HALO: 301 Chronicles

Part 1: Rescuing Seraph

The depths of space are often cold, lifeless, and soul-draining. The concept that man has seen everything there is to see is immediately shattered on leaving our biosphere and stepping out into that bleak void. It's here where you really put into perspective just how small our reach really is... Even when we've hit the other end of our galaxy and come face to face with monsters. We've lost too many colonies to the galactic coalition known as the Covenant, but we've managed to still scrape by victories in the most harsh places... the colony known as Reach however, wasn't one of them. After it was lost to Covenant forces, there was no incentive to return, the planet was lost, with everything on it. After the fall of the Covenant though, something happened.

We thought the planet had been glassed, but apparently they tried setting up an installation of their own on the planet, and something from underground was sending a distress signal... And it was my job to go look at it while Fireteam Osiris went to Sanghelios to help the Arbiter end a civil war.

"I'll try to land you as close as I can to the signal's location, but after that I'll be back in the air and you'll have to call when you want me to pick you back up, okay? Okay...? 301, you there?" my pilot asked me in his thick, eastern european accent as I blankly stared at the seats across from me in the Pelican craft.

"Y-yea, understood..." I said as I tried to sit up a bit properly, not wanting to look like a complete fool.

The pilot laughed and shook his head. "You're not like the other Spartans, are you? Not just some killing machine with no brain, you actually get lost when you go to think, eh?"

"Uhm... Thank you, sir?" I calmly replied, uncertain how to take his remark. Being one of the youngest members of the Spartan program, I was many times the subject of scrutiny, so when someone was more laid back and jovial in dealing with me I was never quite sure how to take it.

"We're approaching the LZ now... Doors are open, ready to drop." the pilot said without missing a beat as I felt gravity begin to yank at the craft, the rear hatch slowly opening to reveal a snow-covered, desolate cityscape. The area around the now abandoned city of New Alexandria wasn't supposed to be an alpine climate, but a previous attempt to glass the planet had caused a severe climate shift. I actually thanked my issuer this time for giving me white armor, I always thought about painting it a different color, but here it would be perfect. As soon as the Pelican came to a stop, I checked my weapons and went to jump... when the craft suddenly pitched left, and I slammed into the wall.

"Incoming fire! We're gonna have to make this quick if you want a ride off this rock!" he shouted over the sound of an explosive hitting a nearby building.

"I know it's not a part of the mission, but maybe you could clean these guys up if they're Covenant loyalists!"

I dusted myself off and laughed, "I'll be sure to get the ones that stand in my way at least."

"Be sure to call for evac when you need it, okay? Don't wanna go back home empty handed again." my pilot chuckled in an eerily calm voice over the comms.

"Roger. 301, moving out." I replied, putting on my helmet and making a running leap to a nearby rooftop, the pilot circling to see if I'd landed safely before making his exit, dodging another anti-air round fired from one of the buildings across from me. I was immediately met with plasma rifle rounds, and was forced to duck behind AC units on the rooftop.

I went to call in backup, but realized it'd be a little silly seeing as my only backup was my pilot, and he'd just dropped me here. I took a deep breath, and looked for a way down. There was a door on the rooftop that probably led to stairs down into the building, but the signal seemed to be coming from the building where all the plasma rounds were coming from.