Chapter 8
"Plasma grenade!!!" cried a Marine who saw the grenade fall onto the ground next to him
The marines, including the SPARTAN, Mikayla-625, immediately jumped out from behind a large rock they were using as a bunker. As soon as they immediately got away from the grenade as far as they could, it exploded into a flurry of light blue flames engulfing about five marines in the process. After taking a small look at the explosion, Mikayla grabbed her BR55 battle rifle and sprinted across the battlefield.
She ran around shooting Brutes and Elites who didn't notice her square in the head. This gave her a complete advantage because of her size since she was the smallest human soldier in the battle. Since she was short compared to the older SPARTANs (yet in the average height for a SPARTAN her age), this made the Brutes, Hunters and Elites hard to identify her since they were focusing on the older humans. However, one of the disadvantages was that the Drones, Grunts and Jackals could spot her easily making her a target. Damn, sometimes she hated being short.
She jumped up onto a Brute's back and shot it in the head his blood spilling down his head and chest. She quickly hopped off the Brute before his body could collapse to the ground. She looked around to find anymore Covenant soldiers that needed to be "taken care of". Mikayla saw a couple of Grunts passing by and clobbered one in the head with a grenade which exploded a split second after.
"This is Pelican Marco 509," said someone on the SQUAD-COM "Anyone read me, over?"
Mikayla knew that voice anywhere.
"This is SPARTAN-625. Read you loud and clear, Marco," replied Mikayla "It's good to hear your voice, Kelly."
"Same with you," said Kelly-087 "How you doing kiddo?"
"Uh, fine; unless you wanna count being mutilated by the Covenant. Mind lending a hand over here?"
"No problem. Marco 509, out."
Moments later a Pelican came flying in attempting to take out as many Covenant drop-ships as possible with their machine guns. They kept firing while the ship was lowered to about twenty feet from the ground, opened the hull and out came dozens of ropes. Sliding down the ropes were a group of marines and two SPARTANs one wearing pink armor and the other wearing blue armor. The squad got into formation and on the pink SPARTAN's orders open fired. Eventually, the squad was ordered to scatter and attack any Covenant soldier in sight.
The pink SPARTAN, Kelly-087, and the blue SPARTAN teamed up together and ran around gunning down any enemy they saw. Kelly shot a Brute in the head with his back turned to her using both M7 SMGs in her hands. She then punched down a Jackal and shot him until he stopped moving. The blue SPARTAN (wielding a flamethrower) ignited his weapon unleashing a long chain of flames engulfing any enemy in range. The bodies that were swallowed by the flames were either lying on the ground or running around screaming in pain.
An Elite suddenly snatched the flamethrower out of the blue SPARTAN's hands, used it as a club to knock him in the chest and sent him sprawling on his back. The SPARTAN then immediately stood up pulling out an M6D magnum pistol and shot the Elite ten times which made him fall to the ground dead (six shots to power down the shields and another four shots to kill it).
Sweat ran down all sides of his head. His lungs were nearly about to burst from running constantly; but he wasn't going to stop. 'Insosamee dashed through the hallways of the Parasite-conquered Truth and Reconciliation shooting whatever Parasite got in his way. After only fifteen minutes of combating the Flood on the bridge, he had ordered his men to retreat since there were far too many of them. He also told them to leave him behind saying that he would catch up eventually which would explain why his men weren't with him at that moment.
As he got to the end of the hallway, 'Insosamee turned into the next hallway on his right and backed against the wall to catch his breath. He checked the ammo on his plasma pistols; both of their batteries were almost dead and he was out of superheated plasma battery units. He could just waste the batteries now and use his energy sword instead but this would make him more vulnerable at close range since there are about a thousand Flood forms chasing after him. One false move at close range, and they would be literally all over him.
He searched the compartments in his armor to see if he still had any battery units left; there were none. But, hello, what was this; he had found a plasma grenade which could be quite useful for him; apparently it was the only one he had. He jumped out of his hiding spot, chucked the grenade at a combat form (which stuck perfectly), turned and raced down the hall. As he kept running, he listened as the grenade exploded. He smirked; fools.
He went through the nearest door he could find and found himself inside the port-side aft shuttle bay where a battle was being ensued. He saw at least four of his men out on the battlefield where many corpses were scattered throughout the entire aft. Two of them were firing from behind a few large storage containers and the other two were making sure that the Flood didn't come around and attack them from behind. The human captain they found was bounded with handcuffs and placed up against the boxes ordered to stay still and be silent. 'Insosamee was relieved to see that some of his men had survived. He darted across the shuttle bay shooting at every Parasite he saw. He ceased fire once he had reached his fellow Sangheili and took cover.
"Good to see you are still breathing, Commander." said 'Insosamee
"Supreme Commander…!" exclaimed Rtas surprised that his superior had survived
"What is our present situation?"
"Two more of our men have fallen, sir. Besides you, it's just 'Sraomee, 'Anonmee, 'Koralamee and myself."
"And the bad news?"
"There are still too many Parasites. I do not know how much longer we can hold them off. Oh, and just now they got a brute shot."
"Brilliant."
Just perfect, a brute shot; a Jiralhanae's (Brute) best friend. Respectively known for the heavy damage it inflicts, it's no wonder why they love it so much. It is often used anytime there is a "pest control problem" with the humans when there's too many of them (although they'll often be used on small groups anyway). It can take apart a human vehicle with ease in just one shot (that is, if you aim it carefully). The team had to be extra careful if they were going to get out of this situation.
'Insosamee studied the juggernaut form with one of its tentacles wrapped around the brute shot carefully. A plan had quickly concocted in the depths of his mind. He reached into the compartment inside of his right leg armor. He pulled out a necklace decorated with three large amber beads and three large yellow beads lined up in a pattern starting with the first amber bead and then the first yellow bead. Between the second and fifth beads were two capacious bear-like claws that showed an ethereal glow of white that was the exact same color of one of the moons back home on Sangheilios. The thread was pure black and its material felt very similar to leather. He fiddled with the necklace in one hand restlessly. It used to belong to his son who often wore it as a good luck charm. He gave it to 'Insosamee so it would help him anytime he was in serious trouble.
'Do you think it can work?' thought 'Insosamee looking at the necklace deep in thought
The claws shimmered once from the reflection of the beams from the plasma rifles being fired. Whenever it did that, it meant yes. 'Insosamee put the necklace back in his leg compartment and closed it tight. He turned to 'Vadumee and smiled deviously which meant that he had a possibly insane plan that deep down, he knew that the SpecOps Commander would enjoy.
"You would not happen to have any grenades, would you?" asked the Supreme Commander
"What did you have in mind?" smiled 'Vadumee who seemed to have read 'Insosamee's thoughts
"Cover me," said 'Insosamee spotting a near by particle beam rifle next to the corpse of a Kig-Yar whose stomach seemed to be cut open "Then I shall tell you."
He then sprung out from cover, drew out his plasma pistols and began firing and running as the others gave him some cover fire to keep the other Parasites off of his back (both literally and figuratively). 'Insosamee was firing at all of the Flood combat forms that tried to attack him, their dark sickly green blood splattering all over the floor. By the time he was half way there, the batteries in his pistols had run out of energy. Thinking fast, he tossed the pistols away and pulled out his energy sword, its blade glowing fuchsia pink with a hint of blue.
On he went slicing and dicing through the seemingly squishy flesh of the Flood, the infection and carrier forms exploding into a misty cloud of what might've been their blood releasing a foul stench that smelled something like moldy tuna. Suddenly, he saw a plasma grenade about to fall on him. He immediately dodged it and kept on running as the grenade exploded behind him. 'Insosamee suddenly caught sight of the same Flood juggernaut wielding the brute shot; it had learned how to use it. He started to sprint, dodging all of the other grenade it had fired.
When he reached it, he had to do a barrel-roll to grab it just so he wouldn't get shot in the head. He checked the ammo on the particle beam rifle; there was only was shot left. He checked back on the juggernaut and it seemed to have run out of plasma grenades for the weapon. But the worst wasn't over yet. It could still use the blade on the front or its claws (whichever seemed to kill faster).
"Warriors," commanded 'Insosamee "Unleash your grenades!"
The three SpecOps personnel and the Ultra each threw a plasma grenade at the juggernaut form's arm where it was holding its weapon. After they stuck, the grenades each detonated and exploded one at time leaving nothing but a stub on its arm with blood spilling out like pouring water into a sink. The Parasite roared in agony. 'Insosamee hastily readied the rifle. The beast, in a fit of rage, began to walk towards him, swinging its only tentacle violently. He began to feel a bit jumpy but didn't show it; he only had one shot at this. If he missed, then there would no other chance of killing that thing. The thought of this made his heart pound against his chest rapidly. He aimed it carefully and when he felt ready he pulled the trigger. A thin, light purple beam came flying out of the rifle and forced its way through the juggernaut's head (at that time it was about five feet away from 'Insosamee). Blood came spewing out of its head as it let out a pitiful growl. In a matter of seconds, the Flood form fell to the ground dead.
Then, the oddest thing happened. At the sight of their juggernaut dead, the Flood slowly began to leave the room like as if it was retreating. The Sangheili found themselves staring in confusion. Why would the Flood retreat if they had more numbers? After all, it seemed like they were winning. But deep down, the lance already knew the answer.
"We did it!" cheered N'tho 'Sraomee "We won! We-"
"No," interrupted the Ultra named 'Koralamee "We have only angered them. They are merely regrouping."
After a slight pause, a noise that sounded like thunder erupted. The Flood that they were fighting moments ago (along with a thousand others) had charged into the room. As they began to take up the entire space, the warriors (including a captive Keyes) backed up. There was no way that they could kill them all. There were just too many of them. There was only one option left for them.
"Everyone, fall back." ordered the Supreme Commander
They immediately headed for the gravity lift area only to be stopped by the sound of gun fire followed by a small cry of pain. They all turned around and saw that one of the SpecOps members, 'Anonmee, was shot directly through the shin several times with purple blood dripping down his leg. One of the combat forms must've shot him while his energy shields were down. He fell on his other leg, gripping his shin with one hand (a gun in the other) and squinting in pain.
"'Anonmee!" shouted 'Sraomee
"Go on without me!" insisted 'Anonmee
"No!" barked 'Vadumee "I have not left a single warrior behind in battle before and so help me, I am not planning on doing so today!"
'Vadumee raced over and threw the wounded SpecOps' arm over his shoulder, carrying him. With that, the troops darted to the gravity lift (which was on the other side of the ship) with the Flood following closely behind. They raced through the hallways as they were chased by the Flood trying to make their escape. Two of them shot back at the Flood trying to buy the others some time. They also had to fight off Parasites that tried to attack them from the front hallway after hallway. Finally, after minutes of perilous evasion from the Flood, the lance had finally made it to the gravity lift room which was a small room with a panel on the wall and a closed hatch in the middle of the floor.
'Sraomee ran up to the panel and slammed the side of his fist into a button that was often used in case the hatch didn't open up automatically (which that time, it didn't). The door on the hatch immediately opened up releasing a blue light down onto the ground below. Everyone jumped down the hole two to one at a time starting with Rtas and 'Anonmee and ending with 'Insosamee, who, with 'Koralamee, fended off the Flood (which were close behind them than one would think). As 'Insosamee came through, the hole closed up automatically on its own. They all made it safely back down onto the dark, forest floor where everyone else was waiting.
"Everyone, back to the ships!" commanded 'Insosamee
"What's happening, Supreme Commander?" asked an Unggoy
"There is no time to explain! We all need to get to a safe distance, now. "
After the Unggoy simply shrugged and walked away, he opened up the Battlenet and contacted the drop ships in the area.
"This is the Supreme Commander speaking. As soon as everyone is on board on every single Spirit, I want you to destroy the Truth and Reconciliation."
"But, sir, what about the rest of the crew?" asked one of the Spirit pilots
"There was only one survivor…"
"Survivor? Survivor of wha-"
"Let us discuss this at a more reasonable moment. Right now is not the best time."
'Insosamee stroked his neon orange colored helmet and sighed, feeling under pressure. Today's events were very disturbing. This was one of the most stressful days of his entire career. Never before had he encountered anything like this. This was definitely not a human attack. What these things were; these Parasites; he didn't really want to know. But a part of him told him that he desperately needed to know about this Flood. He turned around and walked towards the drop ship that had just landed behind him only a moment ago.
The Master Chief felt the vibration of his battle rifle forcing the bullets out of the barrel as he pulled the trigger. With it, he had taken out several Brutes and Elites. After they were down, he quickly pulled out some ammo and reloaded his gun calmly. He sighed; when were these sons of bitches going to learn that they should never mess with the human race? He noticed a Grunt running passed him trying to flee the battle. He beat the Grunt in the back of his head with the end of his weapon, his light blue blood flowing over the grass. Something in the Chief's mind told him that they weren't going to learn for a while.
"Hey, Chief, look!" exclaimed Cortana "The Covenant, they're… retreating."
She was right. Every vehicle that belonged to the enemy was fleeing from the battle. The marines started cheering over their glorious victory. The day was theirs; they had won. However, there was one teeny, tiny thing they wanted to do before the Covenant was completely out of sight. A platoon of marines grabbed a few Warthogs and drove after them across the plains.
"Field Master," said the Spirit pilot "The humans have caught up with us. It looks like they are back for more."
"What? Give me a visual."
The Zealot looked over the Spirit pilot's shoulder as he brought up on the screen a video image of a handful of human vehicles underneath them. The two Sangheili watched closely trying to study the humans' movements. But, it didn't look like they were trying to attack. Were they trying to… negotiate perhaps? It was hard to tell. They were just driving around as it appeared.
"Stop the ship." ordered the Zealot
After the pilot did so, they continued to watch the screen. The humans were driving around as if their vehicles were dancing. The vehicles went back, forth, left and right all over the place, swerving in different directions. Have they gone mad? What kind of lunacy is this? Moments passed until finally the humans finished whatever it was they were doing and headed towards the direction they came from. On the ground there was a message imbedded by the tires of their vehicles. The Zealot or the pilot could not understand the message as it wasn't written in their language.
"Can you translate it?" asked the Zealot
"I think so." replied the pilot pressing a few buttons
A few moments later, the screen brought up a few letters from their language, interpreting the message.
"It says," started the pilot "…'You suck'."
The Zealot pounded his fist against the wall in anger.
Later that night, the marines and the SPARTANs had set up camp a few miles from the area where they fought celebrating their victory (and their little prank which, of course, was led by Johnson). They gathered around a few separate fires where they talked, ate dinner and laughed. All of the sudden, Johnson stood up and called for everyone's attention to make an announcement.
"Alright, marines, listen up," he said "In some aspect of every soldier's life, there comes a time where one must take a gun in hand, some grenades in pocket and kick some super-sized Covenant ass. Today was one of those days where we most certainly did kick some super-sized Covenant ass (SHUT UP, WILLIAMS!!). As I was sayin', as a reward for your hard work and dedication to our beloved Corps, I hereby present you with this!"
Johnson pulled out a large black container which interested the troops.
"I've been savin' these babies for over three months now." smiled Johnson
"Is there something in the box, Serge?" asked one of the privates
"No," replied Johnson sarcastically "Are you sure? Of course there's somethin' in the box, dumbass!"
Johnson then slowly opened the box and inside of it, the marines found much delight in.
"No way." said one marine
"I thought they were destroyed when the Autumn crashed." said another marine
"There really is a God…" said a third marine
"Damn right there is, Private," said Johnson "'Cause today, God has given us beer!"
The marines roared with excitement. Ah yes, beer; one of man's many sources of refreshment (giving it the nickname, "Man Fuel"). Johnson passed out the beers (which was the most popular brand of beer, Bud Dark) to as many marines as he could.
"I have five more boxes so there's plenty enough to go around (None for you, Mikayla!)," said Johnson "But let's please try not to overdo it. I don't wanna have any men who can't fight because of a hangover."
"Aw, Johnson, you shouldn't have." said Kelly grabbing a bottle
"Hell, I did anyway." grinned Johnson
"How did you get these off the Autumn anyway?" asked a corporal
"Well, when the Covenant attacked…"
Meanwhile, the Chief was lying on his back looking at the stars above. Not only were the stars in view, but the rest of the ring world was as well making it look like there was a titanium arch starting and ending on both sides of the world. He was deep in thought as if he were in some sort of hypnotic gaze. He couldn't help it though; after all, the sky was beautiful tonight.
"You're awfully quiet." said Cortana
"I know." replied the Chief
He sat up to face the people surrounding one of the campfires who were in various discussions. A moment later, Kelly came over and sat right next to the Chief with her helmet in one hand and a bottle in the other. The Chief saw her earlier that day but didn't have a chance to talk to her. Her brown hair was tied up into a little bun and her hazel eyes glowed from the light of the fire. She was smiling too; you would think that after many years of war, she would end up like Will, all grim and silent. But no, Kelly wasn't the type to be broken easily.
"Hey, Chief, it's been a while." she asked
"Yeah." said the Chief
"How've you been lately?"
"Uh, good, I guess. Yourself?"
"Fine, fine."
There was a moment of silence between the two of them. The Chief tried to think of something to continue the conversation. After all, she was a really good friend of his and he didn't want to seem like he was neglecting her. When he found out what he wanted to say, one of the marines had already spoken up.
"You know," said the marine "I've been thinking. I think we should give this place a name."
"Like what?" asked Johnson who had overheard the conversation "Hula hoop Land?"
"Uh, I don't know… something like that. Maybe Hoop? Helios?"
"Hey, what about Halo?" asked another marine
"Yeah, I could go with Halo." said Evan-049
"Sounds fine with me." agreed Cortana
"Yeah, it's got a nice ring to it." a third marine chimed in (pun intended)
"Aw hell no! You did not just say that! Oh my God. That is the most freaking corniest thing I've ever heard in my life. Jesus, Meyers! Come on. Don't ever say that again." everyone moaned
The Chief looked up at the sky once more, staring at the rest of the ring once again in a hypnotic gaze. Halo, huh? The name sounded like it had an air of mystery around it which fit the place perfectly. Plus, it did look like a halo. The name Halo seemed… nice. No, it seemed… perfect. He figured he could use to it. And thus, the name Halo was born.