User:DefconOne/Halo: The Long Road

Prologue
18 June, 2523, Near the Eridanus Secundus system. "Ensign, How long 'till we're combat ready?"

"Sir, ETA 3 minutes until MAC Cannon is online. Charge is at 53% complete. Shields are Online but very weak. Only 12% charge left. Hull Strength is 100%. Shields took all the damage."

"How long for a complete shield recharge?"

"15 Minutes."

"Charge 'em then."

"Yessir!"

The UNSC Starry Night, A UNSC Navy Corvette, had taken a few hits from a Insurrectionist Asteroid-based MAC Gun. The rounds were all misses but they came close enough to damage the shields. They were investigating a distress signal from the UNSC Intrepid. A mid-sized Capital Ship. Well enough armed to defend itself from a few Insurrectionist cannons. The UNSC Intrepid was a Carrier on a routine patrol and stumbled upon the insurrectionist base. The Intrepid was carrying a very important prototype weapon on board. If it fell into the wrong hands, it could be disastrous. They were still approximately 15,000 K/Ms from the beacon when they were engaged by the Rebels. On board was platoon-sized group of Marines equipped with special armor allowing them to survive in the vacuum. The Starry Night was in a nearby system escorting a convoy of colony ships through a section of UNSC space with high Rebel activity. They received a message from HIGHCOM ordering them to investigate the incident.

They arrived on the ship. It looked like abandoned.

"Ensign, Scan the ship."

"Yessir!"

"Scans show no life signs. All Systems offline...But no battle damage. The Hangar Bay is opened and Escape pods have been launched."

"Sergeant Major, Ready your team for a vacuum launch and ship boarding. We'll insert your team in two locations. The Hangar Bay and Ship docking ports."

"Yes Sir."

"Sergeant Major, Good Luck."

Sergeant Major Marshall Steele was in charge of a Special Operations team CODENAME: Dagger Six-One. This Operation would split his team in two. He was sure they could handle being split into separate fireteams. Dagger Six-One A and Dagger Six-One B. After selecting their ordinance for the mission. They boarded the Pelicans and headed out. Dagger Six-One A was first to board they ship. They landed in the Hangar. They immediately headed to the AI port and tried to contact the bridge. When the AI appeared, It said they had to evacuate the ship due to a critical systems failure and a unknown contact boarding the ship. A single contact. Weird for a ship of this size to be taken down by a single contact. Their was no way that could be done. Steele checked the ship records and only one object had been picked up by the ship besides the weapon. An escape pod from a Cargo ship. What was inside had killed the entire crew of the cargo ship and Intrepid. One Human according to security videos.

"Sergeant, this is Corporal Shelton of Fireteam B, We've engaged a single contact. The Sergeant is dead along with two other men. We need assistance ASAP! We are near the ships bridge!"

"Starry Night, We're gonna need more help. Fireteam B has engaged a single contact and is down to half-strength. Send a request for additional assistance here. We did find the weapon but according to logs, the single contact was picked up shortly after arriving in-system. The contact has the weapon and using it against us and the Intrepid's crew."

To be continued...