I'm back. I know it's been a while but I'm back. Sorry but I decided to go with a rewrite because the original version was just trash and of course these things take a while. Overall the OC hasn't changed in many regards but the changes that are there are pretty significant. The first major thing you'll notice will probably be that I added in a sort of character trailer for him that takes place right before he heads to remnant. In the context of the halo universe it's the last level of halo 3 where they are trying to light the halo ring and eradicate the flood. This is supposed to be a prologue/character trailer for Aeden so it's a bit of an info dump. I want it to be much like the Original RWBY trailers (short, action pact, and reveals part of the character's background) and I also, for this section alone, wanted to emulate the less is more style of dialogue that marked the golden age of halo storytelling so I'm probably going to trim the fluff a bit excessively. Also I switched it to third person because I don't have the talent to pull off the previous style I was going for. If you liked the way it was done before then congratulates, you're an intellectual minority. And before I forget, I made it so that thoughts are in Italics so that it doesn't get confusing for you or annoying for me to write when the OC and his AI are having one of their mental conversations.
"If one forsakes principles for victory, one day they will be left with neither. If one concedes victory for the sake of principles, then evil will triumph and his principles are pointless. In my experience both choices spawn tragedy and I'm getting sick of it."
'Green' Trailer
"Halo. It's so new. So unfinished. I'm not sure what's going to happen when we fire it."
"We'll head for the the portal,"Chief responded as the Arbiter threw him an assault rifle. "And we'll all go home."
"He says after crashing our best ride out of here," Aeden mocked as he placed a magnum in his thigh Master Chief silently turned his head towards the young admiral. Despite the weight behind the faceless stare, the Admiral continued his gear up sequence unfeathered and picked up his ranged weapon of choice.
"Sergeant Johnson," The Hayabusa clad officer spoke over the radio while starting a munitions check on his DMR. "Our pelican's down. Grab two of my men and have them drive a separate warthog."
"Roger that. Will do sir."Johnson replied on an open channel.
"You know the dawn has another pelican right?"His A.I companion, Juno, asked telepathically through his neural implant. His answer was a quick "Yeah, too risky."
"Our ride out is arranged," Aeden announced as he started walking towards the cave entrance on the other side of the ridge they were on. "Let's move."
As they moved through the hole in the ice they came across a large drop. 15, maybe 20 meters down. Though lethal to the common soldier, this drop wasn't even a trifle to this group of warriors. When they hit the snow-cushioned ground, they barely even felt it.
When they looked up they saw Halo's control room. The structure was a highly defendable building with three levels that had to be traversed via a single walkway that would force attackers to fight their way around the entire length of the building on a single front. In the middle there was a single wall that provided cover to both sides. The approach had little cover other than a few odd structures no bigger than a warthog and some trenches in the snow. In terms of its layout at least, it was easily defendable. Yet Aeden noticed it had a distinct and ominous lack of defenders.
That was quick to change.
Almost as though it heard its call, a flood dispersal pod crashed to the ground about 10 meters from where they were standing. The grotesque creature that emerged didn't survive long enough to turn and face them before a carbine round was unloaded into the red 'antennae' that attached to where the head of the body used to be. The infected brute then fell over dead with a large empty crater where the face used to be. Before the corpse hit the ground however, several more of the pods had already been scattered along the snow covered surface.
"You can still get headshots. Good to know," the Admiral said somewhat coyly while the three of them moved to cover and returned fire."Got a plan?"
"Think I'll shoot my way to the top," The chief explained as a humorous oversimplification.
"Sounds good to me," Aeden said before sprinting to the trio's right flank. Normally he would've rolled his eyes at the recklessness of the legendary soldier. But after years of being side lined for most ground operations, running an enemy position sounded like a fun change of pace."On your mark Chief."
The Master Chief took a position between Aeden and the Arbiter before he gave the order. "Let's go."
The others did as ordered. They bolted across the snow towards the ramp on the opposite end of the field. Leaving behind a trail of infected corpses of all races. They were halfway across the plain when the wall that divided the structure came to a hole that split the path in two. The right went up to a narrow elevated position along the cliffside while the left continued to hug the control building. Without words ever being spoken, the group new to split. Arbiter and Chief continued the charge on the larger cluster to the left while Aeden ran to towards the cliff to the right. He left a trail of corpses behind him as he avoided the hail of plasma he was greeted with. As he rounded the corner, Aeden saw the two legends plow through a cluster of six without so much as a misplaced shot or a break their stride. As he rejoined his companions, Aeden saw a group of thirteen combat forms jump down from the upper levels in front of the the charging soldiers. Aeden, not wanting to be slowed down, pulled out a frag grenade. The well placed explosive reduced all but four of them to a pile shredded flesh and green goo. The army of three then finished them off with a barrage of bullets. They pressed forward towards the top of the ramp to the first level of the control room itself.
"Above us," Juno warned her host. Sure enough, the hostiles were jumping down from the upper levels after the team was about halfway across the shaded side of the lower level. The ambushers surrounded them. The Admiral discarded his nearly empty rifle and drew his sword from his side. The Arbiter and Chief took to killing those that were flanking them while Aeden simply charged those that blocked their advance, leaving behind him a trail of severed limbs and bisected torsos. His kriegsmesser; a large, slightly top-heavy, single-edged blade, had enough cutting power to slice through the thick flesh with ease.
"Still got it," He said to himself quietly.
"I don't know about that," Juno argued. "Your edge alignment was off by an average of 5.5 degrees."
"Don't ruin it for me, It's my first time back in the field in 5 years."
By the time the other two caught up with him, Aeden was yanking the blade out of a tank form's mouth. They watched as its lifeless body fell to the ground. A ground that was as littered with so much mutated gore that they couldn't begin to guess how many he killed.
"You've been busy," The older SPARTAN said to the blood covered swordsman.
"Yeah it's been a while," the younger calmly replied. "Got to say, it's good to be back in the field. It's a great stress relief when you don't have to babysit half a squad." He looked over and saw an unsettling look on the Arbiter's face. Though its meaning was lost to those present. This lead Aeden to ask "What are you looking at?"
"A SPARTAN wielding a silver blade and white mask over the front of his helmet," He responded while maintaining a level tone. "Years ago, a team of SPARTANs began targeting the our officers, our heroes, and its elite. All reports described their leader as a white faced SPARTAN with a silver blade."
"Oh, just now putting that together are you?" Aeden mocked. "And, Silver? I know you guys like your purples and blues. But come on, you must have seen uncolored steel or titanium at some point. It looks nothing like silver."
"So you admit to being the one we called harbinger."
"That and a couple of other cliche nicknames," he answered indifferently. "Is that going to be a problem?"
There was a moment of tense silence. The Arbiter began walking towards the SPARTAN III with both plasma rifles held at his side.
"I've far greater enemies to worry about than you,"he said sternly as he passed the Admiral.
"Great idea,"Juno telepathically mocked. "Feel like picking any more fights while you're at it?"
"As a matter of fact,"he mentally responded to his companion.
"Glad that's been sorted out," Aeden replied out loud, maintaining his level unthreatened tone as he turned to follow his ally forward. "Do me a favor when we get back and stop using the over used religious aliases for me. I can't begin to tell you how tired I am of being called stupid crap like the 'demon of chorus'"
"As you wish." he spoke. "Come SPARTANs, the parasite gathers while we delay."
"I doubt it," Aeden argued. He followed the alien through the hallway leading to the other side of the structure's exterior and continued speaking. "It's been almost 15 minutes since I told Garrus to take the warthogs which means he's been doing his work for about," he paused for a second when the exited the hole in the wall that lead to the control room starboard walkway. The entirety of which was covered with enough green blood and busted up body parts for perhaps two full platoons of infected corpses. "I'd say five, maybe six minutes."
"60 cal?" Chief looked at one of the ooze covered holes in the wall.
"Heavily modded 60 cal," Aeden corrected as he steeped in some of the green ooze and bits of flesh that was splattered absolutely everywhere. "With fragmenting rounds judging from the mess." He switched to his radio to contact his subordinate. "What's your status sergeant?"
"I'm perched up on the cliff side with my trusty semi-automatic sniper with anti-personnel rounds and Jenkins here to watch my back," the First Sergeant spoke in the plain informative manner that the Admiral alway appreciated.
"In other words," Jenkins interjected with the far more cocky tone that was much less appreciated. "You guys are basically untouchable."
"I ask him to bring 2 guys and he just has to choose him." He thought to himself before pulling up his radio. "Where's Sergeant Johnson?"
"He's up top waiting for you guys."
"Good work sergeant keep me posted if anything changes." Aeden responded.
"I see the Raven's reputation was accurate one," The Arbiter interjected.
"Did you already forget that conversation we had about the nicknames?"Aeden retorted, hardly hiding the agitation in is voice.
"That was title was yours, but your brothers."
"Great, that's just what they needed. Something else to stroke their egos with."
"Am I the only one who's more curious as to how the fuck the Covenant know what a raven is?" Jenkins joined in with what in the Aeden's mind was actually a decent point that would dutifully be ignored by everyone because he ended the radio transmission. The trio on the ground began their trek up the control room. Every other step landed in mutated tissue and watched through his scope as they reached the top where they found Sergeant Major Johnson.
"You'll have to forgive me if I pass on the salute," Johnson shrugged his right shoulder to indicate the ordinance often referred to as the SPARTAN laser weighing heavily on him. The choice seemed odd to Aeden. A rocket launcher would've been easier for him to carry, and made more sense as well seeing as how the laser was by no means a good pick for hoards of unarmored infantry, a.k.a. the Flood. The hulking piece of artillery was famous for being able to burn a hole through multiple wraiths, but it only holds 5 shots which generally means it's used as an anti-armor solution.
"Nothing I'm not used to," Aeden responded. "At least you're reasoning doesn't a variation middle finger."
"You really need to reign your boy in," Johnson replied.
"We have an agreement," Aeden explained. "They get a pass until they fuck up a mission."
"Mmmhm, and hows that worked out for ya?"
"Four failed missions and one casualty in 8 years. The most recent of which was two years ago."
"Damn," The Sergeant Major said before he turned to the door. "SPARK! YOU IN THERE? OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!"
The control room outer door opened. The group made their way to the door at the end of the hallway. Aeden and the Master Chief took point when they entered the control room, followed closely by Sgt. Maj. Johnson while the Arbiter guarded there rear outside the door. The room was a large open chamber with a holographic representation of the ring as the centerpiece. A wide glass plain stretched forward towards a control panel and encircled the image of the ring. On either side of the path was what Aeden figured was at least a ten story drop to the floor. The SPARTAN II yanked the chip out of the back of his head that contained his A.I. Cortana, and looked down on it as he held it in his hand.
"I'm not going to lose her too," Johnson said, holding out his open hand. Chief tossed him the chip containing his companion. Johnson began making his way over to the console. On his way over, a small floating orb came to his side began speaking to him.
"Chief," the SPARTAN III began. "What the heck am I looking at?"
"That's Spark," John answered. "He's the monitor of the ring."
"Before you ask" Juno interjected."That means he protects the ring and makes sure it is remains in working order."
"I'm surprised he okayed the plan." Aeden spoke to both of them. "Didn't Cortana say…"
"AHHHHH," Johnson screamed in pain. When they looked over, they saw his steaming body collapse to the floor.
"Yeah about that"Juno light-heartedly commented.
"UNACCEPTABLE! UNACCEPTABLE! ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE!" the orb shouted as it turned to blast the SPARTAN II that was running to aid his ally. The Arbiter raised his carbine to his shoulder only to be met with the same red beam that had just knocked Chief off his feet. The Elite was promptly launched behind the door's threshold and locked out of the control room. Aeden pulled out his pistol and emptied the entire round magazine into the bullseye in the center of the monster's face. As would be expected, he was blasted out of the fight just as easily as the Arbiter, except while the Arbiter was safe outside, the SPARTAN officer was thrown off the edge of the walkway. His back hit the ground slanted floor with his arms stiffly locked in front of him. He heard the sound of metal grinding on metal and realized that he was sliding towards the hole in the center of the room at a near running speed.
"Mags," Aeden thought to his partner who promptly disengaged armor lock mode and activated his suits magnetic boots. The SPARTAN III began to decelerate as he forced his feet onto the magnetized surface. He only stopped when he jammed one of his spare knives into the light socket on the floor that illuminated the walls. He was forced to release the blade when the electric shock nearly took out his shield. But without any more forward momentum, the slope was forgiving enough for him to stand on with or without the Hayabusa's magnetic boots.
"That went well," Juno sneered.
"Get Garrus on the line," He thought back to his partner. "Or the Arbiter. I don't care which. I'll work on finding a way back up."
"On it. Aaaaand done."
"Captain!"He exclaimed. "What's going on in there?! Everyone's gone dark."
"Captain?" The Admiral questioned.
"Forcive habit," The First Sergeant replied.
"Forcive hab. IT'S BEEN THREE YEARS. WHY IS THAT STILL A?"He stopped himself both verbally and physically when he found a section of the wall he could scale."Questions for later. For now, just please tell me you brought armor piercing rounds."
"Of course I did. Those are a staple. Now will you please just tell me what the hell is going on?"
"Johnson pissed of the AI that runs halo which apparently has laser eyes."the officer said as he began the slow process of climbing the wall.
"Are you serious?"
"Do I sound like I'm kidding?"
"It's hard to tell with you sometimes."
"Whatever. Just listen. It didn't really have a reaction to my pistol but I really doubt it can take an anti-tank round to the face. How long do you think it'll take you to get here?"
"Yeah…let me get back to you on that," The ODST's radio then went silent.
"Did he just hang up on you?"Juno asked.
"Well that's just great,"Aeden thought to himself. Looking up at the battle where Master Chief was backed up against the wall. "Now what are we supposed to kill that thing with?"
As he finished his thought he saw the unmistakable red beam of a SPARTAN laser blast the Monitor off the walkway.
"That's one way of going about it."Juno answered.
"Once again, Chief is the luckiest bastard I've ever met," Aeden resumed his efforts scaling the wall. His progress was relatively quick, but his goal was far and up a smooth vertical wall with little to hold on to.
He was nearly at the top when a blue light illuminated the surface of the wall. He turned his head and saw that a giant blue beam erupted from the hole in center of the ground floor. The whole room shook. When he saw debris falling off the ceiling and walls, he nearly doubled his speed. He was maybe twice his body length away from the walkway when the piece of the wall he was holding on to started to peel off from the frame. He reached for anything that he could get a hold of to prevent his fall to no avail. The surrounding area was completely smooth. The SPARTAN turned his head to the ceiling.
"No way! I know what you're thinking and OH JEEZ!" His A.I. was interrupted by her host leaping off the dangling sheet of metal onto another raptor in freefall and began running up the slightly slanted support until he reached the end of it. His partner's timing when she disengaged the magnetic boots was perfectly in sync with his final stride. He leapt off the end of the raptor and nearly dislocated his shoulder when he caught the ledge of the main walkway with his left hand.
"I can't believe you just got away with that. Way to go Naruto." Right as she finished her sentence,the entire walkway began to shift downwards.
"Are you fucking kidding me?"He thought to himself as he struggled to hold on to the rapidly shifting plain. When it stopped he saw the walkway had been bent by a large piece of debris. The flat plain was now a near vertical incline fulcrum of the bend it to a at the doorway they originally came in at. Aeden used the edge of the walkway climb towards the door at remarkable pace. Closing the distance in a little over a minute
"Couldn't have just waited another thirty damn seconds could you Chief?" He said to himself after regaining his footing, not showing the slightest sign of fatigue. "How long has it been?"
"Halo began firing 4 and a half minutes ago" Juno answered
"So they're halfway to the Dawn by now." He thought back to her as he began walking out towards the exit.
"Not necessarily, " she replied optimistically. "If they made their way to the warthog at the same rate it took you to scale the tower they might only be…"
"They aren't going to come back," Aeden interrupted his partner. "They know better. Even at the war's end my first order still stands. Besides,we'd all get caught in the blast if they turned around now so it would be pointless for me to try."
"So you're just going to give up?"
"Of course not!" He retorted as he passed the threshold of the outer door to the control room. "I just need a minute to think. What kind of a time frame am I looking at?"
"Well,"She took a literal second to run the numbers while her partner started pacing anxiously. "The firing sequence started three minutes ago and a complete ring can fire within ten minutes. But this ring is incomplete and if we're lucky..."
"Not sure. Got it. Follow up question how long would it take for a pelican to make it from here to the frigate?"
"A round trip would take about four and a half minutes given optimal parameters, sadly I don't think a ring blowing itself to pieces qualifies."
"Either way that only leaves the frigate two and a half to make it to the portal best case scenario."A crushing realization hit next words were spoken out loud as he sat down at the edge of the platform with his feet hanging over the edge. "No matter how you look at it, if they sent evac my way now everyone would die."
"You don't know that."
"I don't have to, I know it's the most likely outcome and so do they. Chief probably could've waited a few minutes to fire the ring. But they made the right choice leaving me once the process started." After those words, there was only silence as they looked upon the snow covered canyon. A beautiful sight to be sure, or at least it would've been if it weren't covered in flood goo. His rest lasted all of about thirty seconds. After which it was interrupted by the all too familiar sound of a pelican coming over the horizon at full throttle.
"Or maybe not,"Juno finally replied to his last statement.
"If by some miracle I survive this, someone's getting their ass kicked."