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Chapter 1: Wipe Out Entire Species Bent On Destroying Humanity: In Progress. 0200 Hours Military Standard Time. Planet Sare in the Carbin Three System. Aboard ship Motig. The Master Chief sat lay down in the cryo-tube. He felt uneasy aboard the Motig. He had always felt venerable on spacecraft. He knew that one hit from a Covenant plasma torpedo, and he’d be a steaming, green stick. There was one thing that made him feel good. He was still inside the MJOLNIR suit. He felt at home in his suit. Master Chief had always felt lonely for a long time. His fellow compatriots of Spartan II’s were all dead. Dr. Hasely too was dead. Captain Keyes, a man he admired highly, dead. All of them. Dead. And the hands of the Covenant had done all of it. Master Chief had lost everything. Sometimes he wondered what the Covenant hadn’t taken from him. “Yes.” He thought. He still had something that the Covenant hadn’t taken- -Chief Mendez. Chief Mendez was there with him from the begging. The Chief was the one thing that John could rely on. But the Chief was on Earth 2. The Covenant had destroyed the original Earth. Humanity had evacuated the planet and shifted to a planet far out of the Outer Colony’s and far out of Covenant reach. Humanity had finally started to effectively fight back at the Covenant. They had found the Covenant home world, and glassed it. Master Chief still remembered the day he had seen it fall. He stood aboard a Covenant cruiser, with hundreds of other UNSC marines, and they all crowded around a button. A single button. The Master Chief put his hand on the trigger. Shot out his thumb. And pressed it. A rumble sounded throughout the ship as a bolt of purple-orange colored plasma hurtled towards the planet’s frozen surface. The first bolt impacted. It sent ice and rock high into the Covenant’s frozen atmosphere. The Master Chief had seen this before. But not to the Covenant. He had seen them boil though every Outer Colony. He had seen them glass Earth. He had watched as they glassed his home planet of Reach. Now it was his turn. The Master Chief repeatedly pressed the button. Bolt after bolt melted though the atmosphere of the Covenant home world, like so many layers of tissue. The UNSC Marines cheered wildly as they watched the icy planet spray water and ice into the burnt atmosphere. The Master Chief walked away solemnly. “Master Chief, what is the matter? We’ve destroyed the Covenant.” Cortana said. Master Chief hadn’t lost Cortana, which was another thing that hadn’t been lost. “No we haven’t.” The Master Chief said, his normal iron cold voice replaced by tinges of anger. “Zoom in on the Southern Pole.” He added. The view screen turned off and zoomed in on the South Pole of the Covenant home world. Thousands upon thousands upon thousands of Covenant cruisers, destroyers, frigates, escorts, and carriers streamed from the Southern Pole. “Oh dear God.” Cortana whispered. “Make ready to jump us out of here Marines! Now, on the double!” she screamed. Symbols of anger flashed down the body of the AI. “Wait ma’am, look!” Screamed a Marine. All eyes focused attentively on the Covenant fleet. Not one of the ships turned to face the ship all the UNSC forces were on. They streamed endlessly away from the ship, heading due west. The UNSC was positioned on the Western side of the planet. “Lieutenant, make ready to enter Slip-stream space, if the Covenant open a hole in Slip-stream, follow them.” The Master Chief barked. “Sir? Sir yes, sir!” said a confused lieutenant. “Master Chief, sir,” Cortana said wryly, “just what on Earth do you think you are doing?” “I’m going to eliminate the threat of the Covenant, even if it kills me.” Master Chief said calmly. “Master Chief, our mission was to destroy the Covenant..” Cortana was saying until the Master Chief cut her off. “That’s exactly my point Cortana. I don’t care if we were to destroy the Covenant home world. I’m going to finish them off.” He said. “Well then. I suggest that we don’t pursue. I suggest that we fire as many torpedoes and lasers into the slip stream space with them. They won’t be able to maneuver, and they will be destroyed. If they aren’t destroyed, we call in UNSC reinforcements and request to pursue.” Cortana said. “Fine then,” Master Chief said coldly. “Listen up Marine’s, we’re going after the Covenant when reinforcements get here.” Master Chief shot a glance at a lieutenant. “Lieutenant, get FLEETCOM online ASAP, Priority Alpha. On the triple.” “Sir, yes sir!” the lieutenant said. “Marines, prepare yourself. ‘Cause tomorrow, we might be destroying the Covenant plague that has so long whittled at humanity.” The Master Chief snapped a crisp salute. The Marines followed. They all filed out to their stations and got to work. On a near-by holo-pannel, the ghostly image of Chief Mendez appeared. “Ah, Spartan 117. I assume that all things have gone to plan?” the chief asked inquisitively. “We carried out our mission to the letter. There was a snag though.” The Master Chief said. “A snag. Explain soldier.” The chief said. “Look here. This is a shot of the remnants of the Covenant escaping. There’s a whole armada. We request permission to call in UNSC reinforcements and pursue the Covenant.” Cortana said. “Hmm, this certainly is a puzzle. Well, all I can say is thusly” the Chief said. “Permission granted.” Chief Mendez said and he cracked a rare smile. The wrinkles in his forehead appeared like deep grooves in his face. His silver hair glistened for a moment, and then the holo-pannel snapped off. The Chief swallowed the fluid to help him sleep in deep space Slipstream. He eased back, the door of the cryo-tube hummed shut, and he fell into a deep sleep. He was ready to pursue the Covenant in Slipstream. He had disabled many of the ships, and reinforcements had arrived. They were ready. As he entered REM sleep, he had dreams that haunted him. He dreamed of watching the Covenant cruiser blow up, with Sam, one of his squad. He remembered having being told that his squad had died on Reach. He dreamed of when he stood in a cryo-bay and watched Linda die. The technicians said there was nothing they could do. All of these things, had been killed by the Covenant scum. They’d killed Dr. Halsey, the one person who had given him a person. They had killed all of his squad. They had taken almost everything from him. It was his turn to get back at them. He was jolted forward and entered deep sleep and the Motig entered Slipstream. Chapter 2: Did You Miss Me? 0900 Hours Military Standard Time. Slipstream Space. Aboard Ship Motig. “Blowing the pins….now!” Said a technician as the lid off the cryo-tube opened slowly upward. “Master Chief, sir, welcome back. We will exit Slipstream space in about one hour, sir!” Said a different technician. The Master Chief climbed out of the cryo-tube, punched in the code to open the door, and walked towards the Motig’s bridge. The Master Chief walked slowly though the bridge. The command crew of the Motig starred at him in awe. They had never seen a Spartan in full armor. To them he looked alien as the Covenant. Or not even Covenant. But some sort of strange, different alien. He walked with a stride on his step. Like he was walking in only half gravity. He approached the front of the bridge. “Captain Lure, I presume.” Said the Master Chief. A man in his late 50’s turned around. His reddish-brown hair had streaks of gray in some places. He stood a full two heads lower than the Master Chief. Still, the man had seen over a decade of constant battle experience with the Covenant. “So you are the Master Chief,” said Captain Lure. He took a quick double take of the Master Chief in his MJOLNIR armor. “Don’t be afraid son, we’re not under attack. The Master Chief exhaled a sigh of relief. He could do nothing to combat the Covenant while he was in the vacuum of space. The Motig jolted forward as it exited Slipstream. Most of the command crew rocked back and forth in their seats. But the Master Chief remained perfectly still. He had been hit by plasma with more force then when they had exited Slipstream. He had a flash back of when a Covenant Elite Punched him in the side with a plasma pistol, with the charge on, and fired it. His shields fell to nothing. Then the Master Chief pulled his holstered pistol> The Master Chief snapped back to reality and Captain Lure resumed talking. “The Covenant armada was severely damaged when you fired those plasma torpedo’s into Slipstream with them.” Clyde said with what seemed to be happiness. “Most of the ships were disabled in Slipstream, and caused traffic jams.” The Captain chuckled quietly at the thought. “Is there anything wrong though?” The Master Chief asked. “Unfortunately there is Master Chief,” the Captain turned and looked out at space. “Cortana, show me the forward camera.” Cortana’s ghostly image appeared on a holo-pannel near by. “Or course, Captain.” She said. The camera showed forward. A giant planet of immense proportions, floated in space. The Covenant remnants went full speed towards the planet. “Oh, dear God.” Said a lieutenant. In front of the planet, orbited millions of Covenant vessels. “Cortana, give me a figure on how many Covenant ships are there.” The Captain ordered. “Captain, there are over one millions ships in orbit.” Cortana said. “And how many ships do we have?” “Around two hundred.” “Can we take them Cortana?” the Master Chief butted in. “Well, we could, but it would take a miracle.” Cortana said. “Your not thinking about?” Cortana trailed off. “Captain… permission to invade the Covenant planet.” Master Chief asked. “Permission granted.” Captain Lure said. “Captain, you can’t be serious!” exclaimed Cortana. “Oh, but I am. One of these ships of ours holsters a secret. Our ships can cause a distraction, while the Master Chief, you Cortana, and our ‘cargo’, along with a fleet of Marines, and we can take this Covenant nemesis once and for all.” The Master Chief walked down a hall-way on the ship Fereleth. He had been transferred onto this ship from the Motig. This was where the ‘cargo’ ,s Captain Clyde had so called described it, would be. “Ah, Master Chief, so glad to see you.” Said an unfamiliar voice. “I’m sorry sir, I don’t recognize you.” Said the Master Chief. “There will be time for that later Master Chief, we have to show you this.” The strange captain said. They walked down a hall and came to a cryo-bay. The captain pressed the COM button, and the captain announced: “This is Captain Carng to cryo-bay B, the Master Chief is her and waiting to see the others.” The captain, which the Master Chief now found was named Carng, said. The Master Chief stood there puzzled. Why had the Captain said “others”? He would find out soon enough. “Right away Captain.” Said a technician. The double doors slid open, and the Master Chief entered. He stood there, and his mouth dropped open inside his helmet. He surveyed the cryo-bay, and took it in at a glance. In everyone of the cryo-tubes, was a SPARTAN II in MJOLNIR armor. “We thought that you’d be pleasantly surprised, Master Chief. Meet your new squad of Spartans.” The Captain said. The Master Chief was speechless, he had lost all his Spartans to the Covenant. But now, now he had his Spartans back. But there was something unsettling about them. They weren’t his Spartans. Sure, they were Spartans, but he didn’t know any of these people. He knew that he would get to know some of them, in time. “Bridge to all personnel, this is the Captain speaking.” Said Captain Carng over the Fereleth’s COM channel. “assemble your evac groups, we’re disembarking for the Covenant home world.” The COM channel went dead, and the Fereleth jumped into Slipstream toward the Covenant home world. “Sir!” said a technician. “You should get to evac Group Gamma as soon as we unfreeze your squad.” Said the tech. “Thank you, soldier.” Said the Master Chief. Another tech punched in some commands and all of the cryo-tubes opened, one-by-one. The Spartans rose, and were alphabetically tested for sight, and had their MJOLNIR suits given an activation charge. They all saluted the Master Chief as they left, each for their own evac group. The Master Chief turned and walked out of the cryo-bay. As he left, he saluted the tech’s. They returned the salute. The Master Chief walked into the Bumblebee escape pod, his entire evac group was there. He hit the switch to close the door and told the pilot to disengage, heading for the Covenant planet. “Aye, aye, sir.” The pilot said. The Evac ship rumbled and the Fereleth’s port side came into view. The pod’s engines blared to life and zoomed into space. “Sir,” said a private. “What are we doing?” he asked. “We’re going to invade the Covenant planet. While our space forces try and hold them off, we’re going to slip in and invade the planet.” “Sir! That’s crazy!” screamed another private. “Stow that talk, private!” said the Sergeant of the team. “Sir, yes sir.” Said the private. The Bumblebee started shaking and rumbling violently. “Lieutenant, what’s going on?” the Master Chief asked. “Sir, we’re enterin’ the Covie’s atmosphere. Landing will initiate in three minutes.” Said the lieutenant. “Ok then. Listen up crew, when we land, it’s going to be a hell jump out here. The second we land, the Covenant will be all over us, and we might have to hold them of until the other ships come. Save your MA5B ammo for Elites. Use your pistols on the Jackals. Don’t waste ammo on Grunts. Kill them with knives, or bash the crap out of them.” He turned to the Sergeant. “You have the sniper rifle to use on the Hunters, right sergeant?” he asked. “Sir yes sir!” yelled the sergeant. The Master Chief pulled out a small disk, and inserted it back into his helmet. “Welcome back, Cortana.” He said. “It feels good to be back home.” Cortana’s voice echoed in his head. “Sir! We have entered Covenant atmosphere and will land in 20 seconds. Brace yourselves Marines!” Yelled the lieutenant. The Bumblebee crashed and the Master Chief whited out. Chapter 3: “I Can Crush This Grunt On My Head!” Time: 1200 Hours Military Standard Time “Chief, welcome back.” Said Cortana. The Chief orientated himself, and stepped out side. He checked the Covenant atmosphere. It was oxygen. Unlike the Covenant world he had glassed, this one was a rock planet. He had flash backs of Halo. The Marine’s stepped outside. One of the Marines handed the Pilot his MA5B. The Marine took out his pistol> The Master Chief looked around and looked at the sky. It was a harsh crimson. Over in the distance, over a green mountain, a light orange sun shown down on the Covenant home-world. “Cortana, why is this Covenant world different from the other?” The Master Chief asked. “I don’t know Chief, but I’m guessing that the Covenant can adapt to any environment.” Said the AI. The Master Chief looked around. He was in a forest. He was so busy looking at the sky, he never noticed. “Sergeant, see if you and your crew can scale those trees. Two men to each tree.” Said the Master Chief. “Sir, yes sir!” said the sergeant. He and his men climbed up the tree’s, but with difficulty. The Master Chief jumped up into the tree, alone. He sat there and brought his MA5B assault rifle into a shooting position. His Heads Up Display showed enemy’s approaching. A small pack of Covenant came into view. Two columns of Grunts, six in each led in front of two Elites, one in each column. The Master Chief sent a COM message over to the sergeant. “Sergeant, eliminate the two Elite point guards with your sniper.” Said the Master Chief. Two bullets fired, two Elite’s fell. The Master Chief threw a frag grenade into the center of the Grunts. It went off, and Grunt blood splattered everywhere. Another Grunt came by. It stood there, motionless, with a plasma rifle drawn. The Master Chief dropped down, grabbed the Grunt, and jumped ten meters into another tree. The Grunt squealed loudly. The Master Chief dropped the Grunt, and fell with a splat on the ground below. A Covenant drop-ship landed in the clearing near the Bumblebee. Four Grunts, two Jackals, and two Elites appeared from the drop ship. The Master Chief radioed over the COM channel to all the Marines. “Hit them.” He muttered. Ten Marines fell from a two meter drop. They eliminated the first Elite, and both Jackals. They had came under attack by the second Elite, it shot blindly with its plasma rifle. The Master Chief dropped ten meters, landed quietly on the Elites back, and shot a round into its head. It fell like a block. Only the Grunts remained. They threw down their weapons and bowed down. The M<aster Chief threw a grenade into their circle. As one, the Grunts flew into the air and their blood emptied over the ground. “All Covenant troops in this area eliminated Master Chief.” Said Cortana. “Picking up six life boat readings over the next hill. Also, over twenty drop ships are inbound for that area. We should hurry.” She said. “Acknowledged.” Said the Master Chief. “Crew, lets spill some more Covenant blood.” He said. The Master Chief and evac group Gamma double timed it over the hill to the other Marines. They linked up with them, and greetings were exchanged. The, it all changed suddenly. The twenty drop ships appeared over the far off mountains. They landed in a field. The Marines ran over to greet them. Half of the drop ships spilled out nothing but Elites. And one of them emptied out eight Hunters. The others had Grunts and Jackals. The Marines stopped at the edge of the clearing. The Covenant stood still as stone at the mountain base. Each force was equally matched in numbers. But they were not equal in strength. The Covenant easily outmatched them. But the Marines marched anyway. Both forces marched slowly across the clearing. When both sides reached a quarter of the way past, they charged. A blur of different colored flesh met. A grunt lunged itself at the Master Chief. He punched it squarely in the face. Two Jackals tried to flank a Marine. Another Marine opened fire with his pistol. Two shuts fired, and both Jackals fell. “Right between the eyes!” yelled the second Marine. The Master Chief emptied half around depleting an Elite’s shields. The Master Chief drew his knife and stabbed. Once, twice, thrice into the Elite’s skull. It fell and crushed a Grunt. The Master Chief picked up a dead Grunt’s plasma grenade, and threw it into a crowd of Jackals. It landed solidly on top of one’s head. It ran around and hit behind a pack o Elite’s. The grenade went off, and six Elites, and a Jackal’s skull, flew forward. A pair of Hunters Charged their Fuel Rod Guns, and fired them. Once, then twice. Four bolts of heated fuel rods flew at a pack of Marines. Only one got through. Three of them crashed into a Covenant pack. Elites, Jackals, and even a Hunter, were all vaporized. One rod however, did get through. It was about to crush a Marine’s head. The Master Chief jumped in front of the Marine. He was sent flying backwards. His shields depleted to a sliver. He ran at full speed back towards the battle. A handful> The Master Chief ran faster than the eye could track. He was behind the Hunters, and stabbed each one of them in the back. They all bled. The Master Chief pulled out his pistol, and then fired two consecutive rounds into the Hunters backs. They all fell, and the ground shook. The remainder of the Elites turned to face the Master Chief. He threw grenades around them. After the explosion only a single Elite remained. A Gold Elite with a plasma sword yelled in its alien tongue. The Master Chief and the Elite Charged each other. The Master Chief drew his knife. They ran past each other, and a head fell to the ground. The Elite fell limply down. And died. The Master Chief took off the plasma sword generator from the Elite’s decapitated body, and attached it to his MJOLNIR suit. He turned it on and then off. He walked over to a Jackal, and took its shield generator. He flicked both policed weapons on, and turned to his soldiers. They had one. But he had lost at least fourteen Marines. “Marines, more UNSC vessels are coming in. They’ll land in the clearing in two minutes.” Cortana said. “And your point is?” asked a Marine. “My point is, we need this back up.” Cortana said. The Marines sat around and chattered for two minutes. Then the Bumblebees landed. Twenty Marines filed out of two drop ships. “Now what should we do, Cortana?” The Master Chief asked. “Now, we find those Covenant drop ships, and disable them.” Cortana said. “Why ma’am?” the lieutenant from the Master Chief’s evac group asked. “I can get the drop ships to automatic pilot back to the Covenant HQ.” She said. “motion trackers are picking up the drop ships in bound. We should wait for them to unload their troops, then ambush them from the rear flank. We kill the pilots, and viola! We hijack the ships and fly them back to HQ.” She said. “Does everyone understand?” she continued. All the Marines nodded. “Good then. The ships will be here in ten minutes. Flanking stations everyone.” The Marines moved off silently. They sat in the dense rocks at the foot of the mountain. The twenty Covenant drop-ships reappeared, and emptied their troops. The Master Chief jumped, quiet as a cat, on top of the back of a drop ship. He crept slowly along the back, to the cockpit. He ripped open the cockpit and shot the Elite inside. He hopped in, and shot threw the cockpits of the other drop-ships. This caught the attention of the Covenant. The Master Chief fired of the plasma cannon on the drop-ship. All the Covenant dropped like flies. The Marines filed into the other nine-teen drop ships. They operated automatic pilot, and it showed the location of the Covenant HQ. The ships flew into the sunset and over the mountains. |
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