User:Spartan 501/Installation 04: What If/Chapter Three: The Truth and Reconciliation

September 19, 2037 Hours, 2552

Threshold System, Below Covenant CCS Cruiser Truth and Reconciliation

In utter silence, a single pelican dropship glided on low-level thrusters towards an elevated plateau. The craft was painted black as night, and behind it, six weapons capsules clung to the hull. Its engine VTOLs were heavily baffled, and almost no light were emitted from them.

In the time it had taken to secure the three lifeboat groups and then rendezvous with the Pelican Charlie-077 to enact a transfer of SPARTANs, darkness had fallen on the ring world. The sunset had been quick but glorious, a mosaic of colors as the sun set on the planet like structure. Inside the bay of the stealth Pelican, the Master Chief readied his weapons and glanced at his team. He carried a MA5B/S-II and a SRS108 AM Sniper Rifle—the silenced sniper he had encountered earlier. As the Pelican neared the plateau, he glanced back at the rest of his team, taking them in at a glance.

Fred, his second in command, carried the same BR55-M45 he had earlier. Anton, who had carried Malcolm’s body, hefted Malcolm’s old battle rifle—using it in replace of his chaingun. Li, who had also used a chaingun earlier, had traded out the bulky open terrain weapon for a MA5B/S-II—a practice which Grace, now out of shock, had imitated. In the corner, Linda sat with her own sniper rifle, a SRS108 AM Sniper Rifle like Chief’s

“The enemy has captured Captain Keyes, and are holding him aboard one of their cruisers, the Truth and Reconciliation. The ship is currently holding position approximately three hundred meters above the other end of this plateau.” Whispered Cortana over the TEAMCOMM. The SPARTANs accpeted this without qeustion. They all knew the plan: move in and use the gravity lift to enter the ship.

The low thrum of the Pelicans engines increased in pitch slightly as the craft swung around—letting the SPARTANs get their first look at the plateau. It was dark and lit only occasionally by low level covenant work lights, which illuminated sections of the canyon walls. It reminded chief of an elevated canyon, much like the last area, but the rock here was darker—instead of red, it was brown, and looked to be sedimentary—almost sandstone like.

The chief wasted no, time, as did his SPARTANs. He jumped and fell two meters off the Pelican’ “blood tray” landing in a crouch. He turned and watched as one by one, his SPARTANS piled out. Fred and Anton took up a firing position on the right flank, while Grace, Linda, and Li moved left. Five green acknowledgement lights lit his display boards, signaling the area was all clear. Chief scanned his area and saw a passage on the right flank, and he placed a NAV marker on it.

The SPARTANS moved.

Chief sprinted past the others and looked at the passage in more detail. Off to the left, it sloped downward into a small crater-like excavation site. To the right, it stayed high, with plenty of cover. A useful position to be sure—but sneaking in on the lower side would be a lot faster. He was about to order an attack when Cortana spoke up over the radio, giving her own analysis.

“Stick to the higher ground on the right. We should be able to recon the Covenant position without being spotted. I'm detecting Covenant Stationary Guns near the next pass. I recommend using your Sniper Rifle to take out the gunners while I call for Marine support.” She told him.

The strategic picture shifted in cheifs mind. A frontal assault on a Covenant position heavily entrenched enough to have turret support was suicide. They had to weaken the enemy defenses before moving in. Chief moved right. His team followed.

The SPARTAN team followed the trail for a few seconds—around ten or fifteen meters. They then stopped, taking cover behind a large rock and melting into the shadows. Below was what appeared to be a Covenant dig-site, occupied by several troops. Jackals patrolled while grunts slept, and Chief heard the shuffling steps of an elite in the distance. Inside the site, which was covered in boulders and other cover, two stationairy gun turrets sat unmanned. Only these weren’t normal turrets; they each had a front energy shield and featured two twin side beams, which appeared to house what looked like dual needler turrets, with cool blue needles. One was to the right, on an elevated patch of dirt, while the other was directly ahead, though farther away. The turrets definitely looked formidable—if he could, Chief would rather not have them taking shots at his team. He decided to target the gunners first.

“Linda, find yourself a target, ready yourself to fire on my mark. Don’t fire until the enemy returns fire on us. Me and Linda will take out as many as we can covertly before we resort to full-combat. That should help us keep the element of surprise.” Said the chief.

Fred, Grace, Li, and Anton all eased into the shadows of the elevated area. Linda’s voice crackled over the comm. It was cold and brittle—her so called “sniping” voice.

“Target acquired sir.” She whispered “Right turret, grunt gunner.”

Chief acquired his own turret target. He eyed it through the scope, and switched to night vision for a better picture. “Fire at will.” He said.

The crack of Linda’s sniper rifle was eerily silent, and a grunt toppled out of it’s turret, instantly dead. Chief fired a half-second later—another gunner toppled down, dead from a shot that had ruptured it’s tank and detonated. Linda continued firing—a trio of grunts and a Major jackal all crumpled and fell. Chief retargeted and switched—not as fast as Linda—to general infantry sniping. He open fired, took an elite in the neck, then cut down two grunts as they fled the sight of their superiors death. One of the grunts turned and fired a plasma bolt at the concealed SPARTAN pair. Linda’s shields burned a bright orange.

So much for stealth.

“Let em have it SPARTANs” he called over the comm

Anton, Li, Fred, and Grace emerged from the shadows, weapons firing. The muzzle flashes from their weapons played hell with his sniper scope glare, and he had to compensate to cut it out. He glanced to his side, accounting for his entire team—then open fired again with his sniper at the remaining Covenant. He dropped one, but didn’t have time to take another—his team finished it with a rain of bullets.

“Team, follow me and advance.” He whispered over the comm. Acknowledgement lights burned his HUD.

Chief sprinted and jumped off of the high ground. He landed, watched Linda gut an elite with a sniper round, and moved forward, beckoning his team. Linda followed quickly after the others. A group of grunts waddled around a nearby corner, stubby hands shaking—and moved right into a wall of led. They fell and died, leaking blue blood. Chief sprinted for the turret he had taken out—which was perilously close to a ledge. He climbed on and swung the turret around just in time to see a trio of Jackals moving towards him.

Time to test out the turrets firepower.

Chief fired, and twin blue streaks launched from the sides. They each impacted on a jackal…and detonated with the force of a needler explosive chain. The final jackal met a more gruesome fate than its partners as chief focused all fire on it, sending gore and meat flying everywhere. Behind him, he heard Fred’s voice over the comm.

“Right behind you Chief.” Said Fred

Chief signaled his team forward, around a corner, when Cortana yelled abruptly over the comm.

“Stop!” she cried “Motion tracker shows movement around the next bend.”

Chief waved Linda forward.

“Ready to advance as soon as you call for us Chief.” Whispered Fred

Chief and Linda crouched forward, sniper scopes on the area in front of them. Partially obscured by foliage, a open area was directly in front. Behind it was an rock face, probably ten feet high. On top of this elevated area was another Covenant turret, this one facing them.

“Chief, I’m detecting a weakness in the turret…the shield isn’t very strong, so combined sniper fire in the middle, which is farthest from the projectors, should be able to penetrate. I recommend at least three rounds.” Said Cortana, and chief adjusted his aim.

“Linda, cover the infantry. I’ll take the turret.” He said to Linda

A green acknowledgment light burned his HUD, and he set his scope on the middle, where Cortana indicated. He open fired, once twice, then three times. The first two rounds seemed to bounce off, interacting with the shield in a haze of green light. But the third round went straight through, decapitating the grunt.

A wave of shock swept through the Covenant forces, a few jackals, grunts and elites…then amplified as Linda’s fire took out a pair of Jackals.

“Open fire team.” Called the Chief

The sound of assault rifle and battle rifle fire filled the night, and a pair of grunts dropped. An elite’s shields flickered blue-white—revealing its position. Chief saw an opportunity, and took it.

“Covering fire!” he yelled into the comm as he drew his MA5B/S-II

He bounded towards the elite—a blue armored rookie—and let loose a quarter of his clip. The alien’s shields sparked, then faltered, and the chief raised his assault rifle high over his head and brought it crashing down on the alien’s skull, cracking it. To his right, only meters away, a white armored elite turned to face him, glowering. Chief put the remainder of his clip into the bastard and dropped it with a little help from sniper fire. On the ridge above him, a jackal and a grunt toppled over from Linda’s rifle fire, and the Chief’s team moved forward. After a moment of scanning the ridgeline, Linda moved as well, hanging back near towards the back of the SPARTAN one and box formation. The SPARTANs pushed left, onto a side path, fought their way onto a hill, and took control of it, cutting down its defenders: a single elite and a pair of grunts.

Chief checked his team; elevated, but easily tolerable, pulse rates. Nothing else amiss. Good. He glanced out in front of him and saw a narrow path clinging to the Cliffside—and on it, a group of Covenant advancing.

“Open fire team.” He called.

The covenant troops, only three grunts, didn’t even get a shot off. They came and were cut down by well placed fire from assault and battle rifles. Linda didn’t even fire a shot.

“Team: Move up.” He barked into the comm

As they moved onto the narrow cliff path, Cortana spoke up on the radio.

“Covenant forces detected up ahead. The path on the left should let us sneak up around them.” She told them.

“Orders?” asked Fred

“Take middle, I’ll take left.” He said

The SPARTANs advanced around a bend, and into another open area. This one featured a crater like section in the center, with elevated walls above it, and a rock bridge extending over it. Not one, not two, but three Covenant needler turrets were positioned around the area, one near the SPARTANs, another near the end of the rock bridge, and another to the far left. A ramp sloped up to the walls fifteen meters to the left of the SPARTANs position, which was below the walls, and their lowered area continued to the left, forming a path, which looked to wind around the side of the cliff for what looked close to a 100 meters before gradually getting higher. Chief signaled his troops forward.

Directly ahead was a single turret, looking away from the path. On his HUD, Cortana projected the ghostly holoimages of the other three, which were position to his left and in front of him a good sixty meters, on either side of a narrow break in the canyon, which seemed to be an exit. Chief shot the grunt out of a nearby turret, and sprinted to the left as a sniper shot flew above him. A stealth elite’s camouflage system disengaged and the dead creature faded into view. How Linda had spotted it in the near darkness, he couldn’t begin to fathom.

The Chief kept moving left, around a bend, killed two Jackals with his assault rifle and then jumped to his right onto a elevated rock. A turret, true to Cortana’s Intel, sat on the ridge, facing him. He unloaded almost forty five rounds into the center of its shield and the grunt slumped over. Chief jumped onto the turret, threw the grunt out with one hand, and boarded it. His hands flashed over the holographic controls.

“Cortana to SPARTAN Team, the Chief has the left flank covered, recommend you move up the middle.” Said Cortana

The crack of battle rifle fire lit the night, and the Chief swung the turret around too target the remaining Covenant in his area. His team could handle the other emplacement—he had to eliminate the enemies in a position to flank him. An elite ran into the open and open fired, and Chief gunned it down with a dual blast. A handful of grunts open fired as well, but chief took them down as well with repeated twin blasts. His SPARTANs crossed the rock bridge and ran along the far wall and took cover directly across from his position, in a group of trees. Linda paused and took out the remaining Covenant, a group of Grunts, with headshots.

Apparently the Covenant wanted to fight a bit for this particular real estate. Over the comm, Cortana’s voice echoed. “Alert, Covenant dropships inbound!”

A NAV marker appeared on chief’s HUD at the approximated landing vector for the dropship. It was close, to Chiefs left…too close.

As his team fell back towards their entrance area, the Master Chief’s comm crackled.

“Sir, ditch the turret!” yelled Grace

Chief didn’t need to be told twice. He jumped from the weapon, and spotted the dropship inbound—and felt a slight twinge of fear as he saw it’s deeper purple armor and bloated turret. The chief and his squad moved back, trying to get a clear angle on the vulnerable disembarking aliens while steering clear of the dropship. It streaked over them, and it’s hanging turret burped a pink-white burst of energy. The blast hit near Li, Anton and Fred and detonated, making their shields shine a bright gold like they were on fire. The covenant troops disembarked and rushed up the hill to greet the SPARTANs, who welcomed them in open arms—with a healthy serving of 7.62, 9.5, and 14.5mm rounds. After dispatching these foes, the SPARTANs moved to secure the area, wiping out stragglers and making sure it was all clear. Over the comm, the Chief radioed them.

“Head check.” He whispered

A chorus of “All Good.” Came back to him, and five acknowledgment lights winked on.

“We don’t have enough time to stay here and mind shop.” He whispered. “We’ve got to move.”

He led the others down into the crater and towards the passageway. On his motion tracker, a multitude of hostile contacts emerged. Chief glanced into the passageway, which was well lit due to a large number of work-lights. As he peered into it, an elite and a pair of grunts sprinted around the corner, yelling in surprise.

“Shit!” cried Anton “Ambush!”

The SPARTANs open fired, but in the narrow space, it was hard to get a clear shot. In the front of the pack however, Chief had no problems finding and open line of fire. However, when two more elites and a four more grunts rushed into the narrow space, Chief knew they needed to try something different.

“Fire in the hole!” he yelled, and armed a plasma grenade.

He tossed the adhesive blue explosive into the mess of Covenant troops, then dodged behind the cliff wall as the explosion set off the grenades the warriors were carrying and created an inferno of explosives. When all was calm, the Master Chief stepped into the open. Nothing moved.

He sprinted forward, and his team followed. He could see the grav-lift now, which meant they had to be close to more Covenant forces. And the blast would have definitely woken them up to the danger of the approaching human troops. As chief rounded the corner, he caught a narrow view of another crater like area. High walls stretched along the edge, with occasional slopes to get atop of them. In front of chief and his squad were nearly a dozen grunts—and worse, on the ridge, an elite, a grunt pair, and another turret.

The SPARTANs open fired on the grunts as the turret open fired on them. A blue explosive blast detonated in the center of the SPARTAN team, making their shields shimmer and sending a shrill warning tone through the Chief’s helmet.

Linda maneuvered in front of the others and braced with her sniper rifle. Silently, she fired off three successive rounds—and the turret gunner slumped over dead.

“Hit them!” the chief barked.

In front of them, outside the passage, a pair of Jackals tried to rally their grunt comrades—but the Master Chief and his squad fired into the slots of their shields and then retargeted their weak alien bodies, sending them sprawling. On the ridge, an elite moved to marshal the grunts as well, but the SPARTAN team suppressed him with a rain of bullets, making his shields glow and forcing him behind cover. Chief jumped over a low rock they had been using as cover, and moved out into the open. The others followed, and the SPARTANs fought their way to the right and up the side of the ridge wall, to where the elite as hiding and where a dead grunt still sat slumped over in it’s turret.

Once up on the high ground, the squad open fired on a pair of needle turrets in the corners. The turrets tried to retaliate, but between the long range capabilities of the BR55-M45 and the SRS108, the Covenant troops quickly fell.

From the grav lift, a Covenant squad fell from the sky and disembarked. Fred and Anton let loose a pair of grenades from their launchers into their midst—which detonated and killed everything save an elite, who clung stubbornly to the side of the lift platform. Linda put a round through it’s back and it let go.

“Alert: Covenant dropships inbound!” cried Cortana, and the Chief looked skyward to see a standard spirit glide in towards Cliffside wall of the crater and drop off a contingent of grunts. The little creatures jumped out of the spirit and waddled towards the SPARTAN.

Chief drew his sniper rifle, and with Linda, put the grunts down promptly. The lift hummed again and a Covenant group fell from the sky. Linda hit an elite with a sniper round to the head, while Chief and the others finished off the grunts with short controlled bursts from battle and assault rifles.

Wave after wave descended from the lift, each which the SPARATAN team dispatched. On one occasion, the Master Chief threw a grenade which caught a whole group in a blast. In another, the SPARTANs simply closed the distance slightly and let the Chief, Grace, and Li mow the enemy down with automatic fire. Finally, after almost five waves, the lift seemed clear. But as Chief stepped towards it, he felt a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. A very bad feeling.

Via the lift, two Hunters fell from the ship, shields out and ready. Their beam weapons charged, and the Master Chief’s mind spun. He knew they wouldn’t be able to trick the Hunters like he’d done on the Pillar of Autumn—they’d have to flank the beasts.

“Linda, relocate to the far end. Li, stay with her and cover her.” He ordered “Everyone else, on me. Those Hunters will toast us at a range. We have to get close.”

Chief knew that the Hunters were deadly strong—he’d seen one tear a marine in half with it’s shield before, and knew that it would take only a single hit to put one of his SPARTANs out of the fight. But he also knew the beasts were slow and unmaneuverable—the SPARTANs could, with some luck, dodge and eliminate the beasts.

Linda and Li sprinted for the other end of the ridge, while Chief, Fred, Grace, and Anton jumped down to meet the beasts. They fired on full auto one of the charging hunters—but their rounds bounced off the armor. It was only meters away from them, and reared up to strike—when a sniper round slashed through it’s exposed back, and out it’s midsection. The hunter groaned and collapsed.

The other Hunter roared in rage. It turned and sprayed Linda’s position with plasma, and Chief saw it burn through her shields and toast her legs. She staggered and fell, smoking, as Li moved to the left and attempted to draw the beast fire.

Chief knew it would only delay the inevitable. Without sniper cover, fighting hunters at medium range was suicidal at best. Li was doomed if he kept it up. Chief couldn’t let that happen. He checked his ammo in the blink of an eye and sprinted downhill. He only had forty-nine rounds. Hopefully enough. He charged the beast and fired a three round burst at it’s head. The shots bounced off harmlessly, but they did what they needed to do. They got it’s attention. The beast turned to chief and slashed at him with his shield.

Chief rolled behind the hunter, and unloaded his clip into its back, every single round. Forty-six 7.62mm bullets pelted the exposed back section, and for a second, Chief thought it might be enough. The hunter roared, and Chief watched it move. But it wasn’t falling to the ground dead. It was turning towards him. The beast swung around, and with a throaty roar, ran straight towards him and lifted it’s shield up to strike.

He was all out of options.

Over the comm, he heard a gasp. His fellow SPARTANs were afraid for him…which he didn’t like. He refused to give up. As the beast reared up to attack, it’s belly stretched in front of him. His mind, running at the adrenaline charged speed jokingly known as “SPARTAN” time, winked on with an idea.

Chief gabbed his assault rifle with one hand and threw it—as hard as he could—into the Hunter’s belly. The back end of the rifle penetrated and sliced through the dozens of orange eels that made up the creature, then went all the way through, poking out the other side. The great beast roared in agony of it’s death throes, before finally toppling over just short of the Chief’s feet.

A second finally ticked off his mission clock.

Over the comm, Chief heard a chorus of cheers. Even Linda, injured and burned, managed a yell. Chief’s exhaled explosively, and tried his best to forget about the Hunter, to focus on the rest of the mission. They still had to rescue Keyes.

Fred jogged down the slope, and pointed to Chief’s left. Chief glanced over, and saw a group of dead marines. Next to them were their weapons—which Chief knew he would have to loot. He nodded Fred his thanks, and moved over to the pile. In front of him was a variety of guns—a trio of MA5B/S-IIs, a BR55-M45, and oddly, enough, a T850 chaingun. Chief checked the ammo of the assault rifles and battle rifles, and found they had only a few dozen rounds. He glanced at the chaingun. It had nine ammo canisters laying beside it, along with one in the weapon. Each held a hundred rounds. He grabbed the nine, slung them in a pack, and slung them over his shoulder.

Chief hiked up to Linda, and found her carefully standing. Her armor’s leg sections were blackened and burned, and he could tell by her body language that she was in pain. He realized what he had to do; force her to not board the ship.

As he approached, Linda readied her sniper rifle and hobbled to him, towards the lift. He stopped her.

“I need you to stay here and guard the entrance, make sure no one gets in behind us.” He told her, and she nodded. “Yes sir.” She answered.

Chief was glad she wasn’t taking it personally. Some of those under his command might’ve. An ancient memory from training of another recruit who had died in augmentation came to mind, Leonid-144. Then another, of a more recent soldier; Ajax-013, who some called psychotic.

Over the comm, Cortana opened up a channel to Foehammer.

“Foehammer, this is Cortana. We have reached the grav lift but have a wounded soldier who cannot proceed. We could use some reinforcements, if your able.” She asked the pilot

“Roger Cortana, hang tight SPARTANs. Foehammer inbound.”

Chief watched as all of his SPARTANs, save Linda, moved to around the drop zone. They took up positions around it’s edge, looking outward. He glanced skyward and saw Echo-419 inbound, yellow armor plating flashing in the moonlight.

“Once were inside the ship we can home in on the Captain’s command neural interface. He’ll probably be in or near the ships brig, which should narrow our search.” Said Cortana, as Echo-419 glided in and spun around. As it rotated, the Master Chief saw a SPARTAN dismount.

Chief walked up to the dropship and recognized James from his distinctive gait. Inside the ship was a small armory with a row of BR55-M45s. Each SPARTAN took one, but James also held a T850 like the Chief.

“Good to see you sir.” Said James and the Master Chief nodded in reply.

The SPARTAN team moved to the grav-lift. As they entered, it felt to Chief like his stomach was being forced down into his gut. The SPARTANs secured the edge of the craft, then the lift hummed and reversed. Chief wasn’t sure how Cortana did it, but they were suddenly rising. The SPARTAN team rose to the top of the lift, watched as a metal door opened for them, then hung in the air as the door closed beneath them. When it finally hissed shut, the lift faltered, and they fell to the deck.

“We’re in. I’ve got a good lock on the captain’s CNI transponder…no Covenant signals detected.” Said Cortana, puzzled

“No Covenant? That can’t be right.” Said James

A doorway behind Fred, and a cloaked elite carrying a sword of plasma ran through it. Over the motion tracker, dozens of enemy contacts appeared in the four corners of the room.

“No Covenant huh.” Said Grace “You had to say it, didn’t yah.”

Covenant troops poured into the room, firing all the way. The SPARTANs turned and open fired…but it wasn’t enough. Enemy forces kept moving in, pouring fire onto the humans, concentrating on one at a time. The Master Chief unleashed a hellish torrent of rounds with his T850, cutting through Covenant troops like butter. But it wasn’t long before they overwhelmed the SPARTANs.

The Covenant troops backed the humans into a corner with steady waves of troops, forcing them back farther and farther. Eventually, Chief felt his back hit the wall. From this position, the SPARTANs continued to hit the enemy with gunfire. Covenant troops would rush out, open fire, die under an onslaught of rounds, then repeat the cycle. However, after what seemed like dozens of waves, it finally stopped. Then, in a second, everything changed.

From one of the doors, a white armored elite carrying a sword of pure plasma emerged. It roared a challenge—then sprinted for the human lines. Li put a grenade into the thing but it didn’t stop—it kept moving. Chief rushed to bark and order, but realized too late that his comm had malfunctioned—it had sent his “Stay back!” order to James, instead of Li.

Li rushed forward and fired a burst, followed by a grenade. Fire enveloped the elite—then it stepped forward and slashed. It slashed through Li’s battle rifle just behind the handle, then twisted, cut off the grenade launcher from the rest of the assembly, and drove it’s sword between Li’s shoulders, just below the neck. Over an open channel, the Master Chief heard Li gurgle as the blade melted his insides and roasted him alive. The elite roared, and Li revealed something—his BR55-M45 grenade launcher, which had been sliced from his rifle, still in his hand.

Li let loose a single grenade point blank—which finally penetrated. The round slashed through the elite’s shields and inside armor plating, then detonated inside the creature. Pieces of meat splashed over the Chief’s visor. Chief sprinted forward to Li as the sword deactivated, hoping to maybe somehow save him—and came to terms with an ugly reality. Li had been gutted and roasted internally—he had been dead before the grenade launcher had ever detonated.

Chief stepped away from the body, and snapped himself into the fight. He quickly gave out orders.

“Fred, get whatever you can off Li…ammo, grenades, anything.” He said “Everyone else, check the doors.”

The SPARTANs moved through the room, and made sure it was safe, finally Anton informed him of the situation.

“Area secure sir, we better keep moving. How bout that door?” said Anton

The SPARTANs moved through a large door, which looked big enough to fit a pair of hogs. Fred lagged behind, and coordinating with Cortana, sent Li’s body down the grav lift, in addition to marking him MIA in the mission roster. Linda would guard it until the mission was over. The SPARTANs turned left through the door and jogged down a short ramp. They turned right, and stopped. Another door loomed in front of them. Fred handed Chief Li’s battle rifle, and the Chief dropped the T850, which was low on ammo.

“Doors locked sir, can’t bypass it.” Said Anton

“We could use the side passages to find a way around.” Suggested Cortana

“We’d be sitting ducks in that narrow space.” Said Grace

Chief had an idea.

“Team, wait here, and hold position. I’ll try and find a way around to open the door.” He told them.

Four green acknowledgement lights burned chief’s HUD. He noted the darkness of the fifth one with sadness. The Chief turned and ascended the ramp, back into the body strewn grav-lift chamber. He turned directly to his right, where a door sat unlocked. He moved cautiously into it, stepping over Covenant bodies. He stepped around the corner and turned left to cover his back—and was hit square between the shoulders by a grunt behind him. Chief’s shields flared and heat washed over him as the grunt’s yell of “Human” filled his helmet. He spun and planted a battle rifle burst square in its head, killing it. However, he knew his troubles were far from over.

As he stepped around the corner he scanned the passageway ahead. It was a long purple colored corridor that slanted up, and featured a support beam in the center of the top passageway, which was actually a corner into another area. Around the corner, an elite in maroon armor came around to the report of the gunshots. It saw chief and sprinted for him, firing badly aimed plasma blasts on the way. As it rushed down the ramp, the Master Chief fired into the creature. He dumped five bursts into it, then dodged to the side as the creature tried to swing it’s rifle like a club. He darted behind it and smacked it once with the butt of his BR55-M45, then drilled it once in the skull, splattering it’s brains on the deck plates.

On his motion tracker, the master chief saw multiple contacts approaching from in front of and behind him. Things were about to get hairy. The chief slid behind the corner and spun around to see a Jackal charging him, shield off to the side. The chief fired once at it’s head, and the avian like alien fell to the deck in a heap. The chief rolled from his cover and leveled his rifle uphill, towards the passageway where the elite had come from. He fired off two bursts and took a grunts face off, then three more and brought another grunt down with a tattered chest.

From a corridor to the left, two more grunts emerged, running towards where the elite and grunts had just died. The Master Chief gunned them down as they ran. The chief waited a moment to make sure all was clear, then ran up the corridor and stopped at the corner. He took a right and came face to face with an unlocked door. On the other side, his motion tracker painted several contacts. The master chief unlimbered his sniper rifle and warily approached the door. It slid open almost soundlessly, and he spotted a Jackal with its back turned to him. He flicked on the night vision to pinpoint the creatures head, then open fired, taking it clean off. He switched targets rapidly and cut down another jackal, then fired through an elite and into a grunt, killing two with a single bullet. The chief reloaded, fired off his next clip, then slung sniper, drew then BR55-M45 and advanced, having eliminated all hostiles in his immediate area.

The Chief stood on an elevated walkway a story above the ground. Below him was what appeared to be a large cargo-bay—it was an open space littered with weapons and communication crates, along with a powered down Wraith tank. Too him, it seemed like a waste of space. The chief moved forward then right, and then turned left into another set of passageways. The chief slid through the door and looked to the right—and found half a dozen covenant, a mix of grunts and jackals, rushing up the stairs to meet him. The chief open fired with a grenade, sending bodies sprawling. He continued firing from cover, taking down a grunt. However, the last survivor, a lone grunt, slid around a corner, ran left, and disappeared.

The chief ran down to corner, but didn’t walk around it. Instead, he listened, and heard the hum of an overcharged plasma pistol. The Chief rolled around the corner and saw the grunt fire, right over his shoulder. The chief came up, stood, leveled his battle rifle, and calmly shot the alien in the head. He continued down the passage, took a right, ran down another hall, took another right—and felt something hit him in the back of the head.

The chief went sprawling to the deck plates and heard the roar of an elite. He rolled onto his back and raised his battle rifle one handed, looking for a target. Nothing. He got slowly to his feet, and saw the air move. The image of another cloaked elite resolved, and the chief shot it again, then ran up, slammed the butt of his rifle on it, and shot once more, this time in the head.

The chief turned around and moved through a doorway. He kept moving, took a right, then stopped. Two jackals were patrolling inside the bay, seemingly at ease. The chief drew his sniper rifle and cut both of them down. He heard a roar from inside the bay, and took cover in a conduit space to his right. However, no enemy fire came his way, so he ducked out and peered through the scope of his sniper—only to see a rapidly approaching blur. The chief snapped off a shot and a stealth elite fell to the ground, camouflage slowly dissolving. There seemed to be an abundance of the cloaked warriors on the ship and around it.

The master chief slowly crept down the next passageway, which emerged into the cargo bay. He sighted through his sniper, and spotted a large number of troops milling around near doorways. He looked to the door. It was a straight shot.

“Team, ready yourselves for combat conditions, ETA six seconds.” He said into his comm.

The chief took a deep breath, drew his M45, and exploded from hiding, heading for the door control. Plasma bolts stitched the air near him, but he ignored them, focused on putting one foot in front of the other as quickly as possible. He closed the distance in the time he had said he would, and slapped one hand on the controls, opening the doors. The doors hissed open as the chief spun around and the Covenant charged him, and from behind the now open doorway, the SPARTAN team open fired. Hundreds of rounds from James’ T850 cut through grunts and Jackals, while battle rifle bursts and grenades from launchers hit elites and any stragglers. The SPARTANs moved out of the doorway, open fired on the enemy, took down several targets, and continued to advance, pressing the enemy into, and then out of, cover. Chief advanced with them, firing as well, and the combat raged intensely.

Anton moved ahead of the main group, trying to get a good angle on an elite, when he came under fire from a pair of Jackals. The plasma blasts from the aliens pistols slammed into him, making his shields burn orange—then an overcharge bolt hit him. He cursed over and open comm and charged the jackals, knocking one aside with his battle rifle. The other turned to track him, and sprayed him with plasma bolts from a plasma rifle. The bolts of heat splashed across his rifle—and found his grenade launcher. The grenade in the tube detonated as it was superheated and fried. Orange fire blossomed from the weapon across Anton…igniting his other grenades. Fire erupted from all over him, and a scream filled the comm as Anton was cooked alive inside his armor.

“No!” cried the chief, lunging for Anton. Fred held him with one arm and fired his battle rifle at the two jackals, the last remaining covenant.

Anton’s body hit the floor and smoked, and Chief gingerly walked up to him. He rolled him over, and saw his front armor was charred and roasted. It was breached in half a dozen locations, leaving no possible way Anton could have survived. The chief stared at Anton for a moment. Two SPARTAN casualties already. He knew that boarding a Covenant ship was dangerous—Sam had died on one in 2525—but he hadn’t been prepared for this kind of trained resistance.

The Chief pushed aside his feelings on the matter. No time for regrets. He had to stay focused: find Keyes, get him out, and escape.

“Status?” he asked

“Area secure, sir.” yelled James, and Cortana added quickly onto him.

“We should get moving.” She said

“Agreed. Everybody stay frosty.” Said Fred “Wired tight now.”

Chief waved the squad forward, through a doorway into another passageway. The SPARTANs moved too the left, turned right around a hallway, took another right, and entered a long passageway. In it, a variety of Covenant forces open fired at the Chief.

The master chief open fired as the rest of the squad slid into view, and using his battle rifle, he downed a jackal and four grunts in seconds. After pausing to slot in a fresh clip, he moved down the hallway, signaling his team to move out and keep careful watch. He ran down the hall, turned left, and was about to move forward when he saw a shimmering outline and small details floating in the air. A covenant elite stood still, facing away from the squad, and the master chief drew his sniper rifle with the least sound possible and aimed it at alien’s head.

The shot didn’t echo—despite the enclosed space. The elite went sprawling forward, with a grunt, and landed facedown ahead of the chief. The chief slid a new mag into his rifle, waved his squad forward, and then proceeded on. The SPARTANs ran down a short ramp then moved through an unlocked doorway—and emerged into yet another wastefully open space.

The Master Chief scanned the area around him, and decided that it was a hangar. It was a large rectangular room, with a ten meter wide structure running the width of the room, looming thirty meters tall in the center. This platform bisected the chamber, and on either space to the right and left of it, a pair of open bay doors stood. One of these, the one on the Chief’s side of the room, had an active bay door shield. The other, on the far side, had no shield. A spirit dropship hung in both hangar sections, but the one closest to chief was moving and had it’s troop bay doors closed, while the far one was hanging still with open doors. Above chief, platforms of the same height as the middle structure traced along every wall save the far left one, apparently to keep the bay doors clear. Support beams sliced through these platforms and connected with the ground by chief, which he noted would make good cover. In the center of his side, a jumble of covenant crates created an area that looked like it could spark devastating cat and mouse gunfights—something that if he could, Chief would avoid.

The chief motioned for his team to move up, then stepped through the door himself, and headed right. He moved a few feet to the side, then spotted two jackals and a two grunts. The master chief fired two bursts—sweeping the weapon across the aliens like it was a sword, cutting them down quickly. Just above the deck, the dropship lurched forward and sailed out the bay. Too the right, in the corner, a door slid open, and released half a dozen troops. They came out on the offensive, taking cover and opening fire. On the large middle structure, a pair of grunts and an elite open fired, hitting the SPARTANs from above.

Chief knew they were boxed in an needed to move, but he wasn’t sure where they could go.

“SPARTANs, hit them on the right flank! James, cover me!” he yelled.

As Fred and Grace held the enemy off on the side, James sprinted over to the Chief and open fired with his T850, sending rounds upwards at the grunt pair, drawing fire. Chief however, knew the elite was the real problem—his shields meant that he could take damage then retreat and let them recharge. Chief grabbed his SRS108 and propped it up against his shoulder. The bay was well lit, so he switched off the night vision, and sighted up at the elite, now raining fire down at James, who was in cover. The chief put a round through the blue armored creatures faceplate, then hit one of the grunts.

As he reloaded, more Covenant troops ran onto the elevated platform and fired from above on the SPARTANs. Jackals moved first, forming a shield wall, as Grunts took up positions behind them and primed grenades. The chief yelled “Grenades out!” and Grace and Fred let loose a pair of M10 grenades into the Jackal’s midst, burning them alive. The grunts tried to toss their grenades—but chief shot the one who had armed his first and sent him toppling to the ground. Before any of the grunts could throw, they were consumed in blue fire.

The chief waved his soldiers into the next room, but before he proceeded, he stopped next to the middle wall. Two dead marines, laden with ammo and battle rifles, lay facedown on the floor, and Chief appropriated what he needed from their ammo, trying to ignore how he was forced to wade in the blood of his comrades. The chief drew his battle rifle and proceeded into the next room, rifle ready.

As they entered, the Chief noted a deactivated Wraith tank sitting in the center of the room. It was quiet and the hatch was closed, so the Chief checked it off as not being a threat. Chief noted that every door was dark and faintly red.

“Were do we go now?” asked James “All the doors on this level are locked.”

“Wait a moment SPARTANs. I’m going to access the Covenant battle net and locate and override code to open these doors.” Cortana told him

“Copy.” Said the Chief “SPARTANs, hold position!”

From the right corner, a door slid open, and an elite and a pair of Jackals jogged from it. The Jackals didn’t have their shields ready, so Chief and Fred put a round in each Jackal’s face, downing them. Grace let a grenade loose, and James hit the elite with enough rounds to make it’s chest gory Swiss cheese. On the motion tracker, red blips appeared at the opposite side of the hangar, moving fast to their location. More appeared behind them, on the platform.

“James, handle the back. Grace, Fred, cover an entrance.” Ordered Chief, and his SPARTANs swung around

Covenant troops poured through on both sides of the middle structure, but the concentrated and well orchestrated fire held them at bay and took them out. Suddenly, another corner door, the one the Elites and Jackals had come from, slid open, and a pair of Hunters roared and open fired.

“Take cover now!” the Chief ordered his team as he slid behind one of the support beams and felt the brace warm behind him. The searing stream melted even Covenant metals; the SPARTAN armor, as Linda had proved, was no match for it.

“Stay in cover!” yelled the Chief

He slid from the beam and sprinted to the right, dodging a stream. It moved fast, but the Hunters tracked slowly, letting him dodge it. Chief turned, ran at the hunters, and fired a grenade in their midst from his launcher. They recoiled for a second, letting him get close—close enough to be deadly. He fired at the slight slit of orange skin as he approached, and the Hunters roared. One moved out of the doorway—charging him. The chief watched as it lifted its shield to club him, then dodged behind it. He fired his full clip into it’s back, and it finally fell.

“Attack!” he barked over the comm

The SPARTANs drew from cover and pelted the hunter’s armor with projectiles. The confused beast tried to alternate between targets, reducing its effectiveness by critical levels. The SPARTANs finally flanked it, and James put half the T850s fifty round clip into the Hunter’s back. It roared and fell.

“Got it!” cried Cortana, and a delta shaped NAV marker appeared on his HUD “The door is open. Everyone should move through now—I can’t guarantee it won’t lock again when it closes.”

The SPARTANs moved through the door, and into a narrow set of passageways, just like before. No one grouched, but he knew his SPARTANs were slightly frustrated from their body language—being in the bay had almost been like outside. Slowly but steadily, the SPARTANs made their way up ramps and through corridors, wading through plasma and fighting and killing waves of Covenant troops. Eventually, they made their way onto the upper deck of the hangar and past the middle structure and sprit dropship, and into more passages. Then, after battling past a group of Jackals and Elites, they emerged onto the third floor of the hangar, now a story above the dropship. Chief eyed the fall beneath him—he could survive, but it would hurt.

The SPARTANs eliminated the Covenant forces trying to stop them and moved past the hangar, back into the winding and twisting passages. Inside, they moved as quickly as possible, fighting their way through the corridors while feeling lost and out of place. The overwhelming alien-ness of the place was hard to stomach. Chief now understood why he’d been able to trick the hunter pair on the Pillar of Autumn—they had suffered from the same feelings as his squad was now, though to a much greater degree.

Eventually, they made their way to an intersection—with a door right in front of them, unlocked. Cortana’s voice suddenly crackled over the TEAMCOMM. “Be advised, my sensors can’t penetrate this room. It must be of importance.”

The chief nodded, and turned to his team. They reloaded their weapons and gave him a thumbs up.

The SPARTANs moved into the room. Inside was a large rectangular chamber with a raised circular platform in the middle. This platform was ringed by holographic controls, and two trenches were also dug into the deck plates on either side of it. Sleeping grunts were all around the room, but two elites patrolled in the corners—and at the top platform, a single Zealot, a ship commander, stood patrolling, energy sword out.

The chief unlimbered his sniper rifle, and sighted at the Zealots head. It hadn’t noticed them yet, but when it did—and it would—the SPARTANs would be in for a rough time. The chief open fired and the elite recoiled backwards—but didn’t die. Chief pumped two more rounds into the thing, cutting through it’s overshield and finally sending purple gore splashing over the deck plates. The grunts, in close proximity, woke up, but were promptly filled with gunfire. The elites turned and open fired as more grunts woke up. While the elites took carefully aimed shots, the grunts, panicked and scared, fired blindly—on the platform, controls melted, and two of the grunts toppled from friendly fire.

Chief let loose a grenade, and caught and elite in a raging fireball that threw him to the ground. The other SPARTANs fired on the other patrolling creature—James overloaded it’s shields with rounds and Fred delivered a lethal headshot.

“This looks like the ships command center. The captains transponder signal is strong, he must be close.” Said Cortana, and chief looked around, capturing the area with his helmet cameras.

Suddenly, his comm crackled with Linda’s voice. “Sir, reporting.” She said

“Go ahead.” He replied “How are things down there?”

“Not good sir.” She told him “Things were quiet for a while, a couple stragglers, but no one got in. The covenant just arrived in force though sir. No way we can escape down the grav lift. The covenant haven’t gotten it to get them inside yet, but they’ve got the entire area down here secured.”

“We’re are you?” he asked

“Hiding. Too many to snipe.” She replied

The chief considered this. They would have to escape some other way—and he didn’t know quite how.

Cortana however, appeared to have an idea.

“We can still do this.” She said “Echo 419 can pick us up from the hangar bay—now that we control the bridge, I can lock the Covenant out and keep them from accessing the weapon’s systems. It will take a minute, but I can do it. ”

The chief didn’t know if it could be done—there were still Covenant ground forces to contend with—but he figured it was their best shot.

“Grace, Fred, James: stay here and interface with the controls. Guard the place long enough for Cortana to get in, then get to the hangar and find a hiding place.” He told them “I’ll get the captain and anyone else who’s with him.”

The trio nodded, and took positions at the top of the platform. The chief felt Cortana’s presence withdraw. After hours of working with her, he felt empty.

Pushing the feeling aside, the Chief moved out through a door with a red NAV marker on it. Alone for the first time since landing on the ring, he was forced to fight his way past dozens of Covenant troops—but in the cramped hallways, he was able to use grenades to take out large numbers at one time. Finally, after quietly eliminating a pair of Jackals with a single silenced sniper shot, the chief glanced to his right—and found his objective.

A large rectangular room greeted him, defended by a group of sleeping grunts and what looked like a single energy sword armed elite. However he quickly saw that was a mistake; he caught the telltale shimmer of an elite in active camouflage. Of course. Chief examined the room, noting a raised control panel at the far end, and the rows of cells on either side, blocked by energy shields.

“The brig—the Captain must be inside.” Said Cortana

However, before he proceeded on, he wanted a report.

“SPARTANs, status on the lockdown?” he asked

“Ninety five percent chief.” Fred told him. “Almost there. Have you found the Captain?”

“Affirmative.” The chief said “Stand by.”

The chief sighted through his sniper scope at the cloaked elite—and fired three times in succession, bringing the creature down. He had learned from the last elite. He slung his sniper and drew his BR55-M45, then rushed through the door. He dodged to the right, smacked a sleeping grunt, and did this to two others. Finally, the stealth elites open fired—revealing their position. Chief promptly tracked and eliminated them. Over a chorus of marine cheers, the chief moved to the end of the room, stepped over the body of the sword elite, and placed a hand on the cell controls, opening them. The energy shields disappeared and the chief moved to the Captain and extended his hand.

“Coming her was reckless you two know better than this.” Said Keyes as he took the Chief’s hand and hoisted himself up. “Thanks.”

The two of them strode out of the cell, and Keyes barked out orders. “Marines lock and load your weapons lets be ready to move.”

Keyes strode over to in front of the door controls, and once there, a small council of war convened, with the SPARTANs at the bridge listening in over the comm.

“While I was locked up in here I overheard the guards talking about this ring world. They call “Halo”.” Said Keyes

“One moment sir, accessing the Covenant battle net.” Said Cortana.

Chief shifted his battle rifle to on top of his shoulder. Curiously, one of the naval crewmen who’d been tied up with Keyes pried open what looked to be a trophy case and withdrew and M90 shotgun, which he dropped at Keyes’ feet.

“According to the data in their networks, the ring has some kind of deep religious significance. If I'm analyzing this correctly...they believe that Halo is some kind of weapon. One with vast, unimaginable power.” Said Cortana

“Well...that's true.” said Keyes “The Covenant kept saying, “Whoever controls Halo controls the fate of the universe.”

“Now I see.” Said Cortana “I have intercepted a number of messages about a Covenant search team, scouting for a “Control room”. I thought they were looking for the bridge of a cruiser I damaged during the battle above the ring. But they must be looking for Halo's control room.”

“That's bad news. If Halo is a weapon, and the Covenant gain control of it, they'll use it against us and wipe out the entire human race.” Said Keyes, getting more excited “Chief, Cortana. I have a new mission for you. We need to beat the Covenant to Halo's control room. Let's move!”

“One moment sir.” Said Chief. He switched over to the SPARTAN channel. “Got everything? What’s your status?”

“Got everything chief.” Said Fred “Lockdown is done and were moving to the hangar.”

“Copy, good luck.” Said Chief. He switched to helmet broadcast. “Ready to go.”

“Master Chief, you have the point.” Said Keyes, picking up the shotgun.

The chief glanced and saw the marines take M7S SMGs from the trophy case. Chief sprinted for the doorway, BR55-M45 readied. The doorway slid open, but nothing came out. Which, as the chief had learned over the past few hours, meant something was definitely there. The chief let a grenade launcher loose—and two stealth elites went flying. Chief fired again, and caught a jackal rushing up the ramp into the room in the head.

The SPARTAN led the small group out of the cell, and into the corridors. The fighting was fierce, and chief was constantly forced to check on Keyes to make sure he was alright. The captain tried his best to keep up, and did, but Chief saw that he was tired and hurt from torture and his imprisonment.

Suddenly, over the comm, Cortana’s voice crackled, excited.

“Chief, I’ve got news. I’ve linked up with the Pelican Sierra-144, another heavily armed craft. It’s linked up with a large group of SPARTANs.” She told him, and he felt a burden lift. “They’ve also come into contact with more SPARTANs, and from what I can tell, it looks like everyone made it off the Autumn, and that there’s been few or no casualties since.”

The chief shrugged, not betraying his relief. His people were alive. He focused on the mission, and led Keyes to the edge of the bridge. He leaned in, and spotted two shimmers of stealth elites, and found it wasn’t hard. The elites held energy swords in their hands—which appeared to be floating in midair. Not exactly stealthy.

He unlimbered his sniper once again, putting his near empty BR55-M45 away. He shot both elites dead center, bringing them to the ground. He entered the bridge, captain and crewmen in tow.

“We made it!” cried Cortana “Cortana to Echo-419, we have the Captain and need immediate extraction.”

The comm crackled, and chief heard strain the naval flier’s voice. “Negative Cortana, I’ve been engaged, by Covenant air patrols, and am having a tough time shaken em. You’d be better off finding your own ride. Sorry.”

“Air support is cut off Captain, we need to hold here until she can move in.” Cortana announced over Chief’s helmet speakers even as the team assembled on the raised command platform.

“We’re trapped in here, we’re screwed man, screwed!” yelled one of the crewmen, who scrambled for the door. Two of his fellows restrained him.

“Stow the bellyaching soldier, remember you’re a leatherneck.” Barked Keyes, voice harsh. “Cortana, if you can get us into one of those heavy Covenant dropships, I can fly us out of here.”

“Yes captain, there’s a Covenant dropship still docked.” Said Cortana

“And it has a few passengers.” Said Grace on the open channel “Who needed a good hiding spot.”

“Perfect.” Said Keyes “Move.”

Around the bridge, doors slid open—letting grunts pour through. Chief spun, launched a grenade into one doorway, then fired with his BR55-M45 into the next. Behind him, he heard Keyes open fire and take down the remaining intruders.

The small team moved back into passageways, weaving in and out of combat in the tight spaces. Chief did his best to protect the captain, and more than once took plasma fire for Keyes. It was a short run, and then they emerged onto the top level of the hanger. A small Covenant patrol stood ready—an elite, and four grunts.

Chief cut them down, and moved to a small hangar control panel. He touched it, and the dropship rose to their level.

“That’s it, the dropship is loose.” said Cortana. The troop bays swung open, and Chief saw Grace, James, and Fred clinging to the hull, beckoning them in.

“Everybody mount up, lets get onboard.” Said Keyes, and the chief quickly helped the captain and crewmen in, then jumped aboard. The doors swung shut.

“Give me a minute to interface with the ship’s controls!” yelled Cortana

“No need.” Replied Keyes as he moved to the pilot station. “I’ll take this bird out myself.”

The dropship lifted and it’s anti-gravity drive hummed.

“Captain Hunters!” cried Cortana as a pair of the blue armored beasts lumbered from one of the doorways and fixed their weapons on the dropship.

“Hang on!” cried Keyes

The dropship spun and lurched forward, straddling a support column. The dropship collided with the beasts and sent them sprawling, then Keyes back it up and rotated it to face the exit.

“Well done sir.” Said Fred

“Time for a little payback.” Said Keyes

Their dropship accelerated out of the hangar, and as it did, a pair of Banshees and another dropship flew towards them. A dull thump resounded through the hull as Keyes open fired, downing all three with a blast with the force of a Wraith blast. Their hulks tumbled from the sky. The human controlled dropship arced away from the ship, gliding in the open sky.