Halo 4: Rebels
Chapter 2
The Journey
Disclaimer: Halo belongs to 343, SW Rebels is Disney.
A/N: I am aware of the update date shown on . However, I did replace the first chapter on May 4th.
0722 (7:22 am), August 15th, 2556 CE/5 BBY
Tatooine
The Ghost flew through the upper atmosphere to Mos Eisley. A spaceport, the crew thought it a good idea to land here, as they needed fuel for the journey to Epsilon Indi, otherwise known as Harvest. Much to the Master Chief's annoyance, Kanan wanted to sell all the weapons from the Dawn that they could carry, which would pay for fuel. However, the armored soldier was still immovable in regards to the weapons. He was still in a military mindset, and rebelled against handing over weapons. Thus, the crew was on the landing pad, arguing.
"Those weapons are UNSC property." He said, barely containing his rage.
"Our contact, Fulcrum, is giving us enough food and fuel to get to your home and back ten times." Hera said, setting the Ghost down.
"It's still against UNSC regulations to sell weapons," Master Chief said, picking up an MA5C, a BR55, and an M6G from the stockpile. "Especially when 'Fulcrum' could be a terrorist."
"Fulcrum is helping us fight against the Empire." Hera shot back, offended. During the trip to Tatooine for fuel, the crew had told Master Chief and his AI about the Empire and all they do. While the Master Chief sympathised with them, he couldn't aid in their resistance movement. He had to return to UNSC territory.
"Yes, but who is Fulcrum, and can we trust whoever Fulcrum is?" Sabine asked, picking up an M6G and three magazines. She was curious as to who Fulcrum was as well.
"Sabine, you, Zeb, and the Master Chief go look for the drop off point. Take the sand speeder we rented." Hera said, avoiding the question, and pointing at the nearly broken down speeder. Giving up on trying to argue, Master Chief decided to get into the speeder, followed closely by Sabine and Zeb.
Using radio conversation with who Master Chief assumed was Fulcrum, they arrived at a shady looking adobe house. Taking the canisters of fuel and crates of food, they sped back to the Ghost, where Kanan helped Zeb fuel the ship. Loading the supplies on board, Master Chief decided to take his helmet off, catching the attention of a certain Mandolorian girl, who joined him in the holochess room.
He had brown hair cut extremely short, some stubble, and dark blue eyes. His skin was unnaturally pale, possibly from low exposure to sunlight. He was running an armored hand through his stubble, probaly deep in thought. Sabine also took note of his armor. It appeared that the Master Chief's military used dark green in their equipment. While Sabine was contemplating asking if she could paint it, Master Chief held his helmet under his arm, and walked to the cockpit. Followed by Sabine, he arrived and plugged Cortana's data chip into the console.
"Fuel at 91%, all other systems are green." She said.
"As soon as everyone's on board, take off and get us to the Dawn." Master Chief said. "There are supplies that we need."
After boarding, the Ghost lifted off, exiting atmosphere and warping away to the location of the Forward Unto Dawn.
20:54 (8:54 pm), August 15th, 2556 CE/5 BBY
UNKNOWN SYSTEM
Arriving at the Dawn, Master Chief decided to use the Phantom, a shuttle mounted onto the rear of the Ghost, to enter the ship. The crew waited for half an hour before he came back, only to discover he had multiple trips. The first trip got him canteens of water and packs of MREs. The second trip got him some PT clothes that he could wear when not in armor, a razor and shaving cream, and a box of matches. The final trip found tools to remove his MkVI armor, ammo, and a set of five combat knives. Hera, with Cortana's assistance, entered the coordinates of Harvest into the navigational computer.
"It will take approximately 15 days to reach our destination." Cortana said.
"All right, Chief, you're going to have to bunk with Sabine." Hera said, sitting at the pilot's seat. "Cortana, I can pilot just fine, hand over the stick."
Cortanas hologram came up, glowing blue. She put a hand to her ear for a few seconds, before responding.
"Roger, she's your bird." Cortana answered. A few minutes later, the ship jumped forward, the space around the ship turning blue.
A few minutes later, Sabine entered her room just as Master Chief removed the last of his armor plating. He was about to take off the black under suit before Sabine entered. Sabine turned away, in an attempt to give him some privacy. She was turned around for a few seconds before He started talking to her.
"Is there something going on between you and Hera?" Chief asked.
"Hera and Kanan refuse to tell me who Fulcrum is." Sabine said, irritated at a perceived lack of trust. "They just tell me to trust them without questioning anything."
"You have a problem with that?" The Spartan asked.
"A while back, I was a student in the Imperial Academy on Mandalore." Sabine said, leaning on the doorway. Turning to face the Spartan, she noticed that he was dressed in knee high shorts and a black shirt. "After a while, I decided that I didn't want to blindly follow orders and left."
"Do you ever wonder what would happen if you stayed?" Master Chief asked, setting his M6G onto the bunk.
"A few times, but I'll stand by my decision no matter what." Sabine said, pulling out a handgun she lifted from the supplies to examine it. It had a silvery finished metal, some sort of black molding grip, and appeared to be a double action slugthrower. Slugthrowers themselves were uncommon, while 'self-cocking' slugthrowers were rare, most prototypes having a tendency to misfire. She took out a magazine, and examined it. Inside were eight cartridges, about the size of a person's thumb. Taking one out, Sabine noticed it had words on the side that had the primer. It said '12.7x40mm SAP HE'.
"So, what kind of slugthrower is this?" Sabine asked, holding the pistol out for him to see.
"That is an M6G, the service pistol of the UNSC." Chief said.
"What do these letters mean?" She asked, holding out the cartridge for him to see.
"Semi-armor piercing, high explosive." John-117 explained. "After penetrating either a few millimeters of armor or flesh, the round detonates using a small C-8 charge." Sabine thought about what he just described, and gave a small shudder.
"Pretty gruesome." Sabine said. Just then, Cortana's voice came from the speaker in the room.
"Chief, we have a problem." She said.
"What is it?" John asked, worried. Before boarding the Ghost, the Master Chief had noticed something odd about her. His visor had distorted, and her voice sounded wobbly.
"We have inaccurate star charts." Cortana explained. "This drive may be more accurate than the FTLs on a Marathon cruiser, or a Charon frigate, but it is heavily influenced by gravity. If I can't get accurate to-the-millimeter positions on all the stars from here to Harvest, we're screwed."
"Is there a nearby planet we can get a star chart from?" Sabine asked.
"That is the-wait." Cortana began shouting, then stopped, deep in thought. "Huh, as a matter of fact, yes. It appears that the Covenant had a small refining station in a nearby system. It'll take a while, but we can make it."
"What do you think we'll meet?" John asked.
"Hopefully, Elites. Though, Grunts would be fine." Cortana said. "It should be a simple in and out."
1851 (6:51 pm), August 15th, 2556 CE/5 BBY
Theta III Station
In the vast reached of space, many a star systems were named after the Greek alphabet. This system, named after the end of the war in 2553, was host to a refinery owned by the Covenant. When the Great Schism occurred, the Sanghelli quickly seized the base, and used it to make fuel and weapon grade plasma. Theta V, a small icy rock, supplied coolant for engines. Theta IV, a gas giant, supplied the tritium plasma used by many Covenant ships. Theta III, a small, earth-sized rock, provided foundation for a command and control point. Usually staffed by up to thirty Sanghellis, one hundred Huragoks, and sixty to seventy-five Unggoys.
And at this present time, hosting an Imperial visitor.
"I must clear this with my Kaidon." An Elite aristocrat in elaborate silver and crimson armor said. "Surely you may understand. Do not worry, it will take but a moment."
His guest wore a grey jacket, grey slacks, polished black boots, and what looked like a WWII German field cap. On the right side of his chest was a symbol for the rank of commander in the Imperial Navy. He had a thick, grey Wilhelmine mustache, with a buzz cut.
"Very well then." He conceded, then made his way to his ship, an Imperial II-class frigate.
"Good riddance." An Elite next to the aristocrat said in his native tounge. He was dressed in the armor of a ranger. He turned to the commander. "Kur 'Vadam, do you think Sanghellios will allow this? He asks, nay, DEMANDS, that we turn over the majority of this operation to his 'Empire'. We should kill him!"
"Steady, Ulf 'Ronom, we shouldn't underestimate him." Kur, the aristocrat, said. "He speaks as though he can back up his threat. We- "
"My lord!" One of the Unggoys yelled from his station. "Sensors detect a smaller vessel coming towards us, with a similar engine as these jerks."
Ignoring the Grunts 'colorful' word choice, Kur 'Vadam looked out the viewport, an ominous feeling in his gut. Either these were more Imperials, or an old ally would return.