Str1ke: I r bak with chapter 9. Bridging is hell.
T&R: Thats ok. You just have to bear with it until the 17th.
Str1ke: [facepalm]
Zack: Str1ke, Truth and Reconciliation or ijijij does not own Halo. Just the new characters. ALL HAIL BUNGIE
Chapter 9
Outside the Supercarrier
The overhauled Spirit Dropship, salvaged from the wreckage found near the planet The Chief was drifting on. It was a one of a kind drop ship with the sleek covenant appearance. With the combined fire power of a UNSC Frigate, a Seraph, a banshee, and a wraith, This Spirit could easily contend with a wing of banshees and vampires.
As the Spirit made its way towards the Supercarrier, the voice of Cortana, the Master Chief's A.I could be heard throughout the ship. "Ok boys, here's the plan. Once we get inside, take whatever heavy weapons you have and clear the area. We will decide what to do after we secure the hanger. Alert. Be advised, multiple contacts detected. Proceed with caution. Rockets in place, we're going in deep and we're going in hard!"
The Spartans were going to need their rockets. For when they got inside, they were towered by a few phantoms, and a hunter pair with some of the lesser races like Unngoy and Kig Yar, commonly referred to as Jackals, a skinny, slender saurian species that serve as scouts or snipers due to their keen sense of sight, smell and hearing.
Hunters are literally walking tanks. They take a bipedal form for combat and are the strongest, most resilient species in the covenant because a Hunter is a colony known as Mgalekgolo. Their armour trademarks are spiked appendages that rise from their shoulders, which they use to communicate, along with an impervious tower shield made from the same alloy as the Supercarrier. Hunters always come in pairs because they are bond brothers, from the same colony of orange, worm like organisms that inhabit the armour. They wield a powerful assault cannon fed by 6 tubes housing the fuel liquid with two firing modes, mortars and a beam mode where reloading is required.
Hunters fired on the Spirit like a drum, while the present crew grabbed their weapons. "Hunters alert! Get those missiles in the air! Master Chief, let's go."
After Cortana's last orders, the doors opened. Everyone jumped into the hot zone with all guns blazing, spraying in short, controlled bursts at a mixture of Grunt, Jackals and Brute minors who were flanking the Hunter pair who shrugged off everything that hit them. The Master Chief wasted no time and sprung into action once everyone was on the upper level of the hanger, with the Spirit on auto pilot in Cortana's hands providing suppressing fire while The Spartans did their thing. Russell pulled off a few 4 in 1's with a few lesser brute packs led by captain majors while Seth and Zack let their grenades and Battle Rifles do the talking. The Chief ran, jumped on some grunts, using them as stepping stones. He grabbed and swung around a brute minor, giving him enough momentum to fly right into the Hunter pair. The Master Chief then grabbed two plasma grenades and tapped the arming buttons, tagging the first, then the next, before somersaulting on to a Jackal, crushing it with his Mjolnir armor's sheer weight. Cortana quipped, "Why must you always do things the hard way Chief?"
Chief said nothing other than, "Load those missiles on to the vacant aircrafts. Put them to better use."
The Spartans flashed their acknowledgement lights and proceeded to blast everything in the room to dust.
"Cortana, set the Spirit to self destruct. We will escape with the banshees."
Cortana's reply had a hint of worry. "Chief, I'm detecting survivors in the brig. We have to get them out of there!"
"Ideas?"
"Split up into teams of 4. It looks like there is more than one brig in this ship."
Brig complex A
Chief took 3 Spartans as Blue Team and went off. Zack took Russell, Seth and Aaron with him and charged the door to his right while the other teams left to sweep the other floors. The architecture of the place was curved, sleek, purple, and confusing with its large array of hallways and corridors. Were it not for the waypoint provided by Cortana, it would have taken them forever to find the Brig. After dispatching multiple Covenant sleeping on the job, The team wound up in the Brig. Lined with 2 floors of energy shielded cells, and a lone control panel in the centre of the room.
The group quickly swept the place, only to find that most of the cell occupants were dead, dying, or insane. However, there was one who retained his sanity. The last cell on the top right floor laid a lone ODST in Matte Black body armor. Zack's eyes widened and quickly disabled the shield doors. Chris Blink was Zack's Fellow Squad mate and childhood friend. They saved each other from uncountable death traps and setbacks. The day he stayed behind to cover their ill fated escape tore him apart and left him in a mess for weeks. Now, He was here. Alive, sitting right beside him. Depolarizing his helmet's visor to reveal a handsome, tanned face, full of relief and concern, Zack took Chris' helmet off too. A tired, but relieved face met the gaze of his long time friend."Seth, Russell, guard the door."
Zack's attention was focused on catching up with Chris and what happened to him since the events that have transpired.
"Zack..you found me..." Chris said in a weak voice
"I didn't believe it when I saw it myself. Glad your alive, Chris." Zack followed up with a bear hug.
As much as Chris was relishing the moment, he already resigned to the assumption that he did not have long to live left. "I see you finally made it to the Spartan program. Always knew you would. 'Cough cough'" He was literally coughing blood.
"I'm a dead man Zack. 'cough cough' I have a map of the place stored in my helmet," He reached into the chip slot in his helmet and presented its occupant to his friend. "The covenant remnants are renewing their Crusade. They have found another Halo ring. Take my helmet chip, and my camera. It has voice clips of the Brutes discussing their plans for war, find them. I can rest in peace knowing I can die with you by my side. Finally, don't forget, I will never leave you, even in death."
Zack said nothing. Although his vital scans showed him to be healthy, Chris decided to just wait it out until his time came. He was known for his self assurance and to an extent, a strong will.
Suddenly, he heard the Brig doors smash open. The Brute jailer and his friends were mad to see their only sane and live prisoner escaping. Armed with Brute shots and Maulers, they were bent on killing the intruders and gaining favour with the new Chieftain.
"Regardless of whether you will live or die, I'm not gonna just leave you here!".
Zack detached a fairly large explosive from the side of his armor, along with a detonator he passed to Chris. As Chris began to throw the T9 explosive, Zack's world slowed to a halt. He put himself between his friend and the incoming grenades coming from brute shots. Chris threw the explosive under a brute, just in time for Zack to hit the detonator, blasting the brutes to kingdom come.
Pulling Chris into a Fireman's carry, Zack yelled, "Let's get the hell out of here!" while charging towards a sign that says 'Exit, this way'
"Looks like the brutes are THAT dumb, after all."
Brig complex B
"All Spartans, we have a situation. Return to the Hanger bay immediately" sounded the voice of Cortana.
Elsewhere, two Spartans in white who left as a pair walked into an empty brig filled with dead bodies,. Suddenly, a huge shockwave threw them back. Scrambling to their feet, their eyes fixed on a powerful adversary clad in black and red ornate armour. The Spartans murmured, "well, another hammer for us.", as the pair sprang into action.
Brig complex C
Standing in White EOD armour, a Scout helmet along with EVA shoulders, Ryan blasted yet another Brute into oblivion with a stolen Fuel Rod cannon. His Brother Lucas, like his brother, donned the EOD armour, but kept most of the standard Mark VI in Red, but with a left Grey CQB plate for the shoulder. He had a strong preference for close quarter combat and readily slammed his Shotgun into a nearby grunt that failed to get close to his brother. "Good shot Lucas! Maybe they might promote you after this is over!"
"Are we still going to compare kill counts by the end of this? I--" Lucas' statement was cut short by the sound of discharged plasma.
"Never mind! Cover me! I'm running dry on both my weapons!"
The brothers 'troubles didn't stop there. Since the Supercarrier was so massive, grunts were allowed to drive ghosts to get from place to place. One such ghost roared its way in, threatening to splatter the two Spartans into distant memory.
With his SMG out of ammo and a ghost closing in fast, Lucas threw it in the air and caught it by the barrel. With the incoming ghost meters away, he swung the SMG, cutting off the grunt pilot's methane tank, throwing it out of his seat, spraying methane gas into the air . Ryan jumped in and directed it into the nearby Brutes that had been giving them trouble, before jumping off as it sailed through a door, knocking many more covenant troops into where ever the door lead. Ryan and Lucas smiled through their face plates as they heard screams of death echoing throughout their part of the vessel, following an explosion a few seconds later."Lets grab what we can, loot the nearby armoury, and continue on."
"Good idea" whistled Ryan as they proceeded towards their next destination.
"Wait, I don't think the ghost went far..."murmured Ryan as a battered image of the Ghost came into view, flanked by two wraiths.
A hatch popped open, revealing a Spartan with a shiny new gravity hammer. "Couldn't resist scaring us, eh Ruben?", laughed Lucas as the brothers clambered into their respective gunner seats after looting the armoury and sped towards the hanger bay.
"What do you want for that hammer?"
"Hey! That's my trophy you melee monger!"
"Ruben, Ryan, lets sort that later."
"Fine." Both Spartans muttered under their breath.
Ok, chapter 9 complete. Next update may take some time. cya then.
Str1ke
T&R- Rechecked and edited on 8/11/09