Chapter Six
0600 hours, September 28, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Aboard UNSC cruiser Agamemnon.
One day after the Alpha Halo campaign.
The surviving fifty Spartans stood at attention, in their dress black uniforms in the cleared out weapons bay of the UNSC Agamemnon. The bodies of three Spartans were inside white coffins, with the UNSC flag on each one, and placed at the center of the bay.
"Present, arms!" shouted the Master Chief. The Spartans saluted, and the firing squad, which was at the upper left corner of the bay, came too, and fired off a twenty-one-gun salute. The three coffins rolled off, and a pair of Marines in uniform took off each flag, as they were loaded into the launcher, and fired. A thump resounded in the floor as each coffin was fired.
Once they were a hundred meters away from the ship, the Spartans dropped their salute, but remained at attention.
"Burial detail," said the Master Chief. "Dismissed." And with that, the Spartans solemnly left the room. The Chief winced. He hated to lose good men.
SPARTAN-217 and –225 were killed the same way Tyler was, by the menacing Forerunner Guardians. While they were patrolling in one of the Warthogs, they stumbled upon a Forerunner holy site, which was defended by Guardians. While inspecting it, 217 and 225 were killed, but their attackers were killed by SPARTAN-201.
The site they were killed at was eventually destroyed by an air strike, to prevent any more men from getting killed. SPARTAN-201 received a citation for his bravery under fire, but that didn't bring back the dead Spartans from the grave. The UNSC was now very careful about their patrols on the ring, but that too did not bring back the dead Spartans or the killed platoon of UNSC Marines that were unlucky to encounter the Guardians.
The intercom sounded. "Master Chief SPARTAN-117 to the bridge, immediately," came a crisp feminine voice. The Chief exited the bay, and entered a turbolift. After a couple of second descent, the Chief arrived at the bridge, and he stepped out of the lift. He walked onto the bridge, which was bustling with activity.
In the center of the bridge, was a woman who appeared to be in her late thirties wearing the dress gray of a UNSC captain. The Master Chief saluted. The woman did not turn around.
"At ease, Chief." She turned. The Chief sized her up. She had brilliant golden hair, which was a little bit above her shoulders, but past her ears. She had very bright blue eyes, and the Chief had to admit, she was quite attractive. She also wore a ring on her left hand, ring finger.
"As you may or may not know, I'm Captain Carolyn McCormick, your new CO. You are now stationed on the Agamemnon for the duration of this campaign."
"A pleasure to meet you, ma'am," said the Chief, dropping his salute.
"Likewise," said McCormick. "Admiral Huff has ordered the fleet into a tighter position near Alpha Halo. General McKerny has his men on the ring, and is inspecting it like a fine comb. Resistance has been minimal, and there has been no contact whatsoever with the Flood. The only resistance we've met is the Guardians in key locations on Halo.
We haven't, however, encountered the Sentinels described in your report on Halo 04."
John frowned. He was expecting much more resistance than what was described. McCormick apparently read his expression, and thought the same.
"We're sending you and your team back to Halo, near what Captain Keyes on Halo 04, believed to be a weapons depot, but where we believe you'll encounter the Flood. You are to leave immediately. Good luck, Master Chief." McCormick saluted, and the Master Chief returned it, and left the bridge.
---
An hour later, SPARTANs –043, 058, 104, and 117, and a team of ODSTs and Marines arrived in a swamp. The Master Chief shuddered. This area gave him bad memories already. The Master Chief's pulse quickened, and he swallowed. He wanted to complete the mission and get out as fast as possible.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," said one Marine, Pvt. Mauler.
"Stow it Marine," said Sergeant Johnson. The black man had opted to come with the landing party, since he and the Chief were the only humans to survive contact with the Flood.
"Let's move," said the Chief, hiding his fear. The group walked further into the swamp, past the point where, if it were Halo 04, Dropship Victor 933, Captain Keyes' dropship, would be crashed. They walked past a very large tree, and some statues of long dead Forerunners.
The cry of multiple jungle animals filled the air, and rain dropped from the trees. They walked across a small bridge, and up over a hill, which had commanding views over the area. A group of Covenant Grunts and Jackals was encamped outside the entrance of a long forgotten Forerunner facility.
"Looks like the Covenant had the same idea that we did," said Fred, as he unslung his Battle Rifle. The Master Chief gestured for him to be quiet, and pulled out his own rifle. The Chief whispered, "Marines, hold position here, we'll take care of the Covenant."
Sergeant Johnson nodded, and the Marines crouched down. Linda took cover behind a large rock, and Fred, Will, and John all took a path that lead to the rear of the Covenant encampment. Linda fired off a few rounds, and took out the Jackals that were sleeping on the job. The Grunts jumped up, and ran around, screaming. John, Will, and Fred all fired off a few bursts with their rifles, and the Grunts quickly fell to the ground.
The Marines came out from hiding, and the UNSC soldiers all marched inside the Forerunner complex. An elevator was waiting for them all already, and they boarded it. Will hit the down button, and the elevator slowly made the ten-meter drop downward. John looked at his Motion Trackers, and listened carefully. All clear. The group rounded the corner, and took the door that lead deeper inside the Forerunner complex.
The ODSTs ran up ahead, rifles at ready, and signaled that all was clear. John didn't like it. Minimal resistance, and no sign of anything yet. He had a bad feeling in his gut, and he learned to trust that feeling, as it usually saved his life. The moved further inward, and arrived at an active energy bridge.
The group moved across, and entered some sort of control room. The walked around to the edge of the room, down a ramp of some sorts, and they stopped at a room which the Chief remembered very well.
"Stop," said the Chief. "I think we should proceed with extreme caution now."
"Why?" asked one of the Marines.
"Sergeant Johnson and I both know why." Johnson nodded.
"Yeah, this is were we first met the Flood on Halo 04." One of the ODSTs pulled out a lock breaker, and the door opened. The Spartans instantly kept their weapons aimed at the entrance. The Chief listened. He heard nothing.
"Let's move." And the team formed a circle, and slowly crept into the chamber.
After a few minutes, they heard nothing and met no resistance.
"Man, we wasted all our time out here for—" The Marine was cut off. He was sliced into two instantly by an energy sword. The Master Chief picked up multiple contacts on his motion tracker. The group started firing into what seemed to be nothing but air.
"Get the lead out, Marines!" yelled Johnson. One of the Marines pulled out a Rocket Launcher, and fired it into what looked like a shadow. It screamed, and blood and gore flew threw the room, and covered the other cloaked Guardians. The soldiers fired at each one till they collapsed into a heap and died.
"Good job, Private," said Johnson. The Private, PFC Hapeman, nodded. "See anything else?" The Chief consulted his Motion Tracker, and it read nothing. He looked around the room, and pointed.
"Sergeant, I don't remember that door being there on Halo 04."
"Nah, me neither. Marine!" And PFC Hapeman fired a rocket at the doorway, and it exploded. Johnson chuckled. "Okay, let's move!" The soldiers ran up to the decimated doorway, and peered down the hallway.
"Holy shit," said a Marine. The room was a very large one, spherical in shape. The Master Chief could only fathom how large it was. It was over three kilometers wide, and ten long. Holographic planets, moons, and stars filled the room. A large bridge, that spanned from one end of the room to the other, but was less than ten meters wide.
The Master Chief, even with his enhanced senses couldn't see what was at the other end. The Marines' jaws dropped.
"Well what are you ladies all standing around for? Let's go check it out!" yelled Hapeman. The others nodded in agreement, and the walked into the room. John made sure his mission recorder was getting all this. After a twenty-minute walk, the UNSC soldiers made it to the middle of the room.
Next to a pair of statues made to resemble Guardians was an ancient cryo pod that had a language that the Chief didn't understand at the base of the pod. The Chief walked up to it and brushed off the cold fog that had built up on the cover of it. Inside was an alien that resembled the Guardians, but he was in an armor that resembled the MJOLNIR armor the Spartans were wearing.
On the pod was a panel, with multiple markings in the same language as what was on the base. The Chief didn't know how he knew that the button on the upper right corner was what opened the pod, and that the rest of the panel was health monitors. He pressed the button that would open the pod.
A loud groan sounded from the pod, and a then a loud clang was heard. The Master Chief spun around with his rifle at hand, the Marines and other Spartans did the same. A loud voice came from nowhere, and spoke in a discursive language. The pod hatch then hissed open, and the alien's eyes sprung open.
The alien then leapt up behind the Master Chief, and had his energy sword active, and glanced from human to human, and turned off the sword. He then looked at the Marines, sniffed them, looked them over, and did the same to the ODSTs. He had a look of complete awe when he looked at the Spartans.
He spoke in the discursive language.
The Master Chief didn't know what to say. "We mean you no harm. We are Humans, from the planet Earth."
The alien paused, and then spoke back, this time in English. "My name is Xzaalbarth. My kin call me the Reclaimer."
End of Chapter 6.