New Toys
The Master Gunnery Sergeant looked over Chief's armor with a well-trained eye. He frowned. " Your plating was about to fail. There's viscosity around the gel layer." He grabbed the optical suite from the desk, which was charred black. "Optics totally fried. And I don't even want a word about the power supply." Chief sighed, and popped on his new helmet.
The Sergeant continued," Do you know how goddamn expensive this gear is son?"
With a hiss, the helmet locked, clamps and seals kept Chief inside his new armor. "Tell that to the Covenant." He replied.
I leaned on the side of the power console, and laughed. "If he did, do you think he'd go fight the Covenant? No I think he'd be constantly just watching it to make sure it didn't break, like new shoes or something."
John shrugged and slightly chuckled as the Sergeant continued to inspect his new armor. We'd landed on Earth several days ago, where Will, Fred, Jun, and Linda were whisked away to black ops operations while John and I were left to face an entire team of interrogators. We were interviewed about everything from the fall of Reach, to the Flood on Halo, to the actions on the Gettysburg. We were interviewed about the people as well. Captain Jacob Keyes, Warrant Officer Sheila Polaski, Vice Admiral Danforth Whitcomb, Lieutenant Elias Haverson. All these were names that came up when we were probed and investigated for all the info we had. Afterwards, we were taken to Cairo station for repairs and retrofit. We'd been here for the past 4 hours as I watched John get re-fit for his new MJOLNIR suit.
Personally I found it really pretty. The new suit was a lot less bulky, and a lot more fluid in its motions from what I could see. The Sergeant told us that it had more advanced shield technology, optics, weapons systems, and that it was basically everything the MK.V had only twice as good.
I hadn't gotten very many outside upgrades, and aesthetically I looked the same, but I did get the treatment to everything inside. Basically I looked like the same Spartan I was on Reach, but my armor was now miles ahead. My armor however was made out of different variants I'd collected in my mission, which meant I picked and chose which permutations suited me best. Chiefs' armor however was more of a jack-of-all-trades type, in which it'd be perfectly functional in any situation, with no advanced modifications. The brass liked it that way, cause they wanted Chief to be simple and memorable to the navy paparazzi. Even in a war people still had to put on a show.
The Sergeant sighed, and said wistfully about the old armor," Ah well, it became obsolete anyways. Your new suit just came out from Songnam this morning, take it easy till you get used to the upgrades. Move over to the targeting station."
Chief obediently complied as I watched him run through the diagnostics of the targeting systems and the shield systems without a hitch. The brass had decided that we would be a good team together, which explained why I wasn't following Jun or anybody else. They claimed it was good for morale purposes, and that no one should work alone. I believed that, but I figured it was more because of what we'd achieved in the short time we spent as teammates. Stopping a Covenant armada and an intergalactic weapon was no easy feat to achieve by oneself, which was why I was still here to receive a couple medals and follow John on all of his missions as a "Co-pilot" in a way. I didn't defer to him, he didn't defer to me, but we'd follow each other's orders without question depending on who would take charge. It seemed easy, and we'd used it to perfection on our last two operations. Either way I was stuck with the big guy, whether I liked him or not. Fortunately I liked him. Silent, stoic, but sometimes knew how to crack a joke. He was a good friend and a good teammate, and I was glad to have him on my side.
The moment Chief finished the diagnostics; almost like magic the elevator doors opened and out came Sergeant Major Johnson. He wore a naval dress uniform, which he clearly didn't like as his face wore a growl. He was shaved and groomed to perfection however, not a trace of stubble on his cheeks.
The Gunnery Sergeant was still talking about Chief's shields despite me pointing at Johnson creeping up behind him. " If your shields do go down, hide behind something and they'll recharge quick as a cat."
Johnson butt in. "That, or he can hide behind me."
"Nice to see you Sergeant." I said to him.
"Likewise Noble." He nodded with a curt smile.
The Gunnery Sergeant retorted," His armor is working fine Johnson, so shut your trap, "You're free to go Master Chief, just take it slow."
"Don't worry, I'll hold his hand." Johnson mockingly said. "Chief, Noble, elevator."
We followed, and the elevator doors slowly hissed shut.
The Sergeant managed to yell a few words as the door closed, "So Johnson, you ever gonna tell me how you made it back home in one piece? I got nothing outta those machines."
"Sorry guns, it's classified." He replied, and tilted his cap.
"Well, screw you! Kiss your ass goodbye to those S2 upgr-" The doors slammed shut, drowning the Sergeant out, and we whirred off to our destination.
"He's in a particularly fine mood isn't he? Maybe Lord Hood didn't give him an invitation." Johnson laughed sarcastically.
Up ahead there was a beautiful view of Earth, and a view of the crew in Cairo station going about their business. Every now and then you'd see the massive amount or orbital defense platforms surrounding Earth. I whistled in appreciation.
"Earth…Haven't seen it in years."
We both nodded, constant years of war would do that to you.
"This is where we all came from." Chief simply stated.
"When I made out for basic training, the orbital defense grid was all theory, and politics, and oh we don't have enough funding. And now? The Cairo is one of three hundred. Their MAC cannons can bypass Covenant shields due to their pure strength. Nothing's getting out of this cluster without a couple scars."
Ships came in by the dozens, human ships thankfully, there were destroyers, frigates, cruisers, and every now and then you'd see a carrier or a mystical ONI prowler drifting by. This was confusing, but not surprising. We were losing worlds quickly, we needed to protect our best, and our last.
"What's with all the ships?" Chief asked quizzically.
"No idea. They've been coming in all morning. As far as I can tell, something big is going to happen."
The elevator hissed open, and we walked to a crowd of cheering Marines.
I felt shy, almost a bit embarrassed at all the people cheering for me. Spartan III's were bred to be secretive, yet here I was, standing with Chief, and lapping up all the attention. Robotic cameras hovered around us, snapping tons of photos.
"You said there wouldn't be cameras." I groaned, and polarized my visor to minimize the flash glare from the constant photo taking.
"You told me you'd wear something nice!" Johnson deadpanned, as he adjusted his cap before sliding it back onto his head. "Folk's need some heroes. Smile would ya? While we still got something left to smile about.
"He's got a point." Chief said, as the blast doors to the bridge opened up, swallowing us in.
We approached Lord Hood amidst a huge crowd of cheering Marines, as I took in the bridge. Incandescent lights flooded the ceiling giving everything a metallic white glow; outside the window lay the Orbital Defense Platforms, looking like giant pistols ready to fire at the first notice.
Lord Hood saluted us. "Gentlemen. Glad to have you back and in one piece."
An officer hurried to Lord Hood and whispered in his ear. "This has to be quick, I apologize."
Cortana appeared in a holo tank right beside us. "Another whisper sir, near Io. Probes are being launched." Hood turned away in deep thought for a second, as well as to grab our medals. Cortana looked at us, smiling. We smile back. She'd saved our lives with her knowledge on countless occasions. Hopefully she'd be attached to us again. I had Auntie Dot on Reach, and now Chief and I had Cortana. It felt great to work with an AI, especially one as smart as her.
She looked us over, her translucent azure body warming to a dull red, before cooling back to pink. "You look nice."
We all said simultaneously, "Thanks." And looked at each other before chuckling.
Hood turned back, with the Navy colonial cross medal in his hands, and three more for us. A young woman with auburn brown hair and a slender yet strong physique walked up next to us. She was Commander Miranda Keyes. She'd risen up the ranks quickly despite the accusations of nepotism, and she'd proven to all of her naysayers that she was a terrific and tactical decision maker who could command her ship and all of her other ships with incredible ease.
Lord Hood pinned the cross on Johnson. "Sergeant Major, The colonial cross is awarded for acts of singular daring and devotion. For your actions for the UNSC marine corps, we are awarding you the colonial cross." He saluted solemnly, the badge simply adding to his already flowing uniform.
Lord Hood turned to Commander Keyes. " Commander Miranda Keyes. Your father's actions kept within the highest echelon of military service. His bravery and tactical skill were among the best and in the face of impossible odds; he reflected his bravery to great credit. Upon himself, as well as the UNSC. The navy has lost on of its best."
Hood handed her the medal, which she gracefully held, her eyes betraying the sadness she must have felt at losing her father.
Lord Hood was about to award me the cross, when suddenly alarm klaxons blared throughout the station.
Cortana urgently announced to Lord Hood. "Slipspace ruptures directly off our battle cluster. "
"Show me." He calmly replied.
Cortana showed an overlay of UNSC ships approaching the Covenant fleet. "Seventeen Covenant Capital ships hovering just outside the kill zone."
Fleet Admiral Harper came in over the COM system. "This is Harper, permission to engage Covenant fleet?"
"Negative. Form a defensive perimeter around the cluster. Commander Keyes, get to your ship and link up with the fleet."
Keyes saluted," Yes sir." She promptly took off at a brisk jog to her ship.
"Cortana, you have the MAC gun. Open up as soon as they get in range." Lord Hood fired orders quickly.
" Aye aye."
Cortana's avatar disappeared.
"Something isn't right. The fleet that hit Reach was fifty times this size." Hood muttered to himself.
An officer ran to Hood, panicked and yelling." Sir, additional boarding craft spotted! Lots of them."
"They're going to try take our MAC guns offline, give their ships a shot to Earth. Master Chief, Noble, and Johnson, defend this station!"
"Yes sir." We chorused.
" Weapons?" We looked to Johnson, who grinned.
"Right this way." He beckoned to us and we walked away. I looked to the windows, where Longsword fighters engaged the Seraph cruisers, their plasma cannons ionizing and blasting through space as the Longsword fighters dipped and fired fiery archer missiles at them.
" Alert, boarders on board the station." The overhead speakers blared their warnings as we strode towards an assortment of rifles and grenades placed neatly on a rack and a mechanical dolly. I grabbed four frags, a BR55 Battle Rifle, and somehow managed to find my M9S submachine gun on a desk. The brass said they'd have it fitted and ready for me, and they weren't kidding. It was now outfitted with a laser sight, ACOG scope, and a kickback reducer along with the standard muzzle silencer, a beautiful piece of work. Chief simply grabbed a MA5C Assault Rifle, and a M392 DMR. With our loadout, we could handle short to long range with relative ease.
"Malta, how is it going?" Johnson put his finger to his.
"Stand-by…they're latched! Check your targets and watch the crossfire. They're in standard formation, tiny little bastards up in front, with the big men in the back. Good luck, Cairo."
A Covenant boarding craft latched behind a doorway, which we promptly took firing positions behind it. Gunfire and screams of humans were promptly heard, and a bright light and crackling noise shuddered, as the Covenant burned the doorway down.
"Fields of fire on that bulkhead. When that door opens, let 'em have it!"
The door exploded, and I sighed. "Here we go again."
(A/N: Hey guys, hope you enjoyed my rendition of Halo : First strike. Read Review and Follow please, I love all your reviews. Tell me your opinions on the starting chapter of Halo 2. Also do you want fast chapters at a small word count, but a long time period between chapters at a large word count?)