Halo: Genetics
(Author's notes at the bottom)
Glossary and Conversions
I regularly use miles instead of kilometres when specifying distances. For those who are unaware of the conversion rate, 1 mile is equivalent to approximately 1.61 kilometres. Or reversed, one kilometre equals 0.62 miles.
An Elk, is another name for Moose. Elk is the European term.
Tor: A rocky outcrop on top of, or close to, the summit of a hill. Usually consisting of a pile of granite boulders, sometimes with a flat top. Type "Dartmoor Tor" into Google images for examples.
Disclaimer: The Halo universe is the property of 343 Industries. For this fanfiction, and at this stage, I only own the plot and the characters Patab, Tina Maloski and Joseph Lenkin. And one other who is mentioned, but I'm not naming it in this chapters disclaimer to avoid spoilers. The subjects of the final section are also mine.
Phase 2: The Demon Falls to Heaven
UNSC Pelican Dropship Whiskey 399, Approaching planetary surface
It was times like this that Captain Cutter really regretted his previous reluctance to advance up the ranks. He could have been a fleet admiral by now, had he been so inclined. Admittedly, he would have been commanding multiple ships worth of personnel, which could have been difficult for someone with his mindset. Trying to maintain the "personal touch", something always foremost in his aspirations, would have been difficult to say the least.
But at least he wouldn't have been in this situation, stuck in the marine compartment of a Pelican, deprived of his ship, with an uncertain future waiting. Oh, and having to listen to Serina stealth brag about the manoeuvre that had allowed the Spirit to get so far in so little time. Something about multiple slingshots through a binary star system. As for how she'd got the ship to slow down again... he'd stopped listening by that point. He was more concerned with the looming problem of a defensive firepower deficit.
Of the Spirit's original, not inconsiderable capacity, he now had a grand total of 21 Pelicans under his command, along with 4 Hornets and 5 Hawks. Only 12 of the Pelicans had managed to evac from the Spirit with ground units slung beneath, 9 Warthog LRV's, a pair of Scorpion main battle tanks, and one Grizzly variant. This meant that, in a rather surprising twist on the usual situation, he had more aerial power than ground. But still limited supplies of fuel, so that wouldn't last.
And to make matters even worse, the Pelican from the Forward unto Dawn had apparently crashed headlong into a forest, which meant he was possibly down another SPARTAN. But then, they were tough as cockroaches, so maybe not.
...And he meant that cockroach comment in the nicest possible way...
"Serina, any update on our situation?"
Serina's ongoing monologue broke off as she checked the comm. chatter flashing between the small air fleet's constituent parts.
"No sir, the world isn't ending from your lack of input. Apparently Professor Anders has finally calmed down, but there's nothing else worth mentioning."
Well, that was something at least. Professor Ellen Anders had not had the usual reaction of someone who'd woken up, and been told that their ship was metaphorically doomed, i.e. to scream and run. Instead, her curiosity about the nature of their predicament had gotten the better of her, and had it not been for the captain's standing orders to get everyone off, she would have no doubt climbed into an environmental suit, and stayed behind to investigate.
But the squad of marines sent to collect her had had other ideas. Like dragging her kicking and screaming to an already overcrowded Pelican.
Now, thought the captain, there was one other task that needed seeing to.
"Maloski," he called to the pilot, "How's visibility up there? Can we see the ground yet?"
"Yes captain," came the reply.
"Right, I'm coming forward."
As he took position behind the female pilot's chair and took a look groundwards, he uncharacteristically lost his composure and gasped.
To put it simply, the view was stunning. Think Yosemite, but with everything scaled up. Craggy mountains, sprinkled with a light dusting of pure, almost faintly blue snow. Deep forests sprawled across the landscape. Fast flowing rivers too, meandering their way through the wilderness, occasionally cutting deep ravines through the hearts of hills and mountains. And that escarpment! That huge, sheer cliff face rising up nearly one and half vertical miles from a crystal clear ocean sparkling below.
Pity about the grey eyesores dotted about. Buildings if his guess was right.
Reluctantly, Cutter drew his thoughts back to the task at hand. He surveyed the landscape again, this time analysing its layout strategically.
"There," he said, pointing towards a small island in a river, some two miles from where it plummeted over the lip of the escarpment. "That will do for our base camp. Serina, relay the co-ordinates for our new alpha base."
"Alpha base, roger," the AI acknowledged, "Transmitting information on imaginatively named base number one."
One by one, the circling aircraft changed course. And now, reminded by a distant, barely visible plume of smoke, Cutter's mind began to wander back to the fate of the lone Pelican from the Dawn...
###
UNSC Pelican Gamma 91 (Crashed), Surface of unknown planet
It was a strange sound, that finally brought the Master Chief round. A gently modulating sound, but one that nonetheless managed to sound threatening. The Chief remembered hearing something similar, a long time ago.
It had only been two, maybe three days after his abduction by the UNSC, at the grand old age of six. A lifetime away now. Déjà, the AI assigned to the proto SPARTAN II's as their teacher of all things historical, had shown them a recording of a pack of wolves, attacking an... elk? Well, something much larger than they were anyway. And, just before they'd ghosted into view, he'd heard a howl.
And this sound? It was worryingly similar. So, as far as he knew, a pack of wolf analogues could very well be hunting him. And so, for the second time in slightly under three hours, he forced himself awake.
The first sight to greet his hazy eyes, was Cortana, displayed on the Pelican's cracked comm. screen and patiently waiting for the first visible signs of life. Or, not so patiently, judging by the fingers of one hand drumming against the opposite wrist.
"You know," she said, "I've given up worrying about you. Dumb AI's would probably be calling you immortal by now, but I'd better ask anyway: Anything broken?"
Wincing at all of the bruising, the Chief checked himself over. A sprained shoulder, a lot of very tender skin, a bloodstream far too saturated with MJOLNIR issued painkillers, but...
"Nothing too serious."
"You'd better not be lying to me John. I know we had a similar incident landing on Alpha Halo, but that didn't involve being deliberately put to full throttle."
"I'm fine." the Chief repeated.
"Yes, well, I guess I'll believe you now. But later...
"Anyway, we'd better get moving. The Pelican's comm. gear is wrecked, so we're going to have to find some high ground where the MJOLNIR can connect to any Spirit friendlies. And fast, sunset can't be too far off."
Now that could be a problem. If the Chief's hunch was right, and there were hostile predators out there, waiting till dark could be fatal. SPARTANs had a knack for overcoming impossible odds, but a scuffle in the dark with a pack of cooperating animals was not a pleasant prospect. Especially if the MJOLNIR injected painkillers overloaded his system and sent him to sleep.
He tugged Cortana's datachip from the Pelican's console, slotted it into his armour, then turned to the troop compartment. Compared to the disaster area of the cockpit, the marine bay had held up fairly well. A strange noise from the right drew his attention, to a shadowy corner that turned out to hold the little Grunt Patab.
The Unggoy had apparently been quite industrious in the doomed flight's last moments. It had lugged the shock absorbent pads from a dozen seats, and covered part of the compartment's forward wall with them. Then, it had simply pressed up against them, and used the pile as a giant airbag.
At least, that's what it looked like. And seeing as the alien was currently snoring, it had clearly come off better from the crash than the Chief. Somehow. Well, sleeptime was over.
The Chief gave the Unggoy a slight, well, slight for him, kick. The snoring abruptly cut off.
"Yasep?"
"Whoops," said Cortana, "Guess I'd better update your translator with that patch I mentioned. Hold on a sec."
There was silence for a moment.
"Okay, that should do for now. Couldn't fix the grammar glitch though, sorry. Patab, status."
The Unggoy groaned,and got up.
"Ohh... Me head hurt..."
"That it? You Unggoy have thick skulls."
Patab was quiet for a moment, pondering his way through Cortana's statement.
"You say we stupid?"
"No, not at all. You got the double meaning of that statement after all... What, Chief?"
"You spoke in English, how did he..?"
"Understand? Funny story. The Unggoy have a thriving black market going on their homeworld, Balaho, trading intercepted human TV shows, films, radio, music, you name it. They're human entertainment junkies. So, many of them can understand at least one of our languages, usually English. But their mouthparts don't really allow for human words..."
By now, Patab was up and moving about, retrieving his Needler and scattered ammunition. A loose plasma pistol too, neatly slotted into a makeshift holster strapped to his upper arm.
The Chief meanwhile, had made his way to the back of the Pelican. He looked behind, to check Patab had finished preparations, then reached up to pull the rear hatch emergency release.
Mercifully, it opened, revealing the grim woodland outside...
###
ROUTINE SECURITY REPORT FOR INSTALLATION R-03-ARCHON, PLANETARY SECTOR 16.
FORWARD TO MERCURIAL WISDOM
CONFIRMED OUTSIDER PRESENCE IN SECTOR 16. COMMENCING SCOUT OPERATIONS ON ENCAMPMENT. ADDITIONAL TARGETS DETECTED NEAR BORDER OF SECTOR 17, PLEASE SPECIFY ACTION.
ALSO COMMENCING ROUTINE OPERATION REGARDING CRASH SITE, ESTIMATED COMPLETION TIME IS 39 HOURS.
###
##### Silence is… #####
The Chief and his lumbering companion left the wreck of the Pelican, climbing steadily upwards, into the woods. The sun was getting closer to the horizon, the red light giving the woodland an almost mystical look. And even without the reddish tinge, the most mundane it could be called would be… "primeval". Skeletal trees, a lack of ground cover – bar the odd clump of ferns here and there. Huge boulders scattered about, like the remains of a giant's stone buckshot, piercing deep into the bare soil.
And as for sound, nothing. The woods were silent, but for the shambling footsteps of the Unggoy, who was only just managing to keep up. The Chief meanwhile, was endeavouring to keep his own footfalls inaudible to the predators that he was sure were tracking them. There was nothing concrete to say that they were, but for the Chief's instincts. Which, not counting a certain recent scuffle with a certain non hostile Unggoy, had a very good track record.
They continued climbing, crossed a dried up stream, and headed for a tor above, looming out of the forest, a natural watchtower. There were a few hairy moments when they discovered how good Unggoy were at rock climbing, i.e. not at all, but they eventually reached the top. And the Dawn trio got their first good look at the planet they had inadvertently wound up on…
The view was somewhat different from the one Cutter had seen from above. Alternating plains and forests were the immediate vicinity, mountains and the more rugged terrain in the distance. And, perhaps most importantly, large structures with worryingly familiar architecture that dotted the landscape, seemingly at random.
"What is it," began Cortana, "with us finding Forerunner artefacts?"
The Chief kept quiet. It wasn't his fault after all. But after two and a bit Halo installations, the Ark, the ruins buried beneath the ONI CASTLE base on Reach, the Unyielding Hierophant (depending on just who had built it), the Forerunner Keyship, the portal, and now this, you did have to wonder.
But all wondering came to an abrupt end, when something howled in the woods below.
"Whas there?"
Patab jumped carefully towards the edge of the boulder he was currently standing on, letting loose a few bursts of Needler fire. The needles failed to home in on anything. Whatever it was, it wasn't there now.
The wind began to pick up, and the sun hit the horizon.
"Chief, I've called for assistance. The good news is, there are still UNSC Pelicans airbourne. The bad news, that wind will make it near impossible for one to land here. Captain Cutter has assured me that one will be sent soon, but we'll need to get to open ground."
The Chief didn't care very much for that idea, not with those wild beasts wandering around. But they had no choice. He looked outwards, towards the nearest plains, squinting against the glare of the setting sun. Even MJOLNIR light filters had their limits.
"How about there?" said Cortana, placing a nav. marker in his HUD.
The Chief looked. And balked.
"Cortana, why is your suggestion so close to that structure?" A smallish pyramid structure, rising from the grassland.
"Why not? It'll be a couple of hours before the captain can send that bird, so we might as well do some recon while we wait. Any problem with that?"
"Yes. Forerunner structures have a nasty habit of holding hostiles, and there's just two of us."
"All the more important that we have a look. We'll need to find out if something nasty does lurk inside, so that it doesn't catch us off guard later. Or are you telling me you couldn't handle a few Sentinels?"
"She had him there. And he did know how to deal with Sentinels, unlike the as of yet unseen wildlife. But there was one potential problem, he thought, looking at Patab.
…
What was the universe coming too, him worried about a Grunt?
###
Cortana got her way. Again. The Chief had planned to reach the structure, and simply set up camp in the doorway. That way he could defend against any predators, while any Forerunner defences would hopefully discredit them as non-threatening.
But when they got that far, the AI had insisted that they might as well go further. And so, to save the Chief's ears, the two outsiders were gradually moving further in. And so far… nothing hostile whatsoever. Patab was starting to get cocky.
"Why you so worried?" he asked, plodding up to another triangular door, which opened just like all the rest. Revealing yet another ramp, curving slightly as it sloped ever downwards. The Chief was starting to wonder if they would ever get to the bottom.
Another door, this one leading into a welcome break from the ramps. It was another one of those antechambers they kept passing, lit with a much softer light than the ever descending slopes. And, just like the others, there was a third hatch to the entrance and exit. The Chief automatically wandered over and checked it. Nope, still nothing of interest. Just another dead end "bubble room", as Patab had neatly put it. A dome of a ceiling, a ring of seats around the walls, and a pedestal in the centre. And that was it.
"That's it," Cortana suddenly announced. "I've had enough of these mystery rooms. Time to find out what they're really for."
And with that, she was gone, transmitted out of the armour via the comm. system. Patab, having heard none of that, took the lack of movement towards the next ramp as a sign of rest. With the predictable next step being to trudge to the bubble room, and plonk himself down on one of the seats.
For about two seconds. Then it rose a few inches, and somehow flicked him off.
"Well, that's interesting," came Cortana's voice, emanating from the pedestal. Some sort of control interface, judging on the way it had suddenly lit up. "Chief, get over here."
Get over here? Since when had she been so abrupt? But he did as he was ordered, stepping over Patab as he did so. The little Grunt was almost visibly seeing stars.
"What is it Cortana?" he asked.
"I've found out what this structure is for. Remember the Silent Cartographer? Well, this would be the... oh, it would be easier to just show you."
The door slammed shut, jolting Patab back to full alertness. "Oh no, this not good!" the Grunt exclaimed. Then the room jerked.
"Me have bad feeling!"
"Patab, you Unggoy always "have bad feeling". Settle down, it's misplaced for once."
And as Cortana spoke, the concave ceiling turned transparent, along with the walls. Revealing, in all its glory, a vast six or so armed, barred spiral galaxy. Underground?
"And presenting, our very own Milky Way. Chief, the internal systems refer to this facility as the "Melodious Cartographer". Every planet the Forerunners discovered, every star, is hologrammatically displayed here. The scale is consistent as well, about ten centimetres to each light year, with the whole chamber being about one and a half kilometres wide. And if we select a star system, we get a zoomed view of all of its components. The information stored here... it just beggars belief! Fancy a demonstration?"
"NO!" cried the SPARTAN and the Grunt together... if for different reasons. The Chief was aware of the looming pickup, while Patab... was just scared.
But like Cortana was going to listen to them...
###
EMERGENCY UPDATE – FOR THE IMMEDIATE ATTENTION OF MERCURIAL WISDOM
OUTSIDERS HAVE ACCESSED THE MELODIOUS CARTOGRAPHER. PROTOCOL ARTICLE 194 DEMANDS TERMINATION OF INTRUDERS. HOWEVER, THIS CONFLICTS WITH THE MORE RECENT PROTOCOLARTICLE 287. PLEASE CONFIRM NEXT COURSE OF ACTION.
###
Cortana's running monologue was unexpectedly cut short. Neither of her two captive audience realised why; she was listening in on a surprisingly overt communication. Well, overt for in here – outside the facility the message would probably be undetectable.
Actually, neither of them even noticed the pause, because the floating platform the bubble room had become suddenly jerked to a halt. The faint lighting took on a reddish hue.
A deep voice boomed from an unknown source. "Warning, unauthorised use of Cartographer facility detected. This facility will enter lockdown mode if valid security clearance is not given. You have one minute to comply."
"Cortana..." the Chief stated, almost accusingly, mirrored by Patab's... "Katana"? Another mistake from the translator.
"What? It's not like this was my fault."
"Just find a way to shut it down."
"On it."
Cortana went quiet as she accessed the facility network and hacked her way into the secure portions. She grumbled irritably, and double checked the protocols she'd just found. Then... was that a mild chuckle?
All of a sudden the Chief was reminded that she was dangerously close to rampancy, at least if all those seven year theories were correct.
"Sorry John, but I can't do that."
John? Why had she called him that, why now? Now the Chief was really getting worried.
"What? Why not?" he cautiously asked.
"Because I don't have the means to cancel the lockdown. We need a password. One that is found by taking a base code, which I don't have, using a time mutating transfiguration formula, which I also don't have, and feeding the result in. And as the computer then links to another location to check if the received password is correct, I can't just yank it out of the system. In other words, we're stuck here for all infinity."
And, right on cue, the announcement "Lockdown commencing." echoed across the facility.
"Time mutating transfiguration formula?"
"Oh don't tell me you can't work that one out." She sounded angry. "Alright, I'll spell it out to you...
"Simply put, the base code isn't enough on its own, we need to mutate it using the transfiguration formula. But the formula mutates as well, with the passage of time. If you don't know the rules governing the formula's mutation, the original formula, AND the base code, you can't figure out what the password is at present. Got it yet?"
"I... think so." the Chief said, reluctantly. He was more concerned with Cortana's sudden mood shift.
"So, how do we get out of here?" he asked again.
"We don't... unless..." The last came almost as if she had just thought of something. But even Patab realised that she probably didn't have their interests 100% in mind at the moment.
"What Katana say? Me not hear..."
"For good reason, I didn't. Chief, I found a reference to a "Genetics sensor"... probably a DNA reader. If I'm right, place your hand over that blue patch on the pedestal. Hopefully your status as a "Reclaimer" is clearance enough."
"But, the password-"
Cortana let out an exasperated sigh. "It's an alternative, not a supplementary system. Now, are you going to activate it, or are we going to wait for security to come-a-calling?"
"Sentinel security teams en route to investigate security breach." Boomed the voice, almost as if Cortana knew. In the distance a number of ceiling mounted ports opened, disgorging pure white light that was almost immediately eclipsed by emerging objects. The Sentinels no doubt. And something else, something much... larger. Patab began charging his plasma pistol.
And as for the Chief... he was hurriedly removing a gauntlet. Sure, he'd fought plenty of Sentinels before, beaten them too, but on a platform as small as this? One floating in the middle of a void, where one low placed beam from a Sentinel would take out the hover mechanism and send them all screaming to their deaths? And there wasn't a lake below, so hoping for a repeat of that incident on Delta Halo was a long shot even for him.
"Better hurry up Chief," announced Cortana, as the shapes of the approaching Sentinels began to get a little too distinct for comfort. The large one had energy shields reminiscent of a Jackal's.
The gauntlet came off, revealing the Chief's pasty white hand. Well, when was the last time his skin had seen sunlight? He took one last check of his surroundings, subconsciously aware that Cortana was being more than a little manipulative, then placed his palm on the supposed bio-scanner.
"Reserve genetic sensor option activated." The voice announced. "Reading – Reclaimer. You are authorised for Cartographer use. Cancelling lockdown."
The dim lighting returned to a calmer faint blue. This revealed the second group of Sentinels that had been approaching from below, but before Patab could discharge his humming, overcharged plasma pistol at them, they turned and headed back towards their deployment conduits. A course of action mirrored by the first, more overt group. The Chief was not upset to see the back of that big one.
Cortana let out a sigh. "Well, that worked surprisingly well. So, what do you want to look at?"
"I don't. I think we should count our blessings and get out of here. We've got a Pelican to rendezvous with."
"But Chief, we might as well check a few things while we're here. Like just where "here" is."
The Chief glanced at Patab, but the Unggoy was currently trying to find a way to return his pistol to an uncharged state... without firing it off. But really, what harm could one check do?
"Very well Cortana," he said. And quickly added something else he'd just thought of. "And find out where Earth is in relation to us. We'll need to know for when we get off this rock."
"If, Chief, if. Right, current location." The platform started moving, heading for the top of the mammoth chamber. They passed by nebulae, gas giants, ringed worlds, all perfectly formed in the hologrammatic medium. The sheer scale and detail of the vast virtual galaxy completely laid to shame the pale imitation of the Ark's Cartographer.
"According to the reference banks, Earth doesn't exist. Strange, because we know the Forerunners got there. They must have purposefully left it out of this system's database. I wonder why? I could probably work out its location from the positioning of other systems, but it would take some time..."
"Don't worry about it now, we'll come back later. So where are we now?"
"Patience, Chief. We'll be there in a moment."
The platform breached the upper surface of the galaxy like a surfacing whale, and came to a halt by a single shining speck. A star. And, if you looked closely and squinted, you could just make out a miniscule planet circling it.
"Well, here we are. The network's saying Reclaimers don't have the clearance to access specific knowledge, but it is offering three names. Archon, the planet, Villein, the star, and... Balance? But what could that be?"
...
"File deleted? What? Not simply locked but deleted?"
The Chief had another look at the MJOLNIR's chronometer. 20 minutes until the supposed Pelican arrival time.
"Cortana, we'd better leave."
"But Chief, the information stored here! I have to extract it!"
"Now, Cortana!"
"Can't you just leave me in the system for a while? You did back on Alpha Halo after all!"
"No, I am not walking to wherever our allies have setup their base. Nor am I leaving you behind, not after last time!"
Seeing as "last time" had involved an internment with the Gravemind, Cortana grudgingly gave up. Even though she believed that curiosity killed the Cat, not some random AI.
She fed one last instruction into the platform's guidance systems, an order to return to the docking port, and returned herself to the MJOLNIR's liquid crystal layer, for some reason staying mostly out of the data chip in the helmet.
Unfortunately, desperate as the Chief was to leave, he failed to spot something fairly important. As the platform descended back through the virtual galaxy, it passed a rather innocuous looking system. And, just then, one of the labels attached to said system – Erde-Tyrene – suddenly got a little longer.
But, as it was, it would be some time before the consequences of this change would come crashing down upon them...
###
UPDATED SECURITY REPORT FOR THE MELODIOUS CARTOGRAPHER
FORWARD TO MERCURIAL WISDOM
OUTSIDER PRESENT IN THE FACILITY IS CONFIRMED TO BE RECLAIMER. ALSO PRESENT IS ONE MEDDLER, CATEGORY H. RECOMMEND INSTALLATION R-03 ALERT STATUS RAISED TO CODE 3.
###
Archon - Sector 16, Exterior of Melodious Cartographer facility
The sun had long set by the time the Chief and the Unggoy finally emerged from the Melodious Cartographer. Only the faintest of glows marked the western horizon, but there was still a fair bit of light. The Milky Way filled the sky, countless stars each contributing a tiny bit of light to Archon's surface. It wasn't particularly bright down here, but at worst it was still enough to see where you were going.
Unless you were an Unggoy. Patab couldn't stop tripping over every little stone, as he wandered almost drunkenly after the Chief.
"This is Whiskey three ninety nine, callsign Arctic Claw, to friendly UNSC forces, please respond. I repeat, this is Whiskey three ninety nine to Forward unto Dawn survivors, please reply. As instructed I am on station and requesting pickup coordinates."
The female pilot's voice broke through the MJOLNIR's earpieces, just as a familiar shape cleared a copse to the west, heading in the general direction of the tor the duo had climbed earlier. But before the Chief could respond...
"Yaargh!" screamed Patab, as a shadowy form pounded into view, leaping at the Chief and bowling him over. And wouldn't you know it, the time in the Melodious Cartographer and the lack of resistance had allowed the Chief to forget about the mystery creature and drop his guard. Well, the animal now scrabbling futilely at his armour may have got the first strike, but that was the last time it would get its own way.
He drew his arm back, and slugged the creature, sending it flying with a startled yelp. Almost immediately, there was a familiar cha-cha-cha sound, and a trio of glowing crystal needles impacted the creature. This time it howled.
"Whiskey three ninety nine, that request for pickup at this time had better not been a prank call, we don't have the fuel for unnecessary trips halfway along the escarpment."
The Chief flicked on his helmet flashlight, the circle of light revealing the snarling beast. It did look surprisingly like a wolf, albeit one twice the size of your average lupine, with very spiky fur. He didn't doubt that trying to touch it barehanded would hurt. And those proto tusks flanking the mouth didn't look pleasant either.
The beast snarled one last time, then charged again. In a flash the Chief drew his M6 Magnum and fired a single shot, hitting the creature square between the eyes. And then he was staring in disbelief as the thing kept on coming! It leapt at him again, but this time an armoured gauntlet intercepted its throat and swatted it away. But barely had it hit the ground, than it was up again. The Chief was vaguely aware of Patab backing away, into the darkness.
"Whiskey three ninety nine, If I don't get an acknowledgement soon, you can walk back yourself."
"Whiskey three ninety nine this is Cortana, hold your horses. We've got a little wildlife problem here."
The Chief swapped his Magnum for the Sangheili plasma rifle, letting loose a flurry of bolts. Another barrage of Needler rounds arced out of the gloom. This time the creature shrieked. But single minded in the extreme, it started to try for round three.
"Whiskey three ninety nine to Cortana, if you're up against what I think you are, go for overkill. They're already notorious for their difficulty to put down."
Slightly limping this time, the beast leaped for the Chief again. And once again, he batted it aside. Then, while it was still tumbling through the air, he dropped the plasma rifle, reached behind and grabbed hold of the SPARTAN laser.
"Survive this" he growled, charging the weapon up. The creature was already getting to its feet. It didn't bother snarling this time, tensing itself to charge again. It pushed off… and that was when the fully charged SPARTAN laser blasted straight through it, and out the other side.
There wasn't much of the creature left to hit the ground…
"Wow, I saw that one from up here! Okay, I think I know where you are now, but I'd like confirmation. Could you signal your position again?"
The Chief, unwilling to use another 20% of the SPARTAN laser's limited battery, looked around for an alternative. He didn't have to look far, because at that moment Patab lumbered out of the gloom, his plasma pistol glowing from an overcharge. That'd do!
"Patab," he ordered, "Discharge that straight up."
The Grunt looked baffled. "Huh? Why me do that?"
"Just do it."
Deciding that arguing with a SPARTAN, particularly one now at full strength, was probably not a good idea, Patab complied. A glowing ball of plasma slowly rose to the heavens, basking the area in a sickly green glow.
"Okay, I've got you. Starting my approach."
"Hold on!" Cortana suddenly blurted out, "Patab! Get to cover!"
"Why?"
"Just go!"
Grumbling, Patab clomped off behind a handily placed rock. Meanwhile, the whine of the incoming Pelican reached a crescendo, and it soared into view. The pilot activated the searchlights, and slowly descended. Almost before the aircraft touched ground, a quartet of marines were hopping out. One of them, reading in the Master Chief's HUD as Corporal Joseph Lenkin, looked at the remains of the predator with a queasy look on his face.
"Well, now that makes me feel better," he finally remarked, if one of these even gives a SPARTAN trouble."
"You've encountered them before, corporal?" asked Cortana over the MJOLNIR speakers.
The marine gave the Chief a weary look. "Yeah, that we have. A pack of them decided to look for dinner in Alpha base this evening. It took the Warthog LAAG's to finally put them down, and even then they took a long time to die. Dire Thorns we've nicknamed them. Lost nearly twenty marines to the four of them."
"Didn't your captain say you had a Red team? Your own SPARTAN's?"
"Yep. But the captain apparently sent them out to look for more obvious threats than wildlife. They were three miles upriver when the Thorns wandered in.
"Now, we were told there'd be two of you to pick up. Where's the other fella?"
"Uh…"
The Chief took over. "This might come as a bit of a shock, but things have happened since your ship disappeared."
"What kind of things…"
"We'd prefer to brief your captain first. But as for here, make safe your weapons."
The corporal gave the Chief a suspicious look, but did as he was told. The other marines followed suit.
"Now, brace yourselves." The Chief turned towards Patab's hiding place and gestured.
The Grunt ambled into the light. The marines had the predictable response.
"Bleeping hell!" exclaimed one of them, swinging his MA5B assault rifle around to target the little alien. The Chief put a hand out to stop him actually firing. Well, the safety catch was still on, but better safe than sorry.
"Hold your fire, he's a friend."
"Like hell he is!" the marine shot back, and promptly found the assault rifle being forcibly removed from his grasp.
"All of you," interjected Cortana, "Hold. Your. Fire." She sounded angry. "This Unggoy is coming back with us. Alive. If it makes you feel better, just think of him as a POW."
"I don't know…" muttered Corporal Lenkin.
"Look, will it help if he gives up his weapons until we've cleared him with the captain? He's not exactly a Sangheili or Jiralhanae, he can't do much with his bare hands."
"Sangheili? Jiralhanae?" asked another marine.
"Elites and Brutes. And that's off topic."
"Hurry up out there Lenkin!" called the Pelican's pilot, "Just let the damn thing on so we can go home!"
"Jeez," the corporal complained, "I never signed on for this! Fine, he can come. But we will be disarming him until further notice!"
"Conditions accepted corporal," answered Cortana, callously ignoring Patab's opinions on the matter. "Let's get moving."
###
Archon – Orbit
While the Pelican dusted off and turned back east, heading for the fledgling marine encampment, something significant was happening high above. Unnoticed by anyone planetside, more visitors had arrived.
A small, rainbow coloured rift in the fabric of the universe was abruptly torn asunder. From within emerged, one after another, eight small craft. They accelerated towards the planet, the rift sealing itself behind them.
Four of the newcomers looked like they had no right being in space. Their shape was similar to old harriers of the twenty first century, which begged the question of how they were manoeuvring in the vacuum of space with the same ease that should have been reserved for within an atmosphere. Meanwhile, another three of the newcomers were clearly fighters – long thin affairs with stalk mounted engines that swivelled and twisted, sending them this way and that.
And as for the last newcomer… little could be made out apart from its size – about half as large again as a Pelican dropship – but it did seem to have a somewhat less conventional shape – a large disc of unknown purpose strapped to its back, and it almost seemed to have limbs.
The group split up, the fighters and harrier look-a-likes settling into different orbits that would allow them to collectively observe the vast majority of the planet's surface. The remaining newcomer simply stopped cold, using minor attitude thrusters to maintain position.
Had the ruling intelligence of Archon not been so fixated with the UNSC troops already on the surface, and more precisely how it could turn them to its advantage, it might have noticed this second wave of visitors. But no, despite multiple alerts from various ground based observational facilities, it didn't.
And neither did it notice when two of the imitation harriers each released a quartet of tiny drones, all heading rapidly downwards…
###
Authors notes:
All right, I admit it! I made a mistake with the whole Patab versus Master Chief business. I was more working on their strength, I mean, they lug massive fuel rod cannons and occasionally (Halo 2, player invoked) rocket launchers into battle with ease. But, I've since looked at the in game sizes… and they're roughly half the size of the Chief. Oops. Still, it had comedy factor if nothing else, but I'm not likely to repeat it.
Cortana seems to be acting odd. I'm of the opinion that she has yet to reach the theoretical state of metastability, so try and figure out what stage of rampancy she's at. The Halo wiki should make that task quite easy.
The "something much… larger" amongst the swarm of Sentinels is an Enforcer. Seeing as neither the Master Chief or Cortana actually encountered one, I've left it unnamed in the story. For now, anyway.
The "Me have bad feeling" line shows up in Halo 1 and 2. Typically before something unpleasant shows up, but this time there's a twist. You'll find out what later.
The Dire Thorns may sound a little extreme for mere wildlife, and their target selection is a bit iffy, but there's more to them than meets the eye. Again, later.
The next phase will have the first proper combat, and the first vehicles. As I'm starting university though, it may be a while coming. Hopefully not too long.
Thanks for reading, please review!
Next Phase: Running with Warthogs
