Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my Halo - Terminator crossover. Thank you for checking out the poll that I created. Now, it will remain up for a good two weeks, so that I can make absolutely certain which stories you want me to publish next once this crossover is completed. Either way, thank you for voting thus far, and I will soon see which story you want to see next. Also, this crossover will probably be one that I will always remember, given how well it's performed as well as how I feel about both franchises in general. Either way, thank you for your support, and I hope to see you even to the end. As always, leave a review and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Halo or Terminator franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of Microsoft Game Studios, 343 Industries, Bungie, Carolo Pictures, Hemdale, Skydance Productions, 20th Century Fox, Lightstorm Entertainment, etc. Any material original to the franchises belongs to their respective developers, producers 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.
Reach
Resistance HQ
November 4th, 2552
It was around 0420 hours that Chief reached the Vehicle Bay, with the Spartan-II punching the button for the lower level of the base. After receiving Connor's orders, he had gone to the Armory in order to get his gear checked out and his weaponry ready to go for the mission he now had. Thanks to recent innovations, making sure his armor was fully operational was much easier than before. Armor that usually took an hour to dismantle now only took five minutes to remove, with the gyroscopic harness making short work of removing his armor. According to the technicians, the armor, despite having impacted the ground at the speed of sound, was in good condition, though they replaced the old armor with new armor plating in order to ensure that he wouldn't have trouble out in the field. He was also given a new body suit, which was much easier to put on than older models, while being far more resilient. Beyond that, he simply armed up before heading directly for the Vehicle Bay. As the elevator descended, he looked at the Arbiter, who was standing nearby. While his armor plating hadn't been changed out, since he had only just arrived, the Huragok and SKYNET designed drones had made a single modification to his armor. While Thel was a warrior, he did have some level of technical training; it was because of this that he had field installed a shield generator into his armor, a necessary modification since the armor wasn't the most advanced. SKYNET had replaced the field installed shield generator with one of it's own design, which was not only lighter, but generated a stronger energy shield than before, thanks to the use of micro-scaled linear accelerator arrays.
Eventually, the elevator came to a stop, in front of what appeared to be a large, cargo bay door. As they walked forwards, the doors opened up, sliding into slots in the wall to reveal the Vehicle Bay. The Vehicle Bay was reminiscent of a massive hangar bay, only instead of landing pads, hangar bay doors and VTOL craft, the Vehicle Bay was filled with Arachnid HK's, T-47 HK's, Scorpions, Warthogs and quite a few other vehicles. Technicians, Drones and other personnel were inside the vehicle bay, working quickly to make sure all of the vehicles were ready for the attack that was commencing. As they walked inside, a technician came over to them and said, "Sirs, we have a Scorpion that is ready to go for you. This way." Following the technician, they quickly came to the Scorpion that had been prepared for them.
The Scorpion in question was a heavily improved variant of the venerable M808B Scorpion Main Battle Tank. The vehicle was the same in terms of physical dimensions, but it was the armor, armament and the engine that was different. From what Chief could tell, the armor plating was a metal-ceramic composite, but there was something different about it. He couldn't quite name it, but he knew that something was different from the standard titanium-ceramic composite used on the older models. The armament was quite easy to see in terms of differences. Instead of the standard M512, 90mm Smoothbore Autocannon, this was what appeared to be a Heavy Coilgun, similar to what was installed onto the Cobra, a tank-killer the UNSC designed to counteract the Wraith. The pintle mounted turret had a V-95H in lieu of the standard M247 HMG; he also noticed that the pintle mount was covered by a small canopy that was shaped like a short, hexagonal pillar that became narrow at the top. A hatch at the back allowed the gunner to get in, with the canopy reinforced to ensure that it would be difficult to kill the gunner. Looking at the back, he could see that the rear panel was not louvered anymore; instead, it was a solid piece of armor plating with a small maintenance hatch. Beyond that, the tank looked identical to the older models, as it's chassis looked identical to the older models. Even the quad-track system was the same.
It was when he got into the tank that he noticed another difference. The controls were still there, but he noticed that they had been heavily refined. Gone were the numerous buttons in the cockpit; instead, there were touchscreens and holographic projectors that helped make the cockpit much less cluttered than before. He also noticed that the driver canopy had been reinforced, making it even harder to tear off or penetrate with anti-vehicular munitions. Getting in, he began powering up the systems while the Arbiter opened the pintle mount canopy's hatch and got inside, priming the V-95H that was inside. As soon as he powered up the vehicle, Chief noticed that in addition to the armor integrity readouts, he also saw a shield integrity readout. Spotting Parsons getting inside of a Warthog, he asked, "I've got a shielding readout. Why is that?"
"You are using the M820S Scorpion," Parsons explained. "The M820S is the latest Scorpion design created by SKYNET. The use of a nuclear fusion power plant and advanced electrical motors allows the vehicle to travel at 193km/h. In addition, the standard titanium-ceramic composite plating was upgraded, with the armor being primarily composed of sloped Titanium-Boride. This allows the armor plating to act similarly to a computer, while allowing for the installation of shield emitters. The tank is armed with a V-95H on a pintle mount, as well as a 120mm M450 Heavy Coilgun, which has been designed to easily penetrate Wraith armor." As he said this, he got into a Warthog before saying, "I will assist you in reaching the city of New Alexandria."
"Noted," Chief nodded, before he settled in. Once he was settled in, he noticed that he would be the next one out, once Parsons had driven out of the Vehicle Bay. As soon as the Warthog passed him, the waypoint path he was looking at turned green, prompting him to begin accelerating the vehicle. The first thing that he noticed was that the M820S was extremely quiet. The only thing he could hear was the sound of the tank tracks clanking, and even then that was quiet as well. The tank also accelerated much more quickly than the older models, enough that he nearly hit the opposite wall before stopping. Focusing, he backed the tank up before aligning with the waypoint path, driving forwards moments later. It wasn't long before he began to reach top speed, with the clanking tracks quickly becoming audible. Quiet at low speeds and nosier at high ones, he observed, noting that the sound increased once he passed 96.5km/h. Eventually, he reached the entrance to the motorway that led into the Vehicle Bay. The entrance to the lower levels of Resistance HQ was a pair of blast doors that were controlled by people inside of a control room nearby. The walls were made out of hyper alloy reinforced polycrete, with the doors made out of nanocomposite hyper alloy, making them extremely durable. Scans estimated that the door could withstand the same caliber of firepower that the dome protecting the base could. As soon as he approached, the control room personnel opened the doors, while simultaneously activating the defenses, which consisted of large cannons that were designed to destroy enemy vehicles, as well as large, rotary autocannons designed to neutralize enemy infantry.
Once he drove outside, he saw the landscape that was beyond their position. The region outside of the base was mostly intact, with trees, green grass, and a landscape that didn't resemble melted glass in the slightest. Since they were in a canyon, he could see towering rock faces, as well as layers of rock that were in an array of colors. The floor of the canyon was mostly sand, though he could see shrubbery that was growing, as well as some plants in the rock walls. Up above, he could see some trees and grass, though the canyon's depth made this hard to spot. He had a feeling, though, that the scenery would change as they got closer to New Alexandria. Looking at a satellite map of the region, he found that the only way to the remnants of New Alexandria was through the winding canyon that led down into the foothills and plains surrounding the city. Once they reached the plains, they would begin moving southeast in order to reach New Alexandria, where the Anti-Orbital Array was located at. Unfortunately, the Covenant seemed to know this as well, as he saw multiple red blips on the satellite map, indicating Covenant forces that were in the canyon. "We have hostile contacts," he reported. "Parsons, can you get eyes on?"
"Affirmative," was the reply. Moments later, the Warthog Parsons was driving vanished around a bend, with the satellite map showing him driving up what appeared to be a small pathway. Once he reached the top, he drove towards a Covenant position before stopping short of the cliff. After a few seconds, he said, "The Covenant have established a small outpost ahead of your position. I have spotted some Grunts, a few Brutes, as well as a pair of Ghosts and Revenants. There is a single Wraith up ahead as well."
"Understood," Chief nodded. "You will be our forward scout. Get us intel on the strength of the enemy positions up ahead." Closing the COM channel, he began to drive forward, keeping his speed below 96.5km/h in order to catch the Covenant forces ahead by surprise. Rounding a few bends, he found himself approaching the outpost that Parsons had warned him about. Spotting the Wraith, he opened fire with the Heavy Coilgun that was mounted on the turret. There was a loud BOOOM as the Coilgun fired, sending a 120mm slug at hypersonic velocities towards the Wraith. At those speeds, the nanolaminate armor plating on the Wraith might as well have been paper maché, as the enemy tank practically imploded when the ferrous slug impacted. The Wraith was pushed backwards a good twenty meters as the slug tore through it, tearing through the crew compartment before punching through the rear of the tank, destroying the power plant and Plasma Mortar in the process. The Wraith simply fell to the ground, before tumbling over onto it's back as it flew backwards. As soon as that happened, the Ghosts and Revenants charged, firing their weapons. One Plasma Mortar smacked into the Scorpion, only for the energy shield to block the attack entirely. Reaiming, Chief fired off another slug, destroying a Revenant, while Thel used the V-95H to tear apart the Ghosts. At the same time, a pair of Gauss Warthogs that had been in the vehicle bay reached their position, using their Light Coilguns to tear apart the remaining vehicles, allowing Thel to neutralize the infantry.
"We'll handle the Ghosts, sir," A Marine informed him. "You handle the larger vehicles, while your friend handles the infantry." Nodding in agreement, Chief proceeded forwards, crushing one of the Revenants with the 70 tonne chassis. Driving along, he watched as Parsons updated his tactical feed, with the next area up ahead showing heavier Covenant forces. This time, they were located in a small, circular pocket in the canyon, which used to house a small UNSC outpost before the Battle of Reach. There were two Wraiths that were present, along with a small squad of Revenants and Ghosts. More Covenant infantry were present, with Jackal Snipers located in Infantry Towers that had been set up. Brutes were also here, including a few that were armed with what appeared to be Jump Packs. A Locust was present as well, with the Covenant walker milling about. Firing the Coilgun, Chief watched as the slug smacked into the Locust, severely damaging it's armor plating, with the slug ricocheting into a nearby Revenant, tearing that vehicle apart in the process. As the Locust turned to engage, the two Gauss Warthogs moved up, firing their weapons at the Ghosts that were in the area, blasting each one apart with their weapons before teaming up to take on the Wraiths. The enemy Locust fired on Chief's tank, with with the energy beam steadily draining the energy shielding. Not wanting to see what would happen once the shields failed, he fired the Coilgun again, this time, smashing the Locust's energy projector, while coring the vehicle, destroying it immediately. Turning his attention, he fired on the remaining Wraith, as the other one had already been destroyed. With the Wraith occupied, Thel turned his attention to the infantry towers, blasting each one apart with the V-95H he was using. Eventually, all enemy contacts were down, allowing Chief and the others to move up.
"Impressive," Thel remarked as he looked at the weapon he was using. "It seems as though your species is advancing rapidly. I wonder what your kind will look like in the next two decades."
"You might just find out," Cortana remarked.
The rest of the trip was spent in silence as they advanced forwards, with few, if any, Covenant personnel ahead of their position. It didn't take long before they reached the mouth of the canyon, which led to the remnants of a highway that was present in the area. While this section of the highway was intact, the satellite feed showed that it was heavily glassed and damaged near the city, with the freeway being all but unusable. Off in the distance, he could see the city of New Alexandira; Only a few of the skyscrapers that used to dominate the city skyline were present, with most having collapsed during the battle. While he couldn't see any details off in the distance, he could see that the area up ahead was showing signs of glassing: green grass gave way to blackened and scorched earth, while small whirlwinds whipped up clouds of glassy particles that could strip the paint off of armor in just a few minutes. There were patches of green grass up ahead, but it soon gave way to the blackened and scorched earth that was typical of a glassed area. He could see ruins of buildings and vehicles up ahead in the scorched wasteland, a reminder of the terrible price that Humanity had paid for victory in this system. "Woah," one of the Marines remarked. "What a horrible visage."
"Indeed," Thel agreed. "All of this was at my fleet's hand. My hands are stained with the blood of billions of innocents. This only serves to remind me of the foul deeds that I did when the Prophets held me in the sway of their lies. While I cannot fully atone for what I have done here, I can make a good start by silencing the Hierarchs that lied to us, that tricked us to committing this act of… savagery and barbarity." He fell silent after this, presumably haunted by the act that he had done to this place. In the tank cockpit, Chief nodded after hearing those words.
"Well, we can do something at least," another Marine added. "Hopefully, there are no such things as ghosts in those areas. I would not want to find myself facing the ghost of a long dead human being. That would just do it in for me."
"Probably not," another Marine reassured his friend. "Still, we've got ourselves a long drive up ahead. It's best that we keep going."
"Agreed," Chief nodded, moving the throttle to maximum as they drove forwards. As he drove along, he noticed a sharp spike in the number of Covenant contacts up ahead. Moments later, a few Wraiths cleared the crest of a small hill up ahead, along with what appeared to be a new Covenant vehicle. It looked as though someone had taken some armor plating, a pair of large, serrated wheels, a pair of guns, a cockpit and glued them together. The result was an ugly vehicle that dug up the dirt as it drove along, with spiked armor providing protection for the driver. "Cortana, what is that," Chief asked.
"Covenant vehicle," Cortana replied. "Intelligence says it's called a 'Chopper.' Large vehicle that can perform high speed ramming maneuvers thanks to a pair of boosters in the back. It can damage a Warthog, but not a Scorpion like ours."
"Agreed," Chief nodded. "Marines, engage the Choppers at range. I'll handle the Wraiths."
"Roger that," the Marines replied. As soon as they did, they moved to the left and right, before targeting the Choppers with their Coilguns. At the same time, Chief advanced forwards, firing his tank's Coilgun at one of the Wraiths. The first one detonated explosively as the slug tore through it, before severely damaging the Wraith that was directly behind the first one. The third one fired off a Plasma Mortar, though the Scorpion moved quickly enough that it dodged the attack. Reaiming, he blasted the third Wraith, while Thel finished off the second Wraith that had been severely damaged.
He was about to aim for the fourth when Parsons leaped onto it, tearing off the door for the crew compartment before hopping inside. The tank was jostled and bounced around as Parsons went to work neutralizing the enemy crew of the vehicle, with the tank bobbing around in a comical fashion, as though it was a small ball that was resting on the surface of a pool. Moments later, the dead corpse of a Brute was tossed out of the Wraith, with the vehicle rotating towards their destination. "I have acquired a more suitable means of transport," he informed Chief. "I will continue ahead and assist in terminating any Covenant forces."
"Understood," Chief nodded. He had to admit, what Parsons did was quite creative. Not what he had originally had in mind, but it did the job all the same. With that out of the way, he was about to advance forwards when a Plasma Bolus impacted near his position. Looking up, he spotted four Phantoms that were moving on their position, their weapons firing rapidly at the armored convoy. "Sierria-117 to any and all aerospace assets. Can you assist," he asked.
"Roger that," a voice replied. "Lima-415 en route. ETA: two mikes." With that in mind, Chief began moving the tank evasively in order to avoid being hit. While most of his maneuvers were successful, some of the shots impacted, reducing the shield strength with each hit. Eventually, he heard a loud snapping sound, like glass being shattered, before a warbling alarm informed him that his shields were down. Before the Phantoms could fire again, one of them went down as a missile tore through it's chassis, before large phased plasma bolts tore at the other three. Looking up, he watched as the Pelican that had brought them to the base opened fire on the Phantoms, blowing another one apart as it flew overhead. Once the Phantoms were down, the pilot said, "RADAR indicates that you've got a flight of Banshees inbound on your position. I'll keep 'em off your back. You just keep moving towards New Alexandria."
"Noted," Chief replied. "Thanks for the assistance."
"No problem. It was the least I could do." With that, the Pelican began flying off towards the incoming hostiles, while Chief began to advance forwards to the city. The tank quickly reached it's top speed, with the camera view that allowed him to see outside vibrating as the tank began driving over the glassed terrain. Despite the shakiness of the ride, it was fairly comfortable, as he didn't feel any sharp jots and bumps as he advanced forwards.
As he drove forwards, he heard a loud banging sound, like an aircraft flying at supersonic speeds. Looking up, he watched as a Covenant Cruiser flew overhead, it's brow aimed directly at the caldera that was near the city. Keying his COM, he said, "Sierra-117 to General Connor, did you see that?"
"Yes," Connor replied. "The Covenant are bringing in more Cruisers to continue excavating the Slipstream Space Generator that is partially underneath the city. Continue on towards your objective, Chief. You will link up with Armored Division Bravo, which is roughly twenty kilometers from your position. Once you link up with them, you will continue on towards New Alexandria. We have military forces that are already en route to the ruined city. Once you've linked up with them, you will continue to advance to AOA Alpha."
"Understood," Chief nodded. As he drove forwards, he began driving on sections of freeway that were still intact, though they were damaged enough that he had to move quickly over them. As soon as he traveled over one, he heard a loud groaning sound before the freeway bridge he had just moved past collapsed, a cloud of dust rising into the air as the compromised structure finally gave way. Too close, he thought as he continued onward. As he drove, he thought he heard a loud, thumping sound, like a giant was walking nearby. When he did, he gunned the throttle, bringing the Scorpion to top speed immediately.
Thel, who was in the armored pintle mount, immediately recognized the sound. "Scarab," he shouted, just as the menacing Covenant walker came into view. "They must have sent it to destroy the armored division!"
"Agreed," Chief nodded. Keying his COM, he said, "Sierra-117 to Armored Division Bravo, do you read me?"
"Solid copy," a rough, gritty voice replied. "What is it?"
"We have a Covenant Scarab moving towards your position. A number of Covenant Wraiths and Revenants are following them, including a squad of Locusts. We believe they might be intending to neutralize you."
"Copy that, Chief. We just picked them up on the satellite feed. Thanks for the heads up. We'll show them that we're tougher than they think us to be. Armored Division Bravo over and out." With that, the COM feed cut out. Returning his attention to the road, Chief continued to drive forward as fast as he could, discarding all semblance of stealth as he continued to drive towards the rendezvous point.
Clearing a bend, he found himself looking at the rendezvous point. The rendezvous point was where the New Alexandria UNSCDF Army Base used to be located at, with the place having been abandoned before it was glassed by Covenant forces. Most of the base was nothing more than glassed rubble, with the walls having collapsed inward on themselves, and the buildings nothing more than piles of rubble. Only the CIC remained standing, and even then, parts of the interior were showing, with the rest of the structure having been warped and bent by the intense heat generated by glassing. The surrounding landscape was reminiscent of the slope of an active volcano, with large sections of cracked earth, glassed areas, as well as charred flora that had been glassed and fossilized. Looking ahead, he could see the Armored Division that he had just warned, with the other M820S Scorpions moving into engagement positions as the Covenant drew closer. As soon as they cleared the hilly terrain, the Scorpions opened fire, blasting apart most of the Wraiths and Revenants, while a smaller number engaged the Locusts. Three of the Scorpions moved to engage the Scarab, driving underneath the Covenant walker in order to avoid it's main armaments.
Gunning the engine, Chief drove forwards into the area, firing his tank's Coilgun at the Scarab in an effort to draw it's attention away from the other tanks. Spotting him immediately, the Scarab turned and fired it's Energy Projector, sending a torrent of green energy towards the tank. Gunning the throttle, Chief drove underneath the energy beam, with the temperature inside of the cockpit climbing up a few degrees. As he drove forwards, he fired the Coilgun on the tank, sending the slug directly at the energy projector. Armor and components flew everywhere as the slug tore through the Energy Projector, rendering it useless as a weapon. Having spotted the damage, the drivers of the Scarab attempted to drive back, only for the three other Scorpions to fire at the legs, damaging the servos and motors in each one. Moments later, it began to crouch, with the auto-repair systems going to work repairing the servos in order to get the walker moving. In a brilliant tactical maneuver, the trio of Scorpions began to move fast, with two heading to the rear of the Scarab while the other remained beneath, firing at the leg to delay the auto-repair system. Firing their Coilguns, the two other Scarabs blasted off the rear armor component, exposing the pinch fusion reactor powering the Scarab. Once their guns reloaded, which only took five seconds, they fired off the slugs, tearing into the enemy vehicle's powerplant. "Get out of there," one of the tank drivers shouted. "She's gonna blow!" As soon as he shouted that, the other Scorpions immediately scrambled, moving out of the area as quickly as they could. They were just in time; as soon as the Scorpions got into cover, the Scarab exploded. A brilliant blue-white explosion ripped the chassis of the Covenant walker apart, with the shockwave destroying any Covenant vehicles that were too close. Only the Scorpions, which had cleared the blast radius, had survived intact.
"Whew," the Armored Division Commander breathed. "That was way too close for my liking. Chief, you good to go?"
"Green, sir," Chief replied.
"Good. Welcome to Armored Division Bravo, the craziest sons of bitches in the entire UNSC Army's Armored Warfare Division. Now that we've linked up, we'll be heading directly for New Alexandria. Those Covenant motherfuckers have the entire place in their dirty little claws. Our job is to drive on through and provide your attack point fire support and lure away the Covenant vehicles. Now, let's move out. We haven't got all day, and it'll take about forty five minutes to get to New Alexandria at top speed." With that, the tanks began to advance forwards, just as a number of Pelicans flew overhead, with more Warthogs on the ground, as well as a strike force of HK Drones and Terminators. Now, the path to New Alexandria was clear, and there was nothing the Covenant could do to stop them.
