Chapter 2- The Calm Before the Storm
The entire Spartan team was assembled within the main armory of the Pillar of autumn, the ship appointed to transport during their mission. Each of the Spartans were each busy with their pre-battle rituals- assembling and disassembling weaponry, sparring or mentally preparing themselves. The Pillar of Autumn suddenly began to turn- forcing the Spartans to brace themselves on whatever solid object was within their reach at the time. Their leader, Master Chief Spartan-117, stepped across the weapon bay towards the communicator. He activated the COM link, the face of Pillar of Autumn Captain Keyes appeared on the viewscreen. "Captain Keyes, do we have an emergency situation?"
The Captains face appeared wracked with grief. "I am afraid that we have a problem. I will be brief your squad in the armory. Keyes out"
The elevator doors opened silently, UNSC Navy Captain Keyes stepped into the armory.
"Captain on the deck!" Spartan-087 Kelly exclaimed over the secure COM channel in the Spartans helmets. In regimented unison born out of years of training each of them suddenly stopped their ritualistic activities and snapped a crisp salute to their superior officer
Keyes returned the gesture "As you were" With that the Spartans returned to their previous task. "Master Chief" The Captain turned towards John, Jacob Keyes being one of the few people in the entire UNSC who could distinguish between the armored Spartans. "I am afraid we have a situation" Keyes whispered in hushed tones, a pointless endeavor as the Spartans amour was equipped with exterior microphones which could detect even the faintest sound for several klicks.
"Sir, with respect, whatever you can say to me can be said to my team" Keyes glanced across at the assembled Spartans, they simply continued with their rituals as they had before, despite listening intently to the conversation.
"Very well Master Chief. The Covenant has found Reach" A stab of fear went down the collective spine of the entire squad, but nobody reacted. "I just received the distress call from the Admiralty- they're requesting that all ships return to Reach immediately. We are being forced to abandon the mission"
John and his Spartans always despised ship-ship combat- he felt vulnerable, having no control over the situation. "We have two main objectives once we arrive at Reach. First the Covenant are attempting to force a ground attack of the power Generator facility which power the planets orbiting Mass Accelerator Cannons- the core backbone of our defense of the planet. Secondly the Covenant are also attempting to board an Orbital Defense Platform which has failed to initiate the Cole Protocol. The crew has been almost completely terminated and the Covenant are attempting to access the Stations mainframe- I cannot stress the ramifications if the Covenant are able to access that mainframe" Keyes sighed. "This is where it gets difficult Master Chief. I need some of your team to board the station and ensure the data is completely destroyed- we cannot allow any of that information to fall into Covenant hands. Weapons research, force strength. Earth"
Master Chief glanced over his squad. "We're prepared sir"
A smile grew on the old Captains lips. "That's good to hear Master Chief. I'll prepare a Pelican Dropship and fighter escort for the ground team, as for the station?"
"Just bring the Autumn in close, sir. We'll take care of the rest"
"Very well Master Chief. We'll leave Slipspace in about fifteen minutes" Jacob Keyes turned back towards the elevator, leaving the Spartans to prepare. The Master Chief turned back to face his squad- walking deeper into the armory to prepare for the coming battle. Spartan-104 Fred walked up to his leader's side. "Sir, permission to lead Blue Team to destroy the stations mainframe"
"Negative. I'll be leading that team" He glanced over his squad. "Simon, Sam and Joshua you're with me. The rest of you prepare equipment and report to the Dropship" John ordered.
"Yes sir!" The squad said in unison- they prepared their equipment for the mission. John knew that the Spartans would lose squad mates on this mission- that was something which was inevitable. Spartan Trainer Chief Petty Officer Mendez had told him that there was a difference between wasting the lives of your squad needlessly and sacrificing them for a greater good.