Disclaimer: All HALO characters not my own belong to Microsoft and Halo studios
Chapter 2: First Tragedy
April 26, 2532, 1134 hours [MILITARY CALENDER]
Location: Wake system, Vodin, UNSC Halcyon class light cruiser, Roman Blue
Third Person POV
-
The orbit around Vodin was filled with nothing but filled with the various plasma cannons fired by the Covenant splinter fleet, consisting of One CCS class Battle Cruiser and Three SDV class Corvettes.
Facing them was a desperate and ragged collection of UNSC vessels, consisting of One Marathon class heavy cruiser, The Damocles, Five Paris class heavy frigates and Three Charon class light frigates, all of whom in a sequence, fired their main cannons, while the missiles from each ship bombarded the shields of the enemy ships, doing little to no damage to its main structure.
It was in the middle of this battle, that the Roman Blue exited slipspace, the lone Halcyon class light Cruiser found itself behind the UNSC fleet, the cruiser without any delay, immediately maneuvered around to join the defense fleet.
Vodin didn't house any defense platforms, relying only on its skyhook platforms for its defense, and the meager defense fleet that would have naturally been orbiting the planet, which proved to be a fatal error.
The small covenant fleet had punched through the small defense fleet in orbit, briefly glassing the planet, before returning to orbit.
The subsequent glassing did not target or encompass the main population centers, but the covenant corvettes had conducted orbital bombardments on the cities, the main target being Valmir City, where the planet's space elevator was located.
A ground invasion had commenced, with multiple covenant dropships deploying troops all around and inside Valmir city. It was this battle that the Roman Blue found itself in now.
Inside the bridge of the cruiser, many of the bridge crew had already taken up their respective posts, some communications officers moving around from one side to the other, the entire ship was in Combat-Alert-Alpha.
Hood stood at the foreground of the bridge, eyeing the tactical map that was displayed in front of him; the map displayed the current formation of the UNSC fleet, while it highlighted the Covenant ships.
"Nero, situation update" Hood inquired.
The ship's AI, appeared on the holotank besides the tactical map, "Approximately four hours ago, a covenant fleet numbering four vessels exited slipspace, the local defense fleet had engaged the splinter fleet, but were quickly eliminated."
A frown formed over Hood's face as he heard that, however he kept silent, knowing that wasn't all, "The covenant vessels briefly initiated glassing the planet, before quickly retreating into orbit and bombarding the cities from a safe position"
Hood raised an eyebrow at that, "Now what could be their reasons to abandon glassing OUR planet?" he said, almost in a mocking tone, as the covenant might have created a small error, and error which they might be able to exploit.
"Unknown, moments after they began orbital bombardment, the reinforcing fleet arrived, and that leads us to now, Sir" Nero ended.
Hood continued observing tactical map, his gaze shifting from one end to another, each displaying different data from the ongoing battle, placing a hand on his chin as he did so. "What about reports from the surface?"
"The last report stated of heavy covenant assaults, majority of which is centered on the Planet's capital, Valmir City" Nero ended, while on the tactical map, in the centre, an enlarged Birdseye image of the city was displayed.
One particular detail in the displayed image caught his eye; "Nero, what are those…Cobra markings around the city" asked Hood, spread around multiple locations, there a total of seven cobra logos all of which rendered the Covenant purple.
"Satellites indicate those as Covenant Anti-air batteries, all emplaced around the city"
"That limits any options to deploy troops inside the city" Hood said with a sigh.
However an idea came over Hood's mind, "What's the status on the space elevator?"
"Still operational, although I cannot guarantee it would remain as such for long" Nero answered. "And there are still reports of civilians utilizing it for evacuation"
Now that, placed a wrench in Hood's overall idea, he had hoped to use the space elevator to send the marines safely down to the surface, but now, that plan was not viable. Sighing he scratched the back of his head, "Well that's certainly a problem"
Then, one of the two officers seated at the helm control, informed, "Sir, we're nearing weapons range!"
"Captain, whatever plan you have, it's best you do it before we engage the covenant ships" Nero suggested.
Pondering for a moment, Hood felt the urgency and tension of the situation, finalizing his plan, he issued, "Inform the Lieutenant-Commander to get his teams prep, and do please brief him and his team of the situation on ground, and get me in touch with the Damocles"
The armory of the Roman Blue would usually be bustling with activity, especially during Combat-Alert-Alpha, but currently, the room was filled with nothing but the lights flickering, most likely forgotten by the maintenance teams to repair, and the concurrent sound of weapons being checked and loaded.
Staring at the red rabbit on his left gauntlet, sat Tyler on one of the crates, lost in thoughts, while around him, his team went around, completing their final perpetrations.
They had left Luna about almost a month ago, having spent most of their time in Cryo, him and the rest of his team had been awakened a few hours prior to their arrival to Vodin.
The Roman Blue was fully armed and repaired, in the two weeks before their departure from Luna, Tyler and especially his team had spent the time getting accustomed with Civilian life.
Lucky for them, the place Leroy had arranged for their stay had the equipments to remove their armors, which felt better than ever, also as a bonus, their armors too were fully repaired and cleaned, although Tyler specifically requested to have the rabbit not removed.
He had spend his short leave, mostly with Miranda, their bond deepening more, although Tyler hadn't planned to be this close to her, but he simply couldn't resist it as it or she reminded him too much of his own little sister…well on the bright side, him and Miranda were legally brothers and sisters, not that she needed to know.
While the other days…he spent with his Civilian friend, Conner, who he had to come clean to as either way, he would be exposed as not being who he claimed to be, as the ACTUAL guy that Tyler was pretending to be, would show up one day or another.
At first Conner believed it to be another one of his jokes, and even calling him a Natural Comedian, he also complimented him for his looks, which by this point, no one had, which gave Tyler the idea that he might be Gay…but that was quickly pushed asides that Gay's were probably extremely rare in the Halo universe…or so he thought.
Although once Tyler showed his dog tag, that belief immediately vanished, his reaction was probably the goofiest thing Tyler had seen yet, it was almost something straight out of a cartoon.
Though it took a while for him to calm down, it somehow ended in both of them going for a drink, which then resulted in them getting into a contest, a contest which Tyler won, barely, that day Tyler understood why Irish people were near impossible to defeat in a drinking competition.
Their friendship was in no way affected with Tyler's revelation, hell he'd say it got even better; Conner didn't care if he was in the military or a common folk, he still treated him like a mate, which was very refreshing, it was even more refreshing that Conner was a civie and not a military personal, he had no sense of professionalism or care about keeping things to himself, he spoke his mind whenever they talked.
Conner had even been there to see him off of Luna when the Pelican came to pick him and his team up, Tyler hadn't told him about what HE was, and that was off the chart. He was one of the very few non-SPARTANs, that Tyler could truly call a Close Friend.
Meanwhile, as Tyler recalled what had happened in the last months, his team was engaged in their own conversations, "What do you think is waiting for us down there?" Alexander asked as he placed his BR on his back.
"More Covenant of course" Maria replied as she too loaded his Sniper rifle.
"What else did you expect?" asked Owen in a deadpan tone, loading his MA5B assault rifle.
To which Alexander simply shrugged, successfully annoying his teammate, who groaned, "You and your questions always get on my nerve" Owen stated.
"Someone has to" Alexander said with a smirk behind his faceplate.
Cassandra had ignored the banter between her teammates, she was sure if Chief Mendez saw the two Males of her team, he sure would be livid, placing her M90 shotgun on her back, she then went ahead and picked up an assault rifle from the rack, while also passing a M6H side arm to the person next to her, "Here" she offered.
Taking the side arm, Randall nodded, "Thanks"
Randall had joined the team about three days before their departure from Luna, it was sure a surprise for the rest of the team to get a sixth member, a SPARTAN team on average had maybe three or four members, five would be a rare case, but six? It was almost unlikely and most likely, the sixth member would be retransferred after a given time period or a mission.
Which would most likely be the case for Randall, who in the past days before their departure had gotten a bit accustomed to Bravo team and how it operated, he still remained socially awkward at most and rarely spoke up unless spoken to, but he fitted just right with the team.
Tyler snapped out of his thought and picked ups his DMR, which he laid rest against the crate, placing it in his back; he walked up to his team, who had finished preparations, "Everyone ready?"
He was only received with a green wink from all, and it was all he needed, nodding, he made his way towards the exit, "Let's go"
The six man team filled out of the armory, as they uniformly walked, their heavy footsteps echoed along the hallways.
Luckily, the armory had been very close to the launch bay where their pelican awaited them, while they had been busy getting their equipments, Nero had appeared and briefed them on their objectives.
The primary objective was to destroy all Anti-air batteries around the cities, which after completed, would allow the Charon class frigates to entre atmosphere and deploy reinforcements.
The secondary objective was much simpler, yet also made their primary objective harder; prevent the Space elevator from completely collapsing, which could be interpreted in so many different terms, which complicated things.
Tyler ran his right hand along his hips, he could feel his M6D sidearm strapped, but something was missing, he knew why it was missing, but he still odd without it, the two energy sword he had stolen while on Trove.
Tyler couldn't help but wonder if he had made a small error by leaving those two energy swords behind, as it was the only thing which allowed him to properly dual with an Elite when it activated its energy sword. 'Should I have handed it over AFTER this mission' he wondered
Flashback
Walking through the tunnels of Luna, Tyler moved his arms, stretching them after donning his armor after a long time, "How does it feel?" asked Leroy who walked besides him, his hands clasped behind his back.
"Like I haven't worn it in years" Tyler replied, cracking his knuckles.
"Guess two weeks of inactivity really did rust you then" Leroy said.
"Oh please, if you doubt if I can still shot a gun, then you'll be disappointed in doubting" Tyler shot back.
"Cocky eh?" Leroy said, amused.
"No, just confident" Tyler corrected.
"Same as cocky" Leroy stated.
The two of them continued to walk through the tunnel, Tyler had parted ways with Conner who had come to see him off, unfortunately, the docks that his Pelican was landing in was a military restricted area.
There was a door up ahead, which slid open as they neared it, the two of them walked into the designated location where the Pelican would pick Tyler and his team up.
As expected, the Pelican was already docked, with his team having already boarded it, however there was another Pelican docked as well, "You're leaving as well?" Tyler asked.
"Yeah, I still have much work to do back down on Earth, but that doesn't mean I won't give you a surprise call or two" Leroy said.
"I could not expect less" Tyler nodded.
Leroy turned over to Tyler, and he did so as well, "I don't know when we'll next meet in person, but until then…try not to get yourself killed" Leroy said with a small smirk.
"You bet I won't" Tyler said, "Oh and by the way, I had something else"
Hearing this, Leroy raised an eye brow, interested in what Tyler had.
Following suite with his words, Tyler pulled out the two hilts of the deactivated energy swords, the ones he had used since Trove, "I think your new sub-division might be interested in this"
"Is that…" Leroy said as he examined the twin hilts.
"Yes, a covenant energy sword, the one's that the elites use" Tyler confirmed, "Before you ask, I stole them"
"That is the only explanation that I would think of as well" Leroy stated, "So what do you want us to do with it?"
"Seriously? Are you asking ME that?" Tyler said in disbelief to which Leroy laughed a bit.
"Nah, just kidding, we'll see if we can make any use of it, maybe study how its powered, but, don't expect too much from me, I'm not a scientist, just a simple guy who does things" Leroy said calmly.
"Yes…a very simple guy" Tyler repeated in an amused tone. "Actually…if it's possible for your…well whoever, could you all maybe change the color of the sword when ignited?"
"Yeah, sure, although I can't guarantee when it'll be finished, we're still very bare when it comes to understanding covenant tech, so what color do you want it?" he asked.
Tyler pondered, 'Red could look badass, maybe I'll look like Darth Vader…nah that's not original enough…green, eh…yellow, orange……' Tyler went through all options, before finalizing on one particular color, "Purple"
"Ah, hit the covenant with their own color, huh? Not a bad choice" Commented Leroy, although that was not why Tyler chose the color…
Taking the two hilts from Tyler's hand, Leroy, for the first time truly felt the weight of these hilts alone, "Jesus, they really aren't light huh?" Leroy questioned.
"For you maybe" Tyler joked. "Anyways, it was nice seeing you again"
"Yeah, yeah, now go on, you've got another battle ahead of you, I simply have paper works waiting for me" Leroy stated.
Before leaving, Tyler straightened himself and gave Leroy a proper salute, Leroy smirked and nodded, "At ease, now get lost"
Present
"Tyler" Cassandra nudged him, snapping him out of his thoughts, Tyler looked around seeing as they were nearing the entrance to the Loading-bay.
"Yeah" Tyler asked.
"Something wrong? You weren't replying back" Cassandra inquired, clearly concerned.
Tyler nodded, "I'm fine…just was lost in my…thoughts"
Cassandra nodded, not pushing any further on questions, "I think two weeks of leave really rusted you up, Tyler" Alexander joked.
Tyler chuckled; "And maybe two weeks of leave rusted your jokes" he shot back.
"Ouch" Cassandra muttered under her breath, while Maria clearly resisted a laugh, even Owen had a smirk behind his faceplate, while Randall gave a sorry look to Alexander, who felt like he had been cooked, roasted, burned and incinerated all at the same time.
"You hurt me Tyler" Alexander tried to be dramatic.
"And Sam's way better in being dramatic than you" Tyler said amused. This in turn, only further roasted Alexander.
"Jeez, Tyler, no need to murder the poor guy with words" Maria said, showing a rare sense of sympathy for Alexander in these friendly situations.
"I find it more worrying that it's you that's showing him pity" Owen commented.
"Do you all always just joke around?" Randall asked, gaining a look from everyone. "Guess I'll take that as a yes"
"Let's get going" Tyler said as he continued taking the lead.
Marching through the launch bay, the team of SPARTANs passed by multiple marines, all of whom gave them all slight nods as they passed by, they were walking on the upper lever of the Launch bay.
Tyler's gaze for a brief moment shifted down, towards the large open area that was the lower level, there were some warthogs driving through the road in the centre, Scorpions parked around and marines awaiting for new orders.
In front of them was the designated Pelican that would take them to the surface, the only Pelican capable of taking them to the surface and return back alive, Twister 49.
Said pilot of the pelican, Lisa Devereaux, was standing next to the ramp of her beloved pelican, she seemed to be talking to another individual, an ODST.
Noticing the oncoming SPARTANs, Lisa or Twister as literally everyone calls her, turned towards the SPARTANs, "Finally, took you all long enough"
"Sorry, we take our time with our equipments, wouldn't want any misfortunes in active combat" Tyler sarcastically said.
The ODST that was besides her saluted as Tyler and his team approached, "At ease, Sergeant, no need to always salute upon seeing me" Tyler said.
The said ODST Sergeant was the same Sergeant that had been dropped off to aid them on Trove's surface while fighting the flood, Noah Devereaux was his name, or as Twister or Lisa would call, her Brother-in-law...he was French Canadian, and so was Lisa's Husband...basically Québec.
"It's standard protocol, Sir. And muscle memory" Noah said.
"Where's the rest of your squad Sergeant?" Cassandra asked.
"In the locker rooms, they're still busy getting their gear on" Noah answered, "Heard she was going to be the first to go down into the surface, taking you all, so, and came to see her off"
Cassandra nodded, "Alright everyone, get in, I'm not gonna wait any longer!" Lisa said as she boarded her pelican. "And Noah! Keep that coffee hot!"
"Alright MISS!" Noah replied, "If you can, sir, kill some covies for us as well, don't know if we'll get dropped this time"
"Don't worry sergeant, we'll kill enough for everyone onboard" Alexander replied, while the rest of the team boarded the pelican.
Soon, the ramp of the pelican was sealed, and the engines soon flared up to life, as that happened Twister's voice came over the speaker, "Alright ladies and gents, take your seats, get comfy and wear your seat belts, this ride is gonna be hot"
"The pilot sure has a…personality" Randall stated, it was not unexpected for him to find all of this extremely strange.
"Gutsy, she's gutsy" Owen corrected.
"I don't understand…how can you all be so…casual with them?" Randall questions.
"That's mostly Tyler and Alexander, but if you had been a part of the team since the beginning…you'll understand" Owen explained.
Soon, they could feel the pelican accelerate, meaning they were entering atmosphere; Randall seemed confused on what Owen meant by 'Since the beginning'.
No need to think about it too much Randall, just know that you're a part of the team, and nothing's changing that" Tyler assured, to which Randall nodded.
A loud boom was heard outside of the pelican, causing the pelican to rumble and shake, "Looks like we're nearing our drop point" Cassandra said as she drew her assault rifle.
The rest of the team followed suite as well, drawing their respective weapons, while they remained seated, waiting for the pelican to descend and lower the ramp.
"We're approaching the LZ, it's quite rough but you'll have to make due" Twister informed, moments later, the ramp of the pelican was lowered, "Alright, Bravo team, go kick ass"
Getting up from their seats, Tyler was the first to leap out of the pelican, which was two feet above ground, land perfectly on his feet, Tyler scanned the area, they had been dropped off on top of a ruined building, and observing from how high he was, Tyler deduced it was atleast three to four stories high.
The other five SPARTANs landed next to him as well, after everyone had exited, Twister 49 flew away, "Scan the area, we're most likely behind enemy lines" Tyler issued.
The building they had been dropped off was missing atleast a quarter of it, which was all rubble, the area around was in similar conditions, Valmir city was not spared at all, there were no tall skyscrapers, no large buildings and no human in sight.
"Good lord, the covies really did let all of anger out here" Alexander said over TEAMCOMs.
"Stay focused, covenant forces could still be lurking around these areas" Maria stated.
Tyler slowly creped over to the edge of the roof, his motion tracker did show some hostile movements around them, "We've got movements, stay alert" Tyler ordered, to which he received green winks.
Peeking over the small cover that signified the border of the roof, Tyler could see one of the Anti-Air batteries, atleast fifty meters ahead of them, it seemed yet to be activated, which would explain why they weren't blasted to oblivion immediately as the landed.
"First target in sight, take positions" Tyler instructed as he continued to observe the covenant forces around the emplacement.
The emplacement was a Type 27 AA-Cannon or Mantis…something much easier to take out, around it were atleast a company's worth of covenant troops, comprising of Elite's, grunts and Jackals…basically the usual standard formation.
"I've got eyes on their CO" Maria said as she aimed her sniper rifle directly at an Elite ultra.
"Hold fire until my command" Tyler issued, "Bravo-five, you'll remain here and provide us with long range fire, the rest of you, we're taking the fight to them"
He was met with five green winks, "Let's go" Tyler ordered as he leaped over the cover, landing on a small mountain of rubble, 'I should really stop jumping out of cover' Tyler thought as he stealthy made his way closer to the Covenant position, the rest of his team following close.
Their approach was unnoticed and unchallenged, with the five SPARTANs reaching a large broken wall, which beyond said wall was the Covenant AA emplacement; their motion trackers were going nuts with the amount of movement beyond the wall.
Tyler looked at his team who all nodded, "Bravo-five, you have the shot" Tyler said over TEAMCOMs.
Not even a second later, a loud boom from a gun was heard, followed by the frantic sounds of panicked grunts and Elites who scrambled to bring things under order.
Grabbing one of his frag grenades, he removed the pin and threw it over a breach in the wall, just as the grenade exploded, Tyler sprinted out of cover through the breach, his DMR aimed, the first kill for the day was an unlucky grunt, who happened to be right in front of Tyler when he had pushed through the breach.
As soon as they grunt was killed, the elites turned towards the bridge almost immediately, an elite major had his neddler aimed directly at Tyler, but before he could fire even a single round, he too had his head blown apart, just like the Evocati had.
As soon as the other SPARTANs armed with their assault rifles came into firing view, that was when it became a one sided massacre, Cassandra had switched over to her shotgun which was much, much more suited for CQB, one shot from it being enough to rip an elite, even with its energy shield apart.
As the firefight waged on, Tyler without any delay, rushed up toward the underbelly of the AA battery, since it still wasn't activated, the core was covered by its armor plating, which would usually open and close when the battery was active and firing.
Just as Tyler was about to try and latch a plasma grenade onto the enclosed core, he heard the sound of an Elite, definitely speaking Sangheili, "Die Demon!" Tyler's inbuilt translator had translated.
As Tyler turned his head around, he saw the Elite, who was a Major, his energy sword ignited and readied to thrust it into Tyler's chest.
However, unfortunately for the elite, the Demon he was facing was fast, very fast. Just a few inches from his chest, Tyler grabbed the arm of the elite, pulling him towards him, as Tyler kneecapped his stomach, the elite puking some saliva.
As the Elite remained in its stunned and bent over state, unable to move or react fast enough, Tyler unsheathed his combat knife, holding it in reverse, he stabbed it into the back of the elite's neck, killing it in an instant, while swiftly remove his knife and placing it back.
Tyler heard another elite charge towards him, with his DMR drawn, Tyler turned around to face the second Elite, who already was halfway towards him, but before he could make any real attempt to even damage Tyler, he was shot midway by Maria, who easily sniped the elite.
Tyler looked towards the direction, where Maria had positioned herself at, he could still see her figure in the distant, perched on the roof they had been dropped off at, he knew that her scope was on him, so, he nodded, before turning around to finish what he was about to start.
Picking up three plasma grenades, Tyler calculated on how many grenades would be required to penetrate through that armor plating, giving up immediately on the calculation, Tyler activated one of the plasma grenades, throwing it directly at the covered Core, which it stuck to.
As the grenade exploded, it left behind a small, almost unnoticeable hole in the armor plate, of course the entire plating covering the core was charred black as a result, but it did leave behind a very tine hole…a hole which could be expanded with another well placed grenade.
Activating another plasma grenade, Tyler threw it towards the tiny breach in the armor, the grenade sticking directly on top of the breach.
The grenade exploded and once more as the slight EMP that occurs dissipated, out remained was a decent sized breach, enough to fit a plasma grenade inside.
Throwing the final plasma grenade towards the breach, Tyler watched as the blue ball entered through the breach and into the core…two seconds later, a large explosion ripped the underbelly AA battery, and soon, the main cannon too collapsed and exploded.
The first out of seven AA batteries was now eliminated, only six remained…six more to take care off before this is all over.
Soon, the firefight in the area died down, with the only sound being those of grunts, still alive and squeaking in agony. Cassandra walked up towards Tyler who was busy reloading his DMR. "Area's cleared, you alright?" she asked.
"I'm fine, what about the others?" Tyler inquired.
"All green, so, what's next" Cassandra asked as both of them stared away in the distant, the city was large, although due to most of it being leveled, it was almost a plain view of the entire city.
"We'll wait for Maria and regroup" Tyler answered, in the distant, separated from the rest of the city via a artificially dug river which was connected to the ocean, the space elevator still stood in the distant, its massive structure visible from miles away.
"They really destroyed this city…I don't think it's ever recovering" Cassandra expressed.
"Let's not be too hasty to conclude in its fate, the space elevator is still standing…there is still hope for the city to be reconstructed" Tyler said.
"That is, if the covenant allow us to" Cassandra added, to which Tyler nodded.
Turning on his TEAMCOMs, Tyler issued out, "Regroup"
It didn't take long before the entire team now stood where the AA battery once stood, "So what's our next move?" Owen asked, he had some purple stains on his chest piece…he sure went hard.
Tyler looked at Cassandra who nodded and checked her TACPAD, the same one she had borrowed from the Spirit of Fire, which she never bothered to return, "One out of seven AA batteries eliminated, I'm uploading NAV markers to the others"
While she worked on her TACPAD, in their respective HUD, six NAV markers, dubbed ALPHA, GAMMA, OMEGA, BETA, ZETA and…SIGMA appeared.
'Damn, how long has it been since I saw that term' Tyler thought as he looked at NAV point SIGMA. Never had Tyler ever though he would feel nostalgic seeing the term Sigma.
"So, are we splitting up? One battery for each? There is six of us" Alexander stated.
He was not wrong as that would certainly make their mission a lot more quicker, but it had its own problems, as each SPARTAN will be on their own without support, and that was risk that Tyler wasn't taking.
"No, that'll leave us open to be picked off one by one" Tyler countered.
Randall looked around the area, examining each NAV marker and where the other AA batteries were at, and he noticed one thing, "Sir, permission to speak" Randall asked.
Tyler couldn't help but cringe at that, and he was sure the rest of him too cringed; it was an unofficial rule of the team to call everyone apart of the team by name and not any salutations, etc.
"Granted" Tyler said. He was going to have to explain that to him later.
"Sir, I believe we could split into two teams, I've noticed that the AA batteries are divided in two directions, each direction leading to three batteries each" Randall explained as he pointed towards the two directions which circled around the city, and as he stated, both left and right had three batteries each.
"I believe two team of three SPARTANs should be capable of clearing their respective sides" Randall ended.
"Sharp thinking, Randall" Tyler complimented, even though none of them had noticed it beforehand, Tyler was sure they would have figured out either way…but still, Randall deserved the praise as he was quick to catch on.
"Just helping where I can, Sir" Randall stated.
"I'm sure you are already doing that with your hands and the gun" Alexander gave a snarky comment.
"And Randall, no need to call me Sir, I may be the team-leader, but we're a team, everyone's equal in this team, so it's either everyone gets special treatments or no one gets special treatments, am I clear" Tyler said, which certainly seemed to have taken Randall aback, however he did give a nod.
"Good" Tyler huffed, "Now, Bravo-Three and four, you're with two. Bravo-Five and six, with me" Tyler laid out, "Two's team will be designated Bravo-beta, mine would be Bravo Alpha…Bravo-beta, you'll be moving towards the east, we'll flank from the west, Primary objective is still top priority, but do not hesitate to aid any survivors, we're fighting to save this planet…and we're gonna save its inhabitants as well…once Primary objective is accomplished, regroup at the other side of the city, am I clear"
After that long planning, Tyler received five green winks, it may seem not much, but it was all the approval that Tyler needed, "Let's move out" Tyler ordered.
April 26, 2532, 1354 hours [MILITARY CALENDER]
Location: Wake system, Vodin, UNSC Halcyon class light cruiser, Roman Blue
-
The ship rocked more as another volley from the enemy cruiser slammed into the hull of the light cruiser.
Hood grabbed the end of tactical map, balancing himself from stumbling over, "Status!" Hood inquired.
"Captain, Missile pods eight and eleven are offline" one of the weapons officers reported from his post.
Hood gritted his teeth, the space battle had been going for a few hours now, neither side having any clear advantage, the Covenant corvettes may be less heavily armed, but it was them that posed the most threat to the overall battle as they were capable of orbital bombardments.
However, anytime one of the corvette's shields would be downed, the battle cruiser will position itself between the corvettes and the UNSC fleet, its stronger shields proving tough challenge for them, and that's not even accounting for its heavy armaments.
Two of the five Paris class heavy frigates were already out of commission, having been torn apart by the cruiser at near point blank range, while the Charon's had maintained formation behind the fleet, safe away from enemy range.
The Damocles which was the flagship for this whole operation had sustained damages, but none of them were crippling and it was still combat operational, which was a relief, as without its Heavy MACs, they wouldn't be able to hope to penetrate or even temporary down the Covenant shields.
Another barrage of archer missiles were launched from the Damocles and the three heavy frigates, as the missiles were about to impact on the cruiser's shields, the covenant battle cruiser entered slipspace, and moments after, appeared behind the corvettes, safely away from the missiles which were intercepted by the corvette's pulse lasers.
It was one of the many advantages the covenant had…Intersystem jump, was one of the most decisive of them, as the UNSC ship's were woefully ill equipped to react, if do anything against that, there was nothing the crews of their ships could do as they watched their enemy escape into a safe distance outside of their weapons range or completely out flank them.
It was a damn miracle that the cruiser didn't just appear in the mist of the UNSC formation, as if it did, and then the entire fleet would be torn apart piece by piece in no time.
"How many does this make?" Hood asked, to which the ship's AI, Nero appeared on the holotank.
"That would make it the fifteenth time that, that cruiser conducted that maneuver…very repetitive, but effective…against us" Nero informed.
Hood sighed as he observed through the view port, if this continued on, then this battle would never end, "Any updates from the surface?"
"Negative, the last report from Bravo team was that they had cleared one of the Anti-Air emplacements" Nero informed.
"Whatever they're doing, they better be quick, I doubt we'll be getting any further reinforcements, if we can get out men down to the surface, we might just win the battle for the surface" Hood stated.
"I am certain the SPARTANs would succeed, the Lieutenant-Commander is a brilliant leader and a strategist after all" Nero gave a very rare praise, for any individual that is.
"I sure don't doubt, however, whatever they're doing; they better do it quick" Hood said, "The faster we get those ground troops down there, the faster we can utilize those light frigates without the risk of losing our entire ground force, those ships might just provide the fire power we need to crack through this covenant defense"
"Or we could find a small opening, something which might crumble the entire defense like a Jenga tower would" Nero shared his opinion.
"I'm not sure if we'll find such an opportunity, Nero" Hood said as he continued to observe the ongoing battle.
"Sir, the Damocles is readying to fire its main cannons, should we follow suit?" one of the weapons officer's asked.
"Negative, save our shot, they may have two MACs, but we only got one to work with, and I'd rather not have us defenseless" Hood issued.
Hood may argue that, his decision to not fire their MAC was what was saving the entire fleet from the battle cruiser just smashing in between their formations and tearing them apart, which was possible, but also not.
The covenant's strategy for this battle was confusing, not only did they resort to orbital bombardments, which they rarely do, but they mostly maintained defensive positions, preferring long range instead of closing in the distance between the two fleets.
He had many possible explanations for this occurrence, none of which really decisively favor humanity; any chance for a decisive victory against the covenant was lost as soon as more of their fleet's started invading human space.
Hood watched as the two projectiles fired from the twin Heavy MACs of the Damocles covered the distance between the two opposing fleets, the corvette's did try to conduct evasive maneuvers, but due to their size's, they were unable to space.
Both MAC's slammed into two respective corvettes, while the three heavy frigates too fired their MAC's, the projectiles concentrated into a single target, one of the corvettes which had been hit by the Heavy MAC.
The MAC's slammed into it, and beat it's shields like a drum, and soon it's shields shimmered and disappeared, once more, the four Human ships launched their missile's, another barrage aimed directly for the exposed corvettes, some were intercepted, but a majority of them were still on course for impact.
But, like many of the previous attempts, before the missiles could get with impact zone, the Battle cruiser appeared in between the exposed cruiser and the missiles.
The Missiles slammed into the powerful shields of the battle cruiser instead of the exposed hull of the corvette, doing little to no damage to the cruiser's shields. As the aftermath of the barrage subsided, the cruiser returned fire, launching its sixteen plasma torpedoes, which exited the cruiser's shields and closed the distance towards the UNSC fleet.
The point defense guns of every ship in the fleet opened up as the torpedoes closed in the distance, one hit would all it take for a ship to be rendered out of commission.
All sixteen torpedoes were intercepted, but a few had gotten into critical distance, meaning close enough that their interception slightly damaged a ship.
Hood observed as the covenant battle cruiser prepared for another salvo of plasma torpedoes, it hadn't utilized its plasma cannons, although that might be due to the ship being out of its required range.
The two fleets would remain in this exact same position, which is until the MAC's of the other ships have been recharged and ready for another salvo, which was when the cruiser would retreat once more.
Hood watched as the plasma torpedoes exited from the alien cruiser's shield's once more, as they got within weapons range, they too were swiftly intercepted…but it was here that Hood had noticed something.
Something which he hadn't in the previous attempts, there seemed to be a particular time period which was required for the alien ship to fire it's torpedoes once more, Hood made sure to calculate the exact time period between the ship's volley of torpedoes.
After observing two more volley's he had come to a final conclusion…it took the ship atleast 47 seconds, before it could fire its torpedoes.
"Nero" Hood called, to which the AI projected itself on the holotank, "Position the main cannon exactly perpendicular to the torpedo tube closest to the ship's central hull"
Nero, not exactly sure what the captain had planned, complied, the Roman Blue turning 20 degrees towards the left, their main cannon now directly aimed at the torpedo tube closest and angled towards the ship's centre.
"Sir, would you mind filling me with your plan" Nero asked.
"It's best you observe it yourself, Nero" Hood said as he mentally counted the remaining time left before the battle cruiser would launch another volley of torpedoes. "If this works, we might have just won the space battle…"
"And if it doesn't?" Nero inquired.
"Then God help us all, for this entire operation might be doomed" Hood answered. "Is the MAC ready?"
"Fully charged, Sir" Nero reported, "Just give the order and it'll be fulfilled"
Hood nodded, he was still mentally counting the time…cold sweat slithered down his head, he knew this decision could possibly win or lose this entire battle…it was the biggest gamble that he had taken up until this point.
One where the lives of many depended, just as when he reached the number five did he issue the order. "Fire!"
With the one command, the main cannon of the light cruiser ejected a bright projectile, one which like many of its kind, moved at the fraction of the speed of light, as it rapidly crossed the distanced towards its intend target.
Its target, the battle cruiser, too was in the middle of launching its torpedoes once more, as each of the sixteen torpedoes exited the shields one by one, the shield opened up for the twelfth torpedo which was exiting its tube.
Just as it exited its tube, the projectile fired from the main cannon of the light cruiser too neared the gaping hole in the cruiser's shields.
It was at this moment that time seemed to slow down, although the ships may remain unmoving due to the slowness of time, the projectiles fired from their weapons continued their course at a constant speed.
Just as the torpedo exited the shield, it too began to close down, the energy shield seemingly regenerating the hole that had been opened for the torpedo.
As it closed up, the projectile from the MAC neared the opening, and a split second for the naked eye, just barely, just barely, passed through the enclosing shields, slamming directly into the torpedo tube and penetrating through the ship, completely penetrating through the central structure where its grav lift and plasma lance were located as well, and coming out the other side, disappearing as it's velocity was absorbed by the cruiser's shields upon impact.
There was no immediate change to the ship, but soon, many noticeable changes started to appear, first was the exterior lighting's shutting off, then its weapons, finally followed by its engines being extinguished.
It wasn't long until the ship began to internally explode, and be ripped apart by its own explosions, finally putting an end to the proud vessel of the alien empire.
From the bridge of the Roman Blue, Hood watched as the ship internally began to explode, cheers erupting inside the bridge as the bane of the UNSC fleet was finally destroyed.
Hood buried his face in his hands, not in despair or sorrow, but in relief and joy…relief as to the fact that his plan had worked, which not only might have won them this battle, but also saved many more lives from being lost in this space battle, and joy in the fact that he won't be responsible for dooming this entire fleet.
"I told you, an opening to exploit would present itself" Nero commented, to which Hood recomposed himself.
"You sure did, Nero, you sure did" Hood said nodding, to Hood, this might be the last time he would have to take such decisive and stressful decision, which he would be glad for it to be, he was getting old, and soon by the next decade, he'll already be passed his prime.
The celebration inside the bridge still continued on, and Hood saw it a fitting time to step in and place things back in order, "Alright people, settle down, we might have gotten one of them, but this battle is far from over"
Hood then turned back to face the front, "Prep missile pods, I want all weapons online! It's time we end this stalemate" Hood issued, to which the crew responded by immediately returning to their post, their morale having been boosted by the destruction of the covenant battle cruiser.
"Sir, we've got orders from the Damocles to push forwards" Nero informed.
"Well then, let's not keep them waiting" Hood answered, he could see the Damocles leading the charge towards the three corvettes, their main obstacle having been cleared, and the three ships would be easy targets for the UNSC.
And it was apparent as the Damocles fired its twin MACs, both of which slammed into a particular cruiser, managing to punch through its shields and penetrate its hull.
The space battle was finally drawing to its conclusion, after which, all that would remain would be getting their troops onto the ground…which would all be up to the SPARTANs and their mission.
April 26, 2532, 1709 hours [MILITARY CALENDER]
Location: Wake system, Vodin, Valmir city
-
The skies of Vodin were now dark, filled with the endless shining stars, as night had dawned over the planet.
But even after nightfall, the planet was still far from spared from any bloodshed, it had begun hours ago, when the first battery went down, after which two more followed, and then another two more…in fewer than two hours, five out of the seven defense batteries had been taken out.
Each battery was guarded by a substantial force, one large enough to repel any attempts or large assaults. But even with these, the batteries has still fallen, it was not their own incompetence that resulted in such disaster.
But the sheer ruthlessness and effectiveness of their enemies, one's which left no survivors behind, for killing was what most were breed for.
It was in this aftermath of a carnage that an elite was seen limping away, trying to crawl away, to his people, it may be seen as dishonorable, a great shame, but after what he had seen, it would be best to live to fight another day.
Unfortunately before it could truly escape, halfway atop the rubble of a once proud building, the elite was halted as it felt a foot be pressed on his back, not bothering to look back and accepting his fate, the elite shut its eye, as a loud BANG rang out the area.
This was the last elite in the area around the third AA emplacement, or NAV point SIGMA or Point SIGMA, Ty6ler reloaded his DMR as he made his way atop the rubble and took a seat on a large block, probably a piece of a wall.
It had been a long and tiring day, even if it had only been few hours, the amount of traversing through foot really did make Tyler want to catch his breath.
Of course that was nothing compared to how he felt after Trove, which was like a husk, every bit of energy in his body was exhausted and spent after the debacle at Trove.
As Tyler sat and watched the last Mantis Anti-Air emplacement on their side explode, he couldn't help but feel relieved, finally he could rest after this, he probably had a guess why he was craving for rest so much, he actually wanted to sleep.
Cryo-sleep, as its name suggests really doesn't satiate someone's need for sleep, it just freezes them, all the fatigue that you entre with still remains as you exit it…atleast that's the case for Tyler.
The sound of footsteps were heard making their way towards him, Tyler didn't need to be alarmed or tense, as he knew who it was.
"Everything alright, Randall?" Tyler asked, he wasn't questioning if he had a problem, but if he was doing well, although it seemed Randall didn't understand exactly what Tyler was asking about.
"No…nothing" Randall answered as he stood next to Tyler, both of them watched at the burning wreckage of the AA emplacement.
"Go on, have a seat, after today's mission, it's only fair if we catch our breath for a moment" Tyler casually said, which seemed to take Randall off-guard.
Processing what Tyler was ordering, he complied and took a seat beside him on the block, "I've been wanting to ask…How?" Randall said.
"How what, exactly?" Tyler inquired.
"A lot…" Randall answered, one which he wasn't really satisfied with as he couldn't find the exact words.
"Well…if it's about my leadership…I like to take things less stressfully, take it safe, yet effectively, I'd hate losing anyone under my care…if it's about the rest of us as a team…like Owen said before, if you'd been here from the very start of this team…you'd understand a whole lot better…and if it's about me... I just become the best of myself, by being myself" Tyler answered the last part with a smile behind his faceplate.
Those answers were…enlightening, he still had a whole lot more questions to ask, but the three that he had answered were enough, as it would had cleared most, if not almost all of the other questions as well, however there was one more question that bugged his mine, actually two.
"What exactly did you all experience?" he asked
"Well…its best you don't know…trust me…...Bravo team has been around for…almost one and a half year, and what WE had experienced…it was enough to give any man atleast ten years worth of combat experience" Tyler explained, reminiscing the events on Harvest, Arcadia and Trove.
Especially Trove…that was an experience that would never leave him, the memories of all those battles were still fresh, it was strange that it had been more than a year since all the events of Halo wars…and yet it still felt like yesterday for Tyler.
Randall nodded, deciding push any further on that topic, and seek to change it to a much…different one, "What about the rabbit?"
Tyler slightly lifted his left hand, and looked down at the red rabbit, still painted and displayed proudly. "One word…Kelly" Tyler answered, opting not to say anything else, as it was self explanatory form there.
Randall pondered for a moment on why he had answered with Kelly, but that ponder was destroyed as he caught on with what Tyler was implying…and it made a whole lot more sense.
Randall silently nodded, finally Maria too walked up to their position, her SRS99C still I her hand, some parts of her armor were scathed with scars from debris and etc.
"How's it looking, Maria?" Tyler inquired.
"All dead…in this area atleast, there is still a lot more covies spread around the city, with only the six of us, it'll take us atleast a week or two to clear the city completely" Maria shared her view.
"And that's what it's gonna be the marines that'll deal with it" Tyler added as he stood up from his comfortable seat, "Having a full team of six SPARTANs bogged down on a planet for two weeks, just for clean up duties, now that isn't very strategic, and a total waste" he explained.
Randall too got up, finding it awkward to be the only one sitting, and the fact that his team-leader had abandoned his own seat. The explanation made a lot more sense, and was a good enough reason as to why they weren't just ordered to clear out the entire city…not that it would ever be an imaginable order.
"Bravo-beta, report in" Tyler inquired over TEAMCOM.
"Bravo-beta, to Bravo-Alpha, primary objective's accomplished on our sector, making way towards rendezvous point" Cassandra answered over TEAMCOM.
"Roger Bravo-beta, we're done here as well, see you at rendezvous point" Tyler stated over TEAMCOM.
"Acknowledged" Cassandra ended.
"Let's get moving" Tyler said, to which the other two nodded.
Having his DMR rested on his back, Tyler started to sprint towards the rendezvous site, which was atleast a good three kilometers away, for anyone other than a SPARTANs, it would take atleast an hour to reach it while sprinting at top speed.
But for a SPARTAN…it was a matter of minutes and for Tyler…maybe five minutes if he ran at top speed, which he rarely did, he always slowed himself down to match the pace of his other teammates who were significantly slower than him.
By even SPARTAN standards, Tyler was probably the fastest SPARTAN, sharing that title with Kelly, even to this day, he wasn't sure how he got this fast…like every other time he would question his insane feats, even by SPARTAN standards, he would brush it off as an over dose of the augmentations.
Leaping from one building from another, the team of three SPARTANs traversed through the ruined city, their approach of jumping from one roof to the other being reasoned as to not attract any covenant attention.
The last thing that they would want is to run into another fire fight.
Tyler landed on another builder and continued his way to the edge of it, leaping once more to the next building, which unlike the others was a good distance away, but he crossed it with ease, landing on his feet perfectly.
Tyler halted in his tracks after landing, wanting to wait for his teammates, who followed suit, Maria landed perfectly next to him, it wasn't surprising as she was the most experienced when it came to traversing rough terrains.
Next was Randall, who leaped from the edge of the building they had just crossed, Tyler could tell even before he made it half way, that he would just barely make it…it was understandable as the jump stretched across a full road down bellow.
As Tyler had predicted, Randall landed right on the edge of the building that they were on, however as he landed, due to the small amount of area his foot was over, the weight of his armor broke the small chunk his foot was on.
But before he could fall over towards the road bellow, Tyler quickly grabbed his arm, pulling him up.
"Thanks" Randall said, as he landed on his feet, it was clear he was slightly embarrassed for failing the jump.
"Anytime" Tyler said as he patted his shoulders, "Don't worry, mistakes can be made, we're not perfect after all"
Randall looked at Tyler, directly at his large dome shaped visor, again Tyler had taken him aback, all his life they were told they would become the ultimate soldiers, the perfect soldiers...so Tyler admitting that they weren't perfect was…interesting.
Randall could only wonder how life must have been for Tyler, logically, among the first class of SPARTAN IIs, Tyler was the newest addition, and yet he had such a different view compared to most SPARTANs…maybe he would be eligible for Valhalla after death as well.
"Can we get moving now? I'd hate if we got beaten to the rendezvous site" Maria said, showing a rare sense of competitiveness.
"You got it" Tyler replied, and started immediately making his way over to the edge of the building, where they would jump over to the next one.
It had taken a good nine minute before Tyler and his team made it to the rendezvous point, their route of jumping from building to building had quickened their pace, increasing their chances that maybe they would be the first to reach the rendezvous site, which was the main pavement towards the bridge which led to the part where the space elevator was located.
But much to their dismay, Cassandra's team was already there, relaxing and waiting for them.
"Looks like they beat us to it" Maria said, as they slowed their pace to that of a normal jog as they neared the point.
"Well, we should taste defeat sometimes as well, always experiencing victory might ruin our taste" Tyler said, he did feel disappointed that they had beaten, but that was just his pettiness.
"Took you all long enough!" Alexander exclaimed, he was sitting on a flipped over bus, jumping down from the top.
"It was a long route" Tyler said, it wasn't a long route, but hey, they didn't need to know that. Tyler did also notice that his should piece or atleast left shoulder was charred back, "What happened?"
Before he could answer, Owen chimed in from the sides, "He got caught in the blast radius of a fuel rod cannon, while we we're assaulting the second AA battery on our end, had that fuel rod exploded a few feet right, he might have gotten into the casualties list"
"Hey! It wasn't that close, plus, it's nothing but a scratch" Alexander defended, a very convincing defense.
"Uh huh, getting your shoulder piece and more charred black seems like a scratch to me" Owen mocked, to which Tyler stiffed a laugh.
Tyler turned over to Cassandra who seemed to be working on her TACPAD, "Anything new Cassie?"
Cassandra's attention was grabbed by Tyler's question, who in turn looks towards him, "I've informed SATCOM of our progress, the frigates should be descending any moment now"
Tyler nodded, but he could sense a 'But' coming in, and he was right.
"But…I'm unable to get in touch with the Roman Blue for our EVAC" she informed which garnered the attention of the others, especially Randall. "Either we're outside them COMs range, which is impossible or…there's jammers around the city"
"Those jammers could be anywhere around the city" Randall expressed as he turned towards Tyler, "It'll take us hours to even locate one, not to mention there are still covenant forces roaming around the city"
Tyler nodded, agreeing with his observations, the city was already massive, and searching the entire city for the jammers could take days, and if they happened to be engineers like on Arcadia, then it would likely take even longer, not to mention they were running low on ammo as well.
"Maybe we could use the space elevator" Alexander pointed towards the large cylindrical structure of the elevator which disappeared within the clouds above, "I mean, it'd be easier to contact the Roman from space, than down here, plus wasn't it our secondary objective to make sure the elevator was still operational, or its structure still standing"
Silence followed suit after Alexander's suggestion, before finally being broken by Owen, "When you're not being a pain in the ass, you are a very, very capable Leader yourself"
A very rare compliment coming from Owen, for the almost, habitual care free SPARTAN, "I agree with him on that" Maria chimed in; Tyler could tell Alexander was actually embarrassed to actually receive a genuine compliment.
"Then that's our next move" Tyler said, agreeing, while Randall and Cassandra also nodded in agreement.
The reformed Team of SPARTANs then made their way across the bridge, which was filled with abandoned vehicles, all of which were civilian type of course.
However as they cross the bridge, they could help but silently gaze and pass through some of the vehicles, some of which still contained its occupants who were unfortunate enough to get caught during the initial covenant attack.
Tyler only felt more anger as he passed through the ruined, destroyed and even crushed vehicles, the civilian casualties were horrendous, it wouldn't surprise him if there were even more buried bodies in the ruins of the once proud city.
It was reminder of what he was partaking in…what the cost was…and most of all, what he was desperately trying to avoid…even if he couldn't change the Canon events of the universe, he could atleast still save lives…however, in Vodin, that seemed to be out of option as there were simply no survivors in sight, atleast within the city.
Tyler hoped that perhaps, in the more rural and remote area, places which were untouched by the covenant were atleast spared, maybe the inhabitants there were also spared of this slaughter.
Finally crossing across the bridge, the team of SPARTANs made their way atop the stairs which would lead them to the entrance of the elevator.
Even as they walked through the stairs and ground which the space elevator stood at, they still couldn't avoid the hundreds if not thousands of bodies, belonging to civilians who were unable to escape.
Some were killed by plasma, while others were crush by debris…nonetheless; they were all dead, corpses, the unfortunate.
Alexander was the first to reach the entrance to the elevator, while Tyler and the others waited outside, scanning the area for any threat…or maybe, just maybe some survivors.
Both of which were nowhere to be seen, the only sight being that of the night sky, and the thousands of rubbles and debris…the decorating palm trees too weren't spared, its remains being a charred bark.
That was until Alexander came out sprinting, Tyler turned towards the approaching SPARTAN who stopped as he reached his team leader, "Problem?" Tyler questioned.
"Big time" Alexander replied, "The lift's not working, possibly jammed somewhere"
Tyler tensed as he heard the report, "Atleast we know that the elevator's not functional, seems our secondary is a fail" Maria commented.
"Not really, if the over structure is still intact, then repairing the lift wouldn't be too much of a problem" Owen corrected, he was of course the best at engineering and mechanics among the SPARTANs.
"The point is, CAN we repair the lift?" Cassandra shot at Owen, who shook his head, "Exactly"
Tyler pondered over their options, which were now limited, they could wait for the frigates to descend as use one of their pelicans to get back to the Roman, but that too had its issues, mainly that of being the fact that most, if not all the pelicans would be busy deploying troops and supplies.
"We could try climbing the elevator" Randall suggested, gaining a look from everyone.
"That sounds crazy…I'm in" Alexander agreed without hesitation.
While the others simply looked at Tyler, silently asking for his opinion and final decision, Tyler meanwhile, looked up at the tall structure of the space elevator…it was gonna be a long climb, but not impossible.
The rings that made up the elevator did have some gap between each other, but it could be covered with a perfect timing and precision. "I'll take those odds" Tyler murmured to himself.
Looking back to his team, who were all waiting for his response, "Will it be possible?" Tyler asked.
It was here that his team understood what or who he was asking that question to, he wasn't asking Randall the question, but to all of them, if they would be able to accomplish it.
Without any hesitation, Tyler was met with five green winks, he couldn't help but smile behind his faceplate, his team really was determined to not disappoint him, not that he would ever be disappointed with his team. "Let's get climbing them".
The plan was simple, they would split into three groups, two SPARTANs each, when both were on the same ring, one would boost the other to the next ring above, which increased their chances to actually make it to it.
Then the one bellow would jump as high as he can, while the one above would grab a whole of the one bellow and pull him up, very simple.
It was again one of the plans Alexander had suggested, Tyler understood why his files had dubbed him as a brilliant tactician and a quick mind, but him choosing not to utilize his true talent was…strange, Tyler would have to inquire about it one day.
Tyler had made sure to enable vacuum protocol, making sure everyone's armor was secure of any breaches; the last thing he would want is someone to get the Sam treatment.
And so the long and grueling climb began, the pace was slow, which was acceptable as the faster they went, the higher their chances of mistakes were, as they say, Slow and steady wins the race…the turtle sure had won the race.
It went from reaching the troposphere, to nearing ozone layer, the gravity of the planet was still a factor, one slip and you're going back down, possibly as a burning meteor if you're luck is terrible.
Cassandra was paired with Maria, while Owen was paired with Alexander [God help them], and finally, Tyler was paired with Randall…the two of them had been making the most progress, being atleast three levels above the others.
"You know, you never told us about how Doctor Halsey found you" Randall said as he pulled Tyler up onto the next level.
"Well, it was just being in the right place at the right time" Tyler lied, not really.
"Really? So luck?" Randall questioned as he boosted Tyler up onto the next level.
"Basically" Tyler answered as he pulled himself on to the next level, while extending his arm down to help Randall up, who he managed to grab as he jumped to grab Tyler's hand, getting pulled up. "So, what's your plan after this?"
"What?" Randall asked, confused.
"Did command specify anything about what'll happen to you after this mission?" Tyler clarified.
"No…not really, but I'll probably be shipped off somewhere else, I was after all assigned to your team for this mission only" Randall answered.
"You know, if you want, I can ask someone to extend your time in Bravo team" Tyler offered to which Randal turned to look at him, clearly stunned by the offer.
"Is that even possible? SPARTAN teams aren't usually six man teams" Randall pointed out.
"Yes, but that doesn't mean one cannot stay, even if temporarily, for an extend period of time" Tyler argued, turning towards him, "You've been a great help Randall, both in combat, and with your insights, you'll make a great addition to Bravo team"
Randall was taken aback by the praise, he couldn't find any argument to maybe humble himself, but he could find none, and so he said the only word that came to mind, "Thank you"
Tyler chuckled, "No need, it's the truth after all, now let's get going, the others might catch up" Tyler said as he offered to boost Randall up next, which he gratefully took.
Making his way to the next level, he noticed something above them, atleast five levels above…it seemed like a large platform from bellow, but with better angling, and Randall was able to make it out as a skyhook, one which was dangerously close to the space elevator.
Turning his attention back to the task at hand, he extend his arm out to help Tyler up, one Tyler reached out and was pulled up with.
"Skyhook, above" Randall informed, to which Tyler looked up.
"I thought they were supposed to be in orbit, what is it doing as far down here?" Tyler questioned.
"No clue, maybe it was damaged, or maybe a small extension of a large one?" Randall went through the possibilities.
The two continued to climb one level after another, each time making sure to observe the skyhook, to see which type it exactly was.
They were still in the Ozone layer, the top of the space elevator was still a titanic distance away, which would probably go as far as the exosphere, and here they were, still yet to exit the Ozone layer and enter the stratosphere.
Tyler was pulled up once more by Randall; they were finally on the same level as the skyhook was. It was more of a house, held by a damn hook, which was probably why it was called skyHOOK.
Either way, coincidently, the entrance to the skyhook happened to be facing towards them, the platform was atleast ten meters in length and eight in breadth. The entrance was a opened double steel door, like the ones on ships.
It seemed as Randall had predicted, this particular skyhook was a smaller extension of a much larger one, which might have been lowered down here or was dropped because of damages.
It was clear it was damaged as its exterior walls were somewhat charred black with plasma burns. Tyler was about to jump onboard the skyhook to check it out, but he stopped as he felt a hand on his shoulder, a hand which belonged to Randall.
"I'll check it out" Randall offered, to which Tyler nodded.
"Careful, there might still be something inside" Tyler warned, then Randal leaped over to the skyhook, passing through the entrance and landing inside the platform, which shook as Randall landed.
Tyler was about to order him to withdraw, but stopped himself as the platform stabilized and Randall ventured further inside.
As Tyler waited there, soon Cassandra and the others too caught up on the same level, with Cassandra approaching Tyler, "Where's Randall?" she asked.
"Inside" Tyler pointed, "Any luck with the signal?"
"Just one maybe two more levels up and it'll be clear" Cassandra answered to which Tyler nodded.
"Get going, and call EVAC as soon as you have the signal, I'll wait for Randall" Tyler instructed, to which Cassandra nodded and returned towards Maria.
"You sure you'll be fine here Tyler?" Alexander asked over TEAMCOM.
"I'm sure I'll be fine" Tyler answered over TEAMCOM.
"Suits you, see you top side" Alexander ended TEAMCOM.
'There will be no top side' Tyler mentally said to himself, the best they were going to get was probably near the border of the stratosphere.
Tyler waited for another five minutes, no word from Randall, who was surely taking his sweet time…now that Tyler remembered, he didn't exactly know his fate, his old friends had told him that he appeared in the short film Nightfall, one which focused around Jameson Locke…he hadn't bothered to watch it as he was busy playing Cursed Halo…God that was so long ago…
As Tyler reminiscent his old life, Cassandra's voice rang through TEAMCOMs, "Pelican's inbound, ETA's five minutes"
"Roger that" Tyler acknowledged over TEAMCOMs.
That was when Randall too appeared walking towards the entrance of the skyhook, his assault rifle in hand, and his helmet's headlight turned on.
"Anything inside?" Tyler asked as Randall stopped right at the entrance.
"No, it seems like this was ejected from a larger platform, its abandoned an-"Randall was cut off, as suddenly, the chain that was holding the hook, which held the platform, suddenly broke apart.
Starting to hurl the platform, on which Randal was still on, back onto the surface of Vodin…that was until Tyler, who reacted immediately, grabbed the broken chain, nearly being dragged down as well, were it not for him grabbing a hold on the ring that he was standing on.
"Randall!" Tyler exclaimed as he struggled to both hold the platform and maintain the grip on the ring.
Randall had been thrown off of balance with the sudden descent and halt of the platform, nearly falling off towards the surface, were it not for him managing to grab the edge of the entrance with one hand, his assault rifle having fell off in the process, he looked up to see Tyler, risking his own life to save his.
Meanwhile up three levels above Tyler, the other four SPARTANs were alerted as the chain holding the skyhook suddenly broke, and then came the sound of Tyler, whose voice was filled with desperation.
Out the four, Cassandra was the first to react, immediately descending down to the next level, what she did was dangerous, but right now, she could care less about her own safety more than that of their Team leader and teammate.
The other three carefully followed suit as well, making sure they didn't accidently slip and fall down into oblivion or death.
Tyler felt his muscles going overdrive, adrenaline streaming through his arteries and veins; the weight of the platform was a lot…way lot more than he could handle, especially in his current position where he struggled to hold onto the chain and his grip on his own support, the support ring.
"Randall! Stop wasting time and get to safety!" Tyler ordered, fear was clear in his voice.
Randall upon hearing this tried getting back up onto the platform, but stopped as, the soon as he tried to climb back up, it doubled the burden on Tyler who had no choice but to lower the platform due to the weight.
There was nothing Randall could do, if he tried to make his way to the nearest ring, he was damn sure he would miss and fall to imminent death, if he stayed like this he would likely kill both himself and Tyler…and if he tried to get up…that would have the same result as the previous.
Seeing no alternatives, Randall opened a Private COMs with Tyler, "Tyler…I don't think there's an option"
"Shut your damn mouth, and get up, I'll hold the damn thing as long as I will!" Tyler said, clearly struggling with each word.
"Don't…don't Tyler…" Randall said, as he looked up at Tyler, who in turn looked down at him, his fear was visible through his dome shaped faceplate, "I'm not gonna drag you down with me"
'Randall, don't you dare do what I think you're gonna do' Tyler mentally cursed, he could feel his grip on his support loosening, he heard a loud thump just above him, which belonged to Cassandra. "Randall…don't you dare" he warned.
Randall, with his free hand, upholstered his side arm, his M6H…aiming it up towards the chain, which Tyler held, he gave his last message, "It was a pleasure working with you, Tyler…Thank you…See you in Valhalla…and Good luck", with that, a loud BANG was followed, which in turn was followed by the chain the Tyler so desperately held, being split from the middle, as the bullet broke it apart.
With that, the platform was sent hurling down towards the surface once more, with Randall releasing his grip for its edge, and accepting his fate, soon disappearing beneath the clouds.
"NOOO!!" Tyler screamed at the top of his lungs as he watched the platform rapidly descend once more towards the surface, as Tyler released his grip on the ring, hoping to catch him before it's too late, he too was halted as Cassandra, who landed just as the platform fell, grabbed Tyler's arm, preventing him from falling too.
She was soon joined by the other three, with Alexander helping Tyler up as well.
As soon as Tyler was pulled back up, he tried to go back down, go back after Randall, only to be restrained by Cassandra and Alexander who desperately tried to hold their Team-leader still, making sure he didn't do something rash and stupid.
"Tyler, stop! He's gone! Randall's gone!" Alexander exclaimed as he held Tyler by both his arms, with Tyler resisting, trying to break free.
"LET ME GO DAMNIT! HE COULD STILL BE DOWN THERE!" Tyler shouted, desperation in his voice, deep down, he too knew that Randall was gone, that he was dead.
But that was something he couldn't accept, he would never accept. Randall had been a part of HIS team, under HIS care, it was HIS job as a leader to make sure something like this didn't occur or happen.
It was Randall's first day with his team…his first mission with them…and he was already gone, dead…the amount of guilt, pain and anger that flowed through Tyler was immeasurable.
Tyler hadn't given any thoughts to check the SPARTAN casualties of the war until now, after he had saved Sam at Chi ceti, he hadn't bothered to see if any other SPARTAN had gone KIA or MIA, which was also KIA…
Which made this even worst…to Tyler, this was the first SPARTAN casualty, HIS first SPARTAN casualty, and worst of all…it was all HIS fault, the covenant had no direct part in this…it was his order, his approval that got Randall killed, he knew he should have went in inside of Randall, that he should have ordered it to pull out after the platform shook…and yet he didn't…which all led to this.
A few seconds later, the distant sound of pelican engines was heard…fate was cruel at times…had the pelican been a few seconds earlier…Randall may have survived…
Tyler finally stopped resisting and settled, both Cassandra and especially Alexander releasing him, as that happened, Tyler collapsed on his knees, and with a thunderous roar, he screamed in anguished pain, sorrow, anger and most of all guilt.
It would haunt him forever…this was his first REAL defeat, his first REAL lost…and as Fate had been kind with HIM particularly…it won't be so kind with those around him…those losses which would test him…his sanity….
The battle of Vodin was over…and Randall 037 was one of the casualties, a damage to Tyler's record of no casualties in Bravo…and a damage to his self esteem.
In the vast ocean of Vodin, a body, one with significant weight fell into its depts., a titanic splash occurring as it impacted.
Through sheer luck, the ocean's current and waves were able to carry the heavy body, even if it was rapidly sinking, away to where the ocean decided.
The Body was carried for who knows, hours…days…weeks…even months.
No one knew for sure, except for the ocean that carried it, fate may have its own twists, one's which can take any turns.
The body was washed up on one of the shores of Vodin, one which was left untouched by the alien invaders, the current of the water, leaving the body on the wet sand.
As fate dictated, the body wouldn't be left unnoticed, as some locals in the area, those who had survived the alien invasion, made their way towards the shore, one of them having noticed the large body that was washed up.
None of the locals knew what it was, it had never been seen before, but it certainly looked human, which was enough of a reason for them to aid this stranger…
The stranger would remain unconscious for a few days before it would finally wake up, with its old live most likely gone…it was the day the locals found him…that Randall 037 truly died…and Randall Aiken was born.
A/N: Game over……….Never mind, well that's Chapter 2….and yes I know it took a while for the update, and I'll assure you, I'll only get worst…but Fred not, for I shan't abandon this story/series/trilogy until I deem it to be Finished…..now until the next chapter….P E A C E.
Oh and By the way, to answer one question asked in the comments.
Adryn Nighthunter: "Hey can we have ghost from hades core from halo legends?"
To answer that…yeah I'm planning to have that Giga chad in my books as well, although since the Prototype happened somewhere in the late 2540s, it'll probably be covered in the next book, or some of the Behind the scene books I'm planning….alright now….P E A C E