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Sarges Platoon, FINAL CHAPTER: The Fate of the Universe
Posted By: Bobby Lucas<Seawolf18509@yahoo.com>
Date: 6 February 2003, 12:39 am


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NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: I must warn you that some of the content in this chapter can be confusing if you have not read "The Fall Of Reach". I don't want to see anything in the 'Read/Post Comments' section saying "What the hell are you talking about" or some similar phrase.

SECTION 1: To the Autumn

LOCATION: DROPSHIP ECHO-419 / EN ROUTE TO THE PILLAR OF AUTUMN
TIME: 0312 HOURS SEPTEMBER 3, 2552 (Military Calendar)

      The dropship's engines roared as they accelerated over the desolate landscape. The sun was rising, and the sand in the air cast an orange glow as far as the eye could see. "The Covenant had taken the ship 2 days ago, and they're likely still there...are you guys serious about this?"
      "Yes, just stay on station until we find those aircraft. We can't let those...things get off this ring."
      "There are easier ways - we could just check every shuttle bay-"
      "No...look!" Tony stared out the back of the ship. The flood was running in the direction of the drop-ship. "Those things are already heading towards the Autumn. Checking every bay will take too long, I want to get this done ASAP.
      "Chances are that anything capable of flight was destroyed during the impact."
      "Just get us as close to the bridge as possible."

TIME: 0409 HOURS SEPTEMBER 3, 2552 (Military Calendar)

      The drop-ship flew over the scorched coastline, and a giant flooded gouge where the land has been ripped away by the Autumn. At the top of that canyon the squad awed at massive stern of the Pillar of Autumn, looking intact. The drop-ship approached the starboard side and turned, revealing that the Autumn's nose is hanging slightly off a massive cliff, and that the antennas along the bow have been bent and torn away. The entire bow has been burned badly; the metal is scarred. The drop-ship approached the bumblebee bays, and decelerated. "Okay, I'm going to put you in a escape pod bay. You can get to the bridge from there. I will remain on station. Good Luck!"

SECTION 2: ...and the Horse You Rode In On

LOCATION: THE PILLAR OF AUTUMN CRASH SITE
TIME: 0410 HOURS SEPTEMBER 3, 2552 (Military Calendar)

      Tony walked into the hall, followed by a group of 3 Marines. "God...It doesn't look like anything could've survived...let's go..." the entire squad was silent. They could not believe what happened to the Autumn. It looked like the aftermath of an inferno. The entire ship was quiet as a tomb, and the dust was still very thick, and the smell of rotting flesh was everywhere. "Ok...Be as quiet as possible, if the Covenant are here, maybe we can slip by them." The team walked down the hall, and through a maintenance duct, and eventually; the bridge.
      "Damn it...this isn't going to work...everything is destroyed..." said Dave in a hushed voice.
      "...The main view-screen is still relatively intact...maybe..." Thought Tony aloud. "You two..." Tony pointed at the two other Marines; Adam, and Lance. "You know how to operate the bridge controls?"
      "I do." said Lance.
      "Good...can you try to get the main screen up?"
      "I can try..." He sat in a chair, and started pushing buttons. Pretty soon the screen he was using flickered to life, but it was really scrambled, and nothing could be seen but static. "Okay..." After few more minutes, and the main screen lit up, except for a massive crack, it looked perfect. "Done!"
      "Great. Now find out what ships left the Autumn before the crash, and where they are."
      "Okay..." The picture on the main screen switched to a layout of the Autumn, showing every compartment, and binary was flashing across the bottom. Tony noticed that Lance kept looking at the screen, presumably so he can tell what he's doing. After a minute a list came into view, left of the layout, showing five items. "Okay...There is one Longsword in Launch Bay 7... 3 escape pods left...but are incapable of flying... and a pelican drop-ship in Hangar Number 3."
      "Okay...look for anything salvageable, weapons, tools, anything"
      "searching...Okay. There is still an armory that has weapons...near the engine room...and...that's it."
      "Okay...Let's get back to Foe Hammer. She can get us closer to the engine room, and that ammo."
      "No, Wait!"
      "What is it private?"
      "I found something...in Cryo-1..."
      "What?"
      "I don't know, but it must be important, because it's Classified Top Secret-Eyes Only"
      "Top Secret?! What the hell could be in a Cryo bay that's Top Secret?"
      "Hell if I know...wait...what if it's...yes! Sir, let's get down there!" Tony glanced at Adam, and Dave, who just shrugged.
      "What the hell is it?"
      "I think it's a Spartan!"
      "What?"
      "I think there was another Spartan on board, and they forgot to thaw it!"
      "You think?"
      "I know it sounds crazy, but it's TRUE!"
      "...You really think it's a Spartan?"
      "Yes."
      "Okay, but if it turns out to be some new kind of cryo-chamber, your ass is mine. Pelican Echo 419, come in."
      "You ready?"
      "No, we found something...and we'll be here for a while."
      "All right, but I have to warn you, those creatures are about 30 minutes from getting to the Autumn."
      "Damn...What are those things? They've been running all night."
      "The Covenant call them the 'Flood'..."
      "...Anyway, just wait."

SECTION 3: Reach

LOCATION: THE PILLAR OF AUTUMN CRASH SITE
TIME: 0430 HOURS SEPTEMBER 3, 2552 (Military Calendar)

      Gunfire could be heard throughout the ship. The bodies of Spec ops grunts were strewn all over the hall. They had an entire patrol surrounded. Tony, and Dave to one side, Adam, and Lance to the other. Plasma was flying everywhere, but they had great cover behind several piles of debris. A haze filled the air. The dead (and some of the living) grunts were leaking methane from there breathing gear. A plasma grenade hit one grunt in the face, and it was running blindly, and finally blew up, taking the rest of the patrol with him. "Yeah baby! It is so good to be the king!"
      "Shut up! All of you! Everything within 5 kilometers knows were here now...stack up at the door." The marines waited at either side of the door, 2 to a side, and Tony pressed the button to open it. The door slowly opened, revealing another hallway. In a corner blood was all over the wall, and smeared in a strait line as if something was pinned against it and slid down. At the bottom of the line, there lay a Marine, dried blood all over him, and some blood still seeping out of a hole in his chest. Tony walked over to him, kneeled down and took off his helmet, which fell down over his face, revealing a young soldier, no older 24. His eyes staring into nothing, and dried blood around his mouth. On the back of the helmet were the words Pvt. Robbins. He took out the video chip stored in his helmet, removed his own helmet, took out his own video chip, and inserted Pvt. Robbins', put his helmet on, and pressed a button on it. Using his neural implants, the chip transferred the data to his memory in a blink of an eye.

[Open Record View       ]
[Private Robbins, Christopher]
[PLAY>]


The view shifted to a smoking landscape, a city, completely deserted. Jackals, and grunts are fighting with Chris' squad, which from the point of view looked like about a hundred, the grunts ran from a grenade blast, but the jackals ignored it, and the splattered over the concrete. The grunt ran into an automotive factory. "No mercy!" Shouted a soldier to Chris's left, presumably a Sargent. "Move, move!"

[FFW>>]
[PLAY>]


Now it looked like a courtyard in a training area in Reach's Military Complex. The view paned left to a platoon of Spartans, about 9. The name on the closest one was clearly visible KELLY-087. A beautiful looking building stood in the background, labeled 'NAVEL OFFICERS ACADEMY'. The view panned to the corner of the building. As another group of Spartans, this time16-strong, ran around the building. "Covenant! Thousands of them!" Said a male Spartan.
"Where?" Said a Female.
"They will be here any second!"
"SHIT!! WE'RE SCREWED!!!" said someone to Chris's left. The view turned to the right, 12 Marines stood there, guns leveled at the corner of the building.
"Everyone, take defensive positions!" Said the Spartan again.
"The 'Camera' was shown running behind an arch, near the building entrance."
"Here they come..." said a voice in his head, he realized it was Chris'.
"Take them down now!" as the army rounded the corner gunfire broke out.

[FFW>>]
[PLAY>]

Chris was running , along with several Marines, and 7 Spartans, each carrying 3 or 4 dead or dying Spartans. They ran to a building, its massive doors opened, and the Spartans ran in, they turned around, put their comrades down, and started motioning to hurry up. "C'mon! C'MON!!!" Plasma bolts flew by, and hit the structure. The doors closed, and Chris' momentum forced him to slam into them, along with two other marines. He turned around, and millions of covenant soldiers came into view, Grunts, Jackals, Elites, Hunters, all charging towards him. Chris turned right, and began running again. Just then a pelican came into view, and Chris' hand reached out and caught the edge, and the two other Marines were holding on to his legs. He pulled himself up, and helped the other two in. After getting into the seats, the two others took their helmets off, each had the same names on the back Pvt. Robbins.

[FFW>>]
[PLAY>]


      The view changed to the inside of a white room. Not much could be seen, the helmet was on the floor. "Okay, just look straight ahead..." Then there was a loud scream...

[FFW>>]
[PLAY>]

The view now switched to a hallway, an elite above him, holding a plasma sword. "Fuck you!" and a line of spit flew into the Elite's face. It raised the sword, and drove it downward, but Chris rolled out of the way, picked up a plasma rifle, and began unloading it into the elite, draining its shields, and they faded out, soon the elites skin was burning through, but the gun overheated. He threw it at the elite, and picked up a shotgun, shot the elite, before a huge bolt of green plasma flew towards him, and hit him in the chest...static...

[>Unexpected Halt X (WND/INCAP/KIA/]

SECTION 4: The Second Spartan survivor

LOCATION: THE PILLAR OF AUTUMN CRASH SITE
TIME: 0433 HOURS SEPTEMBER 3, 2552 (Military Calendar)

      "I've seen it..." said Tony, with a tone of shock in his voice
      "What?" said Dave
      "I know where they are!"
      "You know where who is?"
      "The Spartans! They did survive! I saw it!"
      "Woah...you OK?"
      "Yes I'm OK! The Spartans got into the underground labs! The UNSC didn't know about it, because they brainwashed him...I think I know why... I know where they are! Now let's get to that Cryo bay! The others just looked at each other like Tony went nuts, but they still followed him to cryo bay A. After forcing the door open (blowing it open), they walked in. There was a single Spartan lying in the cryo-tube. The armor was melted away, and scorched in places but he could still read the writing on the helmet. Linda-||| The rest was burned beyond recognition.
      "...Let's get her out of there" said Adam
      "No, wait...She was left frozen for a reason...look at her...She doesn't look alive does she? They probably froze her so she would have more time to get to a hospital."
"So how do we get her off this ring without..."
      "...I don't know...The cryo-tubes are designed to be removed, but it weighs about a ton, and that suit weighs 5 tons at least!"
      "damn..." Adam said, "wait! We have some Mark I power suits in one of the hangar bays! The UNSC uses them to lift heavy objects..." Lance was shaking his head.
      "No way, they need a tremendous source of power, and there is nothing in here to power them, unless you get a massive extension cord." Dave was staring at a heap of covenant bodies.
      "you know how much power it takes to make plasma?" Everyone looked like they agreed to what Dave was proposing, except Tony
      "No, there is no way to get the power out of it, besides, who knows if it even uses a battery?" Dave picked up a plasma pistol, and began pushing buttons on the side. It began glowing, and he hurled it out of the room, just before it exploded, but Dave picked up another one, and a section of it flipped open, revealing what looked like a fusion core inside a clear cylinder, only it glowed bright green. "Hmm..." Dave took out his combat knife, and poked it. When it fell out, the light faded, and it just looked like a glass tube with a liquid inside. He picked it up, and put it in the pistol, and it glowed again. Then he took out his knife again and tapped it, and it fell out, and dimming. he took off his helmet, pulled a panel off, and took a battery out, the holographic targeting system faded away, put the plasma pistol core in, nothing happened. "Damn, it's too small..."
      "Here, try this." Said Adam while handing Dave a pair of copper wires. Dave tied them around the ends of the core, and then put them in the terminals. As soon as he connected the second wire, the core began to glow, and the holographic targeting system came into view, but it was blinding, and the copper wires were glowing white-hot. Everyone backed away, and then the core exploded.

SECTION 5: Mark I

LOCATION: THE PILLAR OF AUTUMN CRASH SITE
TIME: 0600 HOURS SEPTEMBER 3, 2552 (Military Calendar)

       Tony was in the armor. The power cores were more than enough for the suit. He walked into the cryo bay. Lance was in the 'control room' of the cryo bay, unlocking Linda's tube. Everything that was needed to sustain the freeze of Linda could be detached with the tube. Tony got a grip of the tube, and pulled it out. Then an explosion rattled the ship. This was the second of its kind, each occurring within a 3 minute period. Tony slowly carried the tube down the hall, which wasn't easy with the added size of the armor. Then a third explosion, this one had more intensity than the rest, the whole ship rocked. "what the hell is going on?!" said Tony as he got into a hangar, and walking over to a Pelican. Just then, a squad of covenant elites ran in, slightly shocked at the huge mass of the armor. They opened fire as Tony put the cryo tube into the ship. One bolt hit Tony's armor, causing it to malfunction. Sparks were flying from the armor, just before it exploded in a ball of flames. "YOU FUCKING BASTARDS" screamed Dave, while entering the Pelican. He was well trained with these ships, it was just a matter of being better with an assault rifle, and the UNSC having...'better' qualified pilots, and needing every soldier as possible. The engines roared to life, and the ship took off, not before the chain-guns slaughtered the elites, and flew out the open airlock. Right before an explosion shook the very core of the Autumn. "What was that?!" asked Adam. Dave responded "Hell if I know...Echo-419, come in, we found another ride! Suggest you get the hell out of here"
      "Negative, The Master Chief is down there!"
      "Holy shit...copy, don't stay there too long, the ship looks like it can blow any minute!"
The hatch closed, and the ship accelerated into space.

LOCATION: PELICAN DROPSHIP C-356 / 1,000 KILOMETERS AWAY FROM HALO
TIME: 0625 HOURS SEPTEMBER 3, 2552 (Military Calendar) [just after the destruction of Halo]

      "We're running dark. Be as quiet as possible. If anything did survive...we'll hide..." Everyone nodded at Dave's order. Little did they know that the only thing they were hiding from was a single Longsword fighter, and a fleet of UNSC Ships who will arrive in a few days...Little did they know that hiding may cause their own deaths, for the UNSC may not find them. Little did they know that the Spartan they saved may have been in vain...

THE END...?





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