1250 hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Captured Covenant prowler Golden Sun, near Covenant battle station Unyielding Hierophant
Jason-113 felt lances of plasma burn into the prowler--everything had been easy for him: escaping from Reach, going through Slipspace--and he responded with continuous fire, and then a holographic display of the Sun appeared above the NAV computer, and a red square flashed from where the third turret should've been. Another red square flashed, and now the Covenant prowler's klaxon "alarms" were sounding--it was a screaming, shrieking, groaning, grunting, moaning, bellowing sound that pierced through Jason's helmet.
Suddenly, as the prowler accelerated just in reach of the Hierophant, the sides of the supposed-to-be-silent prowler were ripped off, and the Sun shot into the Hierophant. It crashed into a side of the battle station, fire rippled along the surface of the station, and lances of hot plasma broke through the shields. Jason tore out of the window of the cockpit, firing his BR55 battle rifle at full automatic mode. The 2X magnification scope locked onto a pair of targets--the green-armored Hunters with their massive fuel rod guns charging and heating and glowing.
"Shit." Jason's voice came out hoarse and as a whisper, but he opened fire anyway. The .374-caliber rounds punched through the armor, creating a griding noise. A Hunter roared in pain, reared back, and fired six bursts of green plasma energy into space. Jason heard a whistling sound and saw the Sun bearing down on him, the dulled hull nearly reaching his neck. Jason curled into a tight, small ball, and the bottom of the scorched prowler groaned as it passed over the MJOLNIR's shields. It crashed into the surface, landing directly on the Hunters' heads, and the fighting Covenant heavy-duty soldier was blown back full force, while the other's head was cut off from the chin up.
Jason turned the battle rifle to another target--fourteen Elites with their glimmering electromagnetic energy blades shining in the darkness of space. He fired a short three-round burst of the .374-caliber ammo and one Elite's shield dropped easily. He fired a few more rounds, when he impacted on the gray surface. His biosigns flat-lined for a nanosecond, then burst back to life, dancing lively.
Blue plasma explosions dotted the Hierophant and trails of flame snaked and forked across the whole battle station.
"This is the Unyielding Hierophant. We are preparing to open fire with plasma turrets. Brace." A single beam of quiet plasma shot through the air, cutting the night sky into halves. Beams of plasma surrounded Jason, and sixteen Covenant Jackals arrived, plasma pistols ready to attack. Jason fixed his scope on the lead Jackal and did the auto zoom. He fired a three-round burst into the beast's body, then a full auto of rounds into its head. Its shields flickered and died down, then the shield generator activated its fail-safe. The Jackal commander rapidly tried to get the generator off, but it detonated, and shimmering waves of plasma heat filled the air with toxic fumes.
Jason aimed his BR55 at the oncoming Brutes, Hunters, and Elites, and opened fire. Bullet casings spilled across the floor, and the rounds bounced harmlessly off the Hunters' armor. Jason put his headlights' volts to maximum and shone it into the creatures' eyes. The beasts roared, charged, and were met by an onrush of bright blue-green light blinding their eyes. The dropped their weapons and clawed at their eyes uselessly. Jason, still shining his lights, charged across the small space he had, jumped four point six centimeters above the plasma, and rolled aside on the other side.
Plasma flickered all around him, sending fiery flames shooting up like angry missiles. Bonfires covered up the trail that would lead to himself, and he sprinted away, slapping a fresh clip into his BR55 battle rifle.
He owed the rifle a lot. And he would pay. Six detonations behind him indicated the fail-safes on some plasma guns had been activated. He nodded quietly to himself, located a Covenant "Spirit" dropship ahead, and turned the half-sprint to a full-speed run. Wind blurred the items that he was running by, and some Elites on patrol stared in wonder as the large six-foot-eleven inch Spartan charged past. Jason got to the Spirit and hopped on board, shutting the hatch quickly behind him. Covenant troopers fired large plasma weapons at the U-shaped dropship and some hammered their weapons on the shut hatch.
Jason opened the door to the cockpit with a quiet hiss and sat down on this chair--it held him well. Words in human script were messily painted on the ceiling--"Spirit XY". Enthusiastic name for a ship. He gently placed the BR55 on its sling and slung it over his shoulder. He checked his weapons--MA5B rifle, BR55 rifle, two M7 submachine guns, and an M6G pistol--good, he hadn't lost anything except some dust. His 21mm knife still hung on his belt, safely clipped to the MJOLNIR combat armor.
He heard a clang and a hissing, moaning noise as something cut through the heavy Covenant-blue armor of the small ship. An energy sword. He tapped controls on the dropship and it lifted off, and whoever had been trying to cut through the armor fell off, consumed by the energy of the Spirit. The Elite screamed as it was sucked into the energy case of the dropship. Jason raced out of the small docking bay and into the night. He was heading for Earth--he had no idea what the "Unyielding Hierophant" was for, and what it would do, but he knew it was worse than Reach being destroyed.
As he left the anonymous system, he activated the Slipspace drive, and drove into a small space in the spider-web of Slipspace holes and headed directly for the Sol system. Jason would help them. Of course.