Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my Halo - Terminator crossover. Thank you for the reception I got with last chapter. I deeply appreciate any feedback that I can get. Now, this was one of the more difficult chapters for me to write, but I have every reason to believe that I did justice depicting the conditions present during the Future War, something that the Covenant, in this case, gets a good glimpse of. Either way, thank you for your support, and I hope to see you in future chapters. 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, Carolco 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.
Terminator: Resistance OST – High Rise Ambiance
Terminator: Resistance OST – High Rise Action
Reach
New Alexandria Ruins
November 4th, 2552
It wasn't long before Armored Division Bravo reached the ruins of New Alexandria, the former Capitol city of the planet Reach. As they drew closer to the city, Chief noticed that the ground was much more severely glassed than the surrounding area, which made sense since New Alexandria was one of the first places on Reach that the Covenant had glassed. Looking up towards the sky, he noticed that it was almost nighttime, as the Sun had been descending below the horizon when he reached Armored Division Bravo. Now, he could see stars that were coming into view, but only faintly, as a thick fog had formed in the air, obscuring his line of sight after just twenty meters, with the light from Reach's moon and the nearby gas giant casting a weak light over the post-glassing landscape. It was getting thick enough that he was using his helmet's Thermal Imaging Sensors to be able to see through the thickening fog. On top of that, he could hear his suit's Digital Geiger Counter clicking, with a radiation meter appearing on his HUD. Another side effect of glassing was that the resulting area became slightly radioactive, a result of the ground being bombarded with high energy particles. As a result, the glassed material was also a radiation hazard, requiring UNSC personnel to wear radiation resistant suits in order to clean up those areas.
As they drove closer, he could see that the city was in shambles. The only structures that were really standing were small, one to four story buildings that had maintained enough structural integrity to remain upright. Larger buildings were present, but most had been reduced from their original height by half. The SinoViet Industries building, which had once held a Covenant Jammer, was one of the few buildings that was almost fully intact, as it still towered proudly into the sky. Club Ererra, which was nearby, hadn't been so fortunate, with the entire structure having been cut in half by a Covenant glassing beam. At ground level, ruined husks of cars were scattered everywhere, with most having melted or partially melted due to the intense heat from the glassing. Polycrete debris was everywhere, along with shards of glass that had melted and resolidified, as were trees that had been scorched or vaporized, with only parts of the roots remaining. In short, Chief could summarize what he was seeing with two words: total destruction. As they drove along, he heard Thel say, "By the Forerunners… what have we done? This used to be a bustling city. Now… it is nothing more than a mass grave… all of this by my hand…" He fell silent, unable to find the words to fully describe the utter devastation that was before him.
As they drove deeper into the city, Chief heard what he realized was the sound of a Falcon coming in for a landing. Stopping the Scorpion, he got out of the vehicle and walked over to where the Falcon was landing at, with the VTOL dropping off a few people just as another one came in and did the same. Walking forwards, he spotted the symbol that he knew was the hallmark of Noble Team. "Commander Carter," he greeted the leader of the team as they came out.
"At ease," Carter replied, precluding any form of a salute. "What's your condition?"
"Green, sir."
"Good." As he said this, Chief noticed one of the men walking towards the devastated landscape, recognizing him as Sergeant William. The combat hardened man had a sad expression on his face, and his helmet was in his hands, even as he looked over the ruined landscape. Spotting this, Carter asked, "Are you alright, Sergeant?"
"I'm fine," William replied as he put his helmet back on. "It's just that… I hoped never to see a landscape like this ever again." When he got a questioning look from Chief and the others, he said, "During my time in the Resistance, or Tech-Com as it was formally known as, this is what we had to deal with on a daily basis. For a while, before I captured that factory, we were having to live in squalid conditions, living off of rats that we captured and killed, all the while heading out on missions to destroy SYKNET forces, or find other groups that had the means and will to fight back, which were hard to find, but they were there. It was only after we captured that factory that we created Daedalus, and after that, conditions began to become far better than before. If you want to know the kind of environment that we were fighting in, sirs, you're looking right at it."
As he heard those words, Chief understood why William had that sad expression: this was the kind of world that he had grown up in, a world were man and machine had fought each other, only in this case, it was man against alien. Looking at Carter, he said, "Orders, sir?"
"SKYNET just sent us a satellite map of the area, including thermal imaging maps and other necessities," Carter replied. "Cortana, Dot, begin the briefing." As soon as he said this, Chief spotted a map coming up on his HUD, as well as data readouts for various areas. Once he could see it, Carter cleared his throat before beginning. "As we all know, the Covenant have been excavating the Slipstream Space Generator that is partially underneath New Alexandria for quite some time. According to satellite info, and past maps of the city, the Generator is located underneath where the industrial center of the city used to be, with only 25% of that area remaining relatively intact. Recon UAV's have detected the Anti-Orbital Array that we are targeting in what appears to be a trench created by a glassing beam, near the caldera itself." Moments later, a large trench was highlighted in yellow, with the AOA being highlighted in red. "Intelligence also indicates that they have brought on another Scarab to provide greater security for the AOA; apparently, we spooked them when we repelled them from Resistance HQ. This is how the plan is going to go now: Chief, you will lead Blue Team and head towards the AOA through this series of factories. I will lead Noble Team through a nearby assembly yard and provide covering fire in the event that your team needs it. Commander McConners will lead the Armored Division through the streets and neutralize the enemy's vehicular advantage, allowing us to move in and neutralize the AOA. Once we've gotten to the debris field, we'll rendezvous at this location here. Any questions?"
"How many Covenant are we looking at in there," William asked.
"Estimates go as high as a hundred and fifty," Carter replied. "Expect heavy resistance. Those Brutes will fight to the last man to keep us from destroying that AOA." Turning towards the Arbiter, he asked, "Any advice?"
"Keep the Chieftains at a distance," Thel replied. "Each one of them uses a Gravity Hammer once you get too close. Kill them with whatever long distanced weapons you have. If you have to get within swinging distance, dodge when the Chieftain swings, then strike while he is recovering."
"Good advice," Carter nodded. "Any more questions?" When none presented themselves, he said, "Alright then. This operation is underway now. Move out!" With that, the teams diverged, heading to their individual waypoints. While William went with Noble Team, Parsons went with Blue Team, with the Terminator keeping his weapons at the ready in the event a fight broke out. The tanks simply began to move through the deserted streets, keeping an eye out for any Covenant activity in the area.
As he proceeded along through a factory connecting to the assembly yard, William could see the memories of his time in the Resistance coming back to him in full force. He could still see the piles of concrete and debris that were scattered throughout the city he had fought with the Resistance in, as well as the ruined automobiles, the piles of skulls that were littering the ground, as well as the smell of ozone in the air. The more things change, the more they stay the same, he thought as he drifted down this unpleasant part of Memory Lane. Shaking his head, he brought himself back to the present, before catching up to the rest of Noble Team. Looking around, he spotted Jun, who had recently returned to the group after escorting Halsey to CASTLE Base, before leaving Reach via a fleeing ship when the Orbital Generators he had been protecting were destroyed, forcing him to escape. He had tried to go back for Halsey, but the Covenant were in great enough numbers that he was unable to do so. Now that he was here, William felt good about their chances when it came to neutralizing long range threats. Still, he had a frown on his face as he looked at the environment around him.
Kat, who had gotten an advanced replacement for her prosthetic arm, noticed his demeanor and asked, "Bad memories?"
"Yes," he replied. "This reminds me too much of the Future War. I can still see the devastation from that time period."
"I know what you mean, now that I see it," Kat nodded. Now that she was looking at the ruined landscape with her own eyes, she could only feel pity for the hardened Tech-Com Sergeant. If this is the conditions he was fighting in, then I can see why he would never want to see this again, she thought. Shaking her head as well, she continued onward, scrambling over a polycrete wall before entering the factory proper. The interior of the factory was probably one of the few things that had survived the glassing mostly intact, as much of the interior hadn't been ruined completely. This factory, which had been manufacturing UNSC hardware for their vehicles, was still mostly intact, though the glass windows had long since shattered from the heat. Warthog components were lying everywhere on the ground, while some were in large crates. There was even a partially assembled Warthog that was inside the factory, though it, like the vehicles outside, was ruined beyond repair by the intense heat. The offices in the story above were probably in the best condition, as there was little, if any, damage inside. It was as though people had gotten up in the middle of lunch and left the building, if in somewhat of a hurry, as chairs, desks and tables were overturned. The food had long since gone stale, though the partially irradiated environment meant that it was not rotting. Cubicles were deserted as well, with personal effects having been left behind in the mad dash to escape. It was like a snapshot into the moment people had left the building to get off of Reach alive and well.
As they moved up around the bend of a hallway, William, who was up ahead, thought he heard something. "Got something," he told the others. "Unknown contact. 20 meters out."
"Understood," Carter nodded. "Weapons at the ready." Making sure their phased plasma munitions were ready, they advanced forwards, keeping an eye out for any sign of hostile contact. As they moved through, he spotted a flash of movement at the same time as William. William, being the closest, moved forward to investigate, looking into a vent that had long since had it's cover removed. As he looked inside, he heard Carter ask, "William, SITREP?"
"I found out what it is," he replied, pulling out what appeared to be a small animal of some kind. "Looks like someone left their dog behind unwillingly when the Covenant came." Moments later, he stood up, hauling over a small dog that had black fur. It's fur was matted and caked with mud and polycrete, and it was shivering. Despite this, it's brown eyes were wide as it looked at the squad. "Poor little thing," he remarked, rubbing it's head slightly. "It's probably been scavenging ever since Reach was partially glassed." Putting the dog down, he watched as it ran away, towards where they had come from before vanishing around the corner they had turned around. "Let's keep moving, and hope that the Covenant are not present here." Nodding in agreement, Carter and the others continued to move through. As they did, William noticed that there was an unusually strong silence that covered the area. "Carter, you notice that?"
"Notice what," the Spartan-III asked.
"Exactly," William continued. "It's quiet… far too quiet for my liking. I also feel as though I'm being watched by something… or someone." As he said this, Carter noticed exactly what William was talking about. It was way too quiet for this building, leading him to believe that something was up as they entered a large lobby that had two ramps leading down towards the entrance. He was about to order them to move up when suddenly, something whipped by his head faster than he could see it, though he did see a blue glowing beam of energy. "Shit," William shouted. "Covenant sniper! Take him out!" Firing his weapon, Carter watched as a few plasma bolts smacked into something that was cloaked. Moments later, a Jackal Sniper tumbled out of a small alcove above their position, landing on the cracked tile floor of the lobby with a loud CRUNCH.
"Cloaked Covenant Snipers," Jun observed. "Looks like the Covenant are getting desperate… or creative."
"I hope that it doesn't stay that way," Emile, who had been silent until now, frowned. "I don't want to end up having my brain cored out by some bastard hiding in the shadows."
"Same here," Jorge replied. With that, they continued onward, weapons at the ready as they advanced.
In the factory area that was nearby, however, Chief and the others were engaged in a massive firefight with a Covenant group that they had encountered. They had been traveling through an abandoned vehicle depot that held a number of ruined semi-trucks, military cargo trucks, as well as small automobiles and haulers, when they encountered a group of Brutes that were in the area. Sliding behind a small hauler, Chief peered around the corner to see the Brutes, who were using the above ground balcony as a means of firing down on the group. "Grace," he thundered. "Get a forty millimeter up there!" At his order, Grace-093 moved up and took out an M319B Grenade Launcher before firing. There was a loud TOONK as the grenade was magnetically launched out the barrel and through the air, detonating on the balcony in a split second. Several of the Brutes were vaporized almost immediately, while the others roared in pain as their bodies were roasted by the plasma generated. With the suppressive fire gone, Chief and the others moved up, vaulting over piles of debris and toolboxes before stacking up at the base of the stairs leading upwards. On a count of three, they moved up using the two staircases that were nearby, weapons ready as they advanced upwards. As soon as they reached the top, they opened fire, killing any Brutes that offered any form of resistance. With that done, they moved on towards their objective.
Moving upwards and through the building, they began crossing a small skyway that had been built for workers that needed to travel to the adjoining building. The sky way was a mess, with the railings warped from the intense heat, while the glass had long since shattered or melted away. The structure of the sky way was warped as well, with the floor having buckled and the structure sagging towards the ground somewhat. Beyond the line of buildings up ahead, he could see the trench that held the Covenant base that was their primary target, but before that, there was a line of debris that lined the trench, with only a few places where a Scorpion could get through without being bogged down. "I do not like this structure," Fred-104 remarked. "It feels like it could collapse at any moment."
"Agreed," Linda nodded. "If the Covenant engage us here, we'll be in for a shitstorm."
"I have detected Covenant units incoming," Parsons reported. "They are coming from the building up ahead."
"Affirmative," Chief nodded. "Grace, get a Trip Mine set up. Everyone, get ready to run forwards if the sky way beings to buckle." Nodding at that, Grace moved forwards and set up a Trip Mine, while the others got into cover before getting ready to move. As soon as they did, the Covenant arrived.
Two Brutes that were coming from the other building forced the doors on the opposite side open, before sending in some Grunts. As soon as as they entered, however, the Trip Mine detonated blowing apart the Grunts while shredding the Brutes behind them. Chief opened fire with his MA5E immediately, killing a Brute that had it's armor stripped from the blast, while Grace and Fred opened fire with their weaponry as well. Behind them, Linda waited for a shot as she watched the fusillade of plasma streak through the air. Moments later, a Chieftain came into view, roaring loudly as it charged forwards, swinging it's Gravity Hammer at the team. Dodging to the right, Chief narrowly avoided being hit, with the Gravity Hammer smashing into a support beam nearby. Pulling out his M6E, he fired a burst of shots into the Brute, angering it further as it charged at him. Before he could dodge, he was shoulder tackled into a nearby beam, with the Brute preparing to bring the Hammer down onto his head. Before it could act, however, Parsons yanked the Brute backwards, before grabbing it's Gravity Hammer and smashing it's head in, tossing the body out of one of the shattered view ports moments later. "Thanks," Chief said to Parsons as Fred came over to help him up.
"Anytime," Parsons replied, nodding at Parsons as he said this. As soon as he said this, though, they heard a loud groaning sound, before a loud, metallic POP vibrated through the structure. "We must move! The structure is collapsing," he reported, with Chief and the others moving out of the sky way as quickly as they could. As soon as Linda was in the other building, the sky way collapsed. A loud, metallic groan shook the structure as the metal bolts, nuts, pins and welds, compromised by the intense heat of glassing, gave way, causing the entire sky way to tear away from the side of the office complex they were heading to. In a few moments, it fell eight stories down to the ground, a loud CRASH emanating from the ground as the sky way smashed into the glassed terrain, the brittle metal shattering into hundreds of small, razor sharp pieces.
"Shit," Linda gasped. "That was too close."
"You OK," Grace asked.
"I'm fine," Linda nodded. "Just a little too close for my liking." Chief nodded in agreement, even as they proceeded towards ground level. Using the stairwell that was inside the building, they advanced forwards and down, moving through the structure as quietly as they could. Even then, it was a hazardous trip, as parts of the stairwell were collapsing. Chief had stepped onto a piece of polycrete, only for Cortana to warn him. Stepping off, he watched as that part of the stairway collapsed, though the rest remained strong enough to support his weight. After two minutes of careful treading, they reached ground floor and moved outside. Once they were outside, which was the remnants of a four way intersection, they could clearly see how large the debris field was surrounding the glassing trench. It was thick, with the widest area being roughly 1.5km in width, which was the very area they were at. The ruins of buildings and vehicles stuck up out of the debris like jagged teeth, and pieces of polycrete and metal were sticking up out of the ground, with everything in that field having a semi-melted appearance. There were two pathways that were just barely large enough for the Scorpions to move through without getting bogged down by the debris, with the size of each pathway being narrow enough that the vehicles would have to move through single file in order to get through. There were other pathways through, but they were barely large enough for a Spartan to move through, with only some room to maneuver in.
As he exited the building, Chief watched as some Pelicans came in at low altitude, before coming to a stop moments later. Marines and ODST's hopped out of the VTOLS before advancing towards his position, coming to a stop moments later. One of the ODST's was a Major, as Chief spotted the appropriate symbols on the man's shoulder pauldrons. As he approached, some HK Aerials dropped off a few Terminators. At the same time, Noble Team caught up with them, reaching the rendezvous point that they had planned to arrive at. "Major, SITREP," Carter asked.
"We just got some new intelligence," the ODST Major replied. "The Covenant are shooting at anything that flies overhead now. We can't move through with the Pelicans."
"Then we'll move through on foot," Carter decided. "Chief, take Blue Team through part of that debris field. William, you'll be Noble and Blue Team's point man through this debris field. You've dealt with this terrain during your time at Tech-Com, which makes you the best man for the job."
"Understood," William nodded. "I'll get you guys through safe and sound. Follow me." With that, the Spartan teams began to move through the field, with the ODST's and Marines trailing behind them. As soon as they entered the debris field, it became clear that it was very difficult to move through the area. Beams of varying lengths and thicknesses created crawlspaces and barriers that forced them to move through any available area that they had. Fortunately, just as Carter had predicted, William was an expert at moving through the debris field, often finding paths that the others had overlooked. Getting down on his stomach, he crawled his way through a narrow space before getting up on the other side, using beams of polycrete and metal to make sure he wasn't detected before moving forward. As he moved, though, he spotted movement on his Motion Tracker. "Covenant," he told the others. "They know we're here. Move and shoot!" At his order, the others fired on any Covenant that were moving through the debris field, while moving through said field themselves. Sliding down the hallway of a shattered skyscraper, he knocked a Brute that was at the bottom over before firing his weapon at the others, their armor rapidly disintegrating as phased plasma ate through it. Once they were down, he fired his weapon at the Brute that was on the ground, killing it instantly. Behind him, Thel, who was just ahead of Chief, caught up, just as he spotted a shimmer behind William. Instead of shouting a warning, he activated his Energy Sword and thrust it at the shimmer, impaling a Brute wearing some kind of a stealth uniform. "Shit," William swore as he turned around. Spotting the dead Brute and Thel, he said, "Good catch. Thanks. Looks like a Stalker."
"An astute observation," Thel nodded. "It's a Brute Stalker. I heard about them when I was a Ship Master, but I have never seen them in action until now. We must be cautious."
"Agreed," William nodded. Keying his COM, he said, "Chief, do you read me?"
"Yes," Chief replied. "SITREP?"
"We've got Brutes using active camouflage on the field. The Arbiter identified them as Brute Stalkers; basically the Brute equivalent of Sangheili Spec Ops personnel. Keep an eye out for any motion on your Trackers, as well as any shimmering in the air that you see."
"Understood. Thanks for the heads up." Closing the COM link, William continued to move ahead, while the others followed closely behind, checking the area for any Brute Stalkers that were following them. As they moved through the debris, they could tell that they were quickly moving through, thanks to his expert ability to scout out and move through the slightly irradiated terrain. After twenty minutes of moving through the debris, with bouts of sporadic firefights, they emerged out the other side. As soon as they did, they got a good look at what was going on. The glassing trench was massive, wide enough that it could hold two, UNSC MOB's with room to spare. Part of the glassing trench had collapsed into the caldera, which clipped the edge of this trench. The caldera was massive, with the diameter of the depression being roughly 100km in diameter, with the Slipstream Space Generator located inside. Looking around, Chief cold tell that it was a truly massive device. Only the Forerunners are capable of something this massive, aside from High Charity, he thought as he looked at the caldera. Massive arms were currently folded up inside of the caldera, and he could see the Forerunner Dreadnought in the center of it all.
What had his attention the most, however, was the Anti-Orbital Array that was located in the center of the glassing trench. The Array was massive, probably as large as a UNSC MOB in that regard, with the entire base shaped in a similar manner to a pentagon. The Anti-Orbital Emplacements were placed around the control center at the corners of the pentagon shape, with fortifications built into the spaces between the guns. Wraiths, Revenants, Ghosts were everywhere, and four Scarab walkers were milling about the place, ensuring that one one got too close to take them on. Crouching down, William used his helmet optics to zoom in on the orbital array, just as Chief and the others arrived. "Report," Carter ordered.
"Looks like the intel is solid," William replied. "We've got roughly thirty two Ghosts, sixteen Revenants, the same number of Wraiths, and four Scarabs that are milling about the area. There are a lot of fortifications between each Emplacement, and we've got at least 150 foot mobiles in the area. I wouldn't be too surprised if there were 200 to 250 foot mobiles down there. Either way, we're going to need fast movers to do a gun run. That should lessen the amount of hostiles that we've got down there and make it easier to take out the AOA." Turning to Carter as he returned the zoom function to normal, he said, "Permission to call in a Napalm Strike. That should thin out the infantry a bit."
"Granted," Carter replied. "The HK Aerials can move fast enough to avoid being shot down. We've got twenty M820's, but they should be able to move quickly enough to avoid being hit by the Scarabs. We'll have the Terminators handle the Ghosts. They've got plasma resistant chassis, so that shouldn't be a problem."
"Yes, sir," William nodded. Keying his COM, he said, "Noble-8 to SKYNET, requesting Napalm C bomb run on grid November-4-2-7, over."
"Affirmative," came the reply. "HK Aerial inbound for bomb run. ETA: 2 minutes."
"Solid copy. Noble-8 over and out." Closing the COM-link, he said, "We've got a bomb run inbound."
"Are the tanks in position," Carter asked.
"Affirmative," Dot replied. "M820 Scorpions are ready to enter the area."
"Good. Once that bomb is dropped, we'll move in and begin the attack." As soon as he finished, the bomb came. Looking up, Carter watched as an HK Aerial loaded with Napalm C bombs flew overhead. Detecting the incoming aircraft, the Anti-Orbital Emplacements turned and began firing, sending high velocity bolus' of purple plasma towards the vehicle. Dodging and weaving, the HK Aerial flew overhead, releasing the bombs moments later. As soon as they impacted, blue-white fire erupted inside of the base. Even from this distance, the agonized screams of dying Covenant personnel reached their ears. "Now," Carter thundered, with the tanks immediately moving in to draw away the Covenant vehicles. M820's raced down the slopping sides of the trench, firing their Heavy Coilguns at the Revenants, Wraiths and Scarabs. In the first volley alone, eight of the sixteen Wraiths were destroyed, along with the same number of Revenants. At the same time, the Terminators moved in, weapons blazing as they engaged the Ghosts. Caught off guard, most of the Ghosts were eliminated, with the other vehicles beginning to move to the south, since the caldera's edge was to the east. "Alright, move in now! We're invading this base."
As soon as he said that, everyone on Blue Team and Noble Team charged forwards, running as quickly as they could in order to close the distance before the infantry inside the base could readjust quickly enough to engage. Unsurprisingly, the Spartans and a few Terminators were the first ones to the enemy AOA, with Parsons quickly running up to the gate. Running over, he jacked into the network and quickly overrode the cyber defenses, allowing them to get inside the base. As soon as the doors opened, it was clear that the Napalm C attack had been devastating, with charred corpses littering the ground. Some Covenant, however, were still alive, as they fired back, with the Spartans returning fire moments later. Looking ahead, Chief spotted the control center for the entire array, which was also shaped like a pentagon. "That's the target building," he shouted over the sound of their weapons firing. "Push through! Do not let them breath!" As soon as he said this, the ODST's and Marines reached their position, adding their own firepower to the mix. While the Covenant was determined to keep them out, the UNSC forces were even more determined to push into the base, as the Covenant defenders were quickly whittled down by the assault. Smashing in the face of a Brute, Chief reached the entrance to the tower, with Grace planting a plasma charge on the door. Once it blew, they forced their way inside, killing anyone that stood in their way. Reaching the control room, he killed the Chieftain inside with his weapon while the others silenced the Brutes. Hauling the dead corpse off the control panel, he said, "Cortana, can you find the reactor for this place?"
"Just did," Cortana reported. "It's one level below us, underground. The only way there is a gravity lift. If you get me down there, I can set the reactor to overload. It'll cause one hell of a boom, but that's exactly what we need right now."
"Belay that," Carter replied. "I just got word from SKYNET. A Light Cruiser is on it's way to flatten the base. We just have to disable the AOA and get clear." Nodding in compliance, Chief had Cortana disable the guns so that the Light Cruiser could get in without being destroyed. Once that was done, everyone began to leave the base. With the AOA disabled, Pelicans came in to extract them from the area. Once everyone was onboard a Pelican, Carter said, "UNSC March of Winter, you are cleared to fire the P-MAC. We are approaching minimum safe distance."
"Roger that," came the reply. "All hands, brace for P-MAC firing." Looking to the right, Chief watched as the March of Winter flew in, it's imposing hull visible from even high altitudes. There was a loud whine as the P-MAC powered up, with a blue glow forming inside of the barrel. Seconds later, a bolus of plasma moving at a fraction of the speed of light shot out of the barrel, smashing into the AOA moments later. There was an explosion as the plasma tore apart the entire array, with the pinch fusion reactor detonating moments later. The blast was powerful enough that the Pelican shook as it flew along, with the VTOL landing a few minutes later at the caldera's edge, behind a polycrete barrier that had survived the glassing and caldera formation.
Looking up, Chief watched as several UNSC warships flew overhead, weapons ready. "All warships," Admiral Hood, who had just arrived from Earth, ordered, "fire at will. Blast that ship to hell!" As soon as he said this, the P-MAC's on all the UNSC warships fired, with the plasma bolus' smashing into the Forerunner Dreadnought's armor plating. Large sections of armor were ripped off by each blast. As they fired, though, a rumbling came from the Slipstream Space Generator as four arms began to lift up and into the air. As they did, a beam of energy began to emit from them, concentrating in the air where a storm was starting to form.
Thel, who guessed what was happening, shouted, "Get behind the barrier, now!" Not wanting to argue, everyone ducked behind the polycrete barrier, just as a gust of wind blew past them. Pieces of polycrete fell off and onto the ground, before a bright flash of light briefly illuminated the night sky, with the flash so bright that it was almost as if daylight had come back. Once the flash faded, Chief got up and looked at what had just happened. To everyone's amazement, the night sky in that area was no longer present. Instead, there was a purple-black portal that floated overhead, with the edges glowing a brilliant blue-white as the Generator maintained the portal.
As the warships recovered from the shockwave, Hood's voice came in over the radio. "General Connor, what just happened?!"
"The Generator's activated," Connor replied over the COM. "Truth, and consequently we, have a straight shot at the Lesser Ark! If we follow him through, we can get to the Ark before he can and prevent him from beginning his 'Great Journey.'" On the ground, Chief heard Thel give a roar of frustration and anger as the Forerunner Dreadnought flew into the portal.
As he did so, Commander Keyes came in over the COM. "Admiral, General, I've got another Covenant ship inbound! It's heavily damaged, but we're getting biohazard readings from it, and strong ones at that." As soon as she said that, Chief watched as a single Covenant Cruiser came in. Just by looking at it, he could tell that it was heavily damaged, even as it flew overhead, disappearing behind a few buildings. Moments later, the ground shook as it crashed, but Chief had gotten a close enough look to know what was really going on.
Sensing his silence, Thel asked, "What is it? More Brutes?"
The one word that he got from Chief chilled him to the bone. "Worse."
