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A Ghost Of Reach
Posted By: Assdog1337<zippoXk3@yahoo.com>
Date: 17 January 2006, 8:11 am


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this is my first crack at fan fiction, so itll probably suck. but thats up to you

A Ghost of Reach

There were only three of them left. Paul, the Spartan, and two marines that had survived the glassing of Reach. They had hid in the same underground facility where the SPARTAN II's were first "born". The facility could handle anything short of a nuclear blast, and had held up well against the Covenants weapons. It had been days since they had last eaten, and the marines were getting grumpy. They had been trying for days to radio FLEETCOM for a pick -up, but received nothing but static. Suddenly, as if out of nowhere a voice came crackling over the radio. The signal was choppy and hard to hear, but Paul's translator recognized it as the Covenant language and he was able to piece together what the voice was saying. It was a response to an S.O.S signal, there must have been Covenant stranded nearby. He listened a bit longer and a different voice appeared, asking for evac. It gave its coordinates to the to the ship, and Paul traced them to a spot barely 50 kilometers away. "There must have been Covenant still stuck on the planet when the fleet left", he thought," and a ship will be arriving soon to pick them up". "Marines!", he shouted, "We have a Covenant ship landing here in about an hour to pick up stragglers"." That ship is our last chance to get off this god-forsaken planet, so we better be on it". "But sir!" , one of the marines complained, "that ship is bound to be full of Covenant, we wont stand a chance". "Would you rather take a chance to get offa this planet or sit here on your ass and die?" The marine hesitated for a moment, then said," Alright, Spartan, what's your plan?" "There's a Pelican in the launching bay over there with limited fuel". "It's useless for space travel without a Shaw-Fujiwaka Slipspace Drive, and we don't have enough fuel and food to last long in space". "We're going to board the Covenant ship and stay low for as long as we can". "This'll be risky but if we survive it will be worth it". "Pack those bags with as much food and ammo as you can, and load them in the Pelican", "I'm going to take a peek outside".

Paul emerged from the facility door and was immediately hit by the dazzling sunlight. It blinded him momentarily and when his vision returned, he saw what appeared to be a makeshift campsite, most likely where the Covenant were hiding. It was a good 50 kilometers away so he couldn't see any movement. Just then, something in the sky caught his eye. It was a relatively large Covenant cruiser, heading for a landing close to the Covenant campsite. "Almost done?", he shouted to the marines, wishing they would speed it up. "We've got six bags of supplies, sir, that's all of it". "Locked and loaded". Paul ran back inside to find the marines waiting in the Pelicans troop bay, ready to go. He checked the place for anything that might be of use, then crawled into the Pelicans driver seat. The fuel gauge was a little less than half-full, he prayed that would be enough to get them to the cruiser. He gunned the engines, and the small craft lifted off the ground and lurched slowly out of the bay. The cruiser came into view immediately, only a few kilometers off the ground. It was beginning to extend the grav-lift with which it would gather the rest of its troops. Paul saw an opening in the back where they were loading in the Banshees. That was his target. He increased the throttle slightly and estimated it would take them about five minutes to reach the ship.
"ETA is five minutes men, are you ready?" "Aye, sir" said the marines. They were about 10 kilometers from the bay now. Closer and closer they got till they were mere feet from the bay. "We're goin in", he yelled an hit on the brakes. They flew into the bay and crashed into the wall. Paul was momentarily stunned from the impact and one of the marines helped him too his feet. "The ships in critical condition, get out and go to that door over there". " I think that's a storage room". "Grab two bags each and move, they most likely heard our landing and are coming to investigate. Hurry!" He grabbed a Battle Rifle from a nearby locker and swung two of the bags around his shoulder. He approached the door with caution and moved in slowly, his Battle Rifle aimed straight ahead. It slid open as he got close, and he was relieved too see that the room was empty except for the large boxes littered everywhere. "Move to the back", he said, "and unload the weapons". "What've we got?" "Sir, four Battle Rifles, seven SMG's, two Sniper Rifles, and a Rocket Launcher". "The other bag's full of ammo". "Good", Paul said, "That should be enough in case we get in a tight spot". Suddenly, a voice came over the speakers. It was the same one Paul had heard earlier, but now it was much clearer. "Very soon, the Great Journey shall be fulfilled", the voice said, it sounded like an Elite, "We are headed for a place where all your hard work towards the fulfillment of our Covenant shall be paid off". "A place, called Earth". Paul's eyes widened when he heard that. The Covenant had found Earth. And they were heading straight for it.

Paul awoke to see the two marines standing guard by the door. "You were out for a while, sir. They made an announcement. We're almost there." "When we get to the surface, get in the Pelican. We need to get the hell away from this ship. Hopefully there's more that just us on this planet. At that moment, the door exploded and one of the marines was thrown against the wall, and the other dove behind a crate. There were sixteen Covenant standing in the doorway. Six Elites and a ten grunts opened fire on Paul and the marine. "Stay down until they overheat!", yelled Paul. When there fire stopped, the marine popped out an opened fire with two SMG's. All of the grunts went down before they had time to move. Paul hefted the Rocket launcher, but hesitated. If he missed he could damage the Pelican, there only ticket out of there. The Elites began firing again and Paul fired two rockets at their feet. Four of the elites shields broke, and Paul grabbed a battle rifle and began shooting. The last two elites chucked two plasma grenades in. One flew past their heads and the other headed straight for them. Paul grabbed an SMG off the ground and hurled it. The grenade stuck to it and the force sent it tumbling back at the elites. The gun exploded and sent bullets flying everywhere, lowering the elites shields an stunning them momentarily. Paul charged one of them and slammed the butt of his rifle into the elites helmet. The force broke the elites skull and it crumpled to the ground. The last one had already recovered and swung at Paul. He ducked and armed one of the plasma grenades on the elites belt. Jumping away from the creature, he watched as it yelled in anger, and then blew apart. He ran to the marine that had been knocked out earlier and shook him. The man had been hit hard, and blood was coming from a gash on the side of his head. He dragged the man into the Pelican and laid him down on the bench. "Clean this man up", he ordered the other marine. "Okay, sir", he said. Paul fired the engine, and the Pelican flew out of the ships bay. He increased the thrusters to full, and jetted towards the surface. The Pelican hit the ground minutes later, crash landing outside a tall building. Paul and the marines stepped out of the Pelican and watched as the Covenant cruiser prepared to land. Paul went back into the Pelican and found the COM was working. He grabbed the mic and switched the device on. "This is SPARTAN-453 does anyone read me?". A familiar voice picked up. "This is Lord Hood. I read you SPARTAN-453. Damn I thought you all were dead" . "It's just me and two marines, sir. We have just landed on Earth. A Covenant cruiser landed with us too". "We saw. Our fleet is headed to Earth as fast as possible". "Paul?". "Yes, sir?" "SPARTAN-117 is headed to Earth in a Covenant ship. You'll know it when you see it. It's different from all the others. The Prophet of Truth is also on that ship. I need you too meet up with the Master Chief when he gets to Earth. He may need some assistance. From the looks of it's current course it's landing about four miles from you. I'll upload the coordinates". "Understood sir". "Alright marines, lets get walking".





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