Halo 3:

Earth's final stand

Metropolis

"Hold steady!" The pilot yelled into the troop carrier at the back of the Pelican. "5 minutes to dirt!"

"About time," grumbled Sergent Major Avery Johnson. One of the marines slapped him on the back and tried to cheer him up. "Look on the bright side sir! At least we'll be able to kill some of those bastards!"

Johnson grinned. "Careful Corporal, I might have to get you court-martialled." The marine cocked his head in confusion.

"What for sir?"

"For slapping a superior." All of the 14 troops laughed at that. Except for the co-pilot. "Additional contacts on radar! Looks like 3 enemy vehicles approaching at high velocities!" Johnson, who was sitting at the back of the Pelican, stood up immediately. "Seal off the pelican interior! I don't want those covenant sons-of-a-bitches getting a straight shot, right up our a-!" The Pelican took a plasma bolt to the right wing and lurched violently. The Master Chief, sitting to the left of Johnson, ran into the Pelican's portable armoury, and came out with two Jackhammer rocket launcher's, or as some of the marines call them, Slapper's. The Master Chief threw one to Johnson, who, under the wait of it, was knocked over. One of the marines stared out of the nearest view port, and saw something that he didn't. "Holy shit!" The human mind can process millions of fragments of data in less than 0.5 of a second. When the marines from Fire Team Charlie saw Private Rostburg, a man well known for sanity in a world with none, dive to the floor screaming, they knew that they were all gonna die. Their suspicion's were confirmed when 0.8 of a second later, when Pelican Charlie 46's engine failed, it lost one wing, and half the ship.

"This is Charlie 46; we have lost all engines and half the ship." The comm operator replied calmly, "Roger that Charlie 46. What is your current location, over." The 'calm voice' that is used by many comm officers is supposed to calm the person on the other end. But at this instant, it wasn't helping. "Our position is sector 38, by the bridge, in Metropolis, New Mombassa, over."

The pilot's voice was starting to heighten, so the female comm officer asked him to repeat. "What do you mean by repeat! There is a friggin bug chasing us! I have lost half of my fucking ship! And all the fuck you care about is repeating! I need reinforcements now!" The comm channel went dead, and she sighed. Men.

The Master Chief dived as plasma scorched the area where he was standing. He stood up. "Johnson! Corporal!" he shouted above the noise. There was dust everywhere. What was left of the Pelican, if you could even call it that, was falling apart. The Master Chief looked back. Inside his helmet, he could only here the hot quick puffs of breath that were his. Only hear his breathing stop as reality returned. He turned around to the back of the 'Pelican,' and jumped. The beam hit him anyway. A giant green beam, one of which seemed distantly familiar, smashed into him, sending him flying back, through the Pelican, and into a long deserted building. He slowly got up, and vision returned to his eyes. His shield alarm was blaring over his helmet speakers. He stared at his vitals. They were flashing red. He stood up and groaned. The very distinguishable sound of an extremely powerful laser charging up sent John running toward the window at top speed. He roared and made a leap of faith to a place that he could not see. The only part he could make out was a bridge that was barely seeable in all the dust. The beam that fired entered the building and vaporizing it. The beam passed centimetres below John's feet, and he could feel the blistering heat even with his armour on. He shouted out as the building behind him exploded and flames licked his back. When his feet hit solid metal, John was about to relax, when the flames continued to peruse him, and he kept running. Over the metallic object that he remembered as a scarab. When he reached the top he looked back and jumped. 500 feet to the water below. Once the flames had engulfed the Scarab, it exploded too. Green flames mixed with the red, and together, they covered John till he hit the water. He sunk, and then kicked his way back up to the surface, to find things very different. The Covenant was everywhere. The Master Chief backed into the water slightly. He looked at the bridge that he saw earlier, and swore. The Bridge was glassed, as was half of Metropolis. Just then, a UNSC Pelican came down and cleared out any covenant that dare oppose it. The marines that stepped off stared at him in awe. "He walked up to them and said, "Never seen a Spartan before marines?"

"Yes sir," one replied. "It's just, who are you?"

"John 117. Master Chief." They all backed away. "What?"

"Sir. You died 28 years ago."