Disclaimer: Once again all halo characters that are not my OCs belong to Microsoft and 343 industries [Now to Halo studios]. This chapter in particular will be based off of mostly the animated series and somewhat from the book Halo: The fall of Reach.
Chapter 6: First Blood
September 12, 2525, 1000 hours
Location: En route Eridanus Secundus system, UNSC Halberd-class Destroyer, Pioneer
Third Person POV
Inside a briefing of the Pioneer all 36 Spartans could be seen standing but six individuals those being, Tyler, John, Sam, Kelly, Fred and Linda could be seen standing in the front, all the Spartans stood in attention in front of them was a command table that projected an image of a man in military uniform while also wearing beret on the head. On the other side of the table stood Doctor Halsey and Chief Mendez
"This is a mission ONI has been saving for the right team" Halsey said, "Colonel Robert Watts, earned his rank in the UNSC but in 2512 he went turncoat and now leads the insurrectionist forces in the Eridanus system, Watts has spent 12 years conducting raids against UNSC targets killing civilians and military personnel alike, we have intel Watts is planning to attack medical satellites in the outer colonies" she explained
"Recently one of Watt's men cut a deal with ONI" Mendez said, "we have known for sometimes that Watt's forces have been launching raids from the Eridanus asteroids belts, but there are millions of asteroids spread over billions of kilometers"
"Our informant did not know the exact location but he did know that the freighter Laden is a supply vessel, Mendez" Halsey said motioning towards Mendez to continue the explanation.
"Laden is said to leave dock in 6 hours for routine engine recertification and yet she has been loaded with enough food and water to supply a small city" Mendez explained. "Spartans you will be dropped at the Eridanus II space docks, you will be dressed the same as members of the Laden crew, once in the base you will infiltrate the installation and take Watts alive…if you can"
John raised his hand, "Sir, what are our extraction options?" he asked
"You will be handed a panic button that would relay a distress signal to the Pioneer which will be on station for a period of 13 hours, use the distress signal after you have retrieved Watts" Mendez said
"Be prepared for anything, finally squad leader you are hereby promoted to petty officer third class" Mendez said.
John saluted. "Yes sir" he said.
"Squad leader, assemble your team and equipment. Be ready to muster at 0300. We'll drop you off at the Eridanus Two docks and you'll be on your on from there"
"Yes sir" John said as he turned around to look at Sam, Kelly, Linda, Fred and Tyler. "Sam, Kelly, Linda, Fred and Tyler meet me at the armory at ten minutes, the rest of you fall out, you'll have the more difficult part of the mission, you'll have to wait here"
"Good luck Spartans" Mendez said
As the Spartans began to leave the briefing room one by one, Tyler was the last one left inside and as he was making his way out as well. "One moment 071" Mendez said.
Tyler immediately stood into attention once more. "Yes sir" he said.
"At ease" Mendez said, "it is Doctor Halsey that will having a word with you"
Tyler stood at ease and looked at Halsey, "yes Doctor?" he said
"Ah yes, ONI has another Objective for you" she said. "The rest of your team's main objective is to capture Watts alive as said before, but yours is to gather as much Intel on the insurrectionist on the Eridanus system, the insurrectionist base in the asteroid belt may provide us with all the Intel root out the insurrectionist from the Eridanus system" she explained.
"Understood" Tyler said. "Should I inform this to my team?"
"No" Mendez bluntly said, "You will not, ONI has specifically chosen you for this task for you are the most specialized in stealth activities, and are least likely to be detected by the insurrectionist, and your team may prove to be…….a liability for this task"
"I understand sir" Tyler said. 'Never thought I'll hear Chief Mendez call the rest of blue team a liability' Tyler thought.
"Dismissed" Mendez said and Tyler walked out of the briefing room.
As Tyler entered the armory he was greeted by John who inquired about why he had taken so long to arrive to which Tyler lied to by saying that the Chief had some other task for him to do before the mission began. Tyler went ahead and put on the black body suit that was kept on one of the lockers, it had his number 071 on the left chest, it was extremely tight but after having experience with similar suits it had gotten used to him .As he went to the weapons rack he saw a variety of weapons like MA2B, MA5B, M7S, M392, SRS99C and his favorites M6D magnums.
"Praise the lord, that's a lot of guns to choose from" Tyler said under his breath as he thought about his load out. 'Since this is a stealth mission, the M7S would be logical…but as soon as the first shots go off it won't be a stealth mission any longer' Tyler thought. 'I guess I'll go for the M392 DMR and a pair of M6Ds and a combat knife'
As Tyler selected his load out and grabbed the necessary ammunitions, Sam suddenly came around and noticed his choice of equipment. "DMR? Won't that make too much noise for a stealth op?" he asked.
"Logically yes, but as the Chief said, be prepared for anything" Tyler said. "Plus once the first shots go off the whole idea of stealth would be off the chart, and the insurrections would be all over us, and it only takes two or one well place shot to neutralize an enemy " Tyler explained as he loaded his DMR.
Sam looked stunned or thoughtful at his explanation, "Damn, you actually make a good point" he said, "But what if you run out of ammos, then what?"
Tyler simply pulls out his combat knife and plays with it a bit, "Until the first shots good old knife will do the work" he said.
"Well, let's hope our cover doesn't blow up immediately after we get inside the base" he said.
As Sam and Tyler went back to the others who were already readied with their gear readied up, all of them stood by a table which had the uniform's that the crew of the Laden wore which was a pair of grease-stained blue coveralls, their named written on the left chest. As Kelly went to observe the new uniforms she spoke.
"So, these are the uniforms we are supposed to wear?" she asked.
"ONI provided them" John said. "They're supposed to match what the crew of the laden wear"
Kelly held the coveralls up and frowned. "They don't give a girl much to work with"
"At least it's better than whatever the hell I'm wearing right now" Tyler said as he looked down at the black body suit that he was wearing and which all of them were supposed to wear for this mission. 'God I can't wait till we get the Mjolnir armor so I won't have this thing again' Tyler thought
"Good point" Fred said as he grabbed his body suite and started wearing it.
"Here try this on for size" Linda held a black body suit up for Kelly's long slender frame.
They had used the suits before or at least the Spartans had, this was the first time for Tyler. They were form fitting, lightweight polymer body armor. They could deflect a small caliber round and had refrigeration/heating units that would mask infrared signatures. The integrated helmet had encryption and communications gear, a heads-up display, thermal and motion detectors.
Sealed tight, the unit had a fifteen-minute reserve of oxygen to let the wearer survive in vacuum. But yes the suits were extremely tight and uncomfortable and were also tricky to repair on field. And they always needed repairs
"They're too tight" Kelly said. "It'll limit my range of motion"
"We wear them for this op" John told her. "There are too many places between here and there with nothing to breathe but vacuum. As for the rest of your equipment, take what you want- but stay light. Without recon data on this place, we're going to be moving fast…or we'll be dead"
The team except Tyler started picking their weapons
"Everyone take guns that use .390 caliber ammunitions so we can share clips if we have to. Except Linda" John said and then looks at Tyler who had a DMR strapped to his back and a pair of magnums on his waist with a combat knife to the thighs as well. "Tyler you will have to-"
"No need John, I'll use my knife until all hell breaks loose and I'll be able to keep up so don't worry" Tyler reassures John.
John although reluctant nods and soon grabbed a MA2B which was a cut down version of the MA5B. Tyler then grabbed his grease stained coveralls and tried it on. He had taken about 90 bullets for the DMR about 6 mags and about 6 mags for his twin M6Ds; he also decided to carry a med kit.
Linda gravitated to a matte-black long-barreled rifle the SRS99C-S2AM. Sam and Kelly took similar equipment, with a couple of variations. Kelly selected a small computer pad with IR links. She had also taken a field med kit while Sam carried two medium-size backpacks filled with enough high explosives to blow through three meters of battleship armor plate. Whereas Fred also grabbed a MA2B although he had also taken two combat knives just in case and a M7S for its suppresser
"Everyone ready" John said
Tyler and Sam gave him thumbs up while Linda and Fred nodded. Only Kelly replied a. "Ready" with a grin.
September 14, 2525, 1210 hours
Location: Eridanus Secundus system, Eridanus II space docks, Civilian cargo ship, Laden
Third Person POV
Tyler climbed onto the upper girders. He made a hammock out of the support nets he found above so he could rest in comfort. They were all above a hundred thousand liters of black water and surrounded by two centimeters of stainless steel. Tyler had moved ahead of the team to scout a suitable place to set up camp at, he had managed to slip pass multiple guards and had many opportunities to eliminate them but chose not to as their death won't really benefit them.
Later John and the others had joined him inside the Water tank he was currently on. Tyler had helped them set up their nets as well while Sam tinkered with the flow sensor. When everything was finished the nets were able to support their weights and everyone took their own nets. Kelly had just finished giving John the report about the cigars and sweets and had ordered everyone to get some rest, Kelly got the first shift. Tyler closed his eyes and tried to sleep but all he was thinking right now was what was about to happen in a few minutes.
'John's gonna take a Sam in a minutes, now I have to figure out how exactly I am supposed to gather the intel inside the asteroid base' Tyler thought. 'Whatever it is I'll have to figure it out somehow'
"You still awake" Kelly asked as she turned towards him.
"Yeah" He replied as he looked at her. "Anything you need"
"Actually I have wanted to ask this for awhile now" Kelly said. "You are a Petty officer First class which means you outrank John, yet you always let him take command, why?"
"Well….it's because John has been leading you all for longer than you all have even known me…and I don't like to steal the position of leader from someone who has earned it" Tyler explained.
"I see…you speak a veteran sometimes you know" Kelly said.
"Give it a few years and it will become true" Tyler said getting a chuckle from Kelly
"Well, I'll be off to sleep now" Tyler said and he fell asleep shortly after. Unknown to both of them John had been also awake and had been listening on their conversation. He had a small smile on his face and his respect for Tyler grew more.
A couple of hours later Tyler was nudged awake by Kelly who told him that they had docked, he got his gear ready and put on his coveralls. They went into the cargo bay and planted the tag on the box of cigars and then left the Laden and entered the asteroid base, it was exactly as the one that Tyler had seen in the comics and animated series.
"There" Tyler said pointing towards the public showers and they followed him in. John led them to the farthest part of the locker room and they then start and they began to discuss their next move.
"I say we make this the fall back point if all hell breaks loose" Tyler said
"Agreed" John said, "Now for Colonel Watts when we grab him the only option will be the Pelican, after we make it away to a safe distance I'll activate the distress signal"
"Good idea, but what about the doors" Linda asked
"I've got that covered" Sam said, hefting his pack of explosives.
John then checked the location of the cigars, after he was finished they were about to move out before Tyler said.
"Before we go out lets split up a bit so we don't draw suspicion" he said
"Alright" John said, "Kelly you're with me, Sam with Tyler and Fred you're with Linda"
All of them nodded and soon moved out the followed the cargo tram while maintaining distance from one another.
The tram finally stopped at an apartment building and John gave Tyler the go ahead signal, and he went through the doors with his combat knife and neutralized both guards stationed there. This is what Tyler had been working on the past months after being on Reach…knowing how to kill people in the most effective way.
The others quickly followed in and soon took off their coveralls and donned their helmets.
"NAV marker is moving" Linda said. "Mark 270, elevation ten meters…twenty…thirty-five and holding. I'd say that's top floor"
Sam came in and sealed the doors behind him, "all clear out there" he said.
"Go!" John said.
Kelly pushed the door open and she, John and Linda went in first and eliminated the guards and then Tyler, Fred and Sam went in. John motioned them to take the stairs and Kelly went over the doors and opened it. She gave the all clear signal and she took point with John behind her while Sam and Fred brought up the rear while Linda and Tyler stayed at the flanks.
John had them get out a few floors down and they went to the elevator shaft, he had them activate their cooling units on their suits and then Sam pried open the elevator door, exposing the shaft. Before they entered however Tyler decided to nudge John who looked at him.
"What is it Tyler?" he asked.
"You guys take the shaft I'll continue onwards through the stairs" Tyler said
"What" Fred said as he looked at Tyler, "What do you mean take the stairs, it will be filled with guards the more you go"
"Fred's right, Tyler, this is a bad idea" John agreed on Fred's assessment.
"That's the point" Tyler said. "I'll be bait for you all and buy you time, while you get Watts out of there"
"You can't be serious Tyler, that's a suicide mission, even for you" Kelly said
"Look once the insurrectionists fire the first shots, this whole building will be crawling with them, and would probably head towards where watts is at, I'll be in the lower floors distracting them while you take watts out of here" Tyler said.
"Then I'll be coming with you" Kelly said as she starts moving towards the stairs only to be stopped by Tyler.
"No" he said, "They'll need you here" Tyler looks at John who nods.
Sam gives him a smack from the back. "Make sure you don't die Tyler, don't be the first casualty"
'Mate, I should be the one telling you that' Tyler thought as he remembered Sam's fate…
"I won't" Tyler said and soon started sprinting up the stairs his knife in his hand. 'Alright Tyler… now to gather the Intel' he thought as he started passing by floors at a quick pace. 'Alright the communications room is in floor 25'
As Tyler made his way into floor 25 he saw about 3 guards patrolling the entrance to it, "Guess it's Shanking time" as Tyler said that he went towards one of the guards who had his backs turned and in an instant slit his throat the other two guards immediately reacted to this by aiming their guns but before they could shoot he threw his combat knife hitting one of them in the throat while he rushed the other guy who was too shock to react fast enough and soon he snapped his neck.
"Alright, that's five kills today" Tyler said as he made his way through floor 25 not bothering to hide the bodies as he wanted the insurrectionist to find them, and focus on him and not the other.
As he continued onwards he noticed that there weren't as many guards as he had expected. Soon he started hearing gunshots from the top floor.
'That's my go signal' he thought as he sheathed his knife and pulled out his DMR he made his way into what seemed like the entrance to the communications room which had about 4 guards outside guarding it, Tyler took aim with his DMR and fired 4 shots all hitting their targets eliminating the 4 guards, as he entered the communications room he saw a insurrectionist officer inside pointing his pistol at him he fired a few shots which all missed, Tyler fired 3 shots of which one hit his hand and the other two landed on his left chest where his heart is located.
As Tyler went through the room he found the central communications computer which should have all the data he required, as he inserted a data chip started fiddling with the computer trying to get as many information on it as possible he hears some movements behind him and ducked behind one of the desks that was inside the room.
Soon 3 more insurrectionist entered the room and started looking around for him, Tyler checked his gun which had 8 bullets left inside, he took a breath and came out of cover firing 2 shots hitting one of them in the chest while the other was hit directly in the face the last one opened fired on him suppressing him while he ducked into cover once more.
As the last guard started slowly headed towards where Tyler was taking cover at, he came around the corner and found the place empty, as he looked around, Tyler who was behind him shot him in the back of his head with one of his M6D.
"Damn, that was a lot" Tyler said under his breath and soon went over to the computer which had completed transferring all information to the data chip, as Tyler put the chip out he got a COM from John saying that they got Watts, and that were heading down the Elevator, to which Tyler said he was at floor twenty five.
Soon Tyler made his way towards the elevator making sure to look around keeping his guard up; he managed to sneak passed a squad of insurrectionist who had passed by heading toward the communications room. As Tyler reached the Elevator he saw Fred and Linda out keeping the area secured.
"Damn looks like you did quite the work" Fred said as Tyler reached the elevator
"The insurrectionist should be busy at the Communications room; it should give us enough time to get out of the building"
"Good work" John said as Tyler followed by Fred and Linda got inside the Elevator which had a trolley with crates on it. He also noticed that John was hit.
"So which one is watts in" Tyler asked
"This one" Sam said as he smacked the bottom one with the butt of his gun
"Alright, now let's get out of this place" John said.
As Tyler reloaded his DMR he was nudged by Kelly, as he looked at her she simply gave him thumbs up sign which he returned.
"Everyone, we'll be stopping at floor 12 where we will take the balcony and rappel down into an alleyway and change into our coveralls" John stated to which everyone nodded.
As the elevator stopped and opened up Fred and Linda were the first one out, once they gave the all clear signal all of them started moving toward the balcony with Fred and Linda in the lead, John and Sam at the Flanks and Tyler and Kelly in the rear, as the Spartans reached the balcony, Kelly had rigged a decent line on the balcony and after fastening the crate to it they lowered it down to the alley.
They all soon rappelled down the line into the alleyway and soon changed back into their coveralls, Sam and Fred proceeded to grab the crate and take it down the streets and towards the docks. They made it back to the public showers and soon removed their coveralls and donned their helmets again.
"I'll go ring the door bell" Sam said as he left with his pack of explosive.
"We need to get to the pelican before Sam blows the doors open, John's suit is beached so he won't survive if that happens" Tyler said. "John. I think you should press the distress signal"
John nodded and pressed the button activating the beacon, he the left it inside a empty locker and soon all of the left for the pelican, Just as they got inside with the crate, a thunderous explosion was heard and soon Sam came rushing in while the ramp to the Pelican close.
Tyler and Kelly were in the cockpit, with Kelly being his eyes, as Tyler started the engines he flew through the hole that Sam made, and flew it into open space. He brought the pelican around to have a quick look at the asteroid base which was now spinning erratically; having seen enough, he brought the pelican about and soon flew it towards the rendezvous point.
"You can go to the back Kelly; I'll manage it from here" Tyler said as he continued flying the pelican keeping eyes focused at the front.
"Are you sure?" Kelly asked, reluctant.
"Yeah, you should head to the back and take some rest" Tyler assured
Kelly then unbuckled her seatbelts and soon got up from her seat and reached the exit to the cockpit she gave Tyler one last glance and headed to the back.
As she came to the back she took a seat next to Sam who was currently checking his weapon, John who sat across them looked a bit pale due to the loss of blood, while Linda and Fred were checking the crates to see if their prisoner didn't suffocate which luckily he didn't. Sam noticed as Kelly kept glancing towards the cockpit where Tyler was at.
"What is it?" Sam asked, concerned and curious.
"I don't know I sometimes get this weird feeling around Tyler, I feel like I worry too much about him" Kelly expressed.
Sam maliciously grins under his helmet. "It's probably nothing, plus didn't you say that you and him were best friends" he said. 'Ho ho looks like someone is in love' Sam thought, he had a rough idea of what love was, I mean of course he would, back during training Margret and Otto were the love birds, even though it was a secret, Sam and Jorge managed to figure it out.
"I guess it probably is" she said and soon fell asleep, their first mission was quite tiring, but it was what they were meant to do...atleast for a while.
Meanwhile inside the Cockpit Tyler was currently thinking about if the decisions he made were the right one and if not going with the others was really a good decision. "Goddamnit Tyler, everyone made it out alive, so it's probably fine" Tyler said to himself under his breath.
As the Pelican landed inside the Pioneer, outside where the pelican landed Doctor Halsey and Chief Mendez waited alongside a few guards. As the hatch to the pelican opened, out came John who was walking with the help of Fred, Sam who was carrying the crate where Watts was inside, Kelly and Linda who watched the flanks and finally Tyler who came out last as he landed the Pelican.
"Mission accomplished sir" John said as he saluted Mendez.
"Well done Spartans, 117 you may head to the infirmary 104 you may help him walk there" Mendez said.
"Yes sir!" Both Fred and John said as they headed toward the infirmary.
"Is he inside the crate 034?" Mendez asked Sam, who nodded and put the crate on the floor
Mendez then motioned the guards who then opened the crate and pulled Colonel Watts out, "You bastards, you're all dead you hear me, DEAD!" Watts snarled toward the Spartans as he was soon cuffed and taken away by the guards.
"He will surely have a lot to speak at court" Mendez said as he watched the Colonel getting taken away. "Spartans...Dismissed"
Sam, Kelly, Linda and Tyler saluted and started heading towards the exit. Except Tyler who remained behind with Chief Mendez and Doctor Halsey, as the Spartan's started to leave Kelly gave Tyler one last glance to which Tyler simply gave her a nod.
"So...071" Mendez speaks. "Were you successful?"
"Affirmative, sir" Tyler said as he pulled out the data chip, "Everything ONI would want is inside this chip"
"Excellent work Tyler" Halsey said, "Congratulations by the way"
Tyler looked confused, "For what exactly Doctor?" he asked
"You will be receiving a promotion and a medal for your act" Mendez answered
"Wait what?" Tyler said surprised and eyes widened.
"Yes, the Intel you have gathered could very well end the insurrections in the Eridanus system" Halsey said, "Originally I had planned to tell this to the rest of your team as well, but doing that would have jeopardized the mission to capture Watts…So I only informed you about it as I knew only you would be able to pull something like this off"
"Wow….I feel…weird, haha" Tyler nervously said to which Halsey chuckles.
"This is only the first of many medals I see you gaining" Halsey said. "Oh , and Command now has no questions about you after your successful mission"
"Let's go" Tyler celebrated under his breath. "So doctor…..what's next" Tyler asked already knowing what the next big thing that was about to happen was.
"You remember what you told us when you first arrived" Halsey said.
"They did it didn't they" Tyler said grimly to which Halsey nods. 'Goddamnit I told them it would happen and now look what happened' Tyler mentally cursed
"Remember what I said Tyler" Halsey said, "You can change things, but do it in a way that it won't change the future too much"
"I do…and I will" Tyler said
A/N: Alright mates that's Chapter 6 done, like I said before all halo characters that are not my OCs belong to Microsoft and 343 industries. Now this is the point in this fanfiction you will see a lot of differences compared to the other fanfiction from which I have taken inspiration from…