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Halo 2: A New Hope, Part 3
Posted By: Sephiroth<jbrandon3@cox.net>
Date: 25 November 2002, 4:18 am
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0943 Hours
September 27, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Rigil Kentaurus System
Stellar light shone down upon and bounced off of a glassy round object in the system known as Rigil Kentaurus. It had once been proud, defiant, a living symbol of the will of man to reach to the farthest boundaries. It had been the second system found...Tesen, the second planet colonized. It had been the home of thousands of explorers beginning a new life on a different world. The blue flag of the UNSC, with its stars and Earth in the corner, had once flapped proudly in the breeze.
Now it was dead. Its very surface scorched by ionized electric gas, its sand was melted, oceans had vaporized, mountains fallen, the very atmosphere boiled away into oblivion. The system was silent and sad, as it had never been before. But near the planet, a shimmer in the air moved slowly and listed to one side, puttering on in fits of ancient energy. The Master Chief groaned as the engines died down for the third time, and the whirring machinery stopped moving. He glared at the dashboard in front of him and slammed down an armored Spartan fist upon the display. It sank in a couple inches and pushed titanium alloy downwards. With a click, the engines started up again.
"Cortana, this heap of junk is spent. Are we at Tesen yet? I don't see it."
Cortana paused and didn't say anything. She didn't need to know, for in that moment light revealed a melted globe suspended in space. John sank back down in his chair and his heart sank in his chest. If only he had been there.... Cortana appeared on the holopanel and gazed down at the sad spectacle. "All those people...", she breathed.
The Master Chief shook his head. "Are there any ships left?"
"It doesn't look like it. I can't even see any space debris floating around the planet. But let's move in and see."
The Longsword changed its path and shakily flew towards the planet. Tesen grew in size until it filled up two-thirds of the viewscreen. John strained his eyes squinting into space. Hoping to see anything. Anything at all. But nothing was left. The Master Chief closed his eyes and sagged. There was no way the Longsword could make it to Earth. Even now it was floating practically dead in space. The Covenant had defeated him in a way they had never tried before. And he could do nothing about it.
He was sinking deeper into gloom when Cortana spoke sharply. "Wait a minute."
He opened his eyes.
"Look on the moon."
There was a dark shape on the surface that didn't look like a normal shadow. As they moved towards it a ray of light from some distant star shot towards it and reflected off metal. John exhaled. The markings on the side of the ship were worn down, but he could read them. He murmured to himself, "UNSC cruiser 'Phoenix'".
0521 Hours
September 29, 2552 (Military Calendar)
The Moon Military Defense Station, Sol System
Private Johnson's head slipped off his hand and banged against the monitor in front of him. He jerked awake, rubbed his head and cursed. He had been monitoring activity in the Sol System for 12 hours now. The Station had been on highest alert for a week, and those goddamn bastards that were supposed to relieve him three hours ago were sleeping in. When his head cleared he remembered why they were on highest alert and rubbed his eyes to clear the sleep from them.
He blinked and stared down at his monitor. No signs of movement in Quadrants 1-9. He flipped a switch and looked at a simulation of Slipspace. Nothing moving here either. It was as quiet as he had ever seen it ever since he entered the UNSC five years ago. The recruitment posters had said that he would be killing Covenant alongside the Spartans and defending Earth. Instead he was given a desk job on the closest station to home, with nothing but a couple other marines in the room with him monitoring their own stations. It was as boring as hell. His head started drooping but he snapped it up. Some way to defend Earth.
Johnson was snapped out of his thoughts by the blaring of an alarm on his third monitor. What the hell? He switched to Slipspace and looked at the monitor. It looked normal. The green skin was unbroken, but it was...getting smaller? Starting from the top of the monitor downward, blackness flowed in, shutting out the green, like ink from a spilt container. This was insane... there was no object that big that could get into Slipspace. It must be an anomaly in the encryption code. Nothing like this had ever been seen before. He started to make a mental note to get it fixed, but then a thought struck him and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Nothing like this since...Reach.
He held down the button to widen the field view until it beeped in protest. He could see the whole mass now. A shape blurred out of the edge for a second and moved by itself before blending back into the mass. It was a Covenant destroyer. Oh my God. He slammed his hand down on the emergency broadcast transmitter. "A Covenant fleet is approaching Earth!" he screamed into the microphone. "I repeat, Covenant fleet ap..."
...proaching Earth!" crackled the speakers on the bridge of the UNSC destroyer Desperation. Admiral Gaines sprang up from his chair. "Litenaunt Hikowa, replay that message to all UNSC ships and stations. Tell them to get their asses off the ground and up in space, I don't care what shape they're in. If it can shoot so much as one bullet, I want it up next to us. Arm the orbital and lunar guns. Notify the Marines on Earth and get them ready."
"Serena, break the Desperation out of orbit and move us out into space. Charge up all our MAC guns and those special surprises Oni gave us. Move it people!"
Dr. Halsey sagged in her chair as she heard the broadcast. We were supposed to have another week, she thought. God help us, we need another week. She pulled herself together and spoke to the Spartan's room in the station. "You heard?"
James's voice answered her. "We did."
"Get your men together and get armed. Black Team will stay on station. I expect we'll be getting some visitors too. Green, Red, and Blue Teams, get into Pelicans and get on Earth now. I hoped this day would come later, but...we don't have the time."
"I know, Dr. Halsey. We'll be ready."
James turned off the intercom and turned to the Spartans. Thirty-five solemn figures looked back at him. "You heard her," he said. "Move it!"
They double-timed it to the maintenance room and the techs helped them get into their Mjolnir suits. They clasped the helmets into place and ran to the armory. It glistened with rows upon rows of gleaming weapons. They moved forward. James grabbed a ARP1, a xo2 shotgun, several magazines, and a handful of grenades. He spotted Kelly and Keira arming themselves with God's Eyes, Boomer with a shotgun and a Cyclops, and Fred with two SKP pistols. James walked to the end of the room and opened the last looker. It contained the new combat knives. A six inch titanium blade, the handle bore small plasma cells. If you squeezed the handle hard, vents along the flat of the blade breathed plasma. They would be useful. He stuck one in his belt.
He looked at everyone. They seemed finished. He caught their attention. "I'll be leading Black Team. We're staying here to protect the station from any Covies that decide to drop by. Shawn will lead Green Team. Kelly will lead Blue Team. Fred? You've got Red Team. You guys will go down to Earth. When we're finished up here, we'll join you." He paused. "We have a mission to complete. Let's make sure we complete it." There was nothing more to say. "Dismissed."
Private Johnson stared out the viewscreen of the station. He was covered in sweat, even though the room he was in was cold. The space near Earth slowly became distorted. It rippled with lightning, boiled green and groaned. Then space tore open, and hundreds of dark shapes burst into reality. God help us, he thought.
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