Assault on the Control Room
"This is as far as I can go." Said the pilot of the Black Raven pelican. "You'll have to walk to the control room from here."
The pelican lowered to the jungle floor and hovered there for the marines to jump off.
"Stand by for evac just in case anything goes wrong." Lieutenant Jackson ordered.
"Yes sir." Replied the pilot.
The Spartan hopped off onto the marshy ground. The floor of the jungle was covered in a thick mist and the trees above were so thick and overgrown that they blocked out any hint of sunlight.
"Okay, there should be an entrance to an installation about two hundred meters from our position." Sheeda said. "I'll mark it with a nav point."
An orange triangle appeared on his visor. It had the number 213 above it to mark how many meters away they were. He began walking through the fog and foliage.
"Move it up Smith." Ordered Jackson.
The marine ran in front of the Spartan holding his shotgun out in front of him.
"Brown, go."
The marine kept his flamethrower ready as he followed the first marine.
"Jones your next."
He lowered his rocket propelled grenade launcher and ran after Brown.
"Mathews, go on up."
The marine held his sniper rifle firmly as he went through the fog after his comrade.
"Anderson, you know what to do."
"Yes sir." The marine held his dual pistols out as he followed.
The Spartan stopped and waited. The Lieutenant and the other four marines halted behind him. After a second Smith called back and told the Lieutenant to come take a look.
The Spartan followed the Lieutenant over to where Smith and the other marines were gathered. They were all crouched down behind a large fern off to the side of a cliff. The Spartan knelt down beside him.
"One plasma turrent, two jackals on watch, two grunts, and an elite." Smith pointed out toward the end of the short canyon.
"Alright, Jones I want you to take out that turrent. Then I want Anderson to kill those jackals. Then once their down, Brown and Smith can go in and take care of the rest of them. Mathews, provide cover. No go."
"You got it, Lieutenant." Said Jones.
The marine jumped out of the bushes and fired a grenade at the turrent. The rocket hit directly under and sent it blasting into the air. Anderson then came up and fired at the jackals before they could raise their shields. Brown and Smith ran down toward the remaining covenant. Brown fried the two grunts and Smith fired at the elite and took out its shield. He fired a second time and dropped his opponent.
"Well done Lieutenant." Said the Spartan.
"Thank you sir."
The marines formed up again and began walking. Then after about ten minutes, they reached the installation's entrance.
"Let's go marines!" Yelled Jackson.
The Spartan led the way as they entered a door and went down the hallway. It led into a circular room with a round hallway going around it. The center had a deep trench going down the middle and it had two bridges going across. The covenant had set up portable plasma shields around the other end.
The Spartan's shotgun jerked into the air and a grunt fell to the ground. Smith came in after him and dropped another. Mathews fired a shot and killed an elite with one shot of his sniper rifle.
Jackson threw a frag grenade and killed two jackals at the other end of the room. An elite came up and fired his needler at one of the other marines. The marine rolled to the side and dodged the shots. He then got up and fired his assault rifle until the elite lay motionless on the ground.
Brown ran across the bridge and caught a grunt on fire. It ran a few feet and collapsed. He then pulled and held the trigger again, frying an elite.
"Clear!" Smith said.
"Brown?" Asked Lieutenant Jackson.
"Clear!" Brown replied.
"You monkeys almost looked like soldiers out there." Jackson said.
"We should keep moving." Said the Spartan.
"Yes sir. You heard the Colonel, let's go!"
The marines regrouped and went through the door at the other end of the room. They walked through the hallway and came to another room of the same design. An elite was walking in front of the doorway. It spotted the marines and let off a few round of its plasma rifle.
The Spartan fired his shotgun and took out its shields. Smith fired a second shot and killed it. Four jackals came running out of the center of the room from behind a wall. Mathews took out the first one. The tracer shot went through the jackal and hit the wall behind it.
The Spartan fired, but none of the bullets penetrated the jackal's shield. Anderson came up and began pulling both triggers on his pistols. One jackal fell. Then came Jones. He fired a grenade at the two remaining jackals. The rocket hit at their feet and sent them flying through the air.
"I'll go around this way," The Spartan said pointing down the hall to his left he then pointed to his right. "And you go around that way."
"You got it sir. Okay marines, follow me!" The lieutenant ordered.
The Spartan went down the left hall and his comrades went down the right. A platform ran above him where a grunt was waiting with a plasma pistol. The Spartan blasted off of the landing with his shotgun.
He walked a few more feet when two jackals appeared. He threw a plasma grenade. It landed in between them. One rolled to the side and the other turned around and jumped. The grenade exploded and lit up the walls with a blue flash. Both jackals were killed.
The Spartan came around and saw the next door. He watched as Smith unloaded a shell into the elite's chest.
"See, they're not so tough." Said Smith putting more shells into his shotgun.
The Spartan did the same. They walked through the hallway and out the other door. They found themselves atop a long bridge. In front of the door was a wall. To the sides of them were plasma turrents. Two grunts slept on the floor next to them. The Spartan walked over and cracked one in the head. The Lieutenant took care of the other one.
The bridge had two strips of glass going down the middle of each side until it reached the second wall. Ramps were on both sides of the bridge leading down to a bottom floor.
"Stay here." The Spartan ordered.
"Yes sir." Replied the Lieutenant.
The bridge was held in between two steep cliffs. The jungle lay far below. If he were to fall, he wouldn't be getting back up. He walked across the glass floor. His tank-like feet made a clunking noise every time he stepped.
He crouched and inched forward. He made it to the wall and poked his head up for a peek. A jackal was doing a patrol route and was heading toward him. He ducked back down and kept an eye on the motion tracker. The jackal stopped at the wall then turned around and began walking the other way. The Spartan stood and came up behind the jackal. He then took his shotgun and smashed the creature's skull.
Another jackal came around the second wall and saw the Spartan standing above his fallen comrade. The Spartan threw a plasma grenade on the jackal's chest. It ran around for a few seconds before the grenade exploded. He could then hear the cries of grunts and elites up ahead.
"Come on marines!" Shouted the Spartan motioning his hand for them to come.
"Let's move!" Said the Lieutenant coming out from behind the wall.
The marines followed Jackson to the Spartan's position. They then went around the second wall and found four grunts running toward them. Mathews took out two in one shot. Smith killed another and the Lieutenant got the last. Two jackals then came up from another set of ramps on either side of them. Anderson gunned one down easily enough with his pistols and the Spartan fired his shotgun at the other. The blasts hit its shield. It then rolled to the side and as it did so, he fired another shot to kill it.
They walked around the third wall and began firing at the two elites, four grunts, and one jackal. A marine threw a frag grenade at the jackal. The grenade exploded and the jackal's body was sent flying off the bridge. Jones came up and fired a grenade at the elites. One's shield went down and the other's was weakened. The Spartan fired and dropped the elite without a shield.
Brown ran past the remaining elite and shot a large flame at two of the grunts. They both fell to the ground with their bodies still aflame. Mathews shot and killed the remaining elite. The bullet tore through the right part of its chest causing it to violently spin to the ground. Anderson put a bullet through one of the grunt's heads. Another marine fired his assault rifle and blasted the last grunt to the ground.
The marines went around the fourth wall and through the door that led into the other cliff. They made it through the hallway and ended up in another circular room. Covenant awaited them.
"Wort, wort, wort!" Yelled an elite pointing to the group of humans.
"Get 'em marines!" Ordered the Lieutenant firing his assault rifle at the elite.
Two grunts came from the right hallway and three jackals came from the left hallway. Jones fired his grenade launcher and blew the jackals to bits. The Spartan rushed the elite and pressed his shotgun up against its chest. He fired and the elite fell over as a crippled corpse. A marine shot down one grunt with his assault rifle. Anderson dropped the other one.
Smith ran forward into the middle of the room. More grunts and jackals were on the other side. He gunned down a grunt, cocked his weapon and fired again. The pellets hit a jackal's shield and ricocheted in every direction. The Spartan came up next to Smith and threw a frag grenade.
It landed and bounced. It exploded and killed the jackal and a grunt. Jones fired another grenade and killed another jackal. Then an elite came out from behind a corner. The other marines came up to join the Spartan and Smith. All of the marine's weapons exploded and the elite dropped to the ground before it could even fire a shot.
The next door was in front of them. They walked down the hallway and it turned and came to another long hallway. Pillars lined the left side and a small dip went down to another piece of the walkway. A jackal stood at the far end. Jones fired his grenade launcher and blew the jackal back ten feet.
A grunt crawled out from behind a pillar and fired. A shot hit the Spartan and his shield went up in a yellow flash. It was a slippery feeling and he could feel it sliding down. He cocked and fired. The grunt sprayed blood as he fell to the floor. Smith and the Lieutenant went down onto the other side of the pillars.
The Spartan could see the muzzle flashes of their guns on the walls. An elite came out from the pillars and the Spartan fired. Its shield went down and Anderson filled the creature full of bullets from his pistols. The marines moved forward. A jackal went running and Mathews was there to shot it down.
"Whooohooo!" Yelled Mathews.
"Nice shot, man." Said a marine.
At the end of the hallway, Smith and Jackson came out and rejoined their comrades. The hallway turned again. They walked down that hallway and went through the door at the end. It was another circular room only there wasn't a left hallway. The Spartan began walking. The door was around the corner. There was a window to his left. He looked through and saw an elite. It spotted him and began firing its plasma rifle. The glass shattered and fell to the ground with a crash. The Spartan fired back. His shot did little damage. He ducked and rolled to his right. He stood and walked around the wall were the elite stood. He cocked and fired. The elite flinched as his shields went down. The Colonel cocked again and fired. The elite let out a cry and fell on its back.
The group of men came toward the door. It hissed and opened. Six grunts came rushing out with their weapons blasting. Two marines fell to the ground.
"You'll pay for that!" Yelled the Lieutenant.
The Spartan fired and blew a grunt over. Anderson shot down two more. A marine threw a grenade and killed the last three. The marines then went down the hall and found themselves at an elevator. All the marines hopped on and the Spartan pressed a button on the controls. It started down. After a few seconds the elevator reached the bottom. The marines walked through the door and down the hall to the next room.
It hissed and opened. The marines came in crouched low to the ground. There was a wide hall that went down in front of them and came to a T. The Spartan and the marines made their way to the end of the hall.
"We should go right." Sheeda said.
The Spartan led the marines through the room until they reached the next door. They walked though the hallway and out the door. They were back in the jungle. The Spartan began walking through the marsh with the marines close behind. His feet sunk in the mud as he walked. Suddenly a group of grunts came out of the bushes and killed a marine.
Smith fired and blasted one down. Anderson shot a few rounds and killed two more. The Spartan cocked and fired. The grunt screamed and fell over. Brown fried another with his flamethrower. The Lieutenant shot down the last one.
They began walking again and found themselves at the crash site of a pelican. There the marines found extra ammo and weapons. They also found the corpses of dead marines. The Spartan stocked up on more shotgun shells. Jones found more grenade shots and Brown got some more gas cartridges for his flamethrower.
They began walking again. Noises of the many wild creatures surrounded them. The path they walked on led around a cliff wall. The Spartan was almost around the corner.
"Stop." Sheeda said quickly and quietly. "Covenant forces detected up ahead. I would advise taking out the stationary guns first."
"Mathews." The Spartan addressed the sniper.
"Yes sir?" He replied.
"I need you to take out the plasma turrents around the corner. Then take out as many other covenant as you can."
"Will do sir."
The Spartan moved back toward the Lieutenant and his other men as the sniper knelt down at the end of the corner. He put the butt end of his gun firmly against his shoulder. His eye looked down the scope. He could barely make out the outline of the turrent. The objects suddenly lit up as he turned on the night vision.
He placed the small dot on the scope over the grunt's head. He fired and the barrel jerked up. The grunt's head blasted to the side and its body went limp hanging over the side of the turrent.
A jackal jumped and turned around. One of the other grunts in the other turrent heard the shot as well and turned the gun to face the other. Mathews took out the jackal. The grunt saw where the shot came from and swung the turrent in his direction. Before the grunt could fire, he put a bullet through its neck. The grunt grabbed its throat and tried to scream but nothing came out. Light blue blood ran down its chest as it suffocated to death.
Another jackal was walking doing a patrol. Mathews fired again. The bullet entered its back and blasted out of its chest. Blood sprayed on the inside of its shield before it disappeared. Mathews pulled out the empty clip and shoved in another four round chamber. He went to look down the scope again when an elite popped out from nowhere in front of him.
He looked up in shock. The elite let out a roar. Mathews pulled the trigger. The shot breezed past its head. It grabbed the barrel of the gun and pulled it back, then pushed it forward into Mathews' chest.
He let go of the weapon and fell back. The elite threw the weapon down. The Spartan stood from his knelt position and turned the corner. He pulled the trigger and unloaded a shell. The elite's shield collapsed and it stumbled back holding its chest with a soft groan. He fired again. The holes in the elite oozed blood as it fell over backward.
"That's all of them." Sheeda said.
"Yeah thanks for the heads up." Replied the Spartan.
Mathews stood and picked up his gun from the ground where it lay. The marines then followed the Spartan further into the jungle. They walked through the Covenant's small outpost. Past it was a man-made tunnel leading through a cliff. When the Spartan emerged from the other side, he found himself in a large clearing and staring down two mortar tanks. Both were facing the other away. Behind the tanks was a large structure with a walkway made zigzagging up to the top.
The Spartan could see two hunters on the first landing of the walkway. Up at the top the shield of a jackal shone brightly.
"Jones." Said the Spartan.
"Yes Colonel?" He answered.
"Can you take out those tanks?"
"Well, I could destroy the first one easily enough. Fire two shots and kaboom!
But then I'll have to reload and by then the other tank could turn around and blow us to bits. I guess sir that what I'm trying to say is its going to be close."
The Spartan stood and thought for a moment.
"Do it."
"Yes sir." Jones replied.
He lifted the heavy grenade launcher over his shoulder with his powerful arms. He knelt down and stayed that way for a few seconds. As soon as he fired the first two shots he flipped the hatch open and pulled the shells out. The grenades hit and the tank exploded in a fiery ball.
The other turned around. Jones was fumbling to get the next shells out of their package.
"Hurry up private!" Said Jackson.
"I'm going!"
"Hurry up!" He said again.
The viewport on the tank opened to fire. Mathews aimed and pulled the trigger. The shot blew the elite's head in half. The tank's viewport slammed down as its anti-grav repulsorlifts deactivated causing it to float to the ground.
"Nice shot Mathews." Said the Lieutenant.
"Thank you sir."
"Hey maybe if Jones here was a little bit quicker." Said Smith.
"I'd like to see you pick this thing up."
"Enough." Interrupted the Spartan. "Mathews, I want you to take out those two hunters."
"Easily done sir."
The skilled sniper aimed at the orange stomach of the first one and killed it easily. The second had its back faced to him, which made it even easier. He placed the little dot on its orange back and fired. The hunter fell to the ground.
"The control room should be just up there." Sheeda informed the Spartan.
"Good. We're almost there marines." The Spartan said.
"The sooner the better." Brown said.
The marines made it to the first landing and walked to the end to make a U-turn up to the second landing. Pieces of scrap were set up along the walls every several feet for what looked like cover.
As the marines were making their way up the ramp a jackal appeared at the top. Anderson fired one shot and hit it in the head. Its shield disappeared and its body flew back as if it had been hit by a warthog. Plasma blasts exited the muzzle of its plasma pistol as it went down with it. The Spartan and the marines made it to the second landing. A grunt came running up shooting at them.
Another grunt and a jackal were behind it. The Spartan fired his shotgun and blew the grunt to the ground. He cocked and fired again. The other grunt fell with a scream. He then threw a frag grenade at the jackal. It exploded and sent the jackal tumbling down to the first landing.
The walkway wrapped around and came to another U-turn, where two elites were waiting. The Lieutenant threw a frag grenade and it landed a few feet in front of them. They ran back before it exploded. They then ran forward again with their guns blazing. One marine fell. Jones fired his grenade launcher and took out the first one. Through the smoke came the other. Anderson was there to shoot it down with his dual pistols.
At the top of the ramp for the third landing was a stationary gun. The Spartan had Mathews kill the grunt. When they made it up to the third landing, they saw that it was a large platform with three plasma turrent lining the edge. Then in the middle, up against the cliff wall were two ramps that went up on either side to a higher platform. The platform had another ramp that led up to a small landing that overlooked the door in the cliff.
The turrent nearest them was empty. The second one was empty as well, but had a grunt near it. The third one had a grunt in it. Mathews shot and killed it while the Spartan hopped into the turrent. The other grunt tried getting into his, but the Spartan shot it to the ground. He then turned it slightly and dropped a jackal that had come down the ramp.
"We should keep moving." Sheeda said.
"Why of course Mrs. Holographic Artificial Intelligence System." The Spartan said smartly as he climbed out of the turrent. "Let's move."
"Yes sir." Said Smith.
"Okay sir." Anderson said.
The marines went up the ramp and stopped it front of the large door.
"Many Covenant detected behind this door." Sheeda said scanning the area for enemies.
"Mathews." The Spartan addressed him.
"Yes Colonel." The sniper replied.
"I want you to go up the ramp to that landing and when I open the door, shoot at anything you see." He ordered.
"Yes sir." Mathews replied heading up the ramp.
"In fact, Jones, go with him."
"Yes sir." He said following Mathews.
"Alright, the rest of you can just stand in front of the doorway and shoot like hell."
"Let's go marines. Killing Covenant is what we're best at so let's do it!" Jackson said.
"Time to kill some Covenant scum!" Yelled Smith.
"Yeah, I'm gonna fry 'em like the pigs they are!" Brown added.
"Heh, heh, make bacon." Said Anderson chucking.
The Spartan walked over to the door's controls. He pressed a button and he could hear the door's lock's rattling. He then quickly scurried over toward the Lieutenant. The door split in two and the walls on either side began to swallow up the two pieces. As the doors opened wider the Spartan could see what he was up against.
It was a large room. The ceiling was high and the walls were wide. The floor was made of glass. At the far end was another large door. There were four elites, six jackals, and twelve grunts. The first elite came at them. As soon as he was out of the door a sniper shot hit it. Its shield went down and it stopped to flinch. It looked up and another went through its head. Two grunts came out and Anderson shot one in the head. Brains landed on the ground before the body.
The Spartan shot the other. Three more grunts and a jackal came out. Jones fired and turned the jackal to dust. Brown ran forward and burnt two of the grunts black. The Lieutenant fired his assault rifle and took down the other.
"Move it up marines!" The Spartan ordered. "Mathews, Jones get down here!"
The group moved forward into the room. Smith fired his shotgun and dropped a grunt. An elite came up and smacked Anderson across the face with its plasma rifle. He spun around and fell on his stomach. Blood ran out of his mouth and onto the floor.
The Spartan fired and took out its shield. Brown then fried it with his flamethrower. The charred body fell to the glass floor with a clang. Another jackal ran up and hit the Spartan with a few shots. His shield went up and he glowed yellow for a few seconds. He fired back, but his shots bounced off of the jackal's blue shield. It rolled to the side leaving itself exposed for an attack. He shot again and killed the bird-like creature.
The door the far end opened and the other two elites walked through. The Lieutenant fired the rest of his clip and took down a grunt. He then reloaded. A jackal fired a fully charged plasma blast at Smith. He ducked and rolled to the side. He stood again and threw a frag grenade. It exploded ant killed it and a grunt.
Mathews and Jones came up behind them. Mathews took Anderson and drug him over to the wall and leaned him up against it. He then took his sleeve and wiped the blood off of Anderson's cheek.
Jones fired his grenade launcher and killed two more grunts. Jackson fired a few more rounds and murdered another. It fell to the ground with a scream.
"How's it feel to be dead!?" Jackson yelled putting a couple more shots into the dead body.
Brown set another grunt on fire and Smith killed the last one. The two elites were in the next room waiting for the attackers to come. Jones fired his grenade launcher at them. It flew in between them and exploded on the wall. Mathews came forward and shot at one of them, taking out its shields. He fired a second time and got it in the chest. The puncture hole wasn't big, but the exit hole blasted out a large amount of blood.
Jones fired again. The shot hit the elite directly in the chest. Its body was torn in two and its guts spilled on the floor.
"All Covenant forces in the facility have been eliminated. We should move on to the control room." Sheeda said. "It should be through the next two doors."
The Spartan opened the next door. It was the same as the first only there weren't any Covenant. He walked to the next control panel with the marines following. Mathews and Brown drug the unconscious Anderson along with. The door opened and he walked in. A long glass walkway led down to a map of the Halo, where the walkway split and circled the holographic image.
"Good job Lieutenant. We took the control room from the Covenant with seven men, not bad soldier, not bad at all." The Spartan said. "Now how about laying down some cover while I take Sheeda here to the controls."
"Anything sir, and thanks. I'll follow you anywhere. Even to the bowels of hell."
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."
The Lieutenant and the other marines laid down cover as the Spartan walked down to the controls for the map. He stopped it front of it and looked around a bit.
"Try there." Sheeda said.
The Spartan took Sheeda's card and placed it into the slot. Her hologram image appeared instantly. A large smile was spread across her face.
"How do you feel?" He asked her.
"Never been better." She answered. "You can't image the wealth of information. So much so fast."
"So how do we destroy this ring world?"
"Well let's see. It was built by the Forerunner, yes it was built as a fortress world to-"
"I don't care who it was built by or why. All I want to know is how to disable or destroy it." The Spartan interrupted.
"Fine. Closing the window. Give me a second to access. There seems to be three power transformers through out this area of the ring that amplify Halo's signal. If we can destroy these then anyone trying to use Halo will have to repair them. I can adjust your shield so that it will disrupt the transformers' energy waves with an EMP, rendering them useless. But you'll have to walk into the beam to trigger your shield's EMP. Then you'll be vulnerable to attack until they recharge." She said. "Otherwise, the only option of completely destroying this world is to blow up the Vendetta IV which will make a big enough explosion."
"Let's go with the power transformers." The Spartan said.
"Okay . . . wait!"
"What is it?"
"I'm accessing the Covenant Battle Net. They've unleashed an elite force of hunters and brutes! We'll need to hurry if we want to disable this thing." Sheeda answered.
"We'll then let's go!" The Spartan said pulling her holo card out and sticking her back into his helmet. He then began walking back down the glass walkway.
"Lieutenant, assemble your men."