(Many Years before the Fall of Reach.)
On the bridge of ONI PRO-49776 an ONI stealth ship, with a team of five SPARTAN-II supersoldiers. John, Kelly, Arthur, Solomon, Frederic and Cal being briefed by Captain Jiron.
"The Covenant has captured two high priority packages." Captain Jiron informs. "SPARTANs, it's your job to infiltrate enemy space and retrieve it. Mission window: ten minutes. The targets are equipped with a location beacons, but you'll have to get close to read it. It's a weak signal with a short radius. A local stellar-magnetic field is preventing the Covenant Fleet from making a slipspace jump. You'll be flying in with EVA Booster Frames. When you reach the Covenant Fleet, find the signal, find the ship, find a way in and grab that targets. The Covenant doesn't appear to realize the full value of what they've acquired, and that's the way we want to keep it. Complete the extraction before they figure out what they've got. Alright, SPARTANs, you have your orders. Good luck."
"Yes sir!" The Spartan team replies.
In the hangar bay, technicians prepare the EVA Booster Frames. As the SPARTANs don their helmets and walk out, the Master Chief stops.
"Captain?" Chief calls out.
"What is is, Master Chief?"
"What happens if we run out of time?"
"Then our only choice will be to annihilate the Covenant Fleet, the packages and your entire team. Is that clear enough?"
"I understand."
In the hanger bay Cal walks over to a bench, where a large gun rests.
A little bear charm rests on the handle of the gun. Cal holds it in her hand and rubs a thumb over it.
Cal then picks up the weapon with on hand and puts it on her back.
"How'd you get a big weapon like that, Captain?" Solomon asks.
Cal turns to Solomon. "My brother."
"Ash-142 right?" Solomon asks and Cal nods. "Interesting guy I must say, the youngest of everyone, but works the hardest. I respect him."
The scene cuts to the underside of the ship, where the SPARTANs prepare to launch.
Mission Commander speaks through coms. "SPARTAN team. The moment we break stealth, commence operation. Five, four, three, two, one. Disable cloak. Booster Frames...launch!"
The frames thrusters power up. The clamps holding the frames are disabled, and the SPARTAN team flies towards the Covenant Fleet. Point Defense Turrets activate on board the Covenant ships and fire on the team.
"Incoming!" Chief shouts. "Optimize mobility!"
The EVA frames open up, exposing the missile racks and machine guns. The pilots' seats move forward as the SPARTANs dodge the enemy fire.
Cal takes a few breaths as she spins a few times as plasma rounds fly past her.
The SPARTAN team launches a missile pod, which breaks up and bombards the ship with smaller missiles. One of the SPARTANs deploys a scanner.
"Scanning devices activated." Master Chief calls out.
The SPARTANs deploy flares to deal with the plasma. The scanner shows a positive result aboard the CCS-Class battlecruiser.
"I've got a reading." Solomon
"Are you sure?" Kelly asks.
"No question. Back me up, I'm going in."
"Be safe." Cal says.
'Solomon and Kelly fly towards the CCS-class showing the positive reading. The ship's hangar bays are open and deploying Seraph fighters.
"Their shields are down." Solomon points out. "The signal's coming from that cruiser."
"Hang on, Solomon!" Kelly shouts. "Wait for the Chief or the Captain!"
"No time! I'll take my chances."
"Alright, if we're gonna do this, lets make it fast!"
Solomon lands his booster frame inside the hangar bay, then leaps off in pursuit of the signal.
"A positive read from the first scan?" Chief questions. "Something's off, right Cal?"
Cal makes a noise of acknowledgement over the radio.
Kelly remains in the hangar, hosing down Covenant troops with her booster frame's machine guns. "Hurry, Solomon..."
Solomon runs through the ship's corridor in pursuit of the scan. While Kelly keeps the Covenant at bay. Solomon bursts through a bulkhead hatch. "Gotcha!"
The tracker hasn't been tracking the package, but has instead been tracking an identical decoy. The decoy is generated by an antimatter charge, which promptly begins a countdown.
"No..."
The explosion engulfs Solomon and races down the corridor. The Master Chief flies into the hangar, where Kelly is holding off the Covenant.
"Kelly, it's a trap!" Chief yells.
"No..."
he bomb's detonation, destroys the entire cruiser. On board the fleet's flagship, the Supreme Commander of the fleet, Luro 'Taralumee, Major Thel 'Lodamee and Ultra Tesa 'Tratam, without any scars. They watch as their decoy explodes. The Supreme Commander laughs, believing he has destroyed the three SPARTANs.
"They took the bait" 'Taralumee says. "Three have perished. The rest are only a matter of time."
"We must always show our superior strength." 'Lodamee states. "Anything less and they will exploit our weakness."
"Weakness? You have faced these lowly creatures in battle while your battalion perished. That tells me only one thing. You have not the heart to die with honor."
"Spartans don't go down easy." Tesa states. "A lesson you need to learn well, Commander."
Suddenly a Bridge Officer speaks up. "Commander! Two survivors detected!"
The two survivors are John-117 and Kelly-087. The two escape the explosion and link up with the remaining SPARTANs.
Cal does a backflip and blows up two Seraph behind her with machine guns.
"Solomon..." Kelly mutters in sadness.
"Kelly, look!" Chief calls out.
Kelly's readout shows multiple positive readings. "I'm getting multiple readings!"
"They're decoys! They know what we came for!"
"How do we find the real signal?" Frederic asks.
"They've already told us!" Chief claims. "What we want is at the heart of this fleet! The flagship!"
A formation of Seraph fighters moves to intercept the SPARTANs.
"Seraph formation!" Kelly shouts. "Two'o'clock!"
"Ignore them!" Chief orders. "Stay on target!"
The SPARTANs perform acrobatics around the Seraphs, destroying several of them. The flagship detects them coming.
"Five enemies approaching!" A Bridge Officer calls out.
"They know." 'Lodamee says.
"Will you run away once more?" 'Taralumee asks.
"They will be here. I will face them."
"You overestimate them. They cannot touch this ship."
"I pray that you are right."
The SPARTANs dodge the incoming Seraphs, flying into a tight space between the hulls of two CCS-Class battlecruisers.
"Tight formation, now! Concentrate gauss cannons on a single point." Chief orders.
"Roger!" The Spartan team replies.
"Shields at maximum charge!"
The Seraphs continue to pursue the EVA Booster Frames.
"They're still with us!" Kelly shouts.
The Seraphs open fire on the Spartans. Kelly's frame is hit.
"I'm hit!" Kelly shouts.
"I'll hold them back!" Arthur executes a maneuver to place himself behind the Seraphs. He uses the frame's machine guns to destroy one of the Covenant fighters. His frame, however, is sandwiched between the two cruisers. "Arrrgh! I'm losing it!"
Arthur's frame is crushed and explodes. The others fly clear of the two colossal cruisers.
"Arthur!" Frederic calls out. Frederic executes the same maneuver, destroying the remaining Seraphs. He flies up behind Kelly's damaged frame. "You gotta eject! I got your six!"
Kelly jumps off her frame, which explodes directly afterwards. She lands on Frederic's frame.
"You secure?" Frederic calls out.
"Give me the turret!" Kelly orders. A M41 LAAG folds out facing the rear of the frame and she mans it. "Now I got your six!"
"Let's go." Cal calls out.
The frames continue towards the flagship. The Seraphs continue to attack, with Kelly using the M41 to attack the fighters.
"Gauss cannon charge: eighty-five percent!" Chief informs.
Kelly destroys one of the Seraphs with the LAAG.
"They're advancing position!" Kelly informs.
"Ninety-one percent!" Chief states.
The EVA frames, still pursued, fly past one final cruiser. They see the flagship, an Assault Carrier, in plain sight.
"There it is!" Chief points out.
Despite taking several hits from the Seraphs, the EVA Frames lock on to a weak point in the ship's hull.
"Launch all missiles!" Chief shouts. "Gauss cannon...fire!"
All three frames launch their missiles pods and fires their Gauss cannons, punching a hole in the hull.
"This thing's toast!" Frederic shouts.
"Then let them have it!" Chief says.
The Chief, Frederic, Cal and Kelly jump from their frames which causes a massive explosion felt through the ship. The SPARTANs protect themselves inside a Bubble Shield. Covenant Troops organize themselves and prepare to fire.
"Looks like this is the right ship." Frederic points out.
"We got three minutes." Kelly informs.
Cal takes the large gun off her back and readies it.
"Let's sprint this!" Chief says. "Don't fall behind!"
"Copy that!" The three other Spartans respond.
The eight barrels of Cal's gun glow red and the bubble falls and Cal fires. All eight barrels fire at once, ripping through any Covenant right in front of the group.
The SPARTANs run straight for the hatch, gunning down Covenant as they do so. Brutes and Grunts fall to the Chief's assault fire, Cal minigun, and Kelly's shotgun, while Frederic collapses an entire deck with his Spartan Laser before blowing a hole in the hatch.
The four are unfazed by the explosion, while the Covenant fall. The Chief's assault rifle goes dry, switching to a pair of SMGs. On the bridge, the command crew sees them coming.
"Four humans passing Sector 25!" A Bridge Officer yells.
"Stop them!" 'Taralumme yells. "Seal all the hatches."
The locked-down hatches makes little difference to the SPARTANs, as Frederick prepares to blast another hole in the bulkhead with his Laser.
"Fred!" Chief yells.
"I got it!" Frederic shouts.
Frederick charges up his Laser, blasting another hole in the hatch. He guns down Covenant with his SMG in his left hand, while Kelly throws two grenades into a side-passage.
Cal swings her minigun up and brings an Elite into the air that gets stuck on the end of the barrels. The barrels then glow red as all eight barrels then fire, tearing the Elite into pieces.
The Chief quickly reloads his SMGs, while Kelly, switches out her shotgun for two plasma rifles thrown up by dead Covenant. The three continue through the Assault Carrier. Their progress is monitored on the bridge.
"The enemy is advancing!" A Bridge Officer yells.
"They're coordinated." Tesa mutters.
"No!" 'Taralumee yells. "Where is the Major?!"
Meanwhile, Thel 'Lodamee and his Elites appear from above and engage the SPARTANs with their Energy Swords.The Chief dodges 'Lodamee's swipes, while Frederic blocks another's sword with his Laser and kills one with his combat knife.
Cal ducks under a swing and punches an Elite in the face, sending it to the ground. Kelly sneaks around the five while Fred engages the remaining three in the Master Chief's and Cal's stead.
"Go!" Frederic yells. "I got this!"
The Chief and Cal disengages, taking after Kelly. Frederick locks down the hatch, then prepares to fight off the Elites.
"Alright." Frederic cracks his neck. "The Great Journey...ends here."
The three Spartans continue into the ship. Cal reloads her minigun.
"Fred!" Kelly calls out.
"Focus on the mission!" Chief orders. "We get the targets!"
Meanwhile, the bridge officer continues to track the three remaining SPARTANs.
"Commander, they're getting closer!" A Bridge Officer calls out.
"Getting closer, are they?" 'Taralumee questions. "Not for long."
The Supreme Commander hits a console, and the ship begins to break apart. The SPARTANs, now operating in near-zero grav, continue into the ship, jumping from module to module using the Covenant as launch pads.
"I don't like this." Cal mutters.
The three continue into the ship. The Supreme Commander realizes his plan is not working.
"Break off the entire block!" 'Taralumee yells.
"But Commander!" The Bridge officer tries to argue. "Our bothers are still in-"
"Silence! Let them die with honor."
"This is madness!" Tesa states. "You would sacrifice-"
"Ultra, silence!" 'Taralumee orders. "Or I'll have you join them."
Tesa growls at the Supreme Commander.
More of the carrier begins to fall away and Cal makes it to safety, but Kelly and the Chief haven't yet.
"Chief! Go get them!" The Chief and Kelly lock arms. Kelly uses the Chief's momentum to fling him to the next part of the corridor, forcing herself back towards the separated part of the hull.
"Kelly!" Chief calls out.
Cal grabs Chief and pulls him to safety just before the airlock seals. Locking Kelly out.
"Kelly..." The Master Chief dwells a moment on Kelly, then returns to the mission
"The signals are separated." Cal informs.
"Right, good luck."
Cal nods. "You too."
The two Spartans take different paths. Cal sneakily moves around the ship, having not encountered any resistance. She hums for a second and continues on.
Suddenly as she rounds a corner she can hear a female singing as the sounds of Elite pained screams go along with it.
"Les collines sont vivantes au son de la musique~" The Female sings.
Cal slowly approaches the source of the signing and suddenly a door opens and an Elite, covered in purple blood, crawls out of it.
"Oh! We're not done yet~" A female is heard.
The Elite yells in fear as it gets dragged back into the room and the door slams shut.
The female continues to sing as a saw is heard. "Avec des chansons qu'ils chantent depuis des milliers d'année ~ Les collines remplissent mon cœur du son de la musique~"
Cal goes up to the door and knocks.
"Coming~" The door opens up to reveal a female scientist covered in blood. "Oh finally, you're here." She smiles as purple blood falls off her chin.
This scary woman is Dr. Emily Grey. A young scientist that is the assistant to Dr. Halsey.
Cal looks into the room and sees several dead Elites, with limbs cut off and spread around the room. Purple blood covers the walls.
An alarm suddenly starts to ring out.
"We should go." Cal says to the very short scientist, compared to the very tall Spartan.
Dr. Grey is 5'7'' (173.73 cm) and Cal being 7'9'' (240.79 cm)
"That sounds nice!"
Suddenly they hear yelling and look in the direction they have to go, and see a large group of Covenant.
"Oh, look~" Dr. Grey calls out. "More test subjects!"
Cal readies her minigun. "Stay behind me."
"Okay." Dr grey moves behind Cal. "Oh wow, your really good looking back here!"
Cal, unfazed by the weirdness of Dr. Grey, spins up her gun and a blue particle shield appears at the front of it.
Cal begins to open fire onto the Covenant, and they all start to drop swiftly as bullets penetrate them all.
"Yeah, get that!" Dr. Grey cheers from behind Cal as they slowly move forward. "That's for my friends!"
After all the Covenant are down the two continue to move and come to a Escape Pod area with Master Chief and Dr. Halsey already at a pod.
"Catherine!" Dr. Grey yells.
The two look over.
"Oh, Emily, it's good to see you are fine." Dr. Halsey says.
"Good work." Chief says to Cal as they approach.
"Thanks."
Halsey goes over to a console and types in a command. The door to an escape pod activates. The pod launches just before the ship explodes. The two escape, but are pursued by Seraphs.
"Doctor, we've got company!" Chief yells.
"Can't you two do anything?!" Dr. Halsey yells.
Cal puts her weapon on her back as the Chief shrugs hopelessly. Dr. Grey claps as the craft shakes.
Halsey vents her frustration by slamming the console and abusing the craft. "Can't thick bucket go any faster?!"
Just as the Seraphs move in for the kill, one of them flies out of formation and destroys two of the Covenant fighters.
"What's happening?" Dr. Halsey asks.
"Cutting it a little close, aren't you?" Frederic asks over coms.
"Fred!" Chief calls out.
"Doctors, are you two alright?" Kelly asks.
"Yes, I'm fine." Halsey responds.
"I'm having a great time!" Dr. Grey responds.
"There Covenant rigs fly like rockets." Frederic says. "Took us a while to get rolling."
"Incoming!" Kelly shouts.
The Seraphs fire on the two captured craft. The Seraphs are about to destroy the two when the fighters are blasted out of space by blue plasma rounds.
"What?" Kelly questions
"Welcome back, Spartans" Captain Jiron says over coms.
ONI PRO-49776 drops its cloak, revealing itself as the source of the blue plasma rounds. The scene cuts to the Chief and Cal staring out a window into space, where he is joined by Halsey, Grey, Frederic and Kelly.
"You really are lucky." Halsey states. "You know that."
"Not lucky enough." Chief replies. "We lost two SPARTANs today. Solomon and Arthur. And that Elite we encountered. He was strong. I have to be stronger."
"We all have to be stronger. Something tells me this is just the beginning."
"Oh, do I get to me your brother?!" Dr. Grey asks Cal. "Catherine speaks of him a lot, with how much time she put into him, he sees really interesting."
"I think you'll like him." Cal says.
The ship re-engages its cloak and disappears into space.
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08-30-2023
2840 words