To Survive I
Posted By: OpeningAct<OA@Aol.com>
Date: 4 June 2004, 7:53 AM
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To Survive I
1st January 2553
Falling into planet's atmosphere
In HEV unit
On UNSC controlled planet Earth
The Chief glanced out of the HEV window and stared down at the surface below. It was beautiful, beautiful not being a word he used that often. Earth looked utterly breathtaking from up there but the Chief wasn't comfortable that he was falling closer towards it by the second. This was the Chief's first insertion using a HEV pod as it had been deemed the best way to go for a surprise assault. Cortana realising that the Chief's heart rate had spiked, said:
"Chief, don't worry. I've set the commands in the HEV so you don't have to worry about anything. Just relax". This actually did calm the Chief's nerves as Cortana saw his heart rate drop back down to normal. The Chief had also taken her advice and relaxed by closing his eyes and falling asleep, even though they had an ETA of six minutes. She guessed the Chief didn't get much sleep.
The upcoming mission hadn't been approved by the UNSC so it was only the Chief, no marines. The desert plateau below the Chief's feet was swarming with Covenant. Cortana believed this was suspicious activity, because there wasn't anybody for miles around of the plateau. But the UNSC thought it was too risky. Lot's of Covenant, and they didn't even know if there was anything down there. They could lose a lot of men for nothing. So, no reinforcements, no one to help the Chief except the aging A.I Cortana. She hoped the Chief could handle it.
The skin of the HEV broke away to reveal the alloy cage of the craft, where the passenger and his equipment were. In this case the Master Chief, his battle rifle and shotgun. The parachute shot up like an air-foil and acted like a brake. The remains of the HEV drifted towards the plateau and landed softly. It was a perfect simulation landing.
"Chief, wake up!" Cortana shouted. The Spartan returned to consciousness.
The Chief picked up his equipment as the hatch popped open revealing a snarling scarlet elite. A shotgun shell to the elite's head later and the Master Chief stepped out onto the desert plateau.
The darkness of the night covered the landing site, but it had raised a lot of dust. The desert plateau was made up of cliffs rocks and dust. It reminded the Chief of the plateau below the Truth and Reconciliation on halo. The small area he had landed on was closer to the cliff-edge than he would have liked and the ridge around the craft made the opening rather small. It was either perfect or it was a fluke. Knowing Cortana it was perfect.
"Look at the rock structure up there. I sense a lot of Covenant surrounding that area. If there's anything in this plateau I'd wager it's up there!". The structure was at least a km off the LZ. The slope the HEV had crashed on, led down to the cliff edge and onto a narrow path. The chief stumbled down this passage and stared down at the cliffs below. He kicked a stone off the edge and waited. It took the stone approximately eleven seconds to fall to the ground below. The fall was 250-ft. Even a Spartan like himself wouldn't survive that.The Master Chief came to an enclave swarming with Covenant.The Chief ducked down and steadied his Battle Rifle. Through the rifle's scope he looked at his surroundings. Four shades guarded the valley, plus other Covenant. But the shades were the immediate threat. Eight shots in quick succession later and two grunts fell from the shades. The rest of the valley opened fire on the Chief. An alarm resounded in his helmet as his shields evaporated. The Spartan dived behind a nearby boulder and awaited the recharge of his shields. The Chief, with full shields re-emerged and sprinted for the closest shade. He lifted himself into the still warm seat and grasped his gloved hands around the reigns of the plasma turret. Round after round of heavy plasma bursted out of the stand-alone shade as Covenant fell.The two remaining shades were knocked out of action as were a wave of three elites. A grunt, sensing his demise, desperately hurled a activated plasma grenade at the deadly shade. The Chief dived out of the stationary turret just in time as the shade was consumed in a veil of blue flame. They were gonna pay for that the Chief thought. He slinged the battle rifle and brought out his M60 shotgun.
The Chief finished off the small-time Covenant with heavy shells and was about to move on when Cortana yelled :
"Chief, Watch Out!". The Spartan ducked just in time as a clawed paw swung above his head. Brutes. The Chief stepped aside the second assault from the large ape and shot it in the back of the neck. The other two charged at the Spartan. The first was dazed by the butt of his shotgun and then knocked back into the other brute. The two beasts fell over. The first brute who had been knocked out was crushing the body of the second ape. The second was struggling to free himself to no avail. The Chief stuck his shotgun in the unconscious brutes mouth and fired a shot.The shell busted through both brute's skulls killing them both instantly.
"Cortana, are there any other surprises in this valley?" asked the Chief.
"Negative, area clear, Cortana announced. Now, onto the rock structure.
The Master Chief continued through the many cracks and pathways of the desert plateau. Finally the Spartan made it to the hill where the structure of rocks was placed. The Chief fought his way up the passages of rock and boulder pumping shells into the Covenant defence.
The Chief climbed to the top of the mound and spotted a entrance to the inside. An artificial entrance.
"Cortana, you were right!" exclaimed the Spartan.
"Am I ever wrong?" questioned the A.I. The Chief chose not to respond to this and began to walk into the structure. All that was inside was a small square empty room with metal-covered walls, but on the right was a door to what looked like a elevator. The chief was about to enter the lift when a small black and white holographic man appeared. It began to speak gibberish.
"What the hell?" said the Chief. The strange A.I paused for a moment, translating, then began to speak :
"Only Covenant are allowed in here" announced the A.I.
"What is this place?" questioned the Chief.
"Anyone who doesn't know, isn't allowed in!" bellowed the A.I.
Cortana spoke to the Chief inside his helmet so the strange A.I couldn't hear.
"He's a very old A.I. I can open this door if he doesn't realise I'm doing it. Try and make him talk. Don't worry it'll only take me a few seconds" Cortana exclaimed. The Spartan turned to the A.I and said :
"So, what are you called?" the Chief asked.
"If you must know, my name is Lincoln, artificial intelligence of this forerunner structure. Now, please go away!" Lincoln shouted. Suddenly the door behind the A.I whooshed open and revealed the elevator. The Chief strolled in and pressed the only button, meaning there was only one other floor, a basement.
Lincoln yelled "Hey come back here!" as the elevator descended.
The Master Chief walked out of the elevator as the doors screeched open. A long wide passage stood before him. On each side of the corridor were ten locked hatches, indicated by a small red light. But at the end of the passage was another hatch, this one with a green light. The Spartan held his M60 shotgun at his side and strolled slowly down the corridor. The clank of metal on metal echoed all around the structure but no one came out to greet him. The one open hatch stood before the Chief. The door opened. Inside was a small circular room with a control panel floating in the middle. Lincoln stood above the panel, arms crossed.
"I'll give you one chance to step out of here ali......." He was cut off as Cortana was placed in the controls.
"Amazing! So much information! That's why the Covenant haven't glassed Earth! It all makes sense now!" she exclaimed.
"What is this place?" the Chief asked.
"It's a control room for every halo in the universe. All thirteen of them. This control centre is the reason they haven't destroyed Earth!" Cortana said.
"They've been in here though! They have no use for Earth now!" bellowed the Chief.
"Yes but look at halo - 01. It's moving within range. They're going to destroy Earth with that Halo! I'm guessing this maybe something to do with their religion" Cortana said.
"Can you disable it's weapons system from here?" questioned the Chief.
"Yes, Cortana said rather surprised. Scanning, just press that button there". The Spartan was about to press the button when it turned red. Lincoln appeared next to Cortana and said cheekily :
"No, no, no". An alarm began to sound as all the hatch's lights turned green. Hundreds of sentinels flew out of the doors. The Master Chief picked Cortana out of the system and raised his M60 shotgun..........
First Fan-Fic, blah blah
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