CHAPTER ONE
1430 Hours (Earth Time), October 6, 2552 (Military Calendar) Aboard UNSC Vessel Judicator, Sol System, Orbit Above Earth.
The
bridge was chaos, three more Covenant Supercarriers had just entered
the system, adding to the already massive fleet already engaged.
Spartan Rachel-035 stood, in her massive MJOLNIR armor, at the front
of the bridge next to Capitan Tobias.
"Sir you requested my
presence?"
"Yes, we have received word from UNSC Command that
there is something on earth that the Covenant want, they want it bad.
I'm sending you to stop them."
"Sir, I don't know if I
will make much difference against a whole covenant armada."
"I
have faith in you soldier."
"Sir! I won't fail you."
"Don't
do it for me, do it for humanity."
"Yes sir." Rachel thought
she saw the air flicker for a second, but when she looked again it
was gone.
Rachel left the bridge and promptly headed to the
weapon locker. She decided that she should go in heavy, she didn't
know if she would have a chance to restock. She grabbed her trusty
MA5B rifle, a handful of clips for it. She hefted an M 19 SSM Rocket
Launcher, snickering at the thought of blowing the limbs off a few
Covenant. She got her hands on a MD6 pistol, its 12.7mm semi-armor
piercing high explosive rounds were effective at all ranges, which
made it an excellent choice for this mission. Ammunition for the
pistol, a full 6 grenade ring clip, a few cans of C-7 explosive, and
a couple of LOTUS anti-tank mines finished her armament.
As Rachel
was leaving the armory, a shudder ran through the ship. "All forces
prepare for Covenant boarding. Sections 4, 5, and 6 have been
overrun." Rachel pulled a copy of the ships schematics up on her
HUD. She was currently in section 14, the launch bay was in section
2, and she needed to get there as soon as possible. She sprinted down
several corridors, until she came upon a pitched battle in a mess
hall. Three Elites and a handful of grunts were slowly advancing
towards a group of marines who were desperately trying to hold them
off.
Rachel tossed a grenade into the middle of their formation.
The elites were fast enough to avoid the blast, but the grunts were
caught right in the middle of it. They were torn to shreds as the
grenade detonated. Blue alien blood spattered all over the room. The
marines cheered shortly, until they realized that there were still
three Elites in the room. The elites growled in anger as they were
cut down by the combined fire from Rachel's rifle and the marine's
barrage of bullets. Rachel left the marines to their duties, and
continued to the launch bay.
She made it to the launch bay without
any serious conflict. There was a Pelican dropship waiting for her
there. "The Capitan wants you off the ship ASAP ma'am. The ship
is fueled and ready to go."
"Let's not waste any time then."
The pilot dropped the ship into the planet's atmosphere and they
were on their way to the surface.
"She's gone, are you
happy you bastard?" Tobias spat into the air.
Mogomo Furooti
deactivated his cloaking device. "You gave her the correct location
human?"
"Yes damnit I did."
"Good, you of course know
that you are useless to us now."
"But you said…." Tobias's
speech was cut off along with his head. Mogomo closed down the energy
sword and activated his cloaking device again. He chuckled to himself
as he left the bridge. Soon the human disease would be exterminated
from the galaxy, and he would claim all the glory for himself.
The
dropship touched down on the outskirts of a seemingly abandoned town.
Rachel thought this odd, seeing as Earth was the most densely
populated planet in UNSC space. The dropship lifted off and moved
hastily back to the ship. She saw a small shape run between two
buildings. She swung her rifle into position, but there was no more
movement. She warily moved towards the building that the shape went
into. The inside of the building was almost hollow, as Rachel moved
inside her enhanced hearing picked up sounds from everywhere.
Suddenly the door behind her slammed shut and lights turned on inside
the building. She instantly knew that it was a trap. She was
surrounded on all sides by Grunts, Jackals, and a handful of Elites.
An Elite in black armor strode forward. It spoke in its own language,
but the translation software in Rachel's armor allowed her to hear
him.
"Drop your weapon and surrender to us, and we might spare
your life."
"I'm sorry that I can't comply with your
request." She said brightly.
"I thought that you might say
that." He replied with a grim smirk.
He brought his weapon up,
as did every other alien in the room. "I suggest you surrender
while you still can."
The lone Spartan looked around desperately
trying to decide how to deal with the aliens around her.
