Chapter Two: Pandora's Box

The lone Pelican-dropship swooped low over the green jungle below. Large tree's swayed beneath the ship as it cut through Pandora's atmosphere.

Inside the dropship there were two rows of seats inside the back of the Pelican, one on the left and right side, each facing each other. Occupying these seats was a group of armored figures. They were all clad in a suit of dark-green MJOLNIR Mark IV Powered Assault Armor. These were no average UNSC soldiers; they were Spartans, the pinnacle of war. Each of their armors was in reality advanced exoskeleton suits; one of the most advanced pieces of technology in human hands.

The leader of the squad turned and looked at his comrades. This was his platoon, Hammer Team. Each of the eight Spartan's present had a unique set of MJOLNIR armor, none of them were fully identical; however, each shared similar aspects.

One thing each of the individual armor's had in common; was the emblem of an orange hammer with a golden lightning bolt crossing the weapon. This was the icon of Hammer Team, it was a symbol of the team's identity; they couldn't be prouder to wear it.

Keith-032 was the leader of Hammer Team. 032 was a handsome individual. He had pale olive skin; from wearing his armor so often. His hair was sleek and dark brown, and was slightly long and messy, but hardly covered his ears, and descended down to his brow line.

He has a square chin that was unshaven, and covered in black stubble. Keith had two intense forest green eyes and a scar that crosses the bridge of his nose. He stands at 7'3'' and weighs over 657 pounds when fully armored.

Beneath the armored exoskeleton Keith is intensely muscled and well toned, deep scars cover his back, chest and shoulders, signs of past battles and violent training. Keith's MJOLNIR armor unlike the others featured a secondary color of light green.

The other seven Spartan's included: Ammon-042, Cody-038, Ashlynn-023, Caden-54, Michael-094, Rachel-063, and Kane-012.

The Hammer Team leader currently had his helmet off and was staring at the rest of his squad. "This is it boys and girls. Strap up, the shit is about to hit the fan." He barked at his men.

Taking a deep breath Keith began to think about the mission at hand. This is Hammer Team's first major mission, and already things look like they could get out of hand. He thought.

A voice suddenly came over the Pelican's speakers; it was Horizon's AI, Miara.

"We are now entering Pandora's atmosphere." she said. While Miara spoke Keith was tinkering with his helmet, strapping a tube to a nodule on it, and connecting it to a piece of equipment recently installed into his armor.

"Before we touch down, there is some stuff you have to know if you want to survive. So listen to the lady" Keith said referring to Miara.

Spartan Ammon-042 grinned. "I think we can handle some half naked blue-aboriginals." He chuckled.

Keith didn't join in on the other's laughter. "Believe me; you don't want to open Pandora's Box." Keith replied.

"Everything down there wants to kill us on sight. This planet is filled with perfect predators." He said.

Maria started again. "Pandora's atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, xenon, methane, and hydrogen sulfide."

"The high concentration of carbon dioxide in the Pandoran atmosphere makes it extremely poisonous to humans and will kill any human in four minutes."

"The hydrogen sulfide present is also quite poisonous; large concentrations can cause an immediate collapse with subsequent loss of breathing, even after inhalation of a single breath." The AI said.

Keith listened. "So pretty much if you breathe the air, your shit out of luck." Keith said.

"Luckily we have installed a special oxygen filtration system into each of your suits. This mean as long as you keep on your helmet your fine. I've rigged the filtration system to only enter out helmets, and sealed off the rest of the suit. This means that if your armor is breeched, as long as you're still wearing your helmet your not going to meet the big guy anytime soon." Maria replied.

"Well that's a relief." Ashlynn-023 interjected sarcastically.

"That's not the end of it." Miara chuckled in her synthesized voice.

"The atmosphere here is very dense; combine that with increased air resistance, and a twenty-percent lower gravity than earth, that allows objects to fall at a much slower rate, and life-forms the ability to survive falls that would normally kill them, especially if they are over a forested area or water, with something to slow their falls further." She said briskly.

"The increased mass of the air means that more force is needed to accelerate as it is moved out of the path of a moving object. When you run it will feel like a wind is blowing against you even when the air is still, giving you slight resistance"

"The reduced gravity will also cause our boots to slip more frequently than they normally would on paved or smooth surfaces, which will give you less traction to force your bodies forward." Miara said.

"Sounds like a workout." Michael-094 added.

Keith ran a hand over his chin, feeling his stubble, it was an involuntary action he did while thinking. "Miara, you still need to tell us what the hell we are doing once we touch down." He said.

Miara's avatar appeared on a pedestal to Keith's right. The purple angel put her hands on her hips. "I was getting there." She said pursing her lips. Miara then relaxed.

"Your orders come straight from Admiral Conner." She said. Miara fixed her translucent eyes on Keith's own. "Since it has been approximately 382 years since humans have been to Pandora, we predict that the military and science labs from before have been retaken by the jungle. That makes it impossible to land in the old landing zones."

"We are going to land about five miles away from the old base, it's as close as we can get. You're going to take your team through the jungle and to the base."

"Try to avoid any hostile locals that you may come in contact with; The Admiral doesn't want a war. Once you get to the base, you are going to clear it of any animal or local activity that may be present."

"After that, our intelligence reports that several machines and old military equipment were left behind." "You are going to clear off one of the landing zones as best as you can so we can get some teams down there to start making the place habitable."

"Any questions?" she asked.

"I think we can take care of it miss." Keith said shaking his head.

Miara's then gave him a sly smile. "Oh, and I forgot to mention. I'm coming with you." She said.

Keith raised his brows. "Are you allowed to do that?" he asked.

Miara nodded. "Yes. I am splitting my processors, and leaving some of myself behind on Horizon. But Connor wants me to make sure you guys don't get yourself killed. Spartans aren't cheap you know." She said.

Keith laughed. "No shit." He said.

"Alright Spartan, yank me." She said. Her image faded and then dispersed, and a small holo-disc protruded from a slot on the pedestal, where Miara had transferred herself to an already present disc from her main on Horizon.

Keith grabbed the chip, and turned his helmet over on his lap. He then inserted the chip into an available slot.

"Great, that's exactly what I needed. A woman in my head back-seat driving." He mumbled. Keith raised up his helmet and pulled it down over his head. It clicked on perfectly. Keith's eyes adjusted to the orange shield in front of his eyes, and his HUD blinked on before him.

"I heard that." Miara said in what sounded like Keith's own head.

"Of coarse you did." He sighed.

Keith then grabbed his MA5K Carbine. He loaded the gun and set it against his shoulder.

"Lock and load people." Keith said. He watched as his squad began pulling on their helmets, and securing their gear.

After listening to Miara, Keith relayed a message to his Spartans; "Four minutes till landing." He said.

Once all of the Spartans had their helmets on, Keith got out of his seat and walked over to the blast-door of the Pelican. He hit a button on the door, and it began to open. Wind rushed into the room, and Keith could feel the pressure change as the hatch was opened.

Keith was walking back to his seat when suddenly a loud shattering sound filled the ship. Because of his training, milliseconds after the sound began his eyes were already locating the sound. Keith watched as a very long arrow cracked through the cockpit window, and embedded itself in the head of the driver. Blood splattered onto the slate floor of the Pelican.

Keith knew the driver was dead, but he didn't have time to worry. Only instincts kicked in now. Seconds later the ship went into free fall. All of the Spartans shouted as they were lifted out of their seats and smashed into the metal roof above. Keith knew there was no way to get to the cockpit and take control; the Pelican was already too close to the ground. He and his men had two options: either stay in the ship and possibly die by an explosion or powerful collision, or take their chances jumping out of the back.

Keith remembered what Miara had said about the rate of falling on Pandora. He knew that they had more of a chance if they jumped out.

Keith looked at his Spartans. "Follow me Spartans!" he said. Keith steeled himself; turning his head onto the blurry scenery before him and flung himself out of the hatch of the Pelican.

032 flew out and into open air. He went spread eagle and prepared to brace himself for what happened next. He could feel his own heart pumping in his ears. He could feel his adrenaline picking up, and the air tearing at his armor. His stomach went into his head as he saw the ground far below him, and himself way up in the blue sky.

A sick feeling filled Keith's body and he felt as if he was going to barf. He turned his head back to see his seven comrades flinging themselves out of the falling Pelican as he did. He watched as the massive ship tumbled above them. In some ways the fall felt like it took a lifetime, but in others it felt like seconds.

Next thing Keith knew he slammed into the top of a tree, then a massive branch, next a huge leafy plant, and several more that helped cushion his fall. Then the ground came racing to meet him. Even in full armor the impact hurt. It jarred practically every bone in Keith's body, and sent up a spray of dirt into the air. He crashed down- helmet first; his HUD blinking off when he smashed into the earth.

Still lying in the ground the Spartan leader looked up and noticed that his vision was hazy. He shook his head to rid himself of it but the haze did not depart. Keith tried to move but found he was too weak. He felt the ground shake with a massive impact and knew the Pelican had crashed. Keith's vision then went dark, and all he saw was blackness.

A Covenant CPV-class heavy destroyer, Righteous Fury continued to cut through slipspace.

Kruhan Vakanree stood by Fury's luminary. A luminary is a device used to locate Forerunner artifacts, technology and Forerunner descendants (Reclaimers/humans).

Kruhan Vakanree continued to examine the luminary, looking for anything of interest. Suddenly an unknown planet was displayed on the device. The small hologram of the planet rotated. As Kruhan watched hundreds of small runic-blue-glowing icons appeared on the planet. Kruhan knew this certain symbol to mean that Forerunner artifacts were located on this planet. The Elite's eyes grew wider as he continued to gaze at the planet.

A euphoric feeling coursed through Kruhan. I must tell the others. This finding could change the fate of our journey. He thought.

The Sangheili's mandibles twitched as he left the luminary and made his way to the bridge.