Author's Note: wo0t, an update every day! Of course, with three projects for school coming up, I won't have much time to write anymore.. tt Anway, I intended for there to be three Sergeant Stackers; I named them individually, to avoid confusion; Joseph Stacker is the Stacker on the Pillar of Autumn, and the one who is on Halo 04, John Stacker is the Stacker on In Amber Clad, and Ryan Stacker is the Stacker on the Column of Solstace. Enjoy Chapter 6, everyone! As always, read and review!
Chapter VI
Return to Halo"… and so, the Holy Warriors and the Flood are still on High Charity" the Arbiter finished. It had taken more that two hours, but he had finally filled the entire bridge crew of the Pious Inquisitioner of the events in High Charity.
"Arbiter. Are you sure these are the Holy Warriors of legend? Are you sure of what you saw?" one senior Elite asked. The Arbiter snapped his mandibles in anger.
"Does THIS prove what I saw? You can scan the construct's databanks, recheck the Seraph's logs and external cameras, but nothing could do this to the ceremonial armor of the Arbiter!" he exclaimed, showing off the missing chunks and burned holes in his armor.
"Enough! The Arbiter seems to be telling the truth! We will arrive at Halo in four units! Prepare a few dropships and two Seraphs, and prepare for combat! We do not know if the Flood survived the destruction of the sacred ring, but we must constantly be vigilant!," Portumee' said.
With that, the Arbiter, Johnson, Keyes, and the Holy Oracle floated out of the room.
"Oracle. Tell me, do you think the Flood survived the destruction of the Holy Ring?"
"Why must you use such impromptu titles? Oracle? Sacred ring? If you must know, as I have stated multiple times, I am the Monitor of Installation 04. I am 343 Guilty Spark!"
The Arbiter was confused. The Prophets had referred to this keeper of archives as the "Oracle". But maybe it was time to discount some of the Prophet's sayings; after all, they had lied about the Great Journey.
"So, tell me then…Monitor…will we find the Flood on Installation 04?" the Arbiter asked.
"Hmm. Well, after my logic matricies have calculated the odds of any Flood specimen's survival after the destruction of Installation 04, it is calculated at 67.9" the Monitor answered.
"What of our warriors? The humans?" the Arbiter questioned.
"As for that…I estimate a 1.2425325 chance of survival after the destruction of Installation 04" the Monitor cheerfully answered. The Arbiter sighed; he had been expecting this answer.
The Arbiter deviated course; he was headed for the armory. Maybe he could find some spare parts for his armor and find an Unggoy to repaint them. The sounds of Plasma fire alerted the Arbiter; something was going on. Glancing at the humans, who nodded back, they sprinted towards the armory. As he ran into the room, the Arbiter almost stepped on a squealing Unggoy. It squeaked and jumped to attention.
"Ar-ar-ar-Arbiter!" it stuttered. The Arbiter glanced down at the tiny creature; it was quaking in fear, and looked afraid of something.
"What is wrong? What has happened?" he asked.
"I-I-I think it would be best if you saw for yourself, Arbiter" the Unggoy squeaked. It held it's Plasma Pistol in front of it like a shield as it advanced; Unggoy were never known for bravery. The Arbiter silently chuckled; it was probably just a loose conduit cable that had startled the hapless creature
Or not. As the Arbiter entered the Armory, a pair of Sanghelli boots protruded from a closet. The Arbiter drew his Plasma Rifle and stepped forward.
And was disgusted by what he saw. The Sanghelli lay next to his fallen Plasma Rifle; he had fallen trying to defend himself. A trail of plasma burns began next to an open air duct, and slowly led towards the closet.
"What's that on his face?" Keyes asked.
There was something attached to the warrior's helmet; it looked like some sort of insect. Long, spindly legs were wrapped around the Sanghelli's head, and it's long tail around his throat. He was still breathing, however; the Arbiter watched the warrior's chest rise and fall. He wore the armor of a minor warrior; a low ranking Blue Sanghelli.
"What happened? Did you see?" the Arbiter asked the Unggoy. It turned and replied;
"Mighty Arbiter, I did not see what happened. I was merely passing by, after my mid-afternoon food nipple, and heard fire. I thought some more of those Heretics had snuck aboard the ship; I rushed to help. Instead of a Heretic, I found this warrior with this thing attached to his face. And that's when you found me, sir!" it squealed.
"Ugh. Well, let's try and get it off him" Johnson said, drawing his combat knife. He knelt next to the fallen warrior and began to cut with the precision of an Engineer at the first knuckle of the creature. A small blotch of yellow blood formed at the cut; it burned through the Sergeant's knife like it was cheap tissue paper, and continued, burning a hole in the deckplates beneath them.
The Arbiter snapped into action.
"Quickly! The acid will burn a hole through the hull!" The Arbiter paused only to grab a portable energy shield generator and sprinted out of the armory, the humans and Unggoy hot on his heels.
As he descended one floor, the Arbiter looked up; sure enough, a smouldering hole was present in the ceiling. A similar hole smoked on the floor; the Arbiter snarled and ran down one more floor. Thankfully, the acid seemed to have stopped.
It was impossible. The metal used in the Pious Inquisitioner was strong enough to absorb the impact of a plasma torpedo; how could this substance burn through it so easily?
The Arbiter was instantly reminded of the Holy Warriors on High Charity; how easily the holy essence had burned away his armor. But it was impossible, the Holy Warriors were massive, tall, black creatures; this thing was a tiny parasite. What was the connection between the two?
The Arbiter turned just as the humans and Unggoy skidded around the corner.
"Well, did it stop?" Keyes asked. The Arbiter shook his head yes.
"Hot damn! Look at what that crap did to my knife!" Johnson cursed, holding up the steaming handle of his combat knife. The blade was completely dissolved; the acid had burnt it away.
"Acid for blood…what the hell do you think we're dealing with here, Arbiter?" Keyes asked. The Arbiter looked at the human; he was at a loss of words. He could not answer.
"I am unsure, human. Let us refrain from trying to cut this thing off of the warrior in the future" he said in a low voice.
"Maybe we could pry it off?" the Unggoy suggested. The Arbiter looked at it, and decided to try the simple creature's idea.
Walking back up to the armory, the Arbiter knelt next to the fallen Sanghelli. He noticed that the wound seemed closed; it had stopped the acid from escaping the body of the creature, at least. No more acid leaked out.
"Alright. Let's get it off of him" Keyes said, gripping the side of the creature. The Arbiter grabbed the other end; Johnson and the Unggoy grabbed the tail. Straining with all of their collective might, the four pulled at the creature. Johnson groaned as the creature tightened it's grip with the tail; this thing obviously wasn't coming off without taking the Sanghelli's head with it!
"Stop, humans! Stop! We cannot remove this creature without killing this warrior! We may find a way to take it off later; we are almost at the remains of the Sacred Ring" the Arbiter said. The Oracle floated in overhead.
"Oh? Do you need assistance? Oh, I see. Well, I do say your efforts with that are in vain," it said, looking at the warrior.
"What do you mean?" the Arbiter asked the floating orb.
"Once impregnatation has begun, there is no stopping. The bodyguard of my creators will not be denied" it said cryptically.
"What do you mean? The bodyguard of the Forerunner?" Keyes asked, but before she could question the Oracle further, the ship jolted.
"We have reached the Holy Ring, warriors! Prepare for combat!"
Staff Sergeant Joseph Stacker knew he should be dead. But he wasn't.
After the Flood had attacked, he knew that he and the other three Marines and one Navy techie with him should have died. But they didn't.
I should have died when this goddamn ring exploded. But, noooo, I still live.
At least the Flood hadn't found them yet. Surviving on rations from the remnants of their two Pelicans, the Marines had held out here since the destruction of Halo, almost two weeks ago.
What's the point? There isn't gonna be any rescue!
But Stacker knew he couldn't quit; not now, not when his men needed him. So he forced himself, day after day, to keep living.
Loading his M5AB Assault Rifle with a new clip of ammunition, he was first out on patrol that evening. Looking up, he saw the now-familiar sight of the partially destroyed Halo ring above him; the Chief and Cortana hadn't done a very good job. They had only destroyed 2/3 of Halo; the remaining 1/3 was still habitable.
The other three Marines, Corporal John Marina, Lieutenant Meghan Cunnings, Private Robert McKinnon, and the Navy Techie, Rachel Hunt, were holding out on hope and prayer. Their rations would not last forever, and there were still Covenant left on this section of the ring.
Stacker sighed and gazed over the horizon, into the stars. He had seen the Chief's Longsword hijack one of the Covenant cruisers almost two weeks ago; he hoped the Chief had accomplished his mission and saved humanity. He would be sure to come back and investigate the ruins of the ring; there might still be survivors. Like himself and the other Marines.
Stacker saw something out of the corner of his eye. He rubbed his eyes; surely, he must be seeing things. But his eyesight was true; two Human Pelicans were flying over the horizon! At last, the rescue party had arrived.
Eagerly sprinting back into their makeshift "base", made out of the remnants of the Pelican, two Covenant dropships and a natural cave formation, Stacker shouted;
"Alright people! Saddle up; we're going home!"
The Marines looked at him with tired eyes. Marina sighed and looked back down; his shotgun and M6D Pistol lay next to him. McKinnon stood up and laughed.
"Very funny, Stacker. Are you sure that is what you saw? Are you sure you aren't nuts? We all want to go home, but unfortunantly, no one cares about us. Nobody" he said, sitting back down. Meghan scowled at him; always the optimist, she and Stacker had kept morale high when times were low; and now, they couldn't be much worse.
"Buck up, Marine! I don't know about you, but I'm going outside to see what all the ruckus is about!" she declared, gathering a packet of signal flares and her Sniper Rifle, and marching outside. She and Stacker scanned the skies; nothing. The Pelicans were gone.
Lowering their eyes in disappointment, they began to head back inside. Meghan slapped Stacker on the back and said,
"It's ok, sir. We're all stressed; hell, I'd be seeing crap too if I was you" she said. Most sembiance of rank and seniority was lost when Halo exploded; Meghan and Stacker were the only ones who kept it up.
A large, dark shadow circled overhead. Looking skywards, Stacker and Meghan's faces lit up when they saw it was a Pelican! Meghan squealed with joy and lit a signal flare; it burned a fluorescent red and alerted the Pelican to their position. The Pelican began to descend.
"Get your sorry asses out here now, Marines! I SAID we're going home, and we are!"
Marina and Hunt sprinted outside; sure enough, the Pelican was slowly descending, the other Pelican was touching down several klicks away. Their faces lit up like children at Christmas as they beheld the Pelicans. They whooped and jumped for joy.
"What the hell are you guys doing? Are you all crazy or something?". McKinnon still didn't believe. Stacker had enough; he ran back into their makeshift shelter, grabbed the Marine by the back of his neck, and pulled the boy outside. McKinnon's jaw dropped in awe as he beheld the Pelicans.
"Oh my god…you were right, Sarge…" he moaned.
"Pinch me; I'm dreaming, I'm gonna wake up any second now…" Marina muttered. Hunt slapped him upside the head; he groaned.
"There. You awake now?" she asked with a smile. Stacker knew that they had a little thing going; despite the fierce rivalry between the Navy and the Marines, they had somehow fallen for each other on the Pillar of Autumn.
"Ooh, you're gonna get it now!" he exclaimed, pinning her and tickling her. Stacker smiled at the Marine's antics; his men were gonna be fine.
Until he saw what came out of the Pelicans; Elites, lots of Elites, armed with human weapons! Stacker's eyes widened in horror as the Elites spotted the Marines; they pointed, growled in joy at the sight of their quarry, and slowly began to walk up the hill. Either the Covenant had something planned, or were just stupid; Meghan had snapped her sniper rifle into position and had taken a bead on the first Elite.
"Hold your fire, marine. Let's see what these bastards have planned for us. It may not be a trap" Stacker growled, holding up his hand. Even so, he readied his rifle, checking the clip; it was full.
"Hold your fire, humans. We are not here for blood or battle" the lead Elite said. It held a human Shotgun in it's hands, and it wore an unknown type of armor; it was dark blue, and Stacker had never seen anything like it before. Until now.
"Just give me one reason why the hell I shouldn't blow your brains out of your skull, huh, squid-face?" Meghan asked, pointing her Sniper Rifle right between the alien's eyes. The Elite laughed at her. She glared and put her finger on the trigger.
"Now, human, if we really wanted to kill you, we could have done so from orbit. We knew that you were here, based on the wreckage strewn around the area. Now, please, come with us" it said, lowering it's weapon.
"Why should we trust you? You're just gonna use us to find Earth!" Marina shouted, aiming his rifle at the Elites.
"If you will not listen to me, you will listen to them" the Elite growled in frustration, stepping to the side. And to Stacker's surprise, Sergeant Johnson and Miranda Keyes strode forward. They looked unchanged; Johnson still had a cigar in his mouth, a pistol and knife at his belt, and a Sniper Rifle over his shoulder. Miranda wore her Captain's uniform, just like her father's, and had an SMG slung at her hips.
"Johnson? Is that really you?" Stacker asked, lowering his rifle.
"No, it's the Easter Bunny. Who the hell do I look like, marine? Now, c'mon, let's get going; we have more to do here!" Johnson said, spitting out a wad of tobacco.
"Wait. Why the hell should I trust you? You could have been brainwashed by the Covenant, or this could be a trick! A trick!" Stacker yelled, raising his rifle again. Johnson sighed, and mumbled something to the Elite next to him.
And as if Stacker wasn't surprised enough, someone appeared. Someone Stacker had never expected to see again.
It was his little brother. His brother Johnny. He had come.
"Hey, bro" John said. Stacker didn't know what to do; he was shocked and amazed. Dropping his rifle, Stacker stood and embraced his younger brother.
"Ok. You all got me. Let's go home" Stacker said, in between sobs. Tears ran down his mud-streaked face.
"I thought you were dead, brother," John said. Stacker smiled and scooped up his rifle, slinging it over his shoulder.
"Why are you with the Covenant? Did we win the war?" Stacker asked. His brother shook his head.
"The Elites, Grunts, and Hunters were expelled from the Covenant. Johnson signed a peace treaty with that Elite there, the Arbiter," he said, pointing towards the Elite in the weird armor.
"What are you doing here?" Stacker asked again.
"We're looking for something called the 'Arc'. It is supposed to be able to shut down or fire all of the Halos at once".
Stacker's eyes widened.
"You mean there's MORE Halos?"
John shook his head yes.
"We just found another ring. Only thirty three Marines and several pilots and technicians from In Amber Clad survived the second Halo. That is why we must find this 'Arc' and deactivate all the Halos" John said grimly. Stacker sighed, and then stood up straight.
"Well, we all have to die sometime. And besides, I really don't have a choice, now do I?" Stacker asked.
"Count me in" Meghan said, coming up behind them.
"Me too. I hope these rings and the Flood claim no more innocent lives" Marina agreed.
"I'm coming too. I need to see this through to the end" Hunt chimed in.
"What about you, McKinnon?" Stacker asked, glancing at the other Marine. He glanced back and said;
"Sir, I'm not a very good fighter. I nearly died here on this accursed ring; fate, I guess, is the only thing that saved me. Well, then, sir, if fate kept me alive here, fate can keep me alive with you. I'm coming, too".
Stacker smiled at the younger marine.
"Good to hear, son. Now, let's go find this 'Arc' and stop the Flood." And with that, the marines and Elites boarded their Pelicans, and soared off into the night.
