Prologue
0512 Military Calendar, Year 2532
The captain stared back blankly, as the entire planet Reach was destroyed by the covenant. He had just managed to slip out in time with the Spartans in project SPARTAN II, and knew that he could never come near his desolated home planet again. A tear trickled down his cheek, but his emotions quickly turned to anger as he realized all that he loved and cared for had been destroyed. All, that is, except the Spartans...yes...he had something to live for. And he wouldn't let them take his Spartans like they did his planet...no...These sick fools would pay for their treacheries. He planned to make sure of it.
Danny stood in the corner of the bunk room, where all the Spartans were told to retreat. He looked up, surprised at why they had been rushed, and why Captain Mark had looked so worried about it all. He approached Justin, who was thumbing with an unloaded M16.
"Justin...why do you think captain's doing this? It's not like him..." Danny started, looking Justin straight in the eyes. Surprised by Danny's serious tone, Justin answered back with the same attitude.
"I'm not sure...something is going on though..."
Then the intercom made a crackling noise as Captain Mark began to speak.
"All Spartans report to the mid sector now!" the Captain made his voice sound very firm over the buzzing static through the intercom.
"You heard him, let's move!" Jeff made his voice the mastering sound in the room. Nate looked up in surprise, and quickly headed along with them. All of the Spartans made it to the mid sector, and their captain was waiting there for them.
"Spartans," he began, "I've come here to tell you what's happened recently and why we are in such a rush," a surprised look seemed to spread around like an over communicable disease in the room. "And just to start," the Captain's voice got very grim, "it's not going to be very good news..."
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Chapter 1
0567 Military Calendar, Year 2557
The flag waved slowly on the tall pillar. Four guards armed with stun weapons surrounded it. The rest of the room was enveloped in shadows. Everything was quite...too quite. A "whack" was heard, followed by a large crunching noise, and one of the guards fell down. As the other three turned to look, a figure quickly ran across the top of the pillar and snatched the flag. Before the other guards could even aim their weapons the figure was gone. A few seconds later, a loud "PING" was heard, and the lights went back on. Over in the corner of the room, Jeff was standing with the flag in his hand, safely away from the guards.
"Dang, he's good," James commented on the success of project SPARTAN II. He knew the flawless maneuvers of the Spartans would come in handy...especially when the "MJOLNIR" amour was introduced to them, hyped with faster recharging shields and all. As medics rushed out to the fallen guard, Jeff approached Captain Mark, who was right next to Admiral James.
"How'd I do sir?" Jeff had a smirk on his face that made it easy to tell that he was satisfied with his own work.
"Very good Spartan. Now, can you round up the rest of the crew? Were beginning cardiovascular exercises soon," Mark commonly treated the soldier as an equal, although Jeff never seemed to return the favor and continued to look at Captain Mark as a Superior.
"Yes sir!" Jeff sped off at such a great pace it left Admiral James with his jaw wide open. James had heard that the Spartans had been humanly advanced, but never had seen it himself.
"That's amazing captain! How fast can your men run?" his voice rose with excitement.
"Up to about 32 miles per hour, faster than the original Spartans were enabled to go," a grin spread across his face. "And with MJOLINR amour, even faster."
Jeff slowed his pace as he found Nate swinging punches in a Zero-gravity chamber at a punching bag. His arms moved slowly, as did the bag as it took the brunt of Nate's fist. Nate turned to see Jeff at the door, whisking his hands in a motion as to beckon him from the room. Nate shouted the commands "anti-grav off!" and fell to the floor. A thick mist spilled out of the room as Nate stepped up to Jeff.
"What have we here? Cardiovascular time?" Nate chuckled to himself as he took off his training suit, leaving him in casual clothes.
"Yes, and we need to be ready in five minutes," Jeff's voice seemed to lower a bit. Although Nate was one of Jeff's long time friend and that he respected him as a Spartan, he knew he happy go getting personality would get him into a mess of trouble one day, and also was really pulling a nerve with him right now. Jeff made his way through the other corridors until he found Justin at a firing range, and told him about the news. As he went to exercise himself, he found Danny was already there, waiting to go. Another Spartan, Alex, was stretching, getting ready for the long run.
"Spartans!" Mark's voice rose as all of the soldiers snapped to attention. "Today we will be running 27 miles. Anyone who fails to run this in under 1 hour will have no rations for the rest of the day. Is that understood?"
"Sir yes sir!" All the Spartans yelled in unison. Although they looked timid on the outside, they all were relaxed, knowing this was anything short of a challenge to them.
"Spartans ready? Get set! GO!" Mark blurted into a megaphone, and the soldiers were off.
Danny paced himself, yet was still in front of the group. Alex, a fair runner himself was right next to him, and Jeff, Justin, and Nate were right behind. Not a second after HQ was out of sight, a giant ship descended from the heavens and headed towards it. Looking back in surprise, the Spartans knew that this wasn't on routine schedule. Without a moment to lose, they all sped back in the direction of the HQ and readied themselves for combat.
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Chapter 2
0568 Military Calendar Year 2557
They rushed in the building. Nothing particular was happening.
"I'll go ask Captain what's up" Danny said. But before he took two steps a loud "CRASH" was heard and immediate gun fire followed. And of course screams of pain.
"Spartans, get you weapons and move to the center room! Quick! There are lives at stake!" Jeff said. He ran ahead himself, knowing some of his fallen comrades would have weapons in store. He made a corner a silently crept through. He quickly ducked down behind a crate and peered up on the intruders. Covenant! But how to approach...he knew if he took out one in the back the others would turn and fire... and then he noticed a dead human corpse at the side, a battle rifle lay at his side. Silently Jeff reached for it without being noticed. As he loaded it up, a 'click' noise was made. All the aliens turned their heads.
"DIE!" Jeff screamed as he shot of the rounds at their heads with dead accuracy. 2 fell to the ground instantly followed by a third; it seemed now that he had a better look he was fighting jackals, some what of vulture like aliens. Then when he turned to his last opponent he saw...an Elite, in black armor. A commando ranking for their species, these guys were tough as nails and it took quite a number of men to take one of these down. Even as a Spartan, Jeff knew he couldn't finish this guy off alone. As the Elite leveled his plasma rifle a sudden succession of rapid fire was heard and he went down in an instant. The rest of the Spartans appeared at the door.
"You ok Jeff? They didn't mutate you or something..." Nate made a smirk at Jeff's surprised face.
"Now is not the time Nate! Hurry, I think they've spread out! Ok, I need Danny and Justin to go take the left hull, Nate and Alex to take the right. Michael, you come with me," Jeff looked back at the Spartan. Michael was more slender than the rest, an advantage he called "less body to be shot at". He had mastered the art of sniping, and knew why Jeff had wanted him to come...for covering fire. A reasonable request, and Michael simply nodded.
"Ok, let's roll!" Danny and Justin broke off to the left, while Nate and Alex went to the right. Jeff and Michael advanced into what seemed to be the ship the covenant had deported off of.
Danny and Justin ran into the next room with a welcome wagon waiting for them. They quickly took cover and began to open fire. They were dealing with a pack of grunts this time, smaller aliens that stood only about a meter tall. The reason they were called "grunts" was because even with translators the noises they made were mostly grunts and squeals.
Justin quickly opened fire. In one rapid motion, 3 went down and the other two shot a pink material at them. It went a bit slower than a bullet would, but when they made contact with the wall behind them they bounced off and then exploded a second later.
"Needlers..." Danny's face grew grim. He quickly popped off the last two with a burst from his Battle Rifle and headed into the next room.
"But we just went in this room, there can't be anyone here..." Nate groaned at the lack of action he was receiving.
"Come on Nate, you know the Elites can turn invisible, don't be over confident," Alex warned.
"Invisible? Now if that isn't the craziest thing I've ever hea--" he was interrupted by a loud "CRUNCH" and Nate's eyes quickly grew wide, and then he fell to the ground. Alex noticed the air behind Nate was somewhat shimmering.
"Elites..." A knot got stuck in Alex's throat. In quick fire with his Battle rifle he shot it down and quickly ran over to Nate. He checked for a pulse. Yes, he had one, but it was weakening. He quickly dragged him away to a safer facility.
Jeff and Michael entered what seemed to be the ship the covenant had come out of. Michael took out his M16 because in the cramped up corridors they were in, they wouldn't have much distance between them and their enemy. Their search came to a sudden halt when the reached a shut door. Besides it stood an alien code pad.
"Have any ideas?" Michael turned toward Jeff.
"I guess were gonna have to break it open" Jeff said. Michael handed him a lotus bomb, and backed away. Far away. Then, with all his strength, he threw an empty ammunition clip in its direction. Just barely making its way to it, the bomb instantly blew up and the door was incinerated. The two advanced in to find a huge room, which could easily fit one of their scorpions of the enemy's wraiths. In fact, wraiths stood at a lower level of the area already.
"Say Michael; have any more of those Lotus bombs?" Jeff looked at Michael.
"Yeah, why?"
"Because were about to take out the trash..."
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Chapter 3
0568 Military Calendar Year 2557
Slyder heard the noises from his sector, and knew something was up. Grabbing his Japanese katen, he made his way up the stairs. Slyder had never liked guns. He called them a coward's weapon, and that if you really wanted to fight, you would get up in their face. But of course, just in case, he was equip with a M16 at his side holster with 3 magazines. Slyder burst through his door to see a group of jackals patrolling the area. One of his fellow Spartans lay on the ground dead, just a few meters away. Working with his immense reactive time, he fell back into the shadows. One of the jackals must have noticed the quick flash on his heat sensors, because he made a grunt and pointed in Slyder's direction. A bead of sweat trickled down the back of his head. He reached for the handle of his sword and prepared himself. As the jackal moved closer, he knew he'd have no choice to at first shoot one in the head. Seemingly out of no where a bang was heard and the jackal fell to the floor. As all the others looked around in confusion and fear, a slice was heard and another was on the ground, dead. His body was literally cut into two. The jackals began to back into the walls, still looking around them. Then Slyder leapt from his hiding spot and went crazy on the aliens. Within seconds the entire fleet was on the ground.
"We've got one heck of a problem on our hands…" Slyder said as he ran down the hall swiftly, holding his alien stained sword.
Justin looked down at the strange gun. It seemed pink figures were protruding from it. A "needler" as Danny has just labeled the gun, Justin knew it would be useful, because he had just seen the gun used against them. He picked it up and headed for the next room, as Danny followed him. In the next room was a force so overwhelming that the two knew to fall back and hide was the best option, until the right time to strike was given. Wishing they had brought their translators, the two intensely listened to the hundreds of aliens that were gathered in the room. There was one Elite, cloaked in a Sage colored armor, who seemed to be giving out instructions to the rest. Green colors were high in the ranks of Elites, Justin thought to himself. He had been taught this in his earlier years, by one of the ships AI's, or artificial intelligences. From the looks of it, the entire fleet was going to demolish the area. Obviously, they couldn't let that happen. With the entire group Danny spotted some large bulky object that seemed to be of some importance to what the aliens were doing. Maybe a signal transfer device…maybe a computer override system…or worse…maybe a bomb…Danny knew to except the worst from the covenant and quickly pointed it out to Justin. Justin agreed, and their hypothesis was proved when one of the Elites displayed a holographic screen showing the entire HQ being destroyed in a fiery explosion.
They were going to need to get the heck out.
Captain Mark was inside the "safe room" with the rest of the staff. Two things would probably buy them a few more hours: that this room had 10 feet of pure diamond structure, obtained from other planets inner cores. Diamond was now a common mineral, due to recovering technology. And secondly, the Covenant hadn't even reached this area of the HQ yet. In the room on stands lay the special MJOLINR armor. Captain Mark knew they would need to get their Spartans in these fast if survival was going to be an option. Just then Justin spoke into Captain Mark from one of his radio devices.
"Captain, this is Justin, can you hear me?" his voice stayed at one level, much of a monotonous moan. "I have some bad news…"
"Spartan? What the heck is going on right now! I need details!" Captain was furious yet scared at the same time.
"Sir, they're going to blow the HQ up…we need to evacuate now."
"Alright, you round up the rest of the Spartans, I'll get the staff on some ships now… and Justin?"
"Yes sir?" Justin was surprised to be called by his first name.
"Come back alive son. Were going to need you more than you could know."
A wide grin spread across Justin's face, "Yes sir!"
Chapter 4
0568 Military Calendar Year 2557
Alex put Nate to the side and advanced farther ahead. No one else was there, he was positive. The Covenant hadn't reached this side of the building yet, and he was going to keep it that way. Seeing Nate was equip with a magnum, he picked it up and duel wielded his and Nate's gun. He burst into the next room to see a pack of grunts. With a quick succession of fire the Grunts were down instantly. He found that one had 2 plasma grenades of him, and he quickly added them to his own inventory. After shooting over a few more rooms with a few grunts here and there, he made it back to where the group had split up. Seeing that the Covenant ship's escape hatch was still open, he crawled in; following the direction Jeff and Michael had taken.
Jeff carefully aimed the Battle Rifle, while Michael and him still had the element of surprise.
"Ok, Michael, I'm going to need your help," Jeff whispered to his partner, still keeping his gun leveled to its original aim, "You see those pair of Elites? The ones working on the Wraiths? An accurate shot to the head should take them down. Be quick though, kill them both before anyone even realizes that someone is shooting at them."
"I won't miss," Michael took the Sniper slung across his back and aimed it towards the elites, both garbed in a blue armor, a lower class. In a sudden bang the first one went down, and Michael instantly slid his gun a notch to the left and shot the other one. Not a second out of timing, Jeff tossed a grenade as the Covenant began to approach, killing them all.
"That worked perfectly! Good aim Michael, you did great," a grin stretched across Jeff's cheek.
"Always will," Michael couldn't hide his satisfaction either. But they couldn't enjoy their victory long, as soon as a low buzz came in on Jeff's communicator.
"Jeff? Can you hear me? This is Captain Mark, the covenant has a bomb on the premises, we need to evacuate now!" Jeff was surprised at the worry in the captain's voice.
"Roger that. I'm coming sir," Jeff said as he slung his BA back across his back. He shared the news with Michael, who's face quickly turned from a smirked look to a grim one. As they turned around they saw Alex approach them, as he had the same look on his face, for the captain had informed him too.
"Let's get the heck out of here, it could blow at any minute," Alex said as he saw the two, and they all made a hustle to the safe room.
Justin and Danny were already in a full sprint back towards the safe room, what they had just saw was convincing enough for them to do that. Fortunate for them, they had already cleared the path there, and made it easily to the room. There Slyder was waiting already; he had always seemed to be the fastest. Within a few minutes Jeff, Michael, and Alex arrived too.
"Alright Body count, everyone's here….wait a minute!" Mark said as his count went to one less. He already knew who was missing, because everyone seemed to have just the slightest bit of contentment when he was around, "Where's Nate!"
It all suddenly went back to Alex's head. He had left Nate back by the running track! He knew if he went back, he might be killed or left behind. He was willing to take that risk.
"He went unconscious from a blow to the back. He's still laying there, I can go get—"Alex was interrupted when the Safe room doors parted and a limping Nate came into the room. He immediately collapsed to the floor as soon as he made it in.
"What'd I miss?" Nate managed a smile as he lay helpless on the ground.
"Get this boy a medic, now!" Mark barked to the staff. He was quickly taken away on a table and into another room.
"Ok, back to business. I have something to tell you all before we leave. I've been hiding something from you, I apologize that I have been, but I've been waiting for the right time to reveal it to you. What I'm going to show you now will change you forever, and never make you the same. Please, staff, show them the armor…
Chapter 5
0572 Military Calendar Year 2557
The ship had left the HQ just in time. Within minutes of their absence the place exploded. Danny looked back at what had once been his home, and a look of rage came across his face. All that he fought for….destroyed, by the Covenant.
Jeff stared into the rows of Sage green armor. They seemed bulky, and had some kind of contraption fit onto the back.
"This has been a project designed for each and every one of you…" Mark began, "A project that will enable you to become Superhuman, to achieve the impossible, and to put it plainly, kick some serious butt." A grin spread across his face, "Now, Jeff," he said, gesturing the Spartan towards him, "I'd like you to come up here," Jeff did as he was told, and quickly found himself next to one of the large bulky forms that was supposed to be his armor.
"Now Jeff, I'd like you to very carefully to get into the armor. After we activate it, do not move whatsoever, don't even think about moving, be absolutely still," Mark made his statement solid. Jeff slowly nodded his head, and let himself into the opened armor. The armor clipped over him, and seemed to cloud all around him. A switch was thrown, and a sudden jolt of pain went through Jeff's spine, but was quickly neutralized as radars flickered across Jeff's Helmet Visor.
"Ok, I want you to slowly lift your hand to your chest…very slowly now…" one of the staff members instructed Jeff. Jeff's hand came to his chest, nearly instantly. He was startled by its speed.
"If you'd like a better explanation, this is what the armor does for you. Your already chemically enhanced strength has been nearly tripled, reflexes cut down to a 16th of the time, and you now can run up to a burst of 45mph," another staff member explained. The others stared in awe as Jeff hopped up from the table. Although it had great strength, the suit felt like a feather to Jeff. "And that's not even the beginning. It now has recharging shield technology built in, enabling you to take a series of bullets with no harm whatsoever. It has a health and armor display on the mask of your helmet, constantly supplying you with information," the staff member continued. The Spartans were all in awe as Jeff was asked to present the amazing abilities of the armor. SMGs were shot at him; he bent metal bars, and displayed his speed. It was obvious that the improvement this armor could give was going to be drastic. After a few minutes, everyone was suited into armor, and was given time to test it out. Mark stood at the back, a grin across his cheek, finally knowing that his Spartans could make some serious progress.
Nate came back from the recovery room, in a wheelchair, a large metal pole running down the back of his spine. He looked in amazement at what the other Spartans were accomplishing within the confounds of their armor. He envied them, and was impatient for his recovery. He wanted to join them so bad, it was what he lived for.
Jeff easily hopped over the 5 foot podium. He then bent the steel bars that were blocking his path. The obstacle course was really revealing his abilities. He spotted a target, and with surprising strength, he leveled to Battle Rifles in each hand. His strength really had improved! Without a moment to spare, he shot the targets with perfect accuracy and continued on. At the end of the course was a finish line, guarded by a large wall of steel of course. Without thinking about it, flames developed on his hands, and he merely melted the steel with a few jabs. The armor was a never ending flow of surprises! He made it to the end, amazed how he had done it. A few second later, an image appeared behind him as if out of thin air, and shared the same astonished expression that he had.
"It has camouflage too!" Justin gasped in amazement. Suddenly, another section of the steel wall tore open as a flaming sword cut through. Slyder stood, looking at the sword, astonished. It was as if they had done it all with no effort whatsoever. The power of his armor had actually lit his sword as well! And as if that wasn't enough proof, the scanner showing their shield meters had a triple bar, the first one being a shade of green, and could withstand a large firing force.
"And if you'd like me to spoil something else, that suit gives you complete control over where you go in a zero-gravity area. By simply thinking it, it can set your personal gravity," the staff member knew that he would have enjoyed seeing the astounded faces of the Spartans if their visors had not been blocking their face.
Nate went over to Captain Mark. He was desperate. He wanted a part in this.
"Captain, after my recent injury, is there any possibility I can be joining them soon?" Nate was eager to know the answer, but kept at attention.
"I think you've served us enough for now. Take a well earned break, son. Besides, in your condition, it will be about another 2 weeks before you even can start walking," the Captain could see the disappointment in his face, "but I'm sure we can fit you in to help us somehow…" the Captain changed his tone to more a friendly one. Nate looked up with a small grin and went away. He would be back…in time…in time.
Chapter 6
0573 Military Calendar Year 2557
The ship seemingly suspended in air out in space. Everyone was in their beds, except a few of the cleaning staff. And of course, Captain Mark. He lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling. Something was wrong, he knew it. They made off easily. Too easily. He had heard of Covenant devices that latched onto a ship, and recorded where it went and where it was. Maybe one of those was on the ship, he thought. Maybe there were aliens on the ship. The Covenant did have Active Camouflage, and yet again so did they, built into the Spartans' armor. They were becoming equal to the Covenant, not being the prey but the predator now. That was a major improvement. This settled well in the Captains mind, and he soon drifted to sleep. As soon as he went into his subconscious thoughts, a shimmering image of air stepped out of the corner
Day break came. Alex lifted himself out of bed. The MJOLNIR armor hung next to his bed side, he already felt like he was missing something when he wasn't wearing it. After clipping himself in, he resisted a sudden jolt of pain as the armor came into effect. Not a second after it was neutralized and he was up on his feet. He met up with the others, in the front hall, waiting for the captain. Nate was to about the Spartan's chest level, in his wheel chair. The long medal rod had been replaced with a plastic one that only went up to about Nate's neck. Danny was sitting at the side, quietly talking with Justin, and Slyder was alone in the back, waiting for the Captain's arrival. Michael was scanning through his suits options. Jeff stepped out in front of them, hands neatly folded behind his back.
"I have some very bad news…it's been reported that Captain Mark is missing. The last time he was seen was when he bid his maid good night at went to his bed room," everyone could tell by Jeff's tone that the worst was expected…which of course was not Mark's death, but him revealing the location of the Human race's most important planet-Earth. "Not only that, a Covenant gun has been spotted inside the building, and when it was taken…it was next to a grunt, cloaked with Active Camouflage. The ship is loaded with the Covenant, they could be anywhere. Arm yourselves gentlemen, were going to blow the heck out of these fools. As for you Nate, find somewhere safe to be. You're in no condition to fight," Jeff could see the disappointment in Nate's eyes, but knew it was for the best. The rest of the Spartans, already in their MJOLINR armor, grabbed their weapons and headed off in different directions. Justin and Danny palled together, they worked as a machine, their tactics depended on each others support, something which would some day lead to their ultimate fall. But for now, they were unstoppable, and planned to stay that way.
Slyder unsheathed his katen and looked around. No one in sight, that was obvious, because they would be invisible. Using his keen eyesight, he looked around the room. Nonchalantly, he walked to a corner of the room. With sudden force he slashed his sword forward, killing the "hidden" victim. Blue Alien blood spurted as the Alien's Camouflage failed, and revealed it to be an Elite. Collecting the Elites Plasma Riffle, purely for study purposes, he headed on to the next room.
Michael made a nice statement with his duel battle riffles, becoming and unstoppable force to all his on-comers. That is, until he stumbled upon an Elite garbed in Black armor. A commando. As his multiple rounds ripped through the beast shields, it fired a plasma beam. Flinching his eyes shut and preparing for the worst, he waited. Nothing happened. Then suddenly, a large bleeping noise took over his helmet's speakers. Opening his eyes, he noticed the shield gauge in the bottom right of his visor was empty. His shields had been taking all the shots! Of course. It was going to take some getting used to for his suit. In quick succession he shot down the elite and headed on.
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Chapter 7
0573 Military Calendar Year 2557
The Elite stood silently. Going by the name Luka' Pigogoomee, he was a lower ranked class among his brothers. A fellow Elite, Venoma' Spidoramee, stood, his necked craned forward, waiting for the right moment to leap out of the shadows. The two stood in a corner, armed with plasma rifles and cloaked with a camouflage. A figure appeared in the room, and both of the Elites were stunned at the massive figure. Standing over two meters tall, it was garbed in a Sage armor covering, and held two of the "stutter weapons" as the Covenant knew them. Venoma' Spidoramee clicked his lower mandibles, or signaling for the time to attack.
Michael turned to see the on come of plasma from the corner of the room. Without a moment to loose he leveled his BA's to one of the alien's heads and it was down in seconds.
Luka' Pigogoomee turned in surprise as Venoma' Spidoramee's life was taken so quickly. Their plasma shots hadn't even fazed the human's shields. With the last few breaths he took, he continued to shoot at the human, knowing that there was nothing he could do, and would soon be joining his brother.
The Siren wailed on Michael's Shield Gauge. The Second Elite went down with another succession of shots and littered the floor with blue blood. Giving his shields a second to recharge, Michael reloaded his weapons. He turned the corner to see Slyder, holding a Covenant Energy Sword. He could tell that Slyder has made some serious havoc with it, as his entire suit was stained with Covenant blood.
"Status for this area?" Slyder turned toward Michael.
"Clear. There were a few Elites and Grunts before," he replied.
"Got it. Let's go check in on the rest of the gang,"
A grin spread across Michael's face, "Let's go then,"
Alex made his way through the ship. He could see that there had been fights, as the place was littered with dead bodies-nearly all human. He would change that. As the doors parted for him, he saw that he was inches within an Elite's back. Without a moment to spare he sent a bone shattering punch to the Elite's back, killing it instantly. Making sure none of the rest of the Aliens in the room would notice him, he activated his camouflage. The Covenant turned their heads in surprise to see their fallen ally. Without hesitation Alex lobbed a fragnation grenade into a large crowd of Covenant, killing at least 15 of them. The others, knowing where he was, bombarded him with plasma fire. Already ahead of the game, Alex shot the heads of the aliens with quick burst from his BAs. Within seconds the Covenant monsters were on the ground, and Alex, noting that the path of the ship ended there, reported in.
"Alex to Jeff, Alex to Jeff. My Sector is clear,"
"Roger that, Alex. Good work," Alex heard gunfire in the back ground of Jeff's speakers. Following the path he had taken, he headed back to where Jeff was. He knew Jeff might need his help.
Justin and Danny were unstoppable. Keeping their back to each other, they cleared out the room in seconds. Relieving one of the Aliens of his Beam Rifle, a powerful Covenant Sniper, Justin thought he'd give Michael a little gift, since he was the Sniper of the group. Nodding his head toward the door, Justin signaled Michael and him to go into the next room. As the doors slid open, Danny and Justin's jaws dropped at the sight of the monsters in the area. Huge beast with spined backs lumbered around the room, holstering an Aliens Rocket Launcher on their shoulder. Being taller the 3 meters, their heads nearly touched the ceiling. Known as Hunters, it took an incredible fire force to take just one of them down, and for just two, would require a Rocket Launcher, which they didn't have. Grenades were the next best thing. Automatically the two hurled recently acquired plasma grenades and threw them at the beast, having them stick to their skin. Turning in surprise, the Hunters had just enough time to see what had thrown the grenades at them, before the exploded into an oblivion. Noting that this was the end of their path, they signaled into Jeff's head speakers.
"The Area has been cleared, were good to go," Danny spoke into his headset.
There was no reply
"Jeff, do you read me? Hello? Jeff?" Justin could tell that the conversation was one sided, literally, even though he couldn't hear the other end. He could see the worry in Danny's face, and knew that they should hurry the heck over there.
"No reply. Should we check up on him?" Danny turned toward Justin.
"Yeah, we should," Justin already made his way to the door, but Danny stopped him and pointed to the two Covenant Rocket Launchers. A grin spread across Justin's face.
"Those could come in handy" He said as Danny and he reached over for the Rocket Launchers. Discarding their Battle Rifles due to need of gun space, they made their way back toward Jeff.
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Chapter 8
0573 Military Calendar Year 2557
Everything was black. Jeff thought he was dead. Then, just as he began to expect the worst, his vision returned, blurred, and the rest of his senses came to as he heard the loud wailing of his shield gauge. As things became clearer, he noticed that the inside of his helmet was littered with a brown red material, obviously blood. Struggling to get up, he tried to remember what had just happened. Then he remembered. The Lotus bomb, the Elite, and the explosion. They had both been blown by it from point blank range…and he had survived! His suit was truly amazing! As the wailing siren faded and his shields recharged, he saw large bulky figures running in his direction, and he was relieved to see that they were human, and more so, the rest of the Spartans, except Nate of course.
"Is he alive?" Michael said, worried. Jeff realized he was still in a limp position on the ground.
"No…" he said weakly, "I'm fine…just fine," Jeff's voice cracked as he tried to speak. Alex quickly picked him up and leaned him against the wall. He wouldn't forget this time. After a short talk and a few checks around the ship, it was proven uninhabited by the Covenant and everyone let out a sigh of relief.
The Spartans went into the lower bunk room, and spotted Nate, a grin spread across his face, knowing that they were all alive, even with the exception of Jeff, who had gone back to his unconscious state and had to be put in the room by a iron slate bed. He was relieved of his armor and put onto his bunk. A short while after some staff walked in and cared to his injuries, mostly minor, his armor had taken the blunt of the explosion, and was going to need repairs. An intercom speaker suddenly crackled and a voice came up, catching the Spartan's attention.
"This is Lieutenant Chester, the next ranking officer on board. I need all Spartans to report to sector 6B in 10 minutes sharp for a mandatory meeting," his voice seemed softer than the Captain's, but still had a firm since of charisma. All the Spartans, except Jeff of course, high-tailed it to Sector 6B, where a man was waiting for them. He was tall, for a normal human, about 6 foot 10, had broad shoulders, and a cleanly shaven face. Badges were neatly pinned across his shirt, with naval signs embroidered into his shoulder plates. His head was covered with a neatly polished hat that seemed to resemble one that a Taxi driver might wear, except was a navy blue and had the Naval insignia planted on the front.
"Obviously, the Covenant has discovered that we're up to something big here, and intend to stop it. We can't let that happen, we are the only hope for the human race. It was reported that the only remaining Spartan from the project "SPARTAN I" ship has gone missing, and was seen being followed by Covenant air craft. That was years ago. Now, the Covenant are trailing our ship again, and could mean the worst. We have a special mission for you. We need you to invade a Covenant air craft, neutralize all Covenant inside, and take over all control of it, and destroy the rest of the Covenant air Craft with it, by getting amongst them and setting off a detonator. Use their drop ships to escape before the detonation. That should buy us so plenty of time, weeks, even months perhaps. With that time we could advance our technology, our arsenal, and maybe even get some more recruits. I hear the "hell droppers" do quite a good job as army personal. They can kick some serious butt, and we a lot more than we have you guys. But obviously, you can't expect them to work as lethal as you, for they won't be equip with the type of armor that you have. This may be a hard mission, but if it works, it will really pay off. So, are you up to it?" the Lieutenant looked each Spartan in the eye. They were always up for a challenge, and this was no exception.
"We'll do it!" Michael announced. If Jeff was going to be gone, the group needed a new leader, and Michael was up for the job. He would lead them to victory, he had to. The other Spartans agreed, and were told to get a good night's rest. Before they left, Nate was pulled aside.
"Nate, listen to me," Nate was surprised that the Lieutenant knew his name, but turned his wheelchair around to look at him. "I'm sorry to say, but I just can't but you in. You're not well enough yet. Maybe next time. We don't want to loose everyone at once, just incase this doesn't work. Just stay here, get some rest. You've earned it," that phrase was getting old to Nate, but keeping a solid look, he nodded, and headed off to the bunk room. He'd show them, he still could fight. He'd show them…one way or another.
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Chapter 9
0574 Military Calendar Year 2557
The engines to the drop ship stuttered, and then with a sudden jolt of sound started up. Michael looked back upon the main ship as it faded into the distance. Slyder stood at the controls, navigating through the void of space.
"Were short two people, this could be seriously bad," Justin was talking with Danny.
"But with our new armor, it should more than make up for it," Danny commented. The MJOLINR armor had already proven its use. That was obvious. The question was now, whether it could withstand a full Covenant force. They were about to find out.
Nate stood by Jeff's bed. Slowly, Jeff's eyes opened. He looked up at Nate.
"Nate…is everyone ok?" being his first words that he said, Nate knew that he cared for his team.
"Yeah…and I'm really sorry to disappoint you, but they've all left to board a Covenant air craft. We were left behind for "medical purposes".
"WHAT! THAT'S INSANE!" Jeff had already made it to his feet. He didn't handle being left out as well as Nate did, because he couldn't let his team go out on their own, "We have to go, now!" Jeff said, clipping into his armor, "Quick, follow me," he said, leading Nate out the room. After going down a few halls, they reached a room, one set of MJOLINR armor standing on its hook. Jeff quickly grabbed it down.
"Get into this," he ordered.
"But I can't do th-" Nate was cut off by Jeff, who was looking him straight in the eye. Nate then realized what kind of opportunity he was being given, and quickly changing his attitude grabbed the armor, "Give me that!" he said, in a joking fashion. Clipping into it, Jeff instructed him to the point where he was used to the armor. After learning a few of its capabilities, they rushed on the ship. Nate was happy to note that the armor gave him enough strength to function normally. They ran until they reached a Drop Ship, still in port. Because of the recent slaughter, there were no personal to watch it. Without a moment to spare, they both hopped in and headed for the Covenant fleet.
"There's our target," Slyder pointed out the window to a massive object in the distance. It was sleek, glowed purple, and seemed to share the shape of a loach, a type of fish. Quickly, they activated their ship's camouflage and coolers to be virtually un-spottable. They closed the ship onto the ship's course and reached its perimeter. As they closed in, Michael jammed the breaks to the ship.
"They have an over shield to their ship. We need to do something," he asked, although they all knew their only option. Blow through it. Finally accepting the fact that their cover would be blown, Slyder braced himself and squeezed the trigger to the 55mm machine guns. A section of the shield started to glow a blue color, a red, and then a white, and then flickered and shut off. The ship then swooped into the perimeter and ripped another hole into the ship. Parking the ship inside, the Spartans hopped out, already seeing that they company. Plasma rifles fired in their direction. With lightning speed their dodged to the side, whipped out their weapons, and neutralized their oppressors. Reloading their guns, the group kicked opened the next door. Elites and Jackals littered the area. They shot their guns with pin point accuracy and killed every one of them. Things were easy so far. Together they were unstoppable. Looking around for a path to take, the Spartans noticed a group of some larger Aliens. Hunters. A lot of them. A know got caught in Alex's throat. The Aliens, hearing the cry of their fallen brothers, turned to see their armored foes point their guns. Angered and thirsty for revenge, they fired their rocket launchers in their direction. Started by the sudden powerful fire, the group jumped out of the way, and the Hunters advanced in their direction.
Jeff saw the rip in the Alien's ship, and followed through it. Already seeing the other parked ship, he knew they were already far in. He hopped out of the ship, headed past the alien carcasses, Nate right behind him, and burst into the next room. He saw massive creatures, Hunters, stomping around, their rocket launchers rested on their shoulder. On the ground, lay the Spartans, either unconscious, or dead.
"Dear God…" Jeff was shocked and scared, these beast had taken out every last one of them. As his feelings turned to anger, he threw grenades into the crowd of Hunters, blowing them all to bits. After he was sure they were dead, he rushed over to the Spartans. There was a pulse in each of them, but a weak one. Nate and he dragged the bodies over to the ship, and held their positions. Their friends' lives depended on it.
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I'm sorry to say, buy I never continued the story from then on. It was a simple fan-fiction made upof the members of the forum I went to.
-VenomS124