Chapter Two: The Pillar of Autumn and its Crew
The dropship flew up into space as all the Marines were strapped in and felt rocking as it exited Earth's atmosphere. As soon as they got into space they were smooth again, one man, Private Mathews, threw up from… space sickness. Adams and Winters were both fine as they talked about what to expect on the new ship.
"How'd it get its name?" Winters looked at Adams.
Adams looked back at him, letting his flamethrower drop to the ground in front of him. Adams was a strong man, muscles bulging out everywhere. The flamethrowers and heavy machine guns are the heaviest assault weapons in the Marine Corp. "The Pillar of Autumn… hmm… I have no idea Conrad."
Winters chuckled a bit at this, "Wonder who they got working at crew up there."
"Prolly just a few marines, few engineers, navigators, Cap'n Keyes, and hey, maybe even that cyborg!" Adams nodded.
"Hopefully, if were attacked, he'll come in handy." Winters smiled.
"Damn right, I wonder how far out were going."
"Just past Pluto, they put in new hyperdrives so that we can fly through space and get there in a heartbeat."
"Lucky us, eh?"
"Damn straight!" Winters nodded and leaned his head back. Soon, they were at the Pillar of Autumn. The Pillar of Autumn had defense weapons on the front and on the top, a few machine guns and two small cannons. There are docking bays for small ships such as dropships on both sides; one would be where the Marines are going to dock.
Winters looked out the windshield, leaning forward a bit. He could see the very long, two story ship and smiled a bit. He loved looking at the huge flagships, though the Pillar of Autumn was more of a scouting, small gunship. The dropship went to one of the holes where it would be docking.
"Dropship A, Marine Corp. transport ship, reporting in and requesting docking entrance." The pilot was talking to the Pillar of Autumn crew in charge of docking entrances and exits.
"Allow me to check dropship out… Clear, head on in Bohammer."
"Roger that!"
The dropship docked and Winters unstrapped. Everyone got out to see Captain Keyes waiting for them. Two other dropships docked, the rest of Winter's platoon.
"Greetings Alpha Platoon, this is my ship, the Pillar of Autumn, constructed and put into orbit not too long ago. I am Captain Keyes and there is a Marines Sector separated from everything else. It contains the new types of jeeps and tanks as well as complete arsenal of weapons and sleeping quarters. I will allow you to put your belongings in your sleeping quarters and then I will show you everything in the ship, you must learn the ship front and back incase of an attack."
The captain looked like an old man, gray hair, and only about 5'6 in height. He had a pistol, only a pistol though. He was dressed in the Navy outfit, gray uniform completely, no armor, and a few badges and medals right below his shoulder.
Winters walked over to his sleeping quarters, looking at everything as he went. The halls weren't much of a site, but the armory in the Marines quarters was beautiful! Winters put his stuff down on a bunk and went out to look at it. Warthog Jeeps that contained mounted machine guns on back with a passenger seat a driver's seat. Then the Scorpion Tanks with dual machine guns and a large cannon capable of launching rockets twice the size of a rocket launcher rocket.
Winters saw that most of the other marines were gone by now and he ran out to get back to Captain Keyes. He saw them just getting started on the little tour. They started with the bathrooms, docking bays, control rooms, front room, and then the bay where the Master Chief was held, still sleeping.
Cortana was something that amazed everyone. It would seem as if she's a real person, Artificial Intelligence really, but she has a personality and everything inside of her. She is the Pillar of Autumn's defense system basically, capable of activating or deactivating anything in the ship.
The Master Chief is another thing that shocked everyone, mostly full of excitement. A cyborg capable of taking down anyone or anything, except maybe an entire army. He was green with armor never seen and a targeting system as well as a shield. He can also plug things into himself to see playbacks or put information in his head, such as the chip Cortana is on.
After the tour it was night, everyone going to sleep. Winters slept well that night.