Sry about the long update time, I've been really busy with school, band,
and other things. This is my longest chapter thus far, and I hope it makes
up for lost time. Thanks for all the great reviews! Keep it up, and I will
too!. E-mail me with other comments or questions. Till next time, L8erz.
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Chapter 6: Overdrive Reverse
Date: April 04, 2554 / 0903 Hours Location: Inside Outer Perimeter Bunker of MAC Gun Generator 17 / Earth
"Sir! We're getting butchered. Our lines are faltering. We need Reinforcements, on both the land and in the air. If something doesn't happen soon, we're going to lose the generator." The soldier reported.
"Tell me something I don't know or get back to fighting, NOW!" the general yelled back at him. The soldier jumped back slightly, and returned fire again at the enemy. The general had called in backup almost 20 minutes ago. He knew that they were being invaded by an estimated 21 billion Covenant ground troops, but there should have been backup in less than 10 minutes. This was one of their MAC gun generators, and they wouldn't give that up without a serious bloodshed happening first. There were now 6 men inside his side of the bunker, and 1 AA turret still in operation. A fuel rod gun either obliterated the others, or the gunner was boiled alive by plasma.
"Sir, pelican dropship inbound, they just radioed in saying that they are going to land behind the bunker and provide more men to fend of as many as possible before a warship can assist." His radio inside his helmet said, giving him his new orders.
"That's affirmative, HQ." He sent back as a reply.
About 2 more minutes of fighting and another 10 meters ground advancement had taken place before even the slightest sign of a human aircraft was seen. The ship seemed to come out of nowhere as the men onboard fired down over the swarm of Covenant they flew over. The Covenant did not just stand there and take kills either, so they all diverted their fire towards the sky, coloring the clouds with an eerie green/blue mix of plasma.
"Big mistake." The general thought, as the Covenant exposed their weak side to the humans. As if the men inside the bunker were linked telepathically with the men onboard the pelican, they systematically picked off the strongest to the weakest on both sides of the wave, working their way in. The pelican reached the bunker and landed behind, as planned. Amazed that they weren't torn to bits by all the fire that had been shot their way, the general made a mental note to trust the pilot; something that he usually did not do. A few seconds later, 4 men walked inside his side of the bunker, along with a teenager, which when he walked inside the bunker, covered his nose with his shirt at the musky smell of cold blood on dirt reacted inside his head. His efforts to do so were in vain as he tripped over the body of a soldier on his way to a secure part of the bunker. He had probably not even seen a dead body before, much less a bloody one. However, for a person his age, he acted more mature about it than most grown men would have, and the general respected him for this. He was quickly jerked back from his slight daydream when the soldier who had positioned himself next to him, began to fire. He dittoed his action.
The Covenant kept coming, and kept dying. Thousands of elites alone had fallen, probably close to one hundred thousand Jackels also meeting similar doom. But there were still quite a few left, and many of the hunters still remained intact. And to add to the fact that most were killed by the now dead AA gunners, they would be overrun soon, whether they had the backup or not. All he could do was pray that the Cruiser would arrive soon.
"Sir, I'm running low on ammo." One particularly large marine said. "Yes, soldier, so am I. I don't think we can hold this position. Send one of your men to the other sides of the bunker and prepare them for dust off. And you," he pointed to another marine, this one was a tech, "Radio in and tell HQ that our Cruiser has yet to arrive and that we are out of ammo. Tell them that we are about to lose this generator." Returning to the large marine, he ordered, "Have your pilot ready for take-off in 2 minutes." The soldier replied "Yes sir!" with a salute, handed over his last clip of full ammo, and ran for the back area where the teenager had taken cover. It was now that the general realized that the pilot was the boy. At first, he was not about to risk his life in the hands of a child and his initial thought was just to stay and die defending the generator, like a captain with his ship. But he remembered his mental note about the courage and ability of the pilot just getting here, so he decided it was worth some risk.
An eternal moment later, the marine returned and said, "We're ready. We have to go. Now." He said.
The General took one last look at the amount of Covenant he had killed, as well as the good men's bodies that now littered the ground. He would make sure that their brave efforts would not be forgotten.
The General along with the marine, who returned a mass of fire at enemy, ran outside the bunker. They took cover at every chance, before taking another sprint. Once they reached the pelican, the pilot began the liftoff procedure, and they did a quick headcount. They had brought 18 men to the bunker, and only 7 were brought back alive, and that included the men already inside the bunker. The engines roared to life as the ship lifted off the ground, and began its trek back to base.
Most of them were still in shock, if not for fear of their life now, it was for fear of a life later at all. They had never seen such firepower, strength in numbers, sacrifice, or determination in the Covenant at any of their encounters before. The General walked to the cockpit of the pelican and watched out the window at the burning forests the Covenant had set ablaze.
"This is some piece of flying, son. What's your name." The general said.
"Kyle... Sir. My name is Kyle." He said.
"Well, Kyle. How did you learn to fly like this?"
"Mostly simulation centers, but my dad helps me some." He replied
"Remind me to give your dad a promotion when we get back." The general replied, trying to increase the boy's spirits.
"Yes Sir, I think I Wi..." Kyle Stopped. There was a huge flash of light from the rear, along with a tremendous noise. Kyle stopped the pelican and turned it around just in time to see a huge ball of plasma from one of the Covenant Cruisers strike the roof of the complex, melting it's way down to the core of the generator. A few seconds later, The sky turned a hellish fire red with a tunnel of smoke like an F-5 tornado burst out of the ground. The nuclear reactors must have gone critical, or it's safety measures were melted by plasma. After the initial blast, his thoughts returned to where he was; in an electrically controlled aircraft. As soon this thought clicked inside his head, his field of vision became blocked by trees. Kyle was one step ahead of the General and landed the Pelican inside a forest, and shut down the electrical components. They landed with a thud as a gigantic EMP wave approached them. As soon as the lights had dimmed, preparing to go out, the blast swept over the ship causing some of the lights to explode. They were lucky to be alive once again. Kyle restarted the engines and continued his flight back to HQ.
* * *
"Dad, we're almost there." Kyle called back to his father, who in return nodded an acknowledgement and warned his teammates. They cocked their guns and began to relax slightly. They were almost at base. The feeling washed over them like a warm blanket of security. A soldier's home and training ground can make any good man fuzzy inside. That warm, fuzzy feeling was short lived, however, when they reached their base. Fire raged from inside the structure. Ashes of burning wood, flesh, and melting metal filled the air. The engines of the aircraft started to choke, so Kyle steered away from the complex.
"Where do we go now? What do we do?" Kyle asked.
His father thought for a minute, and then made his decision. "Take us back to the forest just outside of the generator. There is a secret underground base there. But go now, I'm not sure if we can get inside it."
Kyle didn't question his father's directions. He turned the aircraft toward the forest they had emerged from, and headed there at top speed. After 5 minutes of being shot at, wondering through the forest, and beginning to think that they were lost, they stumbled upon a small clearing. In the center was a 100 foot steel door. It opened for them, and the Pelican dropped inside the tunnel. The reinforced steel tube lead underground for what seemed like forever. It must have been 3 miles underground. Finally, they saw a light, and floated into a huge chamber. This was the UNSC's secret research laboratory. This was the research facility that has produced every technological advancement towards the destruction of the Covenant, as well as the most effective weapon against them in the Corporations history. The newest group of Spartans. They weren't as sharp as the first, and couldn't live up to the legends of the Master Chief, but they were still very efficient killers, and that's all they needed to be.
Kyle landed the pelican down on a helipad, and the soldiers climbed out of the aircraft, and ran inside. The inside of the steel cave was buzzing with activity. Everyone who had known about the hideout had all arrived here. It was a wonder that the Covenant hadn't spotted the hideout. The Spartans were grouped together on the bottom of the cave, as well as several helljumpers. They the earths Elite, and the earths last defense. Kyle was grabbed by the arm by his father, who dragged him inside a door the side of the wall. They traveled to the command center. It seemed like everyone had the same thought. There was a line just to get inside. His father just snorted a laugh, and walked past the long line of pilots, techs, and marines. Once again, Kyle didn't question his father, nor his actions, but he couldn't help but wonder why he could do this. He walked inside his first command center, and was amazed at just the look. Gleaming silver, bright sky blue floor, and black control panels. But it was what was on the monitors that caught Kyle's utmost attention. A purple Covenant cruiser hovered above the City that Kyle lived in. It's side plasma turrets were glowing red hot, as it prepared to fire on the helpless city. Kyle screamed as the cruiser shot it's lethal plasma.
Then. Right then. It stopped. Everything. It all stopped. The small fires inside the city, the oncoming shot if plasma, all of it. Kyle, as well as the people inside the control room looked around at the monitors, then at each other. The door opened, and the General Blake Stanforth stepped onto the deck. "What the hell is going on? Everyone is frozen." A brilliant flash of light lit one of the monitors as the skies parted for a huge blast of something the size of a skyscraper fell from the sky, and held a course for the cruiser. The shields were the first to go, then the nose of the ship. Explosions rocketed from every window on the vessel as the blast continued deeper inside the ship. Kyle saw the huge ship start to buckle as its generators began to implode, and the ship collapsed, and floated toward the ground. Everyone stood around the monitor in shock. Kyle looked toward the plasma bolt that had already been fired, and thought that the city was doomed. But once again, the skies parted, and this time a ship floated into view. The ship began to rotate. Sparks of electricity shot out of it as its speed increased, and the skies turned black. The plasma bolt was less than 5 seconds from impacting with the ground when it stopped. Lightning from the sky darted to the ground in front of the plasma, and slowed it's progress. Then another. And another. Soon, there were continuous bolts of lightning CONTROLLING the plasma. The plasma started to turn green, and dissipate. After about 30 seconds of this, the plasma was gone. The sky returned to its normal color, and the ship started to land.
"Oh My God! What the hell is that? What just happened? How is that possi..." The General was cut off. Directly behind him, 2 figures appeared. They were enormous. The General instinctively went for a gun, but one of the creatures simply smashed the cabinet to pieces with his fist. The other of them held a small device that looked like a portable AI construct Display. Indeed, that's what it turned out to be, as a female human appeared inside the construct. Cortana. Most of the people inside the room stared at it as if they had no idea what was going on. But 2 people knew, and for the first time since the invasion began, started to smile. "Hello, Lieutenant Stanforth. Surprised to see me?" Cortana spoke. "Yes, I truly am. And it's General Stanforth now. How did you..." "What? Make it back alive? Well, I owe my survival to the Master Chief. You owe your to these creatures." Cortana told him. She began unfolding the events that had taken place. Halo. The Flood. The Eternals, and their history. Everything. "I have saved a subroutine that allows me to translate between us, so if you need to talk, find me." She finished.
A sudden rustle of noise came from the hall outside. The frozen state must have warn off. Dozens of men stormed into the room, all stopping when their eyes met the eternals. A few of them ran back. Kyle was in shock. Never in his young life did he ever expect to actually see aliens. Much less friendly ones.
The Eternals began to speak. A low rumble, as if a boulder were rolling down a hill, came out, and Cortana began her flawless translation. "They say that they need to return to their ship. They will fight off the Covenant, but it will take some time. Would you like to come with us?" She offered. The General thought for a minute, then walked to the nearest control panel, and pressed a button, typed something into the computer, and pressed another button. He then said, "This is General Blake Stanforth. Spartans 397-409 report to the central command center immediately." A few moments later, the door opened, and 12 green figures marched machine like into the control room. One of them, wearing a gold emblem of 401 on his left chest plate, spoke.
"Spartans 397-409 reporting. Green Team assembled. What are our orders?" He asked.
"Green Team, listen up! These creatures behind me are our allies. You are NOT to shoot unless shot upon. We are going to board their aircraft, and oversee their battle with the covenant. If you see any suspicious activity, report to me. Clear?!" He ordered.
"SIR, YES SIR!" they shouted back. The general turned back to Cortana's figure and said, "Ok, We're ready."
"Ok, General. Anyone else coming along?" Asked Cortana. One more person stepped forward. Kyle's father. Cortana took one look at the man, and spoke. "So, Seth. Are you going to be joining us as well?" she asked. Seth chuckled slightly, and replied. "Yes, Cortana. I can't wait to see him again." Kyle looked up at his father, clueless as to what was going on. "See whom?" he thought. He was left short of time to ask the question, as a bluish light formed around the Spartans, the General, Seth, and the Eternals as they were teleported back to the ship.
* * *
They reappeared inside a long hallway. The two eternals turned as soon as they reappeared, and Cortana spoke. "Follow these two. They will take us to the bridge." After a few minutes of brisk walking to keep pace, they came to a dead end, two doors on each side. The eternal not holding the Cortana construct said something to the door, and it opened as if it were alive. They all walked in. This room was crimson red, smelled too. Seth cocked his neck, and caught a glisten off of something. He looked to his left, and saw staring out a window, a Spartan. His stature was incredible; solid as a stone, cold and stealthy. His armor was burned, beaten, and battered. Seth stood in shock for a moment, then regained his composure, pulled his military jacket tight against him, and walked toward him.
Seth was the first to speak. "Hey old friend. We thought you were dead, and instead you were pulling together a force to defeat the covenant. How've ya been?" Seth said with a slight quiver in his voice. At first, nothing happened. But after a few seconds the Spartan slowly turned around and faced the new crowd. The young Spartans lowered their stances and saluted the Master Chief.
"Hello. I see the negotiations went well. I do suppose our arrival here was well timed." The Master Chief said
"Yes, it was, sir. We were about to fall under the stress and strength the Covenant brought with them. But thanks to you, we will live to fight another day." Seth said.
"Don't thank me, thank the Eternals. It was them who found me. I assume Cortana has filled in all the rough holes in the recent past." He replied.
"She did, but..." he was cut off.
A sudden vibration rocked the ship. The Master Chief returned to his former stance, as he stared out the window once again. Without turning an inch, he said, "We should talk later."
The Spartans returned to their upright and alert positions. Cortana, now floating around on the portable display, hovered next to the Master Chief. He bent down, pulled the AI chip out of the hovering platform, and inserted it inside the helmet of his armor. The liquid crystal feeling returned to him as he shared his mind with her once again. "Look at these creatures go. They're obliterating the entire Covenant force, and they haven't even lost a ship yet." She said.
Indeed, the Master Chief was impressed. He watched the fight outside the ship unfold. Most of the Covenant ships were either completely destroyed, or running away. A few were still in fighting condition, but were not that way for long as they were being picked off fairly fast. One group of seven Covenant ships formed a V shape and warmed up over twenty plasma turrets combined. There were two Eternal ships stationary in the Covenant's course. They began to rotate. Faster. And Faster. Soon they were a blur, and they started to emit bolts of lightning. Then, the Covenant fired. A huge wave of plasma, boiling a mighty orange, sped toward the rotating Eternal ships. The Master Chief had had plenty of time to learn how the systems of the Eternals plasma controlling power worked, and he eyed the space between the two spinning ships. Soon enough, a small ball of emerald color light appeared. It grew larger, and larger, until it engulfed the 2 ships. The plasma from the Covenant battle group slowed as it got to the sun-like ball of green. After another moment, it had stopped. Sparks of power latched onto each individual ball of plasma, and converted the plasma into their own weapon. Then, a blinding flash of light, even for the Spartan, spiked its peak, and forced the Spartan to turn away. Once he returned to look out the window, the now green plasma was headed at the oncoming Covenant battle group. They tried to dodge the attack, but were each engulfed in their own attack, and utterly destroyed.
What now remained of the Covenant were running for their lives. There were also the ground troops to contend with. However, the Master Chief knew what would happen. A voice came into the room from a hidden speaker of sorts and spoke in the Eternals tongue. A soon as the voice ended, Cortana translated. "That was a warning to seek an a weapons station chair immediately." She transmitted the message to the other Spartans, who had been taken beforehand to a secure location. A chair appeared behind him, and the Master Chief closed his outer visor. A screen of the earth appeared on his inner view screen, and he knew what was next. A small electric shock rippled through his body putting him and everyone else onboard into a mixed state of temporary Paralysis and Unconsciousness. He could still hear, and see. This was the Eternals Flagship Safety Protocol. When this ship rotated, it created extreme stress on a conscious mind. Thus, the mixed state was invented and put into use. The Master Chief stared closely at the screen before him. The skies started turning black. Gigantic thunderstorms appeared on the surface, and lightning was abundant. The Eternals ship was controlling the storm on the surface; using the lightning to kill the ground troops. And ingenious weapon, but the most effective the Master Chief had ever seen. After a few moments, the storms began to ease, and the feeling started returning to his body.
"Whew, that was weird." He said to no one inparticular, and stared out the window once more. No Covenant ships were moving, and the last tears in space from a slipstream jump were just now closing. The Covenant were on the run. It was the first thing good the Master Chief had felt in a long time. "Now," he thought, "where do we go from here?"
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Chapter 6: Overdrive Reverse
Date: April 04, 2554 / 0903 Hours Location: Inside Outer Perimeter Bunker of MAC Gun Generator 17 / Earth
"Sir! We're getting butchered. Our lines are faltering. We need Reinforcements, on both the land and in the air. If something doesn't happen soon, we're going to lose the generator." The soldier reported.
"Tell me something I don't know or get back to fighting, NOW!" the general yelled back at him. The soldier jumped back slightly, and returned fire again at the enemy. The general had called in backup almost 20 minutes ago. He knew that they were being invaded by an estimated 21 billion Covenant ground troops, but there should have been backup in less than 10 minutes. This was one of their MAC gun generators, and they wouldn't give that up without a serious bloodshed happening first. There were now 6 men inside his side of the bunker, and 1 AA turret still in operation. A fuel rod gun either obliterated the others, or the gunner was boiled alive by plasma.
"Sir, pelican dropship inbound, they just radioed in saying that they are going to land behind the bunker and provide more men to fend of as many as possible before a warship can assist." His radio inside his helmet said, giving him his new orders.
"That's affirmative, HQ." He sent back as a reply.
About 2 more minutes of fighting and another 10 meters ground advancement had taken place before even the slightest sign of a human aircraft was seen. The ship seemed to come out of nowhere as the men onboard fired down over the swarm of Covenant they flew over. The Covenant did not just stand there and take kills either, so they all diverted their fire towards the sky, coloring the clouds with an eerie green/blue mix of plasma.
"Big mistake." The general thought, as the Covenant exposed their weak side to the humans. As if the men inside the bunker were linked telepathically with the men onboard the pelican, they systematically picked off the strongest to the weakest on both sides of the wave, working their way in. The pelican reached the bunker and landed behind, as planned. Amazed that they weren't torn to bits by all the fire that had been shot their way, the general made a mental note to trust the pilot; something that he usually did not do. A few seconds later, 4 men walked inside his side of the bunker, along with a teenager, which when he walked inside the bunker, covered his nose with his shirt at the musky smell of cold blood on dirt reacted inside his head. His efforts to do so were in vain as he tripped over the body of a soldier on his way to a secure part of the bunker. He had probably not even seen a dead body before, much less a bloody one. However, for a person his age, he acted more mature about it than most grown men would have, and the general respected him for this. He was quickly jerked back from his slight daydream when the soldier who had positioned himself next to him, began to fire. He dittoed his action.
The Covenant kept coming, and kept dying. Thousands of elites alone had fallen, probably close to one hundred thousand Jackels also meeting similar doom. But there were still quite a few left, and many of the hunters still remained intact. And to add to the fact that most were killed by the now dead AA gunners, they would be overrun soon, whether they had the backup or not. All he could do was pray that the Cruiser would arrive soon.
"Sir, I'm running low on ammo." One particularly large marine said. "Yes, soldier, so am I. I don't think we can hold this position. Send one of your men to the other sides of the bunker and prepare them for dust off. And you," he pointed to another marine, this one was a tech, "Radio in and tell HQ that our Cruiser has yet to arrive and that we are out of ammo. Tell them that we are about to lose this generator." Returning to the large marine, he ordered, "Have your pilot ready for take-off in 2 minutes." The soldier replied "Yes sir!" with a salute, handed over his last clip of full ammo, and ran for the back area where the teenager had taken cover. It was now that the general realized that the pilot was the boy. At first, he was not about to risk his life in the hands of a child and his initial thought was just to stay and die defending the generator, like a captain with his ship. But he remembered his mental note about the courage and ability of the pilot just getting here, so he decided it was worth some risk.
An eternal moment later, the marine returned and said, "We're ready. We have to go. Now." He said.
The General took one last look at the amount of Covenant he had killed, as well as the good men's bodies that now littered the ground. He would make sure that their brave efforts would not be forgotten.
The General along with the marine, who returned a mass of fire at enemy, ran outside the bunker. They took cover at every chance, before taking another sprint. Once they reached the pelican, the pilot began the liftoff procedure, and they did a quick headcount. They had brought 18 men to the bunker, and only 7 were brought back alive, and that included the men already inside the bunker. The engines roared to life as the ship lifted off the ground, and began its trek back to base.
Most of them were still in shock, if not for fear of their life now, it was for fear of a life later at all. They had never seen such firepower, strength in numbers, sacrifice, or determination in the Covenant at any of their encounters before. The General walked to the cockpit of the pelican and watched out the window at the burning forests the Covenant had set ablaze.
"This is some piece of flying, son. What's your name." The general said.
"Kyle... Sir. My name is Kyle." He said.
"Well, Kyle. How did you learn to fly like this?"
"Mostly simulation centers, but my dad helps me some." He replied
"Remind me to give your dad a promotion when we get back." The general replied, trying to increase the boy's spirits.
"Yes Sir, I think I Wi..." Kyle Stopped. There was a huge flash of light from the rear, along with a tremendous noise. Kyle stopped the pelican and turned it around just in time to see a huge ball of plasma from one of the Covenant Cruisers strike the roof of the complex, melting it's way down to the core of the generator. A few seconds later, The sky turned a hellish fire red with a tunnel of smoke like an F-5 tornado burst out of the ground. The nuclear reactors must have gone critical, or it's safety measures were melted by plasma. After the initial blast, his thoughts returned to where he was; in an electrically controlled aircraft. As soon this thought clicked inside his head, his field of vision became blocked by trees. Kyle was one step ahead of the General and landed the Pelican inside a forest, and shut down the electrical components. They landed with a thud as a gigantic EMP wave approached them. As soon as the lights had dimmed, preparing to go out, the blast swept over the ship causing some of the lights to explode. They were lucky to be alive once again. Kyle restarted the engines and continued his flight back to HQ.
* * *
"Dad, we're almost there." Kyle called back to his father, who in return nodded an acknowledgement and warned his teammates. They cocked their guns and began to relax slightly. They were almost at base. The feeling washed over them like a warm blanket of security. A soldier's home and training ground can make any good man fuzzy inside. That warm, fuzzy feeling was short lived, however, when they reached their base. Fire raged from inside the structure. Ashes of burning wood, flesh, and melting metal filled the air. The engines of the aircraft started to choke, so Kyle steered away from the complex.
"Where do we go now? What do we do?" Kyle asked.
His father thought for a minute, and then made his decision. "Take us back to the forest just outside of the generator. There is a secret underground base there. But go now, I'm not sure if we can get inside it."
Kyle didn't question his father's directions. He turned the aircraft toward the forest they had emerged from, and headed there at top speed. After 5 minutes of being shot at, wondering through the forest, and beginning to think that they were lost, they stumbled upon a small clearing. In the center was a 100 foot steel door. It opened for them, and the Pelican dropped inside the tunnel. The reinforced steel tube lead underground for what seemed like forever. It must have been 3 miles underground. Finally, they saw a light, and floated into a huge chamber. This was the UNSC's secret research laboratory. This was the research facility that has produced every technological advancement towards the destruction of the Covenant, as well as the most effective weapon against them in the Corporations history. The newest group of Spartans. They weren't as sharp as the first, and couldn't live up to the legends of the Master Chief, but they were still very efficient killers, and that's all they needed to be.
Kyle landed the pelican down on a helipad, and the soldiers climbed out of the aircraft, and ran inside. The inside of the steel cave was buzzing with activity. Everyone who had known about the hideout had all arrived here. It was a wonder that the Covenant hadn't spotted the hideout. The Spartans were grouped together on the bottom of the cave, as well as several helljumpers. They the earths Elite, and the earths last defense. Kyle was grabbed by the arm by his father, who dragged him inside a door the side of the wall. They traveled to the command center. It seemed like everyone had the same thought. There was a line just to get inside. His father just snorted a laugh, and walked past the long line of pilots, techs, and marines. Once again, Kyle didn't question his father, nor his actions, but he couldn't help but wonder why he could do this. He walked inside his first command center, and was amazed at just the look. Gleaming silver, bright sky blue floor, and black control panels. But it was what was on the monitors that caught Kyle's utmost attention. A purple Covenant cruiser hovered above the City that Kyle lived in. It's side plasma turrets were glowing red hot, as it prepared to fire on the helpless city. Kyle screamed as the cruiser shot it's lethal plasma.
Then. Right then. It stopped. Everything. It all stopped. The small fires inside the city, the oncoming shot if plasma, all of it. Kyle, as well as the people inside the control room looked around at the monitors, then at each other. The door opened, and the General Blake Stanforth stepped onto the deck. "What the hell is going on? Everyone is frozen." A brilliant flash of light lit one of the monitors as the skies parted for a huge blast of something the size of a skyscraper fell from the sky, and held a course for the cruiser. The shields were the first to go, then the nose of the ship. Explosions rocketed from every window on the vessel as the blast continued deeper inside the ship. Kyle saw the huge ship start to buckle as its generators began to implode, and the ship collapsed, and floated toward the ground. Everyone stood around the monitor in shock. Kyle looked toward the plasma bolt that had already been fired, and thought that the city was doomed. But once again, the skies parted, and this time a ship floated into view. The ship began to rotate. Sparks of electricity shot out of it as its speed increased, and the skies turned black. The plasma bolt was less than 5 seconds from impacting with the ground when it stopped. Lightning from the sky darted to the ground in front of the plasma, and slowed it's progress. Then another. And another. Soon, there were continuous bolts of lightning CONTROLLING the plasma. The plasma started to turn green, and dissipate. After about 30 seconds of this, the plasma was gone. The sky returned to its normal color, and the ship started to land.
"Oh My God! What the hell is that? What just happened? How is that possi..." The General was cut off. Directly behind him, 2 figures appeared. They were enormous. The General instinctively went for a gun, but one of the creatures simply smashed the cabinet to pieces with his fist. The other of them held a small device that looked like a portable AI construct Display. Indeed, that's what it turned out to be, as a female human appeared inside the construct. Cortana. Most of the people inside the room stared at it as if they had no idea what was going on. But 2 people knew, and for the first time since the invasion began, started to smile. "Hello, Lieutenant Stanforth. Surprised to see me?" Cortana spoke. "Yes, I truly am. And it's General Stanforth now. How did you..." "What? Make it back alive? Well, I owe my survival to the Master Chief. You owe your to these creatures." Cortana told him. She began unfolding the events that had taken place. Halo. The Flood. The Eternals, and their history. Everything. "I have saved a subroutine that allows me to translate between us, so if you need to talk, find me." She finished.
A sudden rustle of noise came from the hall outside. The frozen state must have warn off. Dozens of men stormed into the room, all stopping when their eyes met the eternals. A few of them ran back. Kyle was in shock. Never in his young life did he ever expect to actually see aliens. Much less friendly ones.
The Eternals began to speak. A low rumble, as if a boulder were rolling down a hill, came out, and Cortana began her flawless translation. "They say that they need to return to their ship. They will fight off the Covenant, but it will take some time. Would you like to come with us?" She offered. The General thought for a minute, then walked to the nearest control panel, and pressed a button, typed something into the computer, and pressed another button. He then said, "This is General Blake Stanforth. Spartans 397-409 report to the central command center immediately." A few moments later, the door opened, and 12 green figures marched machine like into the control room. One of them, wearing a gold emblem of 401 on his left chest plate, spoke.
"Spartans 397-409 reporting. Green Team assembled. What are our orders?" He asked.
"Green Team, listen up! These creatures behind me are our allies. You are NOT to shoot unless shot upon. We are going to board their aircraft, and oversee their battle with the covenant. If you see any suspicious activity, report to me. Clear?!" He ordered.
"SIR, YES SIR!" they shouted back. The general turned back to Cortana's figure and said, "Ok, We're ready."
"Ok, General. Anyone else coming along?" Asked Cortana. One more person stepped forward. Kyle's father. Cortana took one look at the man, and spoke. "So, Seth. Are you going to be joining us as well?" she asked. Seth chuckled slightly, and replied. "Yes, Cortana. I can't wait to see him again." Kyle looked up at his father, clueless as to what was going on. "See whom?" he thought. He was left short of time to ask the question, as a bluish light formed around the Spartans, the General, Seth, and the Eternals as they were teleported back to the ship.
* * *
They reappeared inside a long hallway. The two eternals turned as soon as they reappeared, and Cortana spoke. "Follow these two. They will take us to the bridge." After a few minutes of brisk walking to keep pace, they came to a dead end, two doors on each side. The eternal not holding the Cortana construct said something to the door, and it opened as if it were alive. They all walked in. This room was crimson red, smelled too. Seth cocked his neck, and caught a glisten off of something. He looked to his left, and saw staring out a window, a Spartan. His stature was incredible; solid as a stone, cold and stealthy. His armor was burned, beaten, and battered. Seth stood in shock for a moment, then regained his composure, pulled his military jacket tight against him, and walked toward him.
Seth was the first to speak. "Hey old friend. We thought you were dead, and instead you were pulling together a force to defeat the covenant. How've ya been?" Seth said with a slight quiver in his voice. At first, nothing happened. But after a few seconds the Spartan slowly turned around and faced the new crowd. The young Spartans lowered their stances and saluted the Master Chief.
"Hello. I see the negotiations went well. I do suppose our arrival here was well timed." The Master Chief said
"Yes, it was, sir. We were about to fall under the stress and strength the Covenant brought with them. But thanks to you, we will live to fight another day." Seth said.
"Don't thank me, thank the Eternals. It was them who found me. I assume Cortana has filled in all the rough holes in the recent past." He replied.
"She did, but..." he was cut off.
A sudden vibration rocked the ship. The Master Chief returned to his former stance, as he stared out the window once again. Without turning an inch, he said, "We should talk later."
The Spartans returned to their upright and alert positions. Cortana, now floating around on the portable display, hovered next to the Master Chief. He bent down, pulled the AI chip out of the hovering platform, and inserted it inside the helmet of his armor. The liquid crystal feeling returned to him as he shared his mind with her once again. "Look at these creatures go. They're obliterating the entire Covenant force, and they haven't even lost a ship yet." She said.
Indeed, the Master Chief was impressed. He watched the fight outside the ship unfold. Most of the Covenant ships were either completely destroyed, or running away. A few were still in fighting condition, but were not that way for long as they were being picked off fairly fast. One group of seven Covenant ships formed a V shape and warmed up over twenty plasma turrets combined. There were two Eternal ships stationary in the Covenant's course. They began to rotate. Faster. And Faster. Soon they were a blur, and they started to emit bolts of lightning. Then, the Covenant fired. A huge wave of plasma, boiling a mighty orange, sped toward the rotating Eternal ships. The Master Chief had had plenty of time to learn how the systems of the Eternals plasma controlling power worked, and he eyed the space between the two spinning ships. Soon enough, a small ball of emerald color light appeared. It grew larger, and larger, until it engulfed the 2 ships. The plasma from the Covenant battle group slowed as it got to the sun-like ball of green. After another moment, it had stopped. Sparks of power latched onto each individual ball of plasma, and converted the plasma into their own weapon. Then, a blinding flash of light, even for the Spartan, spiked its peak, and forced the Spartan to turn away. Once he returned to look out the window, the now green plasma was headed at the oncoming Covenant battle group. They tried to dodge the attack, but were each engulfed in their own attack, and utterly destroyed.
What now remained of the Covenant were running for their lives. There were also the ground troops to contend with. However, the Master Chief knew what would happen. A voice came into the room from a hidden speaker of sorts and spoke in the Eternals tongue. A soon as the voice ended, Cortana translated. "That was a warning to seek an a weapons station chair immediately." She transmitted the message to the other Spartans, who had been taken beforehand to a secure location. A chair appeared behind him, and the Master Chief closed his outer visor. A screen of the earth appeared on his inner view screen, and he knew what was next. A small electric shock rippled through his body putting him and everyone else onboard into a mixed state of temporary Paralysis and Unconsciousness. He could still hear, and see. This was the Eternals Flagship Safety Protocol. When this ship rotated, it created extreme stress on a conscious mind. Thus, the mixed state was invented and put into use. The Master Chief stared closely at the screen before him. The skies started turning black. Gigantic thunderstorms appeared on the surface, and lightning was abundant. The Eternals ship was controlling the storm on the surface; using the lightning to kill the ground troops. And ingenious weapon, but the most effective the Master Chief had ever seen. After a few moments, the storms began to ease, and the feeling started returning to his body.
"Whew, that was weird." He said to no one inparticular, and stared out the window once more. No Covenant ships were moving, and the last tears in space from a slipstream jump were just now closing. The Covenant were on the run. It was the first thing good the Master Chief had felt in a long time. "Now," he thought, "where do we go from here?"