A scene opens up with Atomsk playing a game on his Xbox one while waiting for TME to come.
A moment later, a figure came behind Atomsk and poked something at his back that seemed… barrel like… and the sound of a gun cocking was heard.
Atomsk jolts before he had his hands up.
"Don't want any trouble man." He said.
TME than entered the room before Atomsk and looks confused.
"Uh… why is a Halo Brute in the room?" TME said which showed that he had no idea about this… though he and Atomsk were confused when a shotgun barrel appeared from a doorway and well… for some reason the Doom slayer blasted the Brute on the head and entered the room really confusing the duo… though the Doom slayer passing a note to TME explained why he was here… seems he owe the Master chief one and decided to help repay him by helping TME and Atomsk before the Doom slayer opened a portel to hell… and after he walked through… TME looks at Atomsk.
"What the hell just happened!?" TME said when this was so random that this threw him for a loop.
"I don't know… I was playing classic halo and thought I was being robbed." Atomsk said as he was not expecting this.
"Well… I guess you were almost robbed of life and stuff… good thing the chief had the Doom Slayer to help… guess he somehow had a trip to hell?... probably wouldn't be too far fetched if there was a hell like planet and stuff in some alternate reality… anyway… mind explaining to the readers to help us get on track with this story please?" TME said when he noticed the readers saw this confusing moment.
"Right… reference puns aside… we like to introduce a new story that hasn't been done before… well for our side since other people have done it. Anyway… the new fic we're doing starts with one word… Halo… and no not the song from Beyoncé." Atomsk said.
"I am not a song person so I'll have to look that up later… anyway this story starts out on Halo 1… the version I played mainly is the one on steam from the Master chief collection… Atomsk… maybe similar?... anyway this story is well… guess a retelling of Halo 1 with some slight alterations like what if the Master chief had better allies on his end in battle like more spartans allies and helpers who didn't get killed by a grenade to the face or something." TME said while he rubs his head while he was looking up that Beyonce video.
"Yeah, no offense to the Marines but they hardly make it… except Sarg. Johnson. Guy can make it through any situation… though sucks he died in number 3." Atomsk said.
"Yeah… by a fucking annoying orb… hopefully we can change that since I remember that moment." TME said when he had bad memories of an annoying Halo obsessed floating bot from the game.
"Yes indeed hopefully… if the plot allows it." Atomsk said.
"For the first time in my writing life… screw that we will Deus Ex Machina levels of saving him… Sargent Johnson deserved better than getting blasted by a annoying orb… my memory is fuzzy on 3 since I need to replay the game on the Master chief collection but good grief… still thats in Halo 3… for now lets focus on 1 and stuff." TME said while he crossed his arms.
"Yes indeed. Though to start things off… would it be when the game starts or after the marines and Chief land on halo while the captain tries to land the autumn?" Atomsk said.
"Eh we can do this in space, make it a proper start so we can explain who does what in the team and how they fit in… foreshadow some info that can be used either in prequels or sequels… but mainly its just to explain the team with Chief's skills… again… easy to kill grunts so lets try and make this team a bit unique like Chief not being the only Spartan in the group… as far as I know… in canon at least, we will have an OC or two as spartans with Chief in this story so he won't be the only super soldier at least… maybe a few hours before to explain how certain human OC's can keep up with the chief to support him and the other spartans… I may have a twist with Emerald though that I can explain later… for now he may as well be the weakest on the team… but probably has the best armor though to compensate since he would be helping Chief and what not more than the others with handing weapons at least… Chief is pretty much on the front lines… were its easy to get killed so you either go heavy armor or just become a stain on the ground." TME said before sweatdropping at some… flashbacks he had of large scale halo battles gone wrong.
Atomsk also sweatdrops.
"True… especially if you try to beat the game on legendary and that's a mega bitch."
"Well for you that maybe a pain… I never went legendary… at least as far as I know… either normal difficulty or hard mode?... either way got killed a lot… still lets get into the story and just a warning… possibly after chapter 1 will be lemons, may have lemons in chapter 1 depending on things… either way you all have been warned." TME said while he looks at the readers.
"Indeed and FYI… Legendary is the hardest mode so to any newbies that read this and play Halo for the first time… good luck." Atomskn said.
"*Shudder*... yeah… if you have trouble like me on normal or hard… good freaking luck… anyway lets go a bit before the start and…" TME said as the scene shifts to…
?/?/?
Space… the final frontier for some like people getting killed far over orbit or in large tactical space battles… for others… just another way to travel from planet to planet… and currently there was a ship flying through space called the Pillar of Autumn looking for a certain something in space… one that could change a certain war the crew were fighting in…
"Cortana… All I need to know is… did we lose them?" Said a man's voice in the bridge of the ship.
"I think we both know the answer to that…" A Robotic or digitally distorted female sounding female voice said as the camera focused on the bridge of the space ship.
Upon closer look, the man in question, seems to be wearing a Captain's uniform with the nameplate that said "Keyes".
The man sighs.
"I don't understand. We made a blind jump. How could they…" He said but was finished by the AI.
"Get here first?, the covenant ships have always been faster… as for tracking us from Reach at light-speed my maneuvering options were limited." The female voice said while the man walked around a complex looking bridge that had tech far beyond what current science was capable of.
"We were running dark, yes?" Captain Keyes said as he approached one of the monitors.
"Until we decelerated, no one could have missed the hole we tore in sub-space… they were waiting for us on the far-side of the planet…" The voice said to Captain Keyes.
The captain sighs.
"So… where do we stand?" He said as he walk to the front of the bridge.
"Our fighters are mopping up the last of the recon picket now, nothing serious…. But I've isolated approaching signatures for multiple CCS-class battle groups… make it three capitol ships per group… and in 90 seconds will be all over us." the female voice said as the captain looks at some kind of holographic monitor.
"Well that's it. Bring this ship back up to combat alert Alpha. I want everyone at their station." The captain said as alarm bells were heard.
"Everyone sir?" The voice said.
"Everyone." Keyes said with a serious look before looking at the pedestal-like object.
"And Cortana…"
"Hmmm?" the female voice said showing a small holographic blue woman on the pedestal while she looks at the captain… this was Cortana the AI.
"Let's give our old friend… a warm welcome." Keyes said.
"I've Already begun." the now identified Cortana said as the scene fades to white… before time went back to a couple hours earlier showing a couple men looking outside of a window… this man wasn't physically impressive next to his friend… the less imposing guy had brown hair while the man near the less impressive man had either blue dyed hair or some kind of odd mutation happened to give him blue hair.
"Hey Cedric?" the brown haired man said while he looks at the man now known as Cedric.
"Yeah?" Cedric asked while the brown haired man spoke.
"Ever wonder why we are here?" The brown haired man said while he looks out the window.
Cedric sighs.
"Sometimes I wonder that myself, Emerald. Why are we here? Were we out here by fate or… is God challenging us? I don't know the answers to those questions."
"What?... no I mean why were we put on this ship to such an important mission since we heard this could turn the tide of the war when more experienced soldiers could be where we are." The brown haired man named Emerald said while he wondered what Cedric was on about.
"Huh? Oh right. Sorry. Still torn that Reach had fallen. Along with the team I had worked with." Cedric said as he had a sad look.
"Oh… sorry about snapping man, was just wondering about some things and just wanted to talk… look lets change the subject… you know we have a squad of Spartan in stasis pods right?... heard that once we get to the… wherever its called?... they will be woken up and stuff… I got this odd mission and armor I'm suppose to wear… apparently I'm supporting the Master Chief, spartan of spartans by carrying and using weapons for him so he can focus on fighting and not worry about running out of guns to shoot… insane right?... why I got that mission from Dr. Halsey when guys like you are around I'll never know… not even sure why I was put on this ship… I mean as far as I know I'm a barely trained soldier." Emerald said as he looks at a touch screen phone he had on him that had various pictures and what not which Cedric recognized as top secret stuff from some of the words there… especially one line… support the Master chief… seemed like orders from Halsey the creator of the spartan program than anything else…
"Who knows. Though considering it's orders from the Doc herself, she has her reasons. I'm surprised I'm still living even after I helped the last spartan group to bring in the AI to the captain." Cedric said.
"Yeah… shame you got knocked out by that other Spartan with you at the time… we had to leave him behind so he could use a land based railgun on a covenant ship so we could get away… shortly after heard the place was ravaged or glassed or whatever… so try and not do anything that will get you killed by Covenant anytime soon alright?... pretty sure if he forced you here, you got something he saw to help guard Cortana that… AI the captain put in the ship?... hard to say since best I saw was some kind of container but after we brought you in to the med bay, I followed the captain as he installed her… friendly AI and what not after we took the jump to sub-space… got these orders from Cortana for some reason when she looked surprised to see me… said it was a contingency if she and I ever met and stuff… not sure why though… maybe a Halsey thing but why me?... as far as I'm aware I'm no spartan… I mean you're a stronger guy… related to a spartan or a spartan yourself?... not as tall as some I heard about but I could be wrong." Emerald said while he rubs his chin.
Cedric rubbed his head.
"Well you never know. Dr. Halsey recruits some unique people for her spartan program during her years of service. It could depend on your family bloodline. Between you and me… I have a grandad that was a spartan. Sadly… I never met the man. Father told me how in his last known location… Gramps disappears along with the crew of the ship… Spirit of Fire. 60 years and no one has heard them."
"60 years ago?... was Dr. Halsey alive at the time or did she take over after the Spartan-I program?... I mean if there was a Spartan-II program… was there a 1 or was it under a different name?... know what… I'm just confusing myself more… want to see the armor I got?" Emerald said while he looks at Cedric with a small smile to see if a subject change was good or not.
"Sure." Cedric said with an interested look.
Emerald nods as he and Cedric walk through the ship… though as they were walking by a door… it opened to show Sargent Johnson and Emerald and Cedric in reflex salute amusing the Sargent a bit.
"Sir." Cedric said.
"At ease Soldiers, what are you two doing here though instead of getting ready for landing in a few hours?... make sure your weapons are prime and ready to prevent jams and stuff?" Johnson said while Emerald cleared his throat.
"Actually going to show Cedric my armor sir… not sure if you were told but I was given position of the Master Chief's spotter and weapon handler so he would have weapons at the ready but I can also use them in case he needs support in battle… Dr. Haley's orders that I got from Cortana… I'm not sure why considering stronger soldiers are around me… but got some sweet armor on board as a result and stuff… probably something in advance just in case since I don't think we had time to add stuff to Cargo and heard the armor was sent to my room." Emerald explained while he looks at the Sargent who gave him a look over for a moment and hums.
"Hmmm… perhaps… but bright side, you're partnering up with the Chief. Just try not to die and all." Sgt. Johnson said.
"H-Hehe… right… do you need anything with the Corperal before we go to my room to check on the armor Sir?" Emerald asked while he looks at the Sergeant with a slightly nervous look.
"Well right now, the captain needs him at the bridge. Can happen after this." Johnson said.
"I-I see… well Cedric lets get going so we won't keep the captain waiting." Emerald said as he salutes the Sargent and ran off leaving Cedric and Johnson alone for a moment.
"Interesting kid. Something tells me he'll be very important later." Cedric said.
"He… unlikely with the way he acts nervous… tell me that when he has some Covenant kills under his belt and I maybe believe you… anyway Corporal… you have your orders, after the armor viewing, to the bridge to talk with the captain." Johnson said as he gave a light salute to Cedric before Johnson walks away from the blue haired corporal.
"Right." Cedric said as he head towards Emerald's direction.
As Johnson walks away… he looks thoughtful.
"Dr. Halsey eh?... maybe that kid is more than we expect… better make sure he doesn't kick the bucket anytime soon." Johnson said as the scene went to Emerald's room with Cedric entering to show that at the foot of Emerald's bed was surprisingly a Spartan armor changing stand… most Spartans need help getting armor on despite their strength so it was a surprise that Emerald was getting… even if it looked more normal human sized… actual spartan armor… still no details on the armor since Emerald didn't open it yet and Emerald looks at Cedric.
"Hey Cedric… ready to see how the armor looks on me when I equip it?" Emerald said while he starts to get undressed minus his underwear and a tank top which he kept on.
"Alright then." Cedric said as he was curious on the armor.
Emerald nods before he inputs a code he had and in no time the case opened to show Emerald walking in… a minute later the changing process starts as Cedric watched as Emerald's armor pieces were equipped one by one until he exits with heavy footsteps… in a nutshell he didn't have the normal spartan armor by a long shot… no… closest comparison was a human sized yet bulky as hell green and black version… of the Hulkbuster armor more or less… thick as hell like a tank yet Emerald was able to move his arms around thanks to special joints and systems he had so he could have full range of motion… had to be careful of moving around though since he looked to have balance issues in the bulky armor but if one wanted to stay safe, this armor would do it… probably a new type of spartan armor prototype made for human soldiers or something… still something told Cedric this armor was unique for Emerald and Emerald alone for now since he never saw anything as advanced as this.
"So… what do you think?... think I look like a spartan?... granted seems a bit bulky but hey… should have good defense right?" Emerald said while he comically flexed his arms sure he maybe bulky but Cedric was amused since Emerald was still shorter than Cedric even with the armor on.
Cedric was thoughtful.
"Not bad. Hopefully the armor will help you in tough situations." He said.
"Thanks." Emerald said while Cedric grins.
"Still shorter than a spartan though." Cedric said while Emerald gave Cedric a half lidded look… and the visor seemed to emote for Emerald with a half lidded look itself to most likely help convey emotions.
"Considering this armor is made for heavy weapon carrying… could punch you through a wall here." Emerald said while Cedric looks amused.
"And you would be court marshalled for it… now come on we need to head to the bridge… maybe Cortana could help you with that armor and stuff and you may as well practice walking in that suit." Cedric said as Emerald comically grumbles as he followed the corporal with heavy footsteps.
Though before that, Cedric had his marine corporal uniform on however… it was unique looking for some reason but can be explained later.
After stopping by Cedric's room to let him change, the duo went to the bridge and after Emerald had to turn his body a bit to fit between some communication posts of the bridge, he and Cedric made it to the captain's bridge and the duo salute the captain… or Emerald tried to in his case but lack of practice made him hit his head and had comical swirl emots on his visor showing he was dazed now and his shields took a small hit before recharging which made Cortana giggle when she was on the pedestal near the captain.
"Captain Keyes. Apologies for the tardiness and also for Emerald. He's still getting used to the armor as you can see." Cedric said.
"I see… well hopefully it will help since he will be on the front lines with the Master chief… and considering he has orders from Dr. Halsey as Cortana said which she won't explain why… something about an order from Dr. Halsey… I'll ignore it for now… anyway Cedric reason why I summoned you here is simple… you'll be assigned a partner soon so you will have backup when we reach our destination… its going to be a deadly mission so similar to Emerald, you'll be assigned to one of the Spartan as backup and as a squadmate… considering you fought alongside other Spartans on Reach your expertise will be necessary… do you have any questions before I tell you who the Spartan you'll be working with is?" Keyes said while he had his hands behind his back.
Cedric was surprised by this news but stood firm.
"No sir. Just hoping the spartan I will work with will get along."
"Good… your Spartan is known from her training as Black Fire for her ferocity with flame based weapons, her armor which is black and red in coloring, and she will be one of the four spartans woken… her name is Azure Solara, treat her with respect because she could kick you through a wall if you so much as look at her funny… not kidding… she kicked a commander like me through a door when he got a bit… handsy with her… took Dr. Halsey getting in the way to stop her from actually killing that poor excuse of a commander." Keyes said while frowning at how stupid some Commanders were.
Cedric blinks a bit after hearing that.
"Uh I see… and I'll make sure not to be like that dumb commander."
"Good… anyway in a number of hours the Spartans will be woken, the other two Spartans will be split and join Chief and Azure so in a nutshell there will be two three man elite teams we can use for missions… Chief and Azure are the main combatants… Cedric and Emerald will be backup unless you two will be forced to act, and the other two Spartans will make sure that the chief and Azure will survive their encounters and make sure you two stay alive… make no mistake, this will be dangerous so I need to know if you two are ready for this… we have a number of hours before we reach our destination so think this thoroughly." Keyes said while he had a serious steeled look in his eyes.
Cedric was not phased by the look.
"I will see this mission through. I will make sure to show the enemy bastards that humanity still has a fighting chance."
"Y-Yeah!... I'll do my best as well… not sure how well I'll be but I'll give 110%!" Emerald said while he looks determined with comical determined eyes which showed as narrowed eyes emote on his visor.
Cortana giggles again.
"They are definitely up for it Captain."
"Good… anyway unless you two need something else, you're dismissed." Keyes said while he salutes Emerald and Cedric and Emerald moved to leave while he looks thoughtful in his helmet while he looks to see if Cedric would follow him or not.
Cedric was quiet before he went to follow Emerald after saluting the captain.
Once this happened, the scene shifts back to the present… when Emerald and Cedric went to see the Chief and the other Spartan's getting woken from the cryo-sleep.
The men in the upper area were working to wake up the other spartans from the cryo sleep and Emerald saw that the Master chief would be woken first followed by Azure, than the other two in order by automatic procedure, thanks to how smooth the process went Chief's pod opened and he got out of the pod while he cracked his neck as the technician speaks with chief.
"Sorry for the quick thaw Master Chief. Things are a… bit hectic right now. The disorientation should pass quickly." Said one technician.
"Welcome back sir. We'll have you and the rest, battle ready and stat." The other technician said.
After the Chief nods and what not, the other Spartans were woken from their Cryo sleep, four in total… as Chief was getting some last minute checkup on one side… Emerald saw that the other spartans were female, one in black and red armor, another in a mix of pink and red, and the other was a reverse of sorts… either fashion or what not… either way Emerald walked up to the trio to introduce himself.
"Hello… I'm Emerald, I'm here to support John or the Master Chief, given special armor from Dr. Halsey apparently so I can well… not die anytime soon." Emerald said to the spartans who look at him.
"Hello… I'm Azure Solara… these two are Maite and Rachel, sisters biologically and trained at the same time… are you a spartan?... You seem short for one." Azure bluntly said while Emerald looks at the ground.
"N-No… I'm a normal human unfortunately… Cedric here is of spartan descent and is a Corporal here on the Pillar of Autumn… I'm a rookie or a basic soldier compared to him." Emerald said while his visor had a visible sweatdrop icon as he looks up making the majority blue armored Spartan woman hum.
"Emoting visor?... pretty cute… how come our armor doesn't do that?... I'm Rachel by the way in case your confused… my sister here has the mostly pink armor." Rachel said while she looks at Cedric.
"Hmmm… not bad looking for a Corporal… given the rank at a young age or something?" Rachel said while she sounds amused when she looks at Cedric.
Cedric may have blush from that but cleared his throat.
"T-Thanks. I made sure to work hard to get where I am." He said before looking at Azure.
"Nice to meet you ma'am I was ordered by the captain to be your helper. I promise you I won't slow you down or do something stupid."
"I see… well we will see when we get into combat, for now we should make sure this checkup goes well before doing anything else." Azure said while Emerald looks at Maite.
"Matter of fact she is, it seems." Emerald said when he wondered what Maite would say given she hasn't spoken yet.
"Yeah pretty much but she is nice… if you don't cross her." Maite said.
"R-Right… good thing the more experience Cedric is with her, he fought with some spartans on Reach before it was destroyed so hopefully he will do better than I… knowing my luck, best I'll be used for is a meatshield or suicide bombing given all the weapons I'll be carrying soon." Emerald said while rubbing his helmet covered head while he emotes a squinty eye look on his visor.
All Maite did was pat Emerald on the back as Rachel looks at Cedric.
"Really? Other Spartans?"
"Yes… Noble Team." Cedric said.
"Noble team?... may have been in Cryo so may need to ask about them later." Azure said when she looks curious as Chief finished his main diagnostics and everyone did the same before the four spartans were tested with their shields… good thing to because once the fourth spartan was cleared with their shield thankfully since it would be needed when everyone heard a commotion from the upper area of the Cryo deck.
There was plasma blasts coming from the area where the other technician was.
"Oh no! Intruders!" He said before he was shot dead.
"Sam!… We gotta get the hell out of here." The technician said before he tries to lead the group.
As the group gave chase, the technician was killed in an explosion when he was approaching some doors… this made the group take a different route when the group had to slip through a hole and Emerald was glad he was able to get by barely in his armor… though Cedric had to run behind the others since he had no armor on at the moment and no weapons so he was pretty much defenseless in offense and defense…
Cedric grunted before he was able to catch up.
They were heading to a hallway before they were spotted by a big blue alien.
Before it could fire, other Marines showed up and shoot it away.
The group than ran on towards the Bridge while avoiding getting hit by a number of bullets plasma or normal… comically or thankfully, Emerald was rushing ahead as a door opened and as a blue alien, or a Elite to some tried to get in their way but Emerald used his armors heavy state to pretty much shoulder tackle the guy and used a couple good hits to stun the Elite and Emerald chased the group while he ran like his life was on the line which it was making him comically fast for someone in heavy armor.
After a few close calls, the group made it to the bridge.
That's when the chief spoke.
"Captain Keyes."
"Good to see you Master Chief… same to the rest of you as well." Keyes said when he shook Master chief's hand and looks at everyone in the room.
"Likewise, Captain. Shame it was under different circumstances." Maite said.
"Indeed, things are not going well, and while Cortana did her best, we never really had a chance." Keyes said while he looks at the group.
That's when Cortana appears.
"A dozen Covenant superior battle-ships against a Halcyon class cruiser… with those odds I am content to 3… Make that four kills." She said before looking at Chief.
"Sleep well?"
"No thanks to your driving, yes." Master Chief said.
"So you did miss me." Cortana said with a smile.
"Can we save the flirts for after we escape near destruction?" Azure said with a her shaking her head as the bridge suddenly shook nearly knocking everyone over as Emerald caught Maite on reflex when she felt his way… funnily enough being so heavy made him pretty stable so he was the only one who didn't nearly fall over.
Maite was a bit surprised.
"Thanks." She said.
Before more words were said, Keyes looked at Cortana.
"Report!" He said.
"It must have been one of their boarding parties… I'd wager an anti-mater charge." Cortana said as one of the ships firing technicians look at her.
"Ma'am!, fire control for the main cannon is off-line!" The crewman said as Cortana frowns and looks at Keyes.
"Captain, the cannon was my last offensive option." Cortana said while Keyes frowns.
"Alright then… I'm initiating Cole Protocol, Article 2, we're abandoning the Autumn… That means you to Cortana." Keyes said while he points at Cortana.
"While you do what?, go down with the ship?" Cortana said while she raised a digital eyebrow.
"In a manner of speaking, the object we found, I'm going to try and land the Autumn on it." Keyes said while he points at some object on the monitor while Cortana raised an objection.
"With all due respect, Sir, this war has enough dead heroes…" Cortana said when she had a serious look on her face.
Captain Keyes sighs.
"I appreciate your concern Cortana, but it's not up to me. Protocol is clear… destruction or capture of a shipboard AI is beyond unacceptable. You're leaving the ship no matter what."
Keyes than looks at the monitor.
"Lock in a selection of emergency landing zones, upload them to my neural-lace, and than sort yourself for a hard transfer." Keyes ordered as Cortana looks a bit upset.
"Aye, Aye, Sir." Cortana said before she flickered and vanished off the podium as Keyes looks at the Master Chief.
"Which is where you come in Chief… Get Cortana off this ship, keep her safe from the enemy… if they capture her, they'll learn everything, force deployment… weapons Research… Earth… that goes double for the rest of you… protect the Master chief no matter what and if something happens to him, make sure Cortana gets somewhere safe… and as a last resort if your about to be captured and there is no way to get Cortana to safety… destroy her… like I said she knows all of those things and we can't let the covenant know anything about this." Keyes said while he looks at the others around Chief.
The group were quiet but understood the risk.
"Aye sir. We understand." Cedric said.
"Indeed… I understand." Chief said as Cortana appeared one more time.
"The Autumn will continue evasive maneuvers until you initiate a landing sequence, Not that you'll listen, but I'd suggest letting my sub-routines handle the final approach…" Cortana said while she looks at everyone.
"Excellent work Cortana… thank you… are you ready?" Keyes said as he looks at the monitor.
Cortana took one last look of the bridge of the Autumn before nodding her head.
"Yank me."
Keyes nods as he worked to make sure Cortana was safely stored in a data chip… when she was pulled from the podium… he looks at the Master chief while handing her to him.
"Good luck, Master Chief." Keyes said while he held Cortana's chip to the chief.
Chief takes the chip and inserts it in the back of his helmet.
And after a moment, he spoke.
"Don't get any funny ideas." Chief said… guess Cortana was loaded in his helmet now and was making a joke about Chief's armor… after this Keyes handed chief an unloaded pistol.
"I don't keep it loaded son, you'll have to find ammo as you go… good luck everyone, may God have mercy on us all." Keyes said while many nod and Emerald moved ahead of the group acting like a large wall that everyone followed… since no one else had weapons besides the chief, Emerald would have to fight for a bit since he could take hits with his shielded armor.
Cedric was next to Emerald since he was a helper as well while the Spartans followed.
After a few moments, they were spotted by some grunts.
They charged their ammo and one of them shot at Azure but Cedric got in the way but instead of getting hit, he surprisingly brings out a plasma like shield from his forearm and blocks it.
Though thanks to that being a fully charged plasma shot it temporarily shorted out whatever Cedric was using and Emerald growls as he bum rushed the grunts bowling them over as Chief, Maite, and Rachel rushed to grab charging pistols and used them to kill the grunts while Emerald looks at Cedric.
"OK… mind explaining why you have a shield grafted in your arm man?... you don't look like you're wearing armor so unless you have cybernetics or are a robot, pretty sure you shouldn't be able to do that." Emerald said while sounding pretty curious.
Cedric just smirked before he pulls a sleeve and shoves off a mechanical arm.
"Lost an arm when an elite cut me before I ended him. Had to kill a jackal too and took his shield. Was pretty handy. When they got me a new arm, I had them add this to it." He said.
"Oh… sounds painful for the removal and graft…" Emerald said before he and the others were distracted when Emerald got a plasma grenade stuck to his ass and he screams when it went off covering him in smoke while may look shocked with Cedric being the most worried.
"EMERALD!" Cedric called having flashbacks of Reach though coughing was heard and the grunts who saw this were shocked when Emerald waved the dust away from his face while his shield shockingly didn't break but just went to yellow before it regened… damn when Dr. Halsey gave him heavy duty armor, he got heavy duty armor… it would take 2 to 3 grenades of game logic plasma grenades to take him down as Emerald looks at the grunts while he had a comical tick mark emoji on his visor showing he was pissed as a Grunt points at another to show who threw that but Emerald roars when he charged them and pretty much larieted both into a wall.
The group was a bit stunned.
"Whoa… now we can see why the doc gave him that armor." Cedric said.
"Indeed… hey Cortana… think it would be safer in his armor than mine?" Chief said when he saw how tanky Emerald's armor was.
Cortana hummed as she did an analysis.
Surprisingly Emerald's armor when looked into had various failsafes and blocks in it that blocked even her from getting access unless a special password was given to the armor by Dr. Halsey herself… so unless Emerald put her directly in his helmet… chances are she couldn't transfer into it.
"Nope. That armor will not accept me." Cortana said.
"Seriously?... even if you and the armor were made by Dr. Halsey?" Chief asked as he had Cortana open a line to everyone so they could hear this… though Emerald was too busy throwing grunts against the wall to hear this over blaster fire…. Guess he went from support to a berserker like tank since everyone else barely had weapons.
"Hello everyone that can hear me. As it turns out that this armor that Emerald has is specially guarded. Unless he or Cedric got the password from Halsey…" Cortana said making Cedric shook his head.
"Nope."
"… then if Emerald doesn't know, I can't get in." Cortana said.
"Well considering he is busy with smashing some Covanent… doubt we can ask now… for now grab whatever weapons you can get from the downed enemies everyone, lets use theses weapons to turn the tides as we work to an escape pod." Azure said while she got another plasma pistol and tossed it to Cedric.
"Thanks for the save by the way, maybe after we get to a good time to relax, I can reward you for saving my life." Azure said with a teasing tone to her voice as she walked from Cedric with swaying hips.
Cedric blinks a bit as Rachel giggles.
"That goes double for me to Mr. Corporal." She said before teasing Cedric as well making Cortana chuckle.
"Already plan to get lucky I see?"
As Cedric blushed when he was thrown off by the flirts, the chief gently pushed Cedric from behind after Emerald as he worked to clobber many grunts in his way… hell even Brutes had trouble with adjusting to sudden punches from him… in no time everyone minus Emerald who was still using super powered punches for now knocked a brute through a door into a room with a few soldiers who gunned the brute before he could get up and Cedric and the others were able to get many weapons now… comically Emerald was able to stick weapons to the back of his arms magnetically and with a small feature that allowed a small metal bit to pull the trigger on a mental command… he was now able to duel wield and fire rifle bullets rapid fire from both arms while other weapons were stuck to his body here and there so they wouldn't impede his movement yet people could pull the ones off his back, legs, shoulders, pretty much everywhere minus his arms and use them as replacements and the group took advantage of that by placing many rifles, pistols and even covanant weapons on Emerald so he was a walking arsonal many could use for their own gain like he was suppose to and could defend himself if needed.
"Alright… let's get to shooting." Cedric said as he already shot a few grunts already when the group advances.
The chief moved ahead to take down an elite with a well placed shot to the underside of his head while Emerald used another feature to fire a grenade from a holder in his armor giving him plenty of accuracy with explosives…
Maite had rushed to take on two brutes and she shot the guy in the dick or where one would be which made him get wide eyes and fell to his knees as Maite shot his ally in the head and finished off the other with a bullet to the brain.
Rachel on her end threw a grenade at a group of grunts and fired at it when it got close exploding it in the air killing a number of grunts.
Azure on her end moved with surprising speed and slugged a Brute in the gut winding him before she moved behind him and snapped his neck easily and used a couple pistols to hit many grunts running her way.
"Nice one." Cedric said before he throws a grenade far and comically lands behind a couple of jackals and… boom.
This results in the area being cleared for now while many marines sigh in relief from the breather they could get.
"Whew… so glad you guys came." Said one marine.
"Don't thank us yet, need to get to escape pods." Emerald said while he looks worried since if Covenant could come here this far, more would not be far behind.
That's when there was a big shake.
"What the hell?!… did something just hit us?" Said one Marine before another looked at one direction.
"Quickly, to the airlock!" He said.
"The Escape pods you nimrod!" Another said as the group left a different way than the marines.
Most sweatdropped but went in that direction.
However, two marines were killed by an explosion before the covenant forces came out.
This results in Master chief and the others rushing back when they heard that and fought to support the marines again… this helped some of the marines survive as Master chief used a kick to put a Grunt who tried to suicide run the group and this results in many grunts getting killed in multiple explosions.
After this matter was settled… the group separated from the marines again after making sure the marines had weapons and the group continues to fight their way to the escape pods, stop to fight, and do this again and again until…
The group were able to reach to an escape pod.
Cedric helped to make sure to cover the Spartans he fired at some incoming Covenant forces.
However thanks to a quick head count of seats, Emerald noticed that only three people could fit in with the marines.
"Hey Cedric, you, Azure, and Rachel head ahead, Chief, Maite, and I will take another escape pod… try and make a base where we can regroup." Emerald said as he blocked some gun fire from hitting anyone nearby.
Cedric didn't want to but sees one seat available and they were out of time.
"Fine… you guys better stay alive when we find you." He said before he threw a grenade and jumped inside the pod.
After the escape pod closed when Emerald nods and closed it after Azure and Rachel got in, he watched as the escape pod launched and looks at Maite and chief.
"OK… just in case… Cortana if you can hear me… are there any working escape pods that the covenant didn't notice or blow up?" Emerald asked when he looks at chief mainly since she was in his helmet.
"Checking… there is. And it's almost gonna leave so better hop to it." Cortana said.
"Right… though pretty sure if I hop to it I may break through the floor hehe." Emerald said to lighten the mood though a plasma grenade sticking to him did made him grumble before it blew up and as the dusts settles he looks at a elite who looked surprised as Emerald looks at chief and Maite.
"I'll save the jokes for later… for now to quote that movie I liked as a kid… its Clobbering time!" Emerald said as he rushed and shoulder tackled an elite through a doorway into some grunts.
Maite was a bit surprised by this.
"All I can say this… wow."
"Indeed… lets go… Cortana link mine and Maite's navigation function in the armors we have so we know where the escape pod is." Chief said since with the Pillar of Autumn taking so much damage, it would be hard to get around without navigation and given how advanced the armors were, unlike in the game, there can be a navigation function in the armor for short range GPS if needed… or long range for a planet level GPS.
After a second, Cortana spoke up.
"Done. You both should be following the navigation in your helmets."
"Good… lets go Maite." Chief said as he moved to rush by Emerald and used an assault rifle to gun down a number of grunts and brutes in his way.
Maite did the same as she uses a pistol to shoot a few grunts on the head before she punches an elite down.
As the group with Emerald following behind to act like a shield against attacks from the back, the group noticed that a few lifeboats were getting destroyed… thankfully not the one with Cedric and the others in it…
"The Covenant are destroying the Lifepods… they really don't want us on that ring." Cortana said when she noticed how desperate the covenant was.
As the group continued to run they were stopped when some blast doors closed.
"Blast doors closing… need to find another way." Cortana said as the group approached some kind of maintenance hole and Emerald looks nervous.
"Oh great… a tight squeeze and my armor is bulky as hell… will I even fit?" Emerald said while Cortana speaks up.
"Well… you will… but you'll have to walk left to right with a serious crouch… at the very least you won't get stuck if your careful but try and stay calm as you do so… pretty sure if you do you either have to get lucky if the captain manages to land the Pillar of autumn… or your shields can withstand a ship level crash… not sure if the armor can withstand that and I don't think you want to test that inside of it." Cortana said making Emerald gulp as the group worked to go through the tunnels while Emerald slowly moved behind the group… after a moment with the group getting ambushed or Maite and Chief getting ambushed while Emerald was slowed greatly and the two spartans worked to kill the Covanent before them… and after checking to make sure Emerald didn't get stuck, the group continues towards an escape pod while fighting more covenant.
"You know… I think the worst thing about all of this is me getting a phobia of tight places if I'm not careful… please tell me there are no more blast doors closed." Emerald said while his visor showed a nervous look emoji on the front.
"Hmmm… right now no… for the moment." Cortana said.
"Good." Emerald said as he ran behind Maite and Chief… after gunning down more covenant and getting by a few blocks in the road so to speak with the dreaded Maintance tunnels… the trio heard Cortana talk about one final life boat off the Pillar of autumn… thankfully when the group made it and the chief helped a soldier on board who fell… Chief looks at the pilot.
"Punch it." Chief said while Emerald sat near the door since the seats wouldn't hold him as Maite went to get seated properly.
"Aye-aye sir!" Said the pilot before she pressed some buttons and the life pod launched.
After this the life boat flew through space as the pilot talked about minimum distance… though many in the life boat were surprised to see a large ring like structure in space… granted Cortana mentioned a ring once but this really awed many.
Though the awe was short lived when the co-pilot of the life boat mentioned something about the Autumn being hit with Cortana quickly getting various signals.
"I knew it… The Autumn's accelerating. Keyes is going in manual." Cortana said as the Autumn was getting hit on both sides.
Many look worried as the ship flew by but the escape pod entered the atmosphere of the Ring with the pilot telling many to get ready for landing… though Emerald on his end moved to mimic chief and stands when he held onto two bars near him.
Still after the pilot hits the breaking system to slow themselves in the air… to her horror she noticed they were going way too fast.
"We're coming in too fast." The pilot said before parts of the life pod starts to break away.
"Damn!… system failure… I breaker too early."
The life pod was getting closer to the ground before the pilot shouts out.
"Brace for impact!" She said before everything went white.
When the chief came to with a slight groan… he was hearing Cortana's voice.
"Chief! Chief!… Can you hear me?" Cortana shouts.
Chief's vision cleared to show a totaled life boat and many dead marines… Maite was thankfully coming too but Emerald was nowhere to be see… given the bodies the chief saw outside of the life boat, he was probably thrown out on impact out of view.
"Damn…" Chief said as he went to check on Maite first and saw that though her shields broke for the most part, they took the brunt of the damage for her… nothing a med kit or two wouldn't fix.
"W-What happened?" Maite said.
"Well we landed. You and the Chief are okay… No sign of Emerald but the others… didn't make it." Cortana said.
"Indeed… we have no time to mourn or look for Emerald though since chances are Covenant will be after us… if we run into Emerald we will help him but for now we should get out of this life boat and see where we are." Chief said as he grabbed a pistol that was intact on the ground and tossed another to Maite… they had a mission and had to do it for the greater good.
"Yeah… scans show multiple covenant ships approaching… if we take to the hills near here, if we're lucky the covenant will believe that everyone on board this lifeboat died in the crash." Cortana said when she did a quick scan of the area to find a way out of here and found a path leading to some hills.
Maite wanted to find Emerald but… they had a mission before the duo went to the hills to take cover.
As Maite followed Chief, the duo walked up a hill taking care of some covenant that got in their way before they heard Cortana speaking up.
"Heads up you two. I'm detecting another life boat beacon over the next hill. There could be other survivors."
"Right… get ready to fight Maite… I can hear gunfire." Chief said as he loaded his pistol.
"Same here." Maite said as she readied her rifle that survived the crash.
In no time, Maite and Chief worked to attack many covenant that tried to attack them, many covanent got their heads blown clean off or riddled with bullets and though a few marines did die in the fight, thanks to Maite and the Master Chief appearing, casualties were at a minimum.
Though the group could barely take a minute to breath when a covenant dropship starts to show.
"Oh boy… how many of these guys are there!?" One marine said as the dropship lands and was about to drop off some brutes and elites though…
"I AM AN INDESTRUCTIBLE GOD OF WAR!" A familar voice yells distracting the covenant as Emerald suddenly appeared from some treelines nearby and pretty much tackles a number of elites destroying their shields and knocking the wind out of them.
"Emerald?!" Maite said as she was surprised but happy that he was okay.
Emerald got up and quickly slugged another nearby Brute in the head which caused some havoc with the Covenant near the dropship as a Marine looks at the others.
"Well what are you waiting for!... attack while they are confused." the marine ordered snapping the other marines out of their stupor and they charged the elites, with Emerald slugging a few brutes and elites with enough strength to break their shields, they couldn't withstand the barrage of bullets and in no time the group of covanent were defeated as Emerald pants a bit while he quickly looks around comically, unfortunately there was one more drop ship coming their way and Emerald moved like a man on a mission towards it since he had stronger armor than most… granted he was slower than most but since he could withstand a lot of punishment in his armor, Cortana looks amused when she speaks through Chief's communication speaker.
"Seems he's getting your kill streak, a run of your money." Cortana said.
"More like shield breaking instead of killing… lets go Maite and finish these guys off." Chief said as he rushed to follow Emerald who jumped and lands on a covenant breaking his shields and Emerald slugged him a few times to kill him before he went to grab a covenant brute and threw him into an elite.
Maite nods her head as she went to help assist the Marines and Emerald.
Thanks to this, in no time many Covenant were killed and though some put up a good fight nearly killing the group when they threw many plasma grenades at the group and while chief moved out of the way, Emerald went to rush at Maite when she was busy killing an elite and missed a grenade for a second… this though got Emerald to pick her up bridal style and rushed away from the grenades with a panicked look when they blew up.
Maite was very surprised at the action which caused her to blush even though her helmet covered her face before an explosion was heard.
After this the group of Spartans, armored soldier, and marines worked to fight the Covenant… they managed to finish off the last Covenant and the group finally had a moment to breath… or did they when a covenant dropship came from near the first area where the other dropships came from.
"Oh come on!" Emerald said when the covenant were like cockroaches who just kept coming no matter how many they killed.
"We got this Emerald." Maite said before she throws a couple grenades after the Dropship landed.
Thankfully the grenades land near some elites blowing them up and some grunts as well while Chief used a sniper rifle he found to blow the heads off some grunts that he saw while Emerald threw a few Brutes after he got in a fist fight with one… comically enough another took its place when Emerald slugged it towards Maite and she blew it up and Emerald was now doing a good impression of Peter griffin as he fought the brute with fists and the Brute did the same giving a Peter griffen VS the chicken man type fight for a moment.
The Brute growls as he continues to trade blows to Emerald.
Most were surprised and confused as the group continues to fight off the Covenant.
Comically enough Emerald and the Brute happened to get on the dropship as it starts to take off much to the confusion of more though… seems as the group looked on… well… a few explosions happen and the ship starts to fall nearby before it crashed with an explosion and while some did get worried, Emerald punched his way out of the dropship via a window and fell out of the ship with a groan and held a fist up showing he won that fight it seems… hopefully that Brute wouldn't come back for a vengeance if he appeared dead but given how many Brutes there were… probbaly going to be another fight and stuff but for now many marines cheer for the destruction of a dropship like that.
"Yeah take that you Covey bastards!" Said one marine.
After a fight with another dropship really testing many people's patience… the group heard a voice over their coms pretty much making them breath sighs of relief.
"This is Pelican Echo-419. Anybody read me?… I repeat, any UNSC personnel respond?"
As the marines breathed a sigh of relief and Emerald groans as he sat up… foreboadingly the Brute he fought with near the crashed dropship opened one eye while the camera focused dramatically on the eye but a armored boot from the master chief lands on the Brute's neck pinning him and the chief shot him in the head with a sniper rifle killing him meaning no chance of revenge it seems.
"Not this time." Chief said as Cortana ignored what just happened.
"Roger Echo-419. This is Fireteam Charlie. That you Foehammer?"
"Hehe, oh yeah, I'm on my way, saw the fight just now as I approached so give me a minute to land and we can get going." Foehammer said though Cortana shook her head figuratively.
"Negative, drop a warthog so The Master chief, Emerald, Maite, and I can go save some soldiers… more lifeboats are landing and if were not fast enough covenant will be on top of them in no time if the people in the lifeboats survive." Cortana said to foehammer.
Maite was concerned.
"I hope Azure, Cedric and Rachel made it."
"Don't worry, they left the pillar of autumn before us so they probably landed well ahead of us, knowing Cedric and the others as much as we do, pretty sure they are kicking ass and taking names…. If Covenant had names… still we should get going… pretty sure I can take the turret unless anyone has objections… just… don't think I can drive or ride shotgun with this bulky armor on me." Emerald said while he was getting weapons magnetically stuck to his armor so he could use it and hold a lot of weapons for the trio.
Maite lightly smiles.
"No problem with that. I'll take Shotgun."
"Good… speaking of shotgun…" Emerald said as he passed Maite funnily enough a shotgun he found… though he also held out a assult rifle.
"Shotgun or Rifle?... can hold the other in case you need to swap later." Emerald said while he worked to be the transport weapons guy now.
This made Maite giggle as she took the rifle for now.
A moment later after Foehammer sets a warthog down, Chief took the drivers seat, Emerald got the turret, and Maite got Shotgun.
"Ready?" Chief states as he starts the Warthog.
"Ready." Maite said with her rifle ready.
"Ready!" Emerald said while he had a determined look on his face.
Chief nods his head and starts driving.
The trio were looking for another way out till they spot a cave… only it wasn't.
"This cave is not a natural formation. Someone built it. So it has to lead somewhere." Cortana said.
"Good… lets go through… hopefully we can meet up with Cedric and the others if we're lucky." Emerald said as chief starts to drive through the tunnel and like as the group fades into the darkness… the scene did so as well which starts the altered Halo 1 story officially.