[Fan Fiction] Spartan Gray Team: Deep Space (Chapter 5 is ready!!)

Community Halo Universe
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Hey, KSI Jensen 117 here, this is my original fan fic which i started writing on bungie and am writing on here also. Please comment, this should be one hell of a story!
Prologue:

Aboard cruiser the Athens
0125 hours, December 25th, 2550.

Lord Hood sat at his desk reviewing the report on the all to familiar, one-sided skirmish between a covenant super carrier, Arm of the Prophets, and two UNSC frigates, Integrity and Desire’s Flame. The Arm of the Prophets had immediately engaged the two frigates, who were accompanied by a stealthed prowler, as they transitioned from slipspace to normal space. The battle (if it even could be called that) lasted three short minutes as the Covenant super carrier obliterated the Integrity and disabled Desire’s Flame.

Normally a report like this wouldn’t have even been brought to Hood’s attention, but one extremely important detail changed that. When the two frigates transitioned to normal space Desire’s Flamewas not able to enact the Cole Protocol, thus the Covenant super carrier was able to board the frigate and gain access to all of it’s navigation data. The nav data would allow the Covenant to travel to each of the UNSC’s colony worlds, including Reach, and humanity’s homeworld: Earth.

However, there was a fortunate side to the battle, a small fortune, albeit one that gave the UNSC a slim amount of hope. The prowler that had accompanied the frigates was able to get close enough that it was able to launch a tiny homing device that attached itself to the Covenant super carrier, allowing the prowler to track the super carrier wherever it went.
Lord Hood finished the report; there was only one thing that the UNSC could do: they would send their fastest ship after the super carrier, and, they would send their greatest soldiers with it,Spartans.

Hood stood and walked away from his desk. He was very agitated, and in all reality, who wouldn’t be? The Covenant had data that would allow them to glass every damn planet the UNSC had left. He didn’t have very much of a choice in his position, he had to send a ship after the Covenant super carrier, or humanity was doomed.

He tapped a button on his personal computer. His personal “smart” AI, Leonidas popped up onto the AI pad that was placed next to the computer. His figure was that of a Spartan, the Greek heroes from nearly three millennia ago.

“Ah, Lord Hood, how do you fare today?” the AI asked cheerfully.

“Unfortunately, not well Leonidas,” Hood responded.“I need your assistance now, time is of the essence.”

“What can i do for you Lord Hood?” Leonidas said suddenly serious.

“Find me the fastest combat-ready ship in system,” Hood told him. “and find any Spartans in system.”

“Yes Lord Hood.” the AI paused for three seconds. “Destroyer class battleship located, ironically named the Constantinople. Also there are three Spartans in system, designated Spartan Gray Team. They just got back from a mission in the Chi Ceti system.”

“Very well,” Hood paused thinking. Spartan Gray Team was one of the best deep space infiltration team in the entire Spartan corp. If anybody could get the job done, they could. “Tell Constaninople’scaptain to get the ship ready for slipspace travel and report to Cairo Station. Also have Spartan Gray team’s senior officer to report to me.”

“Yes sir,” Leonidas said. Several seconds later he told Hood,“Spartan 006 is on his way andConstantinople is heading towards Cairo Station now.”

“Thank you Leonidas,” Hood said as he powered down his computer,“that will be all.”

“Yes Lord Hood.”

Lord Hood thought to himself. Spartan 006, Jai, one of the best Spartans he knew. His team would get the job done, he could stop that super carrier.

2

Chapter 1: to save a galaxy

Aboard tramp freighter Petya
0125 hours; December 25th, 2550

Jai laid in his large bed that had been welded into Spartan Gray team’s freighter, Petya, that they had been given so many years ago by Admiral Cole. He couldn’t sleep, hadn’t been able to sleep for the last several days. Rather than sleep he thought over the details of their last mission.

In their last deep space mission Spartan Gray team had been observing the Covenant planet simply designated Beta 402, looking for the coming and goings of any member of the Covenant hierarchy. They hadn’t seen any sort of hierarch. Instead, after one year of dully observing the Covenant file in and out of the system, Spartan Gray team received a slipspace com probe ordering them to cause as much havoc in Beta 402 as they could, then haul -Yoink- back to earth (after enacting the Cole Protocol of course).

The Spartans had been… well… relieved. Good as they were at infiltration and observation, they were better in combat. None of them doubted that much. So, Gray Team brought out, as the saying goes, “the big guns.” They cut down the eight HAVOC nuclear warheads and unleashed them on the most populated centers in Beta 402, and decimated the two Covenant ships that sat in orbit. They then followed the Cole Protocol and completed several random slipspace jumps until they got back to Reach for refueling, and then back to Earth.

Gray Team had been home from that mission ever since then, which was a good five days. AGREAT five days. Rightly so, because Jai, Adriana, and Mike all needed some R&R, and bad. They’d been exhausted, even with their Spartan training. Apparently, the admiralty had seen that and decided it would be profitable for Gray team to get some rest and relaxation. It was good with Jai, heknew they deserved it.

A beep came in over the comm. Who would contact us at this time of night? Jai thought irritated.Whoever it was, it had to be very important.

Jai picked up the comm. “Spartan 006 reporting,” he spoke into the comm.

Lucky for Jai, Adriana and Mike didn’t have the same quarters as him, else they would have awakened as irritated as he was at that moment. But that was Jai’s personality; he knew it, and he wouldn’t change. That’s just who he was.

“Spartan 006, this is Leonidas, personal AI to Lord Hood. He would like you to report him on the Athens,” Leonidas informed him.

Jai almost laughed at the irony of it: Leonidas on the Athens? But then his thought became more serious. “Wait. Did you say Lord Hood?” Jai queried incredulously.

“Affirmative,” Leonidas confirmed.

Quickly Jai regained his wits. “I’m on my way,” he affirmed.

“Very good sir,” Leonidas said as he shut off the comm.

Jai hurriedly made his way out of his quarters onto the bridge of the tiny frigate. His gray colored MJOLNIR mark IV armor sat on a stand with both Adriana and Mike’s armor that were at a machine that fitted the spartans’ armor on them. Jai strode over to the machine, pressed a few buttons, and began the armor fitting process. Two minutes later Jai was encrusted in his second skin, save his helmet, and was ready to go. He grabbed his helmet, walked over to the cockpit, and set a course to dock with the Athens.

Stars passed by quickly as Petya closed in on the Athens. The small freighter came with in a kilometer of the cruiser and Jai lessened the thrust. Mike and Andriana both chose that time to make their ways onto the bridge.

“What’s the deal Jai?” Adriana asked, with her hands on her hips.

“Just got orders from Lord Hood’s AI-” Jai began.

“Leonidas,” Mike interrupted. His mind was an enigma to Jai; he had no idea how Mike’s mind worked-he could remember so much for so long.

“Yeah,” Jai confirmed. “Anyways, I’ve received orders to dock with the Athens and speak with Lord Hood himself.”

Mike looked into space thoughtfully. “Gotta be something of the utmost importance,” he speculated.

“Seems like it,” Adriana agreed.

“Let me take the controls,” Mike said. He was the pilot of the three. When Mike was only six years old he had hijacked a pelican from watching the pilot who brought the spartans in for to the assembly hall when they met Halsey for the first time. Then, after he hijacked the pelican, he blew it up.

An enigma indeed, thought Jai as he moved away from the controls and gave them up to Mike.

“Incoming comm transmission from the Athens,” Mike informed them. “Patching it through.”

“Petya, you’re scheduled to dock in our landing bay. Please send confirmation code,” came a woman’s voice.

Mike sent the normal confirmation code for docking in a ships landing bay. A moment passed by.

“Confirmation code received. Please dock Petya.”

Mike nodded to himself and masterfully maneuvered the tramp freighter into the docking bay of the enormous cruiser. He was an impressive pilot, no doubt about it. He maneuver the ship to a platform where a lot of men and women were gathered, waving them in. The freighter landed and Jai was about to leave the cockpit when he turned back to his teammates.

“I’ll be back,” he began, “within the hour.”

Mike and Adriana nodded and Jai traveled to the back of the freighter as one of the many exit hatches opened up. He strode out, towering over the UNSC personnel that worked hard on their many jobs. Many of the personnel gaped at the two meter tall Spartan. Jai smiled inside of his mirrored visor; he’d always gotten a kick out of having men and women of every kind gape at him. But he also got a bit irritated by it, some people needed to hide their expressions and be a little more discrete.

3

Jai began to pick his way to Admiral Hood’s quarters. He strode to an elevator and pressed the “ascend” button and waited. Several men and women stood at a distance to his right as they also waited for the elevator. The elevator descended and a voice spoke as it reached their deck. “Docking bay.” Jai entered and the men and women who gawked at him cautiously entered the elevator. They each pressed the button for their deck; Jai moved his hand to the buttons and, like instinct, pressed the button for the deck Lord Hood’s quarters were located on. It was instinct, as he’d been to the captain’s quarters (the captain’s quarters were located at the same place as the an Admiral’s) more times than he could count.

After several minutes of stopping on eight different decks the elevator stopped at the very top deck of the enormous cruiser. Jai breathed out a breath of relief as the doors opened. The impatient Spartan exited the elevator and easily made his way through the many bulkheads, the doors, and observational windows until he reached the door to Lord Hood’s quarters.

Outside Hood’s quarters sat ten highly trained marines. They stood straight, assault rifles at the ready as Jai approached them. If they were intimidated by his appearance, they didn’t show it. One of the marines, with the name Checketts stenciled on his armor strode up to Jai, assault rifle in hand, and held up a hand to stop him. As if the marine could stop him. Nevertheless, Jai stopped.

“Name,” Checketts demanded of him.

“Jai, Spartan 006,” Jai told him confidently.

Checketts looked down at a datapad. “You’re clear,” he informed Jai. Jai nodded and the doors swept apart at the press of a button.

As soon as Jai strode on deck and saw Lord Hood he saluted. “Sir, Spartan 006 reporting for duty sir!”

Lord Hood looked up at him from a desk with scattered reports piled atop it. The man had a square face with dark bags under his eyes and old graying hair. But in his eyes Jai could see there was a very sharp man, as it should be. He stood and saluted the Spartan back. Then he did something rare when meeting with a spartan, he help out a hand. Jai carefully took hold of Lord Hood’s hand. They shook for a moment then Hood motioned for Jai to sit.

“Sir, i would prefer to stand if you don’t mind,” Jai informed him. Lord Hood nodded in acceptance.

“Well Spartan,” began the Admiral,“I might as well get you up to date.” With that the Admiral dove right into the situation, explaining every detail to Jai.

Jai let out a breath. This was big, no, monutmental. Should the nav data get to the covenant hierarchy, whoever they may be, then humanity would truly be doomed.

“Sir, permission to go after that ship?” Jai asked bravely.

Lord Hood grinned. Every spartan was brave, always wanting to do the impossible.

“That’s just what i wanted you to say. But, you’ll need a faster ship; that freighter is just too old, and too slow,” said Lord Hood.

“Sir, if i may, that old girl has lived through a lot of missions,” Jai informed him defensively.

Lord Hood held up his hands for peace. “Be that as it may, your team has never been on a mission like this spartan,” he said shaking his head slightly. “However, we do have the fastest ship in system ready for you.”

Jai nodded and said, “Sir, we’ll get the job done.” This was the kind of mission Jai lived for, one that would bring the fight to the Covenant, and they would get justice.

“Good,” said Lord Hood as he grabbed pulled out a chip from his computer. “Take this, it’s my AI Leonidas, you’ll need him.”

“Sir, are you certain?” Jai asked, taking the chip uncertainly.

Lord Hood nodded. “Yes, he’s the second most brilliant AI ever created. The first is… being used. Either way, report to the destroyer the Constantinople. You’ll be leaving at 0800 hours. Dismissed,” Lord Hood ordered.

Jai nodded curtly, dropping the small chip carefully in a pouch. He began towards the door when he turned back to the Admiral, suddenly remembering something. “Oh and sir, merry Christmas.”

The Admiral smiled. “And to you Spartan.”

With that Jai left and found his way back to his freighter. It had been half an hour since he’d leftPetya, so neither Adriana or Mike was very worried about Jai.

Jai entered the cockpit. Both Mike and Adriana had their armor on and were talking casually. They stopped as Jai entered and looked at him expectantly. He explained the whole story and the mission. Everything.

“Well,” said Adriana, “let’s get our -Yoinks!- in gear.”

“I agree,” said Mike.

“Alright,” said Jai, “then we’re in agreement. Get us out of this docking bay and plot a course to dock with Constantinople. They’ll be expecting us.”

“You got it,” said Mike. He maneuvered the ship out of the docking bay and plotted a course toConstantinople.

4

Chapter 2: Upgrades? Oh boy!!!

Aboard the destroyer Constantinople
0630 hours; December 25th, 2550.
1 hour 30 minutes to departure

Captain Roderick J. Brown sat at the tiny desk in his personal quarters reading the encrypted file on the mission ahead. Apparently, they were chasing down a covenant supercruiser through slipspace to coordinates deep in the heart of covenant space to stop them from transferring stolen nav data to the covenant hierarchy. A covenant super carrier? Son of a -Yoink-, thought Roderick, how were they supposed to stop a super carrier when they themselves only had a destroyer? A destroyer was not even 1/3rd the size of a super cruiser. They were on a suicide mission.

At that moment the doors to Roderick’s quarters opened up revealing a figure in gray armor, standing nearly two meters tall. It approached Roderick, who immediately recognized him as a Spartan.

“Sir,” the Spartan, who was assuredly a man, said. “You wanted to see me?”

The captain stood and saluted back, in awe of the massive man. He immediately regained his composure and stood much straighter than he originally had been.

“Yes,” came the response. “Yes, I did. Spartan… 006,” Roderick began looking at 006’s file, “I assume, you know what this mission is all about?”

“Taking out the Covenant super cruiser that holds the nav data before it can reach a hierarch,” 006 confirmed.

“Good, good.” He paused once again and was about to speak again when 006 reached into a pouch and pulled out a small data chip with a glowing tiny sphere in the middle of it. An AI chip.

“Sir, Lord Hood’s AI, Leonidas.”

Roderick stroked his clean shaven face. “Lord Hood you say?” he asked and the Spartan nodded. “I’ll have to thank the Lord Admiral for that before leaving, we’ve been without an AI for months,” he told 006.

The Spartan said nothing, just looked at him expectantly. He sure ain’t no chatty Cathy, thought Roderick. He decided, though, that he would not continue to waste the Spartan’s time with any more of his useless information.

“As i was going to say,” began the Captain as he pocketed the AI chip, “before we leave on this mission, ONI wanted to install some experimental technologies and upgrades into your armor… or something like that. Anyways you and your team report to the armory on deck D-14 for the installation of those parts.”

"Yes sir, said the Spartan obediently.

“I’ll accompany you to the elevator spartan.”

“If I may sir, there’s no need for that. I found my way here, i can find my way back.” 006 said.

It was true the captain didn’t really need to accompany him, but Roderick was heading to the bridge. He had a job to do.

“Nonsense Spartan, i’m already on my way to the bridge. After all, I am the captain,” Roderick said jokingly.

The Spartan only nodded and the two left the room.

Jai entered the Petya for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He had been filtering in and out of the ship since Gray team had entered they docking bay. He’d been gathering supplies, trading intelligence (which was very little), and more recently speaking with the Captain.

The Captain had given him orders to get his team to the armory for some sort of upgrade to their armor systems, and Jai intended to follow that order. Hopefully it would give his team the upper hand in this fight.

When Jai entered the bridge of the small freighter he found his teammates hard at work. Adriana was was busy using an arc welder to weld support braces to the interior of the ship and armor plates to the exterior. Mike was busy reviewing a datapad and performing calculations on the ship’s computer.

For some reason unbeknownst to Jai, Mike liked to calculate their odds of survival before a mission. Jai had a series of theories on this, but he figured that Mike liked to know the odds, just so he could beat them. After all that was what spartans were all about.

Mike soon noticed Jai and cleared his throat. “Been calculating the odds her Jai-”

“-Don’t want to know,” Jai interrupted.

Adriana chuckled behind her visor.

“ONI’s got something for us in the armory,” Jai explained, stating what he originally was there to say.

Adriana looked at him quizzically. “ONI…” she muttered. Finally she deduced what it could be. “New armor parts?” Enthusiasm dripped from her words.

Jai nodded once.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Mike exclaimed. “Let’s go!”

“Sure, let’s go,” Jai said.

“Hold on a sec. Gotta finish installing this support brace,” Adriana explained.

She hefted the arc welder like it was nothing and began to install the brace in the ship. Sparks flew back at her, dancing around and off of her armor. The internal temperature of her MJOLNIR armor rose by fifteen degrees and she began to sweat. She finished the welding and set the arc welder on the ground carefully.

5

“Okay, i’m ready. Lead the way Jai,” she directed.

Nodding, Jai led the way to the elevator and pressed the button for the armory: deck D-14. At the hum of the elevator Jai closed his eyes, something he didn’t do often. He spread his legs to shoulder length and grasped his hands together behind the back.

It felt like seconds before the elevator beeped, announced they were at deck D-14, and opened its doors. The three spartans took their leave of the elevator and walked through halls until they found the armory.

Marines crowded the passageways of the armory but dumb-struck the dumbstruck men and women made a path when the enormous spartans entered. Jai inspected the large, long room. Submachine guns, rifles, pistols, and their ammuntion sat upon sloped platforms with borders at the bottom and sides. SPNKr launchers and grenade launchers were placed in cabinets along with their munitions also.

At the end of the armory sat three secured titanium grade-B lockers with the name ONI stenciled upon them. They were obviously meant for the Spartans. Two men dressed in black and gray armor that looked similar to MJOLNIR armor stood by the lockers speaking to each other in hushed tones. Jai listened in on their conversation for a second.

“… I hate those damn-” the man glanced at the Spartan and focused on them. He nudged his buddy and motioned at them. “Spartans,” he muttered.

With his bio-genetically enhanced eyes Jai saw the designation ONI printed on the their chests. He opened a secure comm channel to his spartan teammates.

“Spooks,” he informed them. Mike nodded subtly and Adriana barely looked his way. Jai hatedspooks, he did not trust them whatsoever. If he couldn’t trust them, he couldn’t work with them on a team, that was Jai’s philosophy.

“Welcome Jai, Adriana, Mike. We’ve got some very exciting news for you three,” Said one of the spooks, the tall lanky one. The other spook, the short one, remained silent, deciding to defer to his partner.

“What are we here for…?” Jai trailed off, not knowing the tall man’s name.

“Sean. You’re here for the armor upgrades,” Sean said.

Jai rolled his eyes behind his visor.

“What kind of upgrades?” Mike asked, irritation subtly creeping into his voice.

“You three Spartans have encountered Sangheili before yes?” asked Sean.

Jai gritted his teeth and said, “Of course we have.”

“Then you should know that they use a shield technology that protects them from a certain amount of damage and then collapse.”

“So you’re saying that we’re being given covenant shield technology?” Mike assumed.

The short one nodded and spoke for the first time. “It’s an experimental technology that has been under research for years by the research teams at the Office of Naval Intelligence. Now, it’s time for you spartans to test it in extended use.”

The spartans looked at each other approvingly. Jai had been right, this could be something that could change the war.

“However,” said the short spook, “we will need you to leave your armor here for the duration of the slipspace jump, as you will be in cryo.”

“How long is the slipspace jump going to take?” Adriana asked suddenly.

The man didn’t talk for a moment, probably checking his HUD for the information.

“Three weeks,” Sean said with a sure air in his words.

“Three weeks?” Mike asked incredulously. “How’s that even possible?”

Sean looked at the shorter ONI agent, who nodded back. Perhaps he was the senior officer of the two? Not that it mattered to Jai.

“Section three has designed a more efficient Shaw-Fujikawa drive that can travel much faster through slipspace than the earlier models. We installed one on Constantinople,” he informed them.

“Then why aren’t there more of these slipspace drives on other ships within the fleet?” Mike asked intrigued. He had his arms folded and was listening intently.

“These improved drives cost much more than they did, and could only be installed onto a select few ships. This one included,” said Sean.

“So that must-” Mike began.

Jai interrupted. “Look, we’ve got stuff to do before the slipspace jump…”

Sean nodded slowly. “Affirmative. As soon as you three finish those tasks, get those suits to us, and we’ll get those upgrades installed.”

Jai nodded.

“One more thing, we’re installing several components of the mark V into your armor systems.”

“Affirmative. We’ll be back by 0800.”

Sean nodded and began talking with the other ONI agent once more.

6

0100 hours later
0000 hours to departure.
Slipspace drive powering up,
jump imminent.

The Spartans, minus their armor stepped into the cryogenics lab. They wore military fatigues custom designed for them alone.

The cryogenics director of oversight sat in the overwatch. He spoke in the intercom, directing them on the procedure of cryogenic sleep.

The two ONI agents sat outside of the spartans’ cryo pods.

“Alright Spartans, here’s the deal,” Sean began. “You will be unthawed one hour before we arrive at the destination. Your armor will be in the ONI lockers in the armory. Here’s the code: delta, alpha, delta, xray, lima, omega,” he told them.

“Sir,” said Jai, “we’ll see you on the other side Sean.”

The ONI agent smiled deviously inside his helmet and nodded.

“Yes,” he said, “you will.”

7

Chapter 3: a Minor Situation

Aboard Constantinople
1536 hours; January 8th, 2551

“Spartans, please wake up!” came a pleading, desperate voice through the speakers in Jai’s cryo pod. Jai licked his lips, gagging and coughing on the “nutritious” goop that had formed in his lungs during his last two weeks in cryo.

“If you can hear me,” came the pleading voice, “I’m going to open up your cryo pods. We’ve got a situation on our hands.”

The cryo pod hissed as it pressurized opened up. Jai, Adriana and Mike simultaneously jumped out of their cryo pods and glanced at each other. The cryogenics lab was devoid of life save the Spartans and the crewman standing behind the glass of the elevated cryo-lab-operator room.

“Thank the almighty!” the crewman lit up with joy and relief. He opened a hatch on the floor and slid down the ladder to the Spartans.“You don’t know how relieved i am to see you Spartans awake.”

“What’s the problem crewman?” asked Jai in a commanding tone.

“Sir,” began the crewman, his eyes flickering from side to side in some sort of nervous tick, “as soon as we dropped out of slipspace we were engaged by the Covenant supercruiser, the only Covenant ship in orbit around some sort of planet we’ve arrived at.”

Jai looked at Mike, whose face was scrunched up in confusion. “Wait, you mean we’ve already exited slipspace before we were taken out of cryo?” asked Mike.

The crewman gulped loudly, showing fear on his face. Jai was sympathetic to his fear, as the crewman was talking with three two-meter-tall Spartans and they were under attack by the Covenant. But Jai didn’t have time to show that he was sympathizing, he needed to get information.

" Well… uh… sirs," said the man nervously, “we were given specific orders to not thaw you. They said there was no need so we, I followed those orders. But, believe me sirs, if I had known this was going to happen, well I would have thawed you out in a heartbeat.”

The three Spartans looked at each other, each of them thinking the same thing. Why would this crewman receive orders to keep the Spartans in cryo?

“Who did the order come from?” asked Jai, his deep voice commanding the crewman to give him his answer.

The crewman flinched. “Uh… ONI. Sir.”

ONI? thought Jai confused. Why would ONI order him to keep them in cryo? Something didn’t add up.

He walked a few meters away from the crewman, motioning his Spartans. He spoke in a hushed tone. “Something doesn’t add up. Why would ONI do this? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Jai,” said Adriana calmly, “I don’t understand it either. But, if we don’t formulate some sort of plan with the captain, there won’t be any time to find any answers.”

Mike nodded in agreement to her statement. Jai rubbed his chin and nodded. “You’re right, we need to get in contact with the bridge and make a plan. First though we need to get to our MJOLNIR armor and get armed.”

“Sound like a good plan,” said Adriana. “Let’s get going.”

The Spartans turned around and strode towards the door.

“Hold on. I’m coming with you,” the crewman told them.

“I don’t think so,” Jai told him. “You’d just slow us down.”

The crewman, gaining confidence, shook his head. “You don’t have the codes to that door, I do.”

Jai looked to Adriana who checked the keypad on the door. She nodded, confirming what the crewman had said.

“Fine. Try to keep up,” Jai growled.

The crewman nodded triumphantly and accessed the keypad. He input the codes and the door split in the middle. It slightly opened and jammed.

“No!” screamed the crewman as he smashed his fist into the keypad.

“Mike,” said Jai motioning with his head towards the door. Mike understood and grabbed onto one side of the jammed door. Jai shouldered his way past the crewman and grabbed onto the other side of the door.

“On my mark,” Jai said aloud. “Three… two… one. Mark!” The two Spartans pulled the doors with all their might. Metal creaked and groaned, moving in directions it was not meant to move in. Jai’s bio-enhanced muscles expanded, a vein bulging from the brown skin on his forehead. Mike’s muscled bulged just the same, veins popping out from his dark brown arms. The door screeched one last time, it’s final scream before it opened enough for the Spartans.

“Let’s move Spartans. Adriana take point, i’ll take the rear,” Jai said in his commanding tone. Adriana rolled her eyes as she walked past him and out the door. She didn’t really listen to Jai’s commands, and he had given up trying to command her. Truthfully, there wasn’t much of a commander of the group, the three understood each other and did what was necessary.

Mike and the crewman followed suit and Jai took the rear. The four of them jogged down the hall. A roaring fire blocked their path, but Adriana ducked under a grate and into a nearby passageway. They jumped over a pair of pipes and turned right into a small corridor. Twenty five meters later they had made it to the armory.

A voice coime in over the shipwide comm. “All UNSC personnel to battle stations. Boarders inbound. I repeat All UNSC personnel report to battle stations.”

Suddenly the crewman snapped, huge tears welled up in his eyes and rolled down his cheeks. He sat down in the fetal position in the corner of the armory. “We’re dead, we’re all dead!” His eyes were wide with fear.

Jai knelt down on one knee in front of the crewman. He hesitantly put a hand on his shoulder; Jai wasn’t good at this kind of stuff.

“What’s your name crewman?” asked Jai in a soft voice.

The crewman looked at him with light green eyes. “My name is… Scotty… Scotty Brein.” He still had that look in his eyes, the one of fear.

“Look Scotty, we’ve got to get out of here. We can still make it, those Covenant -Yoinks!- haven’t been able to take us Spartans out in…” Jai thought, “gotta be a hundred or so engagements. Stick with us, and you’ll make it out just fine.”

Scotty looked worried, and he shook his head violently. “No, no way. Nobody’s gonna make it out of here alive. Not even you.”

8

Jai stood up and looked at the other two Spartans with a sorrowful expression, shaking his head. He had said he didn’t want Scotty with them a few minutes ago, and that had been true, but he would rather have the man with them than leave him to die. What could he do though?

“He’s gone,” Jai told them in a whisper.

Mike nodded his head regretfully. Adriana shook her head.

“No man left behind Jai,” she said. “Don’t you remember the Rubble?”

“As I recall, that we were coerced into saving those innies by a rampant AI.”

“The point remains the same Jai,” Mike pitched in. He was normally the silent one. “We’re supposed to being saving humanity, not letting them die.”

The two men stared at each other, fighting a silent battle. Jai submitted. “Adriana, since it was your idea, pick him up after we don our armor.”

Adriana grinned at Mike, who grinned back. They’d won the battle against Jai.

The three Spartans hurried to the other end of the armory and put in the passcodes to their lockers. The lockers popped open revealing their MJOLNIR armor. Each of the Spartans also another object in their lockers. For Mike, there were four cut down FENRIS nuclear warheads. For Adriana there was some sort of gadget, a sphere the size of a tennis ball. Jai had a three duffle bags and a rectangular device that could be attached to the forearm of her MJOLNIR armor. He recognized it as a TACPAD: a pad that could be linked with satellites and could be hold an AI in it.

Duffle bags? Jai asked himself. Then he realized what he could do with them. "Mike, after you get suited up i want you to fill two of those bags with guns and ammunition. As for the third bag, I want you to put those FENRIS nukes in that bag.

Mike nodded once again. The three Spartans then proceeded to don their armor. Three minutes later they finished encasing themselves in their armor. Mike shoved the cut down nukes in the bag and began to gather up guns and ammo. Jai equipped his TACPAD and began to help Mike pack up the guns and ammo.

“Arm yourselves Spartans, we’ll need it them.” Jai grabbed a M90 Shotgun and two M6D pistols as secondary weapons he also grabbed a combat knife and attached it to his chest armor. Mike grabbed a BR55HB SR Battle Rifle and looked through the scope checking it out, he made some minor adjustments and attached it to the back of his armor; he then grabbed a MA37 Assault Rifle. Adriana grabbed an SRS99 sniper rifle checked the scope and attached it to her back. She grabbed an MA5K carbine holding it in her hands.

The three of them looked at each other and Jai established a direct comm with the other two. “Next objective?” asked Mike.

“Like I said, we need to contact the bridge,” Jai began. He looked at his TACPAD. “And i have just they way.”

Jai tapped a few buttons at the TACPAD and heard his comm click. He patched the comm into Mik and Andria’s comm’s too.

“006, what can I do for you?” asked Leonidas. Jai smiled to himself: Ah the formality of AIs.

“Connect me to the Captain, Leonidas,” Jai requested. He folded his arms as his teammates waited for him patiently.

“No can do. The captain is a bit busy at the moment.”

“Sir, what are our orders?” Jai inquired strongly.

“Report to the bridge ASAP, the Captain has something for you.”

“Yes sir,” said the Spartan. The sir was unnecessary for an AI, but Jai had learned to respect AIs, they could make your life hell pretty quick.

“You heard her Spartans we’ve got to get to the bridge, STAT,” Jai told them. Two green acknowledgement lights lit up on his heads-up-display.

The Spartans moved over to the other end of the armory; Jai glanced at the broken man, rocking from side to side. It was pitiful. “Pick him up Adriana.”

She nodded holding her Ma5k in one hand, she knelt down in front of Scotty, the broken crewman. His eyes grew wide as she approached him. “No. Boarding parties are gonna kill us. No escape for us.” He became hysterical. “We’re all dead!”

Adriana looked pleadingly at Jai who nodded his head in approval of her next move. She hit the man in the fast just hard enough to knock him out, but not hard enough to do him brain damage. Although he’d have one hell of a headache in the morning.

Scotty’s eyes rolled back in his head and he slumped over. Blood trickled out of his nose. Adriana picked him up like a bag of potatoes (which were still quite common even in the twenty sixth century) and hefted him onto her shoulder.

“Man that guy was getting annoying!” exclaimed Adriana. Mike chuckled, as did Jai.

9

“Let’s get moving,” Jai suggested, suddenly remembering the mission.

Mike and Adriana’s acknowledgement lights lit up again on Jai’s HUD.

The three of them hurried outside the armory and were hurled against the wall by an explosion far off in the ship. Apparently the boarders had landed.

“Borders,” muttered Mike, saying what they were all thinking.

“Let’s go Spartans. Double time,” Jai told them.

The three of them hurried down hallways and corridors, checking for Covenant borders along the way. They reached the elevator finding no trouble whatsoever. Jai was about to press the button to “call” the elevator when the doors parted suddenly. In front of the Spartans sat a squad of startled Sangheili, or Elites. “Demon!” spat one of them.

The Spartans raised their guns first and fired on the Elites. The startled Elites raised their plasma weapons and roared, just as the first wall of bullets smashed into their shields. One bullet lodged in the brain of an Elite Minor who dropped to the ground immediately.

Shields down, one of the Elites roared and returned fire at Jai. Jai dove for cover, momentarily forgetting that he had he had shields. It was at that moment Jai noticed a thin bar at the top of his HUD, he guessed it stated the strength of his shields. Jai grabbed a grenade from his belt, pulled the prim priming it. He lobbed it at the Elites. They looked at it, almost in horror, as it sailed at them and exploded. None of them survived.

Jai examined the elevator and the hallway. Blood and bits of bones had splattered the walls, the floor, everywhere. “Police those weapons Mike, we may need them in the not-to-distant future,” Jai told him.

“Got it,” came the reply.

Mike grabbed Plasma rifles, plasma grenades, and plasma pistols and stuffed them in the duffle bags. Adriana and Jai removed the remains of the Elites from the elevator. They stepped into the elevator, Mike joined them shortly after. Jai pressed the button for the very top deck, where the bridge was located, and waited readily as the elevator ascended.

Adriana viewed the scene in the elevator.

“Man, this would make great wallpaper for your room in the freighter Jai,” said Adriana jokingly.

Jai smiled inside of his visor, chuckling.

“Well, let’s hope it doesn’t come to Elites invading old Petya,” Jai cracked back.

The atmosphere was relatively light for the Spartans just having killed a squad of Elites.

The elevator binged announcing once again that they had arrived on the top deck. The Spartans stepped out, expecting trouble. There was nothing, just a barren hallway, completely devoid of life. The was a click in Jai’s mic; someone was pinging him. He tapped the TACPAD and heard a voice enter his comm.

“006, the Covenant are trying to breach the bridge,” Leonidas told him in an urgent tone. “We’re not going to last much longer. Get to the bridge, double time!”

“We’re on our way sir. Hold on,” Jai replied. The comm disconnected, either because the bridge had been breached and the crew was being slaughtered, or because Leonidas had simply disconnected the link. Jai hoped it was the latter.

“Spartans we’ve got to get to the bridge now!” Jai commanded. This time his teammates listened.

The three of them began to sprint, pushing themselves to their limits. They ran down hallways, evading any sort of obstacle, ducking into corridors and even using maintenance passageways. Eventually, they got to the point where Jai could smell a an odor that reeked of burnt metal and could hear excited barking.

“We’re about at the bridge,” Jai informed the other Spartans. Mike and Jai waited as Adriana gently set down Scotty in a maintenance passageway, making sure it was a safe area.

“Ready,” said Adriana.

Jai poked his head around the corner of an intersection and saw a mass of Covenant warriors. He counted twenty two of them; five Elites, thirteen Unggoy or Grunts, and four Kig-Yar, also known as Jackals.

“Okay. We’ve got twenty two hostiles. We need a way to take them out, and fast. Any suggestions?” he asked them.

Mike pulled out three grenades from the duffle bag. “I figure we could shake things up a little. Go in shooting,” he said. Jai couldn’t see behind Mike’s visor but he was 100% sure that he was grinning widely.

Jai was about to tell him to do it when Adriana spoke up. “What about this?” she asked holding up the chrome, tennis ball size gadget she had been given with her MJOLNIR armor.

“What does it even do?” asked Jai. Adriana shook her head.

“I’m not quite sure.” She looked at Mike. “I believe this is your area of expertise.”

Mike took the sphere and examined it. It only took him a couple of seconds to process it. “Looks like some sort of shield disruptor, I guess. I’ve seen one of these before, but only once. It looks like ONIs been getting some stuff done.”

Jai approved, as long as it worked. “Alright Adriana, prime it, and chuck it.”

Adriana nodded. She probably liked the plan, she was insane.

Adriana pressed a tiny button and threw it immediately. She was lucky she threw it rather than cook it like a grenade. Two seconds after it left her hands it let out some sort of pulse that hit the Elites and Jackals, disrupting their shields for a few seconds.

“Fire!” said Jai.

Jai aimed his shotgun at the nearest Covenant -Yoink-, an Elite, and pulled the trigger. Blood spattered its startled teammates. Adriana let loose a hail of armor piercing rounds from her MA5K that cut down four Grunts and a Jackal. The remaining Covenant turned to face them and opened fire.

An Elite major snarled and fired at Jai. Plasma bolts splashed over his shields, draining his shield to three fourths strength. Mike and Adriana laid down covering fire with their automatic weapons as Jai took cover behind a bulkhead. Needler rounds crashed into his cover and exploding, chipping away at the metal bulkhead. Not wanting to waste the ammo of his shotgun, Jai pulled a pistol out of it’s holster. He came out from his cover and fired of a clip. Two more grunts went down. Two of the four remaining Elites focused their fire on Jai. Jai ducked back behind his cover as plasma melted away his cover.

10

He could see Adriana and Mike behind the hallway they had come from. They were firing their rifles taking down another of the Elites, a Grunt, and one Jackal. Mike fired an entire clip at the the Covenant that were left. Two more grunts were down thanks to Mike and Adriana’s combined fire.

Having reloaded, Jai came out of his cover and fired a shot at a grunt. Its head exploded violently, splattering the Grunt next to it with blue blood. The other grunt barked wildly and screeched. It ran out of the formation and towards Mike, it’s hands up in the air. Mike calmly put it down with a three round burst.

The three remaining Elites looked at each other. They were scared and Jai could feel it; victory was near. Suddenly as Jai was glancing at Adriana he saw a shimmer in the air behind her.

“Adriana behind you!” Jai yelled into the comm. Adriana ducked. Jai fired three shots at the shimmering air and a black armored Elite holding an energy sword materialized. It swung at Adriana who dodged it the blow and tackled the Elite to the ground. Jai didn’t have time to continue watching as the other covenant took courage and pressed upon the Spartans.

Please comment on this story so I can know whether or not I’m wasting my time. Also constructive criticism is good! Thanks a lot!

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Does everybody like the story?

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Awesome story, just got done reading chapter 2. You sir have some serious talent, can’t wait to finish reading chapter 3.

13

This is great stuff, I just keep wanting to read more!

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It is being read and enjoyed don’t worry. But to critisise before it’s all over, that ruin the surprise. And BTW, if you’re enjoying what you’re doing, you’re not wasting your time.

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Edit: just realized I had a double post of the beginning of chapter 4. Carry on.

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Chapter 4
Aboard Arm of the Prophets
1540 hours; January 15th, 2551

“Board the Heretic ship!” roared Shipmaster Xelu Zanumee. “Capture the human disgrace of a shipmaster and bring him to me on Journey’s End. I shall make him a living example of why the Covenant is not to be trifled with!”

The spec ops Sangheili that Xelu was talking to dipped his head and left the bridge to command his troops in the upcoming assault.

Xelu shook his head. That a tiny human ship would chase after Xelu’s supercruiser to a Covenant colony, Journey’s End, was beyond reason. However, a human would be would be of use to him, he would need one to activate a holy artifact that they had recently discovered. Because of this, Xelu was not obliterating the humans, as he wished he could be doing.

“Wellun,” said Xelu over the communications system.

“Yes sire?” replied Wellun Asaramee, his head of security.

“Prepare a Spirit dropship,” Xelu ordered. “We are travelling to the surface of Journey’s End.”

There was a hesitation on the other end of the comm. “Shipmaster, if I may be so bold, what are you intentions?”

Xelu scowled. Wellun was an Honor Guard, and Xelu a shipmaster; Xelu shouldn’t have allowed his inferior to speak to him that way, yet he let it go. “I intend to secure the Holy Relic from any threats. And you shall accompany me.”

“Shipmaster, we know very little of this relic and whom or what may protect it. I suggest that you send a scouting party to clear the Holy Relic. The parasite may have contaminated the artifact and I would not have you be infected by them.”

The Relic had only been scanned by Covenant drones after one fly-by. Perhaps it would be to their benefit if they scouted out the artifact.

“Very well, Wellun. Send out a scouting party and cleanse the artifact. Then we shall travel to it.”

“Your will be done Shipmaster,” said Wellun.

Xelu severed the link. He looked around the bridge, examining his officers-they were hard at work.

“Jorun,” said Xelu to a small Sangheili at the navigation station. “As soon as the Spirits exit the docking bay, I want to you to bring us around the dark side of Journey’s End.”

Jorun dipped his head. “Yes Honor. Bringing us around.”

Xelu folded his arms and tilted his head upwards a bit in an unintended show of arrogance. It wouldn’t be long now until the humans ship had been boarded and the crew slaughtered. It would be another glorious victory for Shipmaster Xelu.

A communications officer stood up. “Honor, the human ship is hailing us via direct beam communications link.” He looked unsure. “What do you wish me to do?”

Unsure himself, Xelu considered this for a moment. The humans were hailing him? For what reason? Humans in the heat of battle had discontinued trying to contact the Covenant ships and beg for mercy. Perhaps he should hear what they had to say, then he’d destroy them.

“Patch it through young Sangheili,” Xelu ordered.

“Yes shipmaster.”

Xelu glanced at the human ship on the view screen in front of him. What did these pathetic humans have to speak to him about? wondered he. Perhaps they will beg for mercy. That would please me greatly..

“Your are connected with the humans,” the communications officer informed him, spitting at the word human.

“Heretic,” spat Xelu speaking into the comm. “Do you wish to beg for mercy so soon?”

The human chuckled nervously. “I think that our relationship could be mutually beneficial to each other Shipmaster Xelu Zanumee,” said the human.

“What could a human have to offer?” Xelu guffawed in disgust.

“Arrogant son of a -blam!- Elite,” muttered the human. “You have no idea what I can do for you.”

17

Xelu was tiring of this conversation with the dull human, but he decided he would humor the pitiful human. “What, pretell, could you do to benefit the Sangheili, those who are hundreds of years ahead of your people in technology? We have all that we need, you have nothing to offer us.”

The human laughed a hearty laugh. “Oh, do you?” asked he. “Don’t you think I know why you’re atJourney’s End? I know all about this ‘holy relic’ you’ve found, and I want in.”

A human was willingly offering to activate the holy relic rather than have to capture a human alive. Then he could vaporize the human vessel, and after activating the artifact, kill the human.

“Perhaps this is a trap, why would I believe you, lowly being?”

Xelu was bluffing, he knew that this human did not have the audacity to attempt an attack against his supercruiser, he would be blown out of space. So it was, Xelu was trying to gain as much as he could from this human as was possible.

“I can give you all the information on humanity’s forces, our troop movements, ship deployments, everything. But I want to be a part of the opening of the artifact.”

Xelu smile. Everything was going his way, and now he would have the artifact, the coordinates of every human world, and troop and ship movements. For this, he would be made a fleet master.

“Join us on our ship human. You will be done no harm.”

The Sangheili on the bridge stopped their work and looked at their Shipmaster as if he had defied the Forerunners themselves. Xelu waved his hand at them in a gesture of dismissal. They returned to their work grudgingly, more than likely believing their Shipmaster a heretic.

“A slight problem, shipmaster,” said the human. “I can’t get to you, it would seem too suspicious. I need you to transport me.” The human was insolent, asking for transport when he himself had said he wished to join Xelu on the supercruiser. Nevertheless, the Sangheili would have to be patient-this human would activate the holy relic. After that though, Xelu would have his turn, and the human would not be spared his wrath.

“Worry not human, boarding craft are on their way to you. You must communicate with them when they board… so that they do not kill you.”

“Will do shipmaster. Over and out.”

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Not a bump!

Just thought ya’ll (those who have been reading) should know that chapter five will be up on the twenty fourth. I was banned on Bungie.net and that’s where chapter five was stored. Also, chapter six will be up soon after chapter five.

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Chapter 5: Time to leave!

The Demon struggled with Isua Karatalee, both of them fighting for the plasma blade Isua had just recently held in his hands. Gunfire sounded in front of him, there was a roar from his fellow Sangheili, then blue blood spattered the walls.

Isua grabbed the Demon who was reaching for the energy sword. He punched her in the faceplate, but instead of it smashing there was a golden shimmer; the humans had shields! It grabbed Isua’s wrist and pulled its hardest. Isua’s shoulder popped, but he didn’t feel it. Instead he kicked the demon off of him and grabbed the energy sword. His shields were very low from his fight, but now he would not have to worry about that as he would kill the demon there and then.

Isua strode over to the Demon, what the human called Spartans, and picked it up by the neck.

“Now demon, you have killed many of my fellow Sangheili. Now these killings come full circle and you shall die by my hand. The great Journey shall not take you.”

The demon grabbed his wrists and spoke. “Ha, you think you can kill me… Look around you Elite, you’re all that’s left. You’re finished.”

Hearing this the Sangheili listened. There was no more whinig of plasma weapons firing. For a split second he looked away from the Demon and saw the two other Demons running at him. In that split second he received a punch to the side of the head. He let go of the Demon, stumbling back, his eyes blackening around the edges. The Demons huddled around him, one of them policing his energy weapon. Isua reached for his sword in vain. One of the Demons stomped his boot on the Sangheili’s wrist-he felt bones crush and roared in pain.

“What should we do with it?” he heard one ask. It’s voice was akin to that of a female Sangheili, perhaps it was a female.

“We’ll take him to the bridge. But, make sure he’s not conscious,” said one of the others with a deep voice. It was probably a male.

The two demons nodded and the last thing Isua saw was a boot connecting with his face.

aboard Constantinople
1616 hours; January 8th, 2551.

Jai opened a comm channel to the Leonidas. “Leonidas the door outside the bridge is clear. Mind opening those doors?” asked Jai.

“Affirmative Spartan. Opening doors. Welcome home,” said Leonidas.

The Spartans, Jai lugging the Elite, walked over to the bridge doors. They unlocked and opened quietly. Jai led the way inside, holding the deactivated energy sword he had taken from the elite. The walked down a short hallway and found their way to the inner section of the bridge. the bridge had seven computer stations on each side of the wall. Straight in front of them was the observation window. And directly in the center of the room was the captain’s chair, where Captain Brown sat.

“Sir!” said Jai, as the three Spartans snapped a salute.

Captain Brown saluted back. “At ease Spartans.”

“Captain,” Leonidas interjected. “Arm of the Prophets is performing a slingshot orbit if my calculations are correct. May I add that there is only a 2.001 percent chance that my calculations are incorrect.”

Captain Brown stroked his chin for a moment. “Well then, we don’t have much of a choice do we?”

“Captain, sir, what’s going on?” Jai asked.

The Captain turned to him and frowned. “Son, I’m sorry to say that Constantinople has sustained a hell of a beating. She put up one hell of a fight, but she doesn’t have much left in her.” He paused and a sad look entered his eyes. “I’m ordering an evacuation of the ship. We can link up on that planet and coordinate an effective resistance.”

Jai stared at the Captain. They were evacuating? The majority of them probably wouldn’t even make it through the atmosphere. It was suicide.

“Sir,” began Mike, “most of us won’t even make it through the atmosphere. I don’t recommend you evacuate to that planet.” He had beaten Jai to the conversation. Damn him.

The Captain simply shook his head. “Spartan, if we don’t evacuate, we’ll all die. We have a better chance of survival on that planet than we do up here. So start evacuating. That’s an order,” Captain Brown growled.

“Sir, yes sir!” said the Spartans simultaneously.

The Spartans spun around to leave, but Jai stopped. “Sir,” he said, “Petya has room enough for the rest of the bridge crew, you’ll be safer there than on an escape pod.”

The Captain mulled this over for a moment. “Very well Spartan, we’re coming with you.” He turned over to Leonidas’ hologram pad. “Send the order for the evacuation, and set this ship to self destruct in twenty minutes. Tell me when you’re finished.”

Several seconds passed by. “The orders have been made sir,” Leonidas told him. That was affirmed when over the intercom his voice ordered the crew to evacuate.

“You’re coming with us Leonidas,” said Captain Brown. He pressed a button on the AI’s holgram pad and the chip popped out. “Didn’t want to give him time to protest,” the Captain said, grinning at the Spartans. He then held the chip to Jai. “You’re the only one that can make use of this for now 006. Take it.”

“Sir…” Jai began to protest.

“That’s an order Spartan,” said Captain Brown.

Jai nodded, taking the chip and inserting it into the TACPAD.

“Damn that Captain,” said Leonidas into Jai’s comm. He ignored the AI.

“Yes sir.”

“Now let’s get going crewmen,” the Captain said to the crew.

The crewmen on the bridge stood from their stations and crowded behind him. They all looked at the Spartans.

“Right,” said Jai. “Let’s move.”

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Edit: Cont.