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Halo: A Strange Tale (Part 1)
Posted By: Gasmask
Date: 11 January 2002, 11:47 pm


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      Covenant Ship "Faith and Honor."
      February 1, 2553
      Operation "Sabotage"

      Shell casings ejected from the Master Chief's assault rifle and
fell to the floor, tinkling and smoking. A covenant elite dropped to
the floor, dead. Smoke still emitting from his barrel, the Master
Chief moved on. Through the dimly lit corridors he trod, making his
way closer and closer to his objective. Cortana spoke to him.
"Remember, we need to send a grenade through the main engine shaft to
destroy the ship."
  "Don't worry," the Chief said, "I have a long term memory."  He
stepped out into a large, dimly lit room, and surveyed the situation.
He was in the secondary shuttle bay, where he would need to be when
he was ready to escape. He slipped silently, as if he were a shadow,
through the main corridor door. It was better lit in here, so he
would have a good fix on his target if he were attacked. He heard
some slight chattering, and recognized the Grunts'rasping, gutteral
speach. He slowly side-stepped around the corner, and hit the
guarding grunt square in the back of the head with his rifle. The
grunt fell to the ground, squealing in pain, blood oozing from his
head. There were more of them spilling out of other passages, plasma
bolts flying and hitting around him, and needles trying to find their
target. But the Master Chief was too quick for them. He side stepped,
and twenty-five lead nosed and very eloquent speakers found targets.
Three grunts ran away in terror seeing their five buddies hit the
floor in a crumpled heap. The Master Chief began after them, but
Cortana rebuked him.  "That's the wrong way! Try to keep our goal in
mind."
  "Yes, mother," he grumbled as he turned around.
  "You know," Cortana said, "We'll never get this done if you
continue to..."  The Master Chief hit his helmate to shut her up.
"Oh, have it your way then."
  The Chief ran forward. He stopped in front of the door. He hit the
activation switch, and observed the situation. The tech aliens that
they had encountered before were maintaining their stations while
three grunts and an Elite swordsman patrolled the area.
  "Too easy," he said under his breath. He threw a plasma grenade and
stuck it to one of the techs. It waved its tentacles furiously, and
hovered about. Then it exploded, taking several other techs with it.
The Elite and grunts attacked. The Elite ran quickly, but the chief
was faster. He turned the elite into nothing more than cole-cuts with
his assault rifle. The grunts ran away in terror.  Cautiously, he
stepped into the room a little bit more. The doors in front of him
and in back of him locked.  "Oh, crap," he muttered. He could guess
what was coming next. He was right. He got two large, red dots coming
into the room from above him. They were Hunters. They powered up
their fuel rod cannons just as the Master Chief dove behind a pillar.
One of them let off a shot. The pillar shook, and began to crumble.
The Spartan lept out of the way. He aimed strait for a hunter's head
and fired. Bullets peppered the shield, and about a third hit the
hunter. The monster recoiled, and then lept off the ledge. His buddy
jumped down with him. They both charged. The M.C. lept out of the
way, just in time. He slid on the floor and opened up on one of the
hunters backs. Orange blood spewed from the alien's wound, and he
slumped to the ground, never to stir again. The other hunter charged
up his cannon and fired. This time the Chief was not so lucky. An
indirect blast took out half of his shield, and the hunter was now
charging. He shook his head to regain his wits and lept over the
monster's head. He put his last three shots of the clip into the
Hunter's back. The monster recoiled, then turned for another charge.
Not stopping to reload, the Cheif once again sidestepped, and smacked
the Hunter with the butt of his rifle. This was the last blow needed
too take down the beast, and it fell in a tangled, bloody heap.
  "Quick," Cortana said, "Find the access switch so we can get out of
here once we blow this thing."  The chief walked over to a holo
pannel, and hit the deactivation switch. The doors hissed open.
"There's something I don't understand, though. My records indicate
that the engine shaft should be here."  The Chief looked up. "Your
records," he whispered, smoothly, "indicate correctly." Above them
was a tube that an electronic beam shot through.
  "That's it! Chief, blow it away!"
  The Chief chucked a frag grenade, and it bounced off of the tube.
  "Oh, crap!" the Chief yelled as he dove for cover.  "Did your
records indicate that there was a stinkin' SHIELD over the shaft?" he
growled.
  "Oh, can it," she said, "I'm only human."  
  The chief's mind raced. How could he destroy it. He looked at the
hunter's bodies. "That's it!" he exclaimed. He ripped off one of the
Hunter's arms to get its cannon. He flew up a small flight of stairs
to the ledge above him where the hunters had emerged. He walked
around the catwalk until he could jump up onto the tube. He lay the
hunter's arm on a shiled. "One shield plus one fuel rod cannon and
plasma grenade," the Chief began.
    "Chief? What are you going to..." Cortana asked.
    "Equals..." the Chief whispered.
    "Chief! Are you crazy?" Cortana screamed as the chief threw a
plasma grenade on the fuel rod cannon.  There was a horrendous
explosion, and the Chief was blown backwards. The shield was
destroyed.
     "...total carnage," the Chief ended as he got to his feet. He
threw a frag grenade, then jumped to the floor. His shield was half
gone when he hit the ground because the king daddy of all explosions
was following him. He ran through the door and out to the shuttle
bay. He met little resistance because every alien aboard the ship was
panicing over the chaos. The Chief hit a holo pannel to deactivate
the shield over the portal to the shuttle bay. Some elites took pot
shots at him as he dove for the dropship. He fought his way through
several aliens, and made it to the control area. He was backing up
when an explosion rocked the entire cruiser. He was thrown forwards,
and he cut his forehead on the inside of his helmate. He turned, and
flew out of the ship. He could see it rumbling behind him through the
back blast shield, and then it exploded. He was away. They had done
it. They destroyed the main cruiser headed towards the colony of New
Babylon. The Chief took of his helmate and wiped the blood from his
forehead and his helmate. The ship was cramped, but as long as it got
him out of there in time, he was happy.
  "Chief, I've got some strange readings here.  There is some kind
of hole in space, but it isn't like a cruiser's hole when it enters
slip space. Do you want me to analyze?"
  "Yes, Cortana. It isn't a balck hole, is it?" the Chief asked.
  "No, but it is growing rapidly. It is actually pulling us in!"
Cortana said, rather drastically.
    "Crap! I'm turning this thing around." He grabbed the controlls
and yawed the ship hard over. He hit the engines full. But he didn't
move forwards. He just moved at a faster pace backwards.
  "The ship is breaking up! Cut the engines!"
  The Chief did so, and he and Cortana were sucked into the abyss.
They were gone.
     >>Continued<<





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