Halo: Hell Rising
Section 1
It's been two years since the end of the Human-Covenant War. Humans and Elites, as well as the former members of the covenant, now have an Interstellar government. The Master Chief is still missing. As the Aft section of the Forward Unto Dawn hurtles towards a planet that appears similar to Earth. The Master Chief is awoken and prepares to explore his new "Home", But what lies underneath, is the true mystery. Long ago abandoned by the Forerunner, this planet may hold something so terrible, that even the Flood would not dare touch this place
Part 1: Legend
"Chief?...Chief?...Can You hear me?" a woman's voice called out as the Master Chief awoke from cryostasis.
"Cortana?" the chief said as he stepped out of the cryo pod. "Where are we?"
"Judging by the stellar coordinates, we are somewhere near Betelgeuse" Cortana said as her holographic image sprung to life from the holotank. But what's interesting is that there's a planet orbiting this star."
"A planet?" the chief inquired. "Isn't the Betelgeuse system designated as an uninhabitable?"
"That doesn't mean that there can't be a planet down there." Cortana replied. "But the Chances of life are slim; I'll run a scan to check for a breathable atmosphere."
"Then I'll head to the armory, we may need some firepower" the chief said as he grabbed his MA5C Assault Rifle and attached it to his back. Floating though the corridors of the aft section of the Forward Unto Dawn, the chief still did not feel at as he would have had his feet been planted firmly on the ground with dirt under his boots. Even though the frigate was un-manned except for himself and Cortana, he still did not like ships of any kind; he couldn't act if they were attacked.
"Master Chief, The atmospheric analysis is done" Cortana broadcasted over the radio "It appears that the atmosphere is breathable, but it has a higher than normal Sulfur Dioxide content in its atmosphere. So it's likely that there is high geological activity. The average surface temperature is 30 degrees centigrade"
"What's the possibility of rescue?" the Chief asked as he took as many AP rounds for the MA5C. "If this is Betelgeuse then our best bet is to beam a transmission to Sanghelios, But… to beam a transmission to the Elite home world would drain the remaining power in the reserves."
"Beam the transmission, we are going home, tell the Elites to meet us on the surface" the chief requested "when your done we'll go planet side and try to survive." "There's a Lifeboat two decks down, take the service elevator that I'm marking on your HUD, it leads straight to the Life boat" Cortana said as the SPARTAN took a Shotgun and a Battle Rifle and loaded them into a crate with as much ammunition as possible. He wished the crate would fit more weapons and ammo but it was too small to fit the M41 SSR MAV/AW Rocket Launchers or the Spartan Lasers that were aboard the armory, he would have to come back to ships crash site for those. He holstered an M6D pistol and added HE pistol ammo to the crate. The chief headed towards the service elevator that was marked on his HUD.
"Chief, when you get off the elevator there's a holotank next to the elevator door; pick me up when you get there." Cortana said shortly before returning to her task of trying to land the hulk of metal they were on that was hurtling straight for the planet orbiting Betelgeuse.
When the chief stepped off the elevator, he retrieved Cortana and loaded the weapons and ammo that he had stocked up on into the escape pod. He strapped himself into the pilot's seat, "Not going to stand this time?" Cortana quipped.
"There's no rush, so no reason to stand." The chief replied calmly while prepping the escape vehicle. "Hold on" Cortana said "What is it?" the chief asked impatiently. "I was reviewing the feeds from the frigates scans and noticed an anomaly" she said "What anomaly?" the chief inquired
"It appears that there are life signs on this planet, weather they are sentient or not is unknown" Cortana replied "and they don't match anything in the UNSC's or covenant databases, there appears to be many different life signs as well"
"So there may be a chance of ambush when we land" the Chief said as he got up from the pilots chair, and headed towards the crate of supplies, picked up his MA5C, found a fresh clip and slammed it home.
"It's a possibility, but they could all be different forms of plant life."
"So we won't know until we get there" the chief headed back to the pilot's seat with the Assault Rifle in hand. By the time the chief had sat down the escape pod had begun its re-entry. It would only be a matter of time, before contact with the planet and its life forms would happen.
From the surface of the world, the escape pod burned a bright red as it was engulfed in flames. A trail of black smoke followed its descent, as screamed across the sky, breaking the sound barrier. It passed over one of the many mountain ranges and crashed in a nearby valley, with a deafening bang.
When the dust settled around the escape pod, the Master Chief got up from his seat moved to secure his LZ. Stepping out of the pod he swept his Assault Rifle in a wide arc from left to right checking that nothing was going to meet him when he began to circle around the craft securing the crash site.
"That's odd" Cortana's voice declared "Your suits Trans Comm. system is indicating there are radio signals 3 clicks due north" the chief paused his movement, when he heard the news. "Then that means that there's a much greater chance of getting off this rock." The chief turned around and re-entered the pod, he grabbed the Battle Rifle he stashed in the crate earlier and a full combat load for it.
He chose the battle rifle due to his need for a mid-long ranged weapon for the open terrain that he would be traversing. The chief placed the Assault Rifle on his back and raised the Battle Rifle. He'll have to come back for the rest of the ammunition later, even though his boot was on dirt, the chief was still uneasy with placing faith in the possibility that Forward Unto Dawn had some vehicles in it so he could drive instead of having to hoof it out.
"I'm marking the origin of the signal on your HUD." Cortana's voice played through the speaker in the chief's helmet. Setting off for the location marked on his HUD, the chief made long strides to cover the distance from the lifeboat to the beacon.