"How much farther till we reach Earth, Cortana?" the Master Chief said out loud, seeming to be talking to himself.
"I don't know. Maybe a few light years away," replied Cortana inside his helmet.
"I hope we reach Earth soon," Chief sighed.
"Me too."
Chief laid back in his chair and gazed at the infinite blackness that engulfed their ship. He still couldn't believe that they were piloting a Covenant dropship. He began to wish that they had jumped on a Pelican ship, but they never came across one during their escape from Halo. The rectangular screens of purple and blue in front of him made his eyes sore and the constant humming that filled his head was starting to get on his nerves. Not to mention his chair was lumpy and stiff. He shifted around in the chair, cursing as he tried to get into a more comfortable position.
A week has past since the destruction of the vast ring world. As he watched the endless stars fly by, Chief couldn't stop thinking about everything that had happened. The crashing of the Pillar of Autumn, the never-ending battles with the Covenants, the escape from the Flood, the deaths of the Marines…
Thinking about all those Marines that had died on Halo made the Chief's spirit sink even lower. Everyone on the Pillar of Autumn, except for the ship's A.I., Cortana, and himself, had died either at the hands of the Covenants or the Flood. It pained him even more to think of all the families that would be receiving messages of lost loved ones because of it. He just wished that they would arrive soon. The trip back to Earth hadn't helped with his spirits either. On many occasions, Chief and Cortana had to escape from patrolling Covenant dropships and a few times they've had to shut down the ship's engine due to constant overheating. Out of all the ships around us, you had to get into this uncomfortable piece of crap, he thought to himself.
A loud bang from the outside was heard and the alarm system began to wail loudly.
"The engine stalled again, huh?" Chief asked with disgust.
"Worse," Cortana sighed, "the engine blew. I guess it just couldn't take anymore overheating."
"So we're stranded in space?"
"Unless we find a passing ship, it looks like it."
"This is just perfect," Chief said with sarcastic enthusiasm, "what are the odds of a ship passing right by us in this part of space?"
"Keep your hopes up," Cortana replied, "I'm sure that other Marine ships that survived the explosion are searching for survivors right now." Chief could tell that Cortana was trying to hide her own emotions of doubt.
"We have a better chance of encountering more Covenant ships," Chief murmured under his breath.
"What was that?"
"Nothing. How far are we from Earth?"
"Put me into the system and I'll scan the galaxy."
Chief reached behind his helmet and pulled out a small chip. He placed it into a slot next to the screen that had been irritating his eyes. After putting in the chip, Chief turned to the window so his sore eyes could have a much needed rest. During most of his journey he had never stopped to look into space very much and in this ship, he had viewed nothing but the black abyss for this whole trip. He never realized how peaceful space looked until now.
Cortana began to tap into the navigation system of the dropship and a higher pitched hum was heard. Chief bowed his head and closed his eyes, trying to drown out the hums in his mind. Any more of this and I'm going to go mad, he thought to himself.
After a moment, the higher pitched frequency went away and the original hum was all that could be heard. Chief lifted up his head, opened his eyes and stared right at that same rectangular screen.
"Soon something is going to crack and it's not going to be me," Chief snarled out loud to the screen. Soon, Cortana's voice was heard on the speakers in his seat.
"Strange. I can't seem to find Earth anywhere around here," she said in confusion.
"Is this what I get for following your directions?" Chief moaned angrily, wishing to be anywhere but here.
"I didn't give you wrong directions!" Cortana snapped, "it was here a moment ago. I said we were a few light years away, didn't I? There must be some disturbance that's preventing us from locating Earth."
Chief's head jerked up in surprise. "What could it be?"
"I don't know," Cortana admitted, " maybe another ship's radio waves disrupting our radio waves, our navigation system may be haywire…There could be many things contributing to the problem."
"Great. So we don't know where we are going, our engine's busted, and you lost Earth?"
"I didn't lose Earth! The navigation system can't find it!"
"Fine," Chief said mockingly, "so you can't work a navigation system properly."
"If I had legs, I would kick you in the balls so hard, you'd go right out that window," Cortana snarled.
"Yeah, well you don't, so too bad." Chief was beginning to really enjoy this argument. This hadn't been the first argument they'd had since she was placed inside his helmet, and it was nice to actually be winning the fight for once.
"Why you stupid son of a bit…," Cortana trailed off. Chief gazed at the speakers, hoping for her to finish off the sentence.
"What is it," Chief grinned, "can't think of a better comeback?"
"Shut up," the pissed A.I. muttered, "unlike some people here, I don't have bullets for brains. I'm picking up signals from another ship right behind us. They must've been following us from out of our range for some time. At least until now."
"Is it one of ours or is it another Covenant dropship?"
"Analyzing it."
"Before Cortana could complete the analysis, their own ship shook violently. Shocked, Chief grabbed onto the chair and held on with all his might, hoping to stay glued to it till the shaking stopped. Suddenly, losing all power, the cockpit became consumed by darkness.
"Must be a boarding party," Cortana noted worriedly.
"You think?" Chief replied in an obvious tone. He grabbed his MA5B Assault Rifle beside him and ducked behind the chair. He continued to hold onto it as the ship quaked beneath him. As suddenly as it had started, Chief's world came to a halt. Nothing could be seen or heard. Chief stayed behind the chair, preparing for a sudden attack. The room lit up with a blinding brightness, catching Chief off guard. He peeked out from the chair and saw that the blast door had opened, two figures standing, shadowed by the glare as they walked into the dropship. They paused, seemingly examining the area.
"They look awfully familiar," Cortana whispered to the Chief from the speakers..
"I can't see them at all," Chief whispered back. The figures jerked their heads towards Chief and he ducked back down behind the chair. He soon heard footsteps and realized that they were coming closer. There's only one way out, Chief thought.
"I'm going to take them out. They're gonna find us sooner or later." Instead of waiting for a reply, Chief tensed up and raised his rifle, prepared to attack. Cortana suddenly remembered why these figures looked so familiar. It was Marines from the Pillar of Autumn!
"Chief, don't shoot! They're-"
But she wasn't quick enough.
Chief jumped out from behind the chair and began to open fire. Sparks and debris flew everywhere as the bullets pierced the hull of the ship and the equipment. The figures dodged the bullets and ducked out of the line of fire, but for some reason, they didn't fire back. Not asking questions at this time, Chief continued to keep his finger on the trigger. Soon, though, he ceased fire.
"What the hell are ya doing , soldier! You trying to kill us!"
Chief recognized the voice. He could only stare in awe as the two figures slowly came out of their hiding spot. Chief flicked on the flashlight on his helmet and saw familiar faces. One of them was Sergeant Johnson from the Pillar of Autumn. He wore the same outfit from Halo. Thin, gray and worn-out armor covered his chest, arms and legs. His greenish clothes could be seen from the gaps in between his armor and as usual, he wasn't wearing a helmet. The other figure beside him was a Marine soldier. He was wearing the same outfit as Johnson, but with a helmet that covered most of his face. Despite the helmet, however, Chief could still see the look of fear on the young man's face. Both of them were carrying Plasma pistols. Chief began to wonder how they got those weapons.
"Now do you recognize us?" the sergeant exclaimed. Chief looked down at his feet and lowered his gun.
"No. I just ran out of ammo," Chief responded, sounding a bit foolish.
"Now, if they were Covenant forces, you would've died because you would've ran out of ammo," Cortana sighed. "You need to get those bullets out from that empty space between your ears and use them for your gun."
"You know, Cortana, you're really getting on my nerves right about now," said Chief in a harsh tone.
"If I can interrupt your family bickering," Johnson chimed in, "how did you guys get off of Halo in time?"
"We used a Warthog to drive to the nearest dropship we could find and we flew out of harm's way," replied Cortana. "We barely made it out alive."
"How did you guys get off?" Chief added. "We thought we were the only ones left."
"Hell no," responded Johnson. We felt the ring world shake, piled into a ship and we flew away. We saw the whole fireworks display as we flew away. Some debris almost even hit us. We've been searching for survivors ever since."
"And how is the search going?" asked Cortana. The sergeant lowered his head and Chief knew that this news wasn't going to be happy.
"We found one other dropship full of Marines, and now you two. Other than that, no one else."
Chief said nothing. He continued to stare at a bullet hole left in the steel wall of the ship. He had hoped that they found more than that. At least others survived the war over Halo, he thought to himself. We're going to need all the men we can get for this war.
"C'mon. This ship looks like it's falling apart," Johnson said, breaking the silence. "Let's go to our dropship and abandon this pile of waste."
Chief walked over to the slot to pull out Cortana from the ship. As he stepped towards it, his eye caught a glimpse of the rectangular screen that had gave him so many headaches during the trip. He raised his fist and drove it into the screen with anger, sending shards of glass onto the floor.
"What the hell was that for!" Johnson shouted, stepping back in shock.
"Had to take care of some business with an old friend," Chief replied as he walked over to him.
"You must be pretty desperate for friends if your making them with enemy computers," Johnson joked.
"Ouch." Chief winced. He was too tired to get into a battle of wits with the sergeant at the moment. The previous fights with Cortana and the journey had worn him out.
The Marine had already set foot off the ship and was walking away from them. Johnson stepped onto the docked ship and turned around in the doorway. As Chief was about to mimic them, Johnson stopped him in his tracks.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" the sergeant asked, giving Chief a questionable look.
"What would I be forgetting in this piece of junk?" Chief questioned.
"Uhh…me," Cortana said from the speakers behind Chief.
"Why didn't you remind me to get you?" Chief exclaimed as he walked back over to the slot.
"Because you should know to get me and you shouldn't need to be reminded," Cortana replied.
"Yeah, yeah," Chief said as he pulled Cortana out of the slot. What I wouldn't give for a mute button, Chief thought as he placed the chip back into the slot in his helmet.
"Now that we have everything," Johnson said to Chief, "let's get outta here." As soon as Chief reached the door, they all stepped out of the ship.
Chief observed the narrow hallway that they began to walk down. He noticed that the walls and the bright lights reminded him of the same ship he just left a few seconds ago.
"Is this a Covenant dropship?" Chief asked Captain.
"Heh, yeah," responded Johnson. "There were no nearby Pelicans to take so we borrowed one of their ships. It took some time getting use to, but we've managed."
"I guess it's better than being incinerated by the explosion," said Cortana. Chief nodded in agreement.
"Well, it was either them or us and we decided that we deserved to live more than they did," Johnson smirked.
Cortana sighed softly and then spoke up. "Before you boarded us, we were trying to locate Earth, but we couldn't find it anywhere-"
"You mean you couldn't find it," Chief interrupted.
"Shut up. Anyway, have you been able to locate Earth?"
"We're still trying to get use to this damn ship," Johnson replied, "All we know is how to steer the thing."
"I'll try to use the navigational system on this ship to locate Earth," Cortana said.
"While your at it, you can help us with something else," Johnson added. "See, we received this transmission from another Covenant ship. We heard the original recording, but we don't know how to replay the transmission or know what the hell they were saying."
"Lead me to the control room and I'll get Cortana to interpret the message," said Chief.
"Lets get moving then," said Cortana.
After some time, the crew made it to the control room. All over the computers, the alien language of Covenant speech could be seen in the middle of the screens. "Where is the communications center?" asked Cortana.
"Right over here," responded Johnson. They walked over to a large, circular table glowing in purple and blue. In the middle of the table was a greenish glowing ring.
"Place me in the computer slot under the table," Cortana ordered.
"Ya, ya," mumbled Chief. He took out a small computer chip from his helmet and placed it into the computer slot under the table. In the middle of the glowing ring appeared a translucent, purplish woman. Codes were flowing down her body and back up again.
"It feels good to be in a larger computer system," said Cortana with a hint of excitement in her voice, "despite the fact that this is an enemy computer system."
"It's good to see you as a woman again," said Johnson.
"Now, how long will it take to interpret the message?" asked Chief.
"Depends on how long the message was," responded Cortana. "If the message was less than a minute, then it should take no time at all."
"All right."
"I'm going to have to replay the message the way it was originally recorded, so no one will know what it means yet."
Cortana put a hand to her forehead. A soothing hum began to fill the room. Then, a hoarse, scratchy voice was heard over the speakers. "Covenant shoto 6423. Wish va kona o himaga vecle. I citana mina digon non a SPARTANS-dew siders. Wish awint yu comindi do anilage disa cigoa."
"Are you as confused as we were when we heard this message for the first time, Chief?" asked the sergeant.
"Quite," replied Chief in a confused tone.
"Don't worry," chimed in Cortana. "This will all make sense soon." She put her hand to her forehead again. More humming filled the room again.
"Have you heard any word from any other ships containing SPARTANS-II soldiers, sir?" asked Chief.
"No. Not yet, at least," said Johnson in response. This news made Chief feel sick to his stomach. So far, he has been the only surviving SPARTAN-II project. The SPARTANS-II's were created to help in the war against the Covenants, but being the only one, how could he help the humans win this war?
"Done," exclaimed Cortana. "here's what they were saying." The same hoarse, scratchy voice was heard over the speakers again. This time, in human tongue.
"Man, that voice makes me want to shoot every goddamn Covenant body in this galaxy, dead or alive!" yelled a Marine from behind.
"Soldier! Keep your damn mouth shut!" screamed Johnson.
"The transmission is over," said Cortana with anger in her voice.
"Now we didn't hear a goddamn word that was suppose to be heard! Thanks, soldier! You've earned yourself fifty push-ups, followed by ten laps around the ship!"
"Fuck!" exclaimed the Marine in anger. He got down on his hands and knees and started his
push-ups.
"Can you replay the message again, Cortana?" asked Chief.
"Yes. Give me a second."
"Anyone else that speaks while this message is being played will be doing DOUBLE the punishment!" yelled Johnson at the top of his lungs.
"Here we go again." All fell silent as this message was heard.
"Covenant ship 6423. We've captured a human vessel. It contains many demons known as SPARTANS-II soldiers. We await your command to annihilate the cargo." The room fell silent as the message came to an end.
"More SPARTAN-II soldiers!" Cortana exclaimed, breaking the silence. "I thought they were all wiped out when the colony Reach was destroyed."
"I guess more ships escaped with SPARTANS-II soldiers on board than we anticipated," said Johnson. "But why are they all concentrated on one ship?"
"I have no idea," responded Cortana, "but it sounds like they were gathering for an assault. The Covenants must've gotten there before they could carry out their plans." Chief hadn't said a word since the message came to an end. He just kept his eyes to the ground. He thought that he was the only SPARTANS-II soldier alive. And now to hear this news. He couldn't help but feel overjoyed that he wasn't the only one left.
"Chief, are you okay?" Cortana asked Chief. Chief jerked up his head at the question.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he responded in his tough-tone. "I'm just thinking of the serge's question."
"How far is the ship from here?" asked Johnson.
"Tracing where the message was sent," Cortana started. "The ship isn't too far away from here. Maybe a few hours away."
"Well, then what are we waiting for?" Chief exclaimed." Let's go get that ship!"
"You sound excited to attack a Covenant ship with limited weapons and Marines," Johnson retorted to Chief. "You want us to strip down to our underwear and add white flags to our guns while we're at it?"
"No, not really," Chief responded with disgust. "but maybe Cortana might be interested."
"I'm an A.I," Cortana reminded Chief, "I don't get those kinds of feelings towards people. And Johnson's got a good point. How are we going to save them with little Marines and limited weapons?"
"We have a Covenant dropship, don't we?" Chief replied. "And if I'm not mistaken, Covenant ships are weak against their own kind. We disable their ship with an accurate blast from our Covenant dropship, then we can board it."
"Only one problem with your plan, Chief," added Johnson. "How can we motivate the other Marines to go along with your rescue operation? This isn't a walk in the park, you know. And we aren't as equipped as you are at the moment."
"You tell them that this will help us in the war against the Covenants," replied Chief. "If we can rescue these soldiers, then they will give us a slight advantage over those alien bastards and we can win."
"Sounds believable. Who's gonna go with the Chief?" yelled the sergeant to his Marines. No response was heard.
"Well, if I'm going, then you all are obligated to follow your sergeant. So when I said, "Who's gonna go with the Chief," you guys were coming anyway, so saddle up!" Groans were heard throughout the room as Marines hurried off to grab their gear.
"You said the ship was a few hours from here, right?" Chief asked Cortana.
"Yes."
"Let me drive," said Johnson. "I've grown really fond of this rig and I really enjoy driving it."
"It's all yours, sir," said Chief with glee. He never really liked driving these kinds of ships anyway. Plus, he wanted to get a quick nap in before shooting some Covenant behind.
"Hold on, y'all," Johnson shouted to the rear of the ship. "This is gonna be a fast ride!"
"Not to worry, sir," replied a Marine. "This is gonna be a roller coaster ride!"
"Let's see if I can make one of you guys vomit!" Johnson yelled back. "Who do you think is gonna vomit first?"
"Jim here's got a weak stomach!" a Marine responded. "I say he's gonna go first!"
"I had a stomach flu that day!" whined the Marine beside him as he gave the accusing Marine a shove.
"Settle down, ladies!" interrupted Johnson. "It's time to hold on or else your gonna go flying to the back of the ship! Here we go!" Chief held on to a bar beside the communications table. He didn't like sitting. He always preferred standing.
"Your funeral," said Cortana to Chief.
"You have your choices, I have mine," Chief replied.
"Well, my choice on this situation is I'm coming with you," said Cortana.
"Fine by me," responded Chief. Secretly, though, he was glad that Cortana was going with him. They've been through so much together that it felt weird when she wasn't with him on his missions, despite the bickering and the endless sarcasm they went through. The ship gave a quick jolt and then the G-Force hit the crew like a freight train. The stars in the control windows seemed like lines as they flew by them. In the back was the loud sound of vomiting.
"I told you! I told you!" exclaimed a Marine. "He's got a weak stomach! Not the stomach flu!"
"Eww! It's all over the floor back here!" complained another Marine.
"I love this ship!" shouted Johnson excitedly. Chief was too tired to respond to all this or to even talk at all. He secured himself by the table, made sure his grip on the bar was tight, then fell into a deep sleep.
:-:
The ship began to shake violently. Chief fell to the ground, barely missing the edge of the communications table. He ran from the table to the controls in the front of the ship. No one was at the controls and all of the Marines were gone. Their weapons, their armor….everything. "Cortana, where is everybody?" he said frantically. When he heard no response, he suddenly remembered that she wasn't inside his helmet anymore. He ran back to the table to get her computer chip. Another shockwave rattled the ship, this time with more force. Chief fell to the ground again. He decided no more running if this was going to keep happening. He crawled on his hands and knees to the communications table and began to search for Cortana's computer chip. It was nowhere to be found! Gone! He knew this was no time to start panicking and got up, running to where he had last seen his gun. Gone too. He reached for his last resort weapon, his M6D pistol. Once again, gone.
"Oh, c'mon! I don't even have that!" Chief exclaimed out loud. "This can't be good." As if on cue, the ship shook once more. Once again, Chief fell down to the ground. This time, his head didn't miss the table. His head crashed into the hard surface and took out a chunk of it. The helmet's visor shattered into dozens of pieces and scattered all over the floor. Blood began to ooze out of his helmet, leaving a pool of blood on the floor where he fell. Chief got up and the world began to spin around him. After the world stopped spinning, he staggered to the window and peered out of it. Beside their ship was a much larger ship that looked similar to theirs, except massive in size and colored in a dark grey. Lights of teal and purple flickered rapidly off the ship. Windows filled with Elites and Hunters glared back at him and all around the ships, multiple Banshees soared overhead and hovered, ready to fire at will. Another Covenant dropship began to fly towards Chief's ship. It was a boarding party, and it didn't look like the welcome wagon.
Chief backed away from the window in fear. He couldn't fight his way out of this. Not if his life depended on it. Although it was about to. A small vibration was felt all over the ship. The party had arrived.
It was time to meet death.
The blast door opened and two towering Elite guards dressed in silver, reflective armor walked into the ship, both equipped with Plasma swords and rifles. Behind them were two Hunters, also dressed in silver, shining armor with Fuel Rod guns and deep gray shields that covered their entire left arm. They were ready for anything.
The Elites stepped beside Chief and towered over him. They stared down at him with their cold, black eyes and snarled under their breath in their own alien language. The Hunters stopped in front of them and lowered their shields. One of them leaned over and glared at him through its thin slit in its helmet. Inside the slit glowed a deep red light that reminded Chief of the blood that spilled from his forehead. He rose up again and said something in their own language. Deep cackles filled the room from the laughter of the Covenants standing around him. Chief didn't know what they were saying, but he knew he was being mocked. Suddenly, Chief was belted with a shot to the head from the Hunter's shield. Chief flew off his feet and into the same table that gashed into his head earlier. A shot of pain traveled from his back, then he felt nothing. He couldn't even move. He became paralyzed. As he opened his eyes, a towering Elite stood over him. The Elite raised his rifle to the Chief's head.
"Your Race will fall," the Elite snarled in his harsh tone. "Earth will quiver under the footsteps of the Covenants. No mercy will be given to you, Humans." With his last ounce of strength, Chief managed out a soft, "No…."