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Author's Note: This fic is set directly after the destruction of Halo. Well, here goes. The Longsword interceptor blasted away from the burning, shattered remnants of Halo, which Master Chief had just escaped from moments before. Inside the fighter, the Spartan II thought about all the good soldiers he had lost on the Forerunner installation. However, he knew he had to do it, because of the Flood. There was just a small bit of worry in the corner of his mind, because the Monitor had referred to the Halo he had just destroyed as "installation 4," that could mean there were more Halos still intact within or near human space that the Covenant could use. He shoved these thoughts into the back of his mind and left Cortana to pilot the Longsword while he prepared the cryo tube for himself. "Cortana, set our course for the nearest human colony. Make sure nothing is following us. Alert me if you detect any Covenant presence near our exit point. Don't try engaging them, either," he ordered the AI. Her image flickered on over the holoprojector in the cockpit. "Don't worry, I can take care of this ship by myself," she said dryly as the Chief entered the cryo tube. 2 weeks later- Cortana hurriedly wakened MC from cryosleep as soon as she exited Slipstream space and discovered a strange vessel nearby. The AI had confirmed the shape to be exactly like that of a Covenant cruiser. When the tube hatch hissed open, MC sat up amid the fog that seeped out of the cryo tube. He choked on the cryo inhalant as it flowed out of his mouth. "Please swallow, sir. That inhalant is nutritious." Cortana's voice said. How many times have I heard that? he thought as he tried to follow the AI's instructions. He walked over to the pilot's seat and drew in a breath shakily. Cortana's image appeared on the holoprojector as the Chief asked his question. "What's going on? Is it the Covenant?" Cortana looked at him with an obvious expression on her face. "Why else would I wake you up?" she answered. "It's a Covenant cruiser. I wonder why it hasn't detected us by now. Wait a moment-" she paused, calculations running across her body. "Interesting. It appears to be powered down. Maybe we should go in for a closer look," she suggested. "Hold on. It might be a trick!" exclaimed the MC suddenly. After about a few minutes of arguing, he finally gave in and went along with her plan, although first doing a check of the vessel. "Cortana, scan that ship for lifeforms," he ordered. "Scanning-only 30 lifeforms detected," she reported. "They appear to be of the Elite class. If you want, I can fly us in one of those shuttle bays. One of them is open," the AI explained. "Do it." he said. The Longsword accelerated towards the bay. Upon landing, the MC grabbed his MA5B assault rifle and M6D pistol before exiting. Fortunately, the Longsword held several crates of 7.62mm rounds for the assault rifle and 12.7mm rounds for the pistol, so if he got into a fight with one of those Elites, he would not be limited in ammunition. He took 3 packs of each and grabbed the chip containing Cortana before heading out. He stepped into a large shuttle bay identical to the Truth and Reconciliation's, a cruiser that had held Captain Keyes prisoner on Halo. Just thinking of the Captain brought back memories of the Flood. He remembered what Chief Mendez, his trainer back on Reach, had told him: never get distracted in a dangerous area. Kill first. Everything else comes second. Feeling foolish, he ducked down behind a crate of some sort and loaded his assault rifle. "Activate motion trackers," the MC said. Activating. Cortana's voice said inside his helmet. The Chief watched the motion tracker display pop up on his HUD. It showed that everything was clear. He knew better than to trust it completely, since the Elites could be resting. Normally they would be patrolling, but since they were unaware of the human on board, they would think all was safe. There was probably only a few Elites piloting the vessel in the control room. "Cortana, scan for nearby lifeforms." Scanning-all clear. Cortana reported. Satisfied, he headed toward one of the bay doors, then stopped. "Cortana, you know the schematics of a Covenant cruiser, right?" MC asked the AI. Of course, Master Chief. We've been on one before. Why? answered the AI. "I need a nav point marking the control room's position." Acknowledged, Chief. Just give me a moment to access the schematics. Cortana said. In a few seconds, an orange-red dot appeared on his HUD. It showed the distance, 503.2m. "503.2 meters-that's not too far." the Chief said, reading the display. But what about those Elites Cortana detected before? he thought. "Cortana, one last thing-set another nav point, if you can, marking some sort of resting area for Elites." Marking now, Master Chief. What would you do without me? the AI reported. He watched another dot pop up. It read: 371.4m. He decided to go there first, since it was closer. Making sure his weapons were fully loaded, he went off silently. In the familiar purple halls of a Covenant starship, he made his way towards the nav point. All the doors were unlocked, so he progressed fairly quickly through the long hallways. Suddenly, he entered a cargo bay of some sort, where a black-armored Spec Ops Elite was standing in front of a control panel. Sneaking up behind it, he whacked the alien in the back with the butt of his assault rifle, killing it instantly. After checking to make sure the room contained no more enemies, he shouldered his assault rifle and headed towards the nav point once more. Checking his HUD, he saw that it was only 43.2m away. He walked through several more corridors before reaching his goal. The door to the Elite quarters slid open as the Chief slipped in noiselessly. There were about 20 inside, all slumbering and unaware of him. He smacked the nearest two Elites in the back, killing them all. Stopping to look around, he noticed that most of the Elites were Spec Ops, although there were two Commanders. I wonder why these are all high-ranking Elites? he though as he proceeded to the next alien. This is probably a team sent on some special mission. Cortana read his thoughts and provided a logical answer to the question. As Master Chief prepared to whack another Elite, in the dim lights of the room he did not notice he was hitting its face, not its back! He only realized his mistake when he heard the Elite howl and clutch its head, with a large dent in its combat armor. Although its shields were not on, the Spec Ops armor could take at least one hit, even from the Master Chief. Its shields flickered on as it grabbed its plasma rifle and began to shoot at the Chief. This awakened the rest of the Elites. Oh, shit- he thought as he shot at the Elite. He was surrounded by a group of 18 snarling, pissed off aliens. Four moved to cover the door, and the Commander grabbed a plasma sword. In a cramped room like that, he could not use a grenade and he only had an assault rifle, plasma rifle and pistol. Not nearly enough firepower to take down 16 Spec Ops and two Commanders with plasma swords! Hopelessly outgunned, he crouched for cover behind a crate when he saw one of the Commander Elites leap at him, plasma sword at the ready! |
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