The Battle of Prometheus by Brad Weiler
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The Battle of Prometheus
Date: 23 March 2003, 10:28 PM
Master Chief looked away. A plasma grenade exploded ten meters from where he stood. A marine was sent flying by the explosion. Although the marine was alive, he was missing everything from his right elbow down. Master Chief went to evaluate his condition. The man was cursing in another language. The UNSC was recruiting any one they could to fight against the Covenant. The alien race was moving quickly through the Inner Colonies to Earth.
The man barely had any training. All the UNSC would do is show them how to fire a weapon and throw a grenade. They didn't even bother to try to teach them a little English. Master Chief was disgusted. Every marine around him was inexperienced and cowardly. But he couldn't blame them. They needed every soldier they could get their hands on to fight this war and it was better than fighting off a couple hundred Covenant troops alone. They had killed a lot of Grunts and even a handful of Jackals anyway.
The marine that was just sent through the air went into shock. A few Jackals and Grunts were approaching them. Four burning hot plasma bolts flew toward them. Master Chief quickly rolled out of the way and got on his knees, firing his MA5B assault rifle, killing a few Grunts. More Grunts appeared and killed the marine that Master Chief had knelt by only a few seconds ago. He quickly shot and killed them.
The remaining Grunts and Jackals turned toward Master Chief and started to fire their plasma pistols at him. He dived out of the way, but a few plasma bolts hit him, depleting his energy shield by a quarter.
All of a sudden, two rockets flew toward the group of Covenant and hit the ground a few meters away from where they were standing. The rockets killed most of them. Master Chief took advantage of the situation and tossed a fragmentation grenade toward the remaining Jackals and Grunts. Amidst the confusion, the grenade exploded killing the rest of them.
Master Chief realized that the marines he had been fighting with couldn't possibly have done that.
A group of about 30 marines came running toward him, killing anything they saw on the way. The lead man stepped to him.
"Hello Master Chief," the man saluted. "I am Corporal Ryan Murray."
Master Chief returned the salute and replied, "You must be the backup that I called for a half hour ago. What happened to you?"
"Um… we encountered a little trouble getting here. A few kilometers southeast of here about six enemy mortar tanks spotted us as we flew overhead in a Pelican. We were able to outmaneuver most of the plasma that was fired at us, but one of the blasts hit us, ripping through a wing. We were able to keep flying a half-kilometer… and then we crash landed. A few were killed on impact, but the rest of us managed to double-time it over here."
"Sir," one of the marines said, "It looks like our friend killed mostly everything here. All we had to do was a quick clean-up."
The snowy area that Master Chief had been fighting in for the past two hours was charred all over. Hundreds of dead bodies –both Covenant and Human- were scattered all over the place. Many were lost. A light snow fell, covering up the bloodstained snow. A few marines came out of hiding.
"Any casualties from our squad Private?" Corporal Murray asked.
"Negative, sir," the private answered.
"Well done, Corporal," Master Chief said. "We will set up camp here. Your men will rotate guard patrol. In the morning, you and your men will stay with me and advance to the Covenant base."
"Acknowledged, sir."
"Oh, and will your men give these remaining troops that have been fighting with me a few combat pointers?" Master Chief asked.
"Affirmative." He laughed. He gave Master Chief another salute.
Master Chief returned it.
"My men all now the story of that Halo that you found, but we want to know –from your own words- what happened after," the Corporal asked.
They were all in the tent that they had set up only a few hours ago.
Master chief thought of what to say and then said; "We were discovered by the UNSC ship Truman while we were floating in space. We went aboard. All the crew was amazed that we were alive. Nobody knew what had happened to us after the Pillar of Autumn had made that blind jump. I –I mean we were debriefed. Then we were told that the Covenant hadn't attacked anything after the fall of Reach. We thought that that was very odd-"
"Wait, wait, wait. I'm very sorry to interrupt you sir, but-"
"Shut your mouth Private!" Murray barked.
"It's all right Corporal. Let him talk," Master Chief said.
"Sorry sir, but what do you mean; we?"
"Oh, my apologies, I meant Cortana and I," Master Chief said.
"Who is Cortana?" another marine asked curiously.
Master Chief paused and said; "Cortana was a smart AI that resided in the interface between my mind and my MJOLNIR II suit. She was literally in my head. She went through Hell on Halo with me. Unfortunately, smart AI 's only live for seven years. Since then, she has died."
"Why didn't you request a new smart AI?" someone asked.
"Because there is no AI that could be like Cortana… she cared for me and helped me!"
Nobody said much after that. They all went to bed to get some rest. They had a big day ahead of them.
In the morning, Corporal Murray awoke to see Master Chief loading two pistols and attaching four frag grenades to his suits belt. He quickly jumped off of his cot and awoke all of his men. He told them to suit up and get their gear.
"It is now 0530 hours," Master Chief said to Murray. "Have your men ready by 0600 hours. We will head out at 0615 hours."
"Permission to ask a personal question, Master Chief?"
"Granted."
"Why would you want to come fight here on Prometheus after what you went through on Halo?"
"Because I don't want those Covenant bastards to find Earth!"
TO BE CONTINUED…………..
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