Information
Once the battle ship was a reasonable distance from any detection of Covenant ships. The Captain came over the loud speaker and stated that everyone may now leave there seats and go about their normal routines. Slowly Shane unbuckled his safety belt and stood up from the chair. He glanced around the room, seeing hundreds, if not thousands of Marines hustling about. He guessed that the officers wanted to board everyone on one ship, but why he didn't know. With a slight shrug to himself Shane made his way into the ground in an attempt to locate Kohl. It didn't take him long at all as Kohl came up from behind him sent a hard smack to the back of his head. Phillips snarled and looked over his shoulder, seeing Kohl's cheesy grin.
"So, how'd you fair against those Covenant bastards?" Questioned Shane as he turned all the way around so he was facing Kohl.
"Not so good. Lieutenant Anders told us to head forward and charge into the Covenant's trenches, right after he saw your squad do it. Only problem was he charged right into the belly of their offensive, stupid bastard. We never even had a chance to defend ourselves. So, for the last two hours I was pinned down behind a rock, waiting for either the Covenant to advance and kill me or our allies to advance and push them away. But as you can see, it looks like our allies advanced and here I am," Kohl nodded in agreement with himself before continuing, "and how about you? How'd you fair?"
"We were given specific orders from the Captain to charge into their trenches. We succeeded in that, got in a little confrontation with some enemy troops. Then, I managed to rescue Captain Douglas. It wasn't anything big," with those words Kohl's mouth dropped and appeared to want to punch Shane right in the jaw.
"Captain Douglas? Thee, Captain Douglas?"
"Well, that's who he said he was anyways," replied Shane.
Kohl started to talk, but was cut off as a message came over the loud speaker, ordering Shane Phillips to the bridge immediately. Shane bid his farewell to Kohl, then pushed his way through the crowd and into the corridors of the battle ship. It didn't take him very long to reach the bridge, even with all of the high security systems that he had to bypass. Once to reached the door to the bridge a Marine saluted him, pulled the hatch on the door, and allowed him to enter. Shane calmly made his way in, knowing that he was going to be in the presence of high ranking officers. There were beeping noises coming from all directions of the room and crewman hustling about, trying to see what they were beeping for. Right in front of the entrance laid a large radar screen which appeared to cover a distance which Shane couldn't even begin to calculate. To his right was a few stations, the same thing was to his left as well. Shane continued forwards into the room, till he finally came upon three men standing in front of the main window in the ship. They were staring out into nothingness, till one of the crewman tapped one of them on the soldier and whispered into his ear. Slowly they all turned around and looked at Shane, who in return to their glances saluted them.
"Private Shane Phillips reporting for duty, sir!"
"At ease Private," spoke the officer to Shane's right, "Captain Douglas, is this the man that saved your life?"
"Yes it is. Shane Phillips was his name and this is Shane Phillips," replied Captain Douglas, who Shane now recognized to be the officer in the middle.
"Requesting permission to speak, sir," spoke Shane as he allowed his arms to dangle at his sides.
"Permission granted," said Captain Douglas.
"Not to sound impatient, sir, but may I ask what this is all about?"
"Certainly, Private. Come with us and we will show you," the last officer to Shane's left said.
"Yes, sir."
All four of them exited the bridge immediately after that and made their way down several more corridors. Shane stayed a few steps behind the officers, not wanting to go above his rank and mingle with him. Curiosity began to flood his mind as he wondered what they had called him for. It couldn't be for an important assignment, Shane only a Private, but then again, what if it was? After walking for about ten minutes they finally came upon what appeared to be a communications room of some sort. It looked almost like the bridge, but was much larger and didn't have all of the annoying little beeps. In the center of the room there was a sem-large square table. Seated at the far end of the table was yet another officer, only this one appeared to be much more decorated than the others. Shane watched and waited for the others to sit down before he took the last seat on the other end of the table. There was a moment of awkward silence as the officers whispered amongst themselves, sometimes they would back away from their conversation and glance at Shane for a brief moment, then go back to whispering. This was starting to get on Shane's nerves to say the least. What did they want with him? There had to be a reason. So, in order to get their attention, Shane faked a cough. This little scheme worked and all four officers turned towards Shane.
"Well, it appears that your savior, Mr. Douglas, is getting a little impatient," spoke what appeared to be the higher ranked officer.
"We did drag him through countless corridors without even telling him why we brought him here. Wouldn't that make you a bit impatient?" Captain Douglas replied in an attempt to back up Shane's case.
"I suppose your right," the higher officer stated, then continued, "well, down to business. I am Major Tom Andrews, the officer to the right of me is Captain Robert Schmit, the officer to the left of me is Captain Michael Bennett, and I'm sure you already know Captain John Douglas."
Shane nodded his greeting towards each one as he looked their faces over, making sure that he wouldn't forget them. Major Andrews appeared to be quite young for a Major. He hair had yet to turn gray, yet his face was greatly wrinkled from years of stress. Just by looking at him, Shane could see that he was as solid as steel and wasn't someone who would appear nervous at all. He also was a little on the heavy side, which was why he sat back a little ways from the table, allowing his stomach more room. Captain Robert Schmit was very slender and didn't seem much like someone who would rise up through ranks via battle. Shane guessed that he had received the title by either coming up with strategies or something of that sort. He also appeared to be very old, maybe in his late fifties, early sixties. That was an age that no very many soldiers in this war would reach. Captain Michael Bennett appeared to be the youth of this gathering. He was not very much older than Shane and had a little goatee on his chin. His hair was kind of messed up, as if he had just woken up or had never heard of a comb before. From what Shane could tell he always had a serious look on his face, never once grinning, or even trying to smile. Finally, it came down to Captain John Douglas. He was about average height, average weight, and about in his forties if not lower. He had a lit cigar in his mouth and was occasionally blowing smoke into the air. This man appeared to be the one that would try to lighten the others up, laughter wise. He seemed like someone who was almost there to deliver good news. Major Andrews cleared his throat suddenly and got Shane's attention almost immediately.
"Now, the reason that we have brought you here is that, according to Captain Douglas, your quite the soldier. He even went to the point of calling you a SPARTAN," they all laughed, all except Captain Douglas that is, "we all know that he was over exaggerating on a high level, but that is beside the point. Any Marine that would even make an officer compare them to our greatest soldiers ever created is defiantly someone who we should look into. We've also heard about your raid into the Covenant trenches this morning from the field commander. Also, you've seemed to rack up a decent record for a Marine, as well as a Private for that matter. For all of these reasons we have chosen you to lead a search and recovery mission."
"Search and recovery, sir?" Shane was shocked by this. He didn't have the experience or knowledge to lead a mission, "with all do respect, sir, I don't think that I am qualified enough."
"You wouldn't be questioning my judgement, Private, now would you?"
"No, sir! Not at all," Shane gulped quietly as he placed his hands on the arm rests of the chair and held on tightly. He began to sweat as he began to grow extremely nervous.
"Good, I didn't think so," Major Andrews stood up after saying those words, as did everyone else at the table, "I'll have one of the crewman lead you to your quarters and you will be briefed on your mission in exactly four hours. I'd suggest that you get some sleep. That will be all, Private, your dismissed."
Shane saluted the Major, then immediately left the room. He was met at the doorway by a crewman dressed in what looked like an orange jump suit of some kind. They simply met eyes and that was it before the crewman made his way down the corridor. Shane followed quietly, loosening his body armor as he walked to make it easier to take off once he got into his room. His room was only a few meters down the hallway from the communications room and the crewman opened the door for Shane. He slowly walked in and glanced around, before moving out of the way and watched as the crewman headed back to his post. Shane closed the door behind him and pulled his combat helmet off. Once he took it off he shook his head quickly, causing his brown hair to mess up slightly. He reached inside of his helmet and flipped a switch, causing the green screen over his left eye to turn off. Calmly he placed his helmet down on the table next to the door, then gradually pulled the rest of his armor off and placed in any random location. It felt good to be free of those heavy hunks of metal, yet he really didn't have much to complain about. Those hunks of metal had saved his hide plenty of times.
With a groan he extended his arms into the air and stretched out. Every bone in his body seemed to crack as he did this. Shane had been through a lot over the past few months. He had engaged in over twenty skirmished and had been involved in about three deciding battles. Sadly, each of the deciding battles were lost or sent into a draw long enough for the those Covenant bastards to get their fleet into attacking distance. Shane shook his head as he headed over to his bed, which for the first time wasn't a cot of some kind. He let out a sigh of relief as his body collapsed onto the soft mattress below. Immediately he situated himself on top of the bed and rested his head down on the pillow. His eyes weighed down almost instantly after he let out another sigh of relief. At the moment he couldn't even think about the mission that lied ahead or of the dangers that it might possess. In fact, he could barely remember that words that the Major had said at the moment. Oh well, he would have four hours to remember them, if he ever woke up. His mouth opened wide suddenly and he let out a powerful yawn, then moments later he drifted off into sleep.
Four hours went by quickly and he was awoken by the sound of a fist pounding on his door. He shot up into a sitting position and reached for the area where his pistol would normally be. He didn't find it and for a moment panicked before realizing that he was safe aboard a human vessel. Shane stood slowly, walked to the door, and opened it. He was met with a serious look from the crewman which had lead him to his room.
"You are wanted in the communications room in approximately ten minutes. These are direct orders from Major Andrews himself. I wouldn't be late if I were you."
With that the crewman left Shane's presence and allowed him to close the door. Four hours of sleep hadn't been enough in Shane's mind, but he really couldn't complain much. For the past month he was lucky to get an hour in without having to suit up for battle or be moved to a securer location. Now in a slightly groggy mood Shane stumbled around the room, first heading towards the sink and turning the nob on the faucet. Cold water streamed out of the nozzle and into the sink below. Shane cupped his hands underneath the following water, gathering some within his grasp, then splashed it against his face. The sudden rush kicked in all of his bodies nerves and his eyes opened wide. Now that he was awake he turned the water off and headed over to the table where the majority of his equipment was located. He worked his way up as he suited himself, starting at the feet and all the way up to his helmet. Before he placed his helmet on he flipped the little switch within it. The green screen turned on and numbers flashed before, followed by letters, then it went back to numbers. Last but not least Shane holstered his Pistol in its standard location, then latched his Assault Rifle onto his belt. Now that he was fully dressed Shane exited his room and made his way towards the communications room. He was in a light sprint almost all of the way there, trying to make up for lost time. Once he got there he was met with four serious faces.
"Glad to see you again, Phillips, I hope you enjoyed your rest," stated Captain Schmit.
"Now we get down to the most important thing at the moment, the mission," added Captain Bennett, "please, have a seat." Shane didn't hesitate as he took a seat in the exact same chair which he had used before. Everyone else also took a seat, everyone except Major Andrews that was, who stood up in front of the large radar screen.
"Here's the basic information that you need to know, Phillips. Four days ago one of our Capital-class warships, The Holy Chaos, was attacked and downed by a Covenant battle group no more than thirty minutes from out current location. Now, normally we would simply command that the ship either be abandoned or self destruct. However, we have recently discovered that the ship was holding information about the whereabouts of the Covenants main military facilities," the Major stopped to take in a breath and allowed Shane to gather in all of the information, "we are still not certain if it also holds the location of the Covenant home world or not. Not only does it hold information about that, but the A.I. and computer files on the ship also have information about our military strong holds and also the location of Earth. We need that A.I. and all files that contain information about the Covenant or ourselves. Failure is not an option." Shane nodded and rubbed his chin softly, before speaking up.
"Sir, if the ship crash landed four days ago, what makes you think that the Covenant don't already have the A.I. and the all of the files?"
"During those four days we have been able to keep contact with them via long distance communications. There are still some Marines left alive on that ship and they are holding off the Covenant at all costs. We need you to break through the Covenant lines, form a perimeter around the ship, collect the needed data, and get the hell out of there as fast as you can."
"Do the Covenant ground units have fleet support?" Questioned Shane.
"Indeed they do. At least twenty Capital ships, if not more."
"And what is going to stop them from bombarding the planet once we arrive?"
"We are going to stop them. Now, I know that our fleet hasn't been very dependable in previous battles, but for the past eight years we have been working on a new type of ship. One that closely resembles that of a Covenant, in firepower, maneuverability, and shields. We currently have over forty of those ships docked just outside of the system," A few images appeared on the radar screen and Major Andrews pointed them out, "on my command they will engage the Covenant ships, draw their fire, and allow this ship to sneak in, send drop ships down with a rough guess of a hundred Marines, then get the hell out of there. We are certain that our group will be able to destroy the Covenant armada currently stationed around the planet, but you will have only a few days to get out of there, for a heart beat away is yet another Covenant fleet. Our ships would not stand a chance against them."
There was a moment of hesitation as Shane pondered taking this mission. All eyes were on him now as he looked down at the table top, then up at the Major, "When do we leave?"
"Our fleet will be entering their system in about five minutes. You'll have ten minutes to get yourself situated with your squad, your weapons, and your map. We will be dumping you a good distance away from the ship, just so you don't run into any unwelcome guests upon arrival."
"Understood, sir."
Shane stood up and saluted the Major, who didn't salute back, just rather extended his hand towards him. Shane also extended his hand and grasped the Majors, shaking it. Once done with the good-byes Shane exited the communications room and headed towards the docking bay. For some reason he didn't feel worried or scared, in fact, he had an unexplainable excitement coursing through his veins. If he could retrieve the information, then the human race could gain the upper hand on the Covenant and turn the tide of war. Phillips grinned as he entered the docking bay and peered over the Marines which stood before him. Just as the Major had said, there was close to a hundred of them. Shane glanced around slowly, till he heard someone call his name and turned towards that location.
"Phillips, follow me please," spoke a crewman as he motioned towards Shane.
He didn't hesitate one bit as he made his way down a few steps and followed the crewman, who walked over to a table in the corner of the room. Upon the table laid what appeared to be a new set of armor. Shane blinked as he crewman asked him to take off his previous armor. He did just that and placed each piece onto the table next to the one he was currently at. The crewman ran a few simple tests on the pieces of armor. Such as checking them to make sure there wasn't any cracks and what not, basic technical procedure. Once he went through the brief examination he handed the armor to Shane and told him to put it on. Shane did just that and completely suited up in about a minute or two. The armor was much lighter than what he had worn before and it was a slightly different tint of color from the others. Everything else seemed to be about the same, except for a small box which was attached to the back of his helmet.
"I'm sure that you've already noticed the box on the back of your helmet. Well, if you do discover the ships A.I., then your going to have to use that to transport it in. The box is insulated with several crystal plates and it is connected directly to your vision and com-link connections. Also, via com-link, the A.I. will be able to translate the Covenant language. In doing this you can transmit it to everyone in your unit. Any questions?" Shane shook his head 'no', "Good. Now, we have picked four officers for you, all of which will be suited in the same armor that you are in now, A.I. box and all. This is just in case that your box has a malfunction, or you...well, you know."
Shane nodded and glanced around the room, searching around the room for armor that resembled his. He saw three of them right away, but the fourth was a little difficult to pick out. Then, he saw one of his officers in the far corner of the docking bay. A grin crossed his face and he chuckled to himself as he saw the familiar cheesy grin of Kohl Wallace who waved his Assault Rifle into the air. He too was going to be an officer on this mission, Shane was thankful for that. Kohl was an almost perfect shot and was a speedy little punk on top of that. Calmly Shane made his way into the crowd of Marines. Everyone that he passed stopped what they were doing and saluted him till he finally met with all of the officers near a drop ship. There was a brief introduction as the five of them exchanged hand shakes and names. One of the officers name was Alex Edwards, he was a few inches shorter than Shane, and appeared to be younger as well. Shane didn't know about his skills, but they must have been good for him to get assigned to this mission. The other two were named Eric Vicini and Seth Kramer. Both of them were about the same height and age. That was really the only distinct thing that he could tell apart from them, aside from hair color. Before they could say anything more than formal introductions, the Majors voice came on over the inner-com.
"All combat personnel assigned to mission Charlie Bomber report to your drop ships and prepare for immediate launch to the planets surface. We will be entering the system in thirty seconds."
Everyone scrambled to their drop ships and each one was filled up in a quick and orderly manner. Shane took seat in one of the five drop ships, while the other officers went in the others; one in each drop ship. Shane unlatched his Assault Rifle from his belt and placed it over his shoulder as he laid back in his seat. The door to the drop ship closed tightly as the ship shook slightly. Soon its engines ignited and it blasted off a prefer distance through space before it came in contact with the planets atmosphere. The tip of the drop ship glowed a bright, red color as it pushed its way through. Shane could hear the explosions going on all around him as the Advanced U.N.S.C fleet attacked the Covenant fleet from their blind spot and started battering them with everything they had. It didn't take long at all for the ship to land and the doors to open. Marines flooded out of the drop ships and set foot the new ground, then watched as the drop ships, their only way back to the ship, vanished into the sky.
Once the battle ship was a reasonable distance from any detection of Covenant ships. The Captain came over the loud speaker and stated that everyone may now leave there seats and go about their normal routines. Slowly Shane unbuckled his safety belt and stood up from the chair. He glanced around the room, seeing hundreds, if not thousands of Marines hustling about. He guessed that the officers wanted to board everyone on one ship, but why he didn't know. With a slight shrug to himself Shane made his way into the ground in an attempt to locate Kohl. It didn't take him long at all as Kohl came up from behind him sent a hard smack to the back of his head. Phillips snarled and looked over his shoulder, seeing Kohl's cheesy grin.
"So, how'd you fair against those Covenant bastards?" Questioned Shane as he turned all the way around so he was facing Kohl.
"Not so good. Lieutenant Anders told us to head forward and charge into the Covenant's trenches, right after he saw your squad do it. Only problem was he charged right into the belly of their offensive, stupid bastard. We never even had a chance to defend ourselves. So, for the last two hours I was pinned down behind a rock, waiting for either the Covenant to advance and kill me or our allies to advance and push them away. But as you can see, it looks like our allies advanced and here I am," Kohl nodded in agreement with himself before continuing, "and how about you? How'd you fair?"
"We were given specific orders from the Captain to charge into their trenches. We succeeded in that, got in a little confrontation with some enemy troops. Then, I managed to rescue Captain Douglas. It wasn't anything big," with those words Kohl's mouth dropped and appeared to want to punch Shane right in the jaw.
"Captain Douglas? Thee, Captain Douglas?"
"Well, that's who he said he was anyways," replied Shane.
Kohl started to talk, but was cut off as a message came over the loud speaker, ordering Shane Phillips to the bridge immediately. Shane bid his farewell to Kohl, then pushed his way through the crowd and into the corridors of the battle ship. It didn't take him very long to reach the bridge, even with all of the high security systems that he had to bypass. Once to reached the door to the bridge a Marine saluted him, pulled the hatch on the door, and allowed him to enter. Shane calmly made his way in, knowing that he was going to be in the presence of high ranking officers. There were beeping noises coming from all directions of the room and crewman hustling about, trying to see what they were beeping for. Right in front of the entrance laid a large radar screen which appeared to cover a distance which Shane couldn't even begin to calculate. To his right was a few stations, the same thing was to his left as well. Shane continued forwards into the room, till he finally came upon three men standing in front of the main window in the ship. They were staring out into nothingness, till one of the crewman tapped one of them on the soldier and whispered into his ear. Slowly they all turned around and looked at Shane, who in return to their glances saluted them.
"Private Shane Phillips reporting for duty, sir!"
"At ease Private," spoke the officer to Shane's right, "Captain Douglas, is this the man that saved your life?"
"Yes it is. Shane Phillips was his name and this is Shane Phillips," replied Captain Douglas, who Shane now recognized to be the officer in the middle.
"Requesting permission to speak, sir," spoke Shane as he allowed his arms to dangle at his sides.
"Permission granted," said Captain Douglas.
"Not to sound impatient, sir, but may I ask what this is all about?"
"Certainly, Private. Come with us and we will show you," the last officer to Shane's left said.
"Yes, sir."
All four of them exited the bridge immediately after that and made their way down several more corridors. Shane stayed a few steps behind the officers, not wanting to go above his rank and mingle with him. Curiosity began to flood his mind as he wondered what they had called him for. It couldn't be for an important assignment, Shane only a Private, but then again, what if it was? After walking for about ten minutes they finally came upon what appeared to be a communications room of some sort. It looked almost like the bridge, but was much larger and didn't have all of the annoying little beeps. In the center of the room there was a sem-large square table. Seated at the far end of the table was yet another officer, only this one appeared to be much more decorated than the others. Shane watched and waited for the others to sit down before he took the last seat on the other end of the table. There was a moment of awkward silence as the officers whispered amongst themselves, sometimes they would back away from their conversation and glance at Shane for a brief moment, then go back to whispering. This was starting to get on Shane's nerves to say the least. What did they want with him? There had to be a reason. So, in order to get their attention, Shane faked a cough. This little scheme worked and all four officers turned towards Shane.
"Well, it appears that your savior, Mr. Douglas, is getting a little impatient," spoke what appeared to be the higher ranked officer.
"We did drag him through countless corridors without even telling him why we brought him here. Wouldn't that make you a bit impatient?" Captain Douglas replied in an attempt to back up Shane's case.
"I suppose your right," the higher officer stated, then continued, "well, down to business. I am Major Tom Andrews, the officer to the right of me is Captain Robert Schmit, the officer to the left of me is Captain Michael Bennett, and I'm sure you already know Captain John Douglas."
Shane nodded his greeting towards each one as he looked their faces over, making sure that he wouldn't forget them. Major Andrews appeared to be quite young for a Major. He hair had yet to turn gray, yet his face was greatly wrinkled from years of stress. Just by looking at him, Shane could see that he was as solid as steel and wasn't someone who would appear nervous at all. He also was a little on the heavy side, which was why he sat back a little ways from the table, allowing his stomach more room. Captain Robert Schmit was very slender and didn't seem much like someone who would rise up through ranks via battle. Shane guessed that he had received the title by either coming up with strategies or something of that sort. He also appeared to be very old, maybe in his late fifties, early sixties. That was an age that no very many soldiers in this war would reach. Captain Michael Bennett appeared to be the youth of this gathering. He was not very much older than Shane and had a little goatee on his chin. His hair was kind of messed up, as if he had just woken up or had never heard of a comb before. From what Shane could tell he always had a serious look on his face, never once grinning, or even trying to smile. Finally, it came down to Captain John Douglas. He was about average height, average weight, and about in his forties if not lower. He had a lit cigar in his mouth and was occasionally blowing smoke into the air. This man appeared to be the one that would try to lighten the others up, laughter wise. He seemed like someone who was almost there to deliver good news. Major Andrews cleared his throat suddenly and got Shane's attention almost immediately.
"Now, the reason that we have brought you here is that, according to Captain Douglas, your quite the soldier. He even went to the point of calling you a SPARTAN," they all laughed, all except Captain Douglas that is, "we all know that he was over exaggerating on a high level, but that is beside the point. Any Marine that would even make an officer compare them to our greatest soldiers ever created is defiantly someone who we should look into. We've also heard about your raid into the Covenant trenches this morning from the field commander. Also, you've seemed to rack up a decent record for a Marine, as well as a Private for that matter. For all of these reasons we have chosen you to lead a search and recovery mission."
"Search and recovery, sir?" Shane was shocked by this. He didn't have the experience or knowledge to lead a mission, "with all do respect, sir, I don't think that I am qualified enough."
"You wouldn't be questioning my judgement, Private, now would you?"
"No, sir! Not at all," Shane gulped quietly as he placed his hands on the arm rests of the chair and held on tightly. He began to sweat as he began to grow extremely nervous.
"Good, I didn't think so," Major Andrews stood up after saying those words, as did everyone else at the table, "I'll have one of the crewman lead you to your quarters and you will be briefed on your mission in exactly four hours. I'd suggest that you get some sleep. That will be all, Private, your dismissed."
Shane saluted the Major, then immediately left the room. He was met at the doorway by a crewman dressed in what looked like an orange jump suit of some kind. They simply met eyes and that was it before the crewman made his way down the corridor. Shane followed quietly, loosening his body armor as he walked to make it easier to take off once he got into his room. His room was only a few meters down the hallway from the communications room and the crewman opened the door for Shane. He slowly walked in and glanced around, before moving out of the way and watched as the crewman headed back to his post. Shane closed the door behind him and pulled his combat helmet off. Once he took it off he shook his head quickly, causing his brown hair to mess up slightly. He reached inside of his helmet and flipped a switch, causing the green screen over his left eye to turn off. Calmly he placed his helmet down on the table next to the door, then gradually pulled the rest of his armor off and placed in any random location. It felt good to be free of those heavy hunks of metal, yet he really didn't have much to complain about. Those hunks of metal had saved his hide plenty of times.
With a groan he extended his arms into the air and stretched out. Every bone in his body seemed to crack as he did this. Shane had been through a lot over the past few months. He had engaged in over twenty skirmished and had been involved in about three deciding battles. Sadly, each of the deciding battles were lost or sent into a draw long enough for the those Covenant bastards to get their fleet into attacking distance. Shane shook his head as he headed over to his bed, which for the first time wasn't a cot of some kind. He let out a sigh of relief as his body collapsed onto the soft mattress below. Immediately he situated himself on top of the bed and rested his head down on the pillow. His eyes weighed down almost instantly after he let out another sigh of relief. At the moment he couldn't even think about the mission that lied ahead or of the dangers that it might possess. In fact, he could barely remember that words that the Major had said at the moment. Oh well, he would have four hours to remember them, if he ever woke up. His mouth opened wide suddenly and he let out a powerful yawn, then moments later he drifted off into sleep.
Four hours went by quickly and he was awoken by the sound of a fist pounding on his door. He shot up into a sitting position and reached for the area where his pistol would normally be. He didn't find it and for a moment panicked before realizing that he was safe aboard a human vessel. Shane stood slowly, walked to the door, and opened it. He was met with a serious look from the crewman which had lead him to his room.
"You are wanted in the communications room in approximately ten minutes. These are direct orders from Major Andrews himself. I wouldn't be late if I were you."
With that the crewman left Shane's presence and allowed him to close the door. Four hours of sleep hadn't been enough in Shane's mind, but he really couldn't complain much. For the past month he was lucky to get an hour in without having to suit up for battle or be moved to a securer location. Now in a slightly groggy mood Shane stumbled around the room, first heading towards the sink and turning the nob on the faucet. Cold water streamed out of the nozzle and into the sink below. Shane cupped his hands underneath the following water, gathering some within his grasp, then splashed it against his face. The sudden rush kicked in all of his bodies nerves and his eyes opened wide. Now that he was awake he turned the water off and headed over to the table where the majority of his equipment was located. He worked his way up as he suited himself, starting at the feet and all the way up to his helmet. Before he placed his helmet on he flipped the little switch within it. The green screen turned on and numbers flashed before, followed by letters, then it went back to numbers. Last but not least Shane holstered his Pistol in its standard location, then latched his Assault Rifle onto his belt. Now that he was fully dressed Shane exited his room and made his way towards the communications room. He was in a light sprint almost all of the way there, trying to make up for lost time. Once he got there he was met with four serious faces.
"Glad to see you again, Phillips, I hope you enjoyed your rest," stated Captain Schmit.
"Now we get down to the most important thing at the moment, the mission," added Captain Bennett, "please, have a seat." Shane didn't hesitate as he took a seat in the exact same chair which he had used before. Everyone else also took a seat, everyone except Major Andrews that was, who stood up in front of the large radar screen.
"Here's the basic information that you need to know, Phillips. Four days ago one of our Capital-class warships, The Holy Chaos, was attacked and downed by a Covenant battle group no more than thirty minutes from out current location. Now, normally we would simply command that the ship either be abandoned or self destruct. However, we have recently discovered that the ship was holding information about the whereabouts of the Covenants main military facilities," the Major stopped to take in a breath and allowed Shane to gather in all of the information, "we are still not certain if it also holds the location of the Covenant home world or not. Not only does it hold information about that, but the A.I. and computer files on the ship also have information about our military strong holds and also the location of Earth. We need that A.I. and all files that contain information about the Covenant or ourselves. Failure is not an option." Shane nodded and rubbed his chin softly, before speaking up.
"Sir, if the ship crash landed four days ago, what makes you think that the Covenant don't already have the A.I. and the all of the files?"
"During those four days we have been able to keep contact with them via long distance communications. There are still some Marines left alive on that ship and they are holding off the Covenant at all costs. We need you to break through the Covenant lines, form a perimeter around the ship, collect the needed data, and get the hell out of there as fast as you can."
"Do the Covenant ground units have fleet support?" Questioned Shane.
"Indeed they do. At least twenty Capital ships, if not more."
"And what is going to stop them from bombarding the planet once we arrive?"
"We are going to stop them. Now, I know that our fleet hasn't been very dependable in previous battles, but for the past eight years we have been working on a new type of ship. One that closely resembles that of a Covenant, in firepower, maneuverability, and shields. We currently have over forty of those ships docked just outside of the system," A few images appeared on the radar screen and Major Andrews pointed them out, "on my command they will engage the Covenant ships, draw their fire, and allow this ship to sneak in, send drop ships down with a rough guess of a hundred Marines, then get the hell out of there. We are certain that our group will be able to destroy the Covenant armada currently stationed around the planet, but you will have only a few days to get out of there, for a heart beat away is yet another Covenant fleet. Our ships would not stand a chance against them."
There was a moment of hesitation as Shane pondered taking this mission. All eyes were on him now as he looked down at the table top, then up at the Major, "When do we leave?"
"Our fleet will be entering their system in about five minutes. You'll have ten minutes to get yourself situated with your squad, your weapons, and your map. We will be dumping you a good distance away from the ship, just so you don't run into any unwelcome guests upon arrival."
"Understood, sir."
Shane stood up and saluted the Major, who didn't salute back, just rather extended his hand towards him. Shane also extended his hand and grasped the Majors, shaking it. Once done with the good-byes Shane exited the communications room and headed towards the docking bay. For some reason he didn't feel worried or scared, in fact, he had an unexplainable excitement coursing through his veins. If he could retrieve the information, then the human race could gain the upper hand on the Covenant and turn the tide of war. Phillips grinned as he entered the docking bay and peered over the Marines which stood before him. Just as the Major had said, there was close to a hundred of them. Shane glanced around slowly, till he heard someone call his name and turned towards that location.
"Phillips, follow me please," spoke a crewman as he motioned towards Shane.
He didn't hesitate one bit as he made his way down a few steps and followed the crewman, who walked over to a table in the corner of the room. Upon the table laid what appeared to be a new set of armor. Shane blinked as he crewman asked him to take off his previous armor. He did just that and placed each piece onto the table next to the one he was currently at. The crewman ran a few simple tests on the pieces of armor. Such as checking them to make sure there wasn't any cracks and what not, basic technical procedure. Once he went through the brief examination he handed the armor to Shane and told him to put it on. Shane did just that and completely suited up in about a minute or two. The armor was much lighter than what he had worn before and it was a slightly different tint of color from the others. Everything else seemed to be about the same, except for a small box which was attached to the back of his helmet.
"I'm sure that you've already noticed the box on the back of your helmet. Well, if you do discover the ships A.I., then your going to have to use that to transport it in. The box is insulated with several crystal plates and it is connected directly to your vision and com-link connections. Also, via com-link, the A.I. will be able to translate the Covenant language. In doing this you can transmit it to everyone in your unit. Any questions?" Shane shook his head 'no', "Good. Now, we have picked four officers for you, all of which will be suited in the same armor that you are in now, A.I. box and all. This is just in case that your box has a malfunction, or you...well, you know."
Shane nodded and glanced around the room, searching around the room for armor that resembled his. He saw three of them right away, but the fourth was a little difficult to pick out. Then, he saw one of his officers in the far corner of the docking bay. A grin crossed his face and he chuckled to himself as he saw the familiar cheesy grin of Kohl Wallace who waved his Assault Rifle into the air. He too was going to be an officer on this mission, Shane was thankful for that. Kohl was an almost perfect shot and was a speedy little punk on top of that. Calmly Shane made his way into the crowd of Marines. Everyone that he passed stopped what they were doing and saluted him till he finally met with all of the officers near a drop ship. There was a brief introduction as the five of them exchanged hand shakes and names. One of the officers name was Alex Edwards, he was a few inches shorter than Shane, and appeared to be younger as well. Shane didn't know about his skills, but they must have been good for him to get assigned to this mission. The other two were named Eric Vicini and Seth Kramer. Both of them were about the same height and age. That was really the only distinct thing that he could tell apart from them, aside from hair color. Before they could say anything more than formal introductions, the Majors voice came on over the inner-com.
"All combat personnel assigned to mission Charlie Bomber report to your drop ships and prepare for immediate launch to the planets surface. We will be entering the system in thirty seconds."
Everyone scrambled to their drop ships and each one was filled up in a quick and orderly manner. Shane took seat in one of the five drop ships, while the other officers went in the others; one in each drop ship. Shane unlatched his Assault Rifle from his belt and placed it over his shoulder as he laid back in his seat. The door to the drop ship closed tightly as the ship shook slightly. Soon its engines ignited and it blasted off a prefer distance through space before it came in contact with the planets atmosphere. The tip of the drop ship glowed a bright, red color as it pushed its way through. Shane could hear the explosions going on all around him as the Advanced U.N.S.C fleet attacked the Covenant fleet from their blind spot and started battering them with everything they had. It didn't take long at all for the ship to land and the doors to open. Marines flooded out of the drop ships and set foot the new ground, then watched as the drop ships, their only way back to the ship, vanished into the sky.