Disclaimer: Halo and Digimon are not my property, they are the respective
properties of Bungie/Microsoft and Toei games
Welcome to this wonderful crossover and thanks in advance for reading. Join me as I tell this "What-if" tale defining "What-if" There was something different written on that "stone" Cortana used for coordinates in "Halo The Fall Of Reach." What if there was no Halo but rather coordinates to a dimension where digital leftovers have a life, consciousness, and maybe even a soul of their own. That is why this is called an AU. All the characters from Halo: The Flood shall be here for the wildest ride yet.
Me: Welcome to Halo: Combat Digivolved, I am your host, Crow T R0bot!
????: And I'm his muse, those of you who've played Halo may know me as the Food-Nipple Grunt, but you can call me FNG!
????: And I'm his digimon counterpart, Floodmon!
Camera pans to a Lobomon sized humanoid digimon with a trident, a Greenish- black armored vest, tan pants similar to Lobomon's, and a head also kind of like Lobomon's only dragon-like with dark blue-black scales and tan rimmed lips and the mouth area shrouded in darkness by a partially closed jaw. It also has two shoulder pads that look like its head but with empty spaces where the eyes should be.
Me: Now that the introductions are out of the way...
FNG: Wait, aren't scripted prologues like this supposed to have something funny happen in them?
Floodmon: And aren't you gonna show my stats so people can know me better?
Me: Oooookaay... Let me think of what I can do that's funny...
FNG: Well stop thinking and use your brain!
Me: -_-
FNG: What?
Me: Let's just say you did that Job for me.
FNG:!?
Floodmon: HEEELLLLOOO!!! Have you forgotten me already
Me:.......
Floodmon
Wierdly phrased summary
Contrary to digimon folklore it is Floodmon, not Dragomon who is the true master of the sea. No matter how big and strong the ship you're on, you'll always be at his mercy.
Type: Data
Stage: Ultimate
Attacks: Poseidon's Tsunami, Merciless whirlpool, High Trident
Floodmon: Much better, but was that summary really necessary?
Me: Yes.
Floodmon: (grumbles)
Me: Well I wasted a page and a half of this prologue already, I'd guess I'd better write something plot related now.
FNG: And don't forget to momentai!
Me: People say that so much, it's lost all meaning...
FNG: Give me a Food-Nipple and it won't happen again.
Me: (Sighs, then throws FNG a food-nipple)
FNG: YAAAAYYY!!! (huggles food-nipple, then eats/drinks/consumes food- nipple)
Me:...Now to start for real...
Note: While this is a digimon/Halo crossover, there will be very little digimon related stuff in this chapter. But I promise that will change later. And just as a reminder, this will be in the 04 universe.
0059 Hours September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)/ UNSC Cruiser Pillar Of Autumn Location unknown
Captain Jacob Keyes was taking a long cold sip from the Drinking fountain in Cryo chamber 1. After about 2 weeks in Slipstream space, a record for slipstream travel he had finally awoken from Cryo freeze. He felt hungry and dehydrated, but no one could blame him. After all, no one wants to swallow that gunk that forms in your throat during cryo-sleep, no matter how nutritious it is, so he just spat it out on the deck as soon as the tube opened.
After what seemed like an hour of drinking, Keyes had a certain objective to cover. He had to go to the bridge to see why Cortana had to wake him up so early, they wouldn't be leaving slipstream space for less than an hour, while Cortana was told not to awaken him for another 20 minutes. Whatever the hell was so important, he was prompted to investigate. He felt unusually energetic for his age, probably for being frozen so long, so rather than walk to the bridge, he chose running.
The ship's halls were ghostly quiet. Not a single soul was in sight, the Captain seemed to have the ship all to himself. Of course, there were about half a dozen men that were trying to repair the ship's Magnetic Accelerator Cannon or "MAC" gun and other odds and ends, but Keyes didn't run into any of them on his brief sprint to the bridge.
The bridge was no different from the rest of the ship, it was deathly quiet and the darkness of space made it all the more eerie. 'Wait a minute, weren't we supposed to leave slipstream space twenty minutes from now?' Thought Keyes noticing they were in real space.
Keyes felt this reminded him of something of his childhood. During his teenage years, he was a fan of "classic" literature, movies, and especially electronic games that could also be considered "classic" since they dated back to the late twentieth/early twenty-first centuries. One game that reminded him the sensation he felt on this ship since leaving the Cryo tube, which he couldn't remember the title of, was about a man that arrived in a ghost town devoid of life. The character would explore town chasing an apparition he thinks is his daughter, but after a minute of fruitless searching, sirens would sound, the town would go pitch black and out of the woodwork, imps with daggers would try to stab him to death and...
Keyes shook off the memory and went to the command area where a transparent screen held in place by a control panel and the ceiling. The screen was completely empty at the moment since the entire command crew was in cold storage at the time. Now was the time to start it up or else the Captain wouldn't be able to ask Cortana what the hell he was up so early for.
He went through the standard procedure like everyone else, stating his name and serial number, voice analysis, and strangely, a breath test to see if he had been drinking, since UNSC regulations forbade the Command crew on any ship to consume even a molecule of alcohol. Finally came the retinal scan and a sort of "agreement" with the computer, as much as Keyes and every crewmember in the Navy hated this part there was no bypassing it, the retinal scanner would track his eye movements to make sure he read every letter and punctuation mark of it.
The Cole Protocol
To safeguard the Inner Colonies and Earth, all UNSC vessels or stations must not be captured with intact navigation databases that may lead Covenant forces to human civilian population centers.
If ANY Covenant forces are detected:
1. Activate selective purge of databases on all ship-based and planetary data networks.
2. Initiate triple-screen check to ensure all data has been erased and all backups neutralized.
3. Execute viral data scavengers. (Download from )
4. If retreating from Covenant forces, all ships must enter Slipstream space with randomized vectors NOT directed toward Earth, Inner Colonies, or any other human population center.
5. In case of imminent capture by Covenant forces, all UNSC ships MUST self- destruct.
Violation of this directive will be considered an act of TREASON, and pursuant to UNSC Military Law Articles JAG 845-p and JAG 7556-L, such violations are punishable by LIFE IMPRISONMENT or EXECUTION.
Keyes lifted his head off the scanner and thought deeply of what the protocol had to say. It had been two weeks earlier when "They" came to Reach. They seemed quite prepared to fight since this time they sent 314 ships to Reach alone, more than any previous engagement. Even though there was a plethora of 150 ships, and 25 Orbital "Super-MAC" guns. They managed to whittle it down to less than a dozen ships by the time they began to glass the planet. He had seen the remaining handful attempt to make slipstream jumps, but as far as he was concerned, the sole survivors of that awful ambush were on HIS ship.
To make matters worse, the intelligence spooks at The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) had calculated that the Covenant would glass the last of the Inner Colonies within a year tops, before they found Earth...
...That assumed Reach wasn't destroyed.
"Captain?" Said a disembodied woman's voice.
Keyes shook himself out of his daydream and responded to the voice.
"Cortana, what's the meaning of this, we're still in our jump and wasn't supposed to be awoken yet, what's with the early wake-up call?"
Before the voice formulated a reply, a foot-tall holographic female figure phased into existence on a pedestal like object next to the view screen. It, or rather she was a cross collection of jagged lines and a "river" of zeroes and ones flowing from her feet to her head.
"Sorry for the rude awakening Captain, but I needed you and your friends on the command deck, they'll be here shortly. It's not clear to me, but it might be an emergency." Said the A.I. Cortana.
"Might be? Cortana what exactly happened?"
"I was dormant at the moment, but I picked up an anomaly on the spectroscopic scanners, It was inconclusive but I found out it was some sort of energy field."
"Your point Cortana?"
"I wouldn't have worried about it except for the fact that is was right in our path, we were sucked right through!"
"WHAT!"
It pulled the ship in and spat us back out right at our destination"
"Are there any problems? Any system malfunctions?"
The A.I. shook her head to Keyes' relief. "Negative Captain, although I am getting light interference from just about every direction."
Keyes seemed a bit nervous again
"I don't get it Captain, the Spectroscopic analyzer has it the worst. It seems to be showing Oxygen levels High enough to support human life outside the ship!" Cortana continued.
Keyes thought Cortana's 7-year lifespan was drawing to a close. "Smart" A.I.'s had a short while to live for technical reasons, but then Keyes remembered Cortana was only a year old. What the hell was going on outside the Pillar Of Autumn?
"Sir, I've pinpointed the source of the interference! Over there" Cortana shouted pointing out of the ship's viewport.
Keyes was stunned to say the least "Cortana... Where the hell did we go?"
From the ship's viewport, The Captain could see a planet that he had first thought was Earth... Until he noticed there were holes that were most certainly tens of thousands of miles wide. It still seemed to be "alive" since there was Greenery and Ocean Water that strangely didn't fall in to fill up the holes. Orbiting the planet were 3 moons. A Blue-gray one, a Reddish purple one, and a greenish yellow one. They were all the same size. Wherever Keyes went, there was no way in hell it was Earth.
"It doesn't stop there Captain." Said another female voice.
Keyes turned around and gave a seemingly unsurprised gaze followed by a very surprised gasp. Standing before Captain Keyes was a familiar emerald armored demon he thought had perished at Reach only two weeks earlier, the only other SPARTAN-II on the ship.
...And it was NOT The Master Chief ...
Deep in the center of a Covenant destroyer laid the well-protected control room where the Ship Master Orna 'Fulsamee was listening to the shipboard prophet, or rather his obnoxious speaker-at least to 'Fulsamee-, a fellow Elite named Bako 'Ikaporamee. What pissed off 'Fulsamee the most was that he used "we" instead of "The Prophet" to address the said Prophet's sayings. The Prophet, for those of you who don't know, is a reptilian creature that wears a red over robe, a gold under robe, a gravity belt that suspends him in mid-air, and a tall metal headpiece encrusted with amber and gemstones.
"What is the meaning of this? Where did these interlopers come from?" Barked 'Fulsamee, making sure he made it clear to the prophet that the comment wasn't directed toward him. "Exalted, Do you propose any theories?"
The creature whispered into 'Ikaporamee's ear and with a sigh, 'Ikaporamee answered the Bewildered Ship Master's question.
"We have reason to believe that the vermin's ship entered this world by accident, but we are also too suspicious of that being a coincidence, but since the ship has arrived so soon, we only have only so much time to draw theories of it's arrival."
'And just when we were to start cleaning this world of the filth they've already deposited into it.' thought 'Fulsamee.
"We don't want to risk harming anything that might identify what we and the ancient ones have contributed to this world, so a traditional ship-to-ship engagement is out of the question."
'Fulsamee grunted in frustration, trying to stifle it as not to disrespect the Prophet, just showing anger to 'Ikaporamee was rude. He fought to calmly get his next sentence out.
"So what is your recommendation for the course of action?"
"We know this is perhaps our most prime opportunity to finish the war. What we mean is board the vessel, blast it's inhabitants to nothingness, seize its damned artificial intelligence, and bring it on board to find out where the vermin's remaining dwellings reside."
'Fulsamee did not enjoy the sound of that, it seemed like a pretty picture on the outside: Board the ship, find the home world, and kill all the vermin that infest the bowels of the primitive construct. It seemed good enough.
However, there were drawbacks. All previous attempts to seize human ships went up into a fiery failure...
The humans detonated their ships when Covenant forces neared their poorly placed control rooms at the front of the ship, destroyed their AI's and navigational databases, and obviously fought back. Over 6,000 Grunts, Jackals, and Elites died this way. Hunters and Brutes had it easy though; they were deemed too large for boarding action. Aargh! He did it again! Thinking of the repugnant, grotesque titles the vile, malignant beasts had dared to give to his people and fellowships. Just the names they had given to their vehicles; Shades, Ghosts, Seraphs, Banshees, Wraiths, were enough to twist his stomach into so many knots.
"Ship Master 'Fulsamee?"
He was relieved for once by 'Ikaporamee's interruption of his thoughts.
"Very well then." He turned to the Prophet "Your advice shall be honored exalted. We'll have the interlopers roasted from their own armor. Those of our own who will perish will at least have the appropriate consolation of transcending the physical and into paradise for their heroic goals." He then turned to one of the holographic control panels and used it to issue an order to the destroyer's escort corvette (A/N: Corvettes are warships that are smaller than frigates, which in turn are smaller than destroyers). "Hold fire, do not engage hostile vessel, you must draw fire from it for my next plan."
'Fulsamee let go of the communicator and activated another one, one that would allow him to communicate with those in his own ship.
"All ship available warriors are to report to the nearest docking bay within 10 units! Activate all boarding based dropships and fighter craft! Prepare for boarding action!"
(Play "Shinra Inc Theme" From Final Fantasy VII soundtrack)
Within Seconds of The Ship Master's announcement, a flurry of Grunts, Elites, and a small number of Jackals flooded the destroyer's twin shuttle bays. Elites fought over who got to pilot the Banshee or Seraph in front of them, Disappointed Hunters and Brutes looked on as Lesser and Blessed alike boarded their boarding craft, and Grunts played Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who had to go to the front of the dropship where the risk of being shot to death was it's greatest. They wanted to delete the vile abominations on the planet below, but who needs data when you can look at the expression on a humans face frozen in place that doesn't crumble to data and fractal code when it dies? Nobody on board wanted to miss out on that.
End music ...
29 minutes and 55 seconds later...
Captain Keyes had a lot on his mind as the Pillar of Autumn drifted closer and closer still to the "holey" planet. Cortana had concluded the planet had the necessary benefits of drinkable water, an Oxygen-Nitrogen atmosphere, and therefore, possible existence of complex life forms. She also noticed that the ship's internal clock and electronic calendar were screwed up.
But the one thing that bugged him the most was how a clinically dead SPARTAN-II was revived in her own cryo-tube of all places. He knew Cryo- Tubes had limited healing capabilities but nothing like what he saw, the armor wasn't even out of shape like it had been before, but Linda the Spartan was in full working order as well. She should've at least have had the unpleasant side-effect of burning raw skin from not stripping naked before going into cryo-sleep first, but even that wasn't the case!
He had to brush those thoughts aside because the whole (surviving) crew had awakened and it seems that the Covenant had somehow made their presence in this world well before they did and He knew that they knew they were here.
Keyes knew there was no way out of this encounter alive, although the Port side of the Autumn had been completely unscathed despite the ambush at Reach. But the Starboard side could fool anyone into believing that the ship was already dead in space. The hull on that side was riddled with more than a dozen hull breaches lined with ashen black carbon scoring and burn marks the size of Frigates. There was only one Archer missile pod and six 9mm autocannons on that side of the ship that were still in perfect working condition. As if that weren't enough, the Autumn's most powerful weapon, the MAC cannon, was still under repair, it would take another 13 or 15 minutes before it would be ready to fire, and the Covenant could be coming in half that time.
"How much time Cortana?" asked Keyes.
"Until what sir?" responded the AI
"Until the Covenant arrive, I know they know we're here and they won't hesitate to pounce on us at first glance. How long until they get here?" He asked with a quivering sense of fear in his voice.
"Scanning..."
In three short seconds she paused and responded.
"There's two vessels in formation on the other side of the moon, a destroyer and Corvette, a total distance of 501,000 Kilometers. I'm detecting a large energy surge in their engine areas, there preparing a slipstream jump in our direction; they'll be here in precisely 232 seconds.
"What about the MAC cannon, we'll she be up in time?"
The AI shook her head. "Negative Captain, the cannon cannot come online for another 12 minutes and 54 seconds, they could be boarding us by then."
Keyes turned around, grim determination filling his voice. "Well that's it then, bring this ship back to combat alert Alpha! I want everyone at their stations."
"Everyone sir?"
"Everyone." He repeated before turning back to the Hologram "Including 'him'!" he commanded.
"Understood sir. I'm sending the order to Cryo two right now." She smiled.
In launch bay seven, a black man named Master Sergeant Avery Johnson took one last look at the docking bay as the ship's crew and fellow Jarheads prepared Pelicans and Fighters for liftoff...and cocking their guns for boarding action. He had gone below the causeway where the tank/jeep hangar was, and where his troops were chatting, saying prayers, and the like. But now was not the time, in 3 or four minutes, Covenant ships would pop up all around the Autumn and presumably take part in boarding action.
They'd have to abandon the ship and take their chances on the *&^$ed up looking planet below, but before that, they would have to play hell with the Covenant up in the last place they'd expect, up in the sky where Heaven should be.
"TEN HUT! GET YOUR FAT ASSES IN FORMATION BEFORE I MAKE YOU DANCE WITH OLD SPITFIRE! THAT'S AN ORDER!" He barked raising his assault rifle for emphasis.
One by one, in two separate rows, 12 Marines formed their own "hallway" in the corridor, which Sergeant Johnson, or "Sarge" as everyone called him walked in front of, he looked contently at the half of the squad he was familiar with, There was his sidekick, Lance Corporal Manuel Mendoza (I know he's referred to as a private by the book and the games ending credits, but in one cut scene, Sarge refers to him as "Corporal" several times.) Private First Class (PFC) Wallace Jenkins, PFC Vinni Bisenti (He needed a first name) and regular Private Chips Dubbo. He noticed everyone on the other side of the column were completely new to him. Oh well, they wore helmets, not caps, so he knew from the top of his head that none of them were Sergeants so they were his Grunts. After only a second of computing all this with his brain, he gave them his motivational speech while walking down the corridor of men.
"Men, we lead those dumb bugs out to the middle of nowhere to keep them from getting their FILTHY claws on Earth! But we stumbled on something they're so hot for, that they're SCRAMBLING over each other to get it! Well I don't care if it's God's home, an anti sonuva-bitch world, or a giant moldy milk-dud, WE'RE NOT GONNA LET THEM HAVE IT! What we will let them have, is a belly full of lead, and a pool of their own blood to drown in!"
The Marines weren't the only ones that had their confidence restored. Sarge himself had at first felt reluctant to fight the enemy after losing Reach, but now with his newfound confidence turned around and boomed his voice to his men.
"AM I RIGHT MARINES!?"
"SIR YES SIR!" Cheered the Marines.
With satisfaction, Sarge went back to his normal tone and looked back at his men.
"Mmm Hmm, damn right I am! Now move it out! Double Time."
Without trace of hesitance, the dead still Marines ran out of the hangar, raised their rifles, and aimed them with pride.
"All you Green horns who wanted to see Covenant up close... This is gonna be your lucky day!" Said Sarge as his men rushed on ahead.
"Hey!"
Sarge turned around to see another Marine with a Sergeant's cap and a brownish-red goatee, unlike Sarge, he was white, and had a small battle scar going diagonally from his mouth to the other side of his nose. From what Johnson could tell, he was a Sergeant Major, and therefore two ranks above Sarge, and the highest rank anyone in the Army or Marines could get without becoming a commissioned officer...
And he didn't appear to be in a good mood.
"Sir" Sarge saluted.
"Sergeant, boss your own men around! Half the people you threatened were MY men! We're Helljumpers y'know!" he said in a thick Texas accent.
Now Sarge knew better than to argue with ODST's, especially when they're two ranks above you, but he wasn't thinking about that. He was about to say 'Well excuse me for getting their hopes up!' when the White Sergeant smiled and said:
"But since I liked your speech so much, I'll let you get away with it."
He extended his hand in greeting. "Sergeant Major Mitchell Stacker of the 105th, and you?"
Sarge grinned and took the gesture. "Master Sergeant Avery Johnson, 93rd Marine Division! Enjoy looking at my face while it lasts! Cause one of us might not be around to see it again!"
End Chapter 1
Me: Well that's the opening for you, now I expect you to read this, and I want at least four or five reviews for this chapter alone because it takes me a while to do these.
FNG: Yeah, he's a slowpoke, plus school starts on August 27th.
Floodmon: It'll definitely take longer then.
Me: Well at least you don't have to worry about dragging your ass out of your home worlds once every week.
Floodmon: So I guess there is a plus side. Well, if anyone needs me I'll be showin' my hot bod of to the Mermaids in the Mediterranean and terrifying old seamen. (leaves)
FNG: And I have only 10 units of air left in my methane bladder, I'd better hustle back to my ship! (Leaves)
Me:...That was short... and humorless. Must have something to do with being new to these pre and post chapter skits. (Leaves............. then abruptly returns)
Me: By the way, Sergeant Stacker is the official name for Sarge's white counterpart. If you don't believe me, visit halo.bungie.org (note there's no www.) now I'm leaving.......Oh wait, I made up Stacker's first name cuz he didn't have one. Now I'm really leaving........... I mean it.....I'm really leaving...
Welcome to this wonderful crossover and thanks in advance for reading. Join me as I tell this "What-if" tale defining "What-if" There was something different written on that "stone" Cortana used for coordinates in "Halo The Fall Of Reach." What if there was no Halo but rather coordinates to a dimension where digital leftovers have a life, consciousness, and maybe even a soul of their own. That is why this is called an AU. All the characters from Halo: The Flood shall be here for the wildest ride yet.
Me: Welcome to Halo: Combat Digivolved, I am your host, Crow T R0bot!
????: And I'm his muse, those of you who've played Halo may know me as the Food-Nipple Grunt, but you can call me FNG!
????: And I'm his digimon counterpart, Floodmon!
Camera pans to a Lobomon sized humanoid digimon with a trident, a Greenish- black armored vest, tan pants similar to Lobomon's, and a head also kind of like Lobomon's only dragon-like with dark blue-black scales and tan rimmed lips and the mouth area shrouded in darkness by a partially closed jaw. It also has two shoulder pads that look like its head but with empty spaces where the eyes should be.
Me: Now that the introductions are out of the way...
FNG: Wait, aren't scripted prologues like this supposed to have something funny happen in them?
Floodmon: And aren't you gonna show my stats so people can know me better?
Me: Oooookaay... Let me think of what I can do that's funny...
FNG: Well stop thinking and use your brain!
Me: -_-
FNG: What?
Me: Let's just say you did that Job for me.
FNG:!?
Floodmon: HEEELLLLOOO!!! Have you forgotten me already
Me:.......
Floodmon
Wierdly phrased summary
Contrary to digimon folklore it is Floodmon, not Dragomon who is the true master of the sea. No matter how big and strong the ship you're on, you'll always be at his mercy.
Type: Data
Stage: Ultimate
Attacks: Poseidon's Tsunami, Merciless whirlpool, High Trident
Floodmon: Much better, but was that summary really necessary?
Me: Yes.
Floodmon: (grumbles)
Me: Well I wasted a page and a half of this prologue already, I'd guess I'd better write something plot related now.
FNG: And don't forget to momentai!
Me: People say that so much, it's lost all meaning...
FNG: Give me a Food-Nipple and it won't happen again.
Me: (Sighs, then throws FNG a food-nipple)
FNG: YAAAAYYY!!! (huggles food-nipple, then eats/drinks/consumes food- nipple)
Me:...Now to start for real...
Note: While this is a digimon/Halo crossover, there will be very little digimon related stuff in this chapter. But I promise that will change later. And just as a reminder, this will be in the 04 universe.
0059 Hours September 19, 2552 (Military Calendar)/ UNSC Cruiser Pillar Of Autumn Location unknown
Captain Jacob Keyes was taking a long cold sip from the Drinking fountain in Cryo chamber 1. After about 2 weeks in Slipstream space, a record for slipstream travel he had finally awoken from Cryo freeze. He felt hungry and dehydrated, but no one could blame him. After all, no one wants to swallow that gunk that forms in your throat during cryo-sleep, no matter how nutritious it is, so he just spat it out on the deck as soon as the tube opened.
After what seemed like an hour of drinking, Keyes had a certain objective to cover. He had to go to the bridge to see why Cortana had to wake him up so early, they wouldn't be leaving slipstream space for less than an hour, while Cortana was told not to awaken him for another 20 minutes. Whatever the hell was so important, he was prompted to investigate. He felt unusually energetic for his age, probably for being frozen so long, so rather than walk to the bridge, he chose running.
The ship's halls were ghostly quiet. Not a single soul was in sight, the Captain seemed to have the ship all to himself. Of course, there were about half a dozen men that were trying to repair the ship's Magnetic Accelerator Cannon or "MAC" gun and other odds and ends, but Keyes didn't run into any of them on his brief sprint to the bridge.
The bridge was no different from the rest of the ship, it was deathly quiet and the darkness of space made it all the more eerie. 'Wait a minute, weren't we supposed to leave slipstream space twenty minutes from now?' Thought Keyes noticing they were in real space.
Keyes felt this reminded him of something of his childhood. During his teenage years, he was a fan of "classic" literature, movies, and especially electronic games that could also be considered "classic" since they dated back to the late twentieth/early twenty-first centuries. One game that reminded him the sensation he felt on this ship since leaving the Cryo tube, which he couldn't remember the title of, was about a man that arrived in a ghost town devoid of life. The character would explore town chasing an apparition he thinks is his daughter, but after a minute of fruitless searching, sirens would sound, the town would go pitch black and out of the woodwork, imps with daggers would try to stab him to death and...
Keyes shook off the memory and went to the command area where a transparent screen held in place by a control panel and the ceiling. The screen was completely empty at the moment since the entire command crew was in cold storage at the time. Now was the time to start it up or else the Captain wouldn't be able to ask Cortana what the hell he was up so early for.
He went through the standard procedure like everyone else, stating his name and serial number, voice analysis, and strangely, a breath test to see if he had been drinking, since UNSC regulations forbade the Command crew on any ship to consume even a molecule of alcohol. Finally came the retinal scan and a sort of "agreement" with the computer, as much as Keyes and every crewmember in the Navy hated this part there was no bypassing it, the retinal scanner would track his eye movements to make sure he read every letter and punctuation mark of it.
The Cole Protocol
To safeguard the Inner Colonies and Earth, all UNSC vessels or stations must not be captured with intact navigation databases that may lead Covenant forces to human civilian population centers.
If ANY Covenant forces are detected:
1. Activate selective purge of databases on all ship-based and planetary data networks.
2. Initiate triple-screen check to ensure all data has been erased and all backups neutralized.
3. Execute viral data scavengers. (Download from )
4. If retreating from Covenant forces, all ships must enter Slipstream space with randomized vectors NOT directed toward Earth, Inner Colonies, or any other human population center.
5. In case of imminent capture by Covenant forces, all UNSC ships MUST self- destruct.
Violation of this directive will be considered an act of TREASON, and pursuant to UNSC Military Law Articles JAG 845-p and JAG 7556-L, such violations are punishable by LIFE IMPRISONMENT or EXECUTION.
Keyes lifted his head off the scanner and thought deeply of what the protocol had to say. It had been two weeks earlier when "They" came to Reach. They seemed quite prepared to fight since this time they sent 314 ships to Reach alone, more than any previous engagement. Even though there was a plethora of 150 ships, and 25 Orbital "Super-MAC" guns. They managed to whittle it down to less than a dozen ships by the time they began to glass the planet. He had seen the remaining handful attempt to make slipstream jumps, but as far as he was concerned, the sole survivors of that awful ambush were on HIS ship.
To make matters worse, the intelligence spooks at The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) had calculated that the Covenant would glass the last of the Inner Colonies within a year tops, before they found Earth...
...That assumed Reach wasn't destroyed.
"Captain?" Said a disembodied woman's voice.
Keyes shook himself out of his daydream and responded to the voice.
"Cortana, what's the meaning of this, we're still in our jump and wasn't supposed to be awoken yet, what's with the early wake-up call?"
Before the voice formulated a reply, a foot-tall holographic female figure phased into existence on a pedestal like object next to the view screen. It, or rather she was a cross collection of jagged lines and a "river" of zeroes and ones flowing from her feet to her head.
"Sorry for the rude awakening Captain, but I needed you and your friends on the command deck, they'll be here shortly. It's not clear to me, but it might be an emergency." Said the A.I. Cortana.
"Might be? Cortana what exactly happened?"
"I was dormant at the moment, but I picked up an anomaly on the spectroscopic scanners, It was inconclusive but I found out it was some sort of energy field."
"Your point Cortana?"
"I wouldn't have worried about it except for the fact that is was right in our path, we were sucked right through!"
"WHAT!"
It pulled the ship in and spat us back out right at our destination"
"Are there any problems? Any system malfunctions?"
The A.I. shook her head to Keyes' relief. "Negative Captain, although I am getting light interference from just about every direction."
Keyes seemed a bit nervous again
"I don't get it Captain, the Spectroscopic analyzer has it the worst. It seems to be showing Oxygen levels High enough to support human life outside the ship!" Cortana continued.
Keyes thought Cortana's 7-year lifespan was drawing to a close. "Smart" A.I.'s had a short while to live for technical reasons, but then Keyes remembered Cortana was only a year old. What the hell was going on outside the Pillar Of Autumn?
"Sir, I've pinpointed the source of the interference! Over there" Cortana shouted pointing out of the ship's viewport.
Keyes was stunned to say the least "Cortana... Where the hell did we go?"
From the ship's viewport, The Captain could see a planet that he had first thought was Earth... Until he noticed there were holes that were most certainly tens of thousands of miles wide. It still seemed to be "alive" since there was Greenery and Ocean Water that strangely didn't fall in to fill up the holes. Orbiting the planet were 3 moons. A Blue-gray one, a Reddish purple one, and a greenish yellow one. They were all the same size. Wherever Keyes went, there was no way in hell it was Earth.
"It doesn't stop there Captain." Said another female voice.
Keyes turned around and gave a seemingly unsurprised gaze followed by a very surprised gasp. Standing before Captain Keyes was a familiar emerald armored demon he thought had perished at Reach only two weeks earlier, the only other SPARTAN-II on the ship.
...And it was NOT The Master Chief ...
Deep in the center of a Covenant destroyer laid the well-protected control room where the Ship Master Orna 'Fulsamee was listening to the shipboard prophet, or rather his obnoxious speaker-at least to 'Fulsamee-, a fellow Elite named Bako 'Ikaporamee. What pissed off 'Fulsamee the most was that he used "we" instead of "The Prophet" to address the said Prophet's sayings. The Prophet, for those of you who don't know, is a reptilian creature that wears a red over robe, a gold under robe, a gravity belt that suspends him in mid-air, and a tall metal headpiece encrusted with amber and gemstones.
"What is the meaning of this? Where did these interlopers come from?" Barked 'Fulsamee, making sure he made it clear to the prophet that the comment wasn't directed toward him. "Exalted, Do you propose any theories?"
The creature whispered into 'Ikaporamee's ear and with a sigh, 'Ikaporamee answered the Bewildered Ship Master's question.
"We have reason to believe that the vermin's ship entered this world by accident, but we are also too suspicious of that being a coincidence, but since the ship has arrived so soon, we only have only so much time to draw theories of it's arrival."
'And just when we were to start cleaning this world of the filth they've already deposited into it.' thought 'Fulsamee.
"We don't want to risk harming anything that might identify what we and the ancient ones have contributed to this world, so a traditional ship-to-ship engagement is out of the question."
'Fulsamee grunted in frustration, trying to stifle it as not to disrespect the Prophet, just showing anger to 'Ikaporamee was rude. He fought to calmly get his next sentence out.
"So what is your recommendation for the course of action?"
"We know this is perhaps our most prime opportunity to finish the war. What we mean is board the vessel, blast it's inhabitants to nothingness, seize its damned artificial intelligence, and bring it on board to find out where the vermin's remaining dwellings reside."
'Fulsamee did not enjoy the sound of that, it seemed like a pretty picture on the outside: Board the ship, find the home world, and kill all the vermin that infest the bowels of the primitive construct. It seemed good enough.
However, there were drawbacks. All previous attempts to seize human ships went up into a fiery failure...
The humans detonated their ships when Covenant forces neared their poorly placed control rooms at the front of the ship, destroyed their AI's and navigational databases, and obviously fought back. Over 6,000 Grunts, Jackals, and Elites died this way. Hunters and Brutes had it easy though; they were deemed too large for boarding action. Aargh! He did it again! Thinking of the repugnant, grotesque titles the vile, malignant beasts had dared to give to his people and fellowships. Just the names they had given to their vehicles; Shades, Ghosts, Seraphs, Banshees, Wraiths, were enough to twist his stomach into so many knots.
"Ship Master 'Fulsamee?"
He was relieved for once by 'Ikaporamee's interruption of his thoughts.
"Very well then." He turned to the Prophet "Your advice shall be honored exalted. We'll have the interlopers roasted from their own armor. Those of our own who will perish will at least have the appropriate consolation of transcending the physical and into paradise for their heroic goals." He then turned to one of the holographic control panels and used it to issue an order to the destroyer's escort corvette (A/N: Corvettes are warships that are smaller than frigates, which in turn are smaller than destroyers). "Hold fire, do not engage hostile vessel, you must draw fire from it for my next plan."
'Fulsamee let go of the communicator and activated another one, one that would allow him to communicate with those in his own ship.
"All ship available warriors are to report to the nearest docking bay within 10 units! Activate all boarding based dropships and fighter craft! Prepare for boarding action!"
(Play "Shinra Inc Theme" From Final Fantasy VII soundtrack)
Within Seconds of The Ship Master's announcement, a flurry of Grunts, Elites, and a small number of Jackals flooded the destroyer's twin shuttle bays. Elites fought over who got to pilot the Banshee or Seraph in front of them, Disappointed Hunters and Brutes looked on as Lesser and Blessed alike boarded their boarding craft, and Grunts played Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who had to go to the front of the dropship where the risk of being shot to death was it's greatest. They wanted to delete the vile abominations on the planet below, but who needs data when you can look at the expression on a humans face frozen in place that doesn't crumble to data and fractal code when it dies? Nobody on board wanted to miss out on that.
End music ...
29 minutes and 55 seconds later...
Captain Keyes had a lot on his mind as the Pillar of Autumn drifted closer and closer still to the "holey" planet. Cortana had concluded the planet had the necessary benefits of drinkable water, an Oxygen-Nitrogen atmosphere, and therefore, possible existence of complex life forms. She also noticed that the ship's internal clock and electronic calendar were screwed up.
But the one thing that bugged him the most was how a clinically dead SPARTAN-II was revived in her own cryo-tube of all places. He knew Cryo- Tubes had limited healing capabilities but nothing like what he saw, the armor wasn't even out of shape like it had been before, but Linda the Spartan was in full working order as well. She should've at least have had the unpleasant side-effect of burning raw skin from not stripping naked before going into cryo-sleep first, but even that wasn't the case!
He had to brush those thoughts aside because the whole (surviving) crew had awakened and it seems that the Covenant had somehow made their presence in this world well before they did and He knew that they knew they were here.
Keyes knew there was no way out of this encounter alive, although the Port side of the Autumn had been completely unscathed despite the ambush at Reach. But the Starboard side could fool anyone into believing that the ship was already dead in space. The hull on that side was riddled with more than a dozen hull breaches lined with ashen black carbon scoring and burn marks the size of Frigates. There was only one Archer missile pod and six 9mm autocannons on that side of the ship that were still in perfect working condition. As if that weren't enough, the Autumn's most powerful weapon, the MAC cannon, was still under repair, it would take another 13 or 15 minutes before it would be ready to fire, and the Covenant could be coming in half that time.
"How much time Cortana?" asked Keyes.
"Until what sir?" responded the AI
"Until the Covenant arrive, I know they know we're here and they won't hesitate to pounce on us at first glance. How long until they get here?" He asked with a quivering sense of fear in his voice.
"Scanning..."
In three short seconds she paused and responded.
"There's two vessels in formation on the other side of the moon, a destroyer and Corvette, a total distance of 501,000 Kilometers. I'm detecting a large energy surge in their engine areas, there preparing a slipstream jump in our direction; they'll be here in precisely 232 seconds.
"What about the MAC cannon, we'll she be up in time?"
The AI shook her head. "Negative Captain, the cannon cannot come online for another 12 minutes and 54 seconds, they could be boarding us by then."
Keyes turned around, grim determination filling his voice. "Well that's it then, bring this ship back to combat alert Alpha! I want everyone at their stations."
"Everyone sir?"
"Everyone." He repeated before turning back to the Hologram "Including 'him'!" he commanded.
"Understood sir. I'm sending the order to Cryo two right now." She smiled.
In launch bay seven, a black man named Master Sergeant Avery Johnson took one last look at the docking bay as the ship's crew and fellow Jarheads prepared Pelicans and Fighters for liftoff...and cocking their guns for boarding action. He had gone below the causeway where the tank/jeep hangar was, and where his troops were chatting, saying prayers, and the like. But now was not the time, in 3 or four minutes, Covenant ships would pop up all around the Autumn and presumably take part in boarding action.
They'd have to abandon the ship and take their chances on the *&^$ed up looking planet below, but before that, they would have to play hell with the Covenant up in the last place they'd expect, up in the sky where Heaven should be.
"TEN HUT! GET YOUR FAT ASSES IN FORMATION BEFORE I MAKE YOU DANCE WITH OLD SPITFIRE! THAT'S AN ORDER!" He barked raising his assault rifle for emphasis.
One by one, in two separate rows, 12 Marines formed their own "hallway" in the corridor, which Sergeant Johnson, or "Sarge" as everyone called him walked in front of, he looked contently at the half of the squad he was familiar with, There was his sidekick, Lance Corporal Manuel Mendoza (I know he's referred to as a private by the book and the games ending credits, but in one cut scene, Sarge refers to him as "Corporal" several times.) Private First Class (PFC) Wallace Jenkins, PFC Vinni Bisenti (He needed a first name) and regular Private Chips Dubbo. He noticed everyone on the other side of the column were completely new to him. Oh well, they wore helmets, not caps, so he knew from the top of his head that none of them were Sergeants so they were his Grunts. After only a second of computing all this with his brain, he gave them his motivational speech while walking down the corridor of men.
"Men, we lead those dumb bugs out to the middle of nowhere to keep them from getting their FILTHY claws on Earth! But we stumbled on something they're so hot for, that they're SCRAMBLING over each other to get it! Well I don't care if it's God's home, an anti sonuva-bitch world, or a giant moldy milk-dud, WE'RE NOT GONNA LET THEM HAVE IT! What we will let them have, is a belly full of lead, and a pool of their own blood to drown in!"
The Marines weren't the only ones that had their confidence restored. Sarge himself had at first felt reluctant to fight the enemy after losing Reach, but now with his newfound confidence turned around and boomed his voice to his men.
"AM I RIGHT MARINES!?"
"SIR YES SIR!" Cheered the Marines.
With satisfaction, Sarge went back to his normal tone and looked back at his men.
"Mmm Hmm, damn right I am! Now move it out! Double Time."
Without trace of hesitance, the dead still Marines ran out of the hangar, raised their rifles, and aimed them with pride.
"All you Green horns who wanted to see Covenant up close... This is gonna be your lucky day!" Said Sarge as his men rushed on ahead.
"Hey!"
Sarge turned around to see another Marine with a Sergeant's cap and a brownish-red goatee, unlike Sarge, he was white, and had a small battle scar going diagonally from his mouth to the other side of his nose. From what Johnson could tell, he was a Sergeant Major, and therefore two ranks above Sarge, and the highest rank anyone in the Army or Marines could get without becoming a commissioned officer...
And he didn't appear to be in a good mood.
"Sir" Sarge saluted.
"Sergeant, boss your own men around! Half the people you threatened were MY men! We're Helljumpers y'know!" he said in a thick Texas accent.
Now Sarge knew better than to argue with ODST's, especially when they're two ranks above you, but he wasn't thinking about that. He was about to say 'Well excuse me for getting their hopes up!' when the White Sergeant smiled and said:
"But since I liked your speech so much, I'll let you get away with it."
He extended his hand in greeting. "Sergeant Major Mitchell Stacker of the 105th, and you?"
Sarge grinned and took the gesture. "Master Sergeant Avery Johnson, 93rd Marine Division! Enjoy looking at my face while it lasts! Cause one of us might not be around to see it again!"
End Chapter 1
Me: Well that's the opening for you, now I expect you to read this, and I want at least four or five reviews for this chapter alone because it takes me a while to do these.
FNG: Yeah, he's a slowpoke, plus school starts on August 27th.
Floodmon: It'll definitely take longer then.
Me: Well at least you don't have to worry about dragging your ass out of your home worlds once every week.
Floodmon: So I guess there is a plus side. Well, if anyone needs me I'll be showin' my hot bod of to the Mermaids in the Mediterranean and terrifying old seamen. (leaves)
FNG: And I have only 10 units of air left in my methane bladder, I'd better hustle back to my ship! (Leaves)
Me:...That was short... and humorless. Must have something to do with being new to these pre and post chapter skits. (Leaves............. then abruptly returns)
Me: By the way, Sergeant Stacker is the official name for Sarge's white counterpart. If you don't believe me, visit halo.bungie.org (note there's no www.) now I'm leaving.......Oh wait, I made up Stacker's first name cuz he didn't have one. Now I'm really leaving........... I mean it.....I'm really leaving...