Disclaimer: None of the characters from Halo, Halo 2, or the Halo books are mine.
A/N: This is the rewrite version of Chapter 5: Returning Spartans.
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Halo 3: The Fall of the Covenant
Chapter 5
Returning Spartans
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Everyone in the battle, including the Flood, stopped fighting to stare at the three augmented fighting machines as they exited their craft. The two beings that were most amazed by their entrance were not members of the ex-Covenant, but the two humans. After two seconds of eerie silence, the combatants seemed to remember that they were still in a battle, so the battle resumed.
"What's going on? Didn't all the Spartans except for Master Chief die on Reach?" asked a bewildered Commander Keyes, as she neutralized a combat form with two shots of her carbine.
"That's not true ma'am," grunted Sergeant Johnson as he took down three combat forms with his carbine. "Three other Spartans survived the glassing of Reach. Frederic-104, Linda-058, and William-043. Maybe that's them right there...but why are they wearing the old Spartan armour?"
"Well, we can ask them later, let's just try to stay alive for now," replied Keyes. She then ducked just in time to avoid a plasma rifle shot.
The Arbiter felt a shiver down his spine as he saw the Spartans. He had thought that all of the Demons were wiped out on the human planet Reach, but now, three more Demons came out of nowhere. Just then, a tentacle came out of nowhere and smacked the Arbiter in the face, the blow wasn't powerful enough to drain all of his shields, but it was strong enough to bring the Arbiter back to reality. The Arbiter quickly raised his shotgun and pumped a shotgun round into the creature. The spray of the bullets caught the Flood fighter right in the torso as the eight-gauge magnum round tore the infection form in its chest to pieces.
After a few more minutes of intense fighting, the Flood numbers diminished. The three Spartans finally cover the distance between their dropship and the ex-Covenant fighters. When two Elite Majors tried to greet them, the Spartans opened fire with their MA5B Assault Rifles, cutting them down in seconds.
"Wait!" cried Keyes. The three Spartans turned to stare at the commander.
"It's not in your place to speak, traitor," said Charles coldly.
"Traitors? We're not traitors!" exclaimed Keyes.
"Then why are you working along side the enemy? Not to mention that you're protecting them right now," demanded Charles.
"It's because the Grunts, Elites, and Hunters were betrayed by the rest of the Covenant. Now they're on our side so that they can get their revenge!" replied Keyes.
"You expect us to believe that?" asked Charles incredulously.
"It's true Demon. The Prophets and the Jiralhanae have betrayed us. All we want is revenge against them," interrupted the Arbiter.
"Did we give you permission to speak? No we didn't, so shut your damn trap," said Stephen.
The rest of the Elites were outraged at Stephen's reply, so they did what Elites usually do when they're insulted. They flexed their muscles, roared something about pride and the Forerunners, and drew their energy swords.
"Hey guys, chill out. Put your little toys away and let's try to talk about this in a civilized manner," said Johnson in response to the Elites' actions.
When the Elites didn't comply with that request, the Arbiter roared. "Put away your swords!"
The swords deactivated and the landing was suddenly a lot darker. "Good, now what were you sayin' Arbiter?"
"The Jiralhanae, the Brutes as you humans call them, and the Prophets have betrayed us. They have slaughtered many of our brethren and threw us out of the Covenant. The Covenant is now broken. Only the Jiralhanae, the Kig-Yar, and the Yanme'e remain in the Covenant." Then he saw the Spartans cock their heads slightly in confusion.
"What the hell are these Jiralhanae, Kig-Yar, and Yanme'e?" demanded Charles.
"Oh yeah. You weren't there when they appeared," muttered Johnson. "Well, they're the Covenant names for the species in 'em. Jiralhanae are the hairy apelike things. We call them Brutes. Kig-Yar are the Jackals, and the Yanme'e are the flying buggers. They're called Drones."
"I see. I suppose these Drones and...Brutes are new additions to the Covenant?" inquired Stephen.
"Well...we haven't seen them before...but I'm not sure if they were always there or not," replied Johnson. He looked at the Arbiter, hoping that he'd answer the question for him.
"Yes, the Yanme'e and the Jiralhanae were only recently introduced to the front lines. The Jiralhanae used to have only one role to play in the Covenant. To command ships, and to protect the Prophets, and even then, most of those roles were played by us Sangheili. However, ever since you Demons were created, we-" said the Arbiter, but was interrupted by Sergeant Johnson.
"By Demons, he actually means Spartans. Anyway, continue Arbiter."
"Ever since you...Spartans were created, us Sangheili have been shunned because every battle we've had on the ground with you Spartans, we've lost. The Prophets thought that we were getting lazy and incompetent, so they replaced many Sangheili warriors with Jiralhanae savages."
"I see. I guess we'll have to test this story out. We'll come with you...for now," replied Stephen after a moment of thought. "Anyway, who are you? What's your rank?" added Stephen. He nodded at Johnson.
"I'm Sergeant A. J. Johnson," said Johnson with pride.
"Nice to meet you Sergeant. Who are you?" Stephen asked Keyes.
"I'm Commander Keyes, commander of the ship In Amber Clad. Which, incidentally, crashed into High Charity because the Flood took it over."
"Whoa whoa...slow down. What's High Charity?" asked Jonathan.
"High Charity is what you're standing on right now. It's a Covenant Holy City. It's abandoned now because of the Flood infection."
"What's that?" asked Stephen.
"What? The Flood?"
"Yes."
"Well, the Flood is what you've been fighting a while ago. They're a parasitic life form that can infest any sentient being and turn it into one of their own."
"You mean those things-," Stephen gestured at the dead Flood bodies. " –used to be humans and Elites?"
"Yup," replied Johnson.
"Gross," shuddered Charles.
"Yeah. You want some proof that the humans and the Elites are allied?" asked Commander Keyes suddenly.
"Yeah. You bet we do," replied Stephen.
"Notice how in the last couple of minutes we've been talking, the Elites haven't attacked you yet?" pointed out Keyes. "If we weren't allied, we'd be dust by now."
The Spartans immediately raised their assault rifles, as if expecting a sudden attack from the Elites. When the Elites did nothing but stare at them as if they were insane, they lowered their weapons slightly.
"I guess you're right. Besides, those plasma swords can cut us in half in one slice, and that shotgun can penetrate our armour with ease. It seems that there's some merit to what you're saying," replied Jonathan.
"Alright, we'll accept what you're saying for now, but when we get back to Earth, we'll have our superiors decide what to do with you. Understood?" said Stephen.
"Whatever, let's just get out of this wretched place first. You got a ride for us?" asked Johnson.
"Well we did…until you melted the hatch on our Longsword back there," said Jonathan.
"I apologize for that. We thought it might've been a Flood controlled ship," said the Arbiter.
"It's alright. You got a ship for us so we can get out of here?" asked Jonathan.
"Yes. We are currently trying to get to that flagship over there. It's called the Undefeated Glory," replied the Arbiter.
"Alright let's go then, the sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can get this situation cleared up," said Stephen decisively.
Just as Stephen finished speaking, hundreds of Flood infection forms, combat forms, and carrier forms came down from the flagship's grav-lift.
"Looks like were gonna have to take this ship back from the Flood. These buggers are a pain in the ass," sighed Johnson under his breath as he shouldered his carbine once again and started shooting the combat forms in the chest, popping the infection form within.
The other warriors followed Johnson's lead by either firing upon the Flood from afar with long range weapons or hurling grenades into the massive army of Flood warriors. Before long, the air was filled with Flood spores, making the air difficult to breathe. The air wasn't completely unbreathable, but the stench was nasty. The Spartans and the Elites were okay due to their armour and air filters, but the two humans didn't have the expensive equipment the others did, so they succumbed to the stench, coughing. Jonathan-023 noticed that the two humans were starting to show signs of weakness and ran over to them, pumping three Flood warriors full of lead in the process.
"Hey, you two," he called out. "Get inside our Longsword. There should be a few gas masks in there. There will also be extra weapons, ammo, and grenades. After you put on the masks and restock on ammo, bring everything that you can carry. Weapons, grenades, whatever."
"Alright, we'll do it," gasped Keyes as she mentioned to Johnson to move. The two humans made their way to the broken Longsword without meeting any heavy resistance and were inside in a short period of time. Once they were inside, they went into the cockpit and sealed it. Waves of fresh air from the ship's air scrubbers hit their faces as they sighed in relief.
"Phew. That's a lot better," said Keyes. Then she looked at the large selection of weapons the Spartans had on this ship. "Whoa! How are we going to carry all of this?"
"We aren't. We're carrying whatever we can carry, but I think the most important things we have to bring are the clips of ammo," replied Johnson as he put on a standard UNSC gas mask.
"Alright, let's see what we have here," said Keyes as she walked over to the pile of guns. "Lots of Pistols…we have most of the variants here. We have M6D pistols and M6C Pistols. The automatic weapons are pretty impressive too. Plenty of M7 Submachine Guns, MA5B Assault Rifles. Two S2 AM Sniper Rifles and two M19 SSM Rocket Launchers. Not bad. Too bad they don't have any of the new stuff. I heard that they were developing a new kind of pistol and they were going to introduce a stronger version of the MA5B to the marines."
"That would be the M6E Pistol and the MA7B, ma'am."
"Wow. Too bad there aren't any shotguns here. They'd come in handy," said Keyes, who was still busy admiring the guns in front of her.
"With all due respect ma'am, I think we should get some of these out there so we can kick some more alien ass," said Johnson.
"Of course, Sergeant," replied Keyes as she picked up a large bag and started putting weapons, grenades, and ammo inside.
"Alright. I'll carry the bag, and you give me some cover. Okay?" asked Johnson.
"Okay, Sergeant, let's go," agreed Keyes as she exited the craft with Johnson following close behind. The battle outside had spread out and the members of the ex-Covenant were all separated so they were often fighting alone.
"Yo! People! I got some weapons and ammo! Get together in a group so some can reload while others give them cover!" cried Johnson. The Spartans and Elites appeared to hear them because they started to try to get back to where they were before Johnson and Keyes went to the Longsword. Then something unfortunate happened. Jonathan-023 was being hard pressed by five Elite combat forms and didn't notice the green blobs fired from a fuel rod cannon until it was too late. Jonathan tried to dodge the shot but it was too late. One shot melted his left arm and the other grazed the back of his neck, just above his fusion reactor pack. The combat forms fighting him were vaporized instantly.
Jonathan let his guard down a bit and went to examine his left arm because there didn't seem to be any more danger. However, he overlooked an infection form quickly rushing at him. The small Flood form leapt on Jonathan's neck and tried to tap into his spinal cord. Jonathan cried in pain as the infection form pierced his jugular vein. Johnson, hearing the Spartan's cry of pain quickly took out a sniper rifle from his sack, took aim, and shot the infection form in Jonathan's neck.
"Bullseye," smirked Johnson. Then he noticed something wrong. The Spartan wasn't moving. He didn't really have time to wonder what was going on because then two combat forms jumped at himself and Keyes. He took aim and shot the Infection Form in the warrior's body while Keyes sprayed the other with SMG rounds.
"Let's go," said Johnson as he picked up the bag of weapons again, after the Flood warriors were neutralized. The Commander and the Sergeant continued to fight their way to the designated meeting area, shooting any Flood that got in their way. Once they got there, most of the Flood had been eliminated. The Spartans and Elites demolished the rest of the Flood and turned their attention to Jonathan-023.
"What happened to him?" asked the Arbiter.
"An infection form was trying to turn him into one of them," replied Johnson, pointing at the numerous dead combat forms that littered High Charity, "so I shot it."
"What did you shoot him with?" inquired Stephen.
"The only loaded weapon I had and is effective over long distances was the...sniper...rifle..." replied Johnson as he realized what he had done.
"Okay, I think I know what happened to him," said Stephen as he took off Jonathan's helmet. It came off with a hiss. They turned him over so they could see the side of his neck, where the infection form got him. There were a few irregularly shaped holes and cuts made by the infection form in his neck, which, incidentally, is still bleeding. There was also another, rounder hole, where the sniper bullet penetrated.
"Oh, now I see what happened," said Keyes in a quiet voice. "When Johnson shot the infection form, the APFSDS round went right though the infection form and into his brain, killing him instantly."
"Shit! I didn't mean to do that! Oh shit man…shit! I swear I didn't…shit man…shit!" said Johnson.
"You friggin' traitor! You killed him you fu-" screamed Charles.
"Calm down Charles. This is better than being killed by the Flood and turned into one of them," said Stephen.
"Bastard…" was all Charles said; he seemed to be too angry to speak. His fingers were tightened on the trigger of his MA5B, but thankfully, he didn't shoot anyone.
"Anyway, moving on. Let's get into that flagship of yours and get off of this retched city," said Stephen.
"Fine," said Charles, suppressing his anger. "One second."
Charles bent down and opened the power pack on the back of Jonathan's armour and entered the fail-safe code. They had to get back to Earth, and they couldn't carry Jonathan all the way because they might encounter more Flood warriors. While the rest of the ex-Covenant and the humans are fighting, a infection form might sneak into Jonathan's already breached armour and infect him, and a Spartan-Flood isn't something they wanted to face. The fusion reactor which enabled him to move so fast would overload, and vaporizing anything within a ten meter radius.
"Alright. Let's go," said Charles as he put Jonathan's helmet back on started walking towards the Undefeated Glory's grav-lift. Johnson picked up the bag of weapons, grenades, and ammo and followed suit. The rest of the small group of warriors followed the two and before long, they were all inside the ship.
After the warriors were in the Undefeated Glory, a blinding explosion took place barely fifty meters away from the flagship. Jonathan's fusion pack overloaded and blew a hole in the ground. It also vaporized all the Flood bodies around it.
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"Let's rearm ourselves and then let's go find the crew that operates this ship," said the Arbiter as dug into the bag of weapons and pulled out a box of shotgun shells. He loaded his shotgun and gestured for the rest of the party to do the same. After everyone was geared up, the Arbiter walked towards one of the many doors.
"Follow me. I know the way to the control room of this flagship," he said, gesturing for the rest of his allies to follow him.
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A/N: Yay another chapter…and another cliffhanger! Muahahaha! I'm evil…sorry. Anyway, if you want to know more about the "new" weapons I mentioned in the story, please look at my profile. Thanks for all the support and R&R please!
Another A/N: There's an inconsistency in the Official Walkthrough for Halo 2 and the little manual thing you get with the game. The Rocket Launcher models are either M41 SSR Rocket Launchers or M19 SSM Rocket Launchers, so from now on, M41 SSR will refer to the rockets that can home in on vehicles, but have a smaller blast radius while the M19 SSM will be more like the Halo 1 rockets: huge blast radius and no homing system.
Yet Another A/N: A reviewer mentioned that Sgt. Johnson was there when they picked up Linda, Fred and Will and would probably remember that there are more Spartans that are alive other than John-117. However, I didn't read Halo: The Flood or Halo: First Strike, so therefore excuse me for the mistakes. I will probably change it. Thanks for telling me about this error Stupid Hermit (yes that is his/her name for FFN)!