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Keys of the Forsaken by themanofthepimps
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The Silver Box
Date: 7 May 2009, 9:53 am
Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or any of the characters or weapons created by Microsoft and Bungie. I only take ownership of this developing story and my kick ass Halo 3 poster.
Note: Dear reader, I hope you enjoy reading this fanfic just as must as I did writing it. I would greatly appreciate reviews for constructive criticism and opinions that will motivate me to continue writing. Cheers to all you halo fans.
0730 Hours, February 5, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
111 Tauri System, unknown valley
" Fuck the military," muttered corporal Smith as he laid back in the passenger seat of the moving warthog. He lit his last cigarette and lazily surveyed the vehicles before him. At least twelve other warthogs kicked up dirt in front of him. Three Scorpion tanks and eight Mongoose ATVs flanked to the sides. The majority of the marines were on foot, trailing between the scorpions and warthogs.
Towering ridges enclaved the small serene valley where the convoy traveled. A waterfall gushed from the top of the mountains and created a stream that cut through the valley and entered a dense forest. Sunlight gleamed onto the ridges as well as on the hills and boulders that littered throughout the grassy ground. Shadows that missed the gleaming sunlight darkened the corners of the valley.
Avery Smith sighed as he toyed with his battle rifle. He had been an energetic and passionate teenager when he had joined the marines a year ago, ready to kick Covenant ass. Yet, in his whole year as a marine he had not seen a single covenant. Now he was forced to be some colonel's bitch and follow his sergeant and a select group of marines to uncover an artifact and rendezvous at a designated LZ to drop it off. They had spent eighteen hours digging before they had come upon a silver chest that they had been unable to open. They had reported to the colonel who had ordered them to take it past the forest to a clearing where they were to hand off the artifact to a pelican and then meet up at one of the local bases. The silver chest gleamed at his feet since he had been the "lucky" one to find it during the dig.
" When the hell am I gonna be able to shoot something?" complained Smith as he finished polishing his battle rifle's scope and sat back up. He never got the answer as a beam of light blew his head apart.
The peaceful valley was suddenly full of plasma as it began to bombard the convoy. Wraiths fired huge balls of energy that gracefully arced into the sky before landing onto the scorpions. Warthogs exploded and mongooses flipped over as rapid successions of plasma from ghosts and banshees impacted upon the vehicles' surfaces. Brutes, grunts and jackals poured from the gap in the ridge that the marines had previously arrived from and began to add their firepower to the fray. Marines screamed as they were stabbed with spikes, beheaded by plasma shots, or stuck by plasma grenades that blew them into bloody pieces of meat. An unfortunate marine was peppered by needles and immediately exploded into millions of disfigured body parts.
" Form a defense perimeter and initiate a counter defense!" roared the sergeant. One surviving scorpion began to fire its main cannon while the operators on the warthogs began to fire their M41 Anti-Aircraft guns upon the enemy aerial crafts. The surviving marines hid among destroyed vehicles or boulders and began to put heavy fire upon the ground forces. Yet even with this counter-measure the covenant forces not only were three times the size of the UNSC forces but had gotten the first hit, decimating a third of the convoy before they had been able to counterattack. The covenants had spread their forces across the field, with the jackals holding energy shields leading the charge and the brutes and grunts staying behind firing their plasma weapons. Three wraiths remained at the far back firing their cannons as several jackal snipers lined up next to them. Banshees fired at the humans from above while the ghosts charged from the ground.
A marine screamed as needles blew his ankle apart. " Give me cover fire while I grab him!" roared a marine named Stanley as he sprinted from behind a boulder to grab the marine. His teammates emptied their magazines upon the crowd of approaching grunts while Stanley grabbed the marine and shouldered him. As he prepared to run back two needles stuck into his thigh. Grunting in pain he dropped the wounded marine and pulled out the needles and hurled them back at a grunt, sticking to his methane mask before exploding. He attempted to get up but was only able to stand before collapsing on the red-stained grass. As Stanley attempted to crawl towards the wounded marine a plasma grenade landed on the marines head. Stanley rolled away as the marine's head exploded. As he attempted to get up a plasma bolt hit him in the side and he felt as though his ribs were on fire. " Better to go down fighting," he thought as he pulled out his submachine gun and poured the bullets into the mass of aliens.
Four jets of smoke passed over his head and all four brutes keeled over. He continued to crawl back as he fired his SMG. Four more jets of smoke appeared and carved a bloody path through some brute's skulls, blood and brain parts gushing out of the exit wound. He reached the boulder where his teammates were holding position and looked over at them. " Thanks for firing those shots guys, I woulda been dead if you hadn't killed those Brutes."
" Dude, none of us have sniper rifles," grunted a marine. " Only snipers we had were on gold team and they were killed in the initial attack."
" What the-" muttered Stanley as four more jets appeared and splattered into a group of surprised grunts. Taking out his binoculars he scanned the hills. " I couldn't hear those shots so the sniper must be far behind us in the hills" he muttered. Just as he thought he saw a figure hidden in the shadows a marine yelled " Incoming flare!" as a burning flare was thrown towards the hill that Stanley was scanning. As the flare ignited Stanley's jaw dropped.
A looming Spartan stood on one of the few hills that had not been charred by battle. The bright pink flowers contrasted greatly with the dark blue armor that the stranger wore. The metal plates wrapped around a black body suit and covered portions of his chest, arms, torso, waist and legs. Ironclad gauntlets held a S2 AM gas-powered sniper rifle that was aimed at the horde of attacking covenant. The half man half machine stood at an imposing seven feet. Sunlight gleamed upon his golden visor as the warrior took a step forward and aimed his rifle, firing four consecutive shots that penetrated the open jaws of the jackal snipers. As he ejected the empty magazine his armor slowly began to meld into its surroundings until the Spartan became a transparent silhouette before vanishing.
He suddenly reappeared at another side of the hill and let out another volley of shots before vanishing. The jackals fired their rifles in vain but the Spartan continued to vanish, only appearing to fire armor-piercing sabot rounds into their skulls before once again becoming one with the surroundings. The covenant began to divert their attention onto the Spartan, giving the marines less firepower to deal with.
The brute chieftain roared and two ghosts and a banshee headed towards the Spartan's location. As they fired upon him he immediately went invisible. As the covenant craft pondered their next move a plasma grenade sailed through the air and latched onto the helm of the banshee. As the brute pilot bailed out two piercing rounds sliced through the heads of the grunts driving the ghosts. The fallen brute got up and drew out his brute shot with a growl. Before he could even aim the Spartan appeared behind him and a cyan blade appeared under the brute's chin, slashing open his neck.
" Bring a group of banshees and ghosts and blast the area he's in. Even if he's camouflaged he cannot dodge all your plasma" barked the chieftain A larger group of ghosts and banshees began to converge onto the Spartan's spot. Before they could even reach him, a red beam cut through the air, slicing through two banshees.
Another Spartan stood on a gray cracked boulder yards away. His armor was configured the same way as the dark blue Spartan except was blood red. A visible form of energy covered his body that reflected the red color of his armor. He was much taller, hitting around eight feet, and far more muscular than the first Spartan. On his right shoulder was a huge rifle the size of a rocket launcher. Encased in dark green plating the Spartan laser's nozzle glowed red as began to hum. The bulky green armor also covered the battery pack and main configuration of the weapon. Slung to the Spartan's back was the Fist of Rukt, a huge stone gravity hammer. The head seemed to be made of a single huge block of dark gray stone. On each side of the block were three thick circular metal linings with a single metal spike in each sphere. The metal linings and spikes glowed gold as it emitted visible vibrations in the air.
The Spartan waited three more seconds and then released a second beam, cutting through three ghosts in linear carnage. As the ghosts and banshees that had been sent to take care of the first Spartan warily eyed the newcomer, the dark blue Spartan appeared and fired another quad of shots, knocking out the four remaining pilots of the ghosts. As the aircraft attempted to scorch him he vanished and another beam of red light cut through the remaining banshees.
" Kill the red one!" yelled the chieftain, " He does not have the ability to vanish like the other so one fuel rod shot should suffice. Send three squads of Brutes and grunts to the blue one while the banshees hunt down the red one. Go!" Brutes and grunts began to charge towards the blue Spartan while the banshees began to boost towards the red one.
" Bear you got this?" muttered the blue Spartan. Though he spoke quietly his voice had a strong clarity that indicated his abilities as a vocal leader.
" Yea I got it handled Wolf." replied the red Spartan. Bear's voice in contrast was much lower and deeper, almost sounding like a growl.
" Head down to where the marines are pinned when you're done. We need to implement diversionary tactics and assist their firepower."
" Roger that."
" Sic vis pacis..."
" para bellum."
Wolf climbed upon a rocky plateau and began to lay out covenant as he continued to shoot and disappear. His constant invisibility and quick motion made him nearly an impossible target as he continued to fire shot after shot before disappearing. Plasma impacted and melted the barren ground as he continued to sprint back and forth.
The five banshees began to close in on Bear. Just as he fired another red beam two of the banshees fired their fuel rod cannons. Bear immediately switched to the Fist of Rukt and rolled out of the path of the first mass of green energy. With a mighty swing he smashed his hammer into the ground. The ground leveled slightly as the air around the Spartan became distorted by the quake of the hammer. The second bolt of plasma was hurled back to the firing banshee. The energy smashed into the craft and melted the main helm and engine before exploding and sending pieces of shrapnel and brute everywhere. Another bolt flew towards the Spartan and made contact. Grass and debris flew as the plasma struck home.
As the smoke cleared a whirring sound could be heard. Suddenly a red beam shot out from the clearing dust and two more banshees met their demise. Bear emerged from the brown smoke with his Spartan laser and gazed at the last four banshees.
" Fool!" roared a brute pilot. " How could you miss?"
" I could have sworn by the prophets that I hit him..."
" Is he wielding the Fist of Rukt?"
" Heresy! We shall use our secondary cannons and triangulate fire on his spot. He shall not survive and we shall retrieve our sacred ceremonial weapon!"
The four banshees began to rapidly fire upon the lone figure. The ground around Bear erupted in bursting plasma as his shields glowed brightly from the hits. Priming an incendiary grenade he lobbed at the nearest banshee and watched as it scorched the aircraft into flames. Taking out the Fist of Rukt he began to sprint towards the three banshees as his hammer began to glow a bright gold. The banshees were drawn towards the power of the hammer as the Spartan began to gather up speed.
" He is using the Fist of Rukt's magnetic powers to pull us in. Destroy him before he nears us!" barked the first pilot.
As his armor continued to absorb the rapid bursts of plasma fire Bear took a huge leap and soared towards the banshees. With the same powerful swing he had performed earlier he crashed his hammer to the side of the first banshee, instantly killing the pilot and blowing the aircraft towards the nearest banshee. Both aircraft collided and entangled, the brute pilot instantly becoming crushed by the weight of both craft. The last banshee continued to fire as the Spartan finished the trajectory of his jump and began to fall.
As the Spartan fell he grabbed his hammer and held it as a javelin as he thrust it towards the remaining banshee. The hammer sped in the air and as it impaled the brute it released another wave of gravity distortion, ripping the brute's body from the inside out. Spreading out his arms and legs Bear landed with a loud crunch next to Wolf and a group of surprised marines. Wolf turned to him as he fired a pair of rounds into a Brute's head.
" Status?"
" Shields recharging at 60%."
Wolf glanced down at Bear's hammerless hands. "Rukt?"
Several yards away a Brute and a group of grunts screamed and disappeared as the large hammer slammed into them. The gravity force blew back their limp bodies across the covenant forces.
" Ah. Retrieval?"
" In progress. Cover fire?"
" Affirmative."
Wolf turned to the nearby crouched marines. " I need your convoy's radio frequency."
" Its 3997 sir."
Wolf quickly adjusted his radio to the specified frequency as plasma spewed to the side of his warthog cover. He scanned the battlefield as he quickly began to analyze the covenant's position. The Brutes had gotten cocky and had broken their previous formation of hiding behind the shielded jackals to charge the humans. Wolf had studied these animalistic creatures and knew that they often sacrificed teamwork for kill count. He quickly formulated a plan and turned back to the marines. " Listen up marines, We don't have much time so I'm going to make this fast. Our main obstruction are those three wraiths. Your vehicles lack the range and firepower to destroy them. Bear and I will take them down if you successfully provide us with the right cover fire."
Wolf fired another pair of sabot rounds and continued to talk as he swapped magazines. " Bear dropped his weapon on the left side of the enemy. This plays in with our diversionary tactic. He will fight his way towards his weapon while you marines provide heavy suppression fire on the brutes. Do not waste ammunition on the grunts because if we crush their leadership rank they'll flee. The remaining warthogs and scorpion will focus their fire on the aircraft so that we are protected from aerial assaults. As Bear and your forces distract the enemy I will make my way to the three Wraiths. I'll probably be able to disable two of them before I am seen but the last one will be destroyed by Bear. If you have any questions than you're already a liability. Lets move."
With his shields done recharging Bear pulled out his Spartan laser and began to sprint towards the covenant troops. Plasma fire splashed across his shields but he did not slow down and fired a red beam in response. Three brutes and a row of grunts instantly fell over as the beam of death cut through their limp bodies. Enemies with blackened holes in various parts of their body toppled over as he continued to fire into the crowds of covenant. Brutes attempting to charge his flank were cut down by the marine's reign of bullets. Finally running out of battery he swapped weapons and began to fire three-bullet bursts from his battle rifle into the oncoming enemies. Brutes howled in rage as their companions had their faces blown off and began to run at him in a rampage.
Bear slammed the butt of his rifle into the face of one brute, rearranging the anatomy of its face. He side-stepped another brute and a cracking sound was heard as he elbowed the alien in the back of the head. Stiff-arming a nearby brute in the neck he struck his other arm out and clotheslined another brute as it sprinted by. Taking a mighty leap he soared over yelping grunts and smashed his iron gauntlet straight into the face of a surprised Brute captain. The captain's head snapped back as purple blood spewed over his cyan armor. Without even slowing his speed the red warrior primed a plasma grenade with his fist and swung it into the stomach of another brute. As the brute stared at the shining blue attached to his abdomen Bear side-kicked him into two of his comrades. The resulting explosion scorched all three victims as they dropped dead to the ground.
Another brute captain roared a challenge and began to sprint in berserker mode towards Bear. Planting his feet in the blood-stained grass Bear spun past the brute and placed him in a choke hold Pulling out his M6D pistol he began to fire rounds into the captains head. As soon as the brute captain's shields disintegrated Bear smashed his knee into the captains face and twisted his neck. The Fist of Rukt laid nearby.
Rolling past another brute Bear got to his feet and began to accelerate. Rocks scattered as he pounded his feet into the melted earth. With arms spread open he strong-armed two brutes who had been guarding the hammer. With an all mighty lurch he pulled the hammer from the ground and smashed it into the furry back of the brute as it attempted to rise. He swung the hammer handle into the jawline of the other brute, successfully disconnecting it from the brute's face as it bellowed in pain. As he gathered speed his hammer began to turn gold. Nearby grunts and Jackals and an unlucky brute were pulled towards Bear. With another swing his hammer smashed into the group of covenant and mixtures of blue, orange and purple blood splattered across the sky.
Running up hill he began taking fire from three brutes wielding plasma rifles. His shields glistened from the scorching plasma as he charged uphill. Debris splattered across the grass as Bear skidded to a halt and plunged the Fist of Rukt into the trio, showering the air with pieces of fur and meat. Reaching the top he caught a glimpse of the purple wraith just as a ball of blue energy shot towards him.
–
Bullets and plasma met in midair as the human and covenant ground forces fired upon each other. M41 LAAG's spewed heavy rounds into the air as banshees screamed across the sky. The chaos was so great that no one seemed to notice a brute fall to his knees gagging as blood mysteriously began to gush from the side of his neck. Or the jackal who's head suddenly snapped to the side as it careened over.
Wolf sprinted through the covenant crowd in complete invisibility. Grunts that sniffed his presence were rewarded with a metal boot to the face while jackals that turned their dilated noses were slashed in the neck. Flashes of the dark blue soldier could briefly be seen before disappearing, leaving behind corpses in his wake.
A war chieftain and a group of grunts were firing upon the marines with fuel rod cannons. Wolf took a quick detour and sped towards the chieftain. As the chieftain turned Wolf planted his foot hard and lunged. His plasma sword cut straight through the chieftain's shielding and disabled it, knocking the brute back several feet. As the enraged chieftain bounded towards Wolf the Spartan vanished, reappearing right behind the brute and facing the grunts. He quickly pulled out his pistol and fired a round into a grunt's head.
" Demon is a ghost!" squeaked one of the grunts. The panicked grunts let loose a volley of green plasma at Wolf. He quickly disappeared, revealing a shocked chieftain as five bolts splashed across his body. His charred body hit the ground as the screaming grunts dropped their weapons and ran back.
Wolf steadily made his way towards the firing wraiths. Nearing the first wraith he circled around to the back and jumped onto the back of the heavy assault vehicle. Wolf began to smash his fist into the exhaust panel. Fumes emitted from the crushed metal as he continued to pound his fist into the back, finally ripping off the main panel that covered the engine. Before the operator of the tank could call for help Wolf dropped his last two frag grenades into the exposed panel and leaped off as the tank exploded. He went into camouflage and sprinted towards the second tank as it began to boost away. Brutes and grunts began to converge as a group on his path as he attempted to make his way to the second wraith.
" The demon is here! Find him and do not let him board the Wraiths!" roared a brute chieftain at the front of the crowd. As he spoke Wolf appeared behind him and kicked him right in the back of his knee. As the chieftain's knee popped from it socket Wolf clamped his arm around his neck and ignited his sword. The plasma sword rested right underneath the chieftain's chin, slightly cutting into his skin and tainting his ceremonial armor red. With his other hand Wolf pulled out the chieftain's spiker from his pocket and began to fire upon the crowd. The covenant reluctantly returned fire as Wolf slowly made his way towards the tank with his meat shield. Impaling a brute with the last of the spiker's ammunition Wolf pulled out his M6D pistol and began to fire rounds into the crowd. The grunts became more vicious and began to pour heavy plasma towards wolf, splashing damage across the chieftain's shields as he roared in pain.
Suddenly rapid blue plasma began to collide into the chieftain. From behind his living shield Wolf could see a ghost speeding towards him. Kicking the dying chieftain aside he raced forwards and grabbed the neck of a nearby brute. Wolf swiftly threw him headfirst into the path of the oncoming ghost and began to run towards it. The ghost crashed into the brute and its speed decreased for just a fraction just as the Spartan leaped into the air. He landed on the front of the ghost and impaled the brute operator, swinging his legs into the craft as he kicked the blood spewing body out. He adjusted the controls and began to boost towards the wraith.
The wraith began to fire its plasma cannons at the speeding ghost. The metal covering of the ghost began to melt as the ghost began to smoke from the heavy fire. With one last boost Wolf crashed the vehicle into the wraith, hurling him onto the tank's heavily armored helm. He began to smash his fists into the doorway that covered the cockpit. A brute fired upon Wolf who immediately pulled out his sniper rifle and no-scoped him with two rounds that sailed between his eyes and splattered out of his brain. He continued to pound at the heavy metal as it began to bend and crinkle from the constant blows. After five punches he ripped off the door and ignited his energy sword, performing an uppercut and side slash that beheaded the brute driver. Grabbing the plasma grenade from the fallen brute he primed and dropped it into the tank before jumping off. The explosion within the compartment short-circuited the vehicle and it caused it to smoke. Wolf vanished.
–
Hastily pulling out a small piece of equipment Bear threw it to the ground. A bubble shield materialized around him just as the huge ball of plasma made contact, washing over the golden sphere. Bear swapped his hammer for his BR and jammed a fresh clip into the rifle. His overshields were sparking and would take at least ten seconds to recharge. Plasma melded into the barrier as covenant began to fire upon Bear.
Two brutes recklessly charged into the bubble shield to confront Bear. Dodging the first Brute's swipe Bear slid his leg behind the brute's and slammed his arm into its chest, knocking it to the ground. As the second brute lunged Bear dove underneath the beast and swung his left arm between the brute's legs while grabbing his wrist with his right hand. The ground trembled as Bear lifted the surprised brute off the ground and slammed it head first into the hard ground, breaking its neck. As the first brute attempted to rise Bear viciously slammed his boot down and caved in it's skull. A sudden beep informed Bear that his shields had finished recharging.
Bear sprinted straight towards the wraith. Covenant fired upon him and his rifle replied, discharging three-bullet bursts that penetrated various skulls as he he ran by. The wraith began to fire its plasma cannons at Bear while slowly backing up into the shadows of the ridge. Absorbing the concentrated fire Bear dug his feet hard and took a huge leap. The Wraith quaked as Bear landed upon its helm. Prying his hands on the cockpit door he ripped it off and single-handedly lifted the brute operator by the neck from out of the wraith. Pulling the pin from a frag grenade he stuffed it into the brutes mouth and punched him in the back of the head. As the brute involuntarily swallowed the grenade Bear threw him back down into the cockpit and jumped. The resulting explosion disabled the fuming vehicle as Bear landed onto a grunt. He got to his feet, wiping off some of the grunt's blood on his boot. He kicked the corpse aside and stared at the retreating covenant.
–
Smoke polluted the sky. Bullet casings and scorch marks littered the grassy fields. Bodies of covenant and marines laid across the field as red, orange, blue and purple blood mixed in the burnt grass. Marines moved about, tending to the injured or putting down wounded enemies. The remaining surviving vehicles were thoroughly checked by marine mechanics while weapons were being collected from among the dead.
Wolf was sitting under one of the few trees that had survived the battle and was cleaning the barrel of his sniper rifle. Bear had knelt down a few feet away and had opened a panel on the side of his Spartan laser. He pulled out a PP-16979/AM-Sh charger and placed it within the panel of the gun and closed it. Humming could be heard emitting from the weapon as it began to recharge. He got up and faced Wolf.
" Shall we do it?"
" Yea. Lets finish this."
The Spartans walked up to the sergeant just as he was issuing orders to pack the remaining equipment into the warthogs. On closer inspection he was a young man, one in his mid twenties. He had short-cropped hair that was brown and a strong jaw. He was tall and had his sleeves rolled back, revealing bulging forearms with a tattoo of a skull with wings. A tag on his uniform read " Matthew Ramirez". He turned as the Spartans approached and grinned. " What can I do for the two heroes of today?"
With lightning speed Wolf pulled out his pistol and aimed it at the sergeants head. A marine attempted to withdraw his firearm but Bear immediately pointed his battle rifle at him and the marine backed down.
Other marines began to draw their weapons in confusion. Operators manning the warthog turrets aimed their machine guns squarely at the two Spartans
" Are they crazy?!"
" What the hell is going?!"
The sergeant turned to Wolf. " Explain yourself soldier. This is unnecessary behavior and I could have you court-martialed."
Wolf continued to point the pistol at the sergeants face. " Sergeant Ramirez, you have been conspiring with the insurrectionists and have betrayed the UNSC. You have endangered the lives of your men to excavate an artifact in order to aid the insurrectionists in their plot. Who sent you?"
" I don't know what you're-"
Bear slammed the butt of his rifle into the sergeants stomach. He keeled over, gasping from the impact. Wolf placed the nozzle of his pistol at the sergeants temple.
" We have reliable intel. If you continue to deny these accusations we will enforce our accusation with extreme prejudice."
" And by that he means hes going to shoot you," muttered Bear.
" I will not ask again," Wolf growled, " Who sent you?"
Ramirez's frown of confusion suddenly turned to a sneer. " We will find them all. No one can stop us. And once we get them we shall activate it and cleanse the filth of this world. No, not just this world, the whole galaxy! You Spartans are fighting a losing war."
Bear cocked his head to the side. " Maybe, maybe not. But either way, you won't be there to see the outcome." He nodded at his brother.
Wolf fired.
The Pretenders
Date: 22 May 2009, 8:41 pm
The Pretenders
0430 Hours, August 12, 2551 (Military Calendar) /
Earth, En-route to Old Mombasa
Six months ago...
Shadows loomed over a sparkling ocean as a group of four Pelicans flew by. These drop ships usually carried UNSC vehicles with tail-mounted magnetic clamps. However, none of them carried any Warthogs or Scorpions as they continued to fly towards an approaching mainland.
Bear sat on the padded seating in the troop bay along with four other ODST hell jumpers. Wolf sat opposite of him along with four other soldiers. Even with the new upgrades added on the Pelican the maximum load capacity for each Pelican was still ten.
Bear was cleaning out the barrel of his shot gun. Unlike most UNSC soldiers that now used the new M90A variant, the Spartan had kept his old M90 K1 version throughout his years of fighting. Though far heavier than its successor, it contained twelve shells versus the M90A's six shells, had a quicker reload rate, and had slightly better penetration and range.
Wolf was staring out at the moving ocean. Both his sniper rifle and BR55 Battle Rifle were latched to the back of his armor. As he gazed at the moving scenery he toyed with a large hunting knife. It was a long and jagged silver blade with a pitch black handle. The blade itself was made from rare titanium alloy. As Bear flipped the knife onto the palm of his hand the whole blade glowed purple as plasma energy surrounded the weapon. Powered by a modified battery pack within the blade's handle the enveloping plasma served to cut through heavy armor, capable of even cutting through a Scorpions armored plates. However, the battery had a limited life span so it was vital to only ignite the plasma in critical situations.
The ODST next to Wolf turned to him.
"You two have funny looking colors to be wearing in battle. Why isn't your armor olive green like Master Chief or at least something bad ass like gold or black?"
"Maybe they wanted to prove their patriotism," remarked another Hell jumper. "If they had a white Spartan they could be an all American team."
The Hell jumpers laughed. Wolf turned to the hell jumper who had spoken first.
"Red represents courage and sacrifice as a comrade while expressing anger and warning as an enemy. Blue represents will power and spirituality within a leader."
The Hell jumpers abruptly stopped laughing.
"My bad sir," muttered the first Hell jumper. "Didn't realize the symbolism behind the color of your armor."
"I was kidding. I just like the color blue because it looks cool."
Bear looked up from examining his shotgun. "Mine's blood. Chaotic."
The Hell jumpers chuckled nervously. Suddenly the speakers began to fizzle and a rough voice broadcasted in the compartment.
"Welcome to flight BADASS. As you can see we are nearing the beautiful city of Old Mombasa. If anyone brought sun tan lotion get the hell of my Pelicans."
The two Spartans and ODSTs stared out the windows as the clouds began to disappear. An island full of derelict and broken down buildings appeared. A huge battered seawall covered in mold and decay surrounded the huge metropolis. The buildings seemed to be tan colored, though that may have been due to the lack of repairs and strong sun that had dried the architecture.
Finally passing over the ocean the Pelicans began to soar over the buildings. Clotheslines were stretched out near cut up power lines. Old mechanical gates were built in alleyways made of brittle brick. There seemed to be no one vacant though most of the doors were shut. Most of the structures looked abandoned and old, as though no one had repaired them for years.
"Alright, listen up ladies," barked the loudspeaker. "This is your Sergeant speaking. You've read the debriefing but I'll say it again because I feel like it. We are to find a reported Covenant excavation site and eliminate all Covenant threat there. Then we are to take some pretty pictures of what they were digging and attempt to discover what the hell they were up to. HQ wants us to capture a hostage but grunts and jackals are stupid and Elites would rather kill themselves than even look at us. So, we'll go with the pictures of the site and their corpses."
"O-RAH!" roared the Hell jumpers.
"We are also blessed with the company of two Spartans who will add significant firepower if the going gets tough. Other than me, they are the highest ranking individuals so you will listen to what they say."
"LZ confirmed sir," yelled the pilot. "We're landing!"
A small plaza appeared. In the center was a dry fountain with a cracked statue of a dolphin. Circular brick cylinders littered the area that each held a variety of dry and dead plants. The Pelicans began to land one at a time and drop their troops before heading out. After the fourth Pelican had left the troops gathered around in the middle of the plaza.
The Sergeant walked out. He was a tall bald Caucasian man with a protruding chin and short eyebrows. He had a long scar that ran from the top of his head down to the side of his face that barely touched the edge of his mouth. He surveyed the team of Hell jumpers and Spartans with squinted eyes.
"We've got forty men. Divided by five for fire teams and that's eight fire teams. I made sure that there was one ODST sharpshooter and rocket man in each pelican. Wolf can lead his own team of snipers and each other fire team will have a rocket launcher. Bear and I will head two teams and the remaining two will be lead by Jenkins and Tomlinson."
"Sir, may I presume that in college you majored in math?"
"No, I majored in kicking ass in the morning and minored in taking names in the evening. Now can it, we need to find out where that damn excavation site is."
A huge beam of light shot down from the sky and disappeared into the city miles away.
"Never mind," muttered the Sergeant. "Move out!"
---
Several hours later...
The sun slept as moonlight glimmered across the abandoned streets and buildings of Old Mombasa. Dark figures skittered across the walls of houses and offices as the ODSTs and Spartans continued to advance. Just a mile away from their location the large beam of light could be seen pouring into the city while banshees circled around like vultures. As they neared the site a huge hole was revealed where the light was hitting. Purple machines fueled by red energy drilled deeper into the hole while Elites, Jackals and grunts patrolled the perimeter.
The Sergeant tuned in to his platoon's radio frequency. "Wolf, get your team to start finding higher ground for better view points. The four remaining teams will get around the hole in the clock position. I'll take 12 o'clock, Bear has 3 o'clock, Jenkins has 6 o'clock and Tomlinson has 9. When I give the signal rocket teams will fire on the banshees and then we will begin to attack their drilling team. After that it's pretty much pray and spray. Sarge over and out."
"Acknowledged," said Wolf. He turned to his team. "Lets get a little closer and then we'll spread out on the top of the buildings. I'll give more orders once everyone is positioned."
They slowly began to move down a narrow road surrounded by dark buildings. Alleyways jutted between each building and lights glowed weakly near shadowy doorways.
Vapory smoke trailed behind a single particle as it flew right into the head of an ODST. The side of his protective head gear shattered as he collapsed onto the ground.
"Find cover NOW!" roared Wolf. He rolled towards the dead Hell jumper and dragged him behind a building.
"Sir, we think the shot was fired from the abandoned office north of our position."
"Scope him out and relay his position to me," muttered Wolf. "I'm going to check the wound."
Wolf quickly removed the helmet and flipped the dead ODST's head to the side. The poor soldier's outer temple had been blown off, revealing his shattered skull and pieces of his cerebellum floating in blood. The Spartan set his visor vision to 2X scope and examined the wound.
Slightly emerged within the wound was a silver bullet. Wolf extracted the bullet and examined it closely.
The round was shaped like a long thin missile. Wolf immediately recognized it as a 14.5X114mm armor-piercing fin-stabilized discarding-sabot bullet. What was surprising was that while most UNSC issued sabot rounds were silver and black this bullet had seven golden lines. Three circled the front while three circled the back near the fin. The last line circled right in the middle.
"Shit," he whispered to himself.
He popped the magazine out of his own sniper rifle and pulled out a bullet. It had identical golden markings on the front, middle and back.
"This can't be," thought Wolf. "I'm the only one who custom makes my bullets with these markings." But he couldn't shake off that weird feeling as though he knew what was going to happen.
"Sir, I'm gonna take another look!" whispered a Hell jumper.
"Wait, he's still there!" roared Wolf.
The Hell jumpers head had only stuck out an inch before another sabot round pierced right through his visor. The force of the bullet snapped his head back as he flipped over.
"Move through the alley ways," ordered Wolf. "We must take the longer path and regroup with a fire team. The sniper will not give away his position to pursue us."
The two remaining ODST snipers followed him as he ran through the dark alley towards another group of buildings. He turned his radio frequency on.
"Squad leaders we've lost two men to a lone sniper. We are enroute to Bravo team. Bravo team what is your current loc?"
The Sergeant's voice crackled on the radio. "Bravo team is dead, we've just found them. Bodies are all mauled up and there are shotgun shells all over the place. I got a glimpse of a figure running off just as we approached the scene."
"Did you catch any glimpse of him?" said Wolf.
"Yea, he was a red large figure. In fact…"
"Wait…"
"It looked like Bear."
--
Bear and his squad stealthily made their way to the excavation site. They reached a broken down hotel with the main glass doors cracked and swinging off their hinges.
"Once we reach the end of the hotel, let's set up and wait for confirmation from the other teams," barked Bear.
Bear and the Hell jumpers jogged through the hotel. Dim lights glowed along cracked walls as they passed the registration counter and proceeded down the hallway. Most of the doors were closed though a few were ajar.
Just then his radio beeped and the Spartan's private channel with Wolf opened up.
"Julius, the Sergeant says that he saw you leaving the scene where Bravo team was killed."
"No, I've been leading my team the whole time. We're about to reach the excavation point."
"Something's fishy. The sniper that took out two of my guys uses the same custom made sabot rounds that I use. No one even knows how to make them like this. And a Spartan looking just like you seems to be the reason behind the massacre of Bravo team."
"I don't know Brandon I--"
Bear stopped. Something didn't feel right.
"I feel like I'm being followed but I can't explain the feeling."
"Yea, me too. It feels kinda like déjà vu."
"I'm gonna contact the Sergeant. We need to abort this mission now."
"Julius, it feels like a trap."
Before Bear could finish speaking a shot gun blast echoed through the hall. An ODST body was blasted backwards as it crashed into a door frame.
"Stay away from the doors!" bellowed Bear. "He's nearby!"
As the three remaining Hell jumpers sprinted towards him the wall to the right exploded upon them. As the Hell jumpers were buried under the rubble a huge figure emerged from the smoking chaos.
"What the hell-," whispered Bear.
The figure mirrored exactly how Bear looked. It stood at an imposing eight feet with blood-red armor encasing its body. It also wielded an exact replica of the shot gun Bear had. As one of the Hell jumpers attempted to get up the figure slammed the butt of his shot gun into the soldier's head. The Hell jumper's visor shattered as his limp corpse toppled into the wreckage. The remaining three members of the squad jumped into action. One Hell jumper rolled into a nearby room and began to fire his Battle rifle at the Spartan while the other ran backwards firing his assault rifle. Bear pulled out his Battle rifle and began to fire bursts while charging at the assailant.
The renegade Spartan glowed as his shields took the brunt of the bullets from the remaining three squad members. He primed a grenade and threw it into the room where the first Hell jumper was before swiftly closing the door. The resulting explosion deafened the Hell jumpers scream. Bear drew out his shot gun as he approached the renegade.
The other Spartan was faster. Whipping his shot gun around first he fired one shell point blank into Bear's side. Bear flew back and slammed into a wall. His armor began to beep as the last of his shields drained from the impact.
The other Hell jumper had put quite a bit of distance between himself and the lone Spartan as he continued to fire. Without missing a beat the renegade Spartan pulled out an M6D pistol and fired three rounds, instantly killing the Hell jumper. Just then Bear charged again and tackled the Spartan. The two red figures sailed into a desk as they began to exchange blows. As they struggled Bear realized one thing. The other Spartan was just as strong as he was and used the same fighting tactics that he performed. They both utilized a flurry of power moves, ranging from side chops, roundhouse punches and elbow swings.
"Who are you?!" yelled Bear as he smashed his elbow into the Spartans face. The Spartan's head snapped back, and then came forward at full force, head butting Bear. As Bear fell back the silent antagonist wielded his shotgun and fired a round. Bear rolled to the side as the pellets sprayed across the section of the hallway where he had been. As the one dying lamp shattered darkness enveloped the entire building.
Bear cocked his shot gun and fired a round into the darkness. No sound responded except for the clang of the shell casing as it hit the floor. Bear turned the shot gun's attached flashlight on and illuminated the hall. The other Spartan had disappeared and all that was left was rubble and two dead Hell jumper corpses laid out across the bloody carpet.
His radio crackled as Wolf's voice projected.
"Bear, what's going on? What's your status?"
"My whole team is dead and I just fought another Spartan that looked exactly like me."
"Shit...ok, well the Sergeant wants to rendezvous at loc 59, 24."
"See you there."
"Be careful."
"Yea..."
Bear inserted another shell into his rifle as he left the hallway and took the exit door out into the street. He did not notice the figure crouched in the shadows behind a car watching him as he ran down the road. Moonlight spilled onto the dark blue armor as the figure stowed his sniper rifle onto his back and followed.
--
The Sergeant lit a cigarette as he surveyed the men before him. Along with his Alpha squad only Charlie team had been able to regroup with him. They were camped around a small beaten down park. The grass had overgrown around a single sidewalk trail that cut through the small land. Worn out benches were placed along the sidewalk. There were just as many stumps as barren trees that spread along the stretch of land.
Suddenly from the distance emerged a tall red figure. The Sergeant quickly sat up and opened his com link while motioning his men with hand gestures.
"Just in case it's that other Spartan that wiped out Bravo team we have to be in formation," he whispered to the Hell jumpers.
He held the com link to his mouth."Bear is that you?"
There was dead silence. The figure continued to walk towards them.
"Ready your weapons," muttered the Sergeant."This could be the other one."
Bear walked up to the armed marines with his arms in the air. "What's with the friendly welcoming party?"
"State your codename, rank and signature weapon," yelled the Sergeant."If there is failure to comply we will fire upon you!"
Bear inclined his head. "This is Petty officer second class Spartan 207 Bear reporting in with my M90 K1 shot gun sir!"
The Sergeant and his men lowered their weapons."Why the hell didn't you answer me when you were heading here? And where is the rest of your team?"
"My radio broke," replied Bear. "We were ambushed by another Spartan that looked like just like me. He killed everyone and disappeared after our brief encounter."
"Jesus H. Christ," muttered the Sergeant. "We saw a red Spartan annihilate all of Bravo team. This is starting to get a little bizarre."
The Sergeant activated his radio. "Wolf, get your team here ASAP. We need to leave now."
Wolf's quiet voice came on the com link. "We'll be there in three minutes Sergeant. And I have some bad news."
"Go ahead."
"The sniper that took down two of my men has the same reaction time as me and is using the same custom-made sabot rounds that I use. I also believe that Bear has made contact with another Spartan that mirrors his look. I have a hunch that we've encountered two imposters."
"I'm starting to believe you," replied the Sergeant. He motioned Bear over as he continued talking "We've just made contact with Bear and we're holding our position until you arrive."
"Bear's there? Why hasn't he contacted me?"
"His radio broke during the fight with the imposter. He sure near gave us a scare when we saw him." Bear tapped his helmet and shook his head.
There was a couple seconds of silence. The radio crackled as Wolf spoke again.
"Sarge, I'm transferring the line."
"What?"
A rough voice came on the com link. "This is Petty officer second class Spartan 207 codename Bear with the M90 K1 variant."
The Sergeant dropped his cigarette. "What the…"
"Run now. The Spartan you are with is the imposter."
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