Midship

Disclaimer: I don't own Halo 2.

Monday 17 October /2552

Military Calendar/ Aboard UNSC

Pelican Alpha 133/ 0857 (Ship's Time)

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Alex looked out the porthole next to him and at the black space beyond.

He rested a Battle rifle on his lap, and he made sure that the clip was in properly. His pistol had fallen out of his holster back at Lockout, but he wasn't sure where, and his Sniper had been lost when Disturbed's body had plunged into it. He pulled the bolt back and let it go with a clack, placing it on the seat beside him. The Pelican had a small amount of weapons, and he had inspected them, finding a couple of grenades, some ammo for his Battle rifle, a shotgun, and an Energy sword, which he activated.

"Hey," one of the marine's said, backing away.

"Careful where you point that thing."

"Sorry."

Alex watched one of the marines load a rocket launcher and then place it on the ground.

"Where'd you find this?" he asked.

"Salvaged it," the rocket marine replied, shrugging.

Alex nodded, deactivated the sword, placed it in one of his pouches, and looked back out the porthole.

Thump!

The Pelican shuddered, and the pilot yelled back:

"We're coming in hot!"

The ship rocked and blue light began filling the compartment, then disappearing – plasma from Seraph fighters.

"Get us their alive!" the standing marine yelled back.

The Pelican rolled to the right, an almost impossible manoeuvre, but the pilot managed it, and more plasma streaked past.

"We need decoys!" the pilot yelled into the COM.

"Escort's, anything!"

"Roger that," a voice came through the COM, and Alex saw two Longsword fighters pull alongside the Pelican. They opened fire on the Seraph fighters in front of the Pelican, and a small ball of blue appeared in place of one of them.

"Okay: one down!" the pilot of one of the Longsword's yelled.

"Let's get the other one!"

They rolled to the right, above the Pelican, and engaged the other Seraph; their 300mm chaingun's spinning. The Seraph began to buckle, and parts came flying off. There was a secondary explosion from inside, and smoke began to billow out of a new hole, then the Seraph stopped accelerating, smashing into one of the Longsword's. The scream of the pilot was heard over all the frequencies of every radio, and it exploded, flinging sharp and hot pieces of metal in all directions.

"We need a hole in their shields!" the pilot yelled into the FLEETCOM channel.

"Roger that, Alpha 133," a voice said from another channel.

"This is Admiral Hood, prepare for shields down on Covenant carrier,"

Alex looked back out the view port, and he saw a MAC round tear its way through space, and impact on the Covenant ship, which was out of view.

"I can't hold them, off much longer!" the pilot of the remaining Longsword yelled.

The Longsword rolled right, then left, and received a hit to the right wing, melting the thrusters and stabilisers on that side, causing it to tumble lifelessly until the Seraph's finished it off.

"Roger that, Admiral!" the pilot yelled.

"Shield is down!"

Then he yelled back to Alex and the marine's.

"Brace for impact!"

The Pelican flew towards the hangar that Cortana had opened from the Cairo, spinning wildly as it took hits from Seraph fighters. The shields came back on, barely missing the Pelican, causing the Seraph fighters to smash into it and explode. The Pelican flew through the hangar doors and hit the floor, killing the pilot, and skidding across the floor towards the wall, tearing off plates from the belly of it.

The Pelican smashed into the wall, crushing the cockpit completely, and sending two of the marine's flying forwards and hitting the wall, breaking their necks. The last marine stood, shaking and leant against the door, cursing to himself quietly.

He's going into shock, thought Alex.

The marine leant against the door at the tail.

"Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit,"

Boom!

The back door suddenly disappeared in an explosion, and the marine disintegrated, engulfed by the plasma that came from a grenade on the other side of the door. Debris flew inside the Pelican, and an Elite, followed by 2 Grunts, came through the hole.

The Elite aimed its Plasma rifle at Alex, and it shouted an indecipherable 'war cry'.

"Son of a-"

The Elite fired the Plasma rifle and Alex dived to the left, slamming into the wall. The Grunt's fired their Plasma pistols, and they splashed across Alex's shields, which were no longer disabled. Alex raised his Battle rifle and fired a single burst, which tore through one of the Grunt's head's, and then he turned to the second Grunt, which had its Plasma pistol overcharged, giving it a sickly green colour. He ran up to it, aware of the fact that his shields were almost completely drained because of the Elite, grabbed its hands, twisted them to face the Elite, breaking them, and pulled the Grunt's finger off the 'trigger'. The green ball of plasma hit the Elite, taking out its shields instantly, and Alex charged into it, knocking it out the back of the Pelican. The Elite lost its balance, recovered it, and turned to face Alex again, only to receive a 3-shot burst into its mouth for its troubles. Blood flew out of the Elite's head, landing on the floor and wall. The Elite's limp body fell to the ground without a sound as Alex turned around to deal with the last Grunt, who stood completely still, quivering and whimpering, with its hands bent at awkward angles. Alex walked up to it, grabbed its head in his right hand, and squeezed. The Grunt started to squeal in pain, and then its head exploded in a shower of blue blood. The body of the Grunt dropped, and Alex walked over to the nearest door, stepping over the body of the Elite and the pool of blood next to it, and away from the flaming Pelican.

He approached a door, which parted as he drew near it, and he walked inside, being covered by the eerie purple glow of the hallway. He continued down the corridor, only pausing to take down a Grunt and strip it of its grenades.

What the hell am I supposed to sabotage it with? He thought to himself.

He ran around a corner, coming to another door – this one was locked. He stood next to it, thinking of a way to open it, when it did so by itself. He slowly walked in, weapon at the ready, when the door slid shut behind him. He jumped and turned around, expecting to see an Elite or a Grunt that had shut the door, but instead saw nothing.

"Slayer!"

The same voice that had called out 'Swat' when he was on Lockout boomed out the word, and Alex knew that there was no way he would come out of this with his life.

If he didn't try, of course.

Over the other side of the chamber he saw an Elite running across the open ground, and he fired his Battle rifle. The burst pinged off the Elite's shields, and then it turned to face him, igniting an Energy sword.

"Shit!"

Alex fired repetitively at 1 ugly mofo, and the shields began to drain. The Elite got to Alex and swung the blade, but Alex ducked, leaving the blade to slice nothing but the air above his head. Alex kicked it in the stomach, and saw 1 ugly mofo's shields crackle… then fail.

He punched it with the butt of his Battle rifle, and 1 ugly mofo dropped to the floor, dead, with purple blood slowly oozing out of its mouth. Alex looked to the right, saw a small doorway, and made a beeline for it. He came inside it, and spied a purple gravlift in the corner, which had a person streaming up it and onto the next level. He followed the Spartan, flying up the gravlift with speed, and coming a few meters above the floor on the second level. He landed on the ground and spun, facing the Spartan, who had a shotgun pointed at his face.

The Spartan pulled back on the pump, making that sound that Alex had come to dislike in the past hour, and pulled the trigger as fast as he could.

Alex was quicker.

The spray went high above his head, pinging off the shielded glass behind them. Alex spun on the ground, kicking the feet of the Spartan. The Spartan fell to the floor as well, and Alex kicked him again, when he received a punch from the butt of a shotgun. Alex's shields flared, and lowered, as he punched the Spartan in the visor. The other Spartan's shields flared as well, and they exchanged blows, attempting to get up. Both of their shields lost strength, and an alarm blared inside Alex's helmet.

He rolled away and onto his feet, turning around with his Battle rifle pressed firmly against his shoulder. The other Spartan had also gotten, up, and moved towards him, firing the shotgun wildly. Alex fired, but missed, due to the fact that he was shaking with fear, and the Spartan got to him, punching him with the butt of the shotgun.

Alex, now on the small balcony that overlooked the middle of the map, was forced back the last few steps by the force of the punch, and was sent flying towards the ground on the ground level, only a few meters away from the second level. To Alex, it all seemed to go in slow motion, and he pulled the trigger in one last attempt to get the other Spartan in the head.

But it wasn't to be.

The burst was spread across the Spartan's body – the first bullet slicing open the side of the neck guard, and across the Spartan's actual neck, drawing blood. The second bullet went through the breastplate and out at the back of his right shoulder. The third – and last – bullet punctured his left thigh, and lodged itself in there, refusing to come out the other side.

Alex flailed his arms and legs, falling backward, finally landing on the purple ground, bouncing once, and coming to a halt. He coughed out blood, and then moaned, looking up at the figure that had jumped off after him.

Crack!

The Spartan landed hard on Alex's stomach, making him shout in pain as one of his ribs snapped, and then felt dizzy. The Spartan stood on top of him and, with no mercy – obviously learning from his previous mistake of waiting on Lockout – aimed at Alex's head and pulled the trigger.

Boom!

The blast from the shotgun echoed in the room, and the Spartan dropped.

Wha-?

The Spartan's body crumbled into a heap on top of Alex, and Alex saw another Spartan step in place of it, staring down the barrel of his shotgun, aimed at Alex.

Please don't see me…

As if his prayers were answered, after a few more seconds of staring, the Spartan ran off. Alex exhaled loudly, and slowly got up, taking care because of his newly cracked rib. He limped over to a ramp to his left, which led up to the 'in-between' area of level 2 and 3, where there were 3 exits.

One: One led to the left, where there was a room similar to the first one that he was in.

Two: Two led up a ramp and to the right, where he had been earlier.

And three: Three led up a ramp going up to the left, which went up to level 3, where there was a room on either side of the middle, attached to the wall and roof, and had a circular floating bridge that stretched across the middle.

He ran up the ramp going to the left, and into a room, where he saw two Spartan's fighting it out. Since his shields were recharged, Alex limped straight in, as fast as he could, blasting them to hell with his now unslung shotgun. He turned around to face a new comer: 1 ugly mofo, who was wielding an Energy sword. Alex couldn't run, so he raised his shotgun and fired. Most of it missed, and the few that hit bounced off the Elite's shields. Alex fired again, after pumping it, and again. The Elite charged up to him, and swung the blade.

Alex only managed a small step backwards, which was enough to save his life. His shotgun fell to the floor, now in two pieces, and he looked up to see 1 ugly mofo point his sword at Alex's chest, and thrust it forwards. Alex didn't know what to do, but he knew that he wouldn't die straight away – his shields would withstand long enough for him to get a new weapon.

Bang!

"Shit!"

Alex's shields dropped, and he turned his head behind him to see a white Spartan pumping a recently fired shotgun. Alex turned his head back around just in time to meet the oncoming blade, with no shields. There was no way he knew how to stop it.

So he stuck his arm out straight, in line with the middle of the sword.

The sword's twin blades sliced up the outside of Alex's right arm, and Alex's arm passed between them, his palm held open. He roared in pain as the sword sliced into his skin, and his hand hit metal, so he grabbed it.

The metal was the handle of the blade.

Alex clamped his hand down on 1 ugly mofo's, breaking his wrist with a loud crack! 1 ugly mofo angled the blade, and it sliced deeper into Alex's arm. Alex roared again, and gritted his teeth with the pain, and kicked 1 ugly mofo, whilst letting go of the handle. 1 ugly mofo went flying back, and he hit the wall, not moving. Alex managed to unsling his Battle rifle with his good arm, but then dropped it to clutch his bad arm. He could feel a tear or two make there way to the corners of his eyes, and he leaned against the wall, looking out over the map. He turned around, after finding a place to hide, and went to pick up his Battle rifle for the trip, when he was punched, square in the face. He stumbled back a bit, and then stepped forwards again to get his attacker, who had picked up his Battle rifle, and was punched again. Alex's shields died, and he stumbled back again. He stepped forwards one last time, and a burst from the Battle rifle entered his chest. Alex stopped, put his left hand onto his chest, and brought it back, looking at the blood that came away. He looked back up at the Spartan, shaking, and jolted as another burst entered his body.

His eyes twitched, tears filled his eyes, and his hands quivered, before he dropped to the floor. The Spartan walked up to him, crouched down, and punched him once, twice, and a third time, and Alex fell down onto the ground floor, into a crate of Plasma grenades. He looked up one last time, at the roof, and coughed, splattering blood on his visor, then he shut his eyes, and the breath left his body.

At 0911 hours, Naval Standard Time, on Monday the 17 of October, 2552, Alexander William Silverman, died.

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A/N: It may sound pretty gay, but I felt pretty sad when I wrote that last part, and I know that thousands of you wouldn't agree with me. I'm sorry that this took so long, but I've had assignments and stuff due all this week, but don't stop reading, because this fanfic isn't over yet.