A Spartan Out Of Time
Story by: Phoenix710
Summary: In this chapter, Hunter and Colleen, as well as the other couples among the Rovers, have a brief romantic interlude, after Hunter makes breakfast in bed for Colleen. Meanwhile, on the Covenant home base of High Charity, The Prophet of Truth, leader of the Covenant, sends the Brutes, led by their Chieftain, Tartarus, to Earth, as part of his plan to ensure that humankind is wiped out. However, the mightiest of the Elites, the Arbiter, follows them in his flagship, Ascendant Justice. Once he arrives, he and his squad of Grunts, Elites, and Hunters, dispose of a pack of Brutes and Jackals, before heading into the city of Socorro, NM. During the battle, the Arbiter overhears one Brute talking about their plans to take over Washington, D.C., as their first target, and use it as their starting base for their assault on the rest of Earth. He goes searching for the Master Chief, and eventually links up with him, and the Rovers. Together, the heroes make a battle plan to stop Tartarus and his forces. Let's join the action.
Disclaimer: I do not claim any rights whatsoever to either Road Rovers, or Halo, or to any of the characters associated with either series. Road Rovers, and all associated characters, are registered trademarks of Warner Brothers, and Halo, and all associated characters, are registered trademarks of Bungie Game Studios, and Microsoft. However, all original characters are property of my imagination.
Chapter Three: Enter The Arbiter!
The next morning, Hunter awoke to the soft, sweet sound of his wife's angelic voice, as she said, "Morning, Huntie-Wuntie." He sat up, rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and then kissed her, savoring the sweet scent of roses and vanilla that clung to her. Her arms started to gently caress his shoulders, while he traced one hand along her spine, running the other hand through her soft, flowing hair. When they broke their kiss to come up for air, Hunter said, "I love you so much, my angel." Colleen leaned against him, and replied, "I love you too, Huntie." He then headed downstairs, and started cooking up the cinnamon and brown sugar pancakes that he'd promised to make at least once a month for Colleen and the twins, and for everyone else. He made them up just the way she liked them, with some strawberries on the side, and a tall glass of orange juice to go with it. He had a plate for himself as well, along with one each for the twins. He slid the trays in front of the kids, then walked over to their bed, and pulled out the mini-table. He said, "Breakfast is served, my sweet English Rose." Colleen blushed, and said, "Oh Huntie…you truly are the best husband I could've ever hoped for. I love you." She kissed him, and he returned the favor, before they dug in. Once they'd finished, Hunter picked up their trays, dashed downstairs, then came back up once he'd washed the trays and plates off. The twins excused themselves, and headed down to the rec room, to play a game of air hockey. Hunter and Colleen knew that Cassie and Alexander were well behaved, and would stay put until someone came to get them. Hunter began gently massaging Colleen's shoulders and back, as she leaned against him. She loved the gentle, soothing manner in which he was rubbing his hands up and down her body, getting any stiffness out of her muscles. He was absolutely perfect for her. He was kind, honest, gentle, charming, sweet, and loved her more than anything. Hunter felt the exact same way about Colleen. She was strong, brave, noble, intelligent, loyal, kind, and incredibly beautiful. His marriage to her had been the best years of his life, especially since the twins had been born. Hunter sank down onto the soft mattress of the bed, with Colleen under him, and they spent the next half-hour cuddled up together. After that, they headed in to take a shower, dried off, and finally, they headed downstairs into the Rec room, briefly pausing to say good morning to everyone else. Once they got into the Rec room, they decided to play a game of Ping-Pong.
Exile and Kasha were doing a light morning exercise routine, a simple twenty-minute set of pushups, sit-ups, and jumping jacks. Once that was done, they spent about a half-hour curled up together, before heading in for a shower. Once they'd cleaned up, Kasha said, "Exile, you are such sweet dog. I love you." Exile replied, "You, Kasha…are most beautiful female I could have ever chosen to marry, and I love you too, my precious snowflower." Kasha fed Alek a bottle, and then they made their way downstairs for breakfast.
Blitz and Samantha were both doing a morning workout of their own. Samantha was practicing her martial arts routines, as Colleen had taught her, while Blitz used the punching bag that Hunter had purchased for him at Christmas. Once that was done, Samantha said, "Blitz, you really are a wonderful husband, a great father, and a wonderful dog. I love you, and I always will." Blitz kissed the beautiful female German Shepherd, and replied, "I love you too, Sam." They cuddled up together for a while, then took a shower. Once they'd finished with that, Sam fed a bottle to Karina, and then they went downstairs to join the others for breakfast. Once they got down there, they all started sliding Hunter's pancakes onto their plates, and pouring themselves a glass of either milk, or juice. The Master Chief was having both milk and juice. His helmet was sitting on the table in front of him, and his face was strong and noble. He had deep, brown eyes, short, cropped dark brown hair, and a strong air of pride clung to him. Samantha asked, "Chief, that armor of yours, it's alot like our own. Where did you get it?" The Master Chief replied, "It's MJOLNIR Mk.VI armor, and I got it from the UNSC test facility in Songham, Korea. I'm from the mid-26th century, the year 2552, to be exact." Blitz remarked, "Whoa…these Covenant aliens…if any of them try to hurt my wife, or my friends, I'll bite them so hard, they'll never be able to sit down again." The Master Chief replied, "You might have a hard time with that. These aliens are formidable fighters, and taking them on is going to require all of us to fight our hardest." Hunter and Colleen came down, with the twins in tow, and, once they'd finished cleaning up, they went to do their morning routines. Hunter, Colleen, and the twins went for a swim in the ocean, Blitz and Sam took Karina outside, and began rolling a beach ball around with her, Exile and Kasha took Alek outside, to teach him how to walk, Shag hunted for more seashells, Muzzle went off in search of The Master, and the Master Chief began polishing his weapons, before heading for the gymnasium to work out.
Covenant Holy City, High Charity…
In the Temple of the Hierarchs, the Prophet of Truth, Supreme Leader of the Covenant, was meeting with Tartarus, the Chieftain of the Brutes. Tartarus was huge, standing nine feet tall, and he carried a MASSIVE weapon known as the Fist of Rukt, which was a huge Gravity Hammer, capable of either being used as a club, or to fire powerful energy blasts. He was covered head to toe in silver fur, and looked like a humanoid gorilla. Truth said, "Tartarus, the time has come. The Elites have failed us one time too many. Take your Brutes, Jackals, and Drones, as well as the Grunts and Hunters that have elected to fight by your side, and go to Earth's 20th century. Once there, destroy the filthy Human vermin, and conquer Earth. Understood?" Tartarus bowed, and said, "My faith is strong, Oh Holy One. I will not fail you." He then turned and left, heading for his ship, the Unyielding Vigilance. However, unbeknownst to either Truth, or to Tartarus, one of the Grunts that was loyal to the Arbiter, an ally of the Master Chief, and who knew of the Prophet's evil plans, and wanted to stop it, ran as fast as he could, to the Arbiter's vessel, Ascendant Justice. Once he got onboard, he reported to the black-armored Elite in charge of his unit, Ryam 'Kitarmee. The Grunt, Yayap, said, "Me bring bad news. Prophet Truth send ugly, smelly Brutes to Earth in past. We tell Arbiter, so he can go kill Brutes?" 'Kitarmee replied, "Yes. Excellent work, Yayap. Go and rest." The Grunt saluted, and headed for his quarters. 'Kitarmee entered the control room, and saluted the Arbiter, and the Ship Master, Rtas 'Vadumee. The Arbiter spoke up, saying, "Report, Commander." 'Kitarmee said, "One of my Special Ops. Grunts, Yayap, returned from spying on The Prophet of Truth. Our worst fears are true…they ARE bringing in the Brutes to replace us. They head to Earth in the 20th century. We must stop them. I've already learned that the human warrior, Master Chief, snuck on the last Covenant ship to head down there, and he is presumed to still be alive. We must join him, and stop Tartarus." The Arbiter replied, "Set navigational coordinates for Earth, year 1999. Tartarus…I will destroy you myself, for what you have done to my family." Ascendant Justice took off, in hot pursuit of Tartarus's ship.
Earth, 20th Century.
The Rovers were all out on the beach now, enjoying the wonderful early summer day. Hunter and Colleen were playing Marco Polo with the twins, Samantha, Blitz, and Karina were making a sand castle, since Blitz had purchased a sand castle building set, after seeing how much fun it was for Hunter, Colleen, and their twins. Exile and Kasha were watching little Alek, as he played with his toy cars and trucks on the beach. Exile headed over, and began playing with him, while Kasha looked on, a bright smile on her face. Shag was walking up and down the beach, with a metal detector in hand. The Master and Professor Hubert stood out on the balcony, overlooking the happy scene in front of them. Hubert said, "Master, this is such a nice day. I mean, everyone's so happy and carefree, ever since they all got married, it brings a tear to my eye." The Master replied, "I know, Professor, I know. The Rovers certainly have grown closer than ever before, and I know that nothing will ever weaken their bonds of friendship and love."
Earth orbit, onboard Unyielding Vigilance…
Tartarus gave the order to his troops to disembark, and they all headed out. A massive brigade of Grunts, Hunters, Brutes, and Jackals, boarded their Insertion Pods, and headed downward, towards Earth. Just as Tartarus left the ship in his own pod, however, he saw his ship explode, under the furious Plasma Torpedo assault of the most massive ship in the Covenant fleet, the Ascendant Justice. Tartarus growled angrilly, as he realized that the Arbiter had followed him. No matter…he'd simply tear him apart, like any other Elite. He saw Ascendant Justice launch its drop pods, one of which, a brilliant gold-hulled one, was the Arbiter's. The two forces headed down to Earth, each determined to overwhelm the other. Tartarus sought to conquer Earth, the Arbiter and his forces, however, sought to save it.
Surface of Earth, Landing Zone, 10:50am…
Tartarus's troops touched down first, and boarded their Ghosts, and Wraiths. The Wraith was a MASSIVE Covenant tank, roughly the size of a Semi Truck's cab, and armed with two forward-firing plasma autocannons, and a HUGE plasma mortar cannon. The Arbiter's troops touched down minutes later, and a wild brawl began. The Arbiter's troops were piloted gold-hulled vehicles, to distinguish them from the enemy. The Arbiter's troops also had better armor than their enemies, and they'd enhanced their weapons. The Arbiter's Grunts were all black-armored Special Ops. troops, and were trained to be deadly with a Grunt Fuel Rod Gun, a portable version of the type used by Hunters. Tartarus ordered his troops forward, as did the Arbiter. One Brute rushed the Arbiter, only to be cut down by three of the Arbiter's Grunts, who were firing Needlers. The lead Grunt, Yayap, said, "You no hurt Mighty One, ugly, smelly Brute!" The Arbiter himself had taken out at least twenty Jackals already, with headshots from his beam Carbine, which used a refined version of Fuel Rod Gun technology, and came in the form of a powerful sniper rifle. The Arbiter was also carrying six plasma grenades, and his energy sword. A Brute in a Ghost tried to ram him, but he primed a plasma grenade, jumped up over the Brute, and lobbed the weapon. It stuck to the Brute's helmet, and blew up five seconds later. The Ghost exploded along with it, the flaming wreckage rolling along the ground for a good ten minutes, killing twelve Brutes, eight Jackals, ten enemy Grunts, and the six enemy Hunters. Tartarus finally called a retreat, and he and his remaining forces ran off. As they left, however, one of them yelled out, "MISERABLE ELITE SCUM, YOU WILL NOT STOP OUR ULTIMATE GOAL!!! WE SHALL TAKE WASHINGTON, D.C., AND USE IT TO START OUR CONQUEST OF THIS PLANET!" The Arbiter strapped his Carbine to his armor, and looked over his forces. All but three of his troops were alive, those three dead being Grunts. Yayap came up to him, and asked, "What we do now, Mighty One?" The Arbiter replied, "We shall go and find the Master Chief, and form a battle plan to stop Tartarus." The Arbiter and his soldiers headed out, the sensors built into the Arbiter's helmet allowing him to track the Master Chief.
Road Rover HQ, 12:00pm…
Hunter was getting lunch ready for everyone. He was making homemade pizza today, and once he had them ready, everyone enthusiastically dug in. They'd just started eating, when Professor Hubert came in. He said, "Uh, Master Chief, there's someone here that wants to speak with you." The Chief looked up, and there, standing next to Hubert, was the mighty Elite warrior he'd worked with before, the Arbiter. The Arbiter said, "Greetings, Master Chief. I've been informed of your new friends, and ordered my troops to act accordingly. The reason I am here, is to inform you that The Prophet of Truth has sent the Brutes to Earth in this Era. They intend to strike at Washington, D.C., on the Eastern Coast of this land, which you call the United States of America. I have come to assist you in stopping them." Hunter asked, "How long do we have?" The Arbiter replied, "They intend to attack tomorrow. We must be fully readied." Colleen replied, "In that case, how 'bout you gents join us for lunch. We've got plenty here, so help yourselves." The Arbiter and the other Elites decided to try some of the pizza and soda, and decided that they actually liked it. The Grunts, being methane breathers, had to use special food tubes, which could be eaten through a suction tube that extended from their breathing masks. The Hunters also had their own rations. Once everyone finished eating, Hunter and the other Rovers, along with the Master Chief, and the Arbiter, began brainstorming to come up with a battle plan.
Next Chapter: Our heroes devise a battle plan to stop Tartarus, and they move out, determined to deep-six his plans. Will they be able to prevent the Brutes from taking over Earth? Find out next time in Chapter Four: Move out, Rovers!
