Spartan 058 - The Tale of a Sniper
Chapter 8 - Earth Orbit, Near MAC Station Cairo

The three sat in silence, absorbed in their personal thoughts. Linda had so many questions, but now wasn't the time to be asking them. She looked to her left and right and observed her two comrades; were they thinking the same thoughts as her? She was glad that the three of them where back together, but what of the Chief? Was he okay on this new Halo, along with Sergeant Johnson and their new accomplice Miranda Keyes? Little did she know that all of her questions would be answered in due time.

Lord Hood's voice broke the silence in the aft section, "All UNSC Repair Crews, abort current repairs and get these ships battle ready, we have Covenant Ships en Route. I repeat we have Covenant Ships en Route."

"Not this again, what's your plan Fred, we've gotta help out some how, and I'm not sure how much we can do from in here." said Will.

"Lets get back to the Cairo, I've got an idea."

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John could feel the massive Forerunner ship exiting slipspace, he braced himself as it decelerated, it was only a matter of time before the fighting began. His tension was lightened as he heard a human voice come on the COM.

"We've got a new contact, unknown classification." said the voice.

"It isn't one of ours, take it out." said the familiar voice of Lord Hood.

John tried to respond "This is Spartan 117, can anyone hear me?"

"Isolate that signal. Master Chief would u mind telling me what you're doing on that ship?" said Lord Hood.

"Sir, finishing this fight," said John, and with that he ceased communications. He had work to do and this wasn't the time to be chatting.

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Linda had heard it all, her happiness escalated, but she knew that she had a job to do, and she was going to do it the best she could.

"Lets link up with John, he may need help on that ship, and there isn't any one better for the job." said Fred.

"Ya, we can have the Pelican get close, and we can see what John has in mind, after all we do have the booster packs." said Will.

"John, do you read me, I repeat John, do you read me?" said Fred over the Spartan's private COM channel.

"Roger that Red Leader, what's the plan?" said John.

"We can give you support from outside the ship, we're in a Pelican near Cairo, what do you feel is the best idea?" said Fred.

"I'll search for some way to exit the ship and I'll mark myself with a waypoint," said John with an affirmative voice.

"Roger that 117, we'll stay near." said Fred.

Linda only hoped that things would run as smoothly as it sounded, she hated being in a ship with some Navy Jockey pushing the stick. They had waited nearly twenty minutes before The Chief's waypoint was activated, the battle outside was waging already and it was hard to try to not be noticed. The strangest part was that some of the Covenant's reinforcements were firing at their own ships from behind. The only reasonable explanation Linda could come up with was that their targeting systems were malfunctioning. She would probably hear something about it in some debriefing, if there ever was one.

With John safely aboard, the Pelican made its way back to the Cairo, dodging and weaving through debris and plasma bolts. Linda felt better knowing that John was indeed alive and well. He had told them that Miranda and Johnson were still unheard of and that he had to leave Halo in an attempt to stop the Prophet of Truth from using the strange ship.

"All UNSC ships do not fire upon the ship designated as Honor Without Mercy, this is Captain Miranda Keyes, do not fire upon the Covenant ship Honor Without Mercy!"