Ashes Chapter 4

Wow late update, but I think it was worth it. I had a hard time trying to set up the merging of Halo/Mass Effect without resorting to the lame stereotypes like; UNSC pods can last 50,000 years ex.. While its probably not the best set up, i hope you stick with me for the next few chapters, I have some good ideas for the story. So without further ado...

Reach, January 20th, 2552...

A loud hissing sound filled Six's ears, she awoke with an annoyed groan. She wiped the mist off of her visor lens and looked over to the other stasis pod. Jordan was not in it. She looked around for him, she spotted him at the computer consol, he seemed nervous.

'Whats wrong?' She asked with concern.

Jordan didnt turn to face her.

'The automated defenses are engaging, were under attack!' Jordan rushed.

Six instantly lept from her stasis pod and grabbed her DMR.

'What do you mean? Whos attacking us?' Six asked in a rush.

'Its a small covenant strike team, they must have picked up our signal! We cant stay here any longer.' Jordan stated.

Jordan was typing furiously, he was sweaty. The look on his face made Six realise this was very serious.

'How are the turrets doing?' Six asked.

'They were overwhelmed about three minutes ago.' Jordan replied with concern.

A large bang comensed, the room shaked as if a mini earthquake had just struck.

'Damnit!' Jordan shouted. He quickly put on his helmet and grabbed his shotgun.

'Calm down! Just follow my lead and we will get out of here in one piece.' Six reassured him.

'Even if we can somehow kill all of them what next? We cant keep doing this!' Jordan said.

'They got here somehow didnt they? If we can get to their Phantom we may have a chance of getting out of here.' Six said.

'And do you know how to fly that thing? Thats not somthing they teach us in basic!' Jordan asked.

'I have a basic understanding of Covenant vehicles, this couldnt be much diffrent' Six replied.

Jordan stood silent for a moment.

'Alright. Its a long shot, but damnit at least it is a shot.' Jordan said.

'Then shut up, load your weapon and follow me.' She said assertivley.

Six and Jordan did not hesitate, they both took up breaching positions on diffrent ends of the door. With a quick hiss, the door sprung to life. Six grunts as well as an elite were prowling in the hallway. DMR rounds and shotgun shells flooded the hallway, killing four grunts. The remaining grunts tried to turn and flee, but they were met with headshots. The elite jumped behind a crate, he wasnt going to go down as easily. He pulled out his energy sword, Six let out two DMR rounds, but they did not break his shield. The alien charged at the spartan, Jordan raised his shotgun, but the elite let out a huge backhand hit, launching him into the wall onto the floor. The Elite jumped ontop the spartan, sending her to the ground, her head smacked hard against the grating on the floor. Her helmet absorbed most of the impact, but her head still felt a bit of impact. Her ears began to ring and her vison blured for a moment. When her scenses returned to her she saw the elite on top of her, his sword raised and the closest thing to an evil grin you can see on an elite. He swung his sword at the spartan, she managed to avoid the strike. The sword crackled with energy, it left a heating imptint in the melted grate where it struck. Six would not be able to dodge the aliens fury for long. Six unsheathed her large combat knife and drove it into the beasts leg. It let out a loud roar of pain and anger. Six let out a kick that sent the elite back, she lept to her feet. As the elite struggled to get the knife out of his leg, he was met with a headshot from Six's DMR. Jordan groaned.

'Jesus he was pissed' Jordan moaned.

Six reached out to him, he grabbed her arm as she helped him to his feet.

'If you werent here he might have ruined my whole day' Jordan said

'Come on, we gotta go. More will be comming'

Jordan just nodded then followed Six through the corridor...

2185 CE, Normandy Shuttle...

the sound of howling wind engulfed the shuttle. Shepard had gotten used to it by now, but it was still an unsettling sound. Shepard turned to inspect the team. Garrus was just looking out the window of the shuttle, while Tali sat nervously with her arms crossed. It was odd, she grew up on starships her whole life, has experienced the fires of war countless times, but it was the shuttle rides that alwayse made her nervous. She had noticed Shepard staring at her, she quickly straightened her posture and uncrossed her arms. She disliked the thought that Shepard may think she was scared. A loud ringing sound engulfed the shuttle. Garrus lept from his seat and approached the CPU.

'Shepard, were approaching the anomolly' Garrus said.

'Get ready for touchdown, remember this planet may seem dead, but we werent the only ones to pick up the distress signal. Assume hostiles' Shepard said assertivley.

The shuttle swooped down until it just hovered two feet above the ground.

'Pile out!' Shepard barked.

The shuttle door hissed open, Tali took point with her shotgun followed by Garrus. Shepard was the last to exit the shuttle, his assault rifle in hand. Smoke filled the air, the wind howled, flinging dust in all directions.

'Rally to me!' Shepard ordered. Tali and Garrus formed in around Shepard. Tali's Omni tool flickered to life.

'The signal is clouded, but we are not far.' Tali said.

'move out, the sooner we find this signal the sooner we can leave' Shepard replied.

Shepard, Garrus and Tali moved forward through the mist. It was hard to see even ten feet infront of you. Tali's Omni Tool began to beep.

'This is the dig site Shepard' Tali said

Shepard turned on his personal radio to get ahold of Joker.

'Joker were at the dig site, bring down the mining laser!' Shepard ordered.

'Sure thing Shepard' Joker replied.

'The Normandy will be here in a few minutes, scout the area and make sure its safe to land'

Shepard, Tali and Garrus all spread out in a diffrent direction, weapons at the ready. At any moment something could attack. Nobody has set foot on this planet for thousands of years, who knows what sort of hostile life forms might live here. Scouting on this planet was very difficult, dust storms were a constant thing, and the wind blowing impared your hearing and vision. Tali kept her shotgun ready, she could hear a bit better that the other two because her helmet could filter out sounds. Suddenly she heard a loud crunch. She had stepped on something. She looked down, and in her horror she saw a preserved human skeleton, turned to glass. She had crushed the hand when she stepped on it unknowingly. She instantly stepped back.

'Shepard! Garrus! I...I...Ive found something!' She shouted. She was bearly even able to speak, it was such a shock.

Shepard and Garrus ran over to her as fast as they could, they though that she may have been in danger. They arrived only to see the dead skeleton at her feet.

'My god..' Garrus said in shock.

Shepard knelt down close to it, he wanted to get a better look at the specimen.

'I..I think its human' Shepard said.

'Imposible. The humans have never attempted a colonization of this planet, besides it looks ancient.'

'Shepard, the Illusive man said the signal was over 50,000 years old. There is no way. Your race only learned space travel relitivley recently...'

Shepard just thought to himself for a moment. His personal radio flickered on.

'Joker, tell Mordin to suit up. I have a specimen for him..' Shepard said.

Wow that was a painfull chapter to write haha :P. I hope you all enjoyed it, sorry if it seemed a little short (especially after being like, 3 months later) I just have been really busy. I experienced major writting block trying to avoid steriotypes. The next few chapters shouldnt take as long to write, I have a bunch of ideas :). Dont worry btw, the other ME characters WILL appear in the story eventually, wont leave anybody out (Even the DLC characters)