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Halo Cataclysm by Snake Solid 117
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Halo Cataclysm: Prelude
Date: 18 December 2003, 6:59 AM
Prelude
-The Fall of the Forerunner-
Over one hundred thousand years ago, a race known now only as the Forerunner existed. The people were in jubilation; for their emperor had united all of the empire under one rule, and ended a civil war that had been plaguing them people for centuries. On the fringe of the Forerunner system of Kirrah, a planet entered its fifth night of celebration. The sky erupted in a brilliant display of lights as orbital flares exploded above, painting the night sky brilliant shades of blue, red and orange. However, the most brilliant sight was not that of the flares, nor of the shattered moon; it was the silhouette of the orbital construction scaffold, its guide lights revealing the true immensity of the structure.
As the festivities progressed, the military ships in orbit had all docked at the scaffold, as so the men and women aboard could see family and friends and enjoy some of the celebration. The Kar-Soban , the final military ship in orbit, began her final run. As she closed on the scaffolding, completing one last pass, her sensors lit up as five ships, of unknown design dropped from hyperspace; the ships slowed to a stop near the scaffold. The Kar-Soban attempted to hail the ships, but the unknown ships did not respond, so she began to close on the lead ship, to confirm if her crew was still alive. Suddenly, the unknown ships lights blinked on, and blue lights began to collect along the sides of each ship. The Kar-Soban then received a message, "The fire of the Gods." Then ships the launched wild blue lights upon the Kar-Soban , annihilating her in a blaze of blue plasma. The crowds below erupted in cheer at the sight of the brilliant blue flashes, oblivious to the atrocity above. With the Kar-Soban destroyed, and the only other active military ships on the other side of the planet, the unknown ships turned to the orbital scaffolding.
Blue flame flew from alien ships, melting away the hull of the scaffolding, incinerating her and her crew. Moments later the scaffolding tilted, as she began to lose orbital stability. The wounds of the scaffolding were to much and she was taken by the planets gravity well; and so she fell to the city below. The spectators soon became fully aware of what was occurring above them. The people of the city watched in horror as the scaffolding entered the atmosphere, her hull and form disintegrating as she fell form the heavens; then, moments later...impact. The massive structure of over three hundred million tons hit the capital. The resulting shockwave leveled building as far away as one hundred and fifty kilometers and sent dust and debris into orbit and the upper atmosphere. Over four million people died in the initial impact, crushed by the scaffolding. However, nothing compared to what followed. Before the dust created from the explosion could touch the sky, fire, blue fire began to rain from above; more than fifty unknown ships now floated in orbit, burning the planet to nothing but molten glass.
Word of the attack did not reach any of the other planets, for not a single soul survived to tell. It was not until four days later, when a transport arrived that the empire knew of what had happened. By then four more planets had fallen to this unknown threat, each one like the last, nothing left alive.
The first naval engagement was above the civilian world Kardesh, in the Teutan system. A large fleet of over three hundred of the unknown ships had amassed on the rim of the system, and engaged the planets advanced guard of one hundred and eighty-five ships. The Forerunner fell before their unknown enemy, they had been overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemy craft. The guard destroyed over two hundred seventy ships, no forerunner survived.
This continued on for over two hundred years, each side taking heavy losses, but despite this fact, the number of unknown ships in each battle grew. The forerunner began to lose battle after battle, at each defeat the planet burned to glass. Soon, only a handful of worlds remained. All fringe, or mid empire planets were evacuated and all fleets, resources, and people were moved to the core system. The final battle began two hundred and thirty years after the fall of Kirrah; above the Forerunner home world, Huur. The planet was defended by over fifteen hundred Elite Guard ships, twenty-two hundred standard naval ships and a massive planetary defense ring surrounding the planet.
The final battle began as the sun rose from behind Huur, the entire enemy armada visible to the naked eye as the star shone onto them. The Forerunner fleets sat in complete disbelief at the size of the enemies force. Over five thousand enemy vessels sat, just out of range of the rings long range magnetic cannons. After four hours at a stand-off, the enemy began its advance on the Forerunner home world. The first weapons to fire were the huge magnetic cannons on the ring. The rounds passed through the enemy lines, each destroying dozens of ships. As the enemy ships drew closer the missile destroyers and frigates fired upon the enemy, again, dozens of enemy ships fell the massive salvo. Finally, after nearly three hundred enemy ships fell the unknown ships fired their weapons; despite the loose control they had on these weapons, almost the entire front line of the Huuran defense fleet was wiped out. The battle carried on for nearly two days, neither side able to gain an advantage. For a while though, the Forerunner fleets began to push the them back, until the unknown forces brought in their final wave. The magnetic cannons of the ring fired on the final wave, but now, each round was only able to destroy one ship; a new type of coherent energy barrier shielded the final wave. The battle then tipped again, and the Forerunner fleets were forced fall back; not even the high powered energy weapons of the new forerunner cruisers could tip the tides again. In fear of losing everything, the Forerunner launched five colony ships, each one using a new type of hyperspace drive, they all jumped with opposite vectors, to different ends of the galaxy. The remaining forces covered the colony ships retreats as the unknown forces enveloped the Forerunner fleets, and destroyed Huur.
However, for the last of the Forerunner, tragedy did not stay away for long. Only two of the original five ships survived; the Karos and Siliim . Each of the ships was designed to continually jump around the galaxy until a suitable planet was found for the crew to inhabit. The crews of all the ships had to placed into cryogenic stasis, as the size of the galaxy, even with hyperspace technology, was massive, and could take thousands of years. Due to failures, malfunctions and natural events, it took the two surviving ships over ninety thousand years to fulfill their orders.
The Karos dropped from hyper space above a small, blue planet with a single satellite. The Karos orbited the planet for three days, scanning, and confirming that the planet was habitable. On the fourth day, as she began entry procedures, a small meteor shower collided with them. Nearly two hundred micro meteors tore through the bridge, and other weak area of the ship; armored areas such as the living areas were unharmed. Life support had been damaged, the command crew was dead, and access to the bridge was nearly impossible. More than eighty percent of the ships crew voted to leave the Karos and try to make it on the planet below. Soon after, with a small group of those who feared the planet and stayed, the Karos lost orbital stability and burned up as she entered the planets atmosphere, uncontrolled.
The Siliim however, was far more fortunate. They dropped out of hyperspace in a binary star system, above a large, blue planet, with a small, similar looking moon orbiting above. The Siliim landed on the plane without incident and the people quickly built a city, named Kardid, after the ship's captain who had died in an attempted mutiny during approach on the planet. Although much technical data was lost when the Siliim took hits from enemy fighters before she jumped; among the data lost being that of the locations and descriptions of their old planets, but the people still had enough to start their lives, almost where they had left off.
The two colonies both flourished on their new home worlds. As time went on, more and more began to forget their peoples past. After only three hundred and fifty knowledge of their true past was lost. Of the two, the Karos 's crew underwent the most drastic changes; the people named their planet, Earth; after the goddess of nature in a newly founded religion. Soon, the ways of their past completely faded: language, traditions, culture, and most importantly, any knowledge of what they once were. The reason for this complete loss of their past is due mainly to the loss of all records, the want to forget what had happened to them, and the lack of remnants of what was. Although the change in the Karos 's crew was severely drastic, the crew of the Siliim forgot little. They lost only the knowledge of what they were, who they were; they only remember they have been driven into exile by an unknown enemy, and wish to return home.
For the Earthling's, life was easy. The unknown forces didn't know of where they had gone, and thus thought them dead. The Siliim however, was not as fortunate. Four thousand years after the Forerunner's empire, the unknown forces appeared again, but this time they had a name; the Covenant. Even though the Siliim 's crew had advanced, their enemy had advanced more. When the first attack came, the defense fleets pushed them back with ease, but the second attack was much more successful. In the attack, more people died of suicide than anything else; they felt they had been condemned by their God, and found life meaningless. So, again, four thousand years later, the descendants of the Forerunner were forced into another exodus. They again launched five ships, each one with a distant, random vector; and for the second time in their history, the Forerunner were wiped out again. Of the five ships launched, only one ever was known to have survived; the Tiir .
The Tiir fell from her jump due to reactor failure, forcing her to follow the course using sub light drives. After a month of conventional space travel the Tiir came upon an incredible sight. A large planet, covered in emerald and azure lay before them. The most amazing sight was not that of the rich colors of the planet, nor that of the planets dual moons, it was that of a gigantic ring that surrounded the entire planet; a halo. The Tiir began her approach on the planet when her ECM (Electronic Counter Measures) systems alerted the crew of a weapons lock. An odd language blinked on, then scrolled across the bridges main screen; a message with a countdown. The Tiir attempted to turn but the timer reached zero before she could leave the "restricted zone". As she passed the ring, two bright yellow flashes flared off of the rings outer metallic surface. The Tiir lost all propulsion as a massive rail weapon blew through the engine bay, and the command crew was lost as a second round destroyed the bridge. Without propulsion or control, she was caught within the planets gravity well. Before she entered the planets atmosphere all of the surviving crew, with whatever information, technology, and personal belongings they cab carry, jettisoned themselves from the Tiir . Due to the emergency, none of the pods were given a "lead" pod to follow, and as the result, the pods scattered across the planet. A majority, over seventy percent, landed on land, while the other thirty landed in water, dying at sea.
Nearly half of a year after the cataclysmic event, all of the surviving crew had reunited. They found that they all needed one another in order to survive, and a leadership was quickly erected. The planet was named Gaalsia, which meant the "Garden of God". Nearly twenty years after planet fall, a capital christened Hanon rose above the landscape. The planets population had grown form only twenty million, to over one hundred fifty eight. While smaller cities had begun to grow beyond the capital, the capital city covered over two hundred square kilometers, and housed over seventy-five percent of the planets population. Nearly eighty years after planet fall they had ventured to the ring, and began exploration and settling. New technologies that had been found in the caverns lining the ring, as well as records, maps, and scattered biological information on the builders. This exploration went on for decades, but no matter how hard they tried, they were barred from over sixty percent of the rings core files, and almost seventy percent of its underlying caverns. Nonetheless, the data acquired from the upper sections of the tunnels allowed the Gaalsians to skip nearly three thousand years of research and development. Now, five hundred years after planet fall, or 500 A.P. (After Planet fall), they have now grown outwards, into the stars, and have again, like their ancestors, planted the seeds for an empire.
Earth too grew, building itself an empire. Although they are not as advanced and developed as the Gaalsians, they managed. However, they now meet a challenge that was more daunting then anything than they have ever experienced before. The Covenant have found the "final" remnants of a disease that was supposed to have been exterminated almost one hundred millennia ago. It is said history repeats itself, and this is true. This war began the same as the one fought over one hundred thousand years ago, but now, it has only been thirty-five years, and the Earths forces are almost in utter defeat; but fate plays in enigmatic ways.
After more than one hundred four thousand years apart, both remnants of the Forerunner will be brought together, to destroy the only enemy they have ever feared, or to fall to them and face complete annihilation at their hands. The ancient war that has never ended begins anew, and this cataclysm will cause the galaxy to shudder, for this will be the war to end all wars.
Halo Cataclysm: The Nexus (Chapter 001)
Date: 11 June 2004, 5:47 AM
-Chapter 001-
-The Nexus-
1304 Hours, September 16, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
UNSC Long Sword Interceptor, Location Unknown.
John lay asleep, his right hand firmly holding his M6D pistol. He swiftly rolled onto his left side, his armor clanking as he moved.
"Time to wake up." Seconds later the Long Sword's alarms began to wail. The Master Chief, startled from the sudden commotion, jumped up and instinctively whipped his pistol around. He checked the back of the interceptor, then checked his right and left as he cautiously backed into the cockpit, quickly shutting the doors.
"Cortana, Covenant?" Asked John as he sat in the pilot's chair. He re-ignited the crafts engines, and armed the twin, nose mounted 100mm chain cannons. Soon after he brought up the tactical radar display, but there area was clear. "Cortana, what is this, I've got nothing."
A faint giggle could be heard as Cortana popped up on the ships HUD (Heads Up Display). "Nothing, Chief," she said playfully, "I had been trying to wake you for the past 5 minutes, so I decided to use the only alarm clock on board," She rolled her eyes, smiled and looked back at chief, "Obviously it did the job."
Master Chief glared at Cortana, for her tactless approach to wakening him, "What did you wake me up for then?" He asked as he undid the seats safety harness and powered down the engines.
Cortana disappeared, a model of a UNSC looking Destroyer taking her place. "I picked this wreckage up a few minutes ago as I was scanning for Covenant." The ship shrank, and slid over to the upper left-hand corner of the pilot interface. Cortana re-appeared. "I thought that this was a UNSC ship until I did a more detailed scan. The ship is very similar except for the weapons, armor, and minute differences in hull design and construction, but from just taking a look at it, you wouldn't be able tell the difference."
Master Chief stood looking at the small model on the Interceptors HUD. "Are you sure it's not UNSC," He asked touching the screen, "It could just be a new design."
An annoyed look overcame Cortana's usually calm face and her data lines coursed Crimson instead of the usual, calm, Blue Violet. "Yes, I'm sure." she said, "This ship has different markings too." Cortana pulled down the model in front of her, enlarging it again, focusing mainly on the area around the bridge. "This ship is the Destroyer Nexus of the UPDI."
Master Chief looked over large hologram model. "So then," He said as he sat back down in pilot's chair, "What's our E.T.A.?"
Cortana pushed the model back into the corner of the interface again, "Twenty minutes and thirty-eight seconds." She smiled, placing her hands on her hips. She reminded him of Dr. Halsey, "but I could make it quicker." She said, winking.
John just looked at her and cracked a rare smile. "No that's fine, just get us as close to that ship as possible without firing the engines. I need time to prep my armor, weapons, and the rest of my gear."
Cortana cocked her head, "Are you going to board it?"
John turned and raised his right hand to grip the edge of the doorway as he turned back facing Cortana, "You wanted me too, right?" John said as he looked towards the back of the ship, "Anyway, I need too. I need to restock my supplies if possible, and I need to get a little exercise."
Cortana Smiled, "You do that. I need to find out our location if possible. Something tells me we're not in UNSC space anymore."
"Sir, we have located the Nexus, she's badly damaged but there is a good chance that there are survivors on board." A dark man in black held out a data pad, "Admiral Skye has already sent out the Deliverance to investigate."
A man in all black reached out a grasped the pad, "Thank you Colonel, that will be all, you are dismissed."
The man saluted. He stepped back and spun on his heals, facing the rooms door, "Sir, I do have one question though."
The man in black looked up from the data pad that was on his desk, "Yes?"
The man turned around, "What did that to the Nexus? I know of no weapon that can do damage like that." The Colonel moved his hands, trying to think, "It looked as is she was burned or melted down."
The man in black turned slightly to his right, his rank insignia catching the light, "The Covenant, Colonel?"
"Covenant, you mean a pact with god?"
"Not exactly."
"Then what-."
"That is all I can tell you Colonel." Answered the General as he lowered his gaze back too his desk, "I trust that you will keep this information to yourself."
"Yes, sir, of course." The Colonel saluted, then left the room.
The doors shut quickly, and the lights in the room dimmed. The only illumination in the whole room was from the data pad on the general's desk and a window behind him. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes, turning in his chair. He came to a stop, looking out the his window; a nearby star showing the worry on his face. He closed his eyes and looked down at his lap, "They're back. I just hope to God we are ready."
"Chief, we're here."
The Master Chief stood from his seat, and walked to the back of the spacecraft, "Cortana," He said as he made his way to the rear door of the Long Sword, checking his helmets locks to make sure they where air tight, "Ready?"
"Of course." She replied coolly.
Cortana opened the bay doors, "Now please, don't miss."
"I won't." replied John as he pushed off the floor, propelling himself towards the Nexus. He glided gracefully towards the derelict ship, leaving the safe confines of the Long Sword Interceptor.
"Careful, there is a lot of debris."
John acknowledged with a nod, keeping his attention on the ship. He threw his upper body back, and swung his feet around.
"Easy."
John hit the ship, and quickly grabbed the hull with his free hand, "Now what?" He asked, as he pulled himself in. A piece of the ships armor plating quickly floated passed, parts of it melted and charred. John secured his rifle behind his back, and grabbed the ship's hull with both hands
Cortana sighed, "I'm trying to get into the ships security systems."
John held tightly on to the ships hull, keeping a close eye out for danger, He was about to ask about her progress, when the ship suddenly shuddered. The violent quake caused him to lose his grip. John quickly seized a handle on the side of the ship, near a door. There was a long pause. The Master Chief waited, keeping a close watch on his suits O2 gauge."
"Ha, there." Said Cortana. "I'm in."
"Now would be a good time." Said John.
"Just give me a sec." Cortana hummed as she worked. The tune seemed familiar, but John couldn't finger it.
As John looked around, a flashing green button caught his eye. John began to reach for it, then stopped short, "Are you sure it's safe?"
"Why, are you scared?" Asked Cortana, surprised.
John shook his head, "I just don't want to take stupid risks, not now."
Cortana agreed silently, "Well, it's safe."
John tapped the button quickly, but nothing happened, "Broken?"
He waited in silence. He was about to press the button again when his COM clicked, "This area is currently pressurized, but no personnel are located within this section. Do you wish to depressurize?"
"Amazing, the ships backup A.I. is still operational," Cortana paused for a moment, "And it speaks English too." she said quietly.
"Awaiting order." Toned the ship's A.I.
John pulled himself over to the right of the door, "Open it."
"Affirmative, emergency opening of Airlock 38E. Atmospheric purge initiated."
John's eyes widened, "Purge?"
The door's lights started flashed between red and green, "All personnel, stand clear." The door's light locked on green, then opened. The atmosphere exploded out of the ship's airlock, slamming into John.
John swung his left arm into the door, just barely getting a grip on the edge as a large container flew past.
"Chief, hurry, get us in!" Yelled Cortana.
The Master Chief grabbed the upper section of the door; the pressure of the airlock was whipping against the chief, making maneuvering in zero gravity almost impossible. He grabbed at a bar on the halls wall, and was able to pull himself in.
"Atmosphere levels at critical, emergency closure of airlock 38E, all personnel stand clear." Lights on the doors flashed between green to red, then locked on red. The door flew closed, sealing it off from the vacuum of space.
The sudden lack of suction, placed the Master Chief under the power of the ship's artificial gravity. "Damn." Was all John muttered before he dropped 2 meters to the deck below.
"It wasn't my fault this time." Said Cortana, trying to keep from laughing.
John stood up and shook his head, "That's twice".
The ship's voice popped back into the Chief's headset, "The atmosphere in this area is at 25%, if you wish to access other areas safely, you must first re-pressurize this area."
"Do it." Said Cortana.
"Affirmative." Responded the ship.
The Master Chief could hear the atmosphere being vented in. He watched as a gauge on his HUD read the level rise: 40%,78%. In a matter of seconds. It finally came to a rest at 89%.
"Area re-pressurized to maximum capability, you may now safely access the adjacent sections."
John walked over to the nearest blast door, "Cortana, is it locked?"
"No, just press the buttons I have highlighted on your HUD."
John reached out and depressed the button.
Another voice echoed in his helmet, this one was a deeper male sounding voice, "Opening emergency blast door 40E. All personnel stand clear."
The Master Chief stepped back, and raised his rifle butt to his shoulder and leveled it at the height of an Elites chest.
"Blast door, clear. Opening." With that the black door opened. John watched as the door sections parted. There was a slight rush of air as the door opened. One part of the door opened into the left wall, another into the right and a third into the ceiling. On the other side was another door composed of a clear ceramic composite. The large door then rose into the ceiling, giving the Chief access to the hall.
"That look familiar?" Asked John.
"The doors off of the halo. They ran at the same speed, exact same design, but these doors ran smoother than the ones on the ring." Cortana gasped, "Do you think?"
"Can't be. I think we're probably jumping to conclusions" Responded John as the trisection and ceramic doors locked into the ships hull, exposing a long hall around a right hand turn. John jumped out from around the corner, scanning for movement, "Besides, even If these where the same people, they would be far more advanced than this, right?"
"I suppose so." Responded Cortana, "But there could be reasons. Maybe they know where other rings are, they could have taken the tech."
"Probably, Guilty Spark said that he was monitoring the fourth installation." Added John as he came to the end of the hall, "Cortana, are you picking up any movement, any at all?" John listened as 2 clicks happened in quick succession.
"I'm having trouble getting into the ships Computer Core, whatever defenses they've got up; it's anticipating everything I do." Cortana grumbled, "It has to be some form of highly advanced A.I., that's the only explanation."
John sighed slightly and looked around the hallway, examining his surroundings, "It looks so much like a UNSC ship."
"I know, very..." Cortana searched for the appropriate word, "Creepy." The door before John suddenly clicked, the slid open, "There you go."
John quickly moved through the doorway and followed the hall to a small turn. Around the corner John looked to his left, watching a nearby Nebula spin lazily in the space, "So many windows for a war ship."
"Access Granted, you are now clear to access any and all of the ship's data and systems." Announced the ships cool voice.
"Got the damned thing. It took longer than I anticipated but I got it. I'll pull up the ship wide heat and motion trackers." Seconds later a 3-D model blinked onto John's HUD, "There, the sensors should be relaying you data...now." Suddenly the diagram was filled with red and yellow areas, "The yellow sections are areas with movements, and the red are heat."
"Good." Said John as he looked closely at the model, "See if you can find out where we are?"
Cortana laughed, "Hold on." Said Cortana as she worked, "You wouldn't believe the size of this ship's core, massive is an understatement."
"Now all I need are rations." John said to himself. He watched the model very closely and a bright red area near him caught his eye, "Cortana."
"Yes, what do you need?"
"Can you only show signatures for living objects?"
"Let us see." Cortana hummed as she worked through the computer, "There." More than half of the red areas blinked off, as did many of the motions sensors pings, "I got rid of what I could, but you have to admit, that is really going narrow your search."
John nodded, "Just close in on my location though."
"No problem." Cortana quickly did so. The diagram grew and zoomed in on the lower decks and the Chief. John suddenly stopped walking, and looked over his right shoulder. "Something wrong?" Asked Cortana.
"I thought I saw something, on the tracker." John's left hand raised as he pointed to a set of double doors, above which read, Mess Hall.
"Are you sure, I didn't detect anything," replied Cortana.
"It wouldn't hurt to check." said John as he neared the doors.
"Careful though, it might be an ambush."
"I know." He replied as he closed on the doors. John stopped a meter form the door, "Cortana, is it locked down?" He asked as he pushed on the door.
"No. The system shows it unlocked and green." Cortana paused for a moment, "They should have opened."
John stepped back from the doors and leveled his rifle at the doors center. John rushed towards the door and kicked open the small door with relative ease. He stepped in quickly and scanned the room, "Nothing." John stood in the doorway momentarily, making a final check.
"Wait, listen." Said Cortana as she raised the sensitivity of the armor's audio detection gear.
A subtle shaking of metal, and series of quick breaths could be heard resonating from behind the messes buffet bar.
"That is definitely not Covenant," said Cortana.
"Stay away!" Yelled the man from behind bar. He jumped up and leveled his assault rifle at John's chest, "Don't come any closer!" The man hand's had a death grip on his rifle; his knuckles were white. After a moment, the man's eyes turned from fear and hatred to happiness. He lowered his weapon, and stared at John,
John lowered his weapon as well and cocked his head at the man, "Who are you, and what happened here?"
A nervous laughed escaped the man's lips. He cautiously looked around the room, then back to the Chief. He drew in a deep breath then snapped to attention, accompanied with a clean, crisp salute, from a very shaky hand, "Lieutenant Garland, Sir." His stance eased as he lowered his hand, "It's so good to see another face," He paused, "Erm, person." The man looked around nervously "You didn't see any more of them did you?"
John cocked his head, "Any what?"
"Boarding troops. One of the attacking cruisers launched about twenty to thirty of these 'U' shaped transports." Garland looked around, "I killed a bunch of these little orange and blue things," Said Garland, holding his hand about a meter and a half above the deck, "but there was this tall one, wearing all gold armor. I emptied an entire clip at the damned thing and it just wouldn't die; I think it had some sort of energy shield." Garland looked over his left shoulder and sat down on one of the benches to one of the many tables in the room, "So, I brandished an empty rocket casing and scared it into an airlock down the hall." He pointed to the direction the Chief came from, "I secured the bastard in there and blew the room," Garland smiled, "The only pieces left are no larger than my head."
"How many of those tall ones did you encounter?" Asked John.
"Two. A blue one, it wasn't easy but it went down. It was that damned Gold thing, that fucking thing just laughed at me."
John looked at his radar, more motion pings appeared in a small storage room down the hall. John's eyes moved back over to the man, "What's in that room down the hall?" He motioned to the room with his head.
Garland looked up from the floor, "I locked it, I heard some noises in their, but all attempts at communication where met with scratching and yelling." He shook his head, "Either the person in there is mad, or it's the last of the boarding troops."
John turned and looked over his left shoulder, towards the airlock. John slid back the bolt to his chamber slightly, to confirm a bullet was loaded, "Can you unlock it?"
Garland shook his head, "Why, are you going in?"
John looked over at Garland and nodded.
"Great." Said Garland as he stood. He grabbed his rifle and fed it a new clip.
"No, you stay here." Said John, as he pushed the man down into his seat.
"What? Hey, I watched these ass holes drop out of nowhere, board this ship and slaughter anybody they could find. Hell, I watched one of my friends get gutted by those damned midget...things." The man jumped up into John's face, "I going."
John placed his hand on the man's shoulder and pushed him back into his seat, "No."
Garland just stared at the chief as he left the room, "Sir, what the hell should I do then?"
John turned his head slightly as he walked, "Stay alive."
"What...what the hell kind of order is that?" Yelled Garland. He looked around the room and kicked the adjacent table, "Goddamn it. I hate these special forces guys."
"Chief, do you really think that that was a good idea?" Asked Cortana as John proceeded down the hall.
"He should be safe there." He responded. As he walked down the corridor, the ship shuddered violently, nearly knocking him to the floor. "Cortana?"
"That wasn't me, something outside, something big."
John pushed off of the wall he was using for support, "Any idea..."John paused for a second, "Maybe the Covenant came back?"
"No, the signature resembles nothing that I have seen before." Cortana lay silent for a moment, "Impossible."
"Sir, what the hell was that?" Yelled Garland from the Mess hall.
"I don't know, check it out." Yelled back John as he motioned towards a window.
Garland walked out of the Mess hall and over to a huge window; armored shutters half closed over it.
"What is it?" Asked John.
Garland looked over at the chief, a wide smile on his face, "The Deliverance."
A man in all black stood near the center of a dark, circular room. The wall before him displayed the Nexus, via cameras on the exterior of the ship. The solitary figure coughed, then crossed his arms over his chest, "Well, she looks to be in good shape, considering what she has been through."
"The info from the scan is now on screen Captain Grieves." Announced a disembodied voice.
A large, 3-D holographic diagram blinked up in front of the Captain, light showered onto his impassive face and graying hair. His uniforms front now coated in an iridescent blue-green glow. The man uncrossed his arms, and placed them behind his back. Letters began to scroll across the screen, each grouped to a certain location on the holographic model of the Nexus.
"It's her alright" Said the voice, "However, that was not all I found."
The man looked over his left shoulder, "What else did you find Ava?"
A woman stepped out of the shadows. She walked over, and stopped next to the Captain. She paused, then raised her hand to and brushed some hair out of her face, "Maybe nothing, but,"
"The man looked at her, his eyes narrowed, 'But', what?"
The Nexus quickly disintegrated. A small dot floated in the middle of the room, "This." The dot expanded, a hologram of the Long Sword defined itself.
"A bomber?" Asked Grieves.
"It is similar to our heavy bomber, but it's engines are underpowered, the armor is of inferior quality, and the weapons onboard are not in commercial use anymore."
"In other words, it's useless."
"A little."
Grieves turned to face Ava, his Captain's insignia catching what little light it could, "Then why show me?"
"I figured maybe it was a terrorist's?"
He looked down at the floor, then back over to the Nexus, "Not even the terrorists would use equipment of that quality." He said pointing to the Long Sword.
"You make it sound as though it is completely useless."
"For any practical military purpose, it is." The Captain brought his arms back up, and crossed them over his chest, "Show me the Nexus again."
The Nexus blinked up again, and began to spin lazily in the middle of the room.
"Are the boarding teams ready?"
Ava nodded, "Yes, Captain. The Marines have five, six man teams standing by."
"Good, good." Said Grieves to him self, "What about Master Sergeant Hayter?"
Ava looked over at the Captain, "You mean the Sentinel?"
"Yes." Responded Grieves
"He just finished getting suited up and checking his equipment, he should be in the hangar in about five minutes."
Grieves nodded.
Suddenly the Nexus dissipated and a man's face appeared, "Sir, this is Major Spiegel, I'm ready. The Master Sergeant has just arrived, permission to proceed with the boarding?"
"Yes Major, permission granted." Said Grieves, as he quickly raised his hand to a salute, "Good luck Major."
"Thank you, sir."
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