Chapter 4: Second Coming
Planet Coral, Trinity System, Three weeks ago…
Small purple shapes slowly dropped through the maelstrom of AA fire towards the planet's surface. Dark red explosions were quickly engulfed in thick black smoke that fired out small pieces of superheated metal. One Phantom took a few direct hits and quickly plummeted to the surface in a trail of blue plasma and acrid smoke. Thankfully, the cloud cover had provided the rather small landing parties ample protection from visual sightings and they weren't picked up by the Human radar. Inside one of the Phantoms, a platoon of SpecOps Elites waited anxiously. None of them said anything to each other, instead checking their weapons over for an innumerable time while a few others checked out the features of their new helmets. The only noticeable difference was a small pod that had been integrated into the right temple of the helmet and two small crests that swept over the Elite's elongated skull and rose only an inch or two above it in the rear. One of the soldiers, dressed in black like the others, still stood out. His gold faceplate reflected the low purple light back onto the floor and he shifted back and forth, eagerly awaiting battle. A shudder rocked through the Phantom's hull and a few Elites who had been attaching plasma grenade launchers to the bottom of their Carbines looked up alarmed.
"Get ready," the outsider said gruffly and blue lasers began emanating from the Elites' pods. They synched the straps on their backpacks one last time and made sure that their plasma daggers were tight on their legs. The gravity lift in the center of the holding bay came to life and cool air rushed in through it. "Three…two…one…GO!" In a perfectly orchestrated maneuver, the entire Phantom, filled with twenty-four Elites and one Spartan, exited in only a matter of seconds. John's boots hit the concrete top of a building and he ducked down like the other Elites as the Phantom took off again. A constant barrage of bullets pounded the side of the craft and a small grey haze trailed behind it as it rose back into the atmosphere. Getting a quick survey of the surrounding city, he realized that the pilot had dropped them off almost a kilometer short of their target building. Easily distinguishable because of it's size, the dual towers rose into the air and glinted in the evening sun. A quick burst of gunfire raked the rooftop and the SpecOps squad began scanning for targets, their new toys coming into play. One of the Elites flicked to an x-ray filter and saw a few skeletons leaning up against the wall of a building to their right. He leveled his Carbine and pumped half a clip into the wall and followed it up with a round from his grenade launcher. The small blue orb arced towards the crumbling wall and detonated on impact. With his filter still on, he saw different bones scatter randomly and gave a pleased grunt. John continued looking around the city as the Elites began to grow impatient. "Let's move out," he ordered and then stood up, jogging across the gravel top of the building. There was a slight hesitation from the squad but it was to be expected, it had been a last minute assignment by the Prophet of Truth in case John needed their help for some reason. Following behind him, the Elites moved across the open space, always scanning their surroundings. Just as John reached the door he stopped and crouched down. A cluster of their pod lasers dropped onto small square protruding from the roof. He moved backwards and leveled his Carbine while the Elites facing the door did the same. All at once they unloaded an entire clip into it. Concrete exploded away in a cloud of dust as the radioactive rounds pummeled the stairwell. After the barrage of fire, it slowly crumpled down on itself in an even larger cloud of debris that slowly floated away into the air. John walked up to it and saw a bloody arm sticking through the rubble and walked over to the edge of the building. He pulled out a small purple device and clipped it to the railing. His armored fingers grabbed a small silver object on the front of the device and a glowing blue tether of energy coiled behind it. Attaching it to a clip on his armor, he waited for the Elites before kicking off the side and rappelling down the wall. Glass cracked and splintered as the heavy boots slammed into it, falling weightlessly to the ground below them. Echoing through the city was the crack of a lone sniper round. John whipped his head to left and up only to watch an Elite give a warbling cry and tumble downwards. Purple blood was splattered against the window he had been in front of, a small hole in it with spider web like cracks streaking away from it. The Spartan let off of the resistance on the tether and sped towards the bottom. Another round impacted against a window, just barely missing an Elite who sped up as well. The Master Chief dropped to the ground and took a knee as he scanned the dead streets. Most of the Covenant landing force had been sent to a large military outpost about 30 kilometers from the city, but even from that distance the sounds of the fighting were ferocious. A small group of Marines jogged down the street and were instantly cut down by the precise fire from the Elites. Almost like Spartans…almost. John had taken a liking to the SpecOps Elites, unlike their zealot brethren, these soldiers lived only for the thrill of killing and nothing more. No Sacred Rings, no Great Journey, nothing, all they wanted was to feel the blood pulsing through their veins as bullets slashed at the air just millimeters from their skulls. A quick banter between them ensued but it quickly ended. The Master Chief ordered the Elites to move out and they made their way through the streets without any further interference. Arriving at their target building, John examined the barricades that had been set up but weren't being used by anyone. Titanium-A barriers were scattered around the terrace at the base of the twin tower building in a way that would make it just about impossible to get any oblique angle shots on the defenders. He walked forward and flicked his fingers. Crumpling in a symphony of screeching metal, the barricades literally collapsed in on themselves and created a path for the fallen Spartan. The Elites followed behind him lazily. John walked up the stairs triumphantly and shot out the tinted glass windows. Shards were sprayed all inside of the grand lobby.
"What is this place?" one of the Elites asked almost rhetorically.
"Military headquarters. Typical though, it's been evacuated," The Master Chief replied quickly.
"Then what are we doing here?" He ignored the Elites' outburst and walked through the dimly lit room. Datapads were scattered around the marble floor but all of them were offline. John kicked one as he went past it. Small pieces of the object skidded on the slick floor in a shower of sparks.
"Wait down here; make sure no one comes in behind me." One of the Elites barked in acknowledgement and started ordering his troops around. Bypassing the elevators, John hurried up the stairs, feeling the presence of the artifact slowly growing stronger.
Blinding white light washed over the Spartan's armor. Inside the clean room, different projects were lying in whatever state their technician had left it in. Most of the computers were offline but the few that were still on were locked down so tight that it would take weeks to hack through the system. Near the rear of the room John saw a large metal crate sitting on the floor.
"Demon, Human reinforcements are coming up the street, whatever you are doing, you'd best hurry up and finish." He ignored the message. His hands rested gently on the box and he slowly opened it up. A grey mist floated around inside, obscuring a rather large black object and as he reached down to pick it up, a tingling sensation pulsed through his veins. The Spartan placed it around his wrist methodically and waited. For a few seconds nothing happened but like a tidal wave, it hit him at once. Knowledge, power, strength, everything that the Forerunners had accumulated in their dominance was now his to control. He stood up and walked out of the clean room then down the flights of stairs to the main lobby. Tracers arced back and forth in the weakening light and were quickly returned by green trails from Carbine shots. The sound of thunder rumbled through the streets as an M808B Scorpion fired off a shot. Flames and concrete fell on the Chief as he left the lobby. A few dead Elites were sprawled on the ground in pools of their own blood but he didn't care. There was a sudden lull in fire and John knew exactly the reason, why was a Spartan coming from inside the building, let alone not shooting at the Elites? Without any effort on his part, the Master Chief summoned the deadliest warriors to ever walk the galaxy. A few dark clouds swirled around the hundred or so Marines before materializing into ten black shapes. Standing almost nine feet tall, the Forerunner soldiers were clad in the same black metal as the gauntlet. Covering their faces were smooth helmets reaching all the way down to their chins with a blue sliver at eye level. Like the SpecOps Elites, an external pod was mounted on the right side but this was much smaller and looked more integrated than the Covenants'. Three spikes protruded from the rear of their helmets and concealed the long metal like hair that was bundled into a ponytail. The rest of their armor covered almost every inch of their somewhat skinny bodies but beneath the black metal bulged muscles that could easily overpower a Brute. One of the Forerunners, the largest of the group, wore a different style helmet though, which only covered his eyes and forehead, the rest being masked by a black silk material. The gunfire immediately stopped from both sides as John continued to walk towards his new soldiers. One Marine must've had a jumpy trigger finger because he began to unload on the captain of the Forerunners with his BR55. A blue haze became visible around him as the brass rounds disintegrated when impacting the psychic shield. The Captain turned to the soldier and angled both arms away from his side a little and activated the twin energy blades built into his wrist. Trying to help their comrade who was now in the sights of the Forerunner, the other Marines opened fire on him. An entire orb of blue materialized around him as he lunged at the Marine. Both of his blades sliced into him and the Captain quickly kicked the Marine off and aimed for another nearby. The Forerunners under his command followed suit and shouldered their weapons. Almost three feet long, the rifles they carried were incredibly sleek and was relatively skinny in comparison to some other weapons of the same size. Blackish-purple energy leapt from the barrels and tore through metal and flesh. Crimson blood sprayed across the ground as heads were sliced off and fist sized holes were punched through armor. A few of the Elites opened fire with their Carbines and finished off the last of the Marines who had been so savagely cut down. John smiled inside his helmet as the Elites got up from behind the barriers and congregated towards each other. He walked over towards them as if nothing was happening, eyeing the Elite Captain the entire time. Pushing through his subordinates, the Master Chief walked up to the Captain and placed his hand on his shoulder. Within a split second though, a blue pulsing blade sliced through his entrails and purple blood spilled to the ground. In one swift movement, the blade sliced out of the right side of the Captain's chest cavity and cut open all of the Elites unfortunate enough to be within the range of the blade. The others stood stunned but were quickly taken out by precise shots from the Forerunner's rifles. Purple blood was splashed across John's armor and he had to tread a little more determinedly to avoid losing his footing on the blood soaked steps. Standing silently and obediently were the Forerunner soldiers. After millennia of imprisonment by those Forerunner who believed that their power was too great for their own good, it was once again time for the greatest warriors to again reclaim their title.
For those of you who read the prequel to this, I've changed how the Forerunners looked (my interpretation of them) because with over a year of looking back on them, I just didn't like how I was originally imagined them.
