Chapter 17

John-117 awoke to complete darkness. It must not be roll call yet. He decided to remain still and enjoy the brief reprieve. Spartan training was rough, after all, and he wasn't about to squander what little rest he was allotted.

The world seemed to flash blue in front of him. A bunch of blue numbers and letters scrawled across his vision.

System Rebooting...

Energy Shield Rebooting...

Another flash, bright yellow this time. A strange crackling filled his ears as some sort of shell materialized around him.

What the...

Warning: Outer Layer Damaged.

Warning: Internal Injuries Detected.

Warning: Internal Bleeding Detected.

Warning: Administering Biofoam.

John felt a cold sensation flood his belly. Suddenly, he became aware of a throbbing pain throughout most of his body.

Awareness rushed over him. The events of the last day were suddenly remembered. He had been fighting someone...Alien figures on the surface...then...

ONI.

The Master Chief suppressed a growl. He had been fighting an agent of ONI masquerading as a Spartan. No...he had been a Spartan. At least, he had been augmented. No servant of ONI could ever truly be considered a Spartan, in the Chief's eyes.

What had happened then? Right, a bizarre knight-thing had appeared. It claimed to be serving Cortana. That couldn't be. It was clearly of the same make as the combat drones that had engaged them on the surface. Cortana would never design such things, let alone order them to attack Blue Team. Not to mention the thing's anachronistic, fairy-tale vocabulary...

What had it done, exactly? Right, it released a shockwave. Then Fred had...

"Blue Team, sound off," the Master Chief barked over his comms. He rose to his feet, activated his armor's enhanced vision mode, and took stock of his surroundings. He found himself looking at a pitch black cavern. He estimated it was about 20 meters across. There were several entrances to other portions of what he surmised was a cave system. Looking up, he saw that the roof seemed to extend at least 50 meters. Had he fallen the whole way? Doubtful. There should have been more damage to his armor if that were the case. Had he been teleported? He had used teleportation technology in other Forerunner installations.

There was no sign of Forerunner architecture or any other artificial construction. His surroundings appeared to be a cavern within the glassed topsoil. Had the entire complex simply vanished? Was this cave system formerly occupied by an installation composed entirely of hard-light?

"Blue One, here," Fred responded. The Chief felt a wave of relief. Fred continued, "I'm pretty banged up, Blue Lead. Don't think I can drag myself out of here. Wherever here is...I think I'm in some sort of cave, over."

"Copy Blue One," the Master Chief responded. "Activate your homing beacon. I'll come to you." They would have to risk detection. It could take far to long to locate Fred otherwise. His visor displayed the signal given out by Fred's armor. He was within 500 meters. Good. "Anyone else active?"

"Blue Two, here," Linda responded. The Chief noticed that her voice was a bit more flat than usual. "I seem to be in a cave, as well. Head's a bit sore, but otherwise I'm combat ready, over."

"Blue Three, here," Kelly responded. "Likewise to Blue Two, over." Again, the Chief was relived.

He ordered the other members of Blue Team to rendezvous at Blue One's location. He did an ammo check. His pistol was gone, doubtless lost in the fall. Or whatever had gotten him here. He sighed and drew his combat knife. He supposed things were going rather well, considering the circumstances. None of them were dead, at least. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was forgetting something. His head really hurt...

A thought blazed its way across his mind.

"Dr. Halsey, come in," the Chief commed, momentarily forgetting to use codenames. There was only silence on the line. "Dr. Halsey, please respond." Silence again.

A cold weight settled in John's gut.

The Chief remotely activated the transponder in Dr. Halsey's hardsuit. There was a delay. It seemed to last a lifetime.

Suddenly, a 2nd signal was displayed on his HUD. John had to restrain himself from sprinting in its direction.

"Blue Two, continue to Blue One's location. Blue Three, you and I will go after the VIP. Copy?" His squadmates confirmed they had heard and were following his directions.

The Master Chief moved out, making his way toward the blip on his visor. Dr. Halsey would be fine. He would find her, unharmed, perhaps with a damaged comm unit. He was not about to lose her. He wouldn't allow it.

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The members of Fireteam Osiris staggered into the former mining pit.

"'Mmm fine, dammit..." Spartan Tanaka mumbled. Spartan Buck and Spartan Vale were currently carrying her. Locke was scanning their surroundings, his Battle Rifle ready. Buck and Vale set Tanaka down. Vale ran a medical scanner over her.

So far, there was no sign that Blue Team had pursued them.

Not that they were sure Blue Team was even able to follow them. Just before Osiris had reached the entrance the entire facility around them had suddenly blinked out of existence. Fortunately, they landed on a slope of silicate about a meter below the former floor. They had then noticed with a shock that the slope abruptly ended about 3 meters behind them, turning into a gaping pit that none of them could see the bottom of.

What do we do now? Locke asked himself. He was in no mood to go hunting for Blue Team in completely unknown territory. The Spartan IIs could be waiting in ambush. Not to mention what other, more alien, surprises might be waiting for them in there.

Especially not after what Osiris had just gone through. As much as Locke hated to admit it, they had not exactly been winning that fight. They had done damage, certainly, but Blue Team had still been beating them. The dents, scrapes, and various marks on all of their armor sets attested to that. Most of them had even lost the neural inhibitors needed to subdue the renegade supersoldiers.

Renegade. Locke knew they were truly renegade, now. Prior to this meeting he, and the rest of ONI, had assumed that Dr. Halsey had lied to them. They assumed that the Spartans had trusted their 'mother' figure enough to buy a story of top secret missions and the need for zero contact with the rest of the UNSC. Inside the complex the Master Chief himself had informed him that they were willingly defying orders. That meant that...that...

The Spartan IIs had gone rebel.

Locke couldn't imagine a scenario more terrifying.

"So what's the story, boss?" Tanaka asked, dragging herself to her feet. The feeds from the medical scanner and her armor's biomonitors were reporting that she had a minor concussion, bruises covering 65% of her body, and multiple internal injuries. The biofoam would keep her in decent condition for a while, but she would need time in a sick bay soon. Her tone, however, clearly conveyed that she had no intention of sitting out whatever came next.

Locke thought for a moment. "We fall back, and regroup," he replied. His teammates looked relieved. Locke opened a comm channel to their Pelican. "Echo-343, this is Osiris Lead. Repeat, Echo-343, this is Osiris Lead. Respond, over."

"Copy, Osiris Lead, this is Echo-343. Awaiting orders, sir," their pilot responded.

"Return to drop-off point for immediate extraction," Locke ordered.

"Copy, Osiris Lead. Sir...we've been getting some crazy signals from Meridian Station. Seems they're under some sort of attack. We can't raise the Emergence from Dusk, either. Please advise."

Locke grimaced behind his polarized visor. He doubted he would be able to hide this from his team. "Copy, Echo-343. I'll brief you after pickup."

"Copy, Osiris Lead. ETA 5 minutes."

On a whim, Locke set his armor to scan for any and all UNSC signals within range. He knew that the frigatehad been destroyed, but it was possible some of its crew had escaped.

His armor picked up a bizarre signal. It seemed to be coming from some sort of satellite in orbit that had avoided enemy detection. The strangest thing was that he didn't recognize the ID signature.

When he established contact with the satellite and his armor verified that its source was legitimate, a message started, and he knew why he didn't recognize it.

"Attention UNSC forces," the Master Chief's voice said into his ear, "this is Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra-117. I am on the surface of UEG colony world Meridian. I have been engaged by an unknown enemy force. Repeat, I have been engaged by an unknown enemy force. Enemy is alien in nature, but does not appear to be Covenant. Repeat, enemy is not Covenant."

The Master Chief's voice went on to give a detailed description of the infantry that Locke's Pelican had obliterated prior to their touching down. Apparently, their weapons and armor were more than Locke had given them credit for.

"Enemy units appeared to be preparing to move on Meridian Station. Repeat, enemy units preparing to move on Meridian Station. Recommend sending marine reinforcements to Meridian Station and targeting enemy units from orbit. My team and I will continue investigating on the ground. Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra-117, out."

So he tried to get a warning out, Locke realized.

The Master Chief must not have known that the frigate was destroyed. It made sense, considering Blue Team had entered the Forerunner facility before Fireteam Osiris had arrived.

What really impressed Locke was the fact that the Chief was willing to sacrifice a substantial asset to warn them. Blue Team couldn't possibly have access to a large supply of stealth satellites and they had to know that the UNSC forces would triangulate and capture the satellite within minutes.

And he sent out the signal anyway...

Locke thought back to what the Master Chief had told him in the facility:

"We're following her because we trust her more than the people who give you orders."

So, the members of Blue Team had lost faith. It wouldn't be the first time that had happened to members of ONI personnel. Most just tried to disappear, or even blackmail the ONI leadership; neither ever ended well for them. The Spartan IIs hadn't done that, though.

Blue Team had kept fighting.

Locke remembered why he had worshiped the Spartans as a child. Why he had found the Master Chief to be so inspirational. Why billions of people across the UEG found him so: no matter what the odds, they never stopped trying to save people. They never gave up. They were the ones who could do the impossible.

When Locke had found out about the Spartans origins, how they were conscripted as children and conditioned to follow orders, he had initially been devastated. He had realized that they weren't really heroes. They were just drones. Was this Dr. Halsey's doing? Did she order the signal to be sent out?

Or had Locke been wrong? Were the Spartan IIs...the Master Chief...more than he thought?

Pelican Echo-343 roared in overhead. It settled down on the bottom of the former mining pit. The members of Fireteam Osiris piled aboard. Locke ordered the pilot to circle the area, keeping an eye out for any hostiles. He would fill him in momentarily.

Locke, Tanaka, Vale, and Buck began doing field repairs on their armor. Temporary coating was applied to damaged plates. A banged up thruster was given a jury-rigged repair. Buck's stealth gear was given a hard reboot.

Locke was left wondering what he was going to tell them. What he was going to tell ONI command.

What he was going to tell himself.

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"The goddamn frigate's gone?!" Buck demanded. "As in, 'blown the fuck up'?"

"Yes, Buck, that is what I said," Locke replied. "It was destroyed just before we entered the facility." He figured that they would figure out that he knew beforehand, regardless of what he did. People didn't become Spartans by being dumb, after all, and Locke suspected his subordinates were deliberately chosen for their ability to sniff out the truth.

"And you had us go in anyway," Tanaka said. It was not a question. It also didn't bode well, considering the naked outrage and hostility in her tone. The fact that she had stood up and looked about ready to throw him out the back of the Pelican was also a bad sign.

"There was nothing we could do," Locke tried to assure her. He knew that Tanaka was not someone he could simply intimidate into compliance. He needed to be more subtle than that. "The Emergence from Dusk was already dead. Besides which, it was a solid bet that those hostiles came from the Forerunner facility itself. Our best shot at stopping them was to go in and try to find the control room."

"So you're blaming Blue Team and Halsey for this," Buck said, putting 2 and 2 together. He didn't sound like he was buying it. Locke wasn't certain he bought it himself, either.

"That's a distinct possibility," he replied rather than voicing his doubts. "Whatever the case, it seems unlikely we will be able to shut them down now. The control room most likely vanished along with the rest of the facility-"

"And we'd probably get our asses handed to us again if we tried to go back in," Buck interrupted. "You know, just a thought sir, but maybe we could have tried a less violent approach? I mean, they seemed at least willing to talk, and given what was at stake—"

"Given what was at stake, I decided we didn't have a choice," Locke interrupted back, growing legitimately angry. He was no happier with what had happened than Buck was. "Whatever was going through their heads, I couldn't take the risk that I'd be able to get through to them with words. Or are you an expert on Spartan II psychology?" he demanded.

Buck didn't seem particularly placated. Tanaka looked like she was still within a micron of trying to rip his head off with her hands. Vale decided to speak up, saying, "What about Meridian Station? Are they alright?"

The various members of Fireteam Osiris paused. Locke opened a channel to the pilot, allowing the rest of the squad to listen in.

"Pilot, describe the messages you've picked up from Meridian Station," he ordered.

The pilot responded in a hesitant, almost nervous voice. "Uh, it was less 'messages' and more 'desperate cries for help', sir," he explained. "It sounded like some hostile force had breached the outer wall and was making its way toward the center of town. Communications cut off shortly after that."

Buck, Vale, and Tanaka all stared at Locke. Buck's stare was challenging; it was obvious what he thought they should do now. Vale's stare was pleading; she seemed to still respect his authority, but would also clearly not be happy if he didn't do what she wanted. Tanaka's stare was also challenging, but with the added threat of violence; she would insist on them doing what she thought was right, with force if necessary. Locke decided that his course was set, if only to avoid a mutiny.

At least, that would be the excuse he used in his report. Any other motivations were things he would dwell on when they weren't all knee deep in it.

"Pilot, set a course for Meridian Station. We're going to provide what assistance we can."

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The Pelican was about a kilometer away from Meridian Station when alarms started blaring throughout the interior.

"Target lock, brace yourselves!" the pilot shouted, going into evasive maneuvers. The Pelican veered to the side, dove, and climbed erratically. The seat restraints strained to contain the half-ton bulk of the Spartan IVs. Locke was grateful he hadn't eaten for a while; throwing up in his helmet would be rather uncomfortable.

The stern end of the Pelican exploded. Shrapnel bounced off of the Spartans' energy shields and slashed the deck. Any debris was then quickly sucked back out of the gaping hole in the dropship's rear. Locke thought he could see one of the alien gunships fly past.

The Pelican began spinning violently. Locke desperately held onto the wall, fearing the centrifugal force would rip him out of his seat if he left it to his restraints. Slowly, the spinning stopped. The Pelican leveled out. Locke's stomach settled.

The Pelican crashed headfirst into the city wall.

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Locke awoke to find himself lying on the dirt. He shook his head, sat up, and examined his surroundings.

The Pelican was lodged in the city wall about 5 meters above him. His restraints must have broken. He'd probably bounced off of the front of the personnel compartment and then fallen out of the gaping hole where the rear hatch used to be. The front end of the Pelican was not visible to him, having penetrated into the interior of Meridian Station. Locke swore to himself. He had hoped that by coming in low, they would be able to avoid detection. Apparently, he had been a bit overoptimistic.

Locke was about to comm his subordinates when the ground exploded behind him. He was flung to the ground, his energy shield depleted. Locke rolled into a crouch and drew his Battle Rifle. Fortunately, the magnetic strip along the back of his armor had held the weapon in place.

Two armored vehicles were approaching. They were both colored chrome. They vaguely resembled Armored Personnel Carriers, with a boxy frame, 3 large wheels along each side, and a relatively small primary weapon mounted on the top. Although, upon closer inspection he realized that in place of wheels were what appeared to be miniature versions of the glowing discs that propelled the enemy gunships.

There were also several of the nightmare infantry sitting on the top. Locke was reminded of war footage he had once seen of Soviet soldiers from the Second World War in the 20th Century. Were the inner compartments full? Why would anyone expose their infantry like that?

Locke opened fire. There was nowhere to run to; no cover to hide behind. Attacking seemed preferable to cowering in fear. His rifle was unlikely to do any damage to the vehicles themselves, but he figured he could down some of the soldiers. His augmented vision saw his rounds impacting the enemy armor, causing grid-cracks to spiderweb over them. However, it would not be enough. Locke saw a yellow light gather on the end of the vehicle's main gun. He was reminded of the blow the Warden Eternal had dealt Tanaka.

A bright red flash erupted from the Pelican's personnel compartment. The lead vehicle exploded in a fiery blast, taking its infantry with it. Locke whirled around. Spartan Buck was crouching in the Pelican. He had a Spartan Laser resting on his shoulder.

The 2nd enemy vehicle continued its advance. It didn't change direction. It didn't seek cover. It's infantry didn't even jump off. It was as if it hadn't noticed its twin be destroyed.

Whatever the reason for its behavior, Buck didn't seem inclined to waste an opportunity. After allowing the weapon to vent its excess heat, he took aim again. Buck fired the weapon. The 2nd APC-analogue joined its sibling in hell. Or wherever these things went when they burned up.

Locke scanned the area and checked his motion tracker. No targets. He had no illusions that would last.

"Clear," he announced. He nodded his congratulations to Buck. The former ODST nodded in response. "Fireteam Osiris, check in," Locke ordered.

"Osiris One, I'm in the Pelican. A bit banged up, but I'm okay, boss," Tanaka responded. Locke checked her biomonitor feed anyway. She was still injured, but no worse than before.

"Osiris Two, likewise to Osiris One," Vale responded, stepping next to Buck and waving.

"Osiris Three, likewise to Osiris One and Two," Buck responded. "Although I'm feeling a bit better than I was a minute ago," he quipped, patting his heavy weapon. Locke decided to let it pass. Buck had certainly earned it.

"Is everybody still armed?" Locke asked. His team confirmed that they all still had their weaponry. "Did the ammo locker make it?" Locke asked next. The last thing he needed was their weapons going dry.

"That's a positive, boss," Tanaka commed with a grunt. Locke guessed she had just forced the door open. "Looks like everything's accounted for."

That was a relief. "Break out the depleted uranium rounds. I want everyone loaded up," Locke ordered.

"We not caring about collateral damage, sir?" Buck asked, concerned. Depleted uranium rounds were significantly more powerful than their regular armament. They were extremely dense, naturally armor piercing, and incendiary. This meant they would be able to down their targets more easily, but it also meant that any miss would do substantially more damage to whatever it hit. Including civilians. He hadn't ordered their use against Blue Team, as the whole point was to take them alive. There were also the health risks due to simple exposure. The natural combustion of DU rounds spread particles through the air which, if inhaled by humans, could cause bodily damage up to and including neurological disorders and birth defects. Thus, the use of DU was restricted to absolute necessity.

"I just got a good look at what their infantry's armor is capable of," Locke responded. "Our current armament won't cut it here. We'll have to risk it." Tanaka confirmed the order and began passing out the DU rounds.

"Osiris Two, what's the status of your sidearm?" Locke commed. Vale's plasma pistol was a top of the line model, much better than what the average unggoy carried. Even so, there were only so many charged shots it could fire before burning out. Having Vale loan it to Buck had been a costly but necessary move.

"I'd say it's on its last legs, sir," Vale replied. "I wouldn't count on more than 1, maybe 2 shots left in it."

Locke swore, careful not to transmit the expletive. He needed to appear that he had things together. Belatedly, he remembered their pilot. "Can anyone make their way into the cockpit?"

"Already went, boss. Pilot's KIA," Tanaka responded. Locke swore again. He ordered Tanaka to retrieve the man's dog tags.

"Is there any way to enter the settlement through the front of the Pelican?" he asked next.

"That's a negative," Tanaka replied again. "Unless you want to risk waiting for the cutting torch to do its thing."

There was no way they could afford to stay in the dropship that long. They were sitting ducks already. Locke consulted his map. It seemed they were relatively close to the exterior gate.

"Alright, Osiris, let's gear up and move out. We've got a settlement to save."

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The damage to Meridian Station was obvious before they even entered it. Most of the wind turbines that surrounded the settlement had been destroyed. Some of them still had one or two blades, spinning forlornly, while others had been reduced to metal poles with a molten tip where the generator had been. Locke supposed this explained the lack of artificial light coming from the settlement. The power grid must be down. If it weren't for the clear sky and full moon, it would be considerably more difficult to see.

The attack had come in the middle of the night. Locke grimaced as he realized that most people would have been asleep when the enemy arrived. Response time to the invasion would be even worse than it might have been otherwise.

Fireteam Osiris approached the exterior gate, hugging the wall the whole way. They wanted to stay out of the line of sight of any enemy units within the settlement for as long as possible. Locke came upon the open gate and held up a fist, signaling the others to stop. Although calling the gate 'open' was a bit inaccurate. It would be more appropriate to say it had been blown off its track. Locke guessed it was either the gunships or the APCs that must have done it. He hadn't seen anything resembling tanks, artillery, or demolition squads, thank Christ.

Locke snaked a fiberoptic cable around the jagged edge of the ruined gate. There were no targets in sight. Strange. He would have expected some sort of rear guard. He ordered Tanaka to go in first. Injured she may have been, her armor was still the toughest out of all of them. She would stand the best chance of survival if this turned out to be an ambush.

Tanaka moved into the settlement, making little effort to remain close to cover. She understood that the point was to lure out any waiting enemies. After a few minutes, she commed the all clear. Locke motioned the rest of the team forward, and Osiris reentered Meridian Station.

Things did not look good. As they made their way further in, they saw destruction all around them. Entire buildings had been gutted, collapsing into the street. Charred bodies filled the wreckage. They must have been victims of enemy weapons, as there were few actual fires; most of Meridian Station was built of non-flammable metals, plastics, or ceramics. Small blessings.

At least the ruined buildings gave them adequate cover and concealment. The Spartan IVs darted from cover to cover, never remaining in the open for more than a few seconds at a time. They moved through the now-ruined city like ghosts, silent and invisible. They avoided enemy patrols. If they were going to find and save what few colonists had managed to survive this long, they couldn't afford to get bogged down in unnecessary firefights.

Most of the ruined buildings seemed to have been hit from the air, the gunships clearly making use of the armaments that had destroyed a military starship. Locke had seen many of them from the Pelican, buzzing over the settlement like flies over a corpse. Fortunately, there seemed to be far fewer than when he had first seen them. It seemed the frigate had gone down hard. Still, there were a few dozen left, which was a few dozen too many for Locke's comfort. Osiris was careful to conceal themselves whenever one got too close.

The Administrative Building was visible in the distance, still towering over the rest of the 2 story buildings. Unfortunately, it seemed the former colony ship was not as impregnable as its residents might have liked to think. The exterior of the ship possessed numerous rents in its hull. Locke could see flames and black smoke billowing out from several of them. He would bet cash units that the enemy had already breached it.

The enemy infantry, which Osiris dubbed 'Forerunner Soldiers', had clearly been through here. There were countless marks all around them from what could only be infantry grade weapons. Holes and streaks marred nearly every surface they passed. Many of the bodies they saw, in gutted buildings and in the street, were also clearly victims of the Soldiers' wrath. They could hear weapons fire from deeper within the settlement. Along with human screams. This wasn't a battle; it was an extermination. Locke would swear he could feel Tanaka's eyes searing a hole through the side of his helmet. Osiris made their way towards the sounds of battle...of slaughter.

Try as he might, Locke could detect no human transmissions. It seemed the enemy was jamming comms. He didn't want to try breaking through. He lacked the expertise, not to mention the fact that it could enable the enemy to zero in on their location. They needed to maintain whatever element of surprise was left to them.

They came upon what appeared to be a last stand between some of the Security Forces and an assaulting force of Soldiers. The Security had set up several pieces of portable cover in front something called 'The Waterloo Pub'. Locke vaguely recalled it being one of the locations that had suffered a riot a few days ago. Shit, had it only been that long?

The Security Officers crouched behind the deployed cover. Said cover consisted mainly of high-density metal chest-high walls and a 5 meter tall guard tower. At least, he assumed it had been a guard tower. It seemed the Soldiers had concentrated their fire on it and melted it to slag. The portable cover seemed able to withstand quite a bit of sustained fire before failing; Locke wondered where they had acquired such quality gear.

The remaining Officers were putting up what Locke had to admit was a pretty good fight. They were armed with standard issue assault rifles and were wearing some kind of private security version of marine gear. Although, it seemed someone had skimped on the armor, as it appeared substantially less durable than the kind you'd see on a UNSC Marine. Regardless of their less than stellar armament, the Officers fought fiercely. Several of them were already wounded. One tough bastard was lacking an arm. He had rested his rifle on his cover, firing away with his right hand while what remained of his left arm was tied off with a tourniquet.

"Fireteam Osiris, let's help them out," Locke ordered, motioning his subordinates into position. Fortunately, there were no APCs or gunships present. There were only about a dozen Soldiers assaulting the line, which was more than enough to overwhelm the Security Force.

It was not enough to resist Osiris' surprise assault.

The depleted uranium rounds performed beautifully. Osiris had to exercise extreme trigger discipline, not wanting stray shots to penetrate the building, but they were still able to down their enemies far more easily than they would have otherwise. The hard-light armor was only able to take a few hits before failing, revealing the black underlayer. Locke wondered if there was some sort of crystal beneath the underlayer similar to the Warden Eternal's arm. Whatever composed their innards, it was unable to withstand Osiris' precision fire. They all died within a minute of the engagement commencing.

Once he was certain there were no more Soldier forces in the immediate area, Locke activated the loudspeaker function of his helmet.

"Attention Meridian citizens, this is Spartan Jameson Locke of the UNSC. My fireteam and I are here to offer assistance. We're going to approach your position. Do not fire, I repeat do not fire on us."

The Security Officers seemed to relax a bit, although they still kept their weapons pointed outward. Locke was pleased. The last thing he needed was for them to let their guard down. Locke and the other members of Fireteam Osiris approached the deployed cover.

"Who's in charge here, Officer?" he asked the most senior-looking of the defenders. These civilians lacked the Friend or Foe tags that would have transmitted their names and ranks to his armor's HUD. The Officers seemed to glance uncertainly at each other.

Another Officer stepped forward. "Uh, I guess that's me. It was Sgt. Kalani, but..." the Officer gestured to one of several deceased Officers lying just behind the deployed cover. Locke knew he needed to keep their minds off of the dead.

"What's your name, son?" Locke asked in an authoritative tone.

"O-Officer Delacroix, sir," he responded.

Locke nodded. "Status report, Officer Delacroix."

Delacroix took a moment to pull himself together. He began, "Well, shit's well and truly hit the fan. Less than an hour ago, I think, these...things just showed up outta nowhere. Kicked in the gate, started killin' their way to the Administrative Building. Meanwhile, their goddamn buzzards have been flyin' overhead, doing their level best to demolish the place." Delacroix grimaced. "I've got no idea how many of us are left. Comms are down, and the Governor isn't answering. The Station nearest here, Kalani's, mobilized as best it could; I couldn't even make it to my own. We've got a couple hundred people hunkered down inside the bar. That just about covers it, I think."

"What's the status of the automated defenses?" Locke asked, referring to the anti-aircraft and anti-infantry turrets scattered throughout Meridian Station. Some appeared to have been destroyed, but many were undamaged. Apparently the Soldiers didn't recognize the risk they posed. That, or they figured they were non-functional. Locke gestured to an anti-aircraft turret mounted on the roof of 'The Waterloo Pub' itself.

"Believe me, sir, I wish I knew," Delacroix replied. "We don't have the codes needed to access them. Not that we even could, with the power out. Only Governor Sloan could have handled that."

They made no outward sign of it, but Locke knew that the rest of his fireteam were glaring daggers at him.

There had to be some way to power and activate the defenses. They could turn the tide of the whole battle. Locke wracked his brain, trying to remember every detail he had learned about Meridian. A fact popped into the front of his mind.

"What about the backup fusion reactor buried in the center of the Station?" he asked. "Could that be activated?"

Delacroix seemed hopeful for a moment. Then, his face fell. "Ah, hell. The only place you could do that from would be the Administrative Building." They all looked to the pierced carcass of the former colony ship. None of them were eager to make that kind of trip.

"Wouldn't the power grid be too damaged to run it anyway?" Buck asked.

Locke shook his head. "No, the defenses run on a separate grid. It's buried underground, in case this exact kind of scenario were to happen." Locke paused a moment to think.

"Oh, shit," Buck said unexpectedly. Everyone else raised their weapons and scanned for enemies. "No no, there's nothing there," Buck assured them. "I just remembered something. Sir. There's a Scorpion tank a ways further into the city."

Everyone just stared at him.

"A Scorpion," Locke said, deadpan.

"Yeah, I know, it's ridiculous," Buck conceded, "but I saw the thing myself, sir. Someone at company headquarters must have a loose wire or something, because they sent a fully functional MBT out here. Could be mighty useful."

"Assuming we could get to it, get it started, and get it over here without drawing every hostile in the Station right to us," Locke retorted. He gave it a moment's thought. "But it's a significant force multiplier, I'll give you that."

Locke took stock of the situation. 'The Waterloo Pub' was built right in front of an enormous wall that separated the rest of the Settlement from warehouses storing valuable machinery and resources. The wall was 30 meters high and extended about 500 meters to the right and left of the building. To the immediate left and right were gates that allowed transports in and out of the secure area. Locke guessed that whoever built this place had just dropped it in the only available space left. He supposed that the gates were used infrequently enough that it didn't inconvenience patrons.

There was no parking lot, as few on Meridian possessed their own vehicles. There was, however, a wide open space of pavement directly across from the pub's entrance that was apparently meant to serve as an emergency landing pad.

At least there's room to breathe, he thought.

Locke quickly formulated a plan of action. It was risky, practically a Hail Mary play, but it was the best chance to save as many lives as they could.

"All right, here's the plan. Spartan Buck, you're going to make your way to the Administrative Building. You will enter the facility and make your way to the control systems, which you will use to activate the fusion reactor and authorize the usage of the auto-turrets. These hacking programs should be all you need to bypass the system's security," Locke said, handing Buck some data cubes. To Locke's relief, Buck didn't argue. He didn't even complain. It seemed the former ODST was used to impossible odds. "If you encounter any survivors along the way, tell them to head here but do not, I repeat DO NOT, compromise yourself in any way. If you don't make it, we all die. Understood?" Buck nodded. While he was a bit too soft to be an ONI agent, Buck still clearly understood the necessity of picking his battles. It was the few he met along the way, or the entire surviving population of Meridian.

"Spartan Vale," Locke continued, "you're on resource acquisition and search and rescue. Head to wherever Buck says that tank is stashed and bring it back here. We'll take control of it, and you'll go scour the ruins to get as many people back here as possible. This is our fortress. Understood?" Vale nodded resolutely. Locke had known that she would appreciate this duty more than any other.

Locke turned to the last member of his fireteam. "Spartan Tanaka, you and I will be leading the defenses here. It's our job to make this place as defensible as possible. We'll hunker down here, defending it until the Infinity arrives. You'll be responsible for holding off any gunships until the defenses come online; you'll be stationed on the roof. Buck, give her the Spartan Laser." Buck seemed hesitant to give up the weapon, but seemed to realize fairly quickly that they would need it far more than he possibly could. He handed over the anti-vehicle heavy weapon.

"Do you have any more of these portable defenses?" he asked Delacroix.

"Yeah, a few. Wasn't enough time to deploy all of 'em," the Security Officer replied, pointing at a Meridian Security truck parked a short distance away. Again, Locke wondered why the hell they were so well equipped. He decided these were questions for later.

"Good," Locke nodded. "I want you set these up around the rest of the building. I'll supervise you. Does anyone have any claymores?"

"I do," Tanaka responded, to Locke's complete lack of surprise. She handed them over to him.

Locke looked at the forces assembled before him. 3 Spartan IVs, 2 of which he was sending away, only 1 heavy weapon, some adequate defenses, and about 13 civilian Security Officers.

Well, I always wanted to be just like the Master Chief. Now I get to face odds like his, Locke thought wryly.

"Alright, people, it's game time. Break and execute."

Note: I got the depleted uranium stuff from wikipedia. If any of it's inaccurate, feel free to let me know.

Note: One of the things I've tried to focus on is Locke's perception of the Master Chief. The add campaigns seemed to suggest an interesting direction for him that I've been trying to pay off here. It's building to something, I promise.

Thanks for reading. Love you guys.

Slipspace Anomaly