Location: Surface of planet Hoth, system unknown
Time: Unknown
The doors to the conference room parted with a hushed swoosh as Admiral Stanforth looked up from his high-backed leather chair
The doors to the conference room parted with a hushed swoosh as Admiral Stanforth looked up from his high-backed leather chair. The table in front of him was massive and antique. The usual metal or acrylic was replaced with a dark cherry wood that seemed timeless. Kelly removed her helmet and placed it on the table in front of her and remained standing as all the other Spartans did.
"Be seated everyone. I will cut to the chase here. From what we have ascertained from the first prisoner, as well as intel Benchley has managed to dig up, it seems we have jumped ourselves into an all out intergalactic rebellion. The planet below us seems to be housing what we are considering to be rebels. As for the ships, they appear to belong to what is called the 'Empire'."
"So where does that leave us?" John and Kelly's eyes met briefly before his darted in favor of Stanforth.
"In the middle of another mess. We don't have any clear ideas on where we are…"
"Or WHEN we are…" Benchley had been silent, but seemed more than eager to inject the tidbit.
"Our navigation computers are, for lack of a better phrase, on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Repairs are already underway on the damaged drives. However, we will need to land and shut down other systems to be able to repair them fully."
"That's where the Spartans come in." Stanforth quickly maneuvered himself back to the focus of the conversation.
"Master Chief, I need you and your team to try to make contacts with the rebels. I am not interested in making friends, as we don't know the history and frankly don't know who the 'good guys' are."
"True, it wasn't long ago that we were hunting rebels ourselves." The Admiral nodded at John as he clicked a button on the table's surface. A large holopanel shined in the middle of the table revealing the planet.
"It appears the planet's name is 'Hoth'. It also appears the rebels have a base somewhere in this area." A Triangular symbol highlighted a certain portion of the globe as the globe broke into smaller multiples of itself, giving each observer at the table the same view.
"We will be landing here, approximately five clicks south of their position. Benchley is still attempting to find some means to contact them via electronic means, but so far we haven't been able to get it right. That's why you Spartans are going to give some face time. Get in there and see if you can get more information, like how in the hell we are supposed to get home. You will take a copy of Benchley with you, to see if he can somehow extract information from any electronic systems. Everyone clear?"
"Yessir!" The acknowledgement resounded loudly in the small room.
"Benchley, what is our ETA to surface?"
"Landing will take place in approximately twenty-three minutes. I am still running scans to make sure the surface will be stable enough. The terrain down there looks to be quite hazardous for large vehicles."
"Whatever you do Benchley, do not get us stuck."
"Of course Admiral." Benchley's image disappeared as Kelly's helmet sealed to her MJOLNIR armor. Taking the helmet off was always a weird exercise in Kelly's mind, and she imagined the other Spartans as well. Their entire suit had become an extension of themselves as much as any of their natural appendages.
"Nice monkey." Kelly looked down to see Wilfred still connected to her side. She had completely forgotten the stuffed animal was on her side during the fighting, and was glad to see he had made it intact, mostly. The tear in his shoulder had gotten worse and now the appendage seemed to be dangling by a thread.
Kelly felt John's hand upon her shoulder as she continued to look at her friend's protector. Kelly had never known the freedom that childhood provided. She and her fellow Spartans had only know training and war and death.
"It's all she has left. The damned covenant took everything else."
She longed to give the animal back to the little girl, as she knew the child's world and all she had known had been violently ripped away. Kelly remembered her own world being ripped away and her parents being replaced with Cpl Mendez and Dr. Catherine Halsey. Any feelings of returning home were crushed. Lies that were told to keep the children in line.
Kelly knew, however, that the Spartans were now desperately needed. More and more children and parents were sharing Kaitlin's story. The story of loss. Kelly placed her hand on top of John's and gripped it gently.
"We have to get back home and stop the Covenant, John." Kelly wondered if they would truly be able to stop them. On the ground the Spartans couldn't be matched, and had proven it time and again. The space war, however, was being lost quickly and decisively.
The two stopped at a small window and stared out at the world that now surrounded them. The majesty of millions of stars and moons and planets had been replaced by a thick white blanket. Millions of individual flakes of snow flew past the window in a frantic right to left squall. Some landed on the glass and melted momentarily, only to freeze back quickly.
"Come on Kelly, let's head down to the armory and see if we can find something to cheer you up."
"You always know how to charm."
Kelly looked over her bounty as she and the other Spartans stood ready. The light above the airlock flashed intermittent red as Kelly traced her hand along the coil that snaked its way around her BR55. A special heater element attached itself to the stock. The conditions outside the ship were going to be rough, as wind howled and Benchley warned of a negative sixty degree Celsius reading.
The Jackhammer and MA5D Kelly carried also had similar alterations, as any moisture that managed to build up on the weapons would quickly freeze and render the weapon useless.
Grace was busy prepping various explosive into a thermal bag. Small squares and malformed putty in individual bags filled the thermal bag's expanse. John also had a Jackhammer, as did Joshua. Linda incessantly looked over her sniper rifle, making sure that the optics was well wrapped and wired to keep them from fogging up. Fred slammed the receiver on his BR55 and with a quick flip of his hand holstered his combat knife.
A frigid blast of air hit the group as the doors parted, Kelly's hydrostatic gel compensated and instantaneously matched the heat given off by the Spartan's body. Visibility was virtually zero as Kelly's foot landed in the snow and settled on the Permafrost below it, burying her and the other Spartans up to their knees.
Kelly wasn't looking forward to dredging through the soft powder, however the consensus between the brass and technicians had been that craft would not fare well in the low temperatures.
Now I know what it feels like to be in a snowglobe. Kelly thought about the ornament she had shaken as a child. It was one of the few memories she had before being conscripted into the Spartan-II program. Flakes dodged to either side of her visor like pedestrians avoiding a runaway car. Kelly paced herself knowing this would be a long run and she certainly didn't want to get separated from the rest in this environment.
A single dot blipped on her motion tracker. It was gone just as quickly as another appeared ahead and to the left. "We've got movement up ahead."
"Copy that, picked up the signatures as well." Fred's voice fell silent along with Kelly's motion sensor. The Spartan slowed long enough to detect the other Spartans behind her.
Kelly struggled to see through the walls of snow being shoved past her in a horizontal fashion. The outline of an outcropping made itself visible as she neared it. "Looks like a good place for an ambush."
"Copy that. Form up tight. Joshua, Linda and Grace will cover the rear. Kelly will lead point while Fred and I flank."
Looking to her left, Kelly noticed what appeared to be a cave dug into a wall of snow and earth. Looking to the right revealed the same. "Looks like some sort of animals live out here. I can't imagine a human being able to survive in conditions like these."
A massive blow knocked Kelly off her feet as she slid across hardened ice and impacted a bank of much more forgiving snow. A loud roar sounded through her speakers followed by several others. Kelly noted at least ten blips instantly on her motion tracker. Her shields had dropped to forty-five percent.
Nice shot, now its my turn.
Weapons fire sounded as Kelly got her first glimpse of the attackers. She looked quickly for her assault rifle, which was nowhere to be seen. She leapt up and ran straight for the closest one, which was attempting to double-team John. She quickly fired several rounds from her pistol, which seemed to have no effect. The Master Chief fired into the other, which roared monstrously before falling.
To her surprise the beast seemed aware of her approach and hunkered down as the two impacted. The creature slid back in the snow as Kelly's momentum carried them both. The two came to a stop and Kelly quickly rolled to the right as the creature's massive arms swung down and impacted the snow. Not giving the creature time to regroup, the Spartan stuck her MA5B to the side of its head and squeezed.
Six new contacts flashed behind Kelly's position and she turned in time to be plowed over by several of the creatures. Her shield began to drop quickly as they pounded incessantly with heavy fists.
Kelly raised her arm to fire at her attackers, but the gun was quickly batted away. Alarms blared within her MJOLNIR armor as Kelly's shield collapsed. The Spartan managed to get a shot with her leg that sent one of the giant fur-covered creatures stumbling backwards. Suddenly it stopped and fell to the ground lifeless. Orange-red light began filling Kelly's periphery as it bolted through the air and impacted the creatures. One went straight through the head of the beast on her right. Kelly caught the creature as it collapsed on top of her.
More of the creatures continued to fall as the sound of the lasers' source became clear. Silhouettes turned into what looked to be heavily clothed people walking toward Kelly's position. They walked wearily, with their weapons trained on the other Spartans. The point for the group stood next to Kelly as energy flickered over her and her shield level showed one hundred percent.
"Need a hand?" The man's gruff voice was muffled by layers of clothes and wind. He reached his hand down to the Spartan.
"I don't think you really want to do that, but thanks."
"Are you always this unwilling to receive help?"
"Look, I weigh one-thousand pounds, are you always this willing to break your back?" Kelly realized the man might not know what a pound actually was, but that he probably got the message anyway. Rolling to her belly, Kelly got on hands and knees and stood.
The other Spartans stood alongside Kelly as the two groups faced off. An uneasy truce apparently in place by lack of shooting, the apparent leader stepped forward.
"I am Sergeant Derek Nadeau under the command of Major Bren Derlin. We detected your subsequent entrance into the Hoth system and attack by the Imperial destroyers. Now it seems you six have met up with our local residents, the Wampas."
Wampas? Nice name. A sly smile slid across Kelly's hidden face.
Derek seemed confident in his position, but some of his underlings seemed to Kelly to be very twitchy.
"I would ask that you put down your weapons and remain in our temporary custody until we can determine your reason for being here."
"No way in this icy hell am I letting go of this rifle." Linda was quick to retort, and Kelly understood. The rifle to a sniper of Linda's caliber was an extension of her own body. One she cared for and looked after like a child she would not let out of sight.
John held up a hand and Linda fell silent.
"We will holster our weapons, but not surrender them. We don't know why you are here either and could easily ask you to do the same."
Though no facial features could be read, Kelly was sure that Sgt. Nadeau was thinking it over. She could feel the eyes of the smallest one to her far right watching her incessantly.
Apparently not able to keep his thoughts hidden the smallest one stepped forward.
"Sir, these are obviously some sort of imperial spies. Just look at them! They look like just a variation on the stormtrooper design!"
"That is enough Granta! I will not have you starting wars that do not need starting." The man quickly fell back in line.
"Fine, you may keep your weapons on you. However anything perceived as aggression will be dealt with. Am I clear?"
"Clear enough. Spartans, stand down. Let's see where the good Serge will lead us."