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Halo 2: The Wraiths Chapter Three(Section one of three) Reunion
Posted By: Wiley Kimball<DarkTemplar343@aol.com>
Date: 10 June 2004, 12:37 AM
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Halo 2 Part 3 (Section one of three): Reunion
Dramatis Personae
The Wraiths
Com. Oni Yazuka, AKA the "Ghost's Shadow"
Sgt. Sergey Arkadeyevich, AKA "Sergey the Devil"
Sgt. Louis Loiselle, AKA "Louie"
Major Dieter Weber, AKA "Rifle One"
Sgt Homer Johnston, AKA "Rifle Two"
Corporal Tim Noonan
Master Chief Petty Officer Julio Vega, AKA "Oso"
Lieutenant Eddie Price, AKA "Rocket Man"
Flight Officer Dan Malloy, AKA, "Vulture"
Crew of the UNSC Bonhomme Richard
Admiral Kevin Mangles
Ships AI, Alexander
Crew of the CCS Lucifer
Ship Master Loki 'Lukamme
Isao 'Namoree
Other UNSC personnel
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117
A.I. Cortana.
~note~
~Disclaimer~ All characters from Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six are property of Jack Ryan Industries, © 1998. ~End Disclaimer~ So, as always; read and enjoy! Constructive criticism is appreciated.
And now, without further ado: Halo 2: The Wraiths Part One (of three): Reunion
~End note~
"So, should we get out of this ship?" Asked the Master Chief.
"Sure, why not." Replied Cortana. Without waiting any longer, Master Chief Picked up his helmet, gun, and A.I. construct and walked out into the Bonhomme Richard's hanger bay. It was alive with activity. He looked at the entrance, and saw it was closed, indicating that the ship was in Slipspace. He then looked around the hanger bay. Dagger fighters were being un-armed, and un-manned, meaning of course that the fight was over. Hold on,He thought, that was way too fast. Something's going on here. He put on his helmet, and inserted Cortana into the appropriate shot.
"Cortana, what's going on here?"
"I don't know, Chief. I'm sure the Admiral will explain everything. We should get to the bridge.'
'Affirmative...but where is the bridge. I've never seen a ship like this. Could you download a schematic?"
"I would, If I could find one." was Cortana's answer after a few seconds. "This ship's got some of the best anti-hacking equipment I've ever seen."
"I guess we'll have to ask someone then." He took one last look around the hanger bay, and then saw something that caught his eye: a jet-black Pelican dropship. He then took a look at the men exiting it: Dressed in jet-black, like the Pelican, and well armed. He knew instantly that they were Spec-ops, though he had never seen anyone quite like them. He was deciding whether he should ask them the direction to the bridge when a Marine interrupted his thoughts.
"Master Chief, sir!"He said with an obviously British accent. "You're required on the bridge ASAP. I'll show you the way."
"Lead on" He replied. Master Chief followed the Marine through what seemed like miles of corridors before he found himself in front of a doorway that had "bridge" above it.
"The Admiral's waiting for you, sir." He said. The Chief gave him a polite nod, and entered the bridge.
The bridge was fairly large, with a main level, and a smaller, raised platform in the center. The lower level was made up of crew posts, while the upper level contained the command chair, or the 'Hot Seat" as it was often referred to. Sitting in the command chair, doing something with the command console, was Admiral Kevin Mangles.
"Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 reporting as ordered, Sir!" He announced. With than statement, many of the bridge crew turned to look as the Spartan, who was a very strange and intimidating sight, and many of the crew thought he was as alien as many of the Covenant.
Admiral Mangles stood and faced the Chief. "At ease, soldier." He said, and returned the Chief's salute. "Welcome back from the dead, Chief, it's good to see you. FLEETCOMs been turning up every stone in the galaxy looking for you and the Pillar of Autumn. We were sent on her last Slipspace vector from REACH..." The Chief cut him off before he could finish;
"Admiral, sir, what happened to REACH, my Spartans were down there, last thing I saw of REACH was a burning world..." The Admiral cut him off in return.
"Chief, this may come as a blow, but REACH completely is gone. The Covenant burned it to ashes. There were very few survivors, one of which you might be familiar with. Alexander!" He snapped.
Alexander turned around and looked up at him, "Sir?"
"Send the good Doctor in, if you would."
"Aye, sir."
A pair of doors on the side of the bridge opened, and out stepped a gray haired woman in a white lab coat. She had a cast on one arm, and a scar on her face, which looked recently healed, but the cold blue eyes were the same.
"Dr. Halsey, you made it off of REACH." John said. He felt something surge in his stomach, and suddenly felt less burdened.
"Indeed I did, John. And I must say, it is a pleasure to see you alive." Dr. Halsey gave a rare smile.
"Well, now that we're all reunited, back to business." Mangles said. "Chief, I want to know everything that happened since you left REACH almost three weeks ago. Where is the Pillar of Autumn, and what was that wreckage we saw when we picked you up?" Mangles asked.
"It's a long story sir." Was the Chiefs reply.
"Alexander, ETA to Sol?"
"Fourteen hours, sir."
"It seems we have plenty of time, then. Now, if you would, tell your tale."
And the Master Chief proceeded to tell the Admiral what had happened. He started with the space battle above Halo, and how they had crash-landed on the ring. He told them the events on the Truth and Reconciliation, of the slaughter at the Silent Cartographer, and of how he fought to Halo's Control Room. He then reached the Flood and the horrors in the swamp facility, and of the ancient A.I., 343 Guilty Spark. He told of his seemingly endless fight to get to the Index, and of the two betrayals, how he had almost wiped out the galaxy, and of his efforts against Guilty Spark. When he told of the fate of Capt. Keyes, Admiral Mangles seemed to whisper a small prayer. He finally finished his story with how he had destroyed Halo, the Flood, and escaped the nuclear hellfire that ensued. When he was finished, he stood in silence as the Admiral sat and thought for several minutes, and finally he stood up and looked the Chief in the eye, which was extremely hard to do due to both his size, and the reflective visor on his helmet.
"Chief, if that came from anyone other than you, I woulda said 'Bullshit', but I trust you. It's sad news to learn of Captain Keyes' and the Pillar's fate.
However, I have some good news to deliver: That Covenant cruiser that damn near vaporized you? It's now on our side." He paused and let that sink in
"He defected? Why?" The Chief wondered aloud.
"I'm not sure, but judging from how you say the Covenant worshipped this 'Halo', I would bet that the Covenant leadership will be putting heads on spikes when they find out. Looks like our Elite friend didn't want to die just yet."
"Seems the Covenant take after ONI in at least one way," Cortana remarked. She had been oddly silent up until now.
"Unfortunately, Chief, with all good news comes bad news. I'll keep it short and sweet; The Covenant has found Earth. We don't know how, but they found it. According to our new comrades, a large fleet will assemble in the Delta Serpentis system, and then make the jump to Earth. We estimate this will take about three days, giving us time to warn HighCom, and hopefully prepare a defense. I can only hope we do not fail." With that statement, Admiral Mangles sat in the command chair, pulled a bottle of Scotch and several tumblers from under the command console. "I suppose I can't interest either of you in sharing a drink with me?" He said. When he looked at Dr. Halsey's expression, he could tell that the last thing she wanted was a drink. "I suppose not," he said, a hint of disappointment in his voice.
"I'll take one though," said a voice behind John. He turned around, and looked at who had said that.
He wasn't the tallest man, standing at 5'7", but he had an aura of power about him. His black hair was cut short, with some gray at the temples. He wore a black body suit, with a vest over it. From his right hip, holstered almost cowboy-style, was a large pistol, and he had a single fragmentation grenade hanging from his belt. He had a vision enhancement headset resting on his forehead, and bore a large, hearty smile offset by his cold, green eyes. Eight other men were standing behind him.
"Yazuka, you old drunk!" Mangles said. "Master Chief, I'd like to introduce to you Commander Oni Yazuka, stealth expert and former head of the commando school on REACH, currently leader of the 112th squad of ONI's Section One special forces."
The Commander offered his hand to the Chief, instead of the customary salute. The Chief shook his hand and was surprised by the small man's relatively strong grip. "It's a pleasure to meet you Master Chief." He said.
"Likewise, Commander."
"First off, Chief, No titles. They make my skin crawl. Just call me Shadow, everybody else does."
"Yes, Si- Shadow." He replied, feeling rather awkward.
"Second, let me introduce you to my partners in crime, First up is my XO, Sgt. Sergey Arkadeyevich, close combat extraordinaire. He likes to get up-close and personal. Even I wont piss him off." With that, the tall Russian man cracked a slight grin. He stood 6' even, and weighed close to 200 pounds. He had close-cut dark hair, and cold brown eyes. He wore his pistol in the same fashion and Yazuka, but also had a large sheathed combat knife on the back of his belt.
"Second is Sgt. Louis Loiselle. He functions as our forward scout, and sees everything." The Sergeant Shook the Chief's hand. He stood 5'9", and was lightly built. He had warm blue eyes, and his blonde hair, which was way beyond regulation length, was tied back in a ponytail. He had a bandolier bristling with shotgun shells, and had a modified M90 shotgun, with a collapsible stock, slung over his back.
"Next in line," he continued, "Is Lieutenant Eddie Price, who is our demolitions whiz, and generally enjoys blowing shit up." He was relatively tall, at 6'3", and was well built, which came from hauling satchel charges, grenades, and Jackhammer launchers, often at the same time. He had dark brown eyes, a hard demeanor, and even sported a moustache.
"We also have our heavy support man, Master Chief Petty Officer Julio Vega, also known as "Oso". I believe the name speaks for itself," the Commander remarked. It was true; Vega was almost seven feet tall, and built like a truck. He looked almost like a Spartan, and could probably pass for one if he needed to. The Latino man had a warm aura, evident by his smile. His black eyes, however, revealed something deeper. Buried in the bulk of his physical body was actually a kind soul, who only fought because he knew it was absolutely necessary to the survival of his friends, his religion, and his species.
"We also have our local techno-weenie, Timothy Noonan." The leader said with a laugh.
"I resent that, I'm a techno-nerd. Weenies don't get married," and he raised a fist, showing his wedding band.
"Alright, what ever you say."
For a tech, he was surprisingly well built, most likely from training. He was still the shortest member, at 5'5", and weighed in at only 130lbs. He was fast, though, and could almost outrun Loiselle. A submachine gun rested in his hip holster, and he had a large data-pad in a pouch on his opposite hip.
"And these are our two snipers, Dieter Weber and Homer Johnson. They're both better shots then anybody else on the team, and continually like to show off to drive the point home. They're also competing with each other constantly, keeping track of shots fired, and number of kills each mission, and comparing their data after the mission. Whoever loses has to buy the other's drinks until they win again. I think currently, Homer, you're on a losing streak?"
The American descendent hung his head, and shot Dieter a glowering look "Unfortunately, yes. I was hoping we could try again on board that Covenant ship, but it looks like I'll be broke for another day at least." The American sniper was built like most snipers the Chief had met: moderately tall, and fairly skinny. Johnson clocked in at 6'1", and weighed 146lbs. His hair was buzz-cut, and he wore a black bandanna over his head. Weber, however, was the opposite. Tall and heavy, he stood at 6'4", and weighed 198lbs. His blonde hair was tied back like Loiselle's, but the Aryan man's hair wasn't as long. He had a piercing blue stare, looking remarkably like a bird of prey when his gaze was focused on a target. He looked like he might even be able to out-stare Linda, the Spartans best sniper. When the Chief thought this, he immediately felt a pang of sorrow, thinking about the last time he had seen her, charred and battered, nearly three weeks ago. He wondered if she had somehow escaped Halo.
"Last, but not least, is our pilot, Flight Officer Dan Malloy, with the call-sign of 'Vulture'. I must say, he's one hell of a pilot. Don't know how many times he's saved our collective sorry asses." Shadow remarked.
The Flight Officer gave a hearty laugh. "Yup, that sounds like me. Don't know how often I have to save you ground-pounders from a horrible death. It begins to get old very quickly, kind of like your wife, Noonan..." He backed away as Noonan tried to slug him.
"Remember who has the access codes to your Pelican, Malloy." Noonan said threateningly.
"Alright, don't get your panties in a bunch!"
The Flight Officer was built like Arkadeyevich, although not as heavy. He had warm brown eyes, and his hair was just over regulation, and he would tuck it back behind his ears when he wore his helmet. He had on a special-issue black flight suit, with the same vest and "rigging" as the rest of the team's uniforms, except instead of one of the large pistols on his hip, he had two M6D's in shoulder holsters. His helmet was tucked under his left arm, and the pilot had an orange in his other hand, tossing it up and down like a grenade.
"Well, as you can see, this is my squad. We like to call ourselves the Wraiths." Yazuka said.
"Well then, Master Chief," Admiral Mangles finally said, "now we need to figure out what to do with you until we get to Sol, and what to do once we get there. I originally had orders from one Colonel Ackerson that you were to report to the brig and be detained if you were found pending your return. Obviously, this is a bunch of horseshit, and since I neither like the Colonel, nor give a damn about his orders, and the fact that I outrank him considerably, I am overriding those orders. You are free to do as you please, and I believe that the Wraiths have a few empty bunks in their quarters they would share with you. I'm ordering you to get at least six hours of sleep. No interruptions whatsoever. The mess hall is on level eight, and you'll find the shooting range on level seven. From your story, and your record, I doubt you'll need much practice, although the Wraiths have finished field-testing some new weapons, and you might want to familiarize yourself with them. Other than that, you are free to do what you please until we make it to Sol. Dismissed."
"Aye, Sir." The Chief said, and turned on his heel to face the 112th, whom he thought were the oddest Special Forces unit he had ever seen. Unlike most ONI units, these troopers were laid-back, but looked deadly nonetheless.
"Master Chief, if you're looking for digs, you can follow us. Were heading back right now." And with that, the Master Chief followed them through even more corridors, finally reaching a spacious berthing. He slowly began the work of removing his MJOLNIR armor, set it beside his bed, and slipped Cortana's cube into a slot next to his bed. She popped up seconds later, and immediately sat cross-legged, poring over mountains of data, both from Halo and the Bonhomme Richard. The Chief placed the shotgun, which was slung over his shoulder, against the wall, unloaded his M6D pistol, and placed it in a small table next to his bed. Then he collapsed in his bed, and fell asleep within two minutes.
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