Hello again! After a year long hiatus, I've finally finished another chapter, but this time for a new fanfic. I wanted to revisit an earlier story I posted, but I also wanted to take my time with this one. I used to be kind of impatient when writing, but I think I've gotten better about that. As such, I decided to make my first chapter for this story much longer than those of my previous works. I hope you all enjoy this fic, and I hope to be more active again this year. I also want to recognize the amazing Silver1119 for being my beta reader.
Enough of my rambling, I present, Voyage of The Midway.
/-/ Viery Territory, Continent Eposz, Planet Reach, Epsilon Eridani System \-\
/-/ August 28th, 0700 Hours, Standard Military Calendar \-\
Flying through the Viery Territory, one D-77 Pelican dropship began to cruise over the highland mountains. Onboard the aircraft was a Spartan-III Fireteam, Fireteam Olympus. This team consisted of four Spartans, the Team Leader, Lieutenant Matt-B285, Lieutenant Junior-Grade Max-B301, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Ryan-B297, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Sarah-B307. Olympus was only composed of CAT-II Beta-Company Spartan IIIs. A product of Lieutenant Kurt Ambrose and Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez's desire to protect this company, Ambrose and Mendez used knowledge they had learned from Alpha Company's deployment and pulled some select teams of Spartan-IIIs out of the mission. This proved to be vital given the outcome of Operation: TORPEDO.
Throughout the war, Fireteam Olympus had undertaken many covert missions of various natures, almost all classified to the general public. Time and time again they had proven themselves more than capable of handling just about any objective thrown their way, though in some cases they didn't make it out in one piece, if the Lieutenant's prosthetic leg was anything to go by.
The four Spartans felt their bodies being pushed forwards to the nose of the Pelican, inertia coming into play as the aircraft slowed and began its descent. Touching down on a large landing pad, the Pelican came to rest, and the crew-chief opened the ramp to reveal a massive cluster of buildings, the FLEETCOM Military Complex. Olympus, clad in their service dress blues walked down the ramp and were greeted with a young UNSC Air Force Senior Airman. He saluted Matt—which was quickly returned, then began, "Sierra-285? Pleasure to meet you. I'm Senior Airman Shepherd, I'm here to take you and your team to Doctor Halsey." Matt nodded, responding with, "Lead the way Airman." Fireteam Olympus hadn't been told of what they were recalled to Reach for, but they had been told who they would be meeting with so Catherine Halsey being mentioned wasn't that much of a shock even with her background.
Beginning their journey, Olympus swiftly navigated through the complex. Through large, open lobbies, narrow corridors, and many winding hallways, before eventually reaching a small secure briefing room. The Senior Airman pointed to the entrance and bade them farewell, wishing them good luck. Outside of the room were two Army Troopers outfitted with MA37K Carbines, M52A Body Armor worn over the Cross-Branch BDU, topped off with an enclosed ECH252 helmet. "Identification please." Requested one of the Troopers, to which the Spartans obliged, handing over the ID lanyards they received upon entry to the complex. The Trooper on the Spartan's left took the IDs and looked them over, confirming with someone over his helmet's comms that the Spartans were who Halsey was expecting. "Alright, you're good to go. Good luck Spartans." He stated, before opening the room's soundproof door. Matt nodded in thanks, and led his team in. They were greeted by Doctor Halsey and Captain Daniel Marston, who was also in his service dress blues.
They all snapped a salute, which was promptly returned by the Captain, "It's good to see you Spartans." Then they brought their bodies to attention. "Likewise, sir." Matt responded. "At ease Fireteam Olympus, take a seat." Olympus relaxed their bodies and began moving for the many chairs located in the small room, some being occupied by UNSC Marines. But they weren't just any Marines, but ODSTs. Elite Marine SOF teams meant to deploy from orbit and overwhelm the enemy from within their lines.
"Fireteam Olympus, Echo-5, you have been selected to spearhead an upcoming operation. That being, Operation: SERAPIS." Stated Marston, before pressing a button on a handheld remote. A large display behind him then depicted a myriad of Covenant Frigates and Corvettes. He then continued, "Recent information gathered by ONI Intelligence Operatives as well as the Beta-3 Division has suggested that in some instances, small Covenant ships may be deployed in pairs to perform Recon on worlds that they have taken or glassed. This could be for any number of reasons, but the important part is that they do. That's where Operation: SERAPIS comes in. Our objective is to lure one of these scouting parties to Cygnus where you and the ODSTs are to capture one or both of the ships before returning it to Ariel for study by the Beta-3 Division. You will be given a number of resources to accomplish the mission, and you may go about it in just about any way so long as it doesn't unnecessarily endanger my ship, her crew, or our escort ships. Halsey has a few words to say on the matter, so I'll let her do so. Doctor?" Halsey then took his place in front of the large display, and began, "Hello, Spartans, Marines. As Captain Marston said, your mission will be to capture a Covenant ship and return it to Ariel for study. This will be no easy task," that part coming with an air of experience, "which is why you, Fireteam Olympus, will be receiving the newest generation MJOLNIR Armor. On top of that, you will have access to a third-generation Smart A.I. Tomorrow you will be taken to a secure location where you will be equipped with these items, I will send more details on that to your datapads later. Smart AIs, and MJOLNIR Armor are no minor pieces of equipment, so don't lose them. Other than that, you will be given anything—within reason—to complete your goal, so contact the Captain for any aspects concerning the use of his ship or transports once you have finished planning." She then relinquished the center stage to Marston, "From here you will be taken to the Team Room where you'll be staying for a few days, then the armory where you can requisition the equipment needed to complete your mission. We've also prepared a shoot-house on base using helmet-cam footage from previous boarding attempts, and a method in orbit to practice entering through their ship's shields. When you leave the room, the troopers you met on the way in will take you there. Any questions?"
Ryan then spoke up, "Sir, what if it's not just a scouting party? What if they send a carrier, or cruiser and their escort?" Marston seemed to already have the answer, but gathered his thoughts before replying, "The Midway and our fleet will provide the cover needed for you to decide whether you can still proceed with the objective, or if you need to return so we can retreat out of the system, but it's unlikely that that would happen, but there is a high chance that there will be casualties. We need to take that risk if we want a chance to win this war." Ryan nodded, satisfied with the answer. "Anyone else?" The captain asked one last time. No one responded except for Matt, "None relevant to the mission, sir." Marston then prodded for him to speak up. Better to clear things up now than have them affect the mission down the road. "Go ahead Spartan."
"It's hard to explain, but everyone here seems so, tense, like they're all expecting something, anything, to go wrong at any minute." Halsey then answered rather quickly, "As you said Spartan, it does not concern your mission. You will find out soon enough." Marston then gave her a sideways glare, before giving his own response, "It's nothing to worry about. I'll brief you on the way back, but as of right now that's need to know. I wish I could tell you more, but it could affect the outcome of another concurrent operation to SARATOGA." Not fully content with the answer, Matt tentatively nodded. "Understood, sir." Marston gave him a reassuring grin, before addressing both the Spartans and ODSTs. "Don't worry about things here too much. If everything goes to plan, within a week we'll have a real chance at winning the war. Dismissed." Raising from their seats, the Spartans and ODSTs began to shuffle out of the now opening door before Halsey stopped Olympus. "Fireteam Olympus, while I do have a favoritism of my Spartans, I want you to know my problem is more with Colonel Ackerson than with you. You are still one of the best chances we have at fighting the Covenant. Good luck, I know you'll need it." At that, Olympus exited the briefing room.
"What was that all about? The whole 'affecting another mission' deal?" Sarah questioned to her team once they were out the door. "I don't know, but I don't like it." Replied Matt. And with that, they trailed a man in a UNSC Army 'Pinks and Greens' serviceuniform, who motioned for them to follow him, with the ODSTs being right behind him.
/-/ One Hour later, Team Room 17 \-\
The Spartans and ODSTs all occupied the SOF Team Room that had been reserved for them, and after exchanging introductions and reading about the classified operation over Netherop, had begun planning. Bringing up old surveillance photos of a CAR-Class Frigate and an SDV-Class Corvette on the large display towards the back of the room, Matt spoke, "Ideas people, how are we going to infil onto either of these ships?" Studying the ships, everyone brainstormed ways to get on board and take either of the ships. "We could insert via T-Packs." Suggested Master Sergeant Lucas Nelson, Echo-5's team leader and one of the few survivors of the Black Dagger Space Assault Battalion. What he was talking about was the Thruster Pack, more specifically the M953, which was a safer, and more reliable improvement on the older Model 050978 T-Pack that while capable of transporting its user across vast distances in space, was incredibly risky as it could lose control very easily from little damage. Adding onto this idea, Ryan spoke up, "We could also deploy from a sub-prowler."
"I'm not sure that we'll be able to get our hands on a sub-prowler, but we may be able to grab an Owl." Responded Matt. The craft in question, the D-102 Owl, was essentially a newer, more technologically advanced D-77 Pelican. It also had stealth capabilities that while not as good as the stealth ablative coatings on ONI Prowlers and Sub-Prowlers, still did rather well at slipping past Covenant sensors and also did not require as much maintenance. The Owl was a relatively new spacecraft, having only been put into use in 2550. It was meant to serve as a replacement for the Pelican across the branches, but due to supply shortages, that had not been accomplished yet. Continuing, Matt added onto their growing plan, "Once on board we could have the A.I. try and disable any self-destruct functions it may have. Hopefully, that will prevent the crew from detonating the ship like what happened at Netherop."
"C-12 shaped charges should allow us an entry hole in the frigate, and as for the corvette, we could land on the dorsal-aft section and have the A.I. allow us entry through the atmospheric shield, if it's capable of that." Stated Echo-5's explosive specialist, Corporal Bryan Porter. After thinking about the Spartan II's mission on Netherop, Sarah decided to use a play from their book, "Once we're in the ship, we'll have no problem going loud. Before though, we'll need to be as discreet as possible. A stealth ablative coating on our armor should do the trick." Matt nodded at that, before responding, "That should work, and we won't have to worry about any damage once we're on-board since stealth won't matter at that point. As for weapons, everyone should use what they are best with but make sure it'll be effective at CQC." In return, he got nods and affirmations from around the room.
And so, they continued to devise ways to make sure everything would go as smoothly as possible. When they were done, Ryan made his way to the base armory to get started on building his kit. He had to ask for directions several times, as the base was absolutely massive and the large buildings that occupied it turned the complex into a maze. It was a testament to the military strength that occupied Reach. Eventually, the Spartan found the building and again displayed his I.D. to the armorer and was permitted to enter. To Matt, it was heaven. The room was stocked full of all different types of weapons, no matter how old they were or what branch used them. As long as they were still used by any service member be it an ODST or Master at Arms, they were in the armory. Settling on choosing his primary weapon first, he went over to the section of the weapon racks dedicated to shotguns. He had been thinking on which weapon would be the most useful in taking the ship since he left the briefing. While he had decided on a shotgun due to most using massive 8-Gauge shells, Ryan hadn't decided on what specific weapon he would use. He was familiar with most weapons in the UNSC's arsenal, having received training on almost all of them when he was inducted into the Spartan-III program, so he knew the capabilities of the firearms on the rack in front of him. The only problem was that he didn't have much combat experience with shotguns. Most of the missions he participated in had necessitated the use of rifles, or other such mid-range weapons. After much thought and internal debate, he decided that the M45E would be the best option for this OP. He hefted one off the rack, and got a feel for its ergonomics. Deciding that it felt good in his grasp, Ryan was even more certain that the gun would work for him. The 12-round tube, and capability to fire HEDP shells made it seem life the optimal choice in his mind. He sat it back down on the rack, and pulled out a small notepad and pen from his dress-uniform, and wrote down 'M45E CAWS' at the top of a page labeled 'Requisitions'. He would use that as a reference later when he filled out the form to pull his chosen equipment from the armory. Notepads were considered generally obsolete and archaic as compared to just carrying a data pad or smart phone, but he liked the novelty of them.
He then made his way to the sidearms, and looked them over, primarily for personal enjoyment, as he already set his mind on the M6G Magnum. Ryan wrote 'M6G' on his list, then strode over to the crates of ammo. Thinking for a moment, he wrote down '72x 8-Gauge HEDP Shells' and '5x M6G Mags'. After he jotted that down, he headed to the explosives bunker that was within the structure, and again had to show his clearance for that. Once inside, he took a look around, and thought for a long few minutes before writing '2x M11 Flashbangs', '4x M9 HEDP Frags', '1x C-7 Container' and '8x Pounds of C-12'. As he finished looking around, he exited the bunker and went back to his currently assigned Team Room to choose some more specific aspects of his kit as well as rest up in general.
That was a luxury that many Spartans didn't get to enjoy these days.
/-/ Sword Base, Doctor Halsey's Lab, Continent Eposz, Reach, \-\
/-/ August 29th, 1345 Hours, Standard Military Calendar \-\
In her lab, Catherine Halsey sat working on the final diagnostics of the A.I. for Captain Marston and the Spartans. While she did so, a fragment of Cortana, the most advanced A.I. ever created, worked on interpreting data received from the crashed presumably non-Covenant vessel under Sword Base. Halsey proceeded as fast as she could to get the other A.I. ready for Operation: SERAPIS, since the Covenant's invasion of Reach meant that soon Earth would be found. If Humanity had any hope of survival, they needed an edge. That edge would hopefully come in the form of a functional Covenant warship.
Hours eventually passed by, and she was incredibly close to completing the A.I. She then checked in with the arrival of her newfound escort, Noble-Team. From cameras placed around the facility, she could see that they were nearing her location via magrail. "Cortana, do you have all of the data yet?" Asked Halsey, to which, Cortana's holographic form appeared and answered, "Almost, Doctor. I'll need at least another ten minutes to recover any usable information." Halsey frowned at this but nodded in understanding. "Alright, I will have Noble Team hold our position while you finish."
She keyed her comm spoke to Noble and worked to persuade the Commander to defend her lab. He eventually agreed, but he wasn't very enthusiastic about it. Halsey then focused back on finishing the final steps in the creation of the new A.I. and tapped away at her console in a blur of motion, before reviewing the results, and repeating the process again. It was time consuming and mind-numbing, but she corrected errors in the code and worked to finish it as fast as she could. After several minutes, she checked over her work and found that the A.I. was ready for activation. She keyed in a series of commands, and a light shone on the holo-projector above her desk.
It eventually took the rough shape of a humanoid, and then it was an amber color, and after that, finer details were beginning to take shape. A flight suit appeared, but it was old, and antiquated. After that, a pair of gloves, boots, and a set of flight gear took shape at the same time. The last part to form, was its head. A large, smoothly shaped pilot helmet and a head underneath it was then visible. His facial features changed themselves for a few seconds, and then a male facial structure was chosen, modeled after that of a Western European from Earth. The helmet was a 21st Century F-35 Lightning II Pilot. It displayed two distinct and bright round circles on his now darkened eyes, imitating the appearance of the helmet's night-vision being active.
He let out a 'hmph' of satisfaction, then looked to the Doctor and spoke in a slight Slovenian accent, "Hello Doctor Halsey. It's good to meet you."
/-/ Seven Minutes Earlier \-\
Swiftly traveling on one of the subterraneous mag rails, Noble Team waited impatiently for their destination to be reached. None of the six members truly knew why they were tasked with destroying Sword Base until they proceeded further inside and were rerouted to a dead-end hallway. Any other Special Operations team could have done so. It could have been destroyed by a missile strike, but here they were, now knowing truly why they were given the assignment. The ride was undertaken in relative silence after Carter's conversation with Doctor Halsey. They all prepared for the upcoming firefight, as it was bound to happen. They rotated out their ammo and made sure they had full mags in all their weapons. Once their capsule slowed to a halt, they exited as the door opened. "On me, Noble." Carter ordered. Noble Team jogged along behind him at a rate that would have been considered a run for a normal human, until they reached the waypoint on their helmets' HUD.
Once there, Halsey briefed the team on her current situation, and stated that she needed more time. Carter decided to cooperate with her, albeit reluctantly. "Alright Noble, you heard the Doctor, she's gathering intel that could buy humanity more time, maybe even a chance at winning the war. As such we'll need to buy her as much time as possible. Take up concealed positions, in cover if possible. We'll set up an L-shaped ambush and try to end the fight as fast as possible. After the hostiles are down, we'll fall back to the entrance, and activate the Wolf Spider turrets. Jun, stay back near the entrance to Halsey's lab. Jorge, Six, you two take the head of the ambush. Kat, Emile, you're with me. We'll take the side. Understood?" In response, he heard a series of set waypoints for them via his HUD, and they all moved into their positions. Within minutes, they began to hear the faint hum of a Phantom drop ship's engines, and seconds after that, they came into visual range. Descending before slowly coming to a stop, the Phantoms deployed their occupants, consisting of a squad of Grunts, a few Elites, some Jackals, and a number of Brutes.
Then Carter spoke over TEAMCOMM, "Fire when I give the order."
The Covenant force made their way closer, and closer.
300 Meters,
200 Meters,
100 Meters,
They were practically right on top of Noble Team when Carter gave the word, "Fire." Everything exploded into chaos as each member of Noble Team popped out of cover and began to decimate the Covenant forces in front of them. With Jorge's M247H Heavy Machine-Gun and Six's M73 Light Machine-Gun at the base of the 'L' laying down suppressive fire, and the rest of Noble's more precise marksmanship, the Covenant stood no chance. They didn't have enough firepower or manpower to target either one of the groups without leaving their side exposed and giving the Spartans a clear shot. The 12.7mm rounds from Jorge's 'Etilka' shredded through the Covenant's shielding with just a few rounds, and their armor with only one. The rest of the team's small arms fire saturated the shielded infantry, making it easier to neutralize each target when fire was concentrated on them.
Everything was going well, with no casualties on the side of the Spartans, until it wasn't. Without warning, a barrage of Plasma Bombs suddenly boiled away a large hole in the ice ceiling, and 4 Phantoms as well as 5 Banshees burst through the hole, moving straight towards the Spartans and Halsey. Finishing off the last remaining Kig-Yar, Carter began barking orders over TEAMCOM, "Alamo, Alamo! Fall back to Halsey's lab! Jorge, focus your fire on the Banshees, Jun, try and pick off as many of the Elites and Brutes as you can once they deploy. Kat, Six, we'll take the bulk of the hostiles. Emile, pull security and make sure no stragglers slip past and reach Halsey." After everyone began to move into position for their respective tasks, Carter swapped frequencies to call for air support. "This is Noble 0-1, Noble Actual, do you copy?"
"I say again, Noble Actual, this is Noble 0-1, do you read me? Over."
After a few moments, the voice of Colonel Urban Holland came over the air, "I copy Noble 1. You mind telling me what ONI is having you do there?" Somewhat frustratedly, given their current situation, Carter responded with, "Protecting a valuable asset. Colonel, we need immediate air support on my location. The Covenant are about to be on our position with about two, maybe three platoons of infantry, four Phantoms, and five Banshees. We're under the ice lake at the current time, I'll mark an entry hole for friendly fighters if you can route any here."
"Come again Noble 1, did you say under the ice lake?"
"Affirmative, sir. If you can do anything, do it fast. I don't know how long we could hold out when those Banshees start bearing down on us." It took a moment, but Holland came back with a slightly worried voice, "Roger Noble 1. I'll try and get some Baselards over there to help y'all. Good luck Noble Team, Noble Actual out." Zooming in with his VISR, Carter observed at least 60 hostiles disembarking from the Phantoms about a kilometer and a half away. He also saw the Banshees coming towards the Spartans now that the infantry had dismounted, and it wasn't long after that, that Jorge's M247H began spitting out 12.7mm SAPHE rounds attempting to keep the Banshees back. At roughly the same time, Jun began picking off the Sangheili, the 14.5mm APFSDS rounds splitting the air around them as they traveled at near hyper-sonic velocities towards their targets, with each round taking off heads and limbs, or leaving gaping holes in their torsos.
It wasn't long until the rest of Noble could lay down effective fire, and so they did. Carter's DMR had the most capability of accurately hitting targets at this range, so he was downing the most hostiles at first, but Kat and Six soon began dropping just as many with their MA37 and M73, respectively. Noble Six, while not as capable of precise fire with his current choice of weaponry, was still deadly accurate with the weapon that was designed for suppressive fire. Jorge had been doing an impressive job of keeping the Banshees away, but he had to reload at some point, and when he did, they took the chance and came in close for a strafing run.
Plasma bolts pelted the area around the Spartan, and his shield flared, but otherwise they did not do much as there were no direct hits. It was only the heatwave that did anything. The plasma bombs, on the other hand, were far more efficient. One of the Banshees targeted Jorge and began to dive towards him. He got his HMG reloaded, but it was too late as the Banshee already fired its Fuel Rod Cannon. Jorge, even being a Spartan-II, couldn't react in time to get away unscathed. The plasma landed just a couple meters away from him, and quickly drained his shields and sent him flying into a nearby stalagmite. Due to its extremely close impact distance, the plasma gave him severe burns in both his legs. Unfortunately, Jorge hit the rock headfirst and sustained a serious concussion. He was out of the fight.
Noble Six had watched this happen and braced for the second run. The same thing happened again, but none of the Fuel Rods hit Six, and then, he saw it. With Jorge being out of the fight, the Banshee pilots got cocky and took longer to pull away. Formulating a plan, Six waited for the Banshees to come around again. The MJOLNIR's onboard computer sensed what he was thinking, almost before he thought it himself, and began a countdown. When it reached zero, he sprinted towards the Banshee and leaped as high as he could, before activating his Series 8 Jetpack boosting him even further. The pilot tried to evade him, but it was in vain as Six grabbed onto the starboard stabilizer and held on with all the strength he could muster. Even as the Banshee rolled, and pitched down before rapidly pulling up, he held on and moved towards the cockpit.
Having his canopy ripped open, the Sangheili flying it looked back at him in horror, then got thrown out and plummeted to the earth. The aircraft began to veer towards the ground as well, but Six managed to reach the controls in time and pulled up. He then brought it around facing the other Banshees, and pushed the throttle all the way forward, rocketing towards them. They tried to fire on him, having seen what happened to their comrade, but they missed due to his quickly accelerating speed. As soon as he passed the aircraft, he cut the throttle and pulled back around behind them. He was able to get one with the Fuel Rod Cannon and knock it out of the sky, then he turned onto another. This one had more time to react, and started jinking trying to avoid the plasma, which he did. But he couldn't dodge the plasma bolts that were headed towards him and was soon a burning wreck headed to the ground. The pilot did not bail out, and presumably perished in the crash.
Two down, two to go.
Soon, Six had the other Banshees on his tail. He started performing evasive maneuvers, which worked for the most part but he still took several hits. Continuing to avoid them, he suddenly was locked onto by one of the Banshees. He broke left and dodged the Fuel Rod, then got another lock, and there was another coming towards him. Six dropped down to the deck, and started flying nap of the earth, which caused the plasma to hit a large Boulder. He looked at the instruments and saw two more bogeys inbound on the Covenant equivalent of Radar.
But they weren't Covenant.
His comm crackled to life, and he heard a voice on the radio, "Noble 0-6, this is Zulu 4-1, I've got your IFF tag, bring them to us. We'll deal with the Banshees." Exhaling a sigh of relief, he complied with their request and responded, "Copy Zulu 4-1, for a minute I thought I'd have to bail out of this thing." He then pulled up and away from the ground and headed towards the friendly aircraft. As he got closer, he realized that they were indeed S-14 Baselards as Colonel Holland had said. The other Banshees must have realized as well because they turned away from Six and began aiming straight towards the Human Fighters, but an Archer missile from each Baselard began to gain speed towards the Banshees as well. Within seconds, the missiles struck their targets and the mangled airframes fell to the ground. Noble Six joined up on the right side of the Baselards, and spoke into his helmet's radio again, "Thank you for the assistance 4-1, mind helping me give my team some close air support?"
"Affirmative Lieutenant. Lead the way." And so he did. They were now several kilometers away from Halsey and the rest of Noble, but quickly closed the distance and began strafing the enemy, some of which were Hunters. But even they fell to the Baselards' 30mm rotary cannons. Soon, all the Covenant forces were corpses painting the battlefield with blood. The Baselard pilots stuck around for a minute, but soon departed. "We'll keep the covies from coming back, good luck Spartan."
"Same to you, 4-1, out here." The Baselards then loitered around the hole in the ice, and Noble Six brought the Banshee in for a vertical landing by his team. He touched down rather roughly, the aircraft having sustained damage to its gravitic propulsion drive. Six had to forcefully open the canopy, as he had damaged it when he boarded the Banshee. He wasn't sure what he expected, but when he got out, he saw Kat lying unconscious, and Jorge barely awake shifting weakly by the door to Halsey's lab. He rushed over to Carter who had been standing beside them, to find out their status. "Sir, what's their condition?" Carter sighed, "They're alive. Jorge hit his head hard, and sustained severe burns, Kat did as well. She took some needler rounds and lost a lot of blood. She's not doing too well. Halsey said she can give her some blood bags once we get in there to her lab." While Noble Six was relieved that they were alive, he began to worry about Kat being unconscious. If she were under for much longer, she would have brain damage. The MJOLNIR MKV[B] contained BIOFOAM and Epinephrine auto-injectors, and from the looks of it, neither were currently functioning. This only served to increase his worry.
Eventually, Halsey came to the door as it began to open and revealed the middle-aged woman in a white winter jacket. She gestured for them to come to one of the open floor spaces in the structure. They dragged the wounded Spartans to the area, where the Doctor began pushing an IV of O- blood through one of the IV receptor ports in Kat's armor. As Halsey used the emergency releases to remove Kat's torso armor, she began to speak, "How long has she been under?" Carter shook his head, unsure, until his MJOLNIR's onboard computer displayed the time for him. "Two minutes and forty-eight seconds as of now." Halsey then spoke in a worried tone, "If we don't bring her back soon, she's going to be brain dead." She used a defibrillator on Kat. "Commander, if you could begin chest compressions, that would be vital." And so, he did, until she had a stable heart rate. She began to stir, and mutter unintelligible words, but soon became fully conscious and began to feel the pain of her wounds. She started screaming, and the noises she made were terrible to everyone in the room. Halsey then injected a Morphine auto-injector into another of the IV receptors in her MJOLNIR. She began to quiet down, as the pain subsided, and she tried to regain her bearings. She was still groggy from her wounds though and didn't make much sense in any of her sentences.
While Carter and Emile tended to Kat, and Jun checked on Jorge, Halsey grabbed a container from her desk and approached Noble Six. "Lieutenant, these containers hold two data-chips, and in those, are two A.I. Both contain technology that could very well turn the tide of this war. She has chosen you as courier, and he agreed with her decision. Your destination is Camp Hathcock, where you will transfer them to their new assignments. Their names are Cortana and Jackson, respectively." She then extended the chips' containers out towards him, and he began to grab them. "Do you have it?" He then nodded and responded, "Affirmative."
"Say the words please."
"I have it."
She let go, and from now until Noble Six transported Cortana to Camp Hathcock, she was his responsibility. Halsey then continued, "I will be accompanying you and your team, as I have business left unfinished. Cortana's assignment will be aboard a Halcyon-Class Light Cruiser, the Pillar of Autumn, while Jackson will serve aboard the Valiant-Class Superheavy Cruiser, Midway. At Camp Hathcock, there will be more Spartans who will take the A.I.s from there. I will need Cortana for a field test once we are there. As for Jackson, you are to deliver him to Spartan B-297. Jorge and Catherine will be transported to the infirmary at Hathcock where they will receive adequate medical care. Relay this information to the rest of Noble Team, Lieutenant, and tell them to get ready. I will brief you all on our secondary task once we are en-route. We need to move before the Covenant send more reinforcements and stop the ODSTs from destroying this facility."
"Roger that, ma'am." Six then turned and began to address his team, and Halsey gathered everything she needed and/or wanted to prevent from being destroyed in the coming explosion. As soon as they were done, Halsey and Noble started out to the Pelicans that had carried the ODST demo team, and they got as far away as they could, as fast as they could.
When they gained enough distance, one of the ODSTs detonated the charges, and Sword Base was no more.
/-/ One Hour Later, FLEETCOM Military Complex \-\
The combined forces of Fireteam Olympus and Echo-5, now known as Iota-Team, loaded all the gear they chose for the upcoming operation into small cases and large crates, and from there, into a Pelican. They had everything from modified MA37 Assault Rifles to CBRN modules for their helmets (including the ones the Spartans were about to receive), to the M953 T-Pack, which was the successor to the older T-Packs previously used by UNSC Personnel in deep space operations. In total, the cargo manifest consisted of:
4x MA37 ICWS
1x MA5B ICWS
2x MA5C ICWS
1x M45E CAWS
1x M73 LMG
1x MA37K Carbine
4x M6G PDWS
6x M6E PDWS
35x M9 HEDP Grenades
20x M11 Flashbangs
10x M953 T-Packs
4x MK40 CBRN Modules
6x MK55 CBRN Modules
3x TACPADs
2,908x 7.62x51 Cartridges (in their respective mags/belts)
72x 8-Gauge HEDP Shells
244x 12.7x40 SAPHE Cartridges
Misc. Spare Batteries
Misc. Pouches and Mounting Equipment
Misc. Medical Supplies
20x Emergency Patching Kits
2x Explosive Defusal Kits
10x Pairs of Handcuffs
6x Sets of M52D ODST Armor
4x Custom C-12 Charges
3x Containers of C-7 Expanding-Explosive Foam
2x M365 Remote Detonators
Any other equipment was small enough to be carried on the Spartans and ODST's persons. After a while of loading up the equipment alongside UNSCAF personnel, they bade their farewells and loaded up onto the cramped Pelican. While it was a tight squeeze, they were able to fit. Once they were seated, the rear door was shut, and the pilots began spooling up the engines. Several minutes passed by, before the Pelican got clearance for takeoff and began gaining altitude, and then horizontal speed, and then reaching cruise speed. This gave Iota-Team a chance to reflect on their thoughts and speak with each other. With Ryan, he was thinking about the upcoming acquisition of MJOLNIR Armor, but thoughts of the mysterious situation that was going on kept invading his mind. What is ONI hiding? I mean, the rumors on base were extremely far-fetched, but could they be true? And even then, why was that being hidden? He kept on thinking about this, but one of the ODSTs, Nick Vance, gazed in amazement at the Spartans. Somehow, even with them only being in their cammies with no armor, they managed to look more deadly than the most heavily armored Helljumper. He was excited to be working with Spartans, but at the same time a part of his mind worried about this mission, that it was one they wouldn't come back from. He dismissed it though, as it was probably just pre-mission jitters.
He decided to speak up, if only to pass the time by until they made it to their destination. "So, have you Spartans ever, done a boarding action like this?" Max then answered with, "Not us, no. But, as you all now know, some other Spartans did board a Covenant ship early in the war. Even then, they failed, which is all the more reason that we need to perform our absolute best in this operation." The Spartan's words did not reassure Nick, but they did feel him with a determination to be better and do more than he ever had before. "Roger that, sir." He then sat in silence for most of the trip, praying for the strength to complete this mission, while the rest did a multitude of other activities such as read, listen to music, think more about their plan, or simply enjoy the moment of peace.
Through the barely visible canopy, the occupants in the back of the Pelican could make out the mountains of Reach, and the vast plains of which were mostly occupied by farms and the occasional town or city. They passed by them at a staggering speed that had to be at least Mach 1, if not Mach 2. After several hundred kilometers, a moderately sized cluster of buildings became visible in the distance, growing larger by the second. The Pelican then deployed its airbrakes, and reversed its thrust, coming to a stop above the compound, seemingly already having conversed with the ATC at the base. It then began descending onto a landing pad, and touched down somewhat roughly before cutting the throttle completely on the engines. The crew-chief then unstrapped his harness and moved to open the rear door, after which he turned and saluted Fireteam Olympus. "Good luck Spartans." They nodded in thanks and returned the salute. He then turned to the ODST's and did the same to Master-Sergeant Nelson. Even though Nelson was enlisted the same as the crew-chief, he did so out of respect for the ODST's accomplishments and dedication to protecting Humanity. "Same to you Helljumpers. We'll be here to take you to the Midway when you get done with whatever it is you need to do here." Nelson saluted back, "Thanks Petty Officer, have fun waiting." He then turned and followed the Spartans who were waiting at the base of the ramp and led his squad to them.
Ryan's enhanced hearing picked up an aircraft approaching in the distance as soon as it slowed down below the speed of sound, and spared a glance towards its direction, but diverted his attention to the Marine Corps Corporal that was approaching his group. There were the formalities of exchanging salutes, then he revealed his orders to Matt, "Lieutenant, I'm Corporal Allen. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to the other Spartans." Matt nodded, "Appreciated. Show us in." They then trailed behind the Corporal, and noted the Marines that guarded the camp were mostly NCOs and had an air of experience around them. The whole base was very well protected, but unlike most other UNSC facilities, it had amenities intended to accommodate VIPs or high-ranking officers. Those amenities included gardens filled with plants from around the planet, well known and established formal restaurants, and more civilian styled architecture that made it more pleasing on the eyes. The group continued following the Corporal, when a group of Navy Corpsmen came running by while carrying large medical bags.
"What's going on with them?" Matt asked the Corporal. "I'm not completely sure, but I'd wager that it has something to do with the Pelican that came in after you. I'll see what I can find out later and report back to you if I can." Allen responded. "That would be good." The Spartan said in return. Eventually, after a short distance, they made it to a large multi-purpose room that was currently being used to hold the other Spartans while they waited for a reason unknown to most on-base. Allen went to the scanner and swiped his CAC, then stepped aside, and spoke again, "They're waiting for something in there, it's above my pay-grade. Ask them and you'll probably be able to find out. Good luck with whatever it is you're about to do." He then saluted, and when he received one back, began walking away. In his absence, they entered the building to find practically all of the Spartans staring at them, apparently not expecting visitors. After a brief pause in amazement at seeing so many Spartan-IIs in one location, Matt strode forward to one that was approaching him. He was about to salute the man, when the other Spartan saluted first, having noticed the rank on Matt's uniform.
The older Spartan took his helmet off, and then Matt spoke, introducing himself and his team, "I'm Lieutenant Matt-B285. This is my team, Fireteam-Olympus, and Echo-5." Looking confused, the other man spoke up, "Senior Chief Petty Officer Fred-104. B285? I assume you're a Spartan?"
"Affirmative. It's an honor to meet you, sir." Even though he technically outranked Fred, Matt still called him 'sir' as Fred was far more experienced, and perhaps even skilled than he himself was. Then, to satiate his curiosity, the Spartan-II spoke again. "We weren't expecting anybody else, so I suppose you have a different objective, but make yourself at home. We've got plenty to do here, whether you want to spar, workout, or just keep yourself busy. Oh, also, don't call me 'sir'. You outrank me, and I'm not any better than you." Matt nodded in thanks, and responded, "Thank you, Senior Chief, though I believe you, all of you really, deserve the title. In any case, it's good to finally meet you." He then reached his hand forward for a shake, and Fred did so as well, before speaking, "You seem a bit young for a Spartan. You from the second class that Mendez went to train?" Matt was unsure if he meant another class of S-IIs, or the second company of S-IIIs, which they were, so he decided to respond with that. "I'm not sure if I understood, but we, minus the Helljumpers, are from Beta-Company." This made Fred look even more bewildered. "A company? How'd Halsey get that kind of funding?"
"Halsey wasn't involved in this, Colonel Ackerson created it. Lieutenant, you are aware of the Spartan-III program, right?" Before either of them could say anything else, another Marine entered through the door, saluted, then called out, "Master Chief, Doctor Halsey is ready for you." Then another Spartan walked forwards towards the door, cast a glance towards Iota and gave a look of acknowledgment, and continued to the door. Everyone saw the bold, white numbers that said '117' on his chest plate. The greatest warrior in centuries. The Spartan-IIIs, even the ODSTs looked at him with a sense of awe, before returning to the situation at hand. Fred answered Matt's previous question, "Negative. As far as I knew, we were the only Spartans, let alone the only Spartan program." Matt's blood ran cold. He'd assumed that, while not directly meeting one of his predecessors, they would know about the new generation of Spartans. If ONI had been hiding this from even the Spartan-IIs, he'd be FUBAR.
No sense in worrying about it now.
"Well either way, I hope we get to work together in the future, Senior. Good luck with your OP." Fred nodded, and gave a genuine, "Thanks, same with you." They parted ways, and Matt led his team over to an unoccupied portion of the room. "You're all dismissed, do whatever you need or want to do. Just stay close so I won't have to go far to find you when it's time." He received several utterances of confirmation, and Iota split off to do whatever they needed.
/-/ Four Minutes Earlier \-\
A group of seasoned Navy Hospital Corpsmen ran to the landing pad of the base. Camp Hathcock had received word of an incoming Pelican with two Spartan casualties onboard, and they were going to be ready to meet them. They had sustained several severe plasma burns, one sustained a concussion, and both had to have their hearts restarted several times while in transit. These were tell-tale signs of something much more disastrous than just a firefight with Insurrectionists. People, especially Spartans, would in most cases receive these kinds of wounds from engagements with the Covenant.
But there was no time to dwell on that. No, for now, the Corpsmen had to make sure that the casualties survived. One of the Corpsmen, Liam Olson considered if they were actually needed to meet the Spartans. They likely wouldn't make much difference until they had the proper facilities to treat their wounds, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Especially when it came to Spartans. They quickened their pace, rushed by a group of presumably NAVSPECWAR Operators, and saw the Pelican rapidly descending. The pilot pushed the throttle to the max as soon as it got 15 meters from the ground which slowed its descent, and the crew-chief opened the ramp before the bird even hit the ground. Once it was on the ground, 6 Spartans came rushing out. Four of them were carrying the wounded, with two groups of two of those each carrying one between themselves. One of the Corpsmen examined the wounded, running as fast as he could to keep up, and radioed more specific information to the infirmary. Olson had been right, there wasn't much they could do, so instead they just focused on keeping up with the Spartans. They all sprinted for at most a minute, before making it to the infirmary and barely making it through the doors as they—sluggishly compared to the Spartans—opened. They all continued through to an operating room, and the Spartans that were not wounded, at least not in any visible way, began stripping the armor off the casualties. Their undersuit was a bit of a tricky job, but they eventually got that off as well and stepped back to let the medical professionals take care of them as they rushed to get everything they needed to treat them.
Noble Six spoke in a low voice to Jun, "I knew that could happen, their hearts could stop again, I just didn't expect it." Jun simply nodded in silence, clearly concerned for Jorge and Kat. The worst part about having a teammate injured was that you couldn't do anything to help them once they made it to a hospital or infirmary, at least most of the time. Medical technology had come a long way in the last few hundred years, but it didn't make the waiting any better. They were likely to survive now that they were in a proper facility, yet they still feared the worst would happen. Seaman Apprentice Olson approached the Spartans, and calmly asked them to exit the operating room so the docs could work. Carter seemed agitated at that, but controlled himself before he could say anything that he'd regret. He complied with the Corpsman and gestured for the rest of Noble to do the same. Their status lights winked green, and the Spartans exited the room. Jun then attempted to console his team lead once they were in the hallway, "They're gonna be alright sir. You did your job, they made it out. They'll be fine."
Carter softened his posture, as if he just realized there was no threat anymore, at least none on base. "I know. If any of you need to eat, or rest, or do anything for respite, you're free to do so. Halsey will need us at full strength to secure Castle Base. Oh, Six, you did good back there. I'll make sure you get recognition for that, if you want it." Six shook his head, "Negative, sir. Thank you though, I appreciate the consideration." Carter nodded in acceptance, and then turned to look through the window in the door, trying to get a glimpse of what was going on inside. Noble Six took that as his dismissal, and turned to leave. When he did, he saw Doctor Halsey near the entrance to the infirmary. He then approached her, and she spoke, "How are they?" He tilted his head to the side and pursed his lips, "I don't know, but I do know that they'll be fine." She turned towards Carter, Emile and Jun, and again spoke to Six, "That they will." She turned back to face him, "May I have Cortana?" He pulled the container from the mag-mount on the back of his belt and handed it to her. "Affirmative. Tell the Chief I send my regards." She grabbed the AI container, and secured it firmly in her grasp. "I will. Would you mind taking Jackson to building 0518? His courier will be there, his designation is B285." Six nodded in confirmation, and she lowered her facade of being so cold, and distant, to give the Spartan her thanks, "Thank you, and your team for preventing the destruction of these constructs. They will be highly beneficial to our survival as a species."
"You're welcome, ma'am. Make sure they go to good use." She nodded and made her way out of the building. He followed soon after and had his suit's onboard computer to mark a waypoint on his destination. Once that was accomplished, he began to make his way there. He maneuvered swiftly through Camp Hathcock, until he eventually reached the building. Six knocked, and then held his wrist up to the RFID scanner that was near the CAC scanner. The door unlocked and slid open.
He stepped in, and began surveying the room. There were Spartans all around the room. And to his surprise, they weren't just another company of Spartan-IIIs, no, most of them had MJOLNIR Armor on, which signified that they were Spartan-IIs. Setting that observation aside, he began looking for B285. He spotted a couple of people around his age sparring with each other and made his way over to them. One of them, appeared to be at least 6'8" and was practically toying with the other, who bore the insignia of an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper on his t-shirt. They kept fighting until Six's loud, metallic footsteps indicated that he was nearing them. The taller one called off the match, and gestured to Six, and they both turned to him. "Do either of you know where Spartan-B285 is?" The ODST looked towards his right and spoke up, "Depends. Why're you asking?" Six internally chuckled, both amused and respectful to the fact that the ODST was asking that question, seemingly in case he had to cover for 285. "I have something to give him. So, do you know where he is?" The ODST seemed relieved, and answered, "Yeah, he's over there with the Top." Looking to the direction that he was pointing, Six saw both men conversing with each other, then turned back to the two that he approached. "Thanks, good luck with him Helljumper." Noble Six then made his way to the Spartan, and noticed that he had the rank of Lieutenant on his NWU. He saluted once he reached him, and stated why he was there. "Sir. I have a package from Doctor Halsey. She instructed me to give it to you." He then pulled the other AI Container from the mag-mount on his backplate. Six carefully handed it forwards, and waited until the Spartan had a good grip on the device to let go. "His name is Jackson, don't break it."
Matt noticed the carbon scoring on his armor, and responded, "I won't. Thank you for bringing it to me. Seems like you went through a bit of trouble getting this here, mind telling me what happened?" Six shook his head, "Negative sir, it's classified." B285 slowly nodded, "I figured as much. I don't know for sure what ONI, or HIGHCOM is hiding, but whatever it is seems like a mistake. Anyways, what's your name Spartan?" Six paused for a few moments, he was so used to people referring to him as 'Noble Six', or just 'Six', that it was almost uncomfortable to tell someone his name. "Oscar-B312, sir." 285 Tilted his head hearing that, but stuck out his hand to shake Oscar's. "Beta-Company, huh? I'm Matt, B285. It's good to see that another one of us survived." Six shook Matt's hand and spoke in agreeance, "Likewise Commander." Matt then gestured around the room, and invited Oscar to stay, "I think everyone here would be fine with you sticking around for a bit, but if you have other orders, or just anything else to do, I understand." Six contemplated this for a few seconds, then responded, "I'm gonna get something from the mess. I'll join you after if I have time." Matt was glad to hear that he could again get the chance to speak with another Spartan-III, since so many were gone. "Good to hear. In case I don't see you again, good luck Oscar. We'll all need it." Six nodded, then turned and left to find the mess hall.
Nelson looked at the container that Matt was holding, and then up at him, "Is that the AI?" Matt was drawn out of his thoughts, and turned to the Marine, "Yeah. It's weird you know, it's like I'm holding an entirely different being in my hands." The ODST chuckled at that, "That's true." He wanted to ask about why Six spoke of there being another survivor from Beta-Company the way he did, but it sounded like a sore spot, so he avoided it. Eventually, they fell back to talking about the upcoming mission, and the happenings in the room returned to normal.
But with the Master Chief though, things couldn't be further from the truth.
A/N: Thanks for reading! I do hope I've improved in skill since last year, and I intend to work on this story more than I did on my previous works. I would love to hear your feedback, and I hope to bring you another chapter soon. Till next time!