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Death of Earth:Guilt of a Spartan by Sim McGaulkin
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The Death of Earth:Guilt of a Spartan
Date: 25 September 2003, 1:09 AM
The air was cold, the night dark. Master Chief scanned the horizon for the enemy he knew will come by the morning, the enemy he had now fought countless times. He had killed hundreds, thousands; survivor of a thousand battles, victor of a hundred. But as he won, and survived, the Earth died,
dragging Humanity with it. The first attempts at sending colony ships had finaled; the Covenant eliminated them without a blink, and thousands died before it was cancelled.
All efforts now went to survival; and they were losing. The Covenant were winning, slowly but surely. and Humanity
now hung at the edge of extinction.
* * *
"ugh!" The marine fell back, his chest blown open by the
Brute; it roared in it's triumph, and ran across to the nearest group of marines, and died as it roared, shot through the head three times by Master Chief.
Master Chief reloaded his sniper rifle, and slowly peered across the battlefield; he noticed that there were much fewer marines than there was a mere thirty minutes ago. The Covenant were now mopping up the rest, and soon would get to the final defenses.
"Private! Man the tanks! Get ready!" The young man nodded, and ran to comply with the orders. Master Chief
shook his head, knowing that the young man would probably die by the end of the day. But they had to defend this base; the Cave, as it was called, they had isolated the rampant AI Guilty Spark, and was now extraction valuable information, information that might figure directly in thier survival. Than he heard a distant explosion, deep wition the base. He froze. Had the Covenant made it?
Then, he saw... a insertion pod. Many of them. Thousands of them. Pods, with a elite in each, dropping down now,
and that was when he knew that it was time to retreat.
"Corporal! Time for extraction!"
A Elite jumped out; The Chief blew it's shield off, then it's head. A second one. Ditching his rifle, he drew his
shotgun, and shot it twice as it ran for him with it's sword. It fell, body split in half. Then another. And screams of dying marines. "No..." He shot another one, then crushed it's head in with the butt of the gun, and it died with a satisfying groan. He then ran for the Pelicans,
hovering above the ground, and jumped in, providing cover fire for more marines. He then saw...
A Flood.
"How?..." He then saw the attention of the Elites had shifted from the marines to the Flood. More jumped out of the base, all wearing the tattered coats of white, with the insignia of the ONI plain across it's back. They jumped out, with rifles small and big, sniper and assault. They opened fire uncoordinatedly, but they more than made up for it with numbers. The Elites fell back under the assault.
"Come on, pilot. Let's get out of here." The pilot nodded;
and in moments the Pelican lifted off, leaving behind it's wake a thousand Covenant and Flood fighting for life, or in the case of the Flood, food.
'How did the Flood get to Earth...'
* * *
"John-117, are you telling us that the Flood are back? On Earth? But how? We blew Halo to hell and back-" Chief interrupted Cortana.
"Cortana, the Flood are back. And you have to tell General Levy that. I'm not high-ranked enough."
Cortana nodded, her small hologram more than enough to convey the image.
"Fine. But chief, sorry to tell you this, but I had already expected this."
"What?"
"The scientists on Designation 153 were actually examining the Flood germs we had found on the Longsword. My guess is that they were less than careful with it."
"Or disturbed."
"Yup."
"Does the general know this?"
"I'm pretty sure."
"Then what will they do?"
"Well, my guess would be that they would send YOU in, chief.
After all, you are the one with the most experience. And I will be along for the ride." Chief shook his head.
"To make sure I don't cause too much damage?"
" They ARE still angry that you didn't recover any artifacts from Halo."
"Contingencys of War."
"Yeah, I know. But try explaining that to the lab."
* * *
Chief drove the Warthog across the desert, heading for the
Cave. Sent by the General Levy, of the Earth Directorate of Defense, he was to investigate what had happened. Or, as Cortana put it, try to kill as many of the enemy as he can.
"Chief, after around fifteen minutes, wake me."
"What?"
"I'm going to search out the Covenant battle net. They STILL don't lock it, you know."
"Fine."
"Remember, fifteen minutes." Then the presence in his mind, Cortana, was smaller, and he acutally missed it.
'unwanted advices...'
setting the 'hog into auto-drive, he checked his weaponry;
battle rifle, shotgun, and some grenades. He was to trave light. And of course, a SPNKR rocket launcher, in case of emergencies. And since he was expendable, at least in the eyes of ONI, he had no spare medpacks. Bastards.
"Tut, tut, tut. Such bad language."
"Back already?"
"Yeah. The Covenant finally started putting up some defenses. Just popped into to tell you that."
"Fine. Still want a wake-up bell?"
"Nah. Just cue me when we get there."
"Fine." Cortana was gone again.
to be continued... hopefully
The Death of Earth:Guilt of a Spartan Chapter 2
Date: 25 September 2003, 10:22 PM
"Cortana, what have you found out so far?" Master Chief stopped the Warthog
about 5 kms from the base.
"Well, it seems that the Covenant are already suspending most of their operations against us and started preparing countermeasures against the Flood..."
"And?"
"And what?"
"And what else?"
"Well, the Chinese Militia fell, and most of Central Asia is now under Covenant control."
Master Chief shook his head. So many dead. Yes, he couldn't have saved them; but nonetheless, he still felt guilty, guilty that he might have done something...
"Cortana, can you still requisition the satellites on the base?"
"Nope. The Covenant already destroyed most of them, and the ones they haven't are just relics." So, he would have to go in blindly, not knowing what he might face.
"I wouldn't worry if I were you. After all, when you were toadying about for the Monitor,
you didn't know what you were facing."
"Still, I would feel better if I knew."
"I feel your pain."
Master Chief sniped one off with the Battle Rifle, ripping it's arms off. It ran around, searching for enemy, when another Flood, this time once-human, shot it down with it's assault rifle.
"Cortana, did you see that?"
"Yeah, nice shooting."
"I meant the Flood."
"Yeah, nice shooting. What more do you want?"
"No, the Flood. One of them just killed the other."
"Well, even after the transformation the Flood virus causes, the inherent feeling of the original specimen still remains."
"How did you find this out?"
"Halo's control center."
"How much more do you know that you are keeping from us?"
"By us do you mean the ONI? Their feelings toward you are less than charitable, you know."
"No, by us I meant the Humanity."
"Chief, I would not keep anything from the scientists if I knew that doing so will save Humanity."
"I hope so." He thought he could sense her sulking.
"Cortana, are you sulking?"
"Of course not! AI's do not sulk."
"Then what are you doing?"
"Something useful."
"Like what?"
"Chief, if you stopped talking and started killing, we might be able to get out of this hellhole, you know."
He peered at the group of Flood gathering on the abandoned Pelicans. To his surprise, the Pelican sputtered, than started rising up into the air, if a little ungainly.
"Hmm... They started repairing. How nice."
"Yes, Cortana?"
"They gained enough intelligence to actually repair a complex vehicle. Pretty soon they'll
start building battlecruisers."
"Is that a good news or a bad news?"
"It should be bad."
"I agree." Driving into the whole mess would result in a rocket to his face, he knew. But how would he manage to get in?
"Chief, there is a secret exit south of this area. It was made if the occupants of the base needed a quick escape."
"Good." Turning south, the warthog roared into the sunset, it's shadow a warning for those who would dare oppose him... (Dramatic Music On)
(Dramatic Music Off: Stealthy Music On)
Master Chief peered inside the Gate; it was dark. Turning on the night vision(more logical for a high-tech soldier to have that than a flashlight, don't you think?), he looked
across, and saw great bridges of concrete, laced with fiberglass.
"Chief, I assure you, it is completely safe. No Flood could have possibly-"
A Flood spore appeared across the bridge, followed by a hundred more.
"Safe, huh?"
"Well, I thought it was-" Not hearing the last part, Chief threw the frag grenade at the mass. They all exploded with a puff, and and a thin film of green blood rained over his suit. Chief walked on, across the bridge, his battle rifle trained right in front of him. He stopped at the corner, peered inside. Three Flood Carriers. He shot one of them. Boom.
All three exploded, and most of the spores with it. The few that were left were quickly dispatched with the butt of his rifle.
"Nice."
"I know." Chief reloaded his rifle, and speedily ran on, into the darkness ahead.
(Stealthy Music Off: Inspiring Music On)
"This is the gate, Chief. Upload me into the database, and I should be able to open it." Chief took out the crystal disk that contained the AI, and pressed it into the gate's computer bay. The holo-tray beside it shimmered, than Cortana appeared.
"You know, we definitely have to upgrade your memory bays. The suit just seems so...
small after Halo."
"Not right now, Cortana. What about the gate?"
"Already done." The gate opened, slowly, and as it opened he could see the insides. Giant computers, screens, and labs, all contained in a area a acre or two across.
"Chief, wait... I sense something." Cortana put her hand on her forehead.
"No... It can't be."
"What is it, Cortana?"
"It's-"
"Hello, Reclaimer. It's been so long since I have seen you."
Writer's note: Who can this be? Who else calls the Chief
"Reclaimer?" Yeah, this is stupid. I know.
To be Continued...
The Death of Earth:Guilt of a Spartan Chapter 3
Date: 26 September 2003, 12:55 AM
"Why?..."
Private Carlos Hathcock threw up over the side of the Pelican as it lifted off from the air.
He looke back, into the transport. Five people. Five people that were left, out of a group of hundred. And one Pelican out of fifty.
"Why?..."
They had been at Los Angeles, trying to guard the remaining civilians. The Covenant had been coming in fast, with massive numbers. Elites stepped over the piled bodies of the Grunts, and Jackals. Brutes, some Covenant version of the King-Kong, had decapitated the Lietunant with a single swipe. Hunters, hunters everywhere, with the marines being splattered on their impenetrable shields. Humanity was losing, again, at this city and they had all known it. He, and the marines fought on, as fiercely as the
Covenant, if not fiercer. He saw the Sergeant throw himself at the Elite after he had been
stuck with a plasma grenade; or Lipinsky screaming as a brute tore his limbs apart, fighting even then, popping the frags he carried. They had been losing, with the sky filled thick with covenant cruisers, phantoms ferrying even more troops to the battle,
and insertion-pods popping open everywhere with those Jedi Elites coming out...
Than the things had come.
They had been cornered, he knew, with a hundred others, out of a battalion of five thousand. Inside the now-abandoned theater, they had held off the Covenant, paying fully with their blood. Running out of ammo, getting on by picking up Covenant weaponry, they had fought on, until the night came. He remembered seeing the Pelicans,
hearing Adams shouting, "Reinforcements! We're saved!" and the glad in his heart, and the dread of seeing even more sheep for the slaughter the Covenant was carrying out.
The troops that had jumped out were no ordinary soldiers; they were all, green and shit, as he thought. He had thought at first that they were Spartans, Mark V's, often mocked as puppets of war but never unappreciated. But they were more like zombies, like in those classic games he had played. Blobs, with tentacles, they started assaulting the Covenant,
to the cheers of the weary marines inside. They had driven the covies back, he thought.
The marines had thought that these were some bio-miracle-weapon from ONI, or something. And they had thought they were safe...
The Zombie-things, with little bug-like eyeballs, started attacking them, and the marines were caught unprepared. He had a shotgun, and was the first to start shooting back.
They had forced their way to the Pelicans, where fortunately Sarah knew how to pilot the damn thing...
The last thing he had seen of them, as he fired the back-mounted LAAG on the Pelican,
was them eating the corpses... He threw up over the sides again.
"Why?..." He stood up, careful to grab the side railings. He sat down, next to Rebecca, and a marine he did not know. All of them had wounds, some by the zombies.
He himself had one; a slash across the arm and the chest from a tentacle. Most of it had been dented by his chicken plates, as they called the standard-issued armor, but he still got cut, if minor. Now, some green shit had started growing, some fucking kind of a fungus. Everyone else had some too. McKarsky had some growing over his forehead, like a ghostly halo. He sighed, and looked back at the bright sky, wondering,
"Why?..."
* * *
"Sir, we just received the surviving marines from the battle at Los Angeles. They claimed they had seen some "green zombielike monsters"...." His tone made it clearer that he did not believe in such nonsense. General Levy just shook his head.
"All right, colonel. Make sure that these marines are quarantined, and if any show any signs of disturbance, notify me immediately."
"Yes sir." Colonel Berry left, leaving General Levy to think over the mess. If only, he thought, the Spartan had not made it back alive. Or Spartans. Some had survived Reach, getting off before the planet was glassed; three in all, four if counting the
Master Chief, they had all told fantastic stories about ring-worlds; He had believed they had went rampant and had them dropped onto Covenant territory with suicidal missions.
Of course, after that Master Chief came back with the AI Cortana, and since the AI was screened for rampancy, he now knew that Humanity's list of enemies grew one line longer. If only the Chief died... His Longsword basically had infected the Earth with the Flood, and... He had sent the Chief on a similarly suicidal mission, along with the now-dangerously smart AI. And if they came back alive, good. Like hitting two birds with one stone, he thought, if there were any birds left alive.
"What? Why!?" Private Carlos Hathcock screamed as he was led away, by three soldiers in full chemical gear. Others had already been exterminated; like a fucking bug, he thought, a fucking bag, that's what we are to them. A fucking bug.
"I'm not a fucking Bug!" Carlos Hathcock screamed before being thrown into the
containement chamber.
His remains were later tossed into the incinerator.
The Death of Earth:Guilt of a Spartan Chapter 4
Date: 27 September 2003, 3:25 AM
Chapter Four: Spartans and AI's
Chief carefully peeked out from the corner. Up on the front were a swarm of Flood, apparently scouting out the area. He carefully measured the distance, than threw a frag grenade right at them.
Boom.
Most of the spores and the scout-forms had been killed; however, the few that remained
started running right towards him, tentacles raised and rifles aimed right at him. Chief
aimed carefully at the one in the back, walking slowly under the weight of the rocket launcher. He pulled the trigger, once, then twice. The shells blew out the legs, and the Flood fired right at the ground. The explosion took out most of the ones in the back; however, enough remained that Master Chief started firing as fast as he can. The first shot took out the foremost one; it went down in a wild spray of bullets. He took out a second one, then dropped the battle rifle on the ground and drew out the shotgun. A Flood warrior jumped up into the air, and the Chief fired right at it. The shot ripped in half the infection's chest; it fell onto the ground in two pieces. Another, this time with a assault rifle. It started firing directly at him, and Chief had to take cover behind the iron pillar. The shots stopped; He jumped out, and fired three shots straight into the Flood warrior's chest. Then, another pair of shots into the Flood form nearby. Rolling to the side to avoid a swiping tentacle, Master Chief got into a kneeling position, aimed right at the Flood, and pulled the trigger.
Click.
The Flood turned around, and took a swipe right at him. His shields took most of the hit,
but he still staggered back, and hit the iron wall. The Flood came at him again, hitting him twice around the chest. Chief fell down, and as the Flood raised it's tentacles up for the final hit, He pulled out his pistol and emptied the clip into the beast; it fell down, green blood gushing out from the two-feet hole the explosive bullets had made. The Master Chief slowly got up, and brushed his hands against the dent the Flood had made on his armor. He picked up his battle rifle, reloaded the shotgun, and put the pistol safely back on his sidebelt, with his grenades.
"You know, there are THREE of us in here, you know."
"Quite the contrary, Reclaimer. The amount of data this AI has stored in your memory is quite short of astounding. I would suggest a immediate purge in your-"
"Sod off. Chief, I'm quite sure that we would be able to find his construct by ourselves. Let's just leave this "Monitor" behind."
"I assure you, Reclaimer, there is no way you and this "AI" might find my construct. If this AI had any intelligence at all, she would not even consider leaving me behind."
"Ha ha. Very funny. Chief, I'm telling you, we can just as easily find the way ourselves. We DO NOT need this floating ball of crap."
The Chief winced. Having one voice in your head had been weird at first; he had gotten used to it after a while. But now, having two voices arguing...
He and Cortana had found the AI construct 343 Guilty Spark roaming the ONI research Nets. It had turned out, after much questioning, and questions of his worthiness as a guardian of a Halo("You're going rampant!" "Of course not." "Yes you are!"), that he had lost his mechanical construct... And he requested the "Reclaimer's" services. At first, Master Chief had been all for leaving right away, much to the delight of Cortana; but the AI offered them one thing that might change the tide of war.
The location of the other Installations.
"Guilty Spark, how long before we get to the lab?"
"Only two more hours of walking, Reclaimer."
"Chief-"
"Is there any other method of transportation besides walking?"
"I have spotted two transit systems before I had the fortune of meeting you again, Reclaimer."
"Chief-"
"Do you think their still operational?"
"Yes. The Flood surprisingly did not destroy the systems. It is due northwest from our location, half an hour away, Reclaimer."
"Good. Just give me a nav point to the area."
"Chief!"
"Yes, Cortana?"
"Look to the front!" Master Chief looked; and barely rolled out of a raging warthog's way.
"What the hell..." The warthog, manned by the Flood, stopped about ten feet from him... And the gunner started firing the LAAG. Chief started running, his enhanced speed serving him well. However, the few bullets that struck him ripped open his shield,
and when he finally reached the generator, his shield were all gone, and he was bleeding in some places.
"Hmm... The Flood seems to be evolving again, Reclaimer..." Master Chief took out his battle rifle.
"Any ideas?"
"Well, you COULD get rid of Guilty Spark..."
"About the Flood, Cortana."
"Shoot. Kill. That's what you do best at, isn't it?"
"Thanks for the advice."
"Your gratitude is very appreciated." Master Chief jumped out, and shot the gunner five time, all on the chest. It fell to the ground limply. The driver started racing right towards him; Master Chief started running right towards it.
"Chief! What are you doing?!" Master Chief jumped; he landed on the driver, his foot smashing right through the rotting ribcages. He quickly shot it with the battle rifle, then kicked it out.
"I guess we won't need the transit system. Give me a nav point towards the ONI research labs, Cortana."
"Already done." Master Chief quickly swerved against the incoming wall; then stepped on the accelerator, straight towards the ONI labs.
To be continued... Not.
In the warthog he found some emergency medpacks; he used one, then saved the others. Also in the 'hog were some ammo for both the battle rifle and the shotgun; he also took some frag grenades.
"Well, here we are."
"Chief, we could have gotten here faster-"
"Stow it, Cortana."
"Well said, Reclaimer."
"Quiet, 343." Master Chief walked across the artificial limestone bridge; he reached the maingate, and found it open.
"Seems to be empty."
"The Flood have infested the corridors of this installation, Reclaimer. It would be well-advised to be wary." Master Chief nodded.
"Cortana, you've been to this installation, haven't you?"
"Dr. Halsley has. And according to her memories, this installation was built to be
absolutely impenetrable against external forces. She designed it herself."
"Then do you have the blueprints?"
"Of course. I'll set it up in the place of the motion tracker."
"How come you've never told me about this?"
"About what?"
"How you can put a map on this thing."
"Well, I assumed you knew."
"Reclaimer, our time grows short. At this moment, thousands of new Flood are being born."
"All right. Let's go."
Scene Se7en: the ONI labs
The Master Chief quickly ran backwards, shooting down the incoming Flood with his shotgun. He was running out of ammo; it seemed that this place held at least a thousand Flood warriors. He shot one as it jumped overhead; then bashed another one away from him as a spore tried to cling onto his shield. It fell off, and then popped. Chief threw a frag, then started sprinting to the room ahead. He reached it in time, his shield damaged only slightly by the grenade fragments. It quickly recharged, and he reloaded his shotgun.
"Any advice, Cortana?"
"I'd say we should never have come to this place in the first place."
"General Levy wants us dead."
"But you won't just drop dead, will you? I mean, no matter how loyal you are-"
"Cortana, this isn't the time for this. Any suggestions on surviving?"
"Well, there is a alternate route-"
"Go westward for fifteen steps, Reclaimer, then type 'thermopylae' onto the board.
It should open up."
"That was what I was going to say, you bastard."
"Your level of intelligence simply do not extend to my capabilities. I hope you understand this perfectly, Cortana."
"You know what? You insufferable piece of-"
"Cortana. 343. If you two do not stop bickering, I will take measures." The two went mysteriously silent; Guilty Spark out of obedience, Cortana just sulked.
Scene Eight: AI's do not sulk! (yes, the titles are irrelevant.)
And yes, due to time restrictions, the writer must leave this piece of writing...
So long! And please, do not get mad about the grammar. Or the constant
switching of tenses.
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