Halo: The Jammer

14 days after the Master Chief and the Arbiter return to Earth.

Peter hid behind a coffee table in an abandoned café. His breaths were heavy and uneven. After all, he had been an office block cleaner for the past 18 years and running was not his thing. He had been running from the things. The things that had infected the whole city. The things that were chasing him and the other survivors down. There were only twelve people left unturned in the city of New Sydney that Peter knew of. And that number was shrinking everyday as the other survivors were hunted down. They were all in hiding, spread across the city. Each one being followed by the parasite. Collectively known as The Flood.

Five days earlier, a Spartan II had come into the city and had helped the survivors.

"Spread out and to lay low until reinforcements arrived." He had said. But he had been taken by the Flood to a submarine just off the coast. The two days that the Spartan had helped seemed long ago in Peters mind. Peter looked down at the chain that hung around his neck. It had belonged to the Spartan before he was taken away. He read the inscription for what seemed like the millionth time that day.

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John S-117.

"The target is in sight." The Sabre Pilot reported in to Cortana. She picked up the radio.

"Good, now get to the target building." She had been busy searching for the Master Chief for the last week. After she had been transferred into a body he had disappeared. Three hours ago Cortana had received a distress call from the Master Chief. Telling her that the Flood had escaped again and had infected the whole of New Sydney including the Elites and faithful Grunts that lived peacefully there, and that he was being held prisoner in the Central Quay Building near the bay.

"Negative, we can't get close enough to the target building. The Flood have a Radio Jammer set up on the MJOLNIR 2551 Memorial Building." The Sabre pilot reported back in.

"Switch to High Spectrum Radio Wavelength." replied Cortana.

"I've already tried that. The Jammer is Full Spectrum."

"Shit. We'll have to send in a Strike Force to destroy the Jammer." responded Cortana.

"They're going to have a hard time; the area surrounding the Jammer looks pretty busy."

"Noted Sargent. Stand by for your next instructions."

"Copy that."

Cortana looked around the room. Her eyes settled on the picture of herself with the Master Chief and Thel. She walked over to the picture and picked it up. Then she knew what she would have to do to bring Master Chief back.

"Thel, it's me. Yeah something's up. Look I need your help with something."

2 hours later.

"Ok, we'll be at the drop zone in thirty seconds. Lock and load Marines." announced the pilot of the Pelican.

"You ready McCallef." asked the Arbiter. The Sargent looked around at his men sitting on the other side of the Drop ship. The six other Marines were checking their weapons while they waited for the Pelican to land.

"Sure thing Thel" He replied.

"Ok we'll hear from you when you destroy the Radio Jammer. I'll drop you as close to it as I can. Remember, you won't have any radio contact until the Jammer is destroyed. If it's not down in 30 minutes we'll send in another squad." The Pelican Drop ship touched down on the beach outside the city. "Touch down, hit it Marines!"

"Come on guys!" McCallef yelled. The squad hit the ground running and they stayed low as they moved behind the cover of tall building.

"The building with the Jammer is 200 meters down the street. On my mark, run as far as you can and get behind cover on the side of the road as soon as you hear gunfire." explained Thel to the waiting group of marines.

"Wait a second, McCallef go find a hiding spot and provide sniper fire if we need it." reported Cpt Perez.

"Ok. GO!" yelled Thel. And six marines ran down the street, ducking from cover to cover. An unsuspecting infected Grunt fell silently to the ground as a Marine meleed it in the back. A scream filled the silent street as a shot from a Fuel Rod Gun landed behind him and flung the Marine through the air. The other Marines and Thel stopped running and ducked behind cover. They had only run about one hundred meters and still had at least eighty meters to get to the MJIRNOL 2551 Building. And then the Flood emerged from the building.

"Incoming!" Perez yelled to the rest of the squad. A rocket was flying through the air towards the group. Two marines ducked behind a crashed car and avoided most of the blast. Another Marine jumped out of the way and landed, sprawling on top of Perez, sending them both out of the way of the splash damage of the rocket. The rocket landed right behind a dirt bike and instantly killed two Marines that were still standing near it. The bike flew through the air, landed on the pavement and slid down the road and hit Perez on the back of his left leg. Perez fell to the floor groaning in pain and clutching his injured leg. Thel ducked down behind a car and crawled over to Perez to check on him.

"Perez! You Ok?" he yelled of the gunfire all around him. Perez groaned in reply and Thel turned around to where Perez was looking behind him. A Combat Form stood poised with its tendrils behind its head. Ready to hit Thel. The Flood's arm started its dreaded decent towards Thel's head.

McCallef looked through the sight of his Sniper Rifle from his vantage point on top of the building the Marines and Thel had hid behind at the start of the street. A Grunt was getting dangerously close to the Marines behind the car and he got the Grunts head in the sights of the scope and pulled the trigger. The other Marine was pulling at two Infection Forms that had latched on to his body. The Marine punched the first one's head and it exploded over his body. McCallef took aim at the second Infection Form.

"Stay still!" McCallef grunted as the Marine spun around, trying to hit the Flood on the head. He took a deep breath and held the rifle steady, following the movement of the Marine. Finally the Marine stopped moving and McCallef shot.

The bullet rushed through the air. It went between the arm of the Marine and his body and hit the Flood in between its eyes.

"Yes!" McCallef yelled. He looked back through the sight that was still pointed at the Marine. Suddenly all that McCallef saw was a flash of white light and the Marine flying through the air. He zoomed out with the gun and saw a dirt bike flying through the air and hit Perez in the legs. Thel walked over to him and put all his attention on the injured Perez. What he didn't see was the Flood coming up behind him. McCallef took aim at the Flood's head and pulled the trigger. Click. Click. McCallef pulled the trigger again and realised that he had run out of bullets.

"Shit!" he exclaimed. He looked back down the sight, hoping that someone else had noticed.

The Combat Form brought its arm down towards the Elite at its feet. It then felt a burning sensation on its back and the Flood turned to see a man standing behind him, trying to pull a knife out of the Floods back. The old man finally got it free and moved forward to stab again. The Flood turned away from the Elite on the ground and swung at the pitiful human behind him. The blow caught the man on the side of the head and was flung almost five meters through the air until his back collided with a parked car and he sank to the ground. The Flood turned back to Thel to finish him off, just in time to see the lightning fast punch connect with his head. The Flood fell to the floor, unconscious, or dead. Thel didn't care.

The battle raged around him as he tended to Perez's injuries.

"Leave me." Perez managed before gasping for one last breath. Then he died. Thel sat there for what seemed like a millennium until a small groan came from the old man lying at the foot of a car woke him. Thel stood up and ran over to the man and ducked behind the car. He looked down at the man who had saved his life and noticed the silver chain around his neck for the first time. He placed a gentle hand on the man's neck and lifted the necklace from his head, and read the inscription.

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John S-117.

"Where did you get this?" Thel asked the man who just sat there and stared at him.

"Where is he? Why do you have this?" His voice was rising with every word. The man gasped. Bringing a huge breath of air into his lungs and let out a string of words so fast that Thel almost didn't understand him.

"…GASP…hewastakenbytheFloodtoa."

"To a where?" Thel yelled at the man. Thel looked into the old man's pocket and found an old name tag. PROPERTY OF PETER MALCOM. He looked down at the man who had shown so much bravery and the man who had put his life at risk to save Thel. The Arbiter stood up and started to walk away.

"Submarine." was all Peter could manage. Then he died.

Thel looked back at the cleaner he had only known for a few minutes. Then turned and yelled at the top of his lungs.

"McCallef! Run! Meet me back at the drop zone!" He dropped to his knees and aimed down his Plasma Rifle. Then he shot until its battery went dry. The bolts slammed into the Jammer eighty meters away. Thel turned back the way he had come. Running through the street, dodging overcharged Plasma Pistol shots. A surviving Marine met up with him and started running alongside Thel. They both ran to the drop zone and found McCallef waiting there.

"Shit! Are you two all that's left?" He asked.

"We'll have to stay here." said Thel. "Cortana will have to send in another squad soon.

"Damn, they haven't dropped the Jammer yet. Hang on…The high frequency radios work in the area. They must have hit it but not destroyed it! I'll have to send in another squad." sighed Cortana. "At least we can land right next to the building now. All right, G-17 lets go."

"Come one! Up the stairs!" Cpt Styron yelled at the three other Marines in squad G-17.

"Yes all right we're coming!" came a female from further down the stairs. Styron's face softened.

"Sorry, are you alright Cortana?" She trudged up the stairs past the Captain, nursing a cut hand.

"Couldn't be better."

"Sir!" A young marine raced back down the stairs and stopped in front of the Captain.

"What is it Lieutenant?"

"The Jammer is just up the stairs! But there are things up there." he said the last sentence uncertainly.

"What things?" Cortana put in.

"Hunters. But…they've been infected by the Flood. And they are ridiculously hard to kill!"

"Leave this to me." replied Captain Styron as he pushed past the young Marine and Cortana. He walked up the stairs and took a small gun out of his pocket. The gun was green and had an orange button on the side. Styron pressed this button and a stock slid silently out of the back. A pistol grip sprung out of the bottom and a scope slid out right on the end of the gun, just above the barrel. Cpt Styron pulled a clip out of his belt and slid it into the gun. Then he walked out onto the roof.

Staying low, the Captain crouched behind an overturned desk and peered over the top. The Hunters were placing the bodies of the two other Marines to the side. There were five Hunters in front of him. He searched for the orange spot that was usually a weakness for the Covenant monsters but it had been covered over by thick flesh. Deciding what to do, Styron stood from behind his hiding place and looked into the scope of the gun.

He took aim and fired. an explosive charge came out of the end of the barrel and landed in between two of the Hunters instantly killing them and sending them flying. The other three Hunters turned around. All charging their Plasma Cannons, all expecting the lone figure to reload the gun that he held. But he didn't. Styron stood there and finished off the clip, sending three more rounds into the group. The three Hunters all flew through the air and landed on the gravel three stories below. Cpt Styron ran to the Jammer and planted explosives around the base. He ran back to join Cortana and the Marine and press the button for the explosives.

"What was that gun!" The Marine eagerly asked.

"It's an XMSA. A semi-automatic rocket launcher!" The Marine was going to ask more when they heard a desperate cry coming through their radio.

"Help Us."