Deep below the skies (Halo 2: Chapter 15)
Posted By: Shadowrunner<mortenthenerd@hotmail.com>
Date: 13 January 2004, 9:51 PM
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Just a little note: Chapter 14 is already released, but I forgot to sign it as '(Halo 2: Chapter 14)', it's called Fall of Friends in case you're going to look for it. Just added this in case someone missed it.
The Master Chief, John -117, looked at the sad setting... So many dead. For what? For a piece of rock named Earth, conveniently housing the Human race? Or perhaps something else. Something deeper, more subtle. More important.
But it wouldn't help him worrying about it, he had no answers. On the other hand, he had to unlock the mystery behind the actions taken, even in his present form, he would never be able to turn the tide alone. Then he thought of his old suits; without their host they wouldn't be helping anyone, but there was no one trained, adapted, and with the right physical strength and size, to use any of them.
"John..."
The Master Chief was surprised, Cortana rarely mentioned his real name
"We have to go..." She continued.
"To where?" John -117 asked as a response.
"I think I have found something... You remember the ring at wich we found the Korrhra's armor?"
"I'm already beginning to dislike what you are saying, and besides, it's at least a couple of days of travel in slipspace"
"Until recently it was, yes."
Just as her last word was spoken, even more of the white dots appeared in space. Slipspace exits. They were not of covenant design. They were Gridi'n.
"There's our ride"
"Wait... I... I think..." As John said this he pulled out the small grain of sand, left by the mysterious white Cortana. As he held it in his hand, it was getting bigger until it was a pale white stone approximately the size of a ping-pong ball. "Very strange..." He could feel it in a way hard to describe. It felt like draving him in, but it akways eluded him just as he got close to the secret it harbored. Without any time considering his choice he pulled the slipspace control, and he was immidiately off towards Halo 001.
"INCOMIIING!" the shouting cut through the air like a needle into the ears of the sleeping marines. Jensen was battle ready in an instant, as Nebraska ran towards them, crying out the warning. "What is it?"
"The covenant sir, they seem to have located our position. They're moving in like prepared to start a new world war of their own!"
"Allright marines, whipe the sleep from your eyes ASAP, we have trouble for breakfast again!"
"Wonder why they're hitting us this hard..." Manderley said, obviouly fatigued from the long night.
John emerged in the Belisaurious system, next to planet Hecktor. "John, where the hell are we?"
"I don't know, it's not where I set our coordinates..."
"I'm starting to think there might be more to that white stone than the eye can behold..."
John didn't answer, instead he scanned the surface of Hecktor below him... There was human resistance left on the eastern hemisphere, close to where the map indicated an HQ. He immidiately raced the fighter down there.
While making contact with the atmosphere, Cortana slowly whispered: "On a pale horse, to the eye of Aaraan... The looking glass of the path to come"
"What?"
"Sorry, Chief" -she addresed him by his formal name once again- "Must've been a system malfunction... Utter nonsense"
"I suppose..." John was however not satisfied with the answer.
An orange line trailed overhead of the small human squad, running from the heavy scout groups dispatched by the covenant. From time to time they engaged some, but they were vastly outnumbered and mostly relied on speed and hit-and-run tactics. At the same time, they headed for HQ. They were now out of the trenches, and were running on the vast plains sorrounding the HQ, wich itself was a tall building positioned in a crater. "Come on! We're close!" Jensen barked. They sprinted all they could towards the forest that concealed the HQ to ground forces. As they charged into it, the sound of battle around them became blurred in the green woods. They kept it slow here, but didn't meet any resistance. "I guess HQ is clear" -said one of Jensen's 2 marines.
"I don't know, Sam... Maybe the covies are just real quiet". Even Jensen's morale was beginning to stretch thin. "This way" he added and they moved towards HQ
In the Gridi'n fighter, everything turned brightly orange the moment he hit the upper parts of the atmosphere. The fighter was very sturdy, and there would be minimal risk, even at this ultra high-speed approach. They needed to get to HQ as fast as possible, in order to save as many as possible. Cortana was linked with the controls, since they weren't fit for humans. "Malfunction in navigation and power distrobution relays..." John immidiately knew it was serious.
"Did we pass the heat threshhold of the shields?"
"No, I can't locate the error, we must get out now!" Cortana was stressed but John calmly opened the rear hatch. The hatch was torn off it's hinges, because of the extreme conditions outside. He barely kept himself from falling out. Cortana analyzed the scenario: "This course should make us fly right above HQ, maybe we can jump off there!"
"There are woods sorrounding that base, think they can cushen the landing?"
"At this speed it won't mean any difference... It's a tough call, we have to jump now!"
John leaped in the opposite direction of the fighter with all the strength he could gather. At first he was in the trail of the fighter with very low density of air, wich made the flight calm. But a split-second later he exited that safe zone and orange flames sorrounded his suit. The temperature was almost unchanged inside the suit, and he soon deccelerated to comprehensive speed. He was almost directly above the HQ, but still many miles in the air. He took a dive-like stance, and accelerated in his fall. He was now so close he could see details on the HQ building itself, and he started to spred his arms and legs in order to brake his speed. But the ground still lunged for him like a solid wall of death. Then he rolled so he had his legs beneath him.
Kauffman and Nebraska ran across the low grass the last way between the woods and the HQ, the other members were covering them. "Oy, what's that?" -Manderley noticed a trail of smoke above them. A brief moment it looked like it was splitting into 2 pieces, but the other one must have been small, it vanished. Kauffman and Nebraska were at the base and gave them the go-signal.
"We don't have time for meteors now, come on Manderley!" Jensen pulled him along before he could notice the bright white dot falling towards them.
—To be continued
By: Shadowrunner
"A thousand times we die, only for the sake of others to live. Be it comrade or enemy"
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