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Halo: The Aftermath by Matthew Buzas
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Halo: The Aftermath
Date: 15 June 2003, 8:45 PM
This is my first story so I hope you enjoy it and understand it.
"Switch the engine power and shut off some electric lights. We are going to need a lot of power to get home." Cortana said.
"Where is our home NOW Cortana?" MC asked impatiently.
"Earth. We have no other option." she replied
"What do you think is happening to earth now?"
"Scanning . . . The marines and covenant are having a warscale battle between each other in some city in. in . . . a place called Afreecca."
"Africa" MC corrected.
"Whatever. All I know is that they have nukes blowing up in the atmosphere, destroying huge cities, innocent peoples lives." Cortana said.
What made the covenant make war with us? Can't we have peace? MC thought.
"cccccc. . . cort . . .na?" the radio started talking out loud, but I couldn't make out what it was saying.
"There's no way someone can talk to us out here. We are at least 2 million miles from all life." Cortana said.
"Cort . . .na . . . this is sar . . . of 9th bat . . ."
"I can hear you sarge a little bit. Can you hear me?"
Silence.
"Can you hear me?" she asked again.
Dead silence.
"Well, that's that." MC said
"What do you mean that's that? They need our help!!! We can't just stand here and do nothing!!
Actually, yeah we can, MC thought.
"Keep your thoughts to yourself, I can hear everything you say and think, you stupid barbarian."
MC didn't talk back.
"Cortana," MC asked
"Yes?"
"About what you said of people not talking out here."
"Go ahead."
"If you and I were on Halo, and you can contact anyone from a million miles away for support, how can this radio transmission be impossible?
"I don't know chief. It may be the covenant trying to fool us. I don't remember a 9th battalion."
"I think I do. It's Private Joe L. Mahoney out of Northern Europe." A long pause. "How far are we now?"
"About 100,000,000 miles away now, which will take us 3 more hours to get home.
On the way there MC tried to think of what his normal life was when he was young. No memories came forward. No pictures, recollections, anything.
"Wake me when we get there.
"Okay," Cortana replied.
Before Cortana could wake him, 5 large explosions shook the ground, with shrapnel and rock flying everywhere.
"Get a good night's sleep?" She asked.
"No thanks to your driving, yes." He replied
"I have heard that before."
As soon as he got out marines and covenant bodies were laid strewed out on the ground. There were a few new covenant that he hasn't seen before.
"Scanning. The large gorilla one is called a brute, and the king guy is called a prophet, the main leader. Scary, huh?"
"I have seen worse" he replied.
" I bet you have."
MC then met up with a marine.
"Sir, everyone is this way. Follow me." The marine said. "Watch out though, there are bodies everywhere, and we can't tell if they are dead or alive.
"All right," MC replied.
Master Chief then thought about war. They're always about religion, and always will be, he thought.
"Frag out! Frag out!" called a marine as he then chucked a grenade into a group of grunts and jackals. The explosion drowned out the cries of death.
"Nice shot!" called out a rookie marine.
After MC passed the two marines, he saw another group of marines battling a group of elites. He gave them cover, taking two elites down.
"Thanks." Said a marine. "I didn't think they would send a SPARTAN.
"No problem," responded MC. They never think about having a SPARTAN save them, he thought.
"Covenant phantom is on approach. I need backup! I need back . . . aaaaaaaa!" The radio transmission ceased.
"Phantoms carry brutes and other covenant. He may have been killed by one, Chief." Cortana said.
Damn it, thought chief. I hate it when we lose marines. Chief then saw a phantom dropping off some brutes in front of him! He took out his shotgun, point blanked a few, and melees one by jabbing the butt of the shotgun into the stomach, then dropping it onto his thick, thick, skull, crushing the skull to fragments inside.
"Damn bastard, you killed my friends!" He exclaimed.
"Look! That plasma cannon is destroying half the city! We got to do something!" Cortana said
"Call for air support. There's an airfield half a mile away with bombs." Chief replied
"Cortana to air field, come in! We need air support to destroy that cannon."
"Roger Cortana. This is Private Mahoney of the 9th batallion. I tried contacting you earlier, but it got all static. With that out of here, we have 2 airborne planes with bombs to take out that cannon."
"Thanks Joe. See you around."
"We are going to wait awhile chief, so maybe you can provide ground support against the covenant.
TO BE CONTINUED
Halo: The Aftermath pt. 2/5
Date: 13 July 2003, 4:46 AM
"Grunts and jackals to the right!" Cortana exclaimed in MC's ear.
MC took out his pistol to take out the grunts, then the jackals shields. He finished them off with his battle rifle.
"Mahoney to Cortana. Come in Cortana."
"Yes sarge." She replied.
"Air support is on their way. ETA is two minutes and thirty seconds."
"Roger Sarge. Make it quick because I don't think that building could last longer. Cortana answered.
"10-4. Roger out."
MC looked up as the plasma cannon charged, and shot a huge ball of plasma into the building's 30th story, shaking it like it was an earthquake.
As if lasting forever, the planes finally came in, dropping a payload of bombs, destroying it and little around it, making a loud rumbling sound.
"Thanks, Sarge." Cortana said
"Anytime Cortana." Joe replied.
Just then, a covenant phantom dropped in, deploying 15+ covenant jackals and grunts in front of a building.
A loud engine sound came out of nowhere, which came out to be a warthog. A marine in passenger in the warthog ran over 7 grunts, saying to MC, "We could use a gunner!" MC hopped in. A Covenant bus came around the corner, and MC destroyed it. Grunt bodies started flying everywhere, blood staining the already blackened street from bomb explosions.
"Hunters to the left!" Exclaimed a frightened marine.
MC swung the heavy chain gun around, blasting 20 rounds per second. The hunter's back had a weak spot, and he aimed there. Blood splattered on the window, and the hunter moaned a loud moan as it collapsed and died.
"Damn that was close!" yelled the passenger. Another warthog came up behind MC, and the passenger said they would give them support. Immediately afterwards, the warthog was blasted another hunter's fuel rod gun, killing everyone on board.
"Give me an angle!" shouted MC as he shot the oversized mutant with the grenade launcher, giving him a taste of his own weapon.
"Nice shot!" replied the driver, who shot a glance at MC.
"Keep your eyes on the road, that's how we will all get killed!" exclaimed the passenger.
A covenant bus popped out of nowhere, shooting a string of plasma at the hog, killing the passenger.
MC then shot the bus down, and kept shooting in anger with the machine gun. The driver said nothing.
"Cortana, send in some more marines, there are more covenant ground forces attacking civilian buildings, so a group of marines and I are going to take them out, and have a stationery hospital for wounded marines on the rooftop so you can evacuate them." MC said.
"Yes chief, I am sending the 209th out of South Africa, which are on their way." She replied.
The sound of a warthog came up from behind them, which then followed by a ghost and 2 more warthogs.
10 minutes later, they arrived at the building. Sergeant Engelhard then said to his marines, "Pile out marines, we need to help the chief for saving our asses from that damn covenant plasma cannon."
"Yes sir!" exclaimed the marines in unison
As soon as they entered, 3 grunts and a jackal were hiding behind a counter. MC and the marines took them out, and then out popped an elite and elite commander. The elite commander posed more of a threat with his sword, so 2 marines threw 2 frag grenades at the elite, taking out the elite's shield, then MC took him out with his battle rifle. He then double-melees the other elite, doubling him over, and popped 6 rounds in his ear level, pumping blood everywhere.
"Detecting motion up ahead. Sensing a cloaked elite, coming down the stairs. Need help locating it?" She asked.
"I will be fine." He replied. He turned on his flashlight, and after seeing the elite for half a second he turned them off, took his double sub-machine guns, activated silencers and sent 20 rounds to the elite, taking down his shields, and then made him start stumbling down the stairs.
Meanwhile, upstairs . . . . ..
"What the hell was that?" said one elite to a grunt.
"I don't know. I'll go check it out," the grunt replied. Before he could reach the stairs, a marine popped up and shot him down. Then, spotting the elite, he emptied his magazine, taking down the elite's shield temporarily. While reloading, MC sneaked up, took out his battle rifle, killing the elite from 15 feet away.
"Thanks chief, I needed that." The marine said.
"Don't forget to reload." He replied.
The marine looked embarrassed, then said, "Plum forgot."
"Area cleared," MC said to the others. Watch out, this building could collapse any moment." He reminded them.
TO BE CONTINUED . . . . ..
Halo: The Aftermath pt. 3/5
Date: 8 February 2004, 6:38 PM
"Master Chief, I have the evacuation pad ready for the wounded. Airborne pelicans on their way." Cortana said.
"All right," MC responded.
"Remember what the chief said marines, this thing could collapse at any moment!" said Sgt. Engelhard.
"Yes sir!" the marines replied
"Cortana, if this building could collapse," MC whispered to the AI, "Then why are we here?"
"Well, this is the only pad we can use without getting shot down," she replied.
MC looked at his NAV point to show where to go. Only 7-10 stories to go. Suddenly, the building started shaking. He looked out the window. There was a Phantom coming towards them! The plasma turret glowed blue, then red to hot orange. It was about to fire on them!
"Everyone hit the deck!" said sarge.
One marine ducked too late. His right leg was burned off. The plasma was so hot; it fused the skin together from bleeding, as if from a light sword or light saber. The marine screamed in agony.
"Calm down!" said James Hankley, a marine. "You'll live, it's only a leg, and you're not bleeding."
The marine that was shot just entered the Corps. His name is Brock Lantley. What a great way to start, thought MC. As he hauled the injured marine up the stairs, he came up close with a brute.
"Chief . . ." said Cortana
MC took out his battle rifle, and emptied half of a clip into the beast. The beast only howled in anger. All of the other marines, 15 in total, all fired in unison at the beast, with a mixture of pistols and assault rifles. After a long fight of 3 minutes, the beast finally went down. Three marines, including James, and the two other marines, Tommy Gaughan & Mark Stefani, were wounded.
"Cortana, the pelican has landed. Ready for evacuation," said Jason McKay, the pilot.
"Roger that." She replied.
Only 5 more stories were to climb, as well as 10 more grunts, few jackals, and one elite. He took out his silenced SMG's, and shot down 3 grunts in a group.
____________________________________________________________
Meanwhile, upstairs . . .
Tagag, a grunt, heard the screams of his brothers. This must be the special human I have heard about. Maybe I'll get to kill him, he thought. He told his unit of five to stay in each corner of the room, while he stays hidden in a cabinet. Maybe they could get a few kills before they get killed. The special human finally entered.
Master Chief entered the room quietly. He saw blips on his motion sensor, but couldn't see anything. He pulled out a smoke grenade, and threw it in. He immediately closed the door. He opened the door a minute later. Smoke billowed out, and several marines coughed. There were no more motion sensor blips, only 5 grunts in the middle of the floor, eyes expanded from the smoke. He made sure they were dead by meleeing them in the back. They were. There were still two more grunts, 3 jackals, and an elite to tango with. The two grunts jumped down from a hole in the roof from a fluorescent light fixture. One primed a plasma grenade. The marines immediately backed out. The grunt with the grenade got slammed out the window, with the grenade still on his arm. There was an explosion, followed by a scream. Blood shot up, then back down outside. 3 more stories to go, MC thought.
"We better hurry. They can't wait much longer." Cortana said.
"Roger that." John said. Man, he was ALWAYS being rushed.
The three jackals he had learned about had their backs turned to them. He meleed them, then crushed their heads in to make sure they were dead. There was still one more elite to tackle. ½ a story to go.
"Move it up marines, the pelican . . . the sarge started.
He couldn't finish his sentence. As soon as he opened up the door, an elite commander sliced through his body, killing him.
MC primed a plasma grenade, stuck it on the elite, then closed the door, and backed up 50 feet. There was a loud bang as the door exploded off its hinges. The elite's head was gone; blood spitting up everywhere. The Chief realized the sword was still active, swinging wildly. He took it off the elite's arm, being very careful, and sliced him in four. The pelican was getting ready to take off. He ushered the marines onto the new renovated pelican, with more seats, but wheels instead to land, and it still had the 70 mm chain gun on the back. As soon as they took off, a Phantom dropship shot at them, setting the pelican on fire.
"Prepare for impact!"
*Everything Fades to Black*
. . . TO BE CONTINUED . . .
Halo: The Aftermath pt. 4/5
Date: 19 February 2004, 6:10 AM
"Brace for impact, Chief," Cortana said.
"I'll be fine," he replied.
"That's what you said when you crashed on halo, and almost died." She answered, with irritation in her voice. Then he grabbed onto the hooks up on the ceiling of the pelican. 5 seconds later, the pelican slammed into the hard concrete on the ground. MC knocked his head on the roof, knocking him out.
"Chief? Chief are you awake? Can you hear me?" Cortana asked worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm fine." He responded. He looked around. The pelican was a mess, but there were survivors, as well as fatalities. 7 men, and 1 female ODST, including the male pilot, survived. 3 other soldiers didn't make it.
"Where are we?" asked James, the pilot.
"The same place where we started: the ground." Brock said, his voice hoarse from his leg wound he received earlier that day. He was right for one thing, they were on the ground, but no building or civilian objects in sight. It was just a long stretch of highway that they crashed landed on.
"All right marines. Lock and load. Gather all non-perishable food, all weapons & ammo you can get, and other important things we need to survive," said MC. "I don't know how long it will be until we re-establish contact with others. The crash knocked out my COM, as well as the pelicans."
Several marines had a scared look in their eyes, knowing this is the worst thing to happen to them. Though then they shook it off, gathered everything they needed to survive, and left the scene. They tried to put out the fires so no Covenant could find their wreckage, and come after them. Too late. Half a dozen of ghosts and a few banshees located them. Plasma burned the air around them, as well as a few placed fuel rod cannon blasts. Two marines' bodies flew into the air, severed in half by the plasma and fuel rod. The remaining marines fought, taking out the drivers of the ghosts without damaging them. Good, thought MC. Now we have fast transportation. The banshees circled around for more shots. As soon as they had their back turned, a hot shot sniper took out the elites, without damaging the aircraft. That marine reminds me of Linda, MC pondered to himself. That's excellent, we now have an excellent spotter and shooter. There were now 5 men remaining, as well as the female ODST.
"Everyone gather up what you can find. Every man take a ghost that is undamaged. Myself and miss . . ." he was cut off
"Michelle Onkyagong, ODST," the trooper interrupted.
"Right, Lieutenant Michelle and I will take the banshees," MC finished.
As soon as they gathered up, he looked at how far they traveled after putting a NAV point on the wreckage of the pelican. It read 5 kilometers in 2.5 hours.
"Cort . . . Chief . . . this is . . . arge . . . 5th . . . atall . . ." Static poured into the chief's COM.
"Chief, I am decrypting this call. It is the 5th marine batallion out of Northern England. They are approximately 10 kilometers away. It should be a good signal, but there seems to be interference." Cortana told him. "I am contacting a dropship to help pick us up. It is Alpha Team Bravo. ETA is 3 hours. I am locating the pick-up point now."
A new NAV point showed up on John's HUD. It said 15.7 kilometers away. He told all the marines to push their vehicles as fast as they could.
* * * * * * *
"The trap is set, your utmost excellency," said Latalal, a 2nd class grunt.
"Great. Now all we need to do is wait," said 'Fusu Pololomee, a gold elite.
* * * * * * *
"Detecting dropship up ahead . . . No human pilot detected. Scanning . . . nothing yet again!" exclaimed Cortana
"Must be a trap," John retorted. "As soon as we are ½ a kilometer away, I'll have the sniper spot the area for covenant. Or even worse, the flood."
It didn't take them long to get a good 400 meters away from the site of the pilot-less pelican. The scout took out his sniper rifle, and immediately handed it to John. The SPARTAN looked through the scope. No covenant, no humans, anything. He turned on the night vision. Nothing. Then he flicked on thermal vision. There it was. Two camouflaged elites guarding the area. He immediately took them out. No more threats remaining. He pushed the marines hard to get to the pelican, secure it again, and take off. It seemed like ages before they got there. They secured it again, and took off. Nothing on his motion tracker.
"Marine base is approx. 50 kilometers away. ETA is 2.5 hours," mouthed Jason Mckay, the original pilot of the pelican that crashed.
"Wake me when we get there," uttered a rookie marine.
Well, this battle is over, thought MC. But we still have other wars to win. The pelican shuddered as it hit an air pocket, then resettled.
* * * * * * *
"So, how did it work?" asked 'Fusu Pololomee.
"Well, the armored freak took out our elites, then took off."
"WHAT?" 'Fusu exclaimed, knocking over the desk.
"Umm, let me rephrase th . . ." he was cut off mid-syllable by 'Fusu's plasma rifle blast to his head.
"That is one grunt I don't have to worry about." He said. Then he fixed his desk, and ordered a robot to clean up this mess.
* * * * * * *
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
Halo: The Aftermath Pt. 5/5
Date: 5 March 2004, 4:39 AM
Master Chief looked over at the other marines sleeping. They seemed so relaxed, regardless of what happened. He was pretty tired as well, as his eyes fell heavy on his face. But he needed to stay awake, in case of the inevitable. The pilot, Jason McKay, said that they would reach the base in 5 minutes. 5 minutes, he thought. Only 5 more minutes to stay awake. Those minutes went by quickly. The high tower of the base, erected for their radio signal for the marine's COM, quickly came into view. Chief sighed very deeply. At least I can get some rest and relaxation. The first thing that popped up into mind was to get the wounded into the hospital, although that was a long drive away. The base was separated from the hospital by 3/5 of a mile. That would take twenty minutes. Well, I better get that done first. It can save a lot, instead of waiting and making the wounded not get a chance, he thought.
As soon as they touched down, three warthogs approached them. MC took out his battle rifle, pistol in hip holster, just in case this was an ambush. It wasn't.
"Marines, we need to evacuate the wounded. They may die if we don't get them to the hospital in time." Chief said.
"Yes Sir! We understand the situation sir. I'll share a hog with a few marines to save you some room," said a marine.
"Thanks, soldier," MC responded.
He quickly and carefully loaded up the wounded marines, including Brock, whose leg was severed off by the Phantom's plasma blast earlier; & Tommy, James, & Mark, who were wounded by the Brute's weapon earlier. 15 minutes later, he took them inside the ER. Brock would need a new leg. Tommy & James both had severe chest wounds, which needed surgery to get the bullets out and stop internal bleeding. Mark just went in for check-ups, and received a new inhaler, since he was an asthmatic. Good, though John. I could use some more backup.
"Chief, there is a covenant drop-ship in-bound, ETA is five minutes. Stock up on ammo and get ready." Cortana said.
"Roger that. Marines, load up! Incoming covenant in five, I repeat, five minutes."
"Yes Sir!" they all replied. They all followed the chief to the ammo base, just down the road. It took them 45 seconds to get there, 2 minutes to load up, and 30 seconds to get back. They still had 1 minute and 45 seconds left. Chief grabbed a pair of SMG's, equipped with silencers, a battle rifle, equipped with a silencer, and 8 fragmentation grenades. He also brought the pistol with bullets the size of his thumb. A few marines had shotguns, one had a SPNKR, and one had the battle rifle.
"45 seconds left, John. Get ready." Cortana retorted.
"Roger that. Marines, get to the top of the base. Sprint there, to save time. That way you can set up and have high ground," the chief said.
"Roger that Chief," said a marine.
As soon as they got there, there was 10 seconds left. MC found a room, and knocked out a window to see the enemy. Luckily they didn't hear the glass breaking. He laid down on a bunk to get a better area. He turned out the lights, so no one can see him. The first covenant to drop out was a brute. The marines fired to get his attention. John drew his pistol out, and, as soon as the brute backed up to the wall, the chief point blanked him 3 times to take down the beast. Then came out 4 elites, 2 with swords, and one with a shield & a sword, a camouflaged one 15 grunts, 5 jackals, and a new covenant specie that John has never seen before. The battle torn SPARTAN took out his SMG's to take out the grunts. One by one, they fell to the ground. He carefully took head shots to avoid being found, and conserve ammo. The grunts were the easiest ones to go, except for the Spec. Ops Grunts he found on the Pillar of Autumn when he escaped off of Halo. Then came the jackals. He pointed his pistol at the heads, blowing the brains out. The elites came next. A couple of marines had already taken out the hard one, the one with the shield and sword. The remaining ones were the ones with the swords. He took one's shields out with the SMG's, then finished it off with a shot straight through the jugular. Blood spat everywhere. The next one died because five minutes ago, a marine jumped off the building of the base, sneaking up on the elite, and point-blanking him to death. One elite remained. Somehow, it found a way into the room. One marine saw it, fired a rocket through the window, and waited. John heard the "WHISH!" of the rocket, rolled to the wall, and saw the rocket explode on impact, hitting the elite dead on, on the chest of the elite, blowing guts, blood, and limbs everywhere.
"Marines, hold your position. I will check the area for more covenant," the chief said.
"Roger that. Holding position," a marine responded.
John scoured the area, and found no covenant. The drop-ship left a while ago.
"All clear. Regroup. Any wounded or dead?" John asked.
"Negative sir. We are coming back now. ETA is 36 seconds," a marine responded.
A drop-ship appeared, requiring to take everyone back to Alpha Base, located 900 KM away.
"Everyone boarded? We are now leaving, destination Alpha Base. ETA is 5 hours," said the pilot.
"Roger that," John said. Now, there will be no covenant in my way. If there is, they won't be anymore. He thought.
THE END
Halo: The Aftermath part 1
Date: 4 July 2008, 8:59 am
Chapter 1
UNKNOWN HOURS, UNKNOWN DATE, 2553 (MILITARY CALENDAR) ABOARD REAR HALF OF UNSC FORWARD UNTO DAWN, UNKNOWN INTERSTELLAR SPACE
The remains of the Forward unto Dawn floated in space like a giant wounded beast. "Cortana to UNSC headquarters, this is Cortana. We are in need of pick-up ships. We are onboard the Forward unto Dawn. The front half of the frigate has landed back on Earth, location Pacific Ocean. But the Chief and I are on the rear half, which is floating in space. I should be able to pick up our signal. Please quickly send rescue ships to our location. Cortana out." It's going to take a long time for them to get this message, Cortana thought.
2 years later…
"Sir! We have a message from the rear remains of the Forward unto Dawn!" a Marine shouted out loud. Everyone froze. No one could believe what the soldier said. Lieutenant commander Cameron took a look at the computer screen. It was true. It was from the remains of the Forward unto Dawn.
"We read you, Cortana. It would take a while to get to you. We will send the Aegis Fate frigate to pick you up. HQ out," LC Cameron said into the microphone as the other crew signaled the Aegis Fate to Cortana and Master Chief's location.
Meanwhile…
I hope they got my message, Cortana thought. Then she took a look at the screen. The view of the cryotube Master Chief was in. There he was, a silent figure resting. "Wake me when you need me." That's what Master Chief had said right before he froze himself in the tube. I might need you right now, Cortana thought worriedly. Then a siren went off. They were crashing into the unknown planet below them! Oh no, this is bad, Cortana thought. I have to wake up the Chief; Cortana thought as she deactivated the cryotube system and opened the hatch of Master Chief's tube. "Chief! Wake up! We have an emergency!" Cortana said through the ship speakers. Master Chief woke up wearily. "What is it, Cortana?" the Chief asked. "Have a look downwards." "We're crashing onto the planet?!" Master Chief exclaimed surprisingly.
"What are we going to do?" Cortana asked desperately. "Well, there's not much we can do," Master Chief answered, "We'll have to crash onto the planet and survive until a ship comes and rescue us. "Is that even a plan?" Cortana asked sarcastically. "Technically, no," Master Chief answered as he sat down and put on the safety belt, ready for the impact. The remains of the frigate crashed onto the forests of the planet. The Chief got up, took Cortana out of the computer and took out the trusty assault rifle from under the seat. He took a few grenades and a battle rifle as well. "Cortana, have you got any information on this place?" the Chief asked the AI. "Not much. But apparently this planet has about roughly the same level of gravity as earth. It also contains Oxygen." Without another word, Master Chief hopped off what was once a fine UNSC frigate. "Well, that looks like scrap metal," Master Chief remarked while staring at the crash-landed remains. "Come on, we have to focus on our survival," Cortana reminded him. "Right you are," he said. Master Chief looked around the surrounding area. It was a dark and gloomy surrounding. Master Chief activated the torch on the assault rifle, and immediately a patch of light appeared on the ground. "Which direction should we head to?" the Chief asked Cortana. "To be honest, I really don't know. You're going to have to rely on your instincts on this one. I can't be sure until I can get hold of some more data of this planet." "Alright then," Master Chief said carelessly. For some reason his instincts told him to head straight forward until……well until he was out of the dismal forest. He didn't wait for anymore thoughts to come up to his head and charged into the unknown and beyond.
The Arbiter stood calmly on the command bridge of the carrier Shadow of Intent with Rtas 'Vadum. The Arbiter tapped on one of the buttons and a display showing a familiar planet appeared. Sanghelios, The Arbiter thought as he stared motionlessly at the mere picture of his home. "Don't worry, my brother, we are almost home," Rtas said to the Arbiter as if he could read the other Elite's mind. The Arbiter gave a nod and a slight smile to Rtas, but was completely silent. Suddenly a strange planet came into sight. It orbited a small sun far away. "Your Excellency, our radar is picking up something on the planet!" one of the bridge crew, Nuta 'Xitrodam, shouted. The Arbiter was instantly awakened from his day dreams. "Do you know what it is?" the Arbiter asked. "The signal is very weak, almost an echo. But I'll be able to check once we get closer to it," Nuta responded. "Then let's steer closer to the planet," the Arbiter ordered as the assault carrier took a slight turn and darted for the strange sphere. "The object has been confirmed!" Nuta said, "It's the remains of the UNSC frigate Forward unto Dawn!" The Arbiter and Rtas were both stunned by the news. "That means the Master Chief might still be alive," Rtas said to the Arbiter. For a moment Arbiter thought about what to do. "Alright. Rtas please call UNSC on earth and tell them we have found the frigate. Then wait for their response," Arbiter said. Without another word, Rtas raced to the communications display and contacted earth. "Earth, do you read me? This is the Covenant Separatists Assault Carrier 'Shadow of Intent'. Do you read me?" After a brief moment of silence, the Elites were rewarded with a response. "We read you loud and clear. What's the matter?"
"We have approached an unknown planet and we are picking up the Forward unto Dawn's signal there. What do you recommend us to do?"
"Stay right there. We received a message from the frigate before it presumably crash-landed. We have sent a frigate to investigate. Wait until the frigate comes."
"Understood. Rtas 'Vadum out."
The Chief found himself standing in the middle of a swamp. It reminded him of the first time he had encountered the Flood. It was on Alpha Halo. The disturbing images of the Flood flashed through his mind, and made him want to stop moving forward. But he reminded himself that the Flood were all destroyed and strolled through the darkness.
The air that came through his helmet's oxygen purifiers unexpectedly smelled the Earth's. That fact comforted him a bit, but at the same time gave him the creeps. He started to move into the denser parts of the swamp. On the trees there were some weird and native insects. They reminded him of tiny Drones. They made a low buzzing noise which seemed to grow louder and louder as he strolled further forward. The bugs got attracted by the scent of a creature walking by, and started to crowd around the Chief. So they like me, huh? The Chief thought sarcastically.
Just when he thought he would never come to a clearing, he did. He could finally see the twilight reflect off the three moons above. About time, he thought. He kept on walking and abruptly stopped. "What's..." Cortana stopped speaking. She knew why the Chief stop. She could hear it too. Chief listened carefully to the distant whisper and could just make out what the beings were saying. The voices sounded familiar. To the Chief's surprise, they were Grunts. "Why do we have to go on the patrol anyway? If the Brutes are so strong why don't they do it? Besides there aren't anything out here. And the stupid insects here are so annoying!"
"Stop whining, Pecpec. It isn't going to help. Let's finish this and go back to tell them everything's fine."
The two gas-suckers walked off and the conversation couldn't be heard anymore. At least the element of surprise is still in my hands, Master Chief thought. He made sure that the Grunts were well and truly far away, and then started to speak to Cortana. "I thought the Covenant fell apart," the Chief said to the AI. "Well, apparently I don't know everything," Cortana responded carelessly. "There must be more of them," the Chief said quietly, "there might be a whole Covenant carrier full of them."
The Chief didn't know yet, but he was right. A crash-landed Covenant carrier was only a few miles from him.
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