Legal Disclaimer:
I do not own Sierra, Valve, Half-life, Bungie, Gearbox, Microsoft and/or Halo and other related companies whatsoever. I wish I did, anyway.
Hidden Mantis: I'm losing my focus. So much.
I'm planning to make a whole 'nother fanfic, but this one will be HUGE! It'll involve government, economy, religion, civilization and society as we know it!
But then, I'd probably stop on this one. I DON'T WANT TO!
Damn. I hate waiting. And you guys probably do too.
Date: September 29, 2552
The lifepod ran through the ringworld's atmosphere, heating up quickly, but its angle lessened their speed, but increased the air friction. The insulation kept the Marines inside cozy, but it was still a bumpy ride.
At about 400 ft above the ground, the blinding speeds of the lifeboat were seen by a terrain-based Covenant squad. Kicking sleeping Grunts, the Elite squad commander immediately set their dropship towards the estimated landing zone. They had prey to kill.
The pilot threw open the airbrakes, but too early. They blew away, sending the lifepod careening toward the high side of a cliff.
"Damn! Airbrake failure!"
Gordon didn't like the sound of that. Neither did the crew.
"I'm loosin' her!" screamed the pilot. "Brace for impact!" The pilot grabbed hold on a control panel.
Gordon waited for the crash.
Date: May 16, 2002
The Chief and Dyson neared a maintenance lift. It ramped down a good 200 feet below.
"Be careful," said Dyson. "You might fall. It's really deep down there."
"Don't worry about me," said the Master Chief. "My suit has a pressure-regulating liquid – hydrostatic gel – that could protect me even if I freefall 6 kilometers down. I'm more worried about you falling."
"I sorta expected that…" Dyson declared quietly. "Obviously that suit does a lot of neat things. Like that shield of yours. That probably means you're practically –."
"Invincible?" asked John.
"Pretty much. Plus, all those bio-augmentations –."
Dyson went quiet. He noticed that the Chief was slightly agitated.
"What's wrong?"
"Oh," said John, noticing that he was making his partner worry. "Nothing. It's nothing."
"If you say so," said Dyson.
The Chief, standing on the lift, waited for Poincare while he pressed the button to activate it.
The button did more than open the lift. It opened a ventilation shaft, sending a swarm of Headcrabs streaming towards them.
"Jump!" shouted Master Chief.
Dyson landed on the lift in a not-so-smooth fashion, almost dropping his pistol. The Master Chief kept his shotgun pointed at the Headcrabs, making sure they were far enough for the bullets to spray all over the aliens.
"Get up! I need you to shoot these things!" shouted John. The pistol was far more suited to shooting things at a distance than the shotgun. Without it, they, or Dyson rather, wouldn't stand a chance against them.
"Gordon? Gordon, can you hear me!"
Gordon's vision was, for the second time today, blurry; his whole body felt battered and numb again.
"Oh, thank God! You're alright." exclaimed Cortana, her voice slightly sounding far-away.
Gordon checked his health meter. It read 84. He had some fractures and minor bleeding. It also told him all the morphine and the biofoam was gone. The electronic protection he received from the charge-up in the Autumn was depleted, too. This was obviously a bad thing.
"The others… the impact; there was nothing we could do," Cortana's voice trailed away, indicating some sadness.
Gordon found the AI's emotions convincing, but he still wondered whether it was just a front to stimulate human emotions, or real emotions.
Right now, Gordon's body had four fractures: his femur, the Ilium of his pelvis (the highest pelvic boney part), a shattered humerus and his ribs. The rib fractures already healed out when Gordon first used the biofoam, his humerus and part of the pelvis had healed with the rest of the coagulant. Normally, any human being with a broken leg bone couldn't stand upright. Gordon could; his HEV let him.
The HEV acts not only as a protective suit, but also as a "first aid" suit. It injects morphine into the bloodstream to numb pain, and can tighten around the limbs and torso whenever a fracture is found to assist against dislocation of the bone fragments and enabling continued movement. Prolonged battle times could, however, nullify the morphine, leaving the wearer back in pain. Gordon had to find some biofoam fast.
John and Dyson paced back-to-back against each other, making a perimeter. As Dyson shot at one Headcrab crawling towards him, John punched one pouncing towards Dyson's head.
"We can't last much longer in this mess!" shouted Dyson over the Headcrabs' screams.
"I'm not the one you should be worrying about," said John, swatting another alien with the butt of his rifle and blowing up 3 with a buck.
As the lift was getting nearer to the lower level, the Headcrabs were increasing in number.
"I'm running out of shells," the Chief said worriedly, whacking another Headcrab.
"I'm running out of bullets!" shouted Dyson.
Gordon crawled out of the ruined lifeboat, grabbing an MA5B Assault Rifle, an M6D pistol, some grenades and the magazines of his felled allies.
As soon as he looked up, he saw for the first time the beauty of the ringworld. His jaw dropped.
It was a beautiful, green landscape, ridded with what looks like evergreen trees. A waterfall was in front of him, about 400 feet high, cascading right down into a river flowing towards the cliff the lifepod almost fell into. There were rolling hills and beautiful vistas, green grass carpeting the floor everywhere he saw, except for the cliff walls and what seems to be a metallic bridge with intricate writing or design.
As Gordon looked back, he saw that the lifeboat was only a few feet away from falling down the cliff. A vast ocean was a kilometer below where Gordon was standing, making him thankful that the lifeboat's momentum wasn't too strong.
Gordon couldn't contemplate on the scenery for too long, though, because at that moment...
"Alert! Covenant patrols are inbound," informed Cortana. "They must be looking for survivors. I suggest immediate evasion."
Gordon knew it was better to hide. He was alone; they were more superior in number. He ran towards the bridge, crossing it as fast as he could without losing balance, since there were no railings.
As he crossed the platform, a dropship flew over him. He prayed that the Covenant didn't spot him and sprinted behind the rocks.
Hidden Mantis: This chapter is too short. I really need inspiration.
Did I make up the "HUD tightening around Gordon's limb," use? Yes I did.
Actually, my friend did.
R&R please. I need to see my mistakes and clean up my fic.
Rest in peace, Michael Jackson. You made the world a better place in your own way.
Fact: Cortana's voice actress, Jen Taylor, also voiced Zoey from Left 4 Dead and Lt. Stokes from F.E.A.R. 2.