Under Wraps
1345, April 2nd, 2548 [MILITARY CALENDAR]/ Enroute to Sigari V
I hate ONI with a passion, but when we are called to fight I can't do much about it. But I have to admit; they do have some sweet weapons.
We are heading down to Sigari V with a Pelican fully loaded with all kinds of dangerous devices. One of the most dangerous is a SPNKR rocket launcher with four missiles that can track air and ground targets. It comes loaded with a sight and highly explosive rounds. The others consist of an augmented Sniper Rifle with thermal, night vision, and an enhanced scope, silenced SMG's, a DMR with increased range and fire rate, binoculars that can link with our HUD, and remote detonation explosives.
The planet's surface is black and barren with molten lava spewing out of every crack and crevice. The air is indeed hot, but our suits environmental systems keep us from burning alive. There doesn't seem to be anything living down here, and it raises some serious questions as to why that ship came down here.
"I'm getting an engine reading one mile to the south. I think we've got our culprit," Kia says, raising her head from her Tacpad. Parkson lands the Pelican and lowers the ramp. The "cooler" air in the pelican sends out a burst of steam once it is released and dissipates quickly after. "Keep on a swivel, Spartans, and keep an eye out for contacts," I tell the others.
The terrain is awkward to trek and our pace is slower than desired, but we make it to the ship in fifteen minutes.
The ship is perched on an opening created in the side of a small hill. A rocky canopy curves partially over its left side, concealing it from the west side. This means that it had seen us coming and repositioned the vehicle to try and hide it.
After a quick search of the perimeter, we find no other contacts and turn our attention to the unknown ship.
Its size is that of a Longsword. But its design is nothing like I have ever seen. Its curved wings defy any space fairing design known, and its twin engines don't seem as if the could propel anything larger than a shuttle. There is no obvious entry point which just raises further questions. Its design is seamless, as well. There are no fusion points. It just seems...organic.
We take some pictures for later evidence and then try to figure out where the occupants went.
"No tracks...no trails...where the hell did this thing go?" 211 says out of frustration. "What the hell is this thing?" Kia says. "I think its safe to say this thing isn't human or Covenant," I say, looking back at the ship. "Maybe a new Covie species? We don't know everything about the bastards," Kia suggests. "Maybe. Just be on alert," I say.
We fan out and search the area for any immediate signs of its whereabouts. Parkson signals for us to come to him and when we do, we find a device nestled between two rocks. The thing is spherical with two stubbed extensions on seperate sides. It has a pulsing colored band running beneath the extensions that seems to be emitting a signal of some kind.
Suspicious if this thing is a jammer, I attempt to contact the Faithful with our findings, only to be met with a dead channel. "It's a signal jammer," I confirm. "Think we can defuse it?"
211 takes the object from me and sets it on the ground. He then raises his boot up and brings it down on the object. It shatters under the impact, sending debris flying in all directions and pinging off of our armor.
"That's one way to do it," Kia says with a chuckle.
As we are climbing a hill, I see the glint of a rifle and tell the others to get down. The rifle discharges, sending a flash of greenish substance flying over our heads. We then open suppressing fire before spreading out to different vantage points.
"I don't have a visual," I say, scanning the horizon. "Negative on-" 211 starts to say, but ends it with a yelp of surprise. Gunfire discharges at his position before going quiet. "Please tell me you won that," Kia says nervously, having been almost directly in front of him.
Her question is met by a single gunshot and I see her tag fall hard. "Shit. Parkson, converge on my position. Watch for anything invisible," I tell the last Spartan. He picks up his weapon and sprints for where I am hiding. He presses his back against the rock and glances around. He then stiffens up and signs something I had learned, "bad feeling". When Parkson has a bad feeling about something, something is about to happen. I point up at a depression in the rocks and Parkson nods and climbs up into it, concealing himself.
A good six minutes pass before the next attack starts. I see a flash of black and open fire with my Assault Rifle. I am rewarded with a grunt as a handful of bullets hit the moving target. But it had gotten closer, which makes me retreat a few steps. I had only noticed my mistake when a triangular projectile falls out of the sky and lands at my feet. Refusing to be taken out, I pick the projectile up and chuck it as hard as I can where I predicted the thing came from.
I duck down as the thing detonates, filling the air with crackling electricity. A scream of pain rewards me with the enemy's position and I immediately go towards it.
I find a speck of blood, but no body. The hair on my neck stands up and I feel the attacker behind me. But before I can turn to fight him, the enemy attaches something sharp to my back. The device paralyzes me and sends me crashing to the ground. I am unable to catch myself and end up cracking my visor so bad that the HUD is disabled.
As soon as I go down, Parkson is there to back me up. I hear him drop from the taller rocks and land hard on the attacker. A scuffle ensues, and someone runs off. The paralyzing device is removed from my back and Parkson helps me up.
"The hell was that?" I ask, furious. Parkson holds up a cylindrical object that looks like a power-up device that the Spartan-III's use, except it has tubes and a fog-like aura emanating out of it. "Definitely not human," I say. Parkson nods his head in confirmation.
I climb the hill and see something move. I act and unload an entire clip. All three of us trade fire for a good fifteen minutes before the shots stop coming and the thing walks out with its hands in the air.
Its armor is foreign to us. The thing is vaguely human-shaped except its armor makes it look remarkably bulky, like a tree. It has twin jetpacks emerging from its back, and its left arm doesn't have an obvious hand. In its place is a long spear.
"Are you finally done now?" I ask it. The creature responds with a hissing alien language that reminds me of a snake. "Sorry, buddy, can't understand you," I say, keeping my weapon trained on it. The alien seems to understand this, because the spear transforms into an actual hand and it kneels down and put its hands behind its head like it is about to be arrested.
"Stay up here," I tell Parkson and descend the rocky hill to apprehend the alien. I approach the alien and restrain its hands together with a strong set of handcuffs. I then pull it to its feet and guide it back up the hill.
After securing the alien in the Pelican, I go to find 211 and Kia. They had been paralyzed with the same device and were frozen in crouching positions. I remove the device, tell them that the chase had ended, and walk them back to the pelican.
Like me, they felt a little woozy and dizzy and had to sit down as soon as they got back. The alien stares ahead impassively, saying nothing. I don't treat it as bad as I would have an insurrectionist because of its surrender and the fact that it didn't directly hurt any of us.
Once we start up the Pelican I open a channel to the secure channel and am met by the ONI agent. "What is your status?" he asks. "Subject has been apprehended. We are returning to the Faithful now. The subject isn't of any known race, so I suggest you arrange an outside meet-up," I tell him. Agraven is silent for a few minutes, presumably setting up a meeting. "Once you leave the planet's orbit, you will be met by a friendly contact. Do not return to the Faithful until your cargo has been unloaded. Do not contact anyone and if you are met by anyone other than the contact, you are required to open fire," the ONI agent says. "Copy that," I reply. The channel cuts out and I inform Parkson of the deal.
"I don't think we should hand him over," Kia says, her features deep with worry. "Why is that?" I ask her. She just shrugs her shoulders. "You know what ONI is going to do to. They'll torture the information out of him. I don't think first contact with a new species should be met like that," she says. I look at the prisoner sitting stoically across from us and feel a pang of pity, but quickly clear my feelings. "This is none of our business, Kia. We're just here to do our jobs," I say. Kia drops the subject, but I can tell she's still concerned.
I don't like this either, but short of going rogue, there is nothing we can do. Plenty of soldiers and Spartans have gone rogue over the years, but I refuse to do so over this mission alone. For now, we'll just have to forget about it.
As soon as we clear orbit we are approached by a midnight black Prowler. It had appeared out of nowhere and right on time. The ONI agents take the subject and leave just as abruptly as they had arrived.
Once we return to the Faithful, our battle recordings and pictures are confiscated by Agraven and we are told to keep this quiet and never speak of it again.
We discuss what the thing might have been in the privacy of our quarters, but the discussion dies quickly once we run out of answers.
A few days after the incident, Captain Jameson comes to us with another mission. This time we are to take a second Spartan team with us. We will be joining the frontlines in the Surrigati system. But this time, we won't be going behind enemy lines, we'll be staying at the front. It has been a while since we've been anywhere near the front lines, so it is going to be interesting.
After a short trip in slipspace, we enter the solar system and approach the planet. A sudden change of plans has us rushing for the SOIV drop room and clambering into our individual pods as we are getting ready to launch. I had seen Charles and his team before entering the pod, but I hadn't had the time to give him more than a nod before closing the hatch.
As soon as I close myself in, a barrage of missiles slams into the Faithful and shocks the hull, making the pods lurch in their restraints. I bring the SOIV online and hold onto the bars as the others come online in quick succession.
"Feet first into hell, boys! Last one down buys the bar," Charles says, his voice filtered through the COM link. "Semper fi!" one of the ODST's cries.
The locks on the pods are released and we are shot out through the tubes and clear the ship's hull. There is a brief moment of clear respite, the calm before the storm, but then the enemy ships open fire and I find myself encased in a hellstorm of plasma explosions that detonate wildly around us as they try and shoot us out of the air.
I can only hold onto the bars and try not to grit my teeth too hard as all eighteen of the pods enter the planet's blue sky. The air is clear and the battlefield below is dotted with both ally and enemies alike. I can see where I am going to drop, right in between a Wraith and a Scorpion.
I glance around to see where the others are and find three pods in the immediate vicinity. 211's tag is right above me, but Kia and Parkson's tags are out of range. I then return my attention to the ground and brace myself as the altitude meter continues to plummet.
The parachute deploys to slow my descent, but is quickly shredded once a Banshee sets its sights on me and pesters my descent with a hail of bullets. For some reason it picked me out of the others and drops a plasma missile into the back of the pod, making its steady decent turn into a deadly spiral.
The impact knocks the hatch loose and for a moment, I can see the ground below in shocking detail. I then decide to act on impulse and free myself from the pod. I coil my legs under me and shove free of the SOIV.
Angling down at ninety degrees, I have little time to react before the Wraith comes up and I slam right into it like a mortar shell.
My body breaks right through its shell and absolutely demolishes the tank. Its terrified pilot has no time to react before the thing explodes, showering me with debris and fire as I pull myself out of the crater I had created from turning myself into an orbital missile.
Once free of the rocks, I charge for an Elite and ram my combat blade into his jaw before pulling it out and impaling another Elite and shoving its body back into a third. I come up behind the stunned Sangheili and seize his neck then pull him down before embedding the blade up to its hilt in alien gore.
The last ten pods hit the ground and their occupants come out shooting, surprising the enemies that had been occupying the immediate area. The sound of the new gunfire is deafening but effective as we drive the overwhelming amount of enemies off of the front row of tanks.
"Jackson, Hunters at your six!" Zeke calls over the radio. I turn to see four lumbering hunters preparing to fire their plasma cannons, aiming straight for us. "I'll get behind them, you open fire when they turn," I say and dive behind a rock just as the plasma cannon discharges and gouges a hole in the ground inches from my hiding place.
I throw a grenade, wait for it to detonate, and then charge in right after it, shooting as I run. I come around the back of the Hunters in a wide arc and draw their attention by shooting at each of their exposed backs. "Come and get me, you stupid brutes!" I shout, further drawing their gaze and gunfire from the others.
I am forced to switch positions as my cover is blown to shrapnel and the floor beneath my feet is melted and burned. My shields are continuously dropped and I can feel my skin blistering from the plasma as their attacks become increasingly ferocious.
Finally, the dying cries of a Hunter pierces the air, followed by the blood-rage of its bond brother. The enraged Hunter charges my position, but is gunned down shortly after by the reinforcements from the rear.
The remaining two hunters are conflicted as to who to shoot, and end up fighting back-to-back while trying to fend off all eight of us.
In the end, an ODST produces a rocket launcher and finishes off the wounded Hunters, making their armor break and sending the disgusting worms flying in all directions.
We rejoin the fight and assist the tanks in taking out a fleet of Wraiths by winding in between them and sabotaging with grenades scooped off of the ground. But the real fight begins when two Scarabs are dropped from close orbit and nearly crush a group of Warthogs that only barely manage to scatter at the last moment.
"Zeta, you take the one on the left! My team and I will be on the right. Watch for cross fire," I call over the COMs. "Copy that. You heard the Spartan, grab a tank and get moving!" Zeta yells.
211 relieves a tank from one of the Marines and rolls it over a rise and grabs the Scarab's attention by shooting at its knee joints. "Aim for the knees, Marines. If you want that bastard off of you, you have to cripple it first!" 211 says, continuously firing from his open vantage point.
I sprint as hard as I can and come up underneath the Scarab's shadow, Parkson reappears with a Warthog that he keeps at a safe distance. As soon as the knee joint is blown out, the Scarab leans forwards, alarms blaring on the inside. "Come on!" I yell to Kia and run for the Warthog which parkson had parked directly beneath the opening in the back.
We vault the warthog and use it as a springboard to get onto the Scarab. Kia slips but I catch her and get her to her feet. I then seize the empty plasma turret and rip it from its stand, making it mobile.
Kia forges ahead and I follow closely behind, gunning down those that get in my way. "Core room's up here!" Kia calls from the upper floor. I am forced to abandon the turret when two suicide grunts and an Elite charge, threatening to overwhelm me. I duck behind a wall, wait for the plasma grenades to detonate, and then pop back up and gun down the Elite. I go to retrieve the turret but find it twisted beyond use from the plasma grenades.
I find Kia finishing off a Jackal and wait for her to be done before blasting away at the core.
The detonation blisters at my skin and staggers me for a second before we run down the platform, descend the stairs, and drop down onto the dirt. We make sure to clear the Scarab before turning to watch it explode.
Just as the first Scarab goes up in flames, the second drops down from a blown knee joint. Kia and I watch as Zeta boards the vehicle and swiftly eradicates the enemies within and brings the beast down.
The battlefield finally calms down once the rest of the enemies are taken out. The last remaining tanks and warthogs regroup and the Marines gather to do a head-count.
"LZ's clear for approach, bring 'er in," a nearby Marine says, speaking into his COM device.
We switch our gaze to the sky and watch as a tiny grey dot quickly turns into a massive UNSC Frigate. It swoops over the battlefield and disappears for another few minutes before reappearing and sending dust flying in all directions.
It comes to settle in the largest area avaible and the Frigate drops it loading pad, revealing six Scorpions and a handful of decked-out Warthogs.
"Hell yeah! Now that's a breathtaking sight if I've ever seen one!" 211 exclaims. His last Scorpion had burst into flames after taking a direct hit from the doomed Scarab and he had escaped just moments before it exploded. Now, he rushes down the hill and take control of one of the vacant machines.
"Sirs, your mission parameters have changed. We'll be storming a Covenant-held dam. There's an entire battalion holed up there and they're threatening the entire fight here on the surface. We've been called in to weed 'em out," a Marine says after jumping from the back of a Warthog. He wears the stripes of a Sergeant and has an old scar sitting above his left brow, making him look angrier than he is.
"We just keep getting pulled back in, eh? Can never keep us out," Arnold says. "You had to expect it. Infriltration is what we do best," Jessica say, slinging her weapon over her back. Kia consults her tacpad and reads off the coordinates. "Another twelve mile march? I can do that in my sleep," 211 says. "Your opinion doesn't matter, 211. You'll be in a tank," I say, crossing my arms. "You can't say much, you'll be riding the tank!" 211 retorts. I just laugh and shrug. "Got me there."
Kia and I load onto 211's tank while Parkson drops into the passenger seat of a Warthog driven by Zeke and gunned by Arnold. Jessica and Jacobs take a seperate Warthog as well and drive ahead of the others.
The convoy of tanks and Warthogs moves out and we begin the long trek to the dam.