Disclaimer: None of the characters from Halo, Halo 2, or the Halo books are mine.
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Halo 3: The Fall of the Covenant
Chapter 12
Back to Earth
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Ensign Trevor Hourigan stepped into his duty station and turned on the main viewscreen.
"I see you're back," said the computer in a dry and raspy voice.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm back," replied the Ensign. Although it seemed like that the computer and him were just talking, it's not what really happened. While talking, scanners and microphones around the room analyzed his profile, voice, and everything. To make sure that he's not an imposter.
"Voiceprint match. Profile match," the computer confirmed. "Please enter your password."
He typed: TheCovenantSucksBalls
Ensign Hourigan took his duty very seriously, although it doesn't seem like it. He was on the Archimedes with Ensign William Lovell when the Covenant attacked Sigma Octanus IV; it was his shift to look for any Covenant that tried to sneak by, the shift right before Lovell's. He felt that their treatment of him was unfair. If only the Covenant tried to get by twenty minutes earlier, it would've been him that was promoted. It would've been him aboard the Iroquois, pulling all sorts of neat tricks and getting all the glory. But no, Lovell was chosen instead.
"Password match. Please keep your eyes open," the computer spoke again, breaking his train of thought. A machine came down to his eye level and scanned his eyeballs. "Processing retinal scan."
After a moment of waiting, the computer spoke again.
"Login complete." Ensign Hourigan's identity record was displayed on the monitor. He looked a lot younger in the picture, and he still had most of his hair. Hourigan ran his hands through what's left of his hair, which wasn't a whole lot.
"Please read General Order 098831A-1 before proceeding," the computer ordered.
Hourigan sighed his frustration. He's read this so many times he memorized it, but the computer would track its eye motions to make sure he read it all. He signed again and opened the file.
United Nations Space Command Emergency Priority Order 098831-AEncryption Code: Red
Public Key: file/first light/
From: UNSC/NAVCOM Fleet H. T. Ward
To: ALL UNSC PERSONNELSubject: General Order 098831A-1 ("The Cole Protocol")
Classification: RESTRICTED (BGX Directive)
The Cole ProtocolTo safeguard the Inner Colonies and Earth, all UNSC vessels or stations must not be captured with intact navigation databases that may lead Covenant forces to human civilian population centers.
If any Covenant forces are detected:
1. Activate selective purge of databases on al shipbased and planetary data networks.
2. Initiate triple-screen check to ensure all data has been erased and all backups neutralized.
3. Execute viral data scavengers. (Download from UNSCTTP/EPWW:COLEPROTOCOL/Virtualscav/fbr.091)
4. If retreating from Covenant forces, all ships must enter Slipstream spaces with randomized vectors NOT directed towards Earth, the Inner Colonies, or any other human population center.
5. In case of imminent capture by Covenant forces, all UNSC ships MUST self-destruct.
Violation of this directive will be considered an act of TREASON, and pursuant to UNSC Military Law Articles JAG 845-P and JAG 7556-L, such violations are punishable by life imprisonment or execution.
/end file/
Press Enter if you understand these orders.
Press Backspace if you do not understand these orders.
Ensign Hourigan pressed Enter. Only once did he foolishly press backspace. The computer just directed him back to the login and had to do the whole thing over. It was rather annoying. That wasn't the worst part though. A few days later, someone came from ONI to explain the Cole Protocol to him. That was just embarrassing.
He then remembered rule four: If retreating from Covenant forces, all ships must enter Slipstream spaces with randomized vectors NOT directed towards Earth, the Inner Colonies, or any other human population center. He wondered if that rule was still in effect, since the Covenant have already found Earth. He wondered if he could get away with a jump straight to Earth, if he had important data to deliver. Chances are, probably not, but it didn't stop him from wondering. The COM board contact alert rang, breaking his train of thought again.
"Aw fuck! Not again!" sighed Hourigan in frustration. He traced the signal back to Alpha probe. The probe had detected two extremely large masses, one slightly farther away than the other. At first glance, it could be mistaken to be a cloud of dust, but upon closer inspection, it was close to the same shape Ensign Lovell discovered near Sigma Octanus IV, except a lot larger. A moment later, Beta, Gamma, and Delta probes came back with the same information.
Shit. Better tell Earth that there are two Covenant fleets coming their way. Man, we're screwed.
Hourigan tried to get FLEETCOM online, but it took a few minutes.
"What is it, son?" Admiral Hood's face appeared on screen.
"I have something important here, sir!" Hourigan replied.
"It'd better be important. You realize this is a priority channel right?"
"Yes sir."
"Then what are you waiting for? Show me what you got."
Ensign Hourigan showed the Admiral the silhouettes he found. "Covenant ships sir. Their silhouettes are overlapped because they're in slipspace."
Admiral Hood frowned.
"It's almost the exact same thing as Ensign Lovell found aboard the Archimedes when the Covenant attacked Sigma Octanus IV, except this time, the estimated mass of one of the clouds is about four hundred and eighty thousand tons, as opposed to the twenty thousand ton cloud Lovell had found. The other is even heavier, it's close to a million tons sir. That's about an estimated total of 300 ships."
"Thank you son, good work. We'll take it from here."
The screen flickered and Admiral Hood's face disappeared from the viewscreen. Ensign Hourigan sighed, and returned to his duty, hoping that Earth would survive this terrible onslaught.
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"Would Spartan-117 please report to the bridge ASAP please," said Admiral Hood over the loudspeakers, broadcasting the message throughout Cairo Station.
The Master Chief had just had the bullet wound in his leg treated and was in the process of putting on his MJOLNIR Mark VI suit when the Admiral's voice came on.
"Damn. This can't be good," sighed the Master Chief.
"Permission to accompany you to the bridge, sir?" asked Linda.
"Permission granted. Follow me Spartans," he said as he walked out of the door of the First Aid Station. He took a slight detour to drop of his Mark VII at Armory 2C, just like the Admiral ordered him to do. Then he made his way down to the bridge.
"Good to see you Master Chief," greeted Admiral Hood.
"Sir!" saluted the Master Chief. The rest of his Spartans followed suit.
"At ease, Spartans," said Hood, although the frown on his face clearly showed that he was worried. The Spartans lowered their hands. "I have some bad news."
"What is it, sir?" asked the Master Chief.
"This report," said Hood while Ensign Hourigan's report came up on one of the smaller display screens. "Shows that there are close to three hundred ships inbound towards Earth."
He waited for the Master Chief or one of his Spartans to comment but when they didn't, he went on. "As you know, our forces were decimated in the last few days of the battle. The Athens and the Malta were completely destroyed, and the Cairo was damaged severely. The Cairo is almost at one hundred percent capacity now, thanks to the expert technicians and the repair crew that have been working around the clock patching it up. Our fleets are almost completely destroyed and our only defences now are the remaining two hundred and ninety eight Super MAC guns."
John knew that without a fleet, Earth would be in trouble. Even with the Super MAC guns, Earth would still fall easily, since all the Covenant would have to do was to send their Seraphs and Phantoms down to Earth and destroy the generators that powered the Super MAC guns. Once inside Earth's atmosphere, the Super MAC guns can't fire because the MAC rounds might miss and if it doesn't miss, it will go through the ships and hit the planet. A hit like that can accidently kill millions of civilians and damage property. They might even destroy the generators.
"Slipspace rupture!" one of the men working at one of the many stations called out. "There are more now! There's a total of ninety six ships that just came out of slipspace!"
"Where are they, Lieutenant?" Admiral Hood demanded.
"Near Saturn sir! They are coming towards us via normal space now!" the excited and nervous Lieutenant nearly screamed.
"Why would they do that? Why didn't they just jump to Mars and advance there?" Admiral Hood wondered out loud.
"Sir! They're trying to hail us! I'm getting a message from D-Band, one of our frequencies, but it says that the source is from one of the ships in that cluster," cried another Lieutenant. Although he didn't sound quite so nervous, it was obvious that another bad surprise might make him shit himself.
"Open it up. Let's see what it says," ordered Hood.
What came up on the screen surprised everyone. Doctor Halsey and three Spartans appeared on screen, and slightly behind him, was the Elite that John had encountered while they were both at the mercy of the Gravemind back on Delta Halo.
"You!" John gasped in surprise.
"Me. Are you surprised to see me, Demon?" replied the Elite with the strange archaic armour.
"Yes. A bit," the Master Chief admitted. "Why do you have some of my Spartans on that ship?"
"It's okay John. These Elites are friends," replied another familiar voice. It was the voice of his mother, the mother of every Spartan.
"Doctor Halsey," said John in greeting.
"Good to see you too, John." Doctor Halsey smiled.
The Admiral Hood interrupted. "How do we know that you're speaking the truth? How do we know that you weren't captured and forced to talk to us like this?"
"With all due respect sir, Spartans don't operate that way," whispered John.
"What do you mean?" inquired Hood.
"I mean that my Spartans will never surrender themselves and let anyone else capture them. They will succeed or die trying."
"I see, and you believe that the Elites are really our friends now?"
"Yes. There's something I didn't tell you," said John. Admiral Hood raised an eyebrow.
"Go on," Hood said.
"While on the Forerunner ship, and while I was on High Charity, the Brutes were fighting the Elites. Apparently the Covenant have kicked the Elites, Grunts, and Hunters out of their society. The Prophet of Truth, one of their leaders, also gave an order for every single Elite, Grunt, and Hunter to be slaughtered," said John.
"I see. It's not like you to forget things like this, Master Chief," said Hood.
"My apologies. It won't happen again," replied John.
"We need you wired tight," muttered Hood. "Anything else you were going to tell us?"
"No, sir," replied John. He was going to tell the Admiral about his alliance with Lemanee and the rest of that squad, but since he was the only one that survived the encounter with the Gravemind, he remain silent.
They turned their attention back towards the viewscreen, where the Arbiter patiently waited.
"Sorry about that," Hood apologized.
"It's okay," replied the Arbiter. "Can we get close to your...MAC guns? A Covenant fleet is already on its way here, and it'd be best if we defend your homeworld together."
"Can I talked to the humans aboard your ship?" asked Hood abruptly.
"Sure," replied the Arbiter, somewhat taken aback. The Arbiter retreated to the background and Johnson, Keyes, Halsey, and the Spartans filled the screen.
"Can they be trusted?" asked Hood.
"Yes they can. Despite the past thirty years of destruction, these Elites can be trusted. They were mislead by the Prophets and we have seen with our own two eyes, Johnson and I, how the Prophets ordered the Brutes to slaughter the Elites."
"Yes, I realize that there is a tension between the Elites and the Brutes, but can they be trusted? I mean, what's to stop them from eliminating us as soon as they get close? We were their sworn enemies remember?"
"Yes, but that's all changed!" sighed Keyes in exasperation. "The Elites want to eliminate the Prophets and the Brutes!"
"It's true. Lemanee and his squad assisted me in finding the Prophet of Truth aboard the Forerunner ship. We found him too late however and ran into a trap. I was the only one who escaped," said John.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" asked Hood.
"Because I thought it was unimportant sir, since none of Lemanee's squad made it off the Forerunner ship."
"Yes...but that piece of information proves that these guys can be trusted to a certain degree. They didn't try to attack you did they?"
"No sir."
"Good." Hood faced the viewscreen again. "Is the Master Chief's story accurate? In terms of the Elites wanting to kill the Prophets and the Brutes?"
"Yes, it does. As I said, we witnessed it when the Brutes had us held hostage," answered Keyes.
"Good. Tell them that they can approach," said Admiral Hood after a moment of consideration.
"Thank you, Admiral," replied Keyes.
"But be warned. Any 'mishaps' will be dealt with appropriately."
"Yes sir."
Admiral Hood grunted. "Alright, come on. We have to be ready for the Covenant when they arrive. Hood out."
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A Phantom carrying Doctor Halsey, Commander Keyes, Sergeant Johnson, the Spartans, the Arbiter, and a few Elites, approached the Cairo. The many cannons on the Cairo that handled point defence tracked the Phantom, but didn't fire. One of the docking bay doors opened and the Phantom docked.
Admiral Hood, Spartans-117, -043, -058, -104, and some marines were there waiting for the people inside the Phantom to come out. Half a minute later, the gravity lift on the Phantom hummed to life and down came the passengers of the shuttle.
Kelly was the first person who came down. The Master Chief could tell who she was immediately, even without looking at his HUD. He's known her since the age of six, and recognized the way she walked and the way she held herself. John, Fred, Will, and Linda swiped their fingers across their faceplates, the Spartan's equivalent of a smile, since no one could see their faces. Kelly returned the favour. The next person to come down the lift was Commander Keyes, followed closely by Sergeant Johnson and Doctor Halsey. Keyes and Johnson saluted. The marines, Spartans, and the Admiral returned the salute. Doctor Halsey walked up to Admiral Hood and shook his hand. Then the Arbiter came down, along with the four Elites he brought along, all of which are Zealots or Ultras. They weren't greeted as warmly as the humans were. The Spartans simply nodded and Admiral Hood grunted in acknowledgement while the marines nervously fidgeted with their battle rifles. Then, bringing up the rear were the two remaining Spartans: Charles and Stephen.
After everyone introduced themselves, Admiral Hood spoke. "Follow me please. I think we should go meet the rest of the Spartans."
John's head immediately snapped towards the Admiral. "What Spartans? You mean more of us survived?"
"Um, yes...and no. You'll see what mean. Follow me please."
Admiral Hood led them to a room full of activity, with about twenty-five people moving crates around, while others did various other things. Some cleaned their battle rifles or assault rifles while others practiced hand-to-hand combat. Everyone in that room was in a suit of MJOLNIR Mark VI armour. Then one of them noticed Admiral Hood.
"Admiral on the deck!" he shouted.
Every Spartan stopped what he or she was doing and saluted.
"At ease," said Hood. Everyone dropped their hands. The Admiral Hood turned back to John. "These are the second wave of Spartans. After you graduated, Chief Petty Officer went to train another wave of Spartans on Reach."
---Flashback---
It was November 2, 2525. The Spartans were all gathered around Admiral Stanforth while he showed everyone what happened to Harvest.
"Because of this UNSC-wide mobilization," Admiral Stanforth was saying. "Your training schedule will be accelerated to its fial phase: Project MJOLNIR."
He stepped back away from the podium and continued. "To that end, I'm afraid I have another unpleasant announcement." He turned towards Chief Mendez. "Chief Petty Officer Mendez will be departing us to train the next group of Spartans..."
---End Flashback---
The Master Chief felt his heart rate go up. He had thought that the Covenant would invade Earth and there would be very little he could do about it, although he was going to take down as many Covenant members down with him as he could, but now, with so many of his original team back, and the addition of these "new" Spartans, he felt that they had a much bigger chance of winning this war.
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A/N: The Cole Protocol was copied directly from Halo: The Fall of Reach (page 135-136, except for the "Press Backspace if you do not understand these orders". Just thought you'd like to know...and this way you can't flame me for copying out of the book because this is sort of a disclaimer thingy...besides, where else am I suppose to get it? Hehehe...and if you flame me...I'll find out where you live and eat your entire family. Muahahaha!
Another A/N: The flashback was also sort of copied, although not really. It's more for the benefit of the reader than the story. It's just telling you where the "new" Spartans came from.