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Halo: The Aftermath part 1
Posted By: Brian Siu<briansiu94@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: 4 July 2008, 8:59 am
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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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