Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my Halo - Mechwarrior/Battletech crossover. Thank you for your support of my Halo - Terminator crossover. Without your support, I would've probably discontinued the story, but thanks to you, I continue to find motivating to keep moving forwards. Thank you for your continued support. Today, this chapter is going to have a very pleasant surprise for the UNSC. I won't spoil it, but let's just say that they're going to get a massive leg-up in terms of help. As always, leave a review and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Halo or MechWarrior/BattleTech franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of Microsoft Game Studios, 343 Industries, Bungie, FASA Corporation, FASA Interactive, Catalyst Game Labs and Piranha Games Inc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in these chapters. Any music listed belongs to it's original composers and/or artists.
Delta Halo
Unidentified Gas Giant
February 15th, 2553
As soon as Chief closed the COM channel, his suit's sensors began detecting incoming enemy contacts. "Buggers," an ODST shouted, just as a swarm of Drones flew into the room they were in, firing Plasma Pistols and Needlers all the while. At the same time, Elites burst into the room, firing their weaponry as well.
Reacting seamlessly, Chief engaged the Elites while the Marines and ODST's handled the Drones, allowing him to neutralize the Elites. The gunfire rapidly settled down, as the Marines and ODST's quickly neutralized the Drones that were flying about. Soon, all enemy contacts were down, with the last Drone practically exploding as a HEAP round tore through it.
It wasn't a one sided fight, though, as one of the Marines was wounded, rolling around in obvious agony as a Corpsman tended to him. "Keep moving up," he told Chief and the others. "I'll tend to this Marine's wounds and get him on the nearest Pelican-IIa ride out of here. You just keep doing what you need to do."
"Affirmative," Chief replied. Continuing to move up, Chief neutralized any Covenant forces that were in his way, his M48 Rattler clattering loudly as he fired. Exiting the building, Chief found himself looking at the Forerunner structures that had been built here. More of the older architecture was here as well, which sparked some curiosity that Chief didn't know he had.
As if to answer his question, Cortana said, "Hhmm, interesting. The architecture here is older, but it appears to be wrapped around more advanced architecture underneath, almost as if it's protecting it. I could go on about how this is evidence of a younger civilization, but we have work to do." Chief nodded in agreement as he moved up. Being a SPARTAN-II and a Clan Wolverine Elemental was his forte, not archaeology.
As he moved up, Chief found himself being engaged by Jackal Snipers that were located on other parts of the platforms that were built over the water. Taking cover, he began picking off each Jackal Sniper, one at a time, until there were none left. With all the Snipers down, he continued to move up, neutralizing any Covenant that got in his way. Rounding another corner, Chief found himself engaged by more Covenant personnel.
This time, however, it seemed as though Regret was now aware of the SLDF's presence, as Chief found himself facing considerably stiffer resistance than before. Instead of the usual assortment of Jackals, Grunts, Skirmishers and Drones, Chief found himself facing Elites, mostly Major's and Ultras that were available. Pulling back somewhat, Chief engaged the Elites with his M44 Tactical Gauss Shotgun, blasting each one that came around the corner with HEAP flechettes. After around two minutes of nonstop shooting, Chief rounded the corner and went into the building, aware that his shotgun ammunition was running low. For now, he switched back to his M48 Rattler, knowing that he would need to conserve shotgun ammo for the time being.
Entering the building, Chief found that the interior resembled a small meeting place, with a stone structure in the center, as well as a small walkway that ringed around the structure. Elites were the only units present inside, allowing Chief to open fire, while the ODST's and Marines added their gunfire to the mix. Taking cover, Chief reloaded his weapon, having expended the magazine,
"Here, take my ammo," an ODST remarked, handing Chief M44 shells and M48 PDW magazines. "I've got enough to last me for a few gunfights, but you don't." Nodding in appreciation, Chief grabbed the spare ammunition and put them in armored pouches, before finishing loading up his weapon. Ready to fight again, Chief leaned out of cover and opened fire, killing an Elite Major that had gotten too close to his position. Eventually, all enemy contacts were down, allowing the squad to continue moving up to their next destination.
Eventually, they reached another part of the area that led to a large stone platform over the lake. A single, solitary stone structure was present in the middle of the platform, with what appeared to be seats surrounding it on either side, as well as what appeared to be walkways leading out over empty water. The Covenant, again, were present as well, as Chief spotted Jackal Snipers as well as a couple Elite Ultras that were present.
Taking out an M15 grenade, Chief switched it's function to EMP mode before hurling it out into the area, with the grenade detonating on impact. Unlike the other Elites, who had reacted with shock at something that could shatter energy shields so easily, these Elites immediately ducked into cover, firing on the others instead of charging them out in the open. At the same time, the ODST's and Marines moved up, with Chief acting as fire support in the event any Marines or ODST's needed help.
Hearing a roar, Chief turned just in time for an Elite to tackle him to the ground, Energy Dagger in hand. Stopping the Dagger a few inches from his helmet visor, Chief kicked the Elite off of him before firing back with his M48 Rattler, killing the Elite almost immediately. Looking around, he watched as an ODST struggled with the other Elite, with the Energy Dagger getting closer to the man's face as time went on. Reacting quickly, Chief charged forwards, tackling the Elite to the ground before driving his knife into the bottom of it's head, killing it instantly.
"Thanks," the ODST that Chief saved coughed out, getting up with the help of his friends. "I thought that b*stard had me there. I'm glad you're on our side, Chief."
"Agreed," Chief replied. Walking towards the edge of the platform, Chief looked out towards the lake, engaging the zoom function on his helmet. Looking around, he noticed what appeared to be gondolas or funiculars that were moving around, with one having recently disengaged from the platform they were at. That's probably how they reach those structures over there, Chief thought to himself. It makes sense, given how large the lake is. He could clearly see propulsion units underneath each gondola.
He was about to look more closely when something settled onto his shoulder, a very heavy something on top of that. Disengaging the zoom function, Chief turned to his right to see a four winged, reptilian creature sitting on his right shoulder, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. Two beady, slit eyes looked at him suspiciously, as though the creature had no idea what it was looking at. It's feathery wings were a dark brown in color, with similar plumage on it's long tail. Chief calmly looked at the creature, a bored expression on his face.
Apparently, the creature was just as bored as he was of it, as it promptly took off, flapping it's wings in order to meet up with a flock of it's own kind. Hearing some snickering, Chief turned to see one of the Marines trying very hard not to laugh, despite the fact he was failing rather miserably at that. Chief did understand the absurdity of what had happened, so he decided to let that go; besides, soldiers needed good morale in order to fight effectively, so who was he to stifle the Marine's enjoyment. Instead, he allowed the Marine to have his fun while he could.
Moments later, however, any form of enjoyment was stifled, as they heard the distinctive whining moan of a Phantom coming in, or rather two Phantoms coming in. "Uh oh," Chips Dubbo remarked "We've got Phantoms inbound."
"No sh*t, Captain Obvious," an ODST remarked. "Take cover, everyone! We've got incoming!" Following the man's suggestions, the Marines and ODST's took cover almost immediately, crouching behind anything that was substantial enough to withstand plasma fire.
The Phantoms flew overhead moments later, each gimballed turret on the bottom sweeping the area for any hostiles to neutralize. Coming to a stop, both Phantoms disgored two Hunters each, before taking off for other parts of the region. "Well, sh*t," a Marine remarked. "Anyone got a missile launcher?"
"I do," Dubbo repled, hefting the M70 Hornet Chief had given him earlier. "Just keep those guys off of me. I know how to use this thing, but I can't if those Hunters kill me."
With that in mind, Chief began luring a few of the Hunters away, while the Marines and ODST's focused on neutralizing one of them. That proved to be easier said than done, as the Hunter, hyper-aware of how powerful SLDF equipment was, were attempting to remain in a clump, so that if one was taken down, the others could take over.
Popping out of cover, Dubbo fired off a missile, blasting a Hunter to smithereens when it impacted it's small head. Reloading the weapon, he neutralized another Hunter, before ducking behind cover to avoid a Fuel Rod Cannon blast. "Fuck," he growled. "I'm out of rockets! Kill those bastards!"
"We're on it," Cortana replied, with Chief moving into position moments later. One Hunter charged at him, with Chief smoothly sidestepping the massive creature before blasting it in the back with HEAP flechettes. Angered by the loss of it's bonded partner, the last Hunter charged at Chief, swinging it's shield arm wildly in the process; again, Chief smoothly dodged the blow, with his shotgun roaring as he killed the last Hunter. With that, all of the enemy hostiles were neutralized.
Looking out at the lake once again, Chief spotted a gondola heading in their direction, no doubt laden with Covenant forces wanting to make mincemeat out of them. A moment later, Miranda came in over the COM. "Chief, I'm sending you a Pelican so that you can rearm and resupply. I'm sorry, these Pelicans are all the support you're going to get; we're currently tied up with fleet maneuvers while we take out the Covenant Corvettes in orbit."
"Rodger that," Chief replied. "We'll push on to Regret and terminate him. Sierra-117 over and out." Closing the COM, Chief waited for the Pelican-IIa to get to his position.
It didn't take long for the Pelican to arrive at their location, as the VTOL quickly offloaded more supply crates and weapon pods. Rearming his gear, Chief handed his M48 Rattler to an ODST, before taking out the M75 Incisor that had been dropped off in one of the pods. "Hold onto that for me please," he told the ODST. "I'll need it for later."
"Gotcha," the ODST replied. Walking over to the railing of the platform, Chief set up position near the loading walkway for the incoming gondola, aiming down the scope of his rifle. Spotting an Elite Ultra, Chief adjusted his aim accordingly and fired, sending a 12.7mm HEAP shell at the Elite. Said Elite Ultra was promptly turned inside out, it's body exploding from the force of the impact and the detonation of the HEAP shell. That caught the other Elite's attention, as they immediately threw themselves down into the lower section of the gondola, preventing any further engagement for the time being. Pulling out his M44 shotgun, Chief aimed down the sights, allowing the smart choke on the weapon to tighten the spread.
After a minute, the gondola docked to the platform, with the loading walkways deploying moments later. Moving forwards, Chief, the Marines and the ODST's moved forwards cautiously, making sure no Elites snuck up on them. That caution was well rewarded, as an Elite Ultra attempted to sneak up on one, only for a Marine to spot it's active camouflage and open fire, killing the Elite with help from his friends. At the same time, Chief blasted another one with his shotgun, tearing open the Elite's chest and sending it tumbling back down the ramp into the passenger area of the gondola.
With the gondola cleared of hostiles, Chief walked up to the controls and pressed an icon, causing the gondola to separate from the platform. Moments later, Chief felt a gentle nudge on the front part of his body, as the gondola accelerated forwards to it's destination. "Hhmm," Cortana remarked. "This lake doesn't seem to be that natural. It seems to have either been made by the Forerunners when they built this ring, or it was formed by some other cataclysmic event." Noticing Chief's silence, she said, "Sorry. Were you trying to kill something?"
"No," Chief replied. In all honesty, he liked it when Cortana talked like that, as it helped break up the monotony that came after a firefight. Nearby, the Marines began to idly chat to each other, while the ODST's remained silent. As if to pass the time, a Marine began pulling out what appeared to be a deck of cards.
He was promptly interrupted when a Marine said, "Uh, oh. We've got hostiles on the gondola. Lots of sensor readings."
"Everyone get ready," one of the ODST's remarked. "We've got incoming!" Just like that, the Marines immediately got into position, with most taking position near the entrance to the lower section of the gondola.
A few seconds later, the second gondola drew up to theirs, with both gondolas coming to a stop moments later. Right on cue, Drones flew out of the second gondola, chittering loudly as they fired their weapons at the UNSC Marines and ODST's. Chief calmly engaged moments later, blasting the Drones out of the sky like a hunter out duck hunting. At the same time, the Marines and ODST's engaged Elites that were on the gondola, taking them out one at at time. Eventually, all of the enemy contacts were down, with both gondolas moving in separate directions moments later.
Eventually, the Forerunner structure in that part of the lake was much closer than before, allowing Chief to spot what he thought were Shade Turrets. Taking out his Incisor, he blasted each one with a HEAP round, rendering each one useless while killing the Grunts manning each one. After twenty more seconds, the gondola docked to the structure, with the offloading/loading walkways deploying moments later.
Walking up, Chief watched as a Jackal sprinted out of the door, running so fast that it smacked into Chief before it could stop. It was like a rock hitting the side of a concrete wall, as the Jackal bounced off a moment later, coming to land on the ground, it's eyes rolling up into it's head as it lost consciousness. "Whoops," Dubbo remarked. "Looks like he met an immovable object." The Marines snickered somewhat at the joke, with Chief and the ODST's ignoring them as they moved inside.
The interior of the facility was an organized mess, as Covenant supply crates were strewn about the place. Ignoring those, Chief found that the facility had two levels; the first one, the one he was currently on, had a number of ramps leading to a rectangular hole in the floor. The second level presumably led outside, with ramps leading upwards to the exterior.
Jackals were inside, with the Elites having left in an effort to drive the UNSC forces away, along with some drones. Neutralizing them was fairly easy, given the amount of numbers that they had. Handing his Incisor to the ODST he had given his Rattler to, Chief reclaimed the PDW and looked down into the square depression. He frowned when he noticed that it led underwater. "Looks like there's an underwater tram system that leads to the other structures," Cortana remarked. "Looks like we're going down, unless you prefer to swim."
"No swimming, thank you," Chief replied. It wasn't because he didn't like swimming, it was because his armor was too heavy to float. Yes, it was environmentally sealed like all Battle Armor, but that didn't mean that it could float. While he said this, he noticed something moving around at the bottom of the shaft. Said something soon revealed itself to be a watertight submersible, which held a few Elites inside. The submersible was accessible via a door that opened on the side opposite of where the ramp to the hole led.
Moving to the other side, Chief waited until the submersible came up to their level, M15 Grenade in hand as the doors began to open. Tossing the grenade inside, he took cover behind part of the submersible frame. The submersible shook with the force of the detonation, but it remained intact, with the shrapnel bouncing off of the transparent and opaque Forerunner alloy structure. The same couldn't be said of the Elites, as the proximity of the blast, combined with the shrapnel, killed all of them at once.
As soon as the shrapnel stopped flying, Chief walked into the submersible, along with four ODST's. "We can't all fit into there," Dubbo remarked. "You take the ODST's with you. We'll catch up on a Pelican-IIa when we can." with that, the Marines left the building, while the ODST's remained with Chief. Turning around, Chief pressed the controls to the submersible, which didn't seem to be damaged at all.
Moments later, the submersible descended, halting briefly before fully submerging moments later. Underwater, the lake took on an ethereal beauty that the surface lacked. Vibrant kelp, seaweeds and underwater flora glimmered in the light that filtered in from above, making it seem as though the Covenant-Human War was ultimately insignificant compared to the entirety of the universe. Fish swam by the submersible, seemingly not concerned with the people inside.
While they traveled along, Cortana said, "I just intercepted a heavily encrypted transmission from Regret's Corvette. Apparently, Regret jumped the gun when he attacked Earth. He's asking the other Prophets to 'forgive his haste and impatience, as no human presence was foretold.' That would explain why he came with such a small fleet, but it's odd that a Prophet would have such bad intel on his enemy's homeworld."
"It is odd," one of the ODST's remarked. "Personally speaking, I think one of the Prophets knows more than he's letting on. Maybe one of them deliberately left the others in the dark."
"Possibly," Cortana agreed. As she said this, the submersible began moving upwards, entering another square slot in the structure above. After a few seconds, the submersible came to a stop, allowing the ODST's and Chief to move up through the structure. So far, all was going well.
. . .
Toland System
Federated Commonwealth
October 15th, 3054
What Chief, Miranda Keyes and Cortana didn't know was that they were about to get some more help from another reality. Onboard the bridge of the SLS Guardian of Liberty, Archon-Prince Victor Steiner-Davion was pacing around nervously, his hands clasped behind his back as he awaited the scientists word. The bridge activity was subdued, as though the crew and computers could sense his nervousness, and didn't want to disturb him.
It had been five months since Battle Group Delta had disappeared from the universe as everyone knew it, five months since Victor had ordered the scientists in the Federated Commonwealth to go and investigate the spatial anomaly that the Battle Group had hit just as they jumped. His father, First Lord Hanse Davion, had learned about the incident and had ordered Star League scientists to head there and assist the FedCom scientists in their efforts. During this time, Victor Steiner-Davion had participated in the SLDF effort to defeat the Crusader Clans once and for all.
The new K-F Drive technology had proven to be a game changer, as SLDF ships no longer needed to chain up jumps to individual star systems, which was a job left for the Star League Exploration Command and the exploratory divisions of the Great Houses. Instead of having to second guess and rely on sketchy navigational data from before the Succession War, the SLDF was able to jump directly to the Kerenksy Cluster and the Pentagon Cluster, both of which lay at the heart of Clan territory.
It was here that the fighting greatly intensified, as Clan Warriors and Inner Sphere soldiers faced off against each other, the armistice having been declared null and void. They also learned that not all of the Clans wanted to invade the Inner Sphere, as they learned that the Warden Clans, those that refused to invade, wanted to serve as distant, aloof protectors of the Inner Sphere from any outside threat. As a result, those Clans had agree to help the Inner Sphere, pledging their loyalty to the Star League when they learned that House Cameron had chosen House Davion as their rightful successor.
In the end, the fighting had lasted roughly three months, with the Crusader Clans being utterly decimated by the Star League and the Warden Clans. After the war, the Warden Clans were pardoned for any crimes they were forced to commit against the Inner Sphere, with many accepting trade deals and technological agreements with each other. As a result, Victor had returned to the FedCom, in order to spend time with his sister Katrina Steiner-Davion, a trip that had repaired a number of gaps in their relationship as brother and sister.
Now, he was back in the Toland system, awaiting the scientists verdict on the spatial anomaly. He nearly jumped when he heard Odysseus say, "Archon-Prince, the scientists have completed their analysis. The spatial anomaly is, as far as they can tell, a hyperspace string that might lead to where Battle Group Delta disappeared to."
"Is it stable," Victor asked. While negative mass cosmic strings were supposedly stable, Victor didn't want to send the 500 ship strong fleet through, only to have it torn apart moments later.
"Affirmative," Odysseus replied. "The scientists say that the string is stable. We can travel through without fear of destroying our fleet."
"Excellent," Victor remarked, relieved by those words. Keying the fleetwide COM, he said, "All Ships, prepare for FTL operations. Jump as soon as my ship makes the jump." Closing the COM, he sat down in his seat and said, "Odysseus, take it away."
"Affirmative, sir," the AI replied. Moments later, the Advanced K-F Drive onboard the SLS Guardian of Liberty began to power up, a steady hum coming from the internal workings of the system. A moment later, Odysseus commenced the countdown. "Hyperspace Jump in ten… nine… eight… seven… six… five… four… three… two… one…."
Moments later, the Advanced Lamellor Ferro-Glass viewports of the bridge were occupied by the wormhole that had formed near their position. To Victor, the spatial anomaly resembled a large, closed loop of string, with light trapped in Hyperspace distorting around it with the rest of the trip on the other side. Moments later, the ship shot through the spatial anomaly, with the ship shuddering slightly as it did so.
Moments later, the ship emerged from Hyperspace, into a star system that the Archon-Prince didn't recognize. Looking at the C-HPG connection status, he noticed that he wasn't getting a reading, even though he knew this was a star system that the system should've recognized. That was when he noticed it: a small signal source emanating just a thousand meters from their current position.
"Sir," one of the officers on the bridge reported. "We've got an SLDF Memory Core with a homing beacon attached to it. Should we fly closer to it?"
"Affirmative," Victor replied. "We'll need to access the information that is inside." He said this as he knew that it was standard SLDF protocol to leave behind Memory Cores in the event that an SLDF ship entered unknown space. It was the 31st Century equivalent of leaving behind bread crumbs in order to find one's way back to colonized space.
"Aye, aye, sir," the COM officer replied. Slowly, but surely, the SLS Guardian of Liberty moved closer to the Memory Core, since it had a short range transmitter. They were having to move slowly as moving too fast, or at the wrong time, could obliterate the Memory Core and the contents inside. A moment later, the computer formed a connection with the Core and downloaded the information inside.
The first data file was a recording by Admiral Mikhailovich Chernenko, the CO of Battle Group Delta. "To all SLDF Fleets that find this, this is Admiral Chernenko," came the Admiral's voice, "the information that is inside this Memory Core is vital for your survival here. This isn't just unknown space; the spatial anomaly we encountered during out K-F Drive jump has pulled us into an alternate reality, where Humanity has encountered hostile alien lifeforms that are members of an alien alliance called the 'Covenant.' We have also encountered a hostile, parasitic life form known as the 'Flood' or the 'Parasite' as the Covenant calls it. Should you successfully download the information inside, it will automatically bring up relevant information, as well as video footage caught by SLDF forces on the ground. Should you find this information, good luck. You will need every bit of it. This Memory Core will be periodically updated every day. This is Admiral Mikhailovich Chernenko of the Star League Defense Force, signing off."
Moments later, video footage of what had happened since Battle Group Delta's arrival played, from their arrival in this new universe, to the Battle of Installation 04, to the alliance the SLDF formed with the UNSC, up to current events. Intelligence data on the Covenant, Flood and the UNSC and it's divisions came up as well during the video feed, providing valuable intelligence on each species and faction.
When the Memory Core's contents ended, Victor Steiner-Davion leaned back in his command chair, processing the information he had just seen. So, he thought, It appears as though we are in an alternate dimension, where this universe's version of Humanity, the UNSC, is at war with an extremist, religious coalition known as the Covenant, and is also at war with a parasitic species known as the Flood. What have we gotten ourselves into?
He frowned as he considered the implications, as well as Chernenko's actions since their unwilling arrival. I firmly believe he made the right call befriending the UNSC, Victor thought to himself. Giving the UNSC the means and ability by which it can defend itself was an excellent judgment call, along with the SLIC's efforts to curb ONI's unethical tendencies. I trust Chernenko's judgment, so I fully agree with his decision.
When it comes to the Covenant, though, we'll have to destroy it thoroughly. If the intelligence data is correct, and I have every reason to believe it is, then the San'Shyuum have lied to the rest of the Covenant, when it's clear that this version of Humanity is to inherit this 'Forerunner' technology. Still, we'll have to show the Covenant that they made a very bad judgment call by attacking the UNSC, and that means heading to one of these 'Halos' and taking up orbit nearby.
Concentrating, he came up with a battle plan for what was going to happen in the near future. The UNSC In Amber Clad has already sent their current coordinates, so we'll head there first and secure Delta Halo. If this 'High Charity' ends up in orbit as well, we'll need reinforcements as, even though our ships are more advanced, they have a significant numbers advantage over us. Looking up, he asked, "Is the spatial anomaly traversable in both ways?"
"Yes," his COM officer replied. "We've got communications with the rest of the Inner Sphere, and the SLS Sojourner just jumped back through with no problems at all. Do you want me to alert the SLDF to this new threat?"
"Affirmative," Victor replied. "Send the SLDF the information that was on the Memory Core and inform them to get a few fleets in here. The UNSC will need every bit of help that it can get and I don't intend to have the death of another version of Humanity on my conscience. We will teach the Covenant why they should fear the SLDF and the Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth." Turning to Odysseus, he said, "Inform the rest of the fleet to jump to these coordinates. We'll take up position on the other side of Delta Halo, opposite of High Charity's projected arrival point, if it does arrive that is."
"Aye, aye, sir," the crew replied, with Odysseus complying as well. As the K-F Drive Capacitor recharged, Victor cracked his knuckles and rolled his head, popping a few kinks in his neck. It is about to get busy, he thought to himself.
. . .
Terminating the Elite in front of him, Chief moved on past the chamber they had entered and towards the next submersible, entering the vehicle along with the ODST's before activating the panel. Moments later, the submersible began to descend, entering the water a few seconds later. It had been a difficult fight through the underwater sections of the Forerunner facility, but they had made it through alive. During the fight, they had found themselves in underwater observation hallways and a large room, followed by yet another hallway that led to the submersible.
During the trek, they had encountered multiple Covenant units that were specifically meant to kill Spartans and Elementals, as most of these units had Hunters and Elite Zealots, all eager to kill their enemies. It had been a rough ride, and one of the ODST's had been killed during the fight, with the man performing a suicide charge that resulted in the death of multiple Elites when the grenade the man held detonated. The death of that man had only made the ODST's even more determined to survive, as each one, with Chief's assistance, terminated the Hunters and Elites with extreme prejudice. Now, they were heading to the last Forerunner structure, which was located out in the center of the lake.
As the submersible moved through the water, Cortana said, "Regret's Corvette just received a response, a very well encrypted message sent by the Prophet of Truth from something called 'High Charity.' Listen to this, 'Your haste has threatened our Covenant and jeopardized our Great Journey. That you should be spared a public display of our contempt is only thanks to Mercy and his wise words.' Truth, Regret and Mercy, three Covenant Hierarchs. Killing one should shake up the Covenant, but frankly, it sounds like you'd be doing Truth a favor."
"I agree," Chief frowned. If there was one thing that he hated the most, it was being manipulated by the enemy to kill a rival that belonged to the same group. Removing a splinter faction would only strengthen the rest of the enemy, though Cortana was right in that killing Regret would shake up the Covenant significantly.
All other thoughts were promptly dispelled when the submersible reached it's destination, opening as soon as it reached the room and offloading chamber. Getting out, Chief moved up silently, assassinating an Elite Honor Guard that hadn't spotted him yet. The next one did, with Chief blasting it in the chest with his M44 Shotgun.
Moving outside, the squad found themselves in a small clearing, which led to more ruins on the other side. Apparently, the fact that Regret was in the other structure meant that the area was all clear, as the Covenant were more concerned about the SLDF killing one of their own. As a result, Chief and his men were unhampered in their efforts to get to the next gondola loading ramp.
The gondola that arrived was, thankfully, empty of hostiles, allowing the squad to move on without difficulty. As they moved towards the Forerunner structure in the center of the lake, Cortana keyed her COM. "Captain, how's it coming," she asked.
"We're currently at the library with the SLIC Agents," Miranda Keyes replied. "We can't seem to get inside, there's some kind of barrier. We're currently trying to find a way around. On the upside, the SLDF is quickly securing the area, using Flamer and Plasma Autocannon equipped forces to burn out any Flood and Covenant resistance. The Sentinels haven't been attacking us, probably since they know we're authorized to come here. Beyond that, we're just looking for a way inside."
"Rodger that," Cortana replied. "We're about to reach the structure that Regret is currently holed up inside. Once we've neutralized him, we'll link up with your forces and take the Library."
"Rodger that," Miranda replied. "Captain Miranda Keyes, over and out." With that, the COM fell silent again.
About two minutes later, the gondola docked to the Forerunner structure, with the ODST's and Chief neutralizing any opponents in the area. Walking along, Chief didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, only to hear an ODST yelp loudly. "What's wrong," he asked, turning around.
"That corpse just twitched," the ODST replied. "I also heard this deep growling sound, like a bear was nearby. The weird part is that I didn't see anything, but I've got this gut feeling that something bad is about to happen. Orders?"
"I'll handle Regret on my own," Chief replied. "You take the gondola and get out of here. Inform the Marines to wave off. I'll return when it can." With that, the ODST's handed Chief any spare ammunition they had before getting onto the gondola and leaving.
As he walked along, Chief remembered what the ODST had said. He recalled a similar situation when Kurt, one of his friends, had a bad feeling during an op against an Insurrectionist outpost. That bad feeling turned out to be true, as the Insurrectionists had nearly captured them, only for Kurt to come in and save the day. If what he's saying is true, I'll need to keep my eyes open, Chief thought. It was a similar gut feeling that had saved Jenkins and his men at Installation 04, so it could be that the Flood had something up their sleeves, if they had sleeves that is.
Just as he thought this, Cortana said, "Chief, look. That's the largest Covenant fleet I've seen, the largest anyone has ever seen." Looking up, Chief watched as hundreds, if not thousands, of Covenant ships appeared from Slipspace, along with a massive, bulbous space station. "We need to get inside and kill Regret before it can stop us," Cortana told Chief.
Chief didn't need to be told twice to know that for certain. As he began to move, Cortana said, "Chief, I'm detecting another fleet coming in. Multiple Emergence Signatures." Looking up, Chief watched as 520 ships seemed to pop into existence, with an even larger one appearing. Ignoring the new development, he continued onward. Moving forwards, he found himself being confronted at every turn by Elite Honor Guards. "Honor Guards," Cortana warned. "They're all over the place. Regret must be here!"
"Not now," Chief told Cortana as he opened fire. There were a lot of Elite Honor Guards, enough that Chief had concerns about running out of ammo. As a result, he focused on EMP'ing the Honor Guards armor, before killing each one with precision shots. With enough down, he moved up and into the inner chamber of the building.
The inner chamber of the Forerunner Structure was like a massive cathedral, with walkways on either side, ramps that led up and down, and large platforms capable of holding dozens of people at at time. Another platform was at the back, which held a single individual. That's a face only a mother would love, Chief thought when he spotted Regret on his personal, anti-gravity unit.
Regret seemed to be of the same opinion, as he shouted, "The Demon! Loyal Elites, silence this foul beast!" With that, a large number of Honor Guards closed in on Chief, weapons in hand as they prepared to kill him. A mistaken belief, if ever there was one.
Moving quickly, Chief could feel himself entering Spartan Time, with the world seeming to slow down to a crawl, while his mind seemed to accelerate to it's maximum speed. Moving quickly and fluidly, Chief quickly began neutralizing the Honor Guards, using the halberd of one to quickly silence the others. Like a raging, olive drab tornado, Chief tore through the Honor Guards, sending limbs and blood flying through the air.
With the Honor Guards down, Chief ran up towards Regret and leaped on, the anti-gravity unit capsizing due to the sudden addition of weight. Falling out, Regret landed on the ground with a scream, crawling backwards as Chief, like a inexorable machine, drew closer to Regret. Without any drama, Chief pulled out his M48 Rattler and silenced Regret… permanently.
The weapon roared loudly as Chief pumped Regret full of HEAP shells, emptying the entire magazine into the Hierarch, who screamed loudly as death claimed him. Each gunshot was like a blast of thunder, as though the weapon itself was the judge, jury and execution of one of the leaders of the Covenant that had ordered Humanity's extinction. Moments later, the gun ran dry, with Regret lying on the ground dead, his chest soaked with blood from multiple gunshot wounds.
Reloading his weapon, Chief heard Cortana say, "Bad news, the enemy fleet's on it's way with a ship. It's preparing to fire. We need to leave now."
Running outside, Chief watched as a Covenant Carrier activated it's energy projector weapon, causing the water below to boil from the addition of superheated energy. Running the opposite direction, he landed on part of the structure below, as the beam began to draw closer. Running as fast as he could, he gave a loud, raw shout as he leaped off the Forerunner structure and into the water.
The impact of water hitting his Battle Armor nearly rendered Chief unconscious, with the sheer coldness of said water shocking him back to full wakefulness. While his Battle Armor was sealed, the temperature differential had, for an instant, seeped through his armor, with the heaters inside banishing the cold. Even though the armor was lighter than before, Chief knew he was sinking, and rapidly.
Turning around, he tried to begin swimming for the water, only for something to wrap around his waist. Moments later, he looked down to see a pale looking tentacle wrapped around his waist; before he could pry it off, other tentacles came and wrapped themselves around his arms, restraining him. He struggled, only to stop when he heard a deep, rumbling voice. "This is not your grave," the voice growled, "but, you are welcome in it."
As he was dragged further into the water, Chief only had one thought. What the h*ll did I get myself into?
. . .
Onboard the SLS Dallas, the bridge was a flurry of activity as the bridge crew moved about their business, with Chernenko monitoring the landing of the troops. It had taken him a few minutes to get four SLDF WarShips together, but after doing so, they had made the jump to the In Amber Clad's coordinates. Currently, the invasion of Delta Halo, as Persephone called the ring, was going well, with Flamer and Plasma Autocannon equipped units quickly neutralizing Flood forces in the area.
As he looked over the readouts, he heard Persephone call his name. "Yes," he asked.
"I am detecting multiple Emergence Signatures," Persephone replied. "Five hundred and twenty in total." Moments later, Chernenko watched as hundreds of SLDF WarShips appeared out of Hyperspace. The moment he saw the largest ship jump out of FTL, he knew who it was.
Before he could issue orders, the command ship in the fleet began broadcasting a message. "This is Archon-Prince Victor Steiner-Davion of the SLS Guardian of Liberty to all SLDF WarShips in the vicinity. If you are hearing this, we have come to assist in the war against the Covenant. If any SLDF WarShips are out there, please respond."
Opening a C-HPG COM channel, Chernenko said, "SLS Guardian of Liberty, this is the SLS Dallas. It's good to hear from you again, Archon-Prince."
"Admiral Chernenko," Victor remarked. "Good to see that you're still alive and well. I got the information that you uploaded into the Memory Core you left behind for us near the ruins of Installation 04. Do you require assistance?"
"Yes," Chernenko replied. "We're landing troops on Delta Halo in order to secure it from the Covenant and the Flood. Most of our forces are currently at the Library, a strategic location on Delta Halo; I'm sending you the coordinates now. If you can spare any ground forces, that would be extremely helpful."
"I can," Victor replied. "I'm transferring command of multiple BattleMech and Infantry Regiments to you. Have your AI's send them briefings on what they'll be facing, since you're better informed about the enemy than we are. While that is going on, I'll head to this universe's version of Earth and introduce myself to the UNSC."
"I take it you read the information on our treaty with them," Chernenko asked Victor.
"I have," Victor replied. "You made the right call, given your circumstances at the time. I also approve of your decision to have the SLIC put ONI in it's proper place, they needed the humiliation in my honest opinion. When we get there, I'll introduce myself and begin discussing a more formalized treaty. Can you inform Admiral Hood of my arrival?"
"Yes," Chernenko replied. "Before you go, sir, is the anomaly traversable in both directions?"
"Yes," Victor replied. "The scientists aboard the SLS Sojourner confirmed that a few minutes ago. We'll have fleets from the other Great Houses coming through to help in the war against the Covenant. We also know, thanks to your section of the SLIC, that the Covenant Hierarchs have lied to the other species. In the event the Hierarchs betray one of them, I have ordered the SLIC to rescue the political and military leaders of the species being attacked. If you can, do the same for your section of the SLIC."
"Affirmative, sir," Chernenko replied. "Good luck, sir. Admiral Chernenko out."
"Likewise. Archon-Prince Victor Steiner-Davion out." With that, the C-HPG COM link ended.
Turning around, he said, "Persephone, inform the SLIC to begin preparations to rescue any Sangheili politicians in the event that species is attacked. Given that we've just terminated one of the people they were supposed to protect, I have a feeling they'll be getting kicked out of the Covenant."
"Aye sir," Persephone replied. Turning around, Chernenko continued to monitor the invasion's status.
We've just gotten a major boost in help, he thought to himself. Now that we know that the SLDF and the Great Houses are on the way, the Covenant and the Flood are finished for good. We can't get cocky, otherwise they'll kick us to the dirt, but if we remain cautious and play our cards right, we'll be able to defeat the Covenant and annihilate the Flood. In other words, the Covenant and Flood's reign of terror is over. The UNSC and Star League is about to become the future of this new galaxy.