Chapter 7- Gift Giving
Author's Note- You will understand the title of the chapter at the end, or if you've already played Halo 2. For now enjoy the sort-of novelization of Cairo Station. Rate and Review, as always. P.S. there is at least one comedic part in every chapter from now on. I just kind of put them in. Also, the chapters will be very long at this point, but there is a lot of action. One more thing, look for the running gag in this chapter. It is quite obvious. P.P.S. Expect delays in the updates. I have to work on summer homework, and I'm not going to start Chapter 8 until it's finished. Chapter 8 should be out in about 2-3 weeks, after that, the updates will come about once a week, as promised. Rate and Review. Please. Do it now, this is very important. "Your enjoyment of this book is the will of the Gods. And I… I am their instrument."
Noble Team returned to the bridge of the Earth Defense Platform Cairo. Inside, they found Lord Hood, Sgt. Johnson, a woman they did not know, and the Master Chief waiting for them. When they walked up, Lord Hood turned to them and saluted. They saluted back. Just then, alarms started going off all over the station, and Cortana's avatar appeared on the pedestal again. "Slipspace ruptures; directly off our battle cluster." Lord Hood turned to look at her. "Show me." An overlay of the area appeared on the viewscreen. "15 Covenant capital ships holding position just outside the kill zone." A new group appeared. Under the largest ship, the name F.A. Harper appeared. "This is Fleet Admiral Harper, we are engaging the enemy." "Negative, Admiral. Form a defensive perimeter around the cluster." He looked at the Covenant force onscreen, puzzled. "Something's not right; the fleet that destroyed Reach was fifty times this size."
An officer looked up at him. "Sir, additional contacts: boarding craft and lots of them!" "They're going to try to take our MAC guns offline; give their capital ships a straight shot at Earth." He turned to the woman. "Commander, get to your ship. Link up with the fleet." She saluted and left. He turned to the pedestal. "You have the MAC gun, Cortana. Soon as they come in range, open up." "Gladly" Her avatar disappeared. Hood turned to the Spartans. "Spartans, the Office of Naval Intelligence has requested that the 5 of you become one unit, under their command. You will become one unit, but under my command. You are now Bravo Team. Master Chief, you are the leader. Now take your team and defend this station." The Chief saluted. "Yes sir." He turned to Johnson. "We need weapons." "Right this way."
He led the team to an armory station where they found a whole host of weapons. Bravo 1, the Master Chief, took a BR55 Battle Rifle and 2 M7 Caseless Sub-Machine Guns. Bravo 2, Carter, took an MA5B Assault Rifle and an M6C Pistol. Bravo 3, Jun, took an SRS-99C-S2-AMB Sniper Rifle and an M7 Caseless SMG. Emile, Bravo 4, took an M90 Tactical Shotgun and an M6C Pistol. And Six, Bravo 5, took an M395 DMR and an MA5B Assault Rifle. The Chief looked at his new team. "Check your ammo. Make sure you've got all you can carry. You may not find anymore." They all grabbed at least 4 more clips of ammo for each of their weapons, then left to join Sgt. Johnson.
They found Johnson setting up an HMG near a sealed doorway. He turned as they approached. "Chief; just heard some combat on the other side of that door." Just then, they heard a crackling sound and saw what looked like a torch cutting through the door. The Master Chief signaled Jun to stay back, and for the rest to pick an area and stay there. Johnson spoke up. "Field of fire on that bulkhead. Soon as that door opens; let 'em have it." About 5 seconds later, the door blew open and a group of 4 Grunts and an Elite Minor rushed through the door. Before the Elite got 2 feet into the room, his head exploded as a 14.5X114 mm AP-FS-DS round passed through. The Grunts panicked, threw down their weapons, and ran in circles. Carter and Emile ran up, drew their combat knives, and stabbed the Grunts through their methane sacks. Six, or rather Five, shot the methane sack of a Grunt with his DMR, and the Master Chief snapped the last ones neck.
Another group, this one containing a Major instead of a Minor, stormed through the door. This time though, the Elite did not have his head blown off an instant after he stepped through the door. As Jun was lining up his next shot, Emile jumped on the Elite's back, drew his kukri, and plunged it into the back of the Elite's head. He jumped off, drew his shotgun and shot 2 Grunts through their methane sacks. The other Grunts panicked and ran away, only to return as 2 Elite Minors entered the room through one of the upper levels. Six ran up and tackled one of the Minors, then drew his knife and stabbed it twice in the neck. "That's for Kat and Jorge." The Chief had already done away with the other, and the Grunts were long since gone.
They then left the room and moved on towards the port Pelican bay, where there was reported to be a breach. They had already killed a slew of Covenant and when they arrived in the bay, 5 Grunts turned and all at once yelled, "Demons, here! Run for your lives!" As they ran, the Major commanding them backhanded one across the face. "Hold ranks, you fools." Just then, his head exploded as another 14.5X114mm AP-FS-DS round passed through. Jun laughed through the team comm channel. "Hah. Idiots. They should have been focused on us instead." The Grunts, including the two that had run from the first encounter, all pulled out plasma grenades, ignited them, and ran at the Spartans. Six shot the one in the middle with his DMR and the grenades it was holding flew out and stuck to the two beside him. When they blew up, the other two died as well. The Spartans turned to look at him, amazed at the shot. Six opened up a team-wide comm channel. "What? I'm a crack shot with a DMR."
The Master Chief just shook his head disbelievingly and moved toward the viewport where a group of marines were watching the battle outside. One of them remarked, "Hey, check it out, the Malta's already driven off its boarders." One of the marines on the Malta said over the comm, "I don't believe it. They're retreating, we won." Those were his last words, because just then, the station blew up spontaneously. The same marine who had remarked about the Malta's boarders now took on a more grim tone. "Oh, this is bad. Real bad."
The doors behind them opened as more Elites and Grunts poured into the room. Carter grabbed a frag grenade from one of the marines' belts, primed it, and threw it right into the middle of the group. When it blew, all the Grunts "flew away" to whatever version of the afterlife they believed in, and 2 Minors joined them as Emile and Six shot them each twice in the head. The Major leading the force looked seriously pissed at this point, and threw himself at Jun, who had pulled out his M7 SMG and was closing the distance between him and the Major. The Elite slammed into Jun and threw him to the ground. It pulled an energy dagger and thrust down, right into the place where Jun had been not ½ a second ago. The III had rolled out of the way and now drew his knife and stabbed the Major through the mouth, right into its brain. Carter helped Jun up and the newly christened "Bravo Team" moved on through, toward yet another Pelican bay. Along the way, the alarms warned that "Hostiles have breached the port MAC bay."
When they arrived in the Pelican bay, there were 2 plasma turrets set up on an elevated walkway facing them, and 2 more facing the opposite way. Jun grabbed a plasma grenade that he had taken from the now-dead pissed off Major, primed it, and threw it up at the Grunts who were operating the turrets. The grenade exploded, killing all 4 Grunts and rendering the turrets inoperable. The Elites and Grunts on the ground all took cover as a hail of bullets rained down on them. The Master Chief flanked them and sprayed them down with a hail of SMG rounds. 2 Grunts were killed and an Elite Minor rolled out of the way, only to be killed as a 14.5X114mm AP-FS-DS round flew through his head. Another Elite went down as Six jumped on his back and snapped his neck. Emile ran up behind a Major and shot him through the gut with his shotgun. The Elite's shields buckled and he fell down dead. "That's the last of them."
A marine walked over to the window and remarked, afraid, "Uh, oh. Now they're leaving the Athens." About 5 seconds later, the Athens was no more. Lord Hood came over the comm. "Cortana, assessment." "That explosion came from inside the Athens, same as the Malta. The Covenant must have brought something with them. A bomb." "Then they sure as hell brought one here. Bravo Team, Find it."
A set of doors beneath them opened, which led to the armory where Carter and Chief had gotten their new armor. As the doors at the end of the corridor opened, a pair of Stealth Elites uncloaked and opened fire on the Spartans. Emile shot one with his shotgun, and the Chief killed the other with sustained bursts from his battle rifle. Six stooped and took a plasma rifle from one of the Elites' corpses. "This may come in handy."
They all heard the Master Gunnery Sergeant in the armory yell, "Get the hell out of my armory, split-lipped-motherfuck-OH GOD!" When the team managed to get the doors open, they found the Sergeant lying on the ground, dead, with a shotgun lying next to him and plasma burns on his gut. Emile ran towards the Elites, a Major and a Minor, stooped to pick up the other shotgun, and blasted the hell out of the Elites. Chief looked at Carter. "How they do that has always been a mystery to me." "Emile is one of the best with a shotgun." "I can tell."
They fought their way to a corridor where Johnson and the Commander whom they still did not know were pinned down by a group of Grunts and Elites. Johnson looked up at them. "Good to see you guys." The woman spoke up. "I was almost onboard when they showed up." "Don't worry ma'am, we'll take care of them." Emile stole a grenade from Johnson, primed it and threw it right at one of the Minors. When it detonated, the Elite was torn to shreds and the surrounding Grunts went to whatever they called the afterlife.
After all of the hostiles had been eliminated, Cortana came over the comm channel. It was evident she was addressing Lord Hood. "Sir, hostiles have breached the fire control center. They have a bomb." "Can you diffuse it?" "Yes, but I'll need Bravo Team's help to make contact with the detonator." "Spartans, get to the fire control center and diffuse that bomb." When they reached the elevator, after fighting 3 Elite Rangers, Cortana contacted them. "Just so you know, there are quite a few Elites guarding the bomb, so you may need to get creative." Almost as soon as the doors opened, plasma fire rained down from a group of 3 Minor, 2 Majors, an Ultra, and 3 Grunt Majors on the Spartans, crippling their shields. The bomb was ticking away on the other side of the room. Emile grabbed another frag grenade that he had taken from Johnson, primed it, and threw it at the Ultra. It rolled out of the way just as the grenade blew up, putting a minor dent in its shields, and killing 2 of the Grunts.
The elevator behind them opened again, and a lone ODST ran through, spraying MA5B rounds at the group of Covenant, killing the last Grunt and 1 of the Minors before reloading. He ran over to where Carter and Six had taken cover, pulled out an M6C Magnum, and took pot-shots at the Elites. Emile, still wielding 2 shotguns, ran forward and killed a Minor and a Major before having one of the shotguns slapped out of his grasp by the Ultra, who had become so pissed that it had pulled out its Energy Sword. It slashed down at Emile, who dodged out of the way, only to have his other shotgun cut in half. The ODST ran up behind it and sunk his combat knife into the back of its neck, killing it instantly. Emile picked up his other shotgun, the one the Master Gunnery Sergeant had used, and shot the last Major in the face, while the last Minor was killed by a 14.5X114mm AP-FS-DS round passing through its head.
The Master Chief walked up to the ODST. "Who are you?" The ODST took off his helmet. "Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck at your service." He turned to Six. "Good to see at least one other soldier survived the Fall of Reach. You helped my old unit in New Alexandria. Remember the Bullfrogs?" "The ones who used the jetpacks? I remember them. Though I don't remember you." The Chief looked over at the bomb. "I hate to break up the reunion, but we still have a bomb to diffuse." He walked over to the AI pedestal, conveniently placed right next to the bomb. Cortana's avatar appeared as the Chief walked over. "Me. Inside your head. Now." He placed his hand on the pedestal, then on the detonator of the bomb, allowing Cortana to disable the bomb. "How much time was left?" "You don't want to know."
Buck walked up to the Chief. "Sir, what are you going to do with that?" He pointed at the bomb. Chief opened up a comm channel to the Cairo's bridge. "Sir, permission to leave the station." Lord Hood responded curiously. "For what purpose, Master Chief?" "To give the Covenant back their bomb." There was a pause. "Permission granted." Chief turned to the former Noble Team. "Find a Pelican in one of the bays, get to In Amber Clad. Commander Keyes is already expecting you." Six looked at him, perplexed. "What about you, sir?" "I've got a little gift giving to do." He grabbed one of the spikes on the bomb as he said this, and started dragging the bomb towards one of the cargo elevators. Carter ran up, grabbed two of the spikes and helped him drag it. He looked at Buck. "Go with them." "Yes sir, Commander." And with that, the elevator doors closed and the Spartans, plus Buck walked over to the other elevator and took it to one of the Pelican bays.
When the group entered one of the Pelicans, They received a transmission from In Amber Clad. "Bravo Team, this is Commander Miranda Keyes of In Amber Clad. Once you board the ship, you need to get prepared for a surface battle." Six keyed the comm. "Yes ma'am. But we'll need to find the Chief and Carter once they finish up with whatever they're doing." I've already got a lock on their signals and I'm tracking them now." With that, the Pelican took off and headed for In Amber Clad's beacon.
Inside the Cairo, the Chief and Carter were waiting for the elevator to reach the airlock when Cortana, still inside the Chief's neural network, spoke up. "I know what you're thinking, and it's crazy." Carter looked at the Master Chief. "So stay here." Unfortunately for all three of us, I like crazy." When the elevator arrived at the airlock, Chief and Carter hauled the bomb out into the open, and Carter ran over to where the airlock release lever was. When he grabbed it, Cortana asked what had been floating in Carter's mind for the past few minutes. "Just one question. What if you miss?" The Chief spoke up after a pause. "We won't." And with that, Carter pulled the lever and opened up the airlock. Everything that wasn't bolted down flew out as the atmosphere inside was vented, including the bomb, which was down now carrying a full ton of Spartan armor behind it causing it to tip up slightly.
Carter and the Chief guided the bomb down towards the nearest carrier, knowing that they would miss the one closest to Earth. The carrier shot a strange beam just as a UNSC ship passed over it, severing the UNSC ship nearly in half. Two Longsword fighters, evidently launched to help destroy the carrier, zoomed ahead of the Spartans and their payload, and launched a group of missiles at the center of the carrier, blowing a hole big enough to fit both the Spartans and the Covenant's "present". The hole led directly to the ship's core, where the Chief climbed up the bomb, armed it, and signaled Carter to join him in pushing the bomb closer to the center of the "room". When Carter stood up on the bomb, they both pushed off and soared through the Earth's orbit, towards the surface. The "present" detonated behind them, destroying the carrier instantly. In Amber Clad, with the rest of Bravo Team waiting, flew right into their path and they crashed onto the top.
Inside, on the bridge, Sgt. Johnson and the crew all heard the dual thumps as the Chief and Carter landed on top of the ship. Johnson looked at Commander Keyes, who was sitting nearby. "For a couple of bricks, they flew pretty good." The Commander keyed the comm. "Chief, Commander, get inside, gear up, we're taking this fight to the surface."
