Chapter 4- Does Anybody Really Ever Get Paid Enough for This Shit?
Disclaimer: Look up, Look down, Then look behind you. Now look for a mirror. If you are seeing yourself in the mirror right now, look closely. If look hard enough you will see the common Dumbus Assus. They are the only ones who honestly believe I own Halo or any other franchise I decide to use for this fanfic.
Quick AN: Merry Christmas! I finished this early and figured I may as well for Christmas.
"AAAAHHHHH! Goddamn it John! I am not your personal reuseable flashbang!" Ash screamed as John used him as a distraction to get everyone on the Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice. Cortana was forced to combine the two ships so that she could pull off the maneuver need to get the ship above the rendezvous point.
"Everyone is aboard Ash get on the ship quick!" Daisy ordered over Ash's comms.
"How the hell am I supposed to-AHH!" Ash yelled before getting sucked up by the ship's gravity lift. The lift bashed him into the cargo bay of the ship. "I'M IN! GO! GO! GO!"
"Slipspace in 3. 2. 1!" Cortana yelled through the speakers of the ship before something went wrong.
"Dratana! Status report."
"That crystal's radiation reacted with the Slipspace field creating an erratic space inside the event horizon."
"Cortana you catch that!?" I yelled into the ceiling.
"Affirmative. We managed to snag several Covenant ships with us when we jumped. They already tried shooting at us but apparently plasma blasts and slipspace don't mix."
"Alright. I will head to the bridge now. We will need to contain that crystal"
BOOM!
The area where Ash was Shook violently and decompression occurred. Ash quickly gripped his claws against the floor before he got dragged.
"Cortana. Something just blew a hole into the hull near my position. I will check it out and repair." Ash replied in his comms to Cortana.
"Covenant life signs are positive near the breach I will send back up to assist."
"Negative, Negative. I am the only one aboard with proper armor to deal with the radiation combo from that crystal and slipspace. When I patch the hole, attempt to go back to normal space. Those humans will not last long in this radiation." Ash replied.
Bridge of Gettysburg-Ascendant Justice
"Ash is on his way to patch the hole. He recommends to immediately return to normal space after he manages to patch the hole. Afterwards he will head up to the bridge to examine the crystal."
"Very well. For now just focus on making sure we don't crash into the other ships." ordered Haverson.
"Who knew such a little crystal caused such a mess?" commented Halsey as she admired the crystal in her hand.
"Are you sure it is safe to be holding that?" asked Daisy as she checked up on her mother.
"According to the analysis from Cortana It would take 72 hours to kill us from the radiation regardless if we are holding it or not."
"This is Ash! Heavy covenant forces! It is going to take me a little GAGH! Why you little shit enjoy the rocket up your ass! BOOM!" his comm burst through the speakers of the command console.
"Ash, this is John. Are you ok?"
"I'm fine. But tell Cortana to get ready for me to seal the patch. Last thing we need is a lucky shot from one pf those ships. These guys are on full suicide run. Grenades and fuel rod cannons are very-BOOM! Common! Shit! RAAGH! THAT IS IT! COME AND GET SOME YOU COVIE BASTA- BZZT."
"Uh sorry about that. My master's rage reached its boiling point. He is now gone to sword combat. Thanks to the fluorescent blood it looks really pretty if you ignore the fact it is a horrific scene. He should be done soon enough."
"Very well. Tell your master to report back as soon as he is done." replied John.
One Massacre, Patch Job, and Trip to the Bridge Later…
"I need a bath…" I moaned as I looked at the dripping trail of blood behind me.
"So… Ash. Are you finally ready to tell what the was that on Reach?" asked Daisy with that somehow went through her helmet.
"Yes… I would like to know finally why and how I got rescued by you." added Noble Six as she came into the room from the medical bay. Halsey was giving medical checks to everyone that got off of Reach.
"Oh ya… I almost forgot about that. I was hoping you did too."
"Answer the question." growled John.
"Well… About 500 years ago a popular cartoon show in Japan came to America. The signature move of the main character was to make temporary clones out of chakra. I thought it was so cool I wanted to make my own version. Took me 50 years to perfect the technique but I got it down."
"And the reason why it was on Reach at the perfect time to help Six and then go on to help Red Team stay alive?"
"Uh… Well truth be told I heard that Reach was going to be attacked but I had more pressing matters to attend to. So I left him on Reach to help people escape. But as you could tell not long after you found him they are not very combat capable."
"What could be more important than saving a planet?" asked Daisy.
"Keeping your ass alive. You barely were fully healed by the time John found you and I. Until then I had to basically babysit that capsule resupplying the power and nutrients every week like clockwork. So forgive me for not putting my full attention on a single planet that I honestly did not care about." I growled.
Every Spartan in the room suddenly had a lot less to say. "Well I thank you for giving us what support you could." replied Haverson trying to defuse the situation.
"Now then if you would excuse me. I will join Dr. Halsey and begin examinations of that crystal. You guys try to figure out where we go from here." I stopped at the door before letting a heavy sigh out. "Daisy. Make sure to come to me if you feel anything is wrong. With your body or your suit of armor."
Third Person POV
"Well that was awkward…" added Noble Six.
"It has been a stressful past couple of days. You can hardly blame him for snapping out." reasoned John. "Now then. Who are you anyway?"
"Spartan B312, part of the Spartan-III Project. Last surviving member of Noble Team." she replied.
"Spartan-III?"
"An attempt to mass-produce more Spartans. More than that is a need-to-know basis. And you don't to need to know." replied Haverson.
"I see." John nearly growled. The rest of the Spartans on board seemed to share the same sentiment.
"So did you kidnap even more children?" asked Kelly.
"What part of need to know is not understood?"
"Haverson. Are you blind? There are 14 angry Spartans looking to know more about their family. I don't think they would care too much about chain of command." cautioned Whitcomb.
"Everyone calm down now. This not the time for this right now." Daisy interrupted between the Spartans and the officers. "Right now we need to figure out what we are going to do."
"She is right. Everyone go look for supplies on the ship." John ordered the rest of the survivors. Things were getting tense. And he needed his Spartans to be level-headed.
"I will keep an eye on Halsey and Ash." offered Noble.
30 Minutes Later…
"What is it Dr. Halsey?" asked John as he came to the lab.
"First we need to talk about Johnson's apparent immunity to the Flood. I checked his file and he has Boren's Syndrome. It is the aftereffect of getting hit by a plasma blast. It apparently effects the nervous system enough that the Flood can't take control."
"Uhh… Halsey? You may want to take that conclusion back… I found an encrypted file in Johnson's file. I hacked it open and found something… Interesting." said Ash from behind a computer console.
"What is it?"
"Have you ever heard of Project Orion?"
"Project Orion? You mean the Spartan-I project?"
"Yes it would appear Johnson was in it. Apparently Boren's syndrome is ONI bullshit."
"So… Johnson is a Spartan?" asked John.
"Apparently so…"
"We can't possibly allow them to know about his condition. ONI would sooner gut him like a pig and figure out what mix of chemicals it would take to stop the Flood." replied Ash.
"Well then… The choice is up to you Chief. Here are two data crystals that contain my analysis. One will keep him alive the other…" she said while giving John the crystals.
"Very well I will head back to the Admiral." John said softly before leaving the room.
"You raised a fine man Halsey. Even if you did kidnap him." said Ash.
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
"The analysis is complete Dr. Halsey." said Cortana.
"Amazing… This crystal can warp space, gravity, and even TIME?!"
"That is a very dangerous crystal and I don't trust either the Covenant or you humans with this thing." Ash grabbed the crystal.
"Power Core detected." His arm said?
"What the hell?"
"What is going on?" asked Halsey in concern.
"Power Core scanned. Power Core Identified. Temporal Crystal." His hand then had a red glowing jewel pop out from the back.
"Uh… what? Since when the hell is my right arm a Witchblade? On that note. I am guy! So how does that make any sense?" As if to mock him the Jewel seemed to take the form of a draconic eye and morphed his arm into something rather sinister looking.
"Are you ok?" Halsey asked noticing the stiff posture and the tears in Ash's eyes.
"Nope… No I am not… This thing just ate my arm then attached itself into my nerves." He replied with a pained voice.
"Absorbing Temporal Crystal." The arm said before absorbing the crystal into the jewel eye. A brief flash of light and it was over.
"I am going to take a nap now…" Ash said in a daze before passing out with a mighty thunk.
"Cortana. Erase your memory about Johnson and call one of the Spartans over here. Override code…"
"Amazing…" said Noble as she witnessed what had happened with her stealth suit. She then quickly got outside the lab and came back inside to help the poor alien.
Bridge
"This is Dr. Halsey requesting assistance. I repeat this is Halsey requesting Spartan assistance." Burst through the comms on the control panel.
"This is Whitcomb. What happened Halsey?"
"Ash's body reacted badly with the crystal and absorbed it somehow. He passed out from the pain. I need a Spartan to help me lift him. He is really, really heavy."
"Affirmative. Who is the closest Spartan to the lab?"
"This is John. I am on my way."
"This is Anton I am also on my way."
"Get on it Spartans. Halsey I am on my way to the Lab as well I need a report of what happened."
Lab
"How fucking heavy is he?" moaned Anton as he was trying to get his back out of whack.
"According to the scale? Two Warthogs." replied Halsey.
"What happened?" asked Whitcomb as they looked at the unconscious dragon.
"His armor apparently reacted with the crystal. According to him it then ate off his arm and replaced it self to him." She motioned to the rather savage looking arm.
"Ow." replied Noble.
"Can you help him?" asked John.
"In a word? No. He has an unknown physiology, his armor is far too heavy to peel off, and that arm attached itself directly into his nervous system. All we can do is wait for him to wake up." She replied.
Pussy!
Huh? Oh you goddamned bastard… Get the fuck out of here Kaelus. This is the only fic I will not have you interrupt me. KAZE! COME GET YOUR STUPID HUSBAND!
WAIT NO! I AM SORRY!
Kaelus…
Ho-honey. You are here…
WHACK!
Sorry about that Ash. I will take him away now. Have a nice day.
Thank you. Now then where was I?
"I see. I guess it is good we did not plan to take him with us to the colony." replied Whitcomb.
"Dratana can you tell us anything?" asked Daisy as she walked into the room.
The small dragon-like A.I activated Ash's holotech. "Hello Mistress Daisy. I have his vitals monitored now. Apart from the loss of his arm and a lot of blood he is fine. The recovery subroutines are currently replenishing the loss of blood he suffered. He should wake up in a few hours."
"Who is this?" asked Haverson.
"I am Dratana. The spiritual and digital manifestation of Ash's sword. If I cared to I can change all of your legal documentation to say you are a five year old girly girl in New Phoenix." Not a very subtle is it…
"Anger issues much?" Anton whispered.
"I can force your armor to crush your testicles."
"I like your style." said Cortana through the speakers.
"Can we please get back on subject? We need to prepare for contact with the colony. And I am willing to bet things will not go smoothly." interrupted John.
"Oh c'mon John what is the worst that can happen?" replied Anton.
One Hour Later
"YOU JUST HAD TO SAY THAT!? REALLY?!" yelled Daisy through the comms as they were busy manning the small Plasma guns.
"She has a point" John replied as he helped rig the MAC gun to fire plasma bolts at the attacking ship.
"How was I supposed to know a Covenant attack ship would appear at the same time the colony attacked us and then Halsey would kidnap Kelly?" yelled Anton.
"I have been a part of Black Ops for ONI for years. Even I know not to tempt fate like that" added Noble.
"Cortana I finished it!" yelled John as he finished the adjustments.
"Get out of there so I can attack back!" John booked it out of the room. Cortana then unleashed a lethal volley of Plasma that quickly tore through the shields and ripped apart the other ship.
"Enemy ship destroyed."
"Whew…"
"Now then. For the bigger problem."
Four Hours Later…
"So let me this right… In the time I have been unconscious. We managed to piss off a surviving colony of rebels. Dr. Halsey took off with a Spartan. A covenant attack ship followed us through the slipstream. Then as the final kicker we are now on our way to a Covenant Station to blow up the fleet ready to head to Earth?" Ash asked with a deep sigh.
"Yup." replied Daisy
"Well shit. Not to mention I can't help you with your mission. I am still recovering from the arm and I still need to get used to it." Ash growled.
"We understand. Your A.I. can help Cortana fool the Fleet long enough to pick us up after we rig the station's power core to blow." added John.
"We can do that. I will get to the Ascendant Justice's bridge then. Good luck on the mission." He then started to head toward the bridge.
Now before we continue this story I have an interesting side story to tell. You see there was this hateful maintenance jackal named Bill. You see Bill had been the butt of many jokes even amongst the grunts. Not to mention his bosses hated him because he found out the woman he had been trying to swoon was the boss's wife trying to have an affair. Needless to say it did not end well.
Well on this particular day Bill had been given a work order to fix a support beam in the hanger. However on the way there he had been mistaken for a warrior Jackal. He had been forced with a shield and a small plasma gun. He was dragged through numerous battles on the Halo. He was forced to fight for his life against humans, flood, Sentinels and even his own team because they freaked the hell out when the Flood outbreak occurred.
At the end of it all Bill survived. Thel Vadamee, the Fleetmaster gave him a commendation and he was promoted to head maintenance on the Fleetmaster's ship. We will see Bill again, but the point of this story is that the support beam was never fixed. Add in the all the shaking and jostling during the fights. The support beam finally came loose and fell. Right on top of Ash and knocking him out for the rest of the fight.
Grace had sadly died to Brutes defending John. The Ascendant Justice was used as decoy along with Haverson and Whitcomb to lure the Covenant Fleet real close to the station. The day was won and the Gettysburg took off to a random part of space before heading back to Earth.
…
Wow… That was… Anticlimactic.
Didn't Kaze take you away?
Shadow clone.
Huh… Clever.
So is this really how you end the Arc? You get your ass knocked out and miss everything?
I do admit it is not my most… proud moment. But that is how it happened. You want me to lie and say a big awe-inspiring battle occurred?
…
I am aware that it is weak Frosty. Hagh… Forget it. Time for the next arc.
AN: So… yeah… I realize that I made rather weak ending to the arc but it was a cop out honestly. I wanted events to occur, so that technically the other events in the Halo Books would still occur canonically. Also another reason is that no body from this arc besides Noble Six and Bill the Jackal will be included in the future chapters. So… Yeah… Next Arc is a mini relaxation before the events of Halo 2. At best it will a chapter or 2. Oh and thank you anonymous reviewer who apparently appears to be the same person for the words of kindness. If I am wrong about it being the same person feel free to correct me. Welp. Happy New Year!