Halo 3
Chapter 1. Location: Aboard Forerunner Ship en-route to Earth
John stood up blinking, trying to regain his focus. His leg was hurting him badly from the fall. As he regained his vision, he saw that he was surrounded on all sides by Brutes and Jackals. His instincts kicked in and he dived for cover to protect himself. He picked up a Needler and emptied a clip around the corner. A satisfying roar followed by an explosion made sure it hit something. He then checked his belt for a grenade while trying not to get burnt by all the plasma that was slashing the air. A bolt hit him and his shields drained. He primed his grenade and lobbed it. The explosion shook the floor and bodies went flying past him and landed and the deck. He saw a Jackals shield lying on the ground and he seized it. He stuck it on his wrist and activated it. The force nearly knocked him back but he maintained his footing. The glow was terrible. It was starting to hurt his eyes, his filters compensated for it though. He looked around the corner to check if anything was there. It was clear. He slowly and cautiously moved forward. Over the COM he heard Lord Hood.
"Chief, are you OK" Lord Hood asked
"I'm fine. I am aboard Truth's ship and I am proceeding." He replied
"You must kill the Prophet ASAP. Earth depends on it.
"Understood."
The COM snapped off. He kicked over the dead bodies of Brutes and Jackals. He found a Covenant Carbine and a Brute Shot. These would come in handy he thought. There was something wrong. Surely there should have been more guards here the John thought to himself. He didn't have time to ask questions though so he proceeded through the next door. He swept the room and found no contacts. There was nothing there but a GravLift. He stepped onto it and he felt a rushing sensation as he was being pulled down. On the way down Truths voice echoed throughout the ship
"My brothers, we have found the home of the switch to activate the sacred rings. We will emerge victorious and the Great Journey will have begun. Nothing can stop us brothers. Nothing."
John felt his feet touch the floor and he bought his gun level. The room was clear. Strange, he thought. Then on the COM Lord Hoods voice boomed in his ears,
"Chief I am sending a squad of ODSTs and Elites to assist you. There will also be a box of weapons and ammo. Meet them in the Hangar. I am uploading co-ordinates to your visor. Get going."
"Yes Sir."
A blue arrow appeared on his HUD. 157.89m away. He headed through the door on his right and he came into some Jackals. His energy shield deflected most of the blast but his hand started to burn from the heat. He dropped it, shot a few rounds and jumped behind a wall. He leaned around the corner and shot one in the head. There was only two left. A shot hit his arm and his shield drained. He picked off the one who shot him and ran at the last one. He sidestepped around him and slammed his fist into his head and he felt his skull cave in. He let his shields recharge before entering the next room. After passing through sixteen more doors and going on three more GravLifts he came to the Hangar. The squad had managed to hold off some aliens but some were injured but medics were treating them and they looked like they would be okay. There were engineers everywhere, hovering over control panels and fixing weapons. One was up with the squad fixing an Elites shield. John ran towards them. One of them, it looked like a SGT, stepped towards him,
"Sir, SGT Liams come to give you a hand to kick some alien ass."
"Alright everyone," John shouted, "we are going to kill to split up into 3 groups, Alpha, Beta, Charlie and Delta. 3 Elites in each team. Clear?"
"Sir, yes Sir" they all shouted.
"Elites. Before we enter any room you activate your Active Camouflage and scout ahead. If it has contacts in, you will take them out silently, and swiftly. HellJumpers, you follow. Any questions?" no one said anything, "all right then. Elites, split into threes. In Alpha Team, PVT Mellor, PVT Ben, PVT Morris and myself."
They all formed up behind John
"In Beta, SGT Liams, PVT Rogers, PVT Hawthorne and PVT Baker."
John watched as they all gathered in the corner,
"In Charlie, PVT Ron, PVT James, PVT Mountford and PVT Fern. The rest of you are in Delta. Delta will be at the back because of their wounded
The injured people got into a group.
"Let's get moving. Truth is going to know we are coming. Let's go."
"Sir, yes Sir" they all chanted
John picked up a new rifle. It looked the same as the MA5B but it had a grenade shooter and a scope. It felt light and comfortable. On the side he saw the words "MA7B Combat Rifle". He shouldered it and then looked in the box. There were some new grenades; he picked up 2 Frag grenades, a Stun grenade, and a Phosphorus grenade. After he was happy with his equipment John started towards the door that went in the direction of the NavPoint. Everyone followed.
John checked his rifle to make sure he had a full clip. He stuck a Frag grenade in the launcher and secured it. He came to a door. He waved his hand for the Elites to come through. They then disappeared and all he saw was the faint rippling of the air. The door opened and they passed through and the door slid shut. The ship shook and John grabbed onto a pole to balance himself. The lights then went dead.
"Great, just what we need. Bloody perfect." PVT James yelled
"Shut it or I'll shoot you myself. Ok?" the SGT told him. John activated his torch and looked around. They were in the middle of a small room. The walls were giving off a faint and eerie purple glow. He turned to one of the walls and froze. He saw something. Something familiar. Stuck on the wall was a green-brown blob, it was pulsating. Tentacles were holding it up. John walked to it, rifle raised. He poked it with the end of his gun. It squirmed and moved.
"SGT, pass me your knife. Everyone else stand back now"
The SGT moved forward and gave him the knife. He then retreated to a wall. John dug the tip of the knife into the blob. He dragged it down. There was a POP, and a dozen infection forms sprang out.
"OPEN FIRE!" John yelled but three ODSTs were already dead. There was a burst of fire and three popped just at John's feet. John wheeled round and fired at the cluster on the floor. They all popped in unison. There was one left and it scuttled towards PVT Mountford. He screamed but was soon silenced as the creature dug its impentrator spike down his throat and into his spinal column. The SGT grabbed it and hit it with the butt of his weapon. The room was totally silent. John had to take in what this meant. Flood. On this ship. Heading to Earth. John contacted Lord Hood,
"Sir. You are not going to believe this. Flood. On this ship."
The COM was silent.
"Chief find the Prophet, take him down and blow this ship. If one infection form gets to Earth were doomed. There is a Fury tac-nuke in the supply crate I sent you. Put it in the engine room. When you are ready for extraction, call me and I will send in two Pelicans. Hurry." The COM snapped off.
"Alright you heard him, let's go." Static blasted in his ear as he heard an Elite,
"FLOOD, TOO MANY, RUN!" it then went dead.
John ran into the next room. A combat form leaped at him and knocked him back into the wall. He shot it and its arm fell off. He shot it again and it fell over. He got his breath back and joined the ODSTs. He sprayed the Flood with bullets until the last one fell. He looked around for any of the Elite survivors. There was one. John called a medic to help him up.
"Truth is in a room behind a locked door. You will need my, COUGH, plasma sword to get it. "The Elite told John. He handed him a Plasma Sword.
"Fix him and take him to the Hangar. While your there get me that Fury tac-nuke as well. You. Pvt Fern. Go with him."
They ran through the door. John marked PVT Mountford, PVT James, PVT Ron, and PVT Baker as KIA on his team roster. After five minutes they returned. He handed John the nuke.
"Right, come on men, we are almost there" John told them. They ran through the door not stopping.
They entered a room. It was empty. John swept it and turned his torch off because the lights had come back on. Something wasn't right. It seemed too quiet. As they reached the other end of the room John heard a scream behind him. He whipped around. A combat form had grabbed a marine and twisted his head all the way around. Bullets holes covered its body and it then fell to the floor. A marine checked PVT Hawthorne. He stood up and shook his head. John marked him as KIA. They carried on. They then came to a locked door. Behind it was Truth. John took out the Plasma Sword and cut along the seams of the door. He then tugged it open. Inside Truth was hovering in front of the view display. There were about twenty Brutes there. One wheeled around and barked. The rest turned and opened fire. A Brute Shot grenade tore a hole through SGT Liams stomach and he fell shaking. John then opened fire but it was no use. One ran at him and sent him flying into the wall. He then blacked out.
John's vision was blurred and he had a cracking headache. He managed to get his vision focused again. He was being held by two Brutes. In front of him were his ODSTs, all piled on top of each other. Dead. Truth then turned to face him.
"it seems that you are not all you are made out to be. Your friends," he pointed at the ODSTs, "were no different. Easy. Even with the Elites, Grunts and Hunters on your side, do you think that you stand a chance against the Covenant? In about five hours we shall be reaching Earth. We will then destroy your defences and activate the Sacred Rings. You and your friends have done nothing." He turned towards a chieftain Brute, "tie him up and drop him out of the Hangar."
"Of course, noble Prophet."
John was then hit on the head again and he blacked out.
John felt groggy. He regained his vision, again, and he couldn't move. He looked at himself and saw the chain around him. The Brutes were over by the controls. One noticed him and said,
"we are at Earth. Enjoy the show while you can." He then barked at the other and went back to the controls. John turned on the internal speakers in his helmet. He opened a COM to Lord Hood.
"Sir, I have been unable to kill the Prophet. I will set the nuke but first I need the Pelicans assistance when I say."
"Roger that Chief. Give me the signal and they will on their way to you. Just make sure you set that nuke, the ship cannot be allowed to land on Earth."
"Yes Sir" John looked around and saw that his weapons were gone. Luckily the nuke was still there.
"I hope you can breathe in space human. Because your gonna be there for some time." He opened the Hangar door.
"Sir. Now. Go." There was a roaring of jets and two Pelicans sped into the Hangar. The Brutes jumps and started shooting them. Their 90mm chin guns put them down. More Brutes ran into the room. They started shooting but were killed. The wounded Elite was still in the corner. John grabbed him and put him in the back of the Pelican. John set the nuke to blow in 5 minutes. That was plenty of time. More Brutes kept on coming. John tossed the nuke and it landed on the control panel.
"Punch it." John told the Pilot and they backed out of the Hangar.
Grogg was shooting at the Pelican trying to stop it. When they disappeared from view he ran towards the control panel. An engineer tried for three minutes to stop the countdown, but to no avail. Grogg roared and yanked it off. He jumped on it but it carried on counting down. He then yelled,
"Open the Hangar doors." A Brute pushed a few buttons on the panel and the force field disappeared. He then strapped the bomb to a Banshee flier. He climbed inside it and set it on a straight path away from the ship. After he programmed it he pushed a button. It flew out of the Hangar. They watched it for a minute and it finally blew. It looked like an orb of fire from this far away.
"Increase security. This must not happen again." He barked at the others and they all ran off to lock all doors and place automatic plasma turrets around the ship. "The Great Journey will not be delayed."
