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Return to Earth by CoLd BlooDed
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Return to Earth (Chptr 1: Attacked)
Date: 19 July 2003, 6:38 PM
Return to Earth (Chptr 1)
1450 hours October 12, 2552 (Military Calander)
New Tratley, England
The Covenant were like snakes, waiting until the prey turn their back for one second and then strike. And in any case, this was one of those moments.
"Where the hell did the left flank disappear to?" yelled Seargent Lubz over the rumble of heavy weapon fire.
But the corporal didn't make a sound, instead he pointed over to the incoming horde of grunts, jackals, and elites. The screaming Banshees and humming shadows reinforced the foot soldiers of the covenant. Nothing the marines weren't used to, but they had been fighting for hours, and the battle was wearing them down.
"I've called for reinforcements sir!" finally shouted the corporal, "We're not going to last much longer if the Covenant keep this up---"
An explosion rumbled through the bunker that the Sergeant and the Corporal had taken refuge in. A scream of a banshee passed over the town, and shot down a few of Lub'z men. The large window in front of them gave them a clear view of the battlefield, in which plasma bolts and bullets streaked past. Scorched bodies of the humans and elites could easily be seen on street corners, blood soaking into the ground. A human ran past the window and was shot by an elite, blood splattered against the window as the man fell
down.
Reinforcements were on there way, and not just from the ODST's surrounding the area, but one that Cortana had said would be there shortly. Would one reinforcement be
special enough to save this small city? This was one of the hundred questions that filled Lubz's mind. He had heard over the news that this man, or cyborg, had destroyed a whole ring world, and was the only survivor of the 800 troops that landed there. All Lubz could do was wait and see if this was true..
* * * * * * *
1475 hours October 12, 2552 (Military Calander)
Area 73, Brazilian deserts
"Chief! Remember where we are headed, New Tatley in England! We've been requested there." quickly said the AI.
"Ok, slow down. How do we get there?" questioned the chief.
"Well, we could try a pelican if you're willing, but your world-wide motion tracker shows movement over the atlantic sea." calmly said Cortana, knowing that Master Chief would take the risk.
"Guess we'll have to try." said the spartan, a tone of bravery in his voice.
The military base they were in (located in the deserts of Brazil) was swamped with the newest military vehicles along with crewman and marines. The Master Chief
was authorized to take one of the older pelicans to travel. Even though it was still capable of breaking the sound barrier it lacked firepower, any firepower.
In a matter of minutes, Cortana had been uploaded into the pelicans systems and was flying the ship out of the bay. The damaged purple sky reminded the chief of halo, it was only 11:00 in the morning and the stars and moon were visible. As the pelican moved towards the coast, explosions rumbled here and there as the ravaged humans fought the covenant. What had seemed like minutes they had reached the atlantic ocean, beautiful because it had not yet been touched with warfare.
When they had gone at least halfway across the atlantic ocean, something became visible over the cockpit window. Hopefully a human cruiser so they could stop and bring some reinforcements to New Tatley. But the worst happened in the next few seconds, a plasma rocket came streaking towards the ship, too fast to be noticed it hit the hull of the pelican. Ripping the bottom of the back half of the ship. It appeared that the aliens had water ships after all, it came as a surprise to the chief.
"Watch out! We can't afford to take another hit like that or we're done for!" yelled Cortana, who had stopped flying the aircraft and let the chief take the wheel.
The pelican dove and flew right above the water, plasma shooting over the cockpit. The alien vessels ceased to shoot, the pelican was unreachable to plasma fire. Soon
the alien ships came into view, the smooth silvery hull reflected sunlight into the pelican. Thats all the chief could tell before the light overloaded his sensors and he brought the pelican up. The whoosh of another plasma torpedo launching could be heard, and when his sensors were back to normal he saw the plasma torpedo streaking towards him at incredible speed.....
To be Continued......
Return to Earth (Chptr 2: Flight to Captivity)
Date: 20 July 2003, 9:16 PM
Return to Earth (Chptr 2: Flight to Captivity)
1500 hours October 12th, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean
....when his sensors were back to normal he saw the plasma torpedo streaking towards him at an incredible speed....
"Chief! According to my analysis this is a heat seeking torpedo, if you could only direct it to make it collide with the covenant ship. The impact would take it out." Cortana said quickly enough so chief could make a plan.
Luckily this is where the chief's SPARTAN training came in handy, he took the pelican into a deep dive, then he leveled out right before he hit the water. Again he was unreachable to plasma fire, overhead the plasma torpedo did a loop and followed right behind the aircraft. The Master Chief held steady right above the water and just lifted up in time to let the torpedo rip through the alien hull. The rear viewscreen in the cockpit revealed the tremendous explosion.
"Must of hit the generator.... but I didn't think it would be that big of an explosion. My inquiry of the alien vessel was incorrect, how strange..." confoundedly said Cortana.
"Don't worry about, its gone and we're okay. You've never been in one of those so don't get troubled by an inaccurate examination." reassuringly said the spartan.
Cortana didn't say anything more, and chief could see the landmasses of England, an elegant view from far away but war-ravaged up close. In minutes, they arrived on the coast, landing in Docking Bay C25, a very small camp set up near New Tatley. Chief took Cortana from the pelicans dashboard and clipped it into his helmet. The feeling of cold water being poured into his mind came over him and vanished. He stepped out of the pelicans cockpit, and was greeted by two crewman.
H-Hello sir!" stuttered the short crewman, "My name is Thomas Felgood, I will be assisting you for the next couple of minutes, this way!"
The other crewman just said good-bye to Tom and left, then the chief asked the crewman:
"Where are all the other soldiers?"
"Some are in the barracks, some are patrolling the halls, we only have a small number of troops right now mostly because the other soldiers were sent to New Tatley." responded Felgood.
The chief felt a sense of regret for not being there, but he soon would and hopefully kick some ass. The crewman led him into a room, filled with battle rifles, snipers, SMG's and grenades.
"Take what you like, sir." boringly said Thomas, "Then after your ready meet me at the front gates, I'll give you a ride to the outskirts of New Tatley."
The chief coasted around the room, it wasn't very big but it was packed with alot of weapons. He took four frag grenades, the newer model of the sniper rifle, and a battle rifle.
"This should do you good chief, just grab some ammo and we'll be ready to go." said Cortana as he grabbed a handful of bullets.
"Perfect." calmly said the Master Chief.
* * * * * *
1565 hours October 12, 2552 (Military Calandar)
Front Gates Watchtower
"Shit its hot out here!" complained Sgt. Blaskawitz, "Why do we have to stay at camp while the others get to party at New Tatley!"
Nobody answered his question, but the soldier beside him was looking out at the water which was about 5 klicks away.
"Uh...sir? I think I see somethin' over that hill." reported the soldier.
"I don't see anything, boy! I told you its too hot out here, and anyways it's probably just a mirage." said Blaskawitz, not seeing the black image coming closer to the base camp.
Another few minutes rolled by, Blaskawitz was bored, but that was until he could see the figure coming towards them. He took a few seconds to see what it was, and it became clear when a blue plasma beam came and exploded the head of the soldier beside him.
"We're under attack boys! Lock and load and get ready to kick some alien ass!" yelled the Seargent over the intercom, then pressed the alarm, "It's time to party."
* * * * * *
1575 hours October 12, 2552 (Military Calandar)
Hallway Heading for Front Gates
The chief was walking down the hallway when he heard the alarm and the man over the intercom, his pace quickened into a run. When he reached the door he kicked it
open, and from what he could see there were 20 to 30 elites, jackals and grunts. They were under attack already and he hadn't even been here for more than twenty minutes.
He saw Thomas walking up to him, then heard him yell:
"Chief! We're going to have to wait ten minutes or so before they can get the warthog out, by then we'll be able to go." calmly said Thomas.
This couldn't be happening already, he just got on this damn planet, but then again, he was willing to kick some alien ass. ...to be continued
Return to Earth (Chptr 3: Alone and Still Standing)
Date: 21 July 2003, 10:57 PM
You may or may not post messages after you read this story, but it would be greatly appreciated if you did, thank you. -CoLD BlooDed
Return to Earth (Chptr 3: Alone and still standing)
1578 hours October 12, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Front Yard of Base Camp C25, 30 klicks from New Tatley
....This couldn't be happening already, he just got on this damn planet, but then again, he was willing to kick some alien ass...
The alarm rang throughout the chief's head, and the ODST snipers had already started firing, and they had already received a death. He unclipped his battle rifle from his armor, loaded it up and was ready for a good fight.
All the other marines were scrambling about, setting up several .85 mm chain guns, which were scattered randomly around the walls of the base camp. For the first few minutes he helped set up the chain guns, but when he could see the eyes of the elites and nitrogen packs of the grunts, he braced himself. They had just risen up over the hill, most shooting at the watch towers, and if they weren't they were packing up more grenades.
"According to my examination of the Covenants speed, they should be at the gates in less than 3.27 minutes. Uploading battle tactics, reinstalling neural lace patch, you're all ready to go chief!" happily said Cortana.
"What would I do without you?" silently said Chief.
The next few minutes chief took his time to get into the watch tower, and in Cortana's case, he wasted 2.34 minutes getting up the stairs. When he got to the window, the army seemed more massive than before, but then again, he had wiped out an entire Covenant armada back on halo. The chief readied his sniper on a maroon dressed elite, he waited a few seconds before getting the head shot. POW. The head of the elite exploded, showering his comrades with his colorful insides. In turn, the Covenant responded with a flurry of plasma beams, and in luck, not one shot hit a soldier.
"We'll show 'em, especially with you here." chief heard the sniper beside him mutter.
A few more of the Covenant's elites were killed, knowing that the jackals and grunts would break up after there commanders were dead. About one klick away from the gates there were only about three elites left. Two of them were blue and the other was maroon. The Covenant were closely guarding them, but started to disband as the grunts and jackals were shot down.
"Get ready men!" shouted the Sergeant from the other watch tower, "They'll be at the doorstep in 20 seconds."
The buzzing from the chainguns starting up could be heard, and then a hail of bullets rained upon the incoming covenant. The shots were mostly successful, ripping apart an elite and a couple grunts, but the jackals were unharmed.
Twenty seconds later (which had seemed like eternity) the Covenant were at the gates, attacking the concrete barrier with plasma or grenades. But the gates weren't that weak, so as the Covenant continued to thrash at it, the men inside the camp readied a cauldron filled with acid. On the count of three they tipped it over and as it fell the enemy didn't even look up, anyone under the acid was burned immediately.
Screams of jackals and grunts were heard, but none of the elites, Master Chief looked over the edge of the watchtower and the enemy had retreated from the gates. In a few seconds though the attackers must have hatched a plan, they all threw their grenades at the gate at the same time. When the plasma exploded it burned through most of the barricade, enough to see tiny holes in the forty centimetre thick wall.
Master chief gave up on his sniping position, ran down the stairs, and by the time he was in the front yard the Covies had broken through.
"Hose 'em down men! You don't want them to get close to you!" shouted the Sergeant from the yard, he had obviously wanted to pick a fight.
A couple of grunts started shooting at him when they got through the gate, his shields flickered as he unholstered the battle rifle. He didn't need the scope to take them out, he rolled to the side to avoid incoming shots and mowed down the grunts. Blue blood squirted from the holes in there body and splattered the ground.
"Wort Wort" an elite had greeted him in his own language.
Chief spun around and shot at the creature, the elites shields flickered until they gave out and the Spartan smacked him across the face. The elite fell down with a bent jaw, he roared before the Master Chief gave one shot to his face. Purple blood sprayed the door leading back to the watchtower.
He ran to the other side of the yard, where the garage was (he had studied the base map in the weapons locker). Inside was Thomas, doing something to fix up the Warthog.
"Hey! Chief, come over here quick! Help me with this and we can get the hell out of here" called out Thomas.
The chief walked over to Thomas, who told him to hold a wire from the engine, then the swift crewman went under the vehicle. There was a sputter from the engine, and then the chief was told to plug the wire in. He did so, and there was a soft rumbling sound, and the Warthog came to life.
"Get in! We're out of here, open the garage and get in the gunner seat!" hurriedly yelled Thomas, who had jumped into the driver seat with a radio.
Master Chief did as he was told, as light filled the room, Thomas stepped on the gas and they broke through the yard, running over a few grunts and the final elite.
* * * * * *
1602 hours October 12, 2552 (Military Calandar)
Front Yard of Base Camp C25
Blaskawitz was enjoying himself, shooting grunts here and there, jackals were getting flanked, his team was winning. He was glad that the Spartan was here to help, or the story might have been much different. He shot a jackal in the head that was trying to get away, blood splashed the ground as the jackal fell against the wall. They cleaned up the rest of the survivors, they had won, it was over.
This is what he thought before he heard the screech of a banshee, he looked up, there were at least five of them. Blaskawitz cursed as the green plasma rockets descended towards the camp, they hit randomly, exploding and killing many marines. He ran towards the garage, hopped into a Warthog, and exploded out of the garage door.
"Sir, we'd like to come to if you don't mind!" shouted some marines as they jumped into the seats.
"We're leaving this place, get ready to go to New Tatley, we'll go through the forest path as usual." said Blaskawitz, stepping on the gas and left the doomed encampment of C25 to the Covenant.
* * * * * *
1606 hours October 12, 2552 (Military Calandar)
Path Leading to New Tatley
They were making good time, but chief let out a cry of despair as several banshee attacked the camp he had just left.
"Don't worry chief, when I get back me and the survivors will fix it up!" yelled Thomas over the roar of the engine.
They were cutting through a forest, running over shrubs and growing trees. There were alot of hills and trees, in which Thomas sped by, showing off his driving skills. Master Chief knew it was to good to be true, he had gotten away and was heading towards the city.
"I sense movement chief, tell that Felgood kid to be cautious---" she was cut off by the sound of plasma.
Chief fired into the bushes, but it was to late, the plasma caught Thomas in the arm, the heedy crewman cried out and let go of the wheel. They were still moving at an incredible speed, and in moments, they had crashed into a tree.
All chief could remember was the way Thomas had be thrown out, and when he woke up, he heard moaning sounds. He followed the sounds, and eventually followed a trail of blood and found Thomas hidden under a bush. The crewman did not look in good condition, blood was leaking from his scorched arm, and he had torn open his stomach in the fall. Felgood passed out from pain, before whispering to chief, "Sorry."
"Scanning, heart rate decreasing, no pulse, he's dead chief." grimly said Cortana.
The Spartan looked over at the Warthog, the piece of crap had broken into two pieces in the crash, know how would he get to New Tatley in time?
.....to be continued
Return to Earth (Chptr 4: Rescued)
Date: 22 July 2003, 9:42 PM
Return to Earth (Chptr 4: Rescued)
1620 hours October 12, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Somewhere in the Forest Leading to New Tatley
......The Spartan looked over at the Warthog, the piece of crap had broken into two pieces in the crash, now how was he supposed to get to New Tatley?....
Sixteen minutes had passed and he was still looming over the dead body of Thomas Felgood. The blood had stopped seeping from his wounds and dried up, just revealing how severe the crash was. He looked away for a moment, and then remembered that Thomas had brought a radio with him, if he could get it maybe he could make contact...
"**ief! Mas*er Chie*! Do you co*y, *ver?" Chief followed the sound of the static and voices, and eventually found it still intact in the seat of the Warthog.
"Hello! This is Master Chief and we have crashed somewhere in the forest!"desperately called out the Spartan into the radio.
"Good to hea* from y*u Chief, can you te** us yo*r coordina*tes? Over." responded the voice that sounded like Sgt. Blaskawitz from C25.
"Thats a negative, Sergeant, I cannot read my position on radar, must be interference or something. Over." said Master Chief, calming down, "You may be able to pick me up if you follow your motion tracker movement."
"Positive, Chief. We'll do the *est we ca*." confirmed Blaskawitz, "Over and out."
This put the Spartan in a stressful situation, he would have to wait until they came. So he sat on the tree stump and looked up, the purplish sky overhead was dotted with clouds. The Master Chief strained his eyes and swore he could see several Pelicans zoom overhead. Of all things he had to be careful, he didn't know if the Covenant were in the forest or not.
* * * * * *
1623 hours October 12, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Traveling by Warthog in Forest
"Sir, is he close?" asked Corporal Marez, "Remember your the only one with a motion tracker."
"Shut your mouth marine, when he's close I'll tell ya. Right now though he ain't listed on radar." snapped Blaskawitz, who was having a hard time getting through the forest.
The marine in the gunners seat snickered, which annoyed Marez, but he ignored him.
"There we go, he's over there somewhere." said Blaskawitz, tapping the radar on the Warthog.
In seconds they stopped, and the radar indicated that he should be right there. But surrounding them were trees and bushes, and then a hill rose in front of them.
"Where is he? He should be right here----" the marine said then gurgled and a warm liquid was felt down Marez's neck.
Marez spun around, only to see the marine had no face, instead a large hole leaking a large amount of blood. The marine fell off the gunners seat into the mud, then they were ambushed by a few elites and accompanying them were some grunts. Blaskawitz jumped into the back and started up the gun, Marez hopped out of the Warthog and kneeled on the other side of the vehicle.
"Die you little bastards! Die!" yelled Blaskawitz over the chain gun.
Screams came from the grunts, who were almost immediately ripped apart by the gun. The elites and surviving grunts hid back in the bushes, Marez threw a grenade into where they had went. He was immediately rewarded with the scream of an elite and grunt, pleased with himself, he shot into the brush randomly. Again, the blood of an elite showered the surrounding area.
Just as Blaskawitz had stopped shooting his gun, a plasma grenade flew from the bushes and attached itself to the Sergeants arm. The victim kept shooting into the bushes until time ran out. Marez covered his ears, but could still hear the explosion of the grenade. What looked like thick red paint covered the clearing, as for the Warthog, it did a 360 flip and landed right beside Marez. Without hesitation he jumped in, revved the engine, and booted off.
* * * * * *
1629 hours October 12, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Waiting for Pickup
Chief sighed, seven or eight minutes had passed, and he was still on the tree stump.
"Chief! Do you copy, this is Corporal Marez, we were ambushed by the Covenant, I read you on radar and am coming for immediate pickup. ETA 30 seconds." said the Corporal over the radio.
"I'm here Corporal, hurry it up if you don't mind I'm bored." calmly responded Chief.
The next thirty seconds whizzed by, and soon enough he heard the Warthog. He waited until the vehicle was next to him. Blood, dirt, and cracks were instantly noticed by the Chief. The only one in the Warthog was Corporal Marez, who was staring down at Chief waiting for him to get in.
"Hurry up chief! We don't have all day to get you to New Tatley." impatiently said Marez, "They just contacted me saying they need you there quick."
"Then hurry the hell up, corporal." said the Spartan in his calm voice.
In minutes they emerged from the forest, the rolling hills around him blocked his view, and when he looked up, a few Covenant Cruisers passed through some orange clouds. When they got to the top of the hill, he saw a town not to far away, it was located at the bottom of hills right beside the water. Craters and gorges in the terrain led to an awfully bumpy ride to New Tatley, which in turn kept disappearing behind the hills. When they were about a quarter of a mile from the town, Marez gave him the boot.
"Sorry sir, but this is as far as I can take you, I'll contact you shortly and hopefully get a few more soldiers to New Tatley." said the Corporal before he sped off to probably another not-to-far encampment.
"Master Chief, we'll be on foot from here, and don't worry, we probably won't be attacked until we get to New Tatley." Cortana said trying to be reassuring.
The Spartan didn't respond, instead, he put away his weapons and ran as fast as he could, in a minute he had made it to the town. He looked up, the municipality had reinforced its town with stone walls. Considering what the Covenant did back at C25 the wall couldn't have lasted long. The Chief followed the wall until he camp to a collapsed part, he looked through the broken barrier. Fire, blood, bodies and battered houses probably covered a mile from where the Spartan was standing. They had obviously already fought here.
"Chief, major movement to your right, enter through this hole and you should be able to get to the fight." instructed the AI.
He did as he was told, and when he turned to his right it seemed as if all hell had broken loose. Bullets and plasma streaked back and forth, and from his view he was watching the Covenant side. Decimated buildings blocked the view of the defenders, the humans. The Covenant were slowly advancing towards the soldiers, and the Chief decided it wasn't time to let them win. He sprinted as fast as he could down the street, and the farther he got, he saw the marines fighting the best they could. He unholstered his battle rifle, it was time the Covenant were taught a lesson.
* * * * * *
1640 hours October 12, 2552 (Military Calendar)
War Tactics HQ Overlooking Battle Area
"How long do you think they'll last, sir?" asked the Corporal fearfully.
"If that damn Spartan shows up then we'll be saved, but so far he hasn't done so!" yelled Sergeant Lubz, afraid he would lose the battle.
"Sergeant, Corporal! Get your asses over here, its a miracle!" called a Sergeant who was watching the battle.
They walked over to the window where the marine was, Lubz got out his binoculars. Gunfire came from behind the Covenants army, killing many grunts, jackals and elites. The humans slowly started to counter the forces, and from behind a broken down building emerged a very tall soldier clad in green armor.
"Thats not a miracle, thats a Spartan." ecstatically said the Sergeant.
* * * * * *
1645 hours October 12, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Heading Towards War Tactics HQ
"Give 'em hell marines!" shouted a man in the rear of the army.
The Chief had given them enough help to win this battle, so he continued to run towards the building that Cortana recommended, War Tactics Headquarters. Before he entered, he took one glance back, humans were trampling upon the dead, shooting the survivors. Guess the Covenant didn't expect a Spartan?
He went into the building, immediately greeted by a man with blond hair and a scar across his face, with him was a shorter man, half his face covered by a helmet.
"Hello Master Chief! We have expected you, I am Sergeant Lubz and this is Corporal Walse." happily said the Sergeant, obviously glad he saved his soldier's asses.
"Hello, I do not plan to stay in this building long, I have a town to save, but do you have anything to tell me before I leave?" asked the Spartan impatiently.
"Well...er...yes, there are many more marines trapped around this town, if you don't mind, can you save them too? I can upload the map of New Tatley into your systems armor." asked the Sergeant.
"Hello Lubz, this is Cortana speaking, I have already uploaded the map into the armor, but is there anywhere specific you would like us to meet afterwards?" asked Cortana over the outer headspeakers.
"Here will be fine, Cortana, we have a radio and our frequency is 2.04. Oh, but you don't seem to have a radio with you?" said Lubz.
Master Chief searched around for the radio he had with him earlier.
"Don't worry Lubz, I have a radio installed into the helmet, we'll keep in contact." said Cortana, the Chief forgot he had those.
"Good Luck Spartan, bring us victory." said the Sergeant. ...to be continued...
Return to Earth (Chptr 5: Destined to Kill)
Date: 25 July 2003, 2:44 AM
Return to Earth (Chptr 5: Destined to Kill)
1646 hours October 12, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Parking Lot of War Tactics HQ
....."Good luck Spartan, bring us a victory." said the Sergeant.....
The Chief emerged out of the back of the building, he was now in the huge parking lot. He walked cautiously from the lot to the road, from his position he could be sniped by the Covenant easily. Up ahead he heard shouting, then gunfire, five or six marines appeared from behind a building, shooting and walking backwards. Following them were several elites and....an apelike soldier.
"What is that thing Cortana?" asked the Chief, watching the ape take a beating from weapons fire.
"From what I've been told its called a brute, I was informed back at Brazil by General Porth. Apparently they pack quite a punch, be careful around them chief." responded Cortana.
Chief took out his sniper since he was too far away to use his scope on the battle rifle. He aimed at the brute's head, he waited for the perfect shot between the eyes and released the trigger. His improved sight enabled him to see the bullet bury itself in the creatures skull, like an explosion occurred inside; the head exploded.
The elites turned to face the Chief, shooting their plasma rifles. He ducked and missed the oncoming shots, then took out two elites simultaneously. Auto fire from the marines wore down the surviving elite shields, and the Master Chief finished the job by taking them out. At least seven bloody carcasses of the Covenant lay on the street, each with a brutal wound that had killed it.
"Hey hey! Look, its a Spartan!" said the enlightened soldier to his fellow comrades, "Where have you been, my friend?"
"Don't ask." said the Spartan as he approached them, "Now, are you coming with me or not?"
"You don't have to ask twice, sir!" gruffly said a man from behind, he stepped forward, "Corporal Maccom, at your service, where are we headed to?"
"To rescue more of your soldiers asses, this way." responded the Chief, he walked down an alleyway followed by the marines.
The metal grates leading to the sewers had been ripped open, someone must've been desperate to get away from something. As they continued on, Cortana told the Chief to enter through a door to his right. When he and the marines got through, the first thing they noticed was a dead body face down on the floor. The man must have put up one hell of a fight too, because the spine had been ripped out and there was no head. Knowing that when someone put up a good fight against the Covenant and lost, there was always a harsher punishment. Someone had already been here.
A hallway led down to a room full of the military computers they had used back on Reach, they were huge. The room covered more space than the bridge of the Pillar of Autumn, so the Chief told the marines to search the computers for any useful hardware.
"Chief, I found something interesting, would you like to see?" Cortana asked.
Before he could answer he saw the document appear in front of his face.
Confidential Report Link Code: 2377-432
Z23 Ship Docking Bay is ready for use, found under town of New Tatley, accessible from sewage pipelines. Z23 is only for development of new vehicles, aircrafts, etc., classified location to the public. The underground base also contains heavy information about every other private Docking Bay, should it fall into the hands of the enemy, then pray. Z23 is for military use only, and the project of building it was when Covenant first attacked. Idea was issued from Sergeant Jacob Lubz, who also worked on it for months. To gain entry to Z23, follow yellow lights until you reach a red one, directly under the light is a handle, twist it sideways and wait. Once a pathway emerges, follow tunnel until you reach the bay, you should recognize it. -Corporal Walse, 102 Division
Keep this Report Safe
"Why didn't Lubz or Walse say anything about why their town was being attacked?" asked the confused Spartan as the document disappeared.
"I cannot answer that question, Chief. All I can say is we should check it out."
responded the AI.
Master Chief ordered the soldiers to follow him, they went out the back of the building and went back to the metal grate.
"Where are we going sir?" asked another soldier who had a British accent.
"Any one of you heard of Z23?" asked the Chief, the marines gave nervous glances toward eachother.
"Uhhh....sir, thats confidential, we can't tell---" responded the Corporal but was interrupted by the Chief.
"I don't care if it's confidential! Don't you see? This is why the Covenant are here!" aggravately said the Chief, realizing that the marines already knew that, "We're going down there, right now."
He climbed down the ladder leading into the sewers, the marines hesitated and decided to follow him. They did what the document had said, walked until they found a red light, under it was a silver handle. They twisted it and waited a minute until the passage had emerged. The next few minutes were spent walking down the hallway, and finally they got to the bay.
It looked just like the Docking Bay in the Pillar of Autumn, except vehicles the Chief had never seen before covered Z23. The bay looked as if it was abandoned, nobody was there. Thats what he thought before he heard the voices of grunts and elites, he issued the troops to spread out. The Spartan followed the voices, and eventually peeked into a control room, inside were a countless number of elites. Shit. He strayed away from the room, looking to find the grunts. How did the elites find Z23?
* * * * * *
5:01 PM Turenta 47, 2552
Control Room of Infidel Underground Structure
Potramee was pleased with himself, if it wasn't for him they would have never found this human structure. The gods would be pleased, and hopefully the prophets too. The other twenty elites accompanying him were arguing over what to do, they claimed to have seen the green devil back on the surface.
"Silence!" ordered Potramee in his language, "We have to spread out and see if we can gain any useful information on the humans world, go now!"
The crowd emptied the room, leaving Potramee to himself, he took out his plasma energized transponder:
"Tama Potramee to Thisya Control, we need an immediate insertion of troops into the city. We have found what we were looking for." said Potramee over the transponder, then set it upon a human chair.
They acknowledged the order, in an hour or so a tremendous army of his fellow people would overrun the city. But for now, he had other things to do. Minutes after he left the control room, he heard a gunshot from the savage weaponry. Potramee looked down to the bottom floor, it was another ruthless human about to learn his lesson. The Infidel wheeled on his back foot and fired at three of Potramee's men.
Potramee roared as bullets ravaged their armor and killed them. He ran down to the human who was now firing at him. As Potramee raised his weapon, he noticed the look of aghast before the mans face bent inwards. He bellowed in triumph, and yelled to his troops to search for any more of the humans. But before he could walk any further the devil clad in green appeared from behind the Infidel vehicles.
Potramee fired at him, but was supprised to see shields light up, while he stared in shock, the devil brought his weapon down on his face. His blood blocked his vision while the green villain shot once more, Potramee saw nothing more....
* * * * * *
1710 hours October 12, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Z23 Docking Bay, Lower Deck
The elite he had just finished off collapsed to the ground, then the Chief looked over at the marine on the ground. Blood was trickling from the indented face of the man, who was now unidentifiable. If he hadn't shot at the elite before this wouldn't of happened, and it ruined the chances of finding out what the elites were planning to do. More gunshots rang out through Z23, twenty elites versus five marines and a Spartan, it could be brutal.
Master Chief looked up, the ramp that surrounded the roof was illuminating light from the weapons fire. As he ran up and down ramps he finally made it to the top, there was the Corporal firing at anything that moved. Elites were piled up here and there, and when the Chief came up an elite had fallen off the ramp.
"S-Sir! I could really use some help, I probably just took out ten of these myself!" proudly said the Corporal.
"Follow me, Maccom." said the Chief in his seemingly calm voice.
But the Spartan didn't move, he just realized he had a clear vantage point of the whole Docking bay.
"Instead Corporal, you go down and get the other marines, I'll cover you from here." ordered the Master Chief who was preparing his sniper rifle.
In minutes, Corporal Maccom had made it to the ground floor. From behind an elite jumped out, but his head exploded shortly afterwards. Maccom snuck up behind an elite and shot his battle rifle at its head. The elite collapsed, not knowing what hit him. Even from the Chief's view he could see half the head gone. Before he knew it, the Corporal had found two marines hiding in an upgraded Pelican.
Gunfire rattled throughout Z23, the Chief followed the sound with his scope and soon found a marine trapped in a corner, firing randomly at elites. Apparently the Corporal heard this too, but before he got there the marine lay crumpled on the floor surrounded by two dead elites. The Chief yelled to the soldiers to meet him in the control room, he put away his gun and made his way to the Control room.
When he got there he found another marine crouching in the corner, the man jumped as he entered the room.
"S-Sir! Sorry, I thought you were a Covenant,also something on that chair has been saying stuff." nervously said the marine.
hief didn't say anything, instead he went over to the chair and told Cortana to translate:
tramee? Are you there? We have sent in more troops, if you don't come out in half an hour we will just bomb the town, then get what were after." fuzzily said the voice.
must've been the gold elite he killed before, if the Chief didn't do anything soon the city would be wiped off the map. ....to be continued
Return to Earth (Chptr 6: Boarding the Ship)
Date: 25 July 2003, 11:51 PM
Return to Earth (Chptr 6: Boarding the Ship)
1723 hours October 12, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Control Room of Z23 Docking Bay
.....Potramee must've been the gold elite he had killed earlier, and if the Chief didn't do anything soon the city would be wiped off the map....
The Spartan had waited thirteen minutes before the Corporal and other marines got to the Control Room. He explained what was going on and they decided they had to get out of Z23 and fast. The next few minutes were spent getting out of the passageway, then running down the sewers until they reached the ladder leading to the surface.
"The most reasonable place to go first is the War Tactics HQ, after all its right there in front of us." Cortana said as Chief looked at the building from the alleyway. It was half the shadow of another building and the other half was caught in the sunsets orange light.
So the Master Chief took the existing marines to the War Tactics building, but first they had to run past the dead Covenant bodies and the parking lot. When they got inside the Sergeant looked at them in puzzlement.
"Is this all you managed to rescue? I suspected that you'd do better since you are a Spartan." said the Sergeant grimly.
"Shut it Lubz, we have something much bigger to worry about. I know and the Covenant know about Z23, and their planning to bomb your town in order to get it." said the Chief angrily, "Now, would you want me to save your marines and then get bombed? Or deal with the problem? Frankly I'd like to deal with the problem."
Sergeant Lubz looked stunned, he was probably processing the thought of a Spartan knowing of Z23, the Covenant wanting it and were ready to bomb the town.
"S-S-So, why would....the Covenant want it that badly? A-And they're ready to......bomb our town?" Sergeant Lubz said, he walked to the window, and stared deeply into nowhere. He took another few seconds to get himself together. "Well then Chief...you already seem to know what your doing, what is your plan?"
"First I need a Pelican or stolen Banshee, I'll board the ship with a couple of marines, then slowly we'll destroy the ship from the inside." answered the Chief, "We'll go with the flow from there."
"Walse, hurry your ass up! We need those Banshee's we've been savin' ready to fly....And Chief? Good luck, don't let us down." said Lubz, who saluted and turned.
The crafty Spartan followed the Corporal after returning the salute, and in minutes, the large outline of the Covenant Orbiter could be seen from above. The marines and Master Chief boarded the prepared Banshees.
"Everyone follow me into the Orbiter Docking Bay, then do what I do when we get inside." ordered the Chief before getting into the familiar cockpit. "Keep in contact while were flying guys."
"Roger that, sir!" said the Brit from the Banshee.
"Good to go, Chief." calmly said the war-hardened marine.
"Ready for takeoff." tensely said the marine.
"Ok! Get ready to rock n' roll, everyones topside!" enthusiastically said Corporal Maccom.
The launch pad usually used for Pelicans opened slowly, and before the Chief knew it he was flying towards the massive Covenant ship. The drone of the Banshee's filled the Spartans head as they ascended through several clouds. They soon broke from the atmosphere, blackness enveloped them, the Chief leveled off and the others followed suit. Ahead of them was the Orbiter, it was a very odd shape for a ship, but it was the Covenant they were talking about.
"Everyone get in a straight line, we have to act like a Covenant here!" ordered the Chief.
The other Banshees followed the instruction, as the Orbiter's hull became more detailed. Soon enough the Docking Bay's shields flickered then disappeared, the Orbiters crew must have seen the incoming Banshees. The Chief hoped for the best, hopefully they could wipe out enough of the enemy in the Docking bay for a safe landing. The Chief and the marines had passed through the Docking Bay shields, and were now hovering above the landings.
"You can bring it down now." said the alien voice in a fuzzy translated tone.
"Not on your life." said the Chief over the Banshee's transceiver.
Something like an alarm sounded off, and the Chief started shooting any alien that came in view. The other Banshee's followed his lead, and soon the Docking Bay's landings were soaked in hostile blood. Covenant troops kept swarming into the Docking Bay then got shot, it was a pattern. That was until hunters stormed the Docking Bay, the fuel rod guns made the Banshee's extremely vulnerable. But without much of a struggle the hunters orange blood blotted out the purple from the elites and jackals.
There were at least three levels on this ship, top, middle and bottom. Each Banshee guarded a floor, and in minutes the ships sector must have been completely drained because no more Covenant emerged from the automated doors. The Master Chief set down on the bottom floor, the other marines followed his move.
"So what are we going to do now?" asked a marine as he almost tripped over the body of a grunt.
"We have to make it to the Control Room, Cortana as we speak is checking out the ships subroutines." replied the Chief.
The Spartan spun on his foot and listened to Cortana on how to get to the Control Room, apparentely it was located after Sector 20-B (Cortana translated the symbols to English) and right now they were on 20-C. They had to find stairs or an elevator to the middle level. Cortana did her best to lead them to a ramp going up, but only took them to 18-C. When they stepped through the next cybernetic doorway plasma fire streaked past their faces.
"Returning fire! Take out the big ones first!" yelled the Corporal as he fired his battle rifle.
Bullets ripped the grunts and elite shields apart, and then eventually the elites were ravaged with the human weaponry. The Chief and his crew finished everyone of them off with only slight burns to their faces. A jackal rounded the corner, skidded to a stop, then tried to turn around before his head was blown apart. They walked past the body only to be left alone for five minutes. They were now in 19-C but were fighting harder then ever.
They finished off another group, only to find the Corporal had a bite in his kneecap from a grunt. What they said they would do they were obviously going to do it. They wrapped it with bandages and continued on, they had made it to 20-C. It was just a long hallway with windows on the right. Chief looked out, the once beautiful blue planet had turned into a black one that was rippling with explosions. The hall ended and to the right was a door.
"Get ready men, in here is probably a whole army of elites, grunts, and jackals. Fire at will." said the Chief before the door opened.
Inside was not too big, blue elites patrolled around the plasma generated computers, blue grunts were working at the computers and patrolling around the doorways, and one was right in front of the Chief.
The grunt screamed as the powerful Spartan hit him across the room. The marines infiltrated the room and moved around shooting anyone or anything. Elites and grunts were focussed mostly on the Chief, and the marines had many easy targets to pick off. The hissing of a plasma grenade grew louder as the Chief ducked, it landed on a grunt he was about to pick off. Screams echoed through the Control Room before the grenade went off, elites and a few more grunts lay dead on the floor, the explosion had killed all of them.
Now the remaining Covenant soldiers turned to the marines, who were still wasting anything in their vision. The sly Spartan snuck up on most of the remaining elites, ending their life quickly with a jab to the neck. The grunts now tried to flee away, even though some did, most just piled up at the doorways, blood flowing down the bodies and soaked the metal floor. They know had the Control Room to themselves.
The first thing they wanted to do was stop the ship from dropping the bombs, but how..... .....to be continued
Return to Earth (Chptr 7: Final Finish)
Date: 27 July 2003, 3:20 AM
This is the final chapter in the series "Return to Earth", mostly because I am at my grandparents house who happen to have the internet, but at my house I do not. In a month or so I will get connected, so expect to still read my stories sooner or later. I thank anyone who has read my stories, and enjoy the final chapter. -CoLD BlooDed
Return to Earth (Chptr 7: Final Finish)
1738 hours October 12, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Control Room onboard Covenant Orbiter
......The first thing they wanted to do was stop the ship from dropping the bombs, but how...
It had been at least twenty minutes before they arrived on the ship, and the bombs would still drop because they had already been loaded. All the Covenant had to do was push a button in the bridge and wipe New Tatley off the map. Chief had to think fast, what could he do?
"I've got it." said the Spartan in calmness, "We blow up the ship, thus saving New Tatley."
"Sure, that's the most obvious thing to do, but how?" asked the Corporal in confusion. "They don't have a generator close by do they?"
"Of course they do Corporal, except its not really a generator but more of an electric field. There is a room close by that holds this "generator" and we should blow it up." said Cortana, she had thought out a plan. "But our escape route is blocked, the Covenant have retaken the Docking Bay. Right now I'm trying to get hold of the ODST Military Airfield. Hold on."
The transmissions between Cortana and the ODST Airfield echoed over the outer speakers.
"General Anderson? Hello its Cortana, we need an immediate assault on the Covenant Orbiter above New Tatley! Are you able to carry this out?" Cortana transmitted.
"Cortana? Who's we, and how many men do we need to send?" responded the General flatly.
"We as in a Spartan and four other marines, and send as many people as you can, this is a large ship." replied the AI.
"What are you planning to do inside?" asked the ODST General.
"You leave that to us, we'll first blow out the shields so you can attack, then be ready to pick us up, we'll leave you a surprise." answered Cortana.
"I love surprises Cortana, over and out." said Anderson before he turned off his radio.
"Thanks Cortana, but the first thing I plan to do is destroy this room." said the Chief before he started shooting at the equipment, the marines copied him.
In minutes, the room was just a large storage closet with broken machinery and dead bodies. Cortana told them the "Generator" was close by, actually they had passed it on their way to the Control Room. As they exited out of 20-C the screams of a grunt was heard, he had totally forgotten that some managed to get away.
* * * * * *
5:38 PM Turenta 47, 2552
Onboard Thunderstrike, Heading to Bridge
"Aiiieeeeeeeeeee!" managed to scream out the grunt named Payut as he rounded the corner, the Infidels were right behind him.
He was by himself, all of his fellow brothers had died in the Control Room, the devil had been in there. Payut shuddered of the thought of the menacing green giant, the cause of all these problems. The little grunt had run for minutes when he finally made it to {{]{|\-[| (Sector 10-A), he knew this ship from the back of his paw. Elites clad in their armor ran past Payut as the alarm blared throughout the ship. In front of him was the doorway to the bridge, in he went.
The prophets and elites looked at him as he ran towards the Space Commander Tatamee, clad in his orange armor. Payut grabbed at his masters leg, too short to tap him on the shoulder. The elite (as the humans labeled them) turned around and looked down at the grunt.
"What do you want, small one?" asked the Space Commander.
"I-I saw the devil in green! He's in the ship, somewhere in Sector B! Send troops there and quick!" screamed Payut, but Tatamee just smiled at him.
"Do not worry, we have sent many troops to that sector, plus we can drop the bombs anytime we like! Right now we are waiting for the plasma to settle, and in about fifteen minutes we'll be ready!" said the Space Commander, he turned around to face the viewport window.
Floating in front of the the viewport were many of the Infidel ships, ready to fire. Didn't they know the shield was indestructible? A rumble was felt at Payuts feet, it grew louder and then the grunt and everyone else on board fell to their feet as the Thunderstrike lurched. The destructive foes of theirs fired until the viewport window was covered with bullet holes, the window was on the verge of breaking.
"Send out the space fleet NOW! Find out what happened to the core, too! Damnit those humans are going to pay!" bellowed Tatamee, furious the humans got the first hit
* * * * * *
1743 hours October 12, 2552
ODST F-95 Space-Maneuverable Fighter
"They must've taken out the shields! All ships engage!" ordered General Anderson over the radio transmitter.
Lito Teroza acknowledged the order and fired along with the rest of the ships. The ODST fleet managed to puncture millions of holes into the Orbiters bridge window. The squadron ceased fire as many Banshee's emerged from the middle of the ship, the next order from Anderson was take care of the Banshee's. Teroza might've been the best flyer in the group, but that changed now that he was in space.
Plasma shots from the Banshee's rippled upon several of the Fighters in front of Lito, the F-95's waited until the plasma settled and then exploded. Teroza squinted his eyes and managed to see a Banshee right in front of him, he clicked the trigger on his gear shift. The bullets hit everywhere on the ship, and he was satisfied when the ship blew into two and the pilot floated out with no legs.
The Covenant Orbiter was slanted, and the middle of the ship had a large round black scar, probably the location of the generator which had exploded. Lito didn't even know the reason he was up here fighting, only that they were picking up some people that were in the ship.
"Everyone back in a line, we're going to pick off the Banshee's one by one." said the General over the radio.
Teroza flew beside another Fighter Jet, firing simultaneously at the same Banshee, in seconds it exploded into many pieces. They repeated the pattern over again until their were barely any left, then they were ordered to follow the blue Fighter Jet (General Anderson's) to the Docking Bay. They were going to save some soldiers.
* * * * * *
1760 hours October 12, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Inside Covenant Orbiter, Central Core Room
The Chief had destroyed the "generator", which was actually three blue towers emitting electricity. But the electricity had stopped, and there was no more power to the ship. Now they couldn't drop the bombs, and they also couldn't guess what the Spartan was planning to do to them. He took several timed explosives attached to his belt, set it for twenty minutes and stuck it on the several plasma filled tanks. Cortana said that when the bomb went off, it would create a chain reaction of explosions, ripping the entire ship in half.
Now they had to hurry to the Docking Bay, they seen the ODST fighters fighting through the windows. The marines were silent, the only sound the were making was their boots clatter against the metal floor. They had gone down a floor and were in the right sector when they heard weapons fire closeby.
"It has to be the ODST's! They're in the Docking bay, HURRY! We have to be clear of this thing when it explodes." said Cortana as the Chief went through the doorway to the Docking Bay.
Below the humans were fighting many of the Covenant, elites, grunts, jackals and hunters. Bodies lay all alone the floor and landings, the Docking Bay looked very similar to the Truth and Reconciliation except it was wider and there was no middle part connected to the landing. The latest Fighter Jets were docked on the bottom floor, and around them were the fighting marines. Grenades exploded here and there, and the Chief found himself picking off many of the hunters with his sniper rifle.
"Get down there and help them out! Tell them to get the Pelicans ready!" ordered the Spartan as he eyed the transports. The marines followed his command and eventually came down to the bottom floor.
Bang. Pow. The Master Chief only had two chances to shoot before the Covenant turned on him, he went to the doorway and ran down the ramp that eventually led to the bottom floor. He was greeted with plasma fire, but wasted any alien that came in front of him. One of the hunters he had shot was still lingering near the Docking Bay opening, and since the shields were down the Chief kicked it out and watched as it suffocated in space. The Spartan saw the Pelican hovering, and inside was the Corporal and marines shooting at the elites, who were falling quickly thanks to the ODST.
He ran to the Pelican, and kicked a jackal or two out of the way, getting showered in blood. The Chief hopped inside the Pelican, and as he wheeled around and shot the aircraft took off. In minutes the entire ODST fleet were flying away from the ship, beneath them was the Earth, glistening from the sunlight.
"7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...." counted down Cortana for the bomb.
A little tiny explosion in the center of the ship could be seen at first, then a larger explosion and another until it looked like a spear had gone through the middle of the ship. The heatwave passed through space, hitting the Chief and marines they winced and watched on. A wall of fire then ripped through the entire middle of the ship, tearing it into two pieces. The front of the ship spun around while the back (containing the explosive tanks) exploded again and again until there was nothing left.
In half an hour they touched down in New Tatley, warmly greeted by the Sergeant and Corporal. Even though the sun disappeared behind the hills the explosions from above filled the town with enough sunlight to think it was morning. The Spartan and marines were given several purple hearts, and a bravery badge. This the Chief had already received, but the marines were amazed at what they earned. The threat was over for now, but the Spartan would soon face this problem again. The Covenant were like wasps, when you killed one they would always come back to sting.
The End
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