A.N. So here we go first chapter we'll be introducing some of the OC's in this one, should be fun. I'm amazed to say that within 12 hours of posting this I got a review.
Thanks.
Doing a bit for answering questions and the like, or just my comments/thoughts on your reviews in this section.
Starcraft is awesome ~ Tech stuff isn't all that big an issue, seeing as all that I plan on giving the Chief UNSC wise is what he can salvage from the Dawn (and it's fun stuff). This story is taking place in the SC universe so he's going to have to get used to the new weapons and everything else. Also, the Chief has an obscene amount of training and experience; a GUN in anyone's hands is dangerous, but ANY weapon in Chief's hands is deadly. I'll be sure to not overpower anything the best I can.
That was a bit of a rant, but I felt it necessary. Seeing as I want this story to be accurate as possible, your review was very welcome. Thanks.
I am currently in need of a beta, if you are familiar with the aspects of game play and lore behind them. Please feel free to pm me if your interested in the job.
Also because its a massive pain in the ass being overly descriptive for outfits and the like I won't be obscenely in depth in their descriptions. I will give an idea and dig into it a bit but not for everything.
Sadly I'm already raising the rating to M because of dialogue.
Lastly, please realize that I am attempting to meld two insanely popular games together (although SC: Ghost was not released the SC franchise is massive). There is no feasible way for me to make everyone happy, I can only hope to appease the masses with what is my best effort.
RNG
Chapter I
Lost Sheep
Koprulu Sector
Mar Sara System – Terran Dominion
20 Kilometers SSW of Vespene Refinery DF 113-8
0845 Hours
"Hey Sarge," The marine, markings on his suits armor over his left breast showing him to be a Private First Class. Erik Smith, she was pretty sure that was his name, was waving their XO over to him. "check this out."
The ghost turned curiously towards the teams communication officer, noting the standard orange CMC-300 armor. The man was standing besides a terminal they had set up earlier an advanced communications relay, far from the normal platforms most groups were deployed with.
It had been that fact that had drawn her attention.
Most likely it held some form of tracking device in case they lost track sight of her.
"Wha'cha go' thur Erik?"
She silently scoffed at the thought, leaning back against the earthen wall of the valley they set up in. The ghost shook her head tossing the long blonde locks that were not held in place by her helmet over her shoulder then gave a brief glance at the marines, all five of them having gone over to see what Erik had found before going back to the C-20A Canister Rifle that rested on her thighs. Her fingers and eyes checking over the weapon to make absolutely sure that it would work perfectly.
Though it had checked out the last twenty odd times, with Zerg forces on the ground there was no such thing as being too careful.
"Dunno Sarge. It's a transmission of some kind..." Erik turned back to his station, fingers nimbly flying over the normal sized keys with a skill and speed that should not have been possible with his armored hands. "Some crazy loop, it ain't from us though never heard of thi-"
"Lemme hurr th' damn thang soldier," Roy "Sarge" Kepps rumbled out, his voice a deep baritone drawl. Standing a good foot over most of his men, his armor was battered in comparison to theirs. A testament to him having survived long enough on the battlefield to have earned them. "I don' go' time fo ya techno babble."
"Yes sir!"
Random bits of noise, a local Blues channel, talk radio, talk radio, static, Dominion Public Access... Then nothing except garbled words laced heavy with static that brought everyone's, even the normally apathetic ghost's attention to the speakers. A woman's, no mistaking the speakers gender... not with that smooth silky tone. It was faint, a slowly increasing whisper but with the decay so broken hardly a word came through.
"...-his is U.N...- Frigate Forwa-... -awn. We are under att-...-o any U.N.S.C. ves-...-requesting immediate assi-..."
One of the marines slapped Erik on the back of his helmet, knocking him forward and forcing him to grab hold of the equipment to keep his heavy armor from falling prey to gravity. The signal was lost cutting off the voice emanating from the speakers. He growled slamming a fist upside the console then span to face the one who hit him an with an angry scowl pasted on his face. "The hell was that for Rookie?" he growled.
The ghost turned away in distaste, this "Rookie" had already proven earlier to be an idiot in her eyes aboard the Assault Dropship Thunderfury. Disrespecting military protocol like that on a mission, though she supposed it could do with being more testosterone then synapses. Most rookie marines were. She rolled her eyes at the thought and turned back to what was occurring, even if it was only to get the names for their tombstones. As a second thought she added to the notes that the Rookies name was Lester.
"Yer givin us garbage," Rookie grinned revealing a gap where one of his front teeth had been knocked out the sight made all the more comical by the lopsided black paint on his cheeks. "I know ya can make the pretty lady sound better then that."
The other men chuckled while Erik rolled his eyes then turned to the machine. He slammed his fist down on top of the monitors, bent closer for a moment then turned back around to face the rest of his squad. "Here you go boys, she's workin fine and proper now." he grinned while spinning a dial on the board.
"I repeat... This is the Forward Unto Dawn. We are under attack by unknown hostiles. To any vessels within this sector, requesting immediate assistance." there was nearly ten seconds worth of silence, then "I repeat... This is-"
A half-assed salute accompanied the grin "Tha's all she wrote Sarge." Erik chuckled while he spun the dial again, lowering the volume.
The ghost cocked a brow at that, to her the message seemed far too short... for a distress call at least, nothing except a name? Pretty bare bones...
"Wha'dya thank thurr Arms?" Sarge asked as he faced his men, a frown on his face.
"Not our problem." Vlad "Arms" Kuznetsov was the Heavy Weapons Expert and overall second in command of the unit. A Massive Russian who somewhere in his ancestry must have included a grizzly bear. The pair of SGM-4 "Hawker" short range missile packs he carried strapped to his back in addition to the C-14 "Impaler" in his arms gave him an eternally hunched over appearance, even though he was the tallest member of their group."Could be pirates." He smiled as he spoke bringing his gun up and pulling back the charging handle with a sharp crack
One of the marines chuckled, at least it sounded that way. Stepping forward as his helmet's faceplate painted with a white skull motif raised. A billowing cloud of acrid purple haze erupting from the seal as it opened, a pair of blood shot blue eyes seeming to glow from within. "Don't worry bout missing a chance for yer toys Arms, we got plenty to worry bout with the Zerg." his voice was gravelly as if he had just finished coughing for an extended duration.
Rookie laughed and slapped the marine on his back, "Zerg ain't gonna have much to say when-" only to squawk in indignation when the man spun around and socked him in the chest knocking him onto his back. "The fuck was that for Jerry!"
The man squat down on his haunches resting his arms on his knees until his face was directly above Rookie's. "Listen up Meat, and you better listen good..." Jerry wheezed and coughed hard, then spat a dirty green wad onto Rookie's pristine armor. "Them Zerg are a monster of nightmare, they don't care if it's man, woman, or child..." he drew a wicked looking knife from its sheath attached to his breastplate resting its blade against the now pale mans cheek. "They'll cut them up and hang em outside their parents homes by their entrai-"
"Stan' down thurr marine!"
Though Sarge had shouted the words, it was a different member of the group who acted. With the visor still in place his features were indistinguishable, but the firm arm on Jerry's shoulder seemed to halt all momentum to his manic rant.
The final member of the platoons armor was different from the rest of the groups, a specialist. His armor carried less actual plating swapping it for extra boosters and a set of jump jets, allowing him better mobility and movement than his more heavily guarded counterparts. On his back a menacing BOSUN FN92 Sniper rifle and covering the chest plate, massive 50 caliber rounds hung in bandoliers strapped for form an X.
Jerry growled and turned his menacing gaze towards the man who had stopped him. Scary as his glare was when the mans faceplate opened those dead black eyes staring back at him unnerved him more than he cared to admit. Shrugging the hand off his shoulder Jerry stood and stomped away throwing his blade far into the darkness surrounding them. "I gotta go get that, can't lose what our loving Dominion gave us after all..." with a grunt he was gone.
The silent sniper offered Rookie a hand, who respectfully did not offer the one he had just used to wipe the spit off of his armor and into the dirt below him.
"Thanks Ryu." Rookie muttered as he was pulled back onto his feet. The man only stared at him an eerie looking smile on his lips, never reaching anywhere near his eyes. Dusting off his armor he glared in the direction Jerry had headed. "Fuck is his problem?" he muttered.
He nearly toppled once more when Arm's placed a heavy hand on his shoulder, and as Rookie turned to the weapons expert the look in the big mans eyes told him to keep his trap shut.
"Jerry a gud man, Rookie." Sarge cut in shutting his faceplate once more and turned to Erik. "I ne' ya to ke' watchin them channels, until we ge' call'd in by Cap'n Buck we wait."
"Yes sir!" Erik gave a sharp salute and dutifully went back to doing what had started this whole charade.
"Arms! Take Rookie wi' ya an set up a perimeter."
A feral grin spread across Arms face the pearly white teeth visible in the darkness of his helmet, in a swift movement one of his rocket launchers appeared in his hands while his rifle rested in its place on his back. He cradled the massive four barreled missile launcher in his arms like a mother would a baby. "Lock..." his helmet sealed shut and from the external speakers his accent laden voice finished with "N' Load."
With a casual wave to Rookie, the pair walked off into the darkness. Rookie having already gathered the sensitive equipment they would be using for the perimeter.
Given no orders, Ryu seemed to fade back into the long mid day shadows coming from the valleys landscape. More than likely to find a suitable perch to snipe from.
With a grunt Sarge turned to the ghost and gave a small salute that was returned, before he walked over to the pile of munitions they had been granted for their mission. Just an hour earlier Captain Buck, the commanding officer of all the Dominion ground forces on planet had walked right into a kill zone. The majority of the men and women under his command had been overwhelmed by the superior numbers of the Zerg.
Their orders were originally to back up the Captain, those had been changed by High Command, and on paper it would be easier to have just called it suicide with a flourish. Now instead of providing support to the main forces. When the Captain called for the next assault they were to complete a full on infiltration of whatever the hell appeared where DF 113-8 had been. With the now known massive number of Zerg forces in the area, their job had them smack dab in the middle of the enemy hot zone.
Though hopefully for them, Captain Buck would provide a suitable distraction.
The ghost glided silently over the terrain and peered over Erik's shoulder, a small smile on her lips. So unaware of his surrounding she could slit his neck and he would not know it until his head lay on the ground. She closed her eyes, shaking the thoughts from her mind and gave a small cough to get his attention.
"Excuse me." She smiled beneath the mask of her hostile environment suit as the man whirled around, eyes wide while at the same time bringing his weapon up aiming it directly at her stomach. "Sorry..." she added without a single trace of sincerity.
"Ma'am! It's ok jus-"
"Startled you? I know."
"How did yo-"
She tapped the side of her mask the numerous gadgets and instruments throwing a faint glow around her head like a halo.
Though she would admit to being no angel.
"Ghost, remember?"
The marines back snapped ruler straight as he saluted, "Yes Ma'am!" he barked. Looks like Erik was one of the marines that actually believed in some of the rumors floating around about ghosts.
"May I take a look at that last message?" She asked, subtly moving herself in front of the console while at the same time forcing Erik away from the station.
"But Ma'-"
"Don't worry, I'll let your Sergeant know why you aren't here."
The man hesitated throwing a concerned look at his station then back to her though weariness filled his gaze when he directed it towards her. "Ma'am I can't in good conscience leave my station unattended, I'v-"
The ghost gave his mind a gentle shove, being extremely careful not to overwhelm him and literally boil his brain in his skull. "Trust me, I'll be done before you know it."
A light glaze appeared in the mans eyes and his jaw slackened, with a nod he trod away from the communications center. Though seeing as she hadn't given him an order he only stood stupidly staring into space several feet away with his back to her.
It would have to work.
Pulling a cord from her helmet she wired herself directly into the network, bringing up the distress call again. It repeated once more and she frowned. It just sounded and felt like something was missing to her and she always trusted her gut feelings on things like this. She ran it through a built in decryption suite installed in her helmet, waiting several moments before a small green light appeared in her HUD. Opening the newly made file she noted that of all things the static had been the encoding that held this hidden message. She listened carefully as the woman's voice once again rang through her ears.
"This is U.N.S.C. Artificial Intelligence CTN 0452-9, currently aboard the U.N.S.C. Frigate Forward Unto Dawn. To any U.N.S.C. Forces in range too receive this transmission we are in a unknown sector and need pick-up, Sierra-117 is in the freezer. Repeat Sierra-117 is in the freezer. We have unknown hostiles boarding the ship, any attempts at rescue operations proceed with caution. We will be making planet fall within five Kilometers of 45° 5' 5" N / 93° 0' 35" W on the fourth planet of this system within the hour. I repeat... This is U.N.-"
'Those co-ordinates sound familiar...' The ghost closed her eyes trying to remember exactly why they- her eyes snapped open and she brought up her wrist checking the GPS, setting a way point she scoffed. Their LZ was was only a few kilometers off of her current location, and if a ship crashed in the area... it would be swarming with Zerg almost the instant it finished cooling from atmospheric reentry.
Meaning by default there location would most likely be overrun as well.
"Dammi-"
"Problem?"
The woman spun around a switch blade already in her hands ready to lash out only to come face to face with Ryu, his disturbing smile and dead gaze seemed to claw at her soul.
'How the hell did he sneak up on me like that...' "No, no problem." she muttered trying to figure out just what made this man tick. His mental shields were obscenely strong for a front line soldier most of them being so doped up on Stim packs they could barely differentiate a butter knife from a bayonet. She gave him an unseen grin from behind her mask, "How'd you sneak up on me like that?" she asked truthfully curious.
The man cocked his head to the side, the smile spreading further across his face yet still not reaching his eyes. "Why miss November Annabella Terra, that would be telling."
Her eyes widened and she grabbed the man by his armor simultaneously bringing up her knife to rest against his jugular. "How do you know that name!" she hissed.
Though it seemed impossible his smile spread even wider.
"Now November-"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"
"Then," he chuckled "what should I call you."
Pulling the weapon away from the mans throat she twirled the blade around flashing its razor shard edges in the morning sun. "November Terra is dead. " she growled "I'm Agent X41822N of the Terran Dominion. I don't want to be anybody else." she stalked away her breathing growing more rapid, her emotional state was unstable. This would be very bad if she did not calm down. If she could not calm herself down manually it would mean she would need a dose of her medicine... and she hated the stuff with a passion.
She had more important things to do than to stew in the past and what was left of her fragmented memories. The most important now being alerting the Sergeant to the newest dilemma being thrown onto their plates.
"You never told me what to call you."
She paused, stopping in place and looking briefly over her shoulder.
"Call me Nova."
UNSC Frigate Forward Unto Dawn
"-...-ke u-..."
A pair of groggy eyes slowly opened, slamming shut at the bright lights flashing before them. Then after a split second, courageously opened once more taking in the surroundings. HUD, health monitors and displays, the all to clean air, his helmet... Lights outside, flashing reds and blues intermittently, he could hear sirens.
"-...-d you-..."
A familiar burning sensation across his bo- 'Cryo. Went in after the Ark.' -he grimaced and took in a steady breath. Only to exhale sharply with a silent grunt as agony shot from his unused lungs, blossoming out spreading a torrent of pure misery throughout his body. Almost as bad as when he was stabbed with a plasm-
"Wak-...-p!"
Voices, who? Damn, a combat situa- FOCUS! Thick glass covered him, yet he was still in his armor, wh- 'Oh yeah, cyro.' must have been for a long time... he felt starved, weak, sl- FOCUS! Adrenaline tore through him alighting his senses with fire. His body nearly several feet and four hundred pounds of pure muscle perfected for war and destruction came alive, ...FOCUS! The pain he felt coursing through his veins like molten fire was forgotten. Muscles unused for so long flexed taunt, ready for anything.
Time slowed, his thoughts sharpened and he entered a sense of calm he was all to familiar with.
Spartan time.
"I need you, John!"
'Cortana.'
He chinned the control for his helmet lights, they flared against the screen of smoke filling his tube. The illumination throwing ghastly shadows as he slammed his gauntlet covered palms against the glass throwing it from his view as he leaped forward. Drifting, weightless in the zero-g of space, through the air towards the pedestal where he spotted Cortana. He halted his forward momentum by gripping the console with his hands bringing himself to a stop in front of her.
"I'm her-"
"No time Chief, get us the hell out of here!"
...Odd.
He had never been one to question her when she said that something needed to be done. However, something seemed wrong. 'She could be rampant.' the thought flashed through his mind, if it was true she would be a more danger than help to whatever the situation really was. He would have to get ri-'No.'
John stared at the constru-'woman' he mentally corrected with a sense of unease, the closest thing a Spartan felt to fear. Something about her was... off. His eyes flitted over her body, some of her coloring was different than what he remembered. The symbols that were utilized for her clothing had changed, they weren't as clean cut as they use to be... more feral... aggressive... she was shifting around bodily with what looked to be a sense of desperation, never focusing on a singular spot as if trying to pierce the walls with her gaze.
She span around narrowing her eyes at him hand on her hip in a pose he recognized instantly, impatience.
"Did you hear me caveman?" she nearly, he felt his eyes widen, hissed andif it were not for his augmented eyesight he would never have caught the brief crimson flash of her eyes. "We need to get the hell off of the Da-"
"Are you alright, Cortana?" John asked, his voice although slightly altered by his suit speakers came out in a soft gravelly rumble. He watched as her eyes widened and she crossed her arms over her chest... in a defensive manner, almost as if she were attempting to shrink into nothingness. "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing..." she gave him a small smile... even that seemed off. "I'm fine, it's been a long time John." she continued giving him look that he could not read the meaning to. "I can fill you in on the details later. Right now thoug-"
"Are you rampa-"
"NO!"
Her small form shimmered, and static was present in her words. This could not be good, if she was rampant he would not have a choice and would have to follow…. Protocol. That pained him far more than any wound he had ever suffer-
"Do you trust me?"
Her voice tore him from his thoughts, John crouched down so he could look at her at eye level. He had been asked that same question before once in his life. At that time he had been able to answer without a second thought... after several seconds of his silent stare he gave her a subtle nod.
"What's the situation?"
"Something threw off our course and now we're on a crash course with a planet. No clue where we are scans haven't been helpful at all with that." she shrugged "It's been years John, with the gravitational drift and decay it was bound to happen sooner or later."
"How many years has it been since the Ark?" his gut was telling him only bad news would accompany his question. "How are you still active?"
"Last I checked its been five years now John." her voice was hesitant, the whisper she had spoken the words seemed pained even. "I've been keeping myself on standby, waking up every year near its end to make sure we're st-"
A rumble shook the ship and John gripped the podium to keep from being thrown into the air. He turned so his polarized visor was nary an inch from the emitters, head cocked slightly in silent question.
"We've been boarded, they d-"
She wasn't able to finish as John forcibly uploaded her into his neural link, he could figure out exactly what was going on with her later. Priorities had been given and even though his gut screamed at him to make sure Cortana was not compromised, not allowing her or himself to be taken by the enemy was a much larger factor and the safest place for her was in the suit.
'Though why she wouldn't mention hostiles first...' He shook his head dismissing the thought, he could worry more later.
A sharp spike of pain erupted from the back of his head only to evaporate into the cool almost liquid sensation of Cortana getting comfortable in his mind. It was disturbing, though he had become used to it after the many years the pair had spent together. Having another presence share his mind was still... weird.
"Well I see you manners haven't improved."
He gave a grunt, pushing off the floor and floating towards a M90 CAWS that was nearby. Grabbing the shotgun in his right hand he watched the helmet mounted displays as his suit connected with the weapon and gave a small frown when on his HUD it showed the weapon to be nearly empty.
"What can you tell me?" his eyes scanned the surrounding area, a nearly empty weapon without at least a M6G to fall back onto not exactly the best situation. The Cyro-bay was empty of any weapons, seems that even a shotgun was a blessing.
A small screen in the corner of his helmet lit up showing him what he could only assume to be a video feed taken from somewhere in the ship. A three dimension figure burst to life and he studied it carefully. The- he could not form a name for the bipedal creature, it was colored a dirty purple hue with flecks of red and orange spread over its entire body. Its head nearly canine in appearance with a malformed muzzle and a large gaping maw filled with hundreds of needle like teeth, glowing red eyes in sunken sockets. They had three webbed toes on the end of each powerful looking back leg, the muscles of which seemed disproportionate to its size. A short stumpy tail with wicked looking spikes coming from its rear, armored looking plates covering the creatures backside along with two blade covered arms seeming to sprout from its spine and protruding from below its head a pair of arms ending in scythe-like claws.
"What is th-"
"They aren't human... that's certain, I've never seen these things in any of the Covenant or UNSC databases." a pause. "They seem more like animals than anything else, I've been venting the left over atmosphere from sections of the Dawn they've taken over." she gave a brief laugh. "They are NOT completely immune to the effects of vacuum but can survive it for short periods of time."
More explosions rumbled throughout the ship, by his estimates at the opposite end from where he was.
"... I think they're going for the engines, as a last resort I have the reactors ready to red-line." she answered his question before he could ask. "We don't have much time before they breach the bulkheads, with the damage the ship took during the battle of the Ark my options are limited to slow them down. A lot of the ships systems are dead."
"Got a plan?"
Her light laughter seemed to echo throughout his mind, "Why are you asking me?" she drawled beforeanother pause which worried him slightly, it was almost as if she were trying to deflect his attention to the situation instead of on her. She was fairly outspoken and normally she would have given numerous plans and contingencies just as crazy as anything he could think up. "Yours are so much more entertaining."
"We head to the armory..." John grumbled taking a quick look at the weapon in his hands, trained eyes noting that even with how beat up it looked it should still work as its designers intended. He had no doubts it would serve him well, but a little back-up never hurt. "After that we find a way off the Dawn."
"No worries right? Not the first time this has happened." her tone was back to the playful undertones he was so used to. It brought him a sense of ease. "Gonna shoot your way out or mix it up a little?"
"Think I'll be making it up as I go this time."
"You have about an hour before we enter the atmosphere, I'd recommend finding a way off the ship before that happens." she explained to him. "With the structural damage to the ship, I calculate our chances of surviving the impact in the realm of 17 percent."
Good he had a time frame.
Activating the magnetic soles of his boots, he pushed gently off the ceiling landing without a sound as he came in contact with the floor. Squaring his shoulders as he brought the weapon up to the ready the Spartan moved towards the sealed blast door leading towards the rest of the ship.
"So, you ready to greet the welcoming committee?"
There was no satisfying clack in the silent vacuum of space accompanying the shell being rammed into the chamber as he pumped the shotgun in his hands.
"Yeah."
End Chapter I
A.N. This chapter introduced a few of the OC's, mainly the marines that Nova was deployed with. I'm taking a few days to draw up character bios for them since I don't plan on them being sacrificial lambs, I think it would be fun to tinker around with them a bit. As a note the only one that I didn't name is Lester, at least that's what I'm pretty sure his name is. Go watch the SC: Ghost cinematic on youtube if you want to check but that's where I got it from. I hope that the cast is well thought out and I'm going to do my best with character development. Though I'm taking creative license with all of them and doing as I please.
The majority of the Tech mentioned is authentic to the SC universe. Only Ryu's armor and Arms rocket launchers are of my own creation (at least to my knowledge). For an idea on what the rocket launchers look like go check out a RPG-32 and imagine that with 4 tubes in a box formation.
Next chapter we start hitting the action.
I burnt myself out a bit so I'll be posting the next part of the index next chapter. Nova will be its star.
RNG