Check Please, Part II- Teaser
Posted By: Kellen Squire<squire@coronafilm.biz>
Date: 15 August 2002, 5:25 pm
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DEEP INTERGALACTIC SPACE
SEPTEMBER 1, 2552
1733 UNIVERSAL STANDARD TIME
Among the darkness, something moved.
It was slow, travelling merely a fraction of the speed of light. Already painted black, it was almost entirely lost amongst the darkness.
But for one, glowing portal, through which light shone brightly.
"Chief?" A moment's pause.
"Yes, Cortana?"
"We are now safely outside the system's gravity well... we can make the jump into slipspace whenever you're ready."
"The engines won't overheat?"
"No... well, at least not in the time it'll take us to accellerate to jumpspeed."
"How long will it take us to get there?"
Cortana was silent.
"Cortana?" No response. "Cortana!"
"It'll take us a little over three months to get there, Chief... these fighters weren't built for long-range intergalactic travel, you're lucky that they even put Slipspace engines in these fighters! Otherwise, it'd be you, me, and hard vaccum cruising for a long, long time.
"There are some emergency rations on board, in the crew survival packs... and there's plenty of water from the emergency maneuvering jets and fuel cells. But... but I don't think you'll be able to make it the whole three months it will take us to get to Sanctuary."
Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, United Nations Space Command, saw, for the first time in his entire life, his mortality. He'd never thought of it before. Never contemplated it before a mission- the only outcome a mission could have was success.
But now he saw it, clear as day.
And he wasn't afraid.
Without another word, he tapped a button on the console in front of him. The Broadsword fighter responded immediately, engines powering up to full, their velocity increasing until it was an appreciable fraction of the speed of light- and then, blackness, once again, only this time the glimmer of nearby stars was gone.
Complete nothingness.
The Master Chief was on his way.
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