Halo 2: Attack of the Clones
The In Amber Clad held position as 3 Pelicans dropped from her hangar, turning towards the Covenant Carrier and the super city of New Mombasa. Spartan 117 glanced impassively around the cargo hold of his Pelican, silently studying the face of each Marine. Each knew very well that they were likely to die but still looked to him, the Master Chief, slayer of armies, to keep them alive. Cortana started talking at that moment, interrupting his thoughts. "The message just repeats regret, regret, regret." Miranda Keyes frowned slightly. "Hmm, catchy. Any idea what it means?" "Dear humanity," Sgt. Major Johnson piped up ",We Regret being alien bastards. We Regret coming to Earth. And we most certainly Regret that the corps just blew up our raggedy ass FLEET!" "Hooha!" The Marines responded enthusiastically. Miranda Keyes chuckled under her breath saying, "If only. Regret is a name Sergeant. The name of one of the Covenants' religious leaders, a Prophet. He's on that carrier and he's calling for help." The Pelicans descended, doing a flyover of a UNSC convoy en route to the front lines. A spotter team came on the radio link for the Pelicans. "Immediate. Klick helo two-three is hot. Recommend mission abort." "Roger recon," the pilots responded. From the rear most Pelican Johnson's' pilot spoke up. "It's your call sir." It took him only a moment to decide. "We're going in." He shifted in his seat a little bit. "Get tactical Marines!", he shouted back to the troops. The Marines, in response began a last minute check of their gear. Lord Hoods' voice came on the tactical frequency. "Master Chief, get aboard that carrier, secure the Prophet of Regret. This is the only place on Earth the Covenant decided to land and that Prophet is going to tell us why." "Thirty seconds out," the lead Pelican's pilot announced. "Standby...to..." His voice trailed off. His co-pilot looked up to see a massive machine looming ahead of them. It spotted them, stopped and turned to face them head-on, crushing an eighteen wheeler beneath it's massive feet. Then the Scarab's mouth opened wide, exposing a huge plasma cannon. Glowing green, it discharged a long stream of fire, annihilating the lead pelican. The other two split in 2 directions. The Scarab's topside turret tracked them as it laced John's Pelican with plasma fire, causing the pilot to lose control and crash land in a nearby plaza. It landed with a gut-wrenching shriek of metal on concrete, skidding across the pavement. Johnson and his V/TOL were able to outmaneuver the Scarabs weapon systems as they shifted to a different landing site. "Johnson," Miranda Keyes said. , "What just happened?" "Scarab ma'am. Busted up our formation pretty good." "And Sierra 117?" "Went down with his bird. I'm tracking his transponder." "Good. But in the meantime return to In Amber Clad. I've got something I think he'll like..."
John was barely fazed by the crash. The moment the metal carcass stopped moving, he was on his feet checking each body. Most were okay. Corporal Marshall had a defective seat restraint. His body was twisted at horrible angles, his face, quite literally smashed against the wall. Actually there wasn't much left of his face. And Private McKenzie, eager to go to war, had a hole through his chest, plasma scoring marring his body armor. His face was set in a mask of peace, his eyes staring into empty space straight ahead. John closed the kids' eyes and shook his head. Too young. But the UNSC needed every man that could fight, every volunteer. But he was just a kid. John mentally berated himself. This kid had signed up. He knew the risk going in and what was likely to happen. This was war. "Every one fine?" He asked. Mumbles of "Yes" and murmurs of assent floated back to him. "All right then. Lets get out of here." A Marine shook his head. "The door's jammed tight. It won't open." "Let me see it." John looked at the cargo ramp for a few seconds and then put his foot straight through it. He followed it up with his fist. 10 seconds later, the door or what was left of it, was 'open'. More accurately, it was in pieces, scattered across the ground behind the Pelican. John looked back to the Marines who were staring at him, dumfounded. "Well," he said, "Lets get moving." The Marines followed him still looking at him. John could feel the weight of their stares on his back. Switching to his helmet frequency, he said, "Why are they staring at me?" Cortana, the witty AI in his helmet replied rather dryly, "I don't actually know Chief. Maybe it has to do with the fact that tore an armored ramp to pieces with your bare hands. Like an animal I might add." He cuffed the side of his helmet in response. "Ouch. Okay, I deserved that." He chuckled. He reached the building on the other side side of the plaza. He depressed the button on the to open the door...and found himself face-to-face with an Elite. The Sanghelli's mandibles spread open in surprise. "Demon!", it breathed. His magnum was already at face level and spitting lead. The Elite fell without a sound. He cocked his Assault Rifle and beckoned to the Marines. "Move out. I'll take point."
On board Cairo Station, Lord Hood was tracking the orbital battle. It wasn't looking good. 2 stations had stopped responding to radio traffic and the fleet was taking a beating. Still, if they could hold position and draw the Covenant ships in a bit closer, then they could still win. "Lord Hood, this is Fleet Admiral Harper. We've got more slip space ruptures off our port bow and...and something else sir. Readings are a bit unclear." "Roger that Harper, good work." He cocked his head to the left a bit as he studied the Covenant formation. "Fleet Admiral Harper, send two destroyers and a frigate right down the center of that formation. Using their MAC guns, they can cripple at least four ships. Once they've completed their runs, have them return to perimeter defense." "Yes sir." A technician called over to him. "Lord Hood! Something came out of...". The man paused. , "It's not slip space sir." "It's not ours so treat it as hostile." He wished he could sleep. God knew he needed it. And both of them knew he wasn't likely to get it in the coming days.
