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Spartan-147 by ShadowSnipe
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Spartan-147 Part 1
Date: 21 April 2004, 1:39 PM
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ____________________________
First I would like to thank Bungie for making such a great game and for even considering a sequel to that great game.
Second I would like to thank the authors of the Halo books. Eric Nylund and William Dietz. Thanks for writing some awesome books that inspired me to write this Fan Fiction.
And last but not least, you guys reading this right now. Thanks for reading it. And please email me if you find anything wrong with the story like if the Spartan number is taken or anything like that.
This Fan-Fic will link up with the book Halo: First Strike at times. Enjoy.
____________________________________________________________
Prologue__________________________________
0200 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar)
UNSC Research Facility, Beta Andretti System near
Epsilon Eridani system.
"Alright Eric, the new A.I. has been integrated into your MJOLNIR armor." said the doctor. Just then, Eric heard a male voice in his helmet. "Hello, sir, I am Aidri, I will be assisting you from now on."Well, thats good to know, I guess." said Eric.
"So, what makes you different from shipboard A.I.s?"
"Well, sir, I differ from shipboard A.I.s in a number of ways, I have a longer lifespan than my shipboard counterparts, and I have a complete Covenant database including soldiers reports of all Covenant encounters in UNSC history as well as a complete database of every Covenant species, ship class, strength and weakness as well as all of their tactics known to date."
"Oh, well that's good."
Eric got up from the chair that he was seated in and said "Thanks doc, if that's all you needed I'll be on my way now."
"Goodbye." the doctor said. Eric headed to the docking bay to get on the Pelican that was waiting for him, to take him back to the Augustus. After a short walk through the Space Stations corridors Eric arrived at the docking bay and boarded the Pelican.
"Alright, we're all done here, let's head back the Augustus."
"Sure thing, strap yourself in and we'll be on our way." said the pilot.
"I prefer to stand."
Suddenly the Pelican lifted off the ground. The inertia nearly knocked Eric down but he quickly braced himself against the side of the Pelican. The Pelican slowly swiveled in mid air, turning toward the docking bay entrance. Then, with a burst, the Pelican rocketed for the docking bay door. Eric held on to prevent himself from getting knocked over.
"Told you to sit down." said the pilot. Eric adjusted to the speed and sat down.
"ETA five minutes."
"Roger." said Eric. Eric couldn't get used to the cold feeling pulsing through his head but tried to shake it off.
"So, Aidri, was it? How much longer is your life span than the shipboard A.I.s?"
"My lifespan is a total of 15 Earth years in length, which is about twice as long as normal ship-board A.I.'s life spans."
"Docking in ten." shouted the pilot.
Eric stood and readied himself to step off the Pelican.
"Five....Four...Three...Two..." The Pelican then came to a halt and Eric stepped down onto the platform. Eric moved down the hallway and stopped at a split in the corridor. "If you are headed to the Bridge, it's to your right , sir."
"I knew that." Eric said with a hint of irratation in his voice. Sensing the irritation, Aidri stated "Remember , sir, I'm here to assist you."
" I know." Eric replied and then added "Open a COM frequency to the Bridge."
"Done." stated the A.I.
"Captain, this is SPARTAN-147 , I'm back aboard the [italic]Augustus[/italic], I'm headed to the Bridge, let's get out of here."
"Right away." The Captain then gave the order and they entered Slip space.
____________________________________________________________
Section 0__________________________________
REACH
Time: 0600 hours, Date: August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Location: Planet Reach, UNSC Vessel Augustus , Epsilon Eridani system aproaching UNSC Vessel Pillar of Autumn near Reach Station Gamma.
"UNSC vessel Pillar of Autumn, this is the Augustus, we have SPARTAN-147 and we are ready to send him over, do you read?" said the Captain over the COM.
"We read you Augustus, send him over." said Captain Keyes.
"Right away, Augustus out."
"They're waiting for you over there." said the Captian to the armored Spartan.
"Affirmative, I'll be on my way then." said Eric.
Eric turned around and walked toward the door.
"Eric."
Eric halted at the door.
"Yes, sir."
"Do your best." said the Captain.
"Always." replied Eric.
Eric continued to the docking bay, hopped in the Pelican that was waiting there for him and said "Let's get going, I don't wanna be late."
"Roger, sir, I'll have you over there in two shakes." said the Pilot.
The pelican slowly undocked from the platform and headed out of the docking bay.
"We'll be docking in about a minute and a half, sir."
"Good."
The Pelican slowly approached the Pillar of Autumn's docking bay and finally, docked.
Eric jumped out of the Pelican and headed over to his fellow Spartans.
"It's about time you got here." SPARTAN-087-Kelly said over a private COM channel.
"So what's the new enhancement they gave you?" Kelly asked.
"Some kind of new A.I. construct."
"I'm not just another A.I. you know." Aidri says.
"I apologize, he's not just another A.I., he is the first of a new suit based A.I."
"Thank you." says Aidri.
Eric noticed SPARTAN-104-Fred, sitting in a corner of the docking bay , twirling his combat knife around in the air and SPARTAN-117-John, talking to Captain Keyes on the COM Panel nearby.
" Fred seems nervous, did something happen? Eric asked Kelly.
"No, it's probably just the pre-mission jitters."
Fred balanced the knife on the end of his finger, A subtle shift in the Pillar of Autumn's gravity caused the knife to tip. Fred plucked it from the air and sheathed it.
Eric was listening to the conversation between John and Captain Keyes. John had taken on another mission, to wipe the NAV database of a UNSC ship that was abandoned that the crew had forgotten to.
Eric was ready to volunteer for the Op but Kelly beat him to it.
"Master Chief." she said, "Permission to lead the space op."
"Denied." he said. "I'll be leading that one."
"Linda and James, your with me." Fred, you're Red team leader. You'll have tactical command of the ground operation.
"Yes, sir."
"Now make ready, we don't have much time left." the Master Chief said.
Kelly called out "Attention!" The soldiers gave the Master Chief a crisp salute which was promptly returned.
Fred barked "Let's move Spartans! I want gear stowed in ninety seconds, and final prep in five minutes." He told Joshua to get some Intel from Cortana, the shipboard A.I.. Just then, a stray energy burst streaked into the landing bay.
All the Spartans loaded onto the Pelican, there wasn't any room to move because every inch of the troop bay was occupied by the twenty-seven Spartans.
The Pelican's thruster ignited and the Pelican balanced for a moment on a column of blue-white fire, and shot out of the launch bay with break neck speed.
Five seconds later, energy burst from the Covenant vessels streaked across their vector and impacted on a COMsat station.
"Better hang on." Mitchell announced to his passengers. "Company's coming."
A squad of Seraph fighters fell into tight formation and headed for the Dropship.
The Pelican sped up and they plummeted toward the surface of Reach.
"Bravo One to Knife Two-Six, I could a little help here."
Mitchell rolled the Pelican to port to avoid a hunk of wreckage from a patrol cutter.
Eric noticed the insigne: UNSC Lexington. He remembered that he and a few other Spartans had conducted a training exercise on that vessel a few years ago.
Eric watched the what's left of the Lexington collide with another piece wreckage.
"Bravo One to Knife Two-Six, where the hell are you? Mitchell yelled over the COM.
Eric noticed a quartet of wedge-shaped, angular fighters slotted into covering position behind and above the Pelican-Longswords, heavy fighters.
"Knife Two-Six to Bravo-One, keep your pants on. Business is good today." As soon as the Longswords came into covering position, a squad of Seraph fighters opened up with a barrage of Plasma fire.
Three of the Longswords peeled off to engage the enemy. The Pelican and it's lone escort shot past wreckage of UNSC ships and headed for the planet's surface.
They entered the atmosphere, flames shot across the dropship's nose and the Pelican jounced side to side.
"Bravo-one, adjust attack angle." The longsword pilot advised. "You're coming in too hot."
"Negative." Mitchell said. "We're getting to the surface fast or we're not getting there at all."
Enemy contacts on my scopes at four by three o'clock. A dozen more fighters fired their engines and angled toward the two descending ships.
"Affirmative: four by three, got 'em. Bravo-One, Give 'em hell down there."
The longsword broke off and engaged the enemies. The Pelican opened the intake valves and ignited afterburners, plummeting toward the ground at thirteen hundred meters per second.
Fred barked over the COM "Brace yourselves." He had just broadcast on FLEETCOM 7 which meant he had spammed every UNSC vessel in range.
"We'll get that COM malfunction squared away after we get planet side." said Kelly.
UNSC High command never sent Spartans on "Easy" missions. Their mission this time was to get groundside and protect the generators that powered the Orbital MAC cannons.
The fleet was getting ripped to shreds in space and the only thing keeping the Covenant from overrunning their lines and taking Reach was the MAC guns.
Finally the Pelican angled and gravity set in.
"Rough ride ahead." the pilot warned.
The Pelican rolled into a tight turn.
A crate broke it's straps and bounced across the troop bay and was pinned against the wall by the force of the tight turn. The COM channel blasted static and resolved into the voice of the Longsword pilot. "Bravo-One, this is Knife Two-Six, engaging enemy fighters. Am taking heavy incoming fire---." The channel was abruptly swallowed in static.
The dropship lurched to port and Eric noticed five Seraph fighters hot on their tail.
"Gotta shake 'em, Hang on." the pilot screamed.
The Pelican pitched forward and her engines blasted in full overload. The dropships stabilizers tore away and sent the Pelican into a violent spin.
The Spartans grabbed hold of the cross beams above their heads as their gear was tossed about in the troop bay.
"It's gonna be a helluva hot drop Spartans, hang on." their pilot hissed over the COM. "Autopilot's programmed to angle. Reverse thrusters. Gees are taking me out, I'll--"
A flash of light outlined the cockpit hatch, and the shock proof glass shattered into the passengers compartment.
The pilots biomonitor flat-lined. SPARTAN-029-Joshua , pulled himself into the cockpit and looked around. "Plasma Blast." he said. "I'll reroute control to the terminal here."
With his right hand, he furiously tapped commands onto the keyboard mounted on the wall. He held onto the bulkhead with his left hand.
Kelly crawled along the starboard frame, held there by the violent spinning of the out of control Pelican. She punched a keypad priming the explosive bolts on the drop hatch. "Fire in the Hole!" she yelled.
The Spartans braced.
The hatch exploded and whipped away from the plummeting craft. Eric was just inside the craft trying not to be flung from it. The Covenant Seraph fighters fired their lasers, but the energy scattered in the wake of the super-heated dropping Pelican.
One of the fighters tumbled out of control, too deep in the atmosphere to easily maneuver. The others arced up back into space.
"Too hot for them." Kelly said. "We're on our own."
"Joshua." Fred called out. "Report."
"The autopilot's gone, and cockpit controls are offline." Joshua answered. "I can counter the spin with thrusters." He tapped in a command. The port thrusters fired and the ship's rolling slowly ceased.
"Can we land?" Fred asked. "Negative." Joshua answered.
"The computer has no solution for our inbound vector." He tapped furiously at the keyboard. "I'll buy as much time as I can."
They had no parasails or drop capsules which left them with one simple choice. They could ride this bird straight into hell or they could jump.
"Get ready for a fast drop." Fred shouted.
"Grab your gear, pump your suits' hydrostatic gel to maximum pressure. Suck it up Spartans---we're landing hard."
The Spartans with all their special augmentations might be enough to withstand a high speed crash landing. . . . but not a supersonic impact.
If Joshua couldn't slow the Pelicans descent---they'd be paste.
"Twelve-thousand meters to go." Kelly shouted.
"Ready and aft." Fred told the Spartans. "Jump on my mark."
The Spartans grabbed their gear and moved toward the aft hatch. The Pelican's engines screamed and pulsed as Joshua angled the thruster cams into reverse position.
The deceleration pulled at the Spartans, and everybody made or grabbed a handhold.
Joshua brought the craft's flaps to bear, the Pelican's nose snapped up. A sonic boom rippled through the craft as it dropped below Mach 1.
"Eight kilometers and this brick is still dropping fast." Kelly called out.
"Joshua, get aft." Fred ordered.
"Affirmative." Joshua replied.
Fred set his armored glove on the wall of the craft as if he was will it to hold together a little longer.
It didn't work. The port engine exploded, and the Pelican tumbled out of control.
Kelly and the Spartans near the aft hatch dropped out.
No more time.
"Jump," Fred shouted. "Spartans, Go, go, go."
The rest of the Spartans crawled aft.
Eric was one of the last ones to jump, just as Eric jumped, the starboard engine blew, throwing Eric away from the craft as well as the rest of the Spartans, knocking him unconscious.
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