Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my remastered Halo - MechWarrior/BattleTech crossover. Thank you so much for the feedback that I've gotten so far. I deeply appreciate any feedback that I can get. Hearing your support warms my heart greatly.
I'm also happy to see that all of you liked my return to form with my Halo/Star Wars crossover. I was away for too long, in my opinion, and I'm glad to see that all of you were happy to see a new chapter. More chapters will be following soon, once the weekend is over.
Also, don't forget to leave a review for this chapter as well. While I appreciate the feedback that I've gotten, I would love to get as much feedback for this story as possible. The more, the merrier. So please read and review this story. I would deeply appreciate it.
As always, leave a review and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Halo or MechWarrior/BattleTech franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of Microsoft Game Studios, 343 Industries, Bungie, FASA Corporation, FASA Interactive, Catalyst Game Labs, Piranha Games Inc, etc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to it's original composers and/or artists.
BattleTech OST - Ambush
UNSC/SLDF Pillar of Autumn
En Route to Unknown Location
September: 19th, 2552
The bridge of the Pillar of Autumn, the first joint UNSC/SLDF WarShip, was silent as the massive ship pushed it's way through the non-dimension that was Slipstream Space. The crew worked at their stations silently, with nary a sound disturbing the tense silence. Even the computers seemed quiet, as though they did not wish to disturb the tense silence that hung in the Bridge like a fog.
No one else could feel this silence better than Captain Jacob Keyes, the man commanding the Pillar of Autumn. Running a hand over his hair, he paced back and forth as he waited to arrive at the destination they were going to. According to Cortana, the AI that had been assigned to the WarShip, they would soon be exiting Slipstream Space, though when exactly was anyone's guess. I just hope we get to wherever we're going soon, he thought to himself.
In order to occupy his mind, and to keep the silence from driving him crazy, he decided to look at some of the changes that the SLDF had done to the Pillar of Autumn. Following the signing of the Treaty of Reach, the formal agreement between the SLDF and UNSC, SinoViet Industries had allowed the SLDF To claim the ship breaking yards at Asźod, along with a few other Shipyards at Tribute. This, combined with the factories given over to them, had allowed the SLDF to rearm and repair their existing WarShips, while building new ones.
Once the SLDF got involved, it was decided, in a clandestine meeting between Admirals Chernenko and Fremont, that the UNSC Pillar of Autumn would be the first joint collaboration between the UNSC and SLDF. To that end, no expense had been spared in the upgrading and modification of the already heavily modified Halcyon-class Light Cruiser. Even now, the final internal modifications were being done, as they could be conducted on the move.
I can still see the list of changes that they made, he thought to himself. First, they replaced the Titanium Grade A armor plating with Lamellor Ferro-Carbide armor plating, then they upgraded the weapons systems, and added extensive cooling circuits to those weapons. On top of this, he knew that the computer systems had been modified to handle the newfound workload.
What had him deeply relieved, however, was that Chernenko saw fit to station SLDF personnel onboard the WarShip. Out of the Autumn's entire compliment of soldiers and crew, roughly 45% of them came from the SLDF, with most of those crew having been rescued from escape pods when their WarShips had been destroyed in the line of duty. I had my reservations, he thought, but they've proven to be professional, and extremely good at their jobs.
There was also a reminder of the SLDF's presence on the UNSC WarShip. Standing next to him was SLDF Colonel William O'Donnell, who was responsible for restoring Visegrad Relay, as well as the assault on the Covenant landing zone during Operation: ANVIL STRIKE. Even though Keyes hadn't looked at the man's accomplishments, he knew from scuttlebutt and videos he had seen that Colonel O'Donnell was a brilliant tactician and a consummate officer, one that had both the respect and fear of his men.
Right now, though, the SLDF Colonel was pacing around as he waited for the WarShip to exit Slipstream Space. He had already expressed his preference for K-F Drive travel, given how it was more precise and faster than Slipstream Space travel. "If we had a K-F Drive installed, we would've gotten out of there in no time," he had remarked at one point.
Keyes was about to ask when they were going to exit Slipstream Space when Cortana said, "Captain, Colonel, we are about to exit Slipstream Space."
"About fucking time," O'Donnell beamed. "And I thought early K-F Drive travel took a long time. This is far worse. Makes me wonder if we'll be able to share K-F Drive technology with the UNSC, even though the possibility is rather minuscule at that."
"That would be nice," Keyes nodded. Turning back to the view ports, he awaited their reentry into realspace. True to form, in just five seconds, a portal opened up before them, with the ship quickly exiting Slipstream Space and entering normal space once more.
As soon as they did, he took a look around to see where they were, an old habit of his. From what he could tell, they had arrived in a star system that hadn't been previously mapped, or discovered for that matter, by the UNSC or Covenant. A large gas giant took up the majority of the view, with the dull brown/orange atmosphere of the gas giant casting a sharp contrast to the inky blackness of space. Beyond, he could see the system's star, it's light brightly illuminating the gas giant.
What had his attention, however, was the massive object that was near the WarShip. What the hell is that, he wondered. To him, it looked like a massive ring of sorts, with the outer surface being convex. Looking more closely, he noticed that the interior of the ring had what appeared to be an atmosphere, though at the distance they were at, he couldn't make out a lot of detail.
Colonel O'Donnell had noticed it as well, as Keyes heard a long, low whistle from the man. "Wow," O'Donnell remarked. "It looks like something out of the works of Issac Asimov or Arthur C. Clarke for that matter."
"You've read those books before?"
"Of course I have, Keyes. I've always had an interesting in exploring unknown worlds. It's why I joined the SLDF in the first place, that and I've always wanted to defend the values of freedom, liberty and justice from those that would destroy them. Still, even I have to admit, this is an unusual situation."
"Agreed," Keyes nodded. Turning to a nearby holo-pedestal, he said, "Cortana, what are we looking at?"
"Scanning," Cortana replied, her holographic avatar, which was that of a shapely woman with black hair and data scrolling over her body, replied, appearing over the pedestal. After a few seconds, she said, "Captain, Colonel, it appears as though this is an artifact of Forerunner origin."
"So the alien race that made the Engineers also made this ring," O'Donnell asked, as he and Keyes had been informed of the Engineers and who made them.
"Yes," Cortana replied. "We'd need to get closer in order to conduct more thorough scans, but I can say from visual observation that it's Forerunner in origin."
"That would explain a few things," Keyes agreed. As he said this though, a question began to bug him. "Cortana, before we entered Slipstream Space, you detected Covenant WarShips that began to pursue us. Were we able to evade them?"
"Captain, the possibility of the Covenant tracking us through Slipstream Space is…"
Cortana was interrupted when Keyes raised a hand to stop her. A moment later, he said, "Cortana, all I want to know is did we lose them?" He sincerely hoped that was the case.
That hope was dashed when Cortana said, "I think we all know the answer to that, Captain."
When she said this, Keyes frowned, with the man rubbing the back of his neck as he did so. Damnit, he growled internally. I thought we would be able to lose them in Slipspace. Sighing, he said, "We made a blind jump. How did they-"
"Get here first? The Covenant's WarShips have always been faster than ours, even though this ship's CORDEN Drive was massively improved by the Engineers. As for tracking us all the way from Reach… at light speed, my options were limited."
As she said this, Keyes began to pace around the Bridge of the Autumn, with O'Donnell following him. "We were running dark, yes," he asked.
"Until we decelerated," Cortana confirmed. "No one could've missed the hole we tore in Slipspace." As she said this, Keyes walked over to a bridge crewman's console, noting the holographic display of the planet, as well as sensor contacts that the Autumn's SLDF designed sensor suite had detected. "They were waiting for us on the other side of the planet," Cortana observed.
"How long before we're attacked," O'Donnell asked. "We're very much inside the 'golden hour' right now. If we're smart, we can make the WarShip virtually impenetrable to boarding attempts."
"Our fighters are mopping up the last of their recon picket now, nothing serious. But I've detected multiple CCS-class Battle Groups, make it three Capital WarShips per group. And in 90 seconds, they'll be all over us."
Walking back to the holographic viewscreen, Keyes reached into his uniform and pulled something out. It was a tobacco pipe, reminiscent of ones that pre-spaceflight Terran captains would have during long journeys on Terra's oceans. Shaking some ash off of it, he closed his eyes wearily, as he began considering their options. A moment later, he made his choice.
"Well, that's it then," he decided. "Bring the WarShip back up to Combat Alert Alpha. I want everyone at their stations."
"Everyone?"
"Everyone." With that, alarm klaxons began to blare, with crew members running to their combat stations. "Oh, and Cortana?"
"Hhmm?"
"…let's give our old friends a war welcome."
"I've already begun," Cortana nodded. With that, she disappeared from the holo-pedestal.
Once she was gone, O'Donnell said, "I've already alerted the SLDF contingent on the Autumn as to what's going on. SLDF Marines are moving to combat stations, and Commander Carter is coordinating the defense. He's almost fully recovered from his injuries, and he's more than ready to fight."
"Good to hear," Keyes agreed. "What do you plan to do?"
"Stay here, at your side," O'Donnell replied. "I'd only get in the way of the crew if I went to oversee things myself. Besides, I trust my men; they're experienced and well disciplined. They'll know what to do."
. . .
The Launch Bays of the Pillar of Autumn were a hive of activity as the joint SLDF/UNSC contingency got ready to repel any and all boarders that the Covenant might send along. On the upper levels of the Launch Bay, Marines and SLDF technicians waved batons to guide Pelicans and Garrots into docking positions. The lower decks were also filled with activity, as UNSC and SLDF Marines prepared their equipment, talked with each other, and otherwise prepared for the attack.
Moments later, Cortana's voice came in over the PA. "Attention, all combat personnel: Please report to your action stations. 5th Platoon, secure airlocks on Deck 11. 14th Platoon, rendezvous with 22nd Tactical at bulkhead Charlie 14."
"About bloody time we got some action," Private Chips Dubbo remarked as he and the other members of the squad he was in got ready. "I've been sitting on my ass for over two weeks now, getting fat on our rations. At least the monotony's been broken up now."
"I wouldn't be too eager to fight," another Marine, Jenkins, frowned. "We nearly got our asses kicked over Reach. If it wasn't for the SLDF, we would've surely lost the planet. Speaking of which, where are they?"
He got his answer when SLDF Marines in their olive drab/gray armor plating marched along, moving quickly to their assigned positions. "SLDF 5th and 14th Platoons, reinforce UNSC 5th Platoon and 14th Platoon. SLDF Elementals, report to combat stations," Cortana said over the PA. "All DropShips, begin loading procedures." She said this as the Autumn had been modified with Advanced Docking Collars, allowing the WarShip to carry DropShips and perform combat maneuvers while they were docked.
As Jenkins and the others moved along, a deep, gruff voice echoed in the Launch Bay. "You heard the lady! Move like you've got a purpose!"
When he heard that, Jenkins smiled. That voice belonged to one Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson, one of the most decorated UNSC personnel in the Marine Corps. The man was legendary for many of his exploits during the Insurrection and the ongoing Covenant-UNSC War. On top of that, his gruff voice, and his overall badass demeanor, won him the respect and admiration of his troops. Even as he heard the man's voice, Jenkins and the others quickly moved into two lines that faced each other.
"This is not a drill," Cortana announced over the PA. "I repeat, this is not a drill."
Once the Marines were in position, Johnson began one of his speeches, which were always popular with the Marines. "Men," Johnson began, "we led those dumb bugs out to the middle of nowhere to keep 'em from getting their filthy claws on Earth. But we stumbled onto somethin' they're so hot for, that they're scrambling over each other to get it.
"Well, I don't care if it's a giant ass anti-son-of-a-bitch machine, or a giant hula hoop, we're not gonna let 'em have it! What we will let 'em have… is a belly full of lead, and a pool of their own blood to lie in. We're gonna rip their skulls from their spines and toss 'em away, laughin!'" Turning around, he asked, "Am I right, Marines?"
"Sir, yes sir," the others shouted.
"Uh-huh. Damn right, I am. Now move it out! Double time!"
With that, the Marines broke formation, and began moving out of the area. "Attention, all personnel: we are re-engaging the enemy. Internal and external contact imminent," Cortana announced.
As she said this, Johnson walked to where the Marines had left the Launch Bay, an M42D slung over his shoulder. "All you greenhorns who wanted to see Covenant up close… this is gonna be your lucky day."
. . .
On another deck in the Pillar of Autumn, two technicians were standing inside of an observation booth for one of the many cryo-bays onboard the Pillar of Autumn. A necessary part of Slipstream Space travel, cryo-bays allowed personnel to be put into cryogenic stasis during long interstellar journeys. Not only did this make the trip go by faster for those people, it also saved resources that would be wasted otherwise.
Right now, only two men were inside the observation booth: Tech Chief Thom Shepard and Tech Officer Sam Marcus. The two men were close friends with each other, having worked together since the beginning of their service in the UNSC. It was a friendship forged from steel, one that couldn't be broken, even by events like the Covenant-UNSC War, or even the Arrival of the SLDF.
As they paced around, Sam spotted something appearing on the computer console. Looking at the display, he saw the words, "X-CORTANA 1 0 CRYSTOR. 23.4.7, (PRIORITY ALPHA), UNSEAL THE HUSHED CASKET."
As soon as he saw those words, he knew it was serious. "Whoa," he shouted. "Sir?"
Thom, who was much calmer, said, "Right, let's thaw him out."
With that, Sam began inputting a number of commands, his fingers flying over the console as he began the thawing procedure. "OK. Bringing low-level systems online. Cracking the case in thirty seconds." As he said this, steam began to billow out from a single cryo-pod in the bay. "He's hot! Blowing the pins in five!" With that, one of the pods began to open.
Inside the cryo-pod, Sierra John-117 groaned as he came to, his eyes blinking blearily as he woke up. Cryogenic stasis was not particularly kind on the human body, even with all the advances in the technology that the UNSC had made in the course of 200+ years. He also had the strangest dream as well. He had dreamed that he was fighting off some horrid foe, but that he wasn't alone. The Spartans of Noble Team had joined in, as well as the Elementals that he had seen when he met Admiral Chernenko. Strange, but not uncommon, he thought. Dreams have been reported during cryo-sleep.
With that, he fully opened his eyes, with the familiar sight of the cryo-bay he'd been assigned to greeting him. Spotting movement, he looked to see one of the cryo-bay technicians saluting him. "Sorry for the quick thaw, Master Chief," the technician said apologetically. "Things are a little hectic right now. The disorientation should pass quickly."
"Welcome back, sir," another technician greeted, waving at him from the observation booth. "We'll have you battle ready, stat."
"Chief, please look around the room. I need to get a calibration reading for your suit's diagnoistics." Complying, Chief looked around. Apparently, all was well, as the man said, "Good. Thank you sir."
"I'm activating your armor's bio-monitors now." Moments later, Chief watched as various bio-monitor readouts appeared on his HUD, with the suit checking to make sure he wasn't in critical condition. All was well, as he saw all the indicators light up as green.
"Vital signs look normal, no freezer burn," the technician reported. "OK, go ahead and climb out of the cryo tube." Nodding, Chief quickly got out, with the technician checking a few things. "I gave you a double dose of the wake-up stim. Feel free to-"
"Is he awake," a voice interrupted. Looking towards one of the doors, Chief spotted one of the SLDF Elementals that had come aboard the Autumn. As soon as he saw the man's facial features, he recognized him as Alex Conners, one of the Clan Wolf Elstars that had come along with the fleet.
"Yes," the technician replied. "We need to make sure his shields and armor systems are ready to go."
"That will not be necessary," Alex replied, just as a bulbous alien floated into the cryo-bay. "Easy To Adjust will make sure his armor systems are ready. He has been authorized to work on MJOLNIR Power Armor."
Normally, Chief would've been apprehensive as the Engineer got to work on his armor, but he knew that the SLDF had captured them and, after the aliens had begun to replicate, had loaned some to the UNSC. As such, he didn't move too much while the alien went to work on his armor. It had already received some upgrades from the Engineer, as well as some technologies from the SLDF, but he knew it never hurt to make sure the armor was in working condition.
Fortunately, it was, as Easy To Adjust gave a few happy trills, with Alex nodding at that. "Good. Looks like this armor is in good condition." Walking over to Chief, he said, "Are you ready to bring death to the enemies of the UNSC and SLDF?"
"Always," Chief replied, standing up a moment later.
As soon as he did, Keyes' voice came in over the COM. "Bridge to Cryo 2, this is Captain Keyes. Send the Master Chief to the Bridge immediately."
"Captain," Thom protested, "we'll have to skip the weapons diagnostics and-"
"On the double, crewman," Keyes firmly stated.
"Aye, aye, sir." Turning to Chief, he said, "The skipper seems jumpy. We'll find you weapons later."
"OK," Sam reported over the PA. "I'll leave the self-diagnostics running, at least."
"Good idea. You'd better get to your EVAC group, Sam!"
"Affirmative. I just have to reset the computer and I'm outta here." Just as he said that, however, alarm klaxons began to blare, with something hitting the door to the chamber hard. "Oh, shit!," Sam shouted. "They're trying to get in through the door!" In his panic, the man hit something on the console.
What Sam didn't know, was that single action unwittingly saved his life. As soon as he accidentally hit one of the buttons on the console, the door exploded inward, with a Sangheili Major moving inside. "Security! Intruders in Cryo Bay 2," Sam screamed, just as a hatch in the ceiling opened. As soon as it did, all hell broke loose.
Before the Elite could react, a turret deployed out of the hatch, firing a stream of laser pulses in rapid succession. Caught off guard by the sudden attack, the Elite scrambled backwards, taking cover behind the door frame in an effort to escape the turret. "Sam, get out of there," Thom screamed. Not wanting to stay anyways, Sam scrambled to his feet and bolted out of the door behind him.
Turning to Chief and Alex, he shouted, "Come on! We gotta get the hell out of here! Follow me!" With that, the man ran to one of the doors, opening it up before running down the hallway.
As the man reached a door, Alex spotted something on the other side. "Look out," he shouted, yanking the man backwards by the collar of his uniform, sending Sam sliding backwards. As soon as he did so, the door exploded inwards, sending shrapnel and fire flying through the air. Sam narrowly avoided being decapitated by a piece of debris, while Chief and Alex's armor withstood the blast.
"Fuck," Sam shouted. "Thanks for that!"
"It is my pleasure, technician," Alex nodded. Turning to Chief, he said, "We have to get to the bridge, Chief. Follow me."
Nodding, Chief followed Alex, with the Elemental vaulting over a pair of pipes that ran through the median in the hallway. Both men continued forwards, running through a hallway before entering one of the larger hallways in the WarShip. "Behind us," a crewman screamed. "They're right behind us!"
"Secure those blast doors," another crewman shouted. "Move, move!"
"Wait for me," another crewman screamed. Jumping, he vaulted over the blast door as it began to close, falling over and sliding to a stop in the process. Grumbling, the man rubbed his face before getting up and scrambling to safety.
As they moved along, Alex asked, "How did that Elite get into the Cryo Bay without triggering the defenses?"
"It must've used an active camouflage module to sneak past the defenses," Chief surmised. Pulling up a schematic of the WarShip on his HUD, he said, "Reports indicate that the Covenant haven't been able to get past the airlocks and into the rest of the WarShip. Automated defenses are holding them back."
"Looks like the Star League technology onboard the Autumn is proving to be a valuable asset," Alex nodded. "We are near the bridge. Keep following me and we will get there." With that, the two continued on, making sure no Covenant were in the way.
Fortunately, Chief's assessment was correct, as COM reports indicated that the Covenant hadn't been able to get further than the airlocks. SLDF and UNSC Marines were working with unparalleled cohesion to keep them back, while automated defenses built into the WarShip were assisting the Marines in their efforts. Reports also indicated that the Autumn's new armor plating was holding up well, with minor ablation on various sections of the WarShip.
It wasn't long before Chief and the others reached the Bridge. Moving past the consoles and crewmen, Chief quickly reached Captain Keyes and Colonel O'Donnell, both of whom were watching and coordinating the defense efforts. "I want SLDF Marines at Airlock Four Delta ASAP," the Colonel shouted. "That's the closest one to the Bridge. If the Covenant boards there, they'll have a straight shot at us!"
Coming to a stop behind them, Chief said, "Captain Keyes, Colonel O'Donnell."
Hearing Chief's greeting, Keyes turned around, while O'Donnell remained focused on his task. "Good to see you, Master Chief," Keyes beamed as he shook Chief's hand. "Things aren't going well, though they're better than they would've been without the SLDF. Cortana did her best, but we never really had a chance."
Moments later, Cortana appeared over the holo-pedestal in the room. "A dozen Covenant superior BattleShips against a single Halcyon-class Light Cruiser. With those odds, I'm content with six… make that seven kills." Turning around, she faced Chief and asked, "Sleep well?"
"No thanks to your driving, yes," Chief replied.
"So you did miss me."
Just as Chief would've replied, the WarShip shuddered. Chief lurched while Alex put a hand on the wall behind himself. Keyes grabbed the console for support as the shuddering stopped. "Report," he shouted.
"It must have been one of their boarding parties! I'd guess an anti-matter charge!"
"Ma'am, severe armor albation on the main cannon section of the WarShip," a Fire Control Officer shouted. "Fire control to the main cannon's been damaged! I don't know if we can use it still!"
"Captain, the cannon was our largest offensive option. It's operational, but I don't know for how much longer."
Keyes gritted his teeth. This was exactly the kind of scenario that he figured might play out. "Alright them," he decided. "I'm initiating Cole Protocol, Article 2. We're abandoning the Autumn. That means you too, Cortana."
"While you do what, go down with the ship," Cortana asked.
"In a manner of speaking," Keyes replied, motioning with his pipe towards the ring outside the view port. "The Forerunner artifact we found. I'm going to try and land the Autumn on it."
"With all due respect, Captain. This war has had enough dead heroes."
"I appreciate your concern, Cortana, but it's not up to me. Protocol is clear. Destruction or capture of the shipboard AI is unacceptable, and that means you're leaving the ship. Lock in a series of emergency landing zones, upload them to my neural lace, and then sort yourself for a hard transfer."
"Aye, aye, sir." With that, Cortana disappeared briefly.
Once she did, Keyes turned to Chief and Alex. "Which is where you two come in. Get Cortana off this ship. Keep her safe from the enemy. If they find her, they'll learn everything. Force deployments, weapons research… Earth."
"We understand, Star Captain," Alex replied, using the Clan equivalent of Captain as a sign of respect to Keyes.
Turning to O'Donnell, Keyes said, "Colonel, I have a request to ask of you too."
"And that would be," O'Donnell asked.
"If I'm captured by the Covenant, I need you to lead the men until you can either rescue me, or defeat the Covenant. If they capture me, we'll have no command structure to lead them by. You're good with the men, and you're an effective leader. Would you lead the men should that happen?"
There was a brief moment of silence as O'Donnell considered Keyes' request. Keyes was about to speak again when O'Donnell said, "I don't think I'm worthy of such a task, Keyes, but if you say that I am, then I won't refuse you. Besides, it's a sensible decision. Should you be captured, I will mount a rescue operation ASAP."
"Thank you, Colonel," Keyes nodded. "That lifts a weight off my shoulders."
A moment later, Cortana's avatar appeared. "The Autumn will continue evasive maneuvers until you initiate a landing sequence. Not that you'll listen, but I'd suggest letting my subroutines handle the final approach."
"Excellent work, Cortana," Keyes beamed. "Thank you. You ready?"
Knowing what Keyes meant, Cortana took one last look around the Bridge. This was probably going to be the last time she saw it, so she took a few seconds to record the images of the WarShip before what would inevitably happen. "Yank me," she said five seconds later.
Pressing in a few commands, Keyes prepared Cortana for the hard transfer. Walking over to her holo-tank, he pressed in a few buttons before pulling out an AI chip. "Good luck, Master Chief," Keyes said to the Spartan, before handing it to him.
Taking the data chip, Chief looked at it for a moment. In his large hands, the AI Chip looked so small and fragile, enough that a wrong move might crack and destroy the AI on the device. With quick, but gentle care, he inserted the chip into a slot on his helmet. His spine tingled as he felt the sensation of cool water flowing down his back, as Cortana integrated herself into his suit systems.
"Hhmm," she remarked. "Your armor's architecture isn't that different from the Autumn's."
"Don't get any funny ideas," Chief warned her.
"Perish the thought," Cortana replied. "I was just making an observation."
Hearing a loud clicking sound, Chief turned to where Keyes was at. The man was pulling out a sidearm, but it wasn't the standard M6D that the UNSC Navy was normally issued. It looked similar to the Old Earth Desert Eagle, but it looked significantly more advanced. A moment later, Chief watched as his HUD identified the sidearm as the 'M8 Hawk Eagle 12.7mm Auto-Pistol', which was the standard issue ballistic sidearm for the SLDF.
He was about to ask why Keyes was giving him an SLDF weapon when the Captain said, "The SLDF's handguns are superior to our own. They stocked the entire ship with their weapons and ammunition. Just so you know, I don't keep it loaded, so you'll have to find ammo as you go." With that, he handed Chief the weapon.
Looking it over, Chief noticed that the balance and weight was better than the standard M6D. Pulling on the slide, he was mildly surprised by the sealing mechanism that the handgun used. Cortana, being helpful, said, "The M8 Hawk Eagle is a caseless handgun, Chief. That's why the sealing mechanism is different."
"Understood," Chief replied as he turned to leave the Bridge. One thing was certain to him: the Covenant were not going to get close to Cortana. He would make certain of that.