the opening hatch of the UNSC Frigate Hide and Seek. With a resounding clank, the pod was launched from it's ramp and out into the murky depths of deep space.
The SOE/IV's were an improvement upon the design of the ODST's HEVs, commissioned by the UNSC and built by shipping-container company Traxus. After more than eight years in service, it continued to prove itself again and again.
Following it's laser-guided trajectory course, the pod burned through the planet's atmosphere, the outside turning red with the intense heat. Inside the pod, eight Spartans, including Dan, Janice, Francis and Uri, sat clutching their weapons, strapped into the seats by an over-the-head bar developed from 21st century roller-coasters.
Within Dan's helmet, his HUD showed him a constant view of the pod's surroundings, giving him a stream of data on where they were to land, force of impact and a worryingly low mortality rate. The HUD switched to a technical read-out of his armour, displaying a 360-degree view of his modified MJOLNIR Mark-V armour. On top of the standard armour he had added a holster for his combat knife, more body armour, a helmet camera and spotlight attached to either side of his helmet and a built-in bandolier to hold his ammunition.
As he looked at his team-mates the view changed to display first Janice's heavy-duty armour, then Francis's special-issue RECON/SCOUT armour variation that designated him as the team's sniper, and finally Uri's heavy-duty armour, much like Janice's but painted a wild yellow that contrasted with the olive green of his standard armour underneath it.
Graham was absent from this mission. His medical know-how and Spartan reflexes had him be diverted to a mission in the Eridanus system, where Spartan medics were far and few between.
He did not look across at the other team crammed into the pod, however. His team had been given strict orders not to interfere with the other team's mission or directives and that no questions should be asked nor communication exchanged except within battle.
Suddenly a high-pitched dong rang out from the pod's internal speakers and a woman's synthesised voice began counting down from ten.
"Impact in ten,"
Janice depolarised her visor to give Dan a cheeky wink. He chuckled and winked back.
"Nine,"
Francis loaded his modified sniper rifle, checking that the night-vision capabilities and torch were serviceable and that the sound suppresser was screwed on tight.
"Eight,"
"Seven,"
"Six,"
Out of the corner of his eye Dan watched as Uri tightened his armour, a pre-battle ritual that he always performed.
"Five,"
"Four,"
This is it, Dan thought, as he cocked back his rifle and held it with both hands.
"Three,"
"Two,"
"One,"
"Brace, brace, brace!"
Dan crossed his arms over his head as he was whipped forward into the bar and back again, slamming his head against the wall of the pod. An almighty crash boomed through his ears as the pod slammed into the waters of Zanzibar, rocked slightly, and then stopped still.
Janice's voice rang in his ears as she asked, "Status, Spartans?"
"Affirmative!" came the reply, all of the Spartans speaking as one.
The bars around their chests lifted up against the wall. Janice almost crushed a button under her hand and the thick blast doors unlocked with an audible click and slid apart.
The water surged around them, waist-high, as the eight Spartans ran out of the SOI/EV and into the battlefield.
Bullets rained down on them, sending up splash after splash of water as they slammed into the wet sand. Dan looked up and saw a large rock formation with a defence platform built into it, on which two heavy machine-gun turrets were spewing out armour-penetrating rounds at an incredibly fast rate. The beach was peppered with bullets, ricocheting off of concrete barriers erected by the defenders to smash up SOI/EVs upon impact.
The Spartans had been dispatched to eliminate a large fortress held by the Zanzibar Rebels, a troublesome alliance of pirates and criminals who had caused nothing but bother for the UNSC and had distracted them from fighting the Covenant, something that could lose them the war. However, in the Outer Colonies the Rebels have massed and now pose an actual military threat to Humanity.
Dan looked up at his HUD, quickly taking in the mission objectives:
- [Take the beach]
- [Eliminate Rebel presence]
- [Secure base for UNSC take-over]
Suddenly the SQUADCOM squawked, and Janice's voice came through.
"Dan! Me and Francis are pinned down east side! We've got HMG fire all around us and these barricades are shredding up faster than I can speak!" she yelled. "Tell Uri to take out those two gunners while you come over here and help us out, understood?" She sent a NAV Point over the TACCOM displaying her and Francis' location.
"Understood," he replied. He then patched his COM over to Uri, who was smashing down infantry with frag grenades. "Hey, Uri! Janice and Francis are pinned down east side - take out those HMG's with your Spanker, over."
"Roger that, Dan!" he replied, his Russian accent scraping the words off of his tongue.
Uri rolled down behind a barricade, pushed the button down on a frag, tossed it over the top and bent his head into his chin as debris flew over his head. He then pulled the M41 SPNKr Rocket Launcher from the magnetic plates on his back and grasped it firmly to his shoulder.
With the squeeze of a trigger a huge flaming rocket shot out of the pipe and flew into the air, spiralling and spinning as it locked onto the turret placements and exploded, sending debris and bits of bodies flying.
Meanwhile, Dan sprinted across the beach, ducking low behind barricades as bullets from pirated rifles and other scavenged UNSC weaponry whizzed over his head. A small waypoint came into view on his HUD, displaying a heat-vision view of Janice and Francis crouching behind two barricades, popping up and ducking down to exchange fire.
Dan fired a magazine into several Rebel troops, killing them instantly, before ducking down in between Janet and Francis. He nodded at both of them, and as one they each pulled out a frag grenade, pushed the button down and tossed it over their heads, chinning their chests to protect their heads from flying debris.
"Thanks for coming," said Francis, reloading his sniper rifle.
"Couldn't resist stopping by!" joked Dan. It was typical of Spartans to keep the mood light in the heat of battle, as it more often than not helped keep everybody calm and in control.
Francis popped over the top and sniped a whole bunch of coveted fusion coils, causing them to explode and sending charred bits of Rebels soaring.
"Where's the other four?" he asked, ducking back down as bullets rained over their heads.
"You know our orders - they have their mission, we have ours. End of." said Janice, her voice terse. It was generally accepted that Janice was the leader of the squad, and all though she was not officially designated, the rest of Green team followed her loyally.
"Oly Oly Oxen Free!" Uri's voice yelled over the E-Band. "Green-One, come in! Oly Oly Oxen Free!"
"Oly Oly Oxen Free, All out in the free, we're all free!" Janice replied, giving the proper response. "What's the situation, Uri?"
"I need major help out here. I'm low on rockets and they're hemming me in. I think they've got - Damn it! MAKO Drones! There's a whole load of them, I can't take them out. Tell Francis - he can do it."
"Roger that, Uri." Janice turned to Francis. "MAKO Drones in the sky. Uri says you can take them out. Do it."
"Yes, ma'am!" replied Francis, mockingly.
Popping up over the barricade, Janice cleared the area of hostiles with her rifle while Francis took aim at the swarm of unmanned aircraft. Having shot down MAKOs before, he aimed for the weak spot, right underneath the central fuselage, a small vent in the front of the engine. Squeezing the trigger tight, a white smoke trail followed the bullet to it's target, through the vent, ripping it apart, and out the other side, destroying another MAKO Drone.
Making shot after shot, the MAKO Drones were suddenly down to two, which Uri finished off with his SPNKr.
"Nice shooting, Francis," said Uri. "But next time, wait until they're away from me!"
"Whoops! Sorry, Uri." chuckled Francis, as he ducked back down and reloaded his rifle.
"You'd better be. Now, are we gonna be taking this damn fortress or what?"
Dan finished off the last of the Rebel troops, as what little he could see retreated back behind thick blast doors.
"Beach is secure," he said, and a mission objective on his HUD turned grey, leaving the others green.
"Alright," said Janice, her voice taking on a commanding tone. "Uri, get over here. They still have got turrets blazing at us, but otherwise we're clear. Use the barricades to your advantage as cover, get as far up as you can, and then Francis will take the turrets out, understood?"
"Understood," the three Spartans replied, as Uri finally joined the group behind the barricades.
The Spartans arranged themselves, crouched, in a line, with Dan at the head, then Francis, then Uri and finally Janice.
"Green Two, go!" whispered Janice, and Dan sprinted out of cover.
Sand flying behind him, from both his running legs and a trail of bullets, Dan flew across to another barricade, rolling to a stop behind it.
"Clear," he whispered.
A trail of white smoke whizzed past him and a Rebel's body slumped down over his turret as Francis headshotted him and ran straight out of cover to a barricade about five meters away from where Dan was crouched.
"Clear,"
There was a huge bang a large missile trailing grey smoke spiralled past him and exploded up on the battlements, shattering the turret into pieces and creating a hole in the wall.
With the path clear, Janice and Uri ran up next to Dan and Francis.
"All clear." said Janice. She unclipped two medium-sized packages from the back of her armour, each one a black box with a red button, a green button and a small timer built into it.
The four Spartans jogged up to the walls of the fortress, and came to stop in front of a huge metal door, the metal almost as thick as two whole Spartans side-by-side.
Uri let out a low whistle.
Janice and Uri each affixed one of the boxes to the metal door by magnets on the back. After pressing the red button, all four Spartans ran back and took cover behind the barricades.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
There was a huge crash as the explosives inside the boxes ripped apart the metal door, shredding through it and melting it down. Huge chunks of metal debris flew away from the door, narrowly missing Dan and Francis' heads as they crouched behind a barricade.
What little was left of the door stood there, sizzling and cracked, while the beach was strewn with sharp wedges of thick steel.
"Ouch." said Francis, then hefted his sniper rifle and cocked it back.
"Let's do this," said Dan.
The Spartans cocked their weapons back and walked through the ruined gate.
"DOWN!" yelled Uri, as a huge missile ripped out of it's canister and roared over their heads, smashing into the wall behind them and shattering it completely.
Dust and rubble fell on Dan's helmet and shoulders, and he shook himself to clear the ringing in his ears. Everything went slightly quiet and dull as shell-shock took over his brain, but he quickly regained control and shot down four rebels before reloading and taking cover behind a large rock as bullets whizzed around him.
Taking a grenade from his belt, he thumbed the button and threw it around the rock into a crowd of trigger-happy Rebels. It landed right in the centre, away from their view and thus went unnoticed until, it exploded, killing them all and tearing them apart.
The Spartans were winning the battle. Disheartened by the death of so many the Rebels were beginning to tire, their reflexes becoming slower and their aim less and less accurate. But still, for every man Dan killed another seemed to take his place.
"We need to finish this," He said, broadcasting through SQUADCOM to his fellow squad mates. "Now."
"I agree," said Janice. "Patching through to UNSC."
Janice took down four more Rebels before she spun around and dropped down behind a barricade.
"Hide and Seek, this is Sierra-178. I'm with my half of Green Team. Requesting Hornets to clear up out here - we've taken the beach, but we need to finish this fortress off."
After sending a waypoint marker and information over TACCOM, she popped back up over the barricade and took down three Rebels before her gun started clicking.
"Damn it!" she cried. "I'm empty. Dan, you got a clip?"
Without stopping, Dan took down two more Rebels with his M6D pistol and detached a full magazine from his belt, tossing it to Janice.
"Thanks," she said, before loading her pistol and continuing the shoot-out.
Dan's HUD beeped and informed him that two UNSC AV-14 Hornets were approaching their position quickly.
Inside his helmet, his COM crackled as one of the Hornet pilots contacted them.
"This is 78-Whisky Alpha. ETA two minutes; be advised, retreat, I repeat, retreat."
The Spartans tossed a few more grenades into the Rebel groups, shooting a few more down. A loud buzzing sound approached them, and the Spartans gradually pulled back as two Hornets flew over them and commenced their attack.
The two aircraft swirled around in the air, moving in circles around one another, the one in front taking out targets, then moving back behind the other before it became damaged, and vice versa.
After ten short minutes of bullets, blood and bodies, the courtyard was finally silent, except for the whirring of the Hornet's turbines. One Rebel, driven mad by the horrors he had witnessed, ran out of the barracks, clutching a pirated SPNKr to his shoulder. Raising it at one of the Hornets, he closed his eyes and squeezed the trigger.
Boom.
The rocket exploded in mid-air, and a trail of white smoke traced back to Francis' sniper rifle.
Uri let out another low whistle.
The Hornets shot the man down, and the pilot of the lucky Hornet looked down at Francis and gave him the thumbs-up.
Behind his visor, Francis smiled back at him.
"That was some freaking sweet shot!" praised Uri.
"Thank you, Uri."
Dan patched his COM through to the Hide and Seek.
"Hide and Seek, this is Sierra-379, fortress is secure, repeat, fortress is secure." The second objective on Dan's HUD turned grey, leaving the last one green. "Requesting orders, over."
The COM crackled as the Hide and Seek replied.
"Green Team, your HUD is being updated with secondary objectives over."
The Spartan's HUDs flickered as another objective was added in front of the last one.
- [Eliminate any remaining rebels and their leader]
Then the last one flickered out and was replaced by:
- [Destroy the fortress]
"Orders received and understood, over and out."
The Hornets began to slow their turbines until they gently kissed the ground and landed. The pilots hopped out and loaded their M6D pistols.
"We're here to help, sir." they told Dan, and followed the Spartans in as they entered a large building.
Janice held up a hand, signalling the Spartans and the two pilots to stop and stay silent.
They were in a long corridor, the walls made of thick steel and plated together, the floor much the same. Janice was stood next to a bulkhead door that hung open off one hinge, swaying gently. Scorch marks stained it's side.
Creeping forward quietly, Janice poked her gun around the door and swung it open just enough to peer in.
"DEMON!" came a high-pitched voice. "It's a demon! I've found one!"
Janice quickly spun round to face the Spartans.
"Covenant!" she said simply.
Dan, Uri and Janice surrounded the blast door while Francis ushered the pilots back to their Hornets. No more lives wasted.
Suddenly, a Grunt came running out of the door, two plasma grenades flaming in his hands, kamikaze style.
"Back!" yelled Uri, as he drew his pistol and planted a bullet right between the Grunt's eyes.
The Grunt gurgled and fell backwards, the two grenades sticking onto it's body and burning for a few seconds before exploding in a flash of blue and splattering the walls with burning-hot plasma. That explained the scorch marks and broken door.
Three more Grunts came out of the room, plasma pistols firing wildly at the retreating Spartans. A Brute captain, his blue armour stained with red blood, smashed the blast door down, crashing it onto the metal floor.
A plasma bolt from one of the Grunt's pistols burnt through Dan's armour, leaving a sizzling hole on his left shoulder.
"I'm hit!" he cried, clutching his shoulder and moving to the back of the formation the Spartans were in. Janice loosed a grenade and it exploded right in the middle of the Grunts, sending all three of them splattering into the walls and sliding down, trailing blue blood.
Uri grabbed a pistol from each of his thighs and loaded each one, before firing deep-penetration rounds at the lone Brute captain. The bullets deflected off his shields however, and, angered at the loss of his squad, went into a beserker rage and started roaring. Uri ran backwards, firing constantly, but tripped on a dead Grunt's limb and fell over backwards.
The Brute ran forward and picked Uri up by the throat with one hand, squeezing his helmet until it shattered. Uri slammed a foot into the Brute's stomach and the enraged alien dropped him at once. His helmet broke and shards of it cutting into his face, Uri ran as fast as he could, but the Brute caught up with him, picked him up with both hands, and tore him in two.
"Uri!" Janice yelled, but it was too late.
The two twitching halves that were once Uri-257 lay on the metal floor, dripping crimson blood.
A white smoke trail slammed into the Brute's forehead and ripped his head off, slamming him over five meters backwards into another blast door.
Francis reloaded his rifle.
"Uri..." Dan whispered, walking tentatively up to what was left of his friend.
"Hide and Seek, this is Sierra-178. 257 is KIA, repeat, Uri is KIA, over." Janice contacted the frigate.
"Understood, 178. Is the fortress secure?"
"Yes sir. We just eliminated a Covenant pack. Requesting evac and the imminent destruction of the fortress, over."
"Request granted. Dispatching Falcon right away, over and out."
Dan blinked as a white NAV Point suddenly appeared on his HUD, signalling that an evac point had been assigned.
"Let's go," he said.
Janice and Dan each carried one half of Uri's body between them, with Francis leading the way to the evac point. They made their way out of the ruined gate and back onto the beach, where a Falcon was waiting, rotors spinning slowly.
The Falcon pilot looked vaguely horrified. Spartans didn't die. They were always missing in action. But there was one, in two pieces. He certainly wasn't missing, he was dead.
Dan and Janice laid the two parts of what was once Uri down on the seats opposite them, and then sat down themselves. Francis scoped the beach one last time.
"All clear," he said, and hopped in.
The Falcon, flanked by the two Hornets sent to the beach earlier on, lifted up into the sky, and flew away. Behind them, a huge slug from an Orbital MAC Cannon smashed the fortress to smithereens.
3. 2000 hours - 8/6/2552 - Thera-Sera, a super-city on the planet of Zanzibar.
The rifle clicked as Dan reloaded it.
He was sat in an abandoned block of flats, in the second sector of Thera-Sera. Taking the clip back out again, he emptied the rounds, and then proceeded to slot them back in again.
There was a huge roaring sound outside, that startled Dan and made him drop his gun with a noisy clatter. He looked up over the window ledge, trying to keep as low as possible.
Outside in the war-torn street, a convoy of Covenant Shadow troop-carriers were hovering their way down, flanked by a Ghost on either side of each Shadow. Dan counted. Seven. Seven Shadows.
On top of each Shadows, an Elite swivelled round in the heavy plasma turrets, surveying the buildings for hostiles. In the open cargo bay, a platform holding eight troops hovered between the antigravity connectors built into the back and front of the cargo bay.
Dan ducked back down and connected his SQUADCOM to a secure frequency, patching through to Janice and Francis.
"Dan here. I'm hiding in an abandoned building on 98th Street." he said, the external speakers turned off so no sound escaped his helmet. "There's a whole convoy of seven Shadows and about fourteen Ghosts heading your way. Be advised, maximum stealth required. You've got to get up here, we need to take them out or Thera-Sera is lost, over."
Janice's voice came through.
"We see them. Send me a NAV Point and we'll get to you."
Dan sent one.
"NAV Point received, making our way over the rooftops, over and out."
With nothing else to do, Dan thought back to the battle he had just fought.
The two Spartans were trapped in a crater left by a plasma mortar, the remnants of which sizzled around the edges of the hole.
Dan popped up over the lip of the crater and fired off a burst from his battle rifle, shooting down a cluster of Unggoy before loosing off a grenade and blowing the limbs off of a pack of Elites.
He ducked down to reload, while Francis popped up to eliminate a group of Brutes with his sniper rifle, the white smoke trails of death finding their target every time.
A huge plasma mortar ripped out of a Wraith's turret, smashing into the ground, narrowly missing the two Spartans.
"We can't hold this. We've got to move!" said Dan, tearing a Grunt to shreds with his M6 pistol.
"Affirmative. Let's contact Janice first. I'll hold them - you do it."
Francis started headshotting the Covenant with amazing speed, killing each target instantly. Dan slipped down into the base of the crater and opened up his COM to Janice.
"Janice, come in, over." he said.
"Dan! I'm hemmed in over here - heavy Wraith fire is pinning me down! We need to take them out immediately," she said, explosions detonating in the background. "I can't hold it much-" The radio cracked and fizzled, as her voice was drowned out in the explosion. Dan thought he heard a scream.
"Janice? Janice, come in!" he yelled. "Oly Oly Oxen Free!" The Spartan all-clear code.
There was no reply.
"Damn it!" he said to Francis. "Janice's radio's knocked out. I think she may be wounded. We've got to get over there!"
"Will it compromise the mission if we do?"
Dan thought for a second, a battle in his mind raging between what's right and what's right for the mission.
"No, let's go." he growled.
After sniping a Brute, the bullet passing through it's head and actually going through another Brute's eye - killing both of them - Francis and Dan sprinted out of the crater and along to where his HUD said Janice had last been.
A plasma mortar crashed in front of them, creating another shell hole. Dan and Francis leapt over it, and finally arrived at Janice's last recorded location.
She was lying there, her helmet cracked open, the left side of it dangling off her head, connected only by wires. Blood trickled down her forehead.
"Janice!" yelled Dan, shaking her shoulder.
"Ugh," she moaned, eyes flickering and then finally focusing on Dan.
"You okay?" Francis asked, while shooting a lone Banshee out of the sky, the Sangheili pilot falling to the ground.
"Yeah," she pulled the helmet off her face, throwing it into the flames of a burning civilian Warthog. "What're the objectives?"
Dan looked up at his HUD. It displayed four green objectives:
- [Eliminate Covenant presence outside of the city centre]
- [Fight into the nuclear reactor in the heart of the city]
- [Plant a HAVOC Nuclear Warhead in the reactor building]
- [Evacuate as many civilians as possible and detonate the bomb from a safe location]
He read them out.
"Right," said Janice, hefting an M7 SMG. "Let's get this over with!"
The three Spartans positioned themselves in a 'V' formation, with Francis on the left, Janice at the front and Dan on the right.
While Francis sniped the way clear of Brutes and Elites, Dan progress forward, shooting down Grunts and Jackals. Janice grabbed a Jackal's gauntlet and slid it over her arm, using it as protection from Wraith plasma-cannon fire as she advanced towards the Wraiths, leaping onto each one, slamming grenades through the hatch and leaping off just before they exploded.
Soon, the Spartans were left standing in a ring of dead alien and decimated Wraiths. A Jackal sniper popped out behind a barricade hidden high up on a block of flats and squeezed the trigger. The blue beam soared through the air, on a one-way path to death. Francis saw it coming out of the corner of his eye, grabbed Janice's arm and held it up, just in time to deflect the bolt off of the energy shield and right back at the Jackal sniper to melt his brain.
"Thanks, Francis," said Janice, shaking the gauntlet from her arm.
"No problem. What now?"
"We've eliminated the Covenant presence, that's for sure." Dan blinked as the first objective flickered to grey.
"Dan, you move further in and secure a hiding place. Me and Francis will clean up here and evac any civilians and then we'll come and join you." said Janice, her voice taking on a commanding tone.
"Deal," said Dan, and sprinted off into the city.
The roaring of Shadows faded out slightly, only to be replaced by the whine of Ghosts swarming in, and the screams as Brutes dragged civilians from their hiding places and out onto the street.
Dan watched as the frightened civilians were lined up, begging and screaming for mercy.
A Brute strolled along the line, and from his golden armour Dan saw that he was designated a War Chieftain and was in charge of this group. The Chieftain grabbed a Mauler from his belt, levelled it at a sobbing child and shot him, point blank, in the face.
The sound of the Mauler and the dying scream of the child rang in Dan's ears as he watched from his perch. The Brute moved along, executing more and more of the innocent and hapless Civilians, until there was just one left - a small baby. The Brute signalled and group of Jackals ran forward and began feasting on the infant, laughing at its wails of pain.
Dan sank back against the wall, disturbed by what he had just witnessed.
"Janice, they've just rounded up a load of civilians and executed them all. We've got to rescue as many as we can. Did you find any?"
"Negative, just charred corpses."
Dan nodded, expecting this reply.
"How far are you from me?" Dan asked, checking the skylines.
"From the NAV Point you sent, I'm about three floors directly on top of you." she replied.
"Fantastic, get down -" he was cut off by Francis' hand on his shoulder.
"Here..." he finished, standing up.
Francis chuckled, lowering the bipod stalks on his sniper rifle and resting it on the window ledge. Crouching on one knee, he took aim, using the x5 scope of his gun.
As the War Chieftain turned round, a speeding bullet and a trail of smoke penetrated through his headress and out the other side of his big, meaty forehead. The Chieftain wobbled, and then tipped over, dead.
The Covenant around him squawked and spun around, searching for where the bullet had come from. Another shot from Francis' sniper rifle took down two Jackals, one of them standing behind the other, and then he picked up the rifle and moved along to another room, setting it up and firing another two shots, taking down more Jackals. The remaining Covenant were now thoroughly confused, unaware if there was two snipers or one, and with their pack leader down were unsure of what to do next. A grenade from Janice sent a cluster of Grunts smashing into the concrete walls of the flat opposite, and Dan took down three more by spreading the burst from his rifle.
Soon the street was empty, except for the corpses of the civilians and Covenant, and several of the Ghosts sputtered out blue flames from where they had caught the edge of an exploding grenade and been damaged.
Dan, Francis and Janice ran down the stairs and out onto the street. Janice picked up a Brute Shot to replace her battle rifle which was now out of ammo. They each took plenty of plasma grenades, clipping them to their belts.
"What about those Shadows?" asked Francis, shoving another clip into his sniper rifle.
"Back at the first sector. We should be wary though - they might come back, or worse, a new batch will come our way." Dan replied. Janice nodded.
A mechanical screaming sound came from overhead, as a group of three Banshees roared over the three Spartans as they shrank back into the darkness of the buildings.
Dan cocked his rifle back, and they stepped out into the street, into the calm after the storm.
4. 2200 hours - 8/6/2552 - Thera-Sera (Second City Sector), a super-city on the planet of Zanzibar.
Dan slipped into the darkness of the left side of the street, as the others did the same on the right side of the street. The roar of a Shadow's hovering drew nearer. Over the hill of the street, a lone Shadow, piloted by a single Elite, with it's turret clanking gently against the vehicle, blasted off it's stand, came into view. It must have been damaged and is retreating for repairs, thought Dan.
Suddenly, Dan had an idea. Relaying it to Janice and Francis, they got ready. As the Shadow hovered past them, Francis shot the driver out of the cabin, the bullet ricocheting off the wall opposite. Dan ran forwards, dragging the body into a nearby building.
Meanwhile, Janice sent their co-ordinates to the orbiting Hide and Seek, asking for a supply drop. Minutes later, three titanium canisters smashed into the tarmac, embedding themselves in it. The lids popped off, and Janice grabbed an M6 G/GNR Spartan Laser, snatched three magazines for a sniper rifle from the second canister and tossed them to Francis, and pulled out an M90 Shotgun from the third one and passed it to Dan.
Janice climbed up to the top of the Shadow and tilted the turret off the edge of the Shadow, and then hopped in the hole where the antigravity generator should be to hold the turret up. Although the plasma turret was no longer operational, her G/GNR would compensate. Francis knelt down in the troop bay, sniper rifle at the ready, while Dan hopped into the driving seat of the Shadow, and tried to figure out some of the controls. He toyed a little with some joysticks and buttons until he finally got it moving in the right direction. After a while, it was easy.
The Shadow trundled down the street, with Francis and Janice especially vigilant.
After about twenty minutes, the sound of Banshees approached them. As it drew nearer, the Spartans debated on what to do.
"If we act natural it may pass over us," said Francis, scoping the sky for any sign of the Covenant aircraft.
"No, it'll scan the Shadow for Covenant allies. If it finds us, we're tinned meat!" replied Dan, trying to keep the Shadow at a constant speed.
"We should shoot it down," determined Janice, hefting her Spartan Laser.
"If we miss it'll attack us - if we hit it the Covenant will know someone is in an area that they thought was cleared out." replied Dan.
"That's a risk we'll have to take, then."
As the Banshee came into view, Francis gave the signal. Janice charged up the laser, the red targeting beam flickering across the night sky. With a screech, the Banshee approached them. The laser flared, and a huge red beam cut the sky, burning through the Banshee and out the other side, shattering the aircraft into several pieces, and sending them clattering to the ground in a swathe of blue fire.
"We've really got to go now!" said Francis, laughing nervously.
"Dan, what's the top speed of this thing?" Janice asked.
"I can't read Covvie, but I'd say this is as fast as it goes!" Dan replied, pumping the accelerator to no avail.
"Right. As soon as we find another Shadow we ditch this one for it. We need a plasma turret so we don't attract any attention if we're seen firing." said Janice, once again putting on her commanding voice.
"Agreed," replied Dan and Francis, speaking in near-unison.
A little while later, they found what they were looking for.
They had reached a Covenant refuel and repair station. Or at least, what once was a refuel and repair station. It now burned heavily, guarded by a group of eight Marines. When they saw the approaching Shadow, they began to shoot, but Francis ordered them to cease fire, and they quickly apologised humbly for their mistake, much to the Spartans' amusement.
Dan quickly explained the plan, and the Marines willingly agreed to help. They also gave the Spartans new supplies. Janice traded her Brute Shot for an M41 Rocket Launcher, Francis swapped his silenced M6C pistol for a silenced M7S Caseless Sub-Machine Gun. Dan gave up his depleted M6 pistol for a fully-loaded MA5K Assault Rifle/Carbine.
With the small human force taking up strategic positions around the repair station and neighbouring buildings, a Covenant Shadow hovered around the corner, it's turret still intact, but by its extensively slow speed, it was in need of refuelling. Just as the Elite pilot turned to go back after seeing what had happened to the station, the Spartans and the Marines pounced. Francis planted a bullet in the temple of the Elite driver, slamming him four meters away from the controls and onto the street, while the gunner spun round and began firing at the Marines. It took one down, but the others concentrated their fire on the gunner, and soon finished him off.
"We've got a Shadow, but we need fuel. And the only station we know of is in smithereens!" moaned Francis, shoving a clip into his sniper rifle.
Two of the Marines went into the rubble of the station and came out, rolling Covenant fuel tanks between them. They had hidden them behind a pile of twisted metal and Covenant corpses.
"Fantastic!" exclaimed Janice, helping the Marines to refuel the Shadow. The Marines relaxed after that.
"We kept them in case ONI wanted a look at them," one explained. "But this is a better use, for sure!"
With Janice in the turret, the seven Marines and Francis in the troop bay, and Dan at the controls, the Shadow made its way forward.
Dan stopped the Shadow and turned it round to face the direction they'd just come.
"Dan? What are you doing?" asked Janice, swivelling in the turret seat.
"We can't complete the mission - I'm tuned in to the Covenant frequencies in here. They've got it surrounded. No-one in or out, maximum civilian casualties. We have to turn back and evac out of here." Dan answered.
"Okay. I'll request two Pelicans with heavy-lift gear, then." replied Janice. "We need to take the Shadow back to base. Maybe the techies can reverse-engineer it. Then we'll have Covvie technology in our hands and can mass-produce modified Shadows."
"Good idea. Do it."
Janice tuned into a secure wavelength and contacted the Hide and Seek.
"Hide and Seek this is Sierra-178. We've captured a Covenant Shadow and have Marines aboard. Covenant have surrounded the city centre - we can't go in. Mission aborted, requesting evac: recommending two Pelicans with heavy-lift gear, over."
"Mission aborted and evac site assigned, 178. Request granted, heavy-lift Pelicans dispatched, over and and out."
A few seconds later a small flag appeared on their HUD, showing that an evac point had been designated. Dan fired up the Shadow's engine and drove back the way they'd came.
The two Pelicans whined as their engines tilted and kept the craft hovering above the ground. In the distance, a Covenant Shadow came into view. But it was not just any Covenant Shadow, for this once carried three Spartan super soldiers and a squad of Marines.
The large Covenant carrier trundled up to the hovering Pelicans, who each deployed two magnetic clamps connected to an almost indestructible cable. The occupants of the Shadow hopped into the two Pelicans as they flew into the air, dangling their precious cargo between them.
5. 0800 hours - 8/7/2552 - A UNSC permanent base site, classified location on the planet of Zanzibar.
The technician walked over to the assembled Spartans, waving a clipboard in his left hand.
"It's good news," he said, passing the clipboard to the first Spartan, who then passed it along the line. "We've reverse-engineered the Shadow and it's been redesigned. It's now in the mass-production stage. The first is complete. If you'd like to follow me, you can come and see it."
The technician smiled, and turned towards the factory. The three seven-foot-tall figures followed.
Doors clanking shut behind them, the Spartans removed their helmets, holding them under their right arms.
Before them was what was once a purple, plasma-based Covenant Shadow. Now, even though the silhouette was the same, the Shadow was painted olive-drab, with the UNSC logo, identification details and the word "Buffalo" printed on it's side. The heavy plasma turret atop the cabin was now replaced by a powerful Gauss-cannon, mounted on a turret that could spin 360 degrees. The cargo bay was filled by the troop seating bay from the previous vehicle, but it too was painted olive-drab and featured fittings so it could be removed and replaced by a platform built for carrying Warthogs into battle.
The specs displayed on the clipboard showed that it now operated on a new kind of Human-based fuel, gave out twice the speed and power, and was fitted with armour plates similar to those featured on the Spartans' MJOLNIR armour, toughened to provide some protection from plasma fire.
The technician took them through some of the features, showing off the shield generator, taken from the shields once again from the MJOLNIR armour ("Only available on the variants assigned to Spartans," said the technician), the simplified controls, modified to fit the generic human systems, so that it now consisted of switches, gears and a semicircular steering wheel, and a chain gun taken and modified from a Warthog mounted on the back step.
"Your thoughts?" he asked afterwards.
The first Spartan, with Dan-379 printed his shoulder armour, answered.
"It's perfect. You and your team should be proud."
The second Spartan, Francis-312, grinned.
"Can we battle-test it?" he asked, glee evident in his voice.
The technician nodded and gave a wry smile.
"I thought you'd say that..."
Three Ghosts sped toward the Buffalo as it roared across the plain, hovering over the shell-holes and craters that peppered the dried earth. The Ghosts fired their plasma cannons at the Buffalo, and they deflected off it's shield, dissipating into the air.
The olive-drab behemoth spun round, it's tail end smashing into the Ghost nearest to it and sending it flying through the air, being cut up on it's way to the ground by the machine gun mounted on the tail.
The two remaining Ghosts split up, each one targeting either side of the Buffalo, boosting through the gap made by no troop platform, criss-crossing over and over. The Gauss turret mounted atop the Buffalo spun round, charged, and fired a beam of bright blue energy at a Ghost, slicing it into pieces as it exploded in a ball of blue plasma.
It was just three days since it had passed a Spartan-standard battle test, and after being repaired heavily, was flown out to a Covenant-controlled plain of land, vital to the UNSC because of it's vast titanium reserves. Their mission was to secure the area for UNSC occupation.
The Spartan manning the tail gun, Francis-312, squeezed the triggers down, sending a hail of bullets shooting up sand, tracing the lone Ghost's path along the dirt. Spinning the Gauss turret round, Janice-178 loosed a round of high-power tungsten at the Ghost, but it boosted at the last moment, escaping the deadly blue blast by mere inches.
The Buffalo pilot, Dan-379, jerked the steering wheel, whipping the tail out to the right. The rightmost wedge on the side of the Buffalo slammed into the Ghost, denting it badly and causing the power reactor on the side to explode, sending the Grunt driver flying out of his seat and smashing onto the hard ground.
Dan twisted the gear nearest to him to the right and then up, diverting all power to the rear engines, boosting the craft forward, almost flying across the sand.
Francis let out a whoop, spinning his gun round to make mince meat out of a crowd of Grunts.
Suddenly there was the roar of an engine, and out nowhere in particular came a group of five Spectre's, their plasma cannons firing wildly at the Buffalo and burning through it's shields, scorching the armour plating.
Janice loosed burst after burst from her Gauss cannon, but the Spectres moved too fast, dodging each blast. Dan spun the craft round so Francis could have a shot, but he only succeeded in making a few bullet holes in one of the Spectres' panels before he was hit by plasma fire.
Dan tried to spin Francis out of harm's way, but one of the Spectres came up on his right, hemming him in. A Grunt on the left wing of the Spectre overcharged his plasma pistol, and a globule of plasma shot straight through Francis' armour and hit his right lung. Francis was catapulted out of his seat, and onto the ground.
"Francis!" cried Janice, quickly firing a triple burst into a Spectre, finally destroying it.
Dan swerved round, slamming the tail into a Spectre and going right the way through it, severing it in two. The three remaining Covenant craft swarmed together, diverting all their attention to Janice. Just as the Gauss cannon exploded, Janice leapt off the top of the Buffalo and onto a Spectre, grabbing it's pilots by the neck and tossing them from the vehicle.
Now commandeering the Spectre, Janice boosted the craft forward, using the nearest Spectre as a ramp, only to come crashing down onto the Spectre behind it, destroying it instantly.
Hovering off the wreckage, Janice spun the tail out, clipping the last Spectre's gunner off his stand and into the dirt, where his skull cracked against a protruding rock.
Janice boosted towards the back of the last Spectre, and then leapt of of the front of her craft, grabbing hold of the engine on the back of the Spectre. Tearing a grenade from her belt, she pushed the button down, ripped open a hole in the core and squeezed it in, before letting go, falling backwards onto the ground and rolling head over heels.
The Spectre carried on moving, oblivious to the grenade. Then it exploded, debris flying everywhere, and the battlefield was suddenly still.
On their HUDs, the single objective turned grey. Janice picked herself up and sprinted over to Francis, who was lying still, while Dan turned off the engines of the Buffalo and climbed out, already contacting the Hide and Seek.
"Hide and Seek, this is Sierra-379. The plain is secure, you may commence occupation. Requesting evac for the Buffalo and medics - Francis-312 is compromised, over." he said, running over to Janice and Francis.
"Understood, 379. Commencing occupation procedures right away. Dispatching evac and medic team to your location, over and out."
Janice pulled out a scanner from the back of her belt and traced it over Francis' still form.
"His right lung has collapsed, and is flooding with plasma. If that medic team doesn't arrive in the next five to ten minutes he's a goner." she said, forcing all emotion out of her voice.
Dan touched her shoulder tentatively.
"Okay," he said, and picked up Francis' legs, while Janice grabbed his arms. Together they carried him over to the Buffalo and laid him over the troop bay canopy.
About six minutes later, two Pelicans came into view and touched down, Marines pouring out of the back and Warthogs being dropped. The UNSC forces surrounded the area and locked it down, already laying out plans for human occupation. Two of the Pelican crew came over and collected Francis, wheeling him over to the first Pelican, where a medi-team stripped him of his armour and set themselves to saving the Spartan.
Meanwhile, Dan and Janice hooked the Buffalo up to the Pelicans, rolling the Gauss cannon onto the top of the canopy and tying it down.
At 1500 hours a medic jogged up to Dan and Janice, looking slightly intimidated by the two Spartans looming over him.
"It's good news," he said. "Francis will be fine. However, he'll need to rest up back at base for about two weeks."
Janice nodded. "Thank you," she said.
The medic grinned and walked back to the Pelican.
Minutes later, one of the pilots gave the signal and Dan and Janice hopped aboard, sitting facing one another in the troop bay of the Pelican.
The Buffalo swung between the two craft as they took off, soon clipping the sky and flying off into the distance.
The Staff Sergeant spun round, lifting up his elbow to chin-height and smashing it into the alien's jaw, splitting the four mandibles apart. Lifting up his pistol, he rammed it down the Sangheili's throat and squeezed off two rounds. The Elite gurgled, coughing up purple blood, before falling to the ground.
"Don't fuck with a Marine!" he growled, spitting on the alien corpse.
The Sergeant, with "Royce" emblazoned on his soft-cap, ran over to a fallen Private, picking up the empty frame of his plasma-shield. The UNSC had developed them from Covenant Kig-Yar technology, turning them into curved, oblong-shaped shields based on Ancient Earth Roman Legionnaires.
Sergeant Royce slid his arm through the gauntlet and pressed a button on the side of it. The titanium frame lit up with a blue light as plasma formed itself into an oblong shield.
Squatting low behind the shield, he edged around the corner of a building, to face a Covenant barricade, the purple-coloured metal glinting in the twilight. Squinting through the shifting plasma, he counted three Unggoy and a lone Brute Major. He slid around the corner, checked that his battle rifle was working, cocked it back, and then span back round.
The Grunts spotted him first, screaming in delight as they fired their scorching hot plasma bolts at Royce. He deflected them off his shield, then snuck his battle rifle around the edge and loosed a three-round burst, sending two of the dwarf-like aliens to the ground before switching to single-fire and putting a bullet through the final Grunt's gas mask, leaving it twitching on the floor, slowly suffocating in the planet's non-methane atmosphere.