Just Getting Started Chapter Three
Posted By: James Kinsella<jckinsella@redrunr.net>
Date: 30 March 2003, 6:37 PM
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Just Getting Started
Chapter Three
2011 Hours, September 11, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
Neutral Space Sol System
John opened the airlock. Cortana asked, "What if we miss?" As they flew out of the airlock John responded in his usual confident tone. "We won't." And with that they fell towards Earth. A Covenant cruiser loomed up beneath them and they fell faster towards it.
Cortana shouted, "Chief we're gonna hit that thing too fast! I hope you know what you're doing! I don't wanna die because of your arrogance."
John Responded by pulling out his SMG and doing exactly what James had told him. As he started firing the gun their momentum started to decrease. He kept shooting until he had emptied almost three clips. He then braced for impact.
The impact knocked his shields to half, but that wasn't the real problem. The problem was that he was three meters from the hull of the ship and the shield meant that he would soon slide off. He pulled a Lotus Anti-Tank mine off his back and set it on the surface with a timer of thirty seconds. John sort of skated away but not fast enough. The implosion blew him twenty meters. He used his SMG to propel him back towards the now 8 meter deep hole in the side of the ship. He chinned the control in his helmet that activated the magnetic boots. He then proceeded to open one of the doors that were in the hallway.
"Nicely done." Cortana said. "Only one problem. We are almost at the stern of the ship, and I need to be on the bridge to take control of this vessel. That means you've got a little over a kilometer of Covenant infested hallways to work your way through. I hope you planned for that eventuality."
"Relax, Cortana. Have I ever let you down before?" With that John opened the next door and opened fire. There were two grunts and a jackal, but they didn't last long at all. Their blood covered the wall and floor. He exchanged his almost depleted SMG for the Needler that the grunt had and checked the other grunt for ammunition. He also picked up the plasma grenades that the grunts had. As he moved into the next room he found a single elite. He emptied half a clip of needler ammo and watched calmly as the body flew to the ceiling with the explosion. He reloaded and moved to the next room.
This room seemed to be an ammunition depot because of the massive amount of small arms that were located here. Two Hunters also happened to be in the room. John knew the needles would just bounce off of their armor so he switched to his Battle Rifle. He found that the 9.5 caliber rounds seemed very effective against the Hunter's exposed belly and back. So effective that he only wasted four rounds on the pair. This was something he would have to remember. He went to the ammunition locker and pulled out all the diamond shaped needler magazines he could hold.
John continued in this vein of killing for quite some time, when Cortana finally reminded him of her presence. "It seems like you have things under control but we are just outside the bridge and their commanders probably have been informed of your presence by now. I recommend extreme caution."
John took this advice and picked up a fallen Plasma Rifle and added to his Battle Rifle and Needler. He walked quietly up to the next door and readied himself with a needler in his left hand and a Battle Rifle in his right hand. He used the rifle's muzzle to push the button that opened the door. The door opened to reveal a shocking sight; there were two of the much speculated Prophets floating about a meter above the floor. That was the normal part. There were four tall blue creatures that looked like they had taken a trip through a medieval armory.
They turned to face him and the Chief opened fire. The needles had absolutely no effect but the rifle made quick work of the first creature. John saw the familiar glow of a charging fuel rod gun and rolled forward. He threw away the needler and launched two grenades in the direction of the creatures. He jumped away as a bolt of plasma landed at his feet and watched as two of the creatures and both Prophets fell to the grenades. He opened fire on the last creature with his Plasma Rifle. It seemed to have a small effect. The creature ran at him and took a huge downward stroke with his left arm. The arm had a wicked blade attached that dropped John's shield immediately. John punched the creature in the gut with is left fist and shoved the rifle in his mouth. As the creature's face melted from plasma burn John heard a garbled death cry.
Calmly, as if the event hadn't happened, John walked up the ramp to the bridge and plugged Cortana's memory crystal onto a port at the base of the holo-projector.
"Nice to be able to stretch my legs again." Cortana said smugly "That was not a fun journey John, too much death." The Spartan shrugged as if it didn't matter to him. "I'm accessing their database now. Those creatures you killed in here are referred to as Brutes by the Covenant army. They are the Elite Guards of the Prophets. Before we get into details I'm going to vent atmosphere in all sections except the bridge for five minutes. That should give us some privacy."
"Chief, my mission parameters state that I have to find the Covenant Homeworld before I do anything else. I'll need cycle or two to crack the encryption. I'm going to send a message to all U.N.S.C. ships notifying them of this ship's new allegiance so they won't shoot us and then I'm going work on that encryption. Do whatever you want, but obviously don't leave this room."
Kind of Anti-Climatic but the next one will be full of interesting details; the Covenant homeworld's location, what happens to Earth, and more...
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