- Spartan117 unlim
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- Exalted Heroic Member
Chapter 1, Part 3
0913 HOURS, OCTOBER 20, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR)
ABOARD CAIRO SPACE STATION, ORBITING EARTH
The Master Chief ran out of the bridge and down a set of stairs to where one of the many weapons lockers in the stations was. When there, he grabbed a submachine gun and a BR55, essentially a MA5B assault rifle with a longer barrel, an automatic zoom, and a muzzle shroud. The drawback was that the weapon only fired three rounds at a time, and the clip size was greatly reduced, only carrying 36 rounds to the MA5B's 60. As he made contact with the weapon, the familiar targeting symbol on his HUD appeared.
As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he heard a transmission from Cortana to the Malta. "How's it going, Malta?"
"Stand by... they're latched!" came the response from the Malta, indicating the Covenant had boarded. "Check your targets, watch the crossfire. They're in standard formation, little guys up front, big guys in the back. Good luck, Cairo," he added.
The Chief switched to his SMG, to take out any Elites that came through. He already had a strategy. He would use the SMG to take out the Elites, because they would need the most firepower to take down. When he came to a squad of Grunts, he would switch to his BR55, which would easily take out their methane breath masks without wasting ammo.
He saw Johnson take a turret to the top of the stairs, so he went to the front shield, to avoid getting hit in the crossfire. As he took his position, he saw a Covenant boarding ship come toward the Cairo. He heard the rumble as it latched onto the ship. A few seconds later, he saw sparks forming on the door. The door came loose, and he started firing. After the Grunts and Elites want down, he went to where another squad was forming. He dispatched them quickly, with the help of a Marine using a turret. "Thanks," he said as he turned toward the stairs.
"No problem, Chief," the Marine said. As the Chief went by he noticed plasma burns on the Marine's arm. He didn't know the effect he had on morale in the UNSC. The Marines practically admired him.
The Chief entered the first hangar. He found a few of each type of gernades and saved thos for later. After he had finished off the waves of boarders, he heard a Marine say "Look, the Malta's already driven off their borders."
Cortana asked "Malta, what is your status, over."
The man operating communications answered "I don't believe it. They're retreating, we won!" The Chief didn't expect so. The Covenant never ran away. He almost wished he were wrong as the Malta blew up before his eyes.
Just as if on cue, the hangar door blew open, and Elites and Grunts came running out. Master Chief decided to use his gernades and stuck an Elite with a plasma gernade. The explosion caused a few plasma gernades the Elite was carrying to react to the unexpected disturbance, effectively wiping out the whole bunch. The Chief followed the corridor to the second hangar. He immediately saw the plasma of the Covenant light turret. The Chief took his Battle rifle out and activated the zoom. He took the Grunts operating the turrets out and continued on to the main hangar area.
After dispatching the boarding group, a Marine said nervously "Uh oh, I think they're leaving the Athens." The Chief turned toward the window to see if they were and if so, what would happen.
The cruisers moved away from the Athens. The ship itself was scattering shots in every direction. Then the station started flaming. As the Chief watched in horror, the Athens exploded, taking 6000 lives with it. The Chief raised his hand in a salute to those who were on the staion.
"Cortana, assessment," ordered Lord Hood.
"The Athens exploded from the inside, same as the Malta. The Covenant must have brought something with them, a bomb," Cortana answered.
"Then they sure as hell brought one here," Hood answered. "Chief, find it."
The Chief went down the stairs, toward the armory. He went face-to-face with an Elite and two Grunts. He shot the Elite with a full round of SMG bullets. He killed a squad similar to the one he found on the other side of the room. He moved to the other side of the room and opened the door to the armory. An Elite appeared before him and quickly disappeared. The Chief hated these Elites with active camoflauge. He sprayed the area in front of him with SMG rounds. The Elite fell down soundlessly.
The Chief heard Gunns shouting at the top of the room, but he had problems of his own. Another camoflauged Elite was firing his plasma rifle at him. The Chief expertly fired at the direction the plasma was coming from. He made his way upstairs.
Gunns was lying on the floor, his shotgun in front of him. The Chief felt sorry for him. There were better ways to die rather than at the hands of the Covenant. The Chief took his shotgun and used it to kill the Elites.
After fighting through some passageways , the Chief got to a place where he saw Miranda Keyes and Johnson. He used a gernade to draw the Covenant that were holding them there out, and let his weapon do the rest. He made his way to the airlock. He wanted to get this done as quickly as possible and then get to the bomb. His hopes were dashed, though, as two Elites entered on jetpacks. The Chief hit their packs with shotgun rounds and moved through the zero-gee gravity.
As he reached the elevator room, he heard indistinct chatter on the communications channel. He heard Cortana and Lord Hood talking. Cortana said frantically "Sir, boarders have reached the fire control center. They have a bomb."
"Can you diffuse it?" Lord Hood asked.
"Yes, but I'll need the Chief's help to make contact with the detonator."
"Chief, get to the bomb, double time!" Hood ordered the Spartan.
He ran inside the liftr room. Suddenly, some flying robots that looked like beetles flew up the shaft, carrying plasma pistols. The Chief had some trouble with them, as they were a new addition to the Covenant that he hadn't seen before. He figured out with two rapid Battle Rifle bursts, he could take them douwn easily. As soon as he finished with that, the elevator ended its track, unloadking hordes of Grunts and Elites onto the top floor. The Chief decided that stealth was best here. He threw two unactivated frag gernades, then shot at them. The resulting shrapnel was doubly used as a camoflauge and took out any Covenant standing nearby. The Chief made his way down the lift and into space, just below the MAC gun.
The view was tremendous. The Chief got a close look at the MAC gun firing at the cruisers above him. The view was short lived, however, as a trio of Elites on jetpacks had set up a Shade on the platform above him. The Chief judged the distance, accounted for the decreased gravity, and threw a plasma gernade onto the Shade, taking the Elite with it. He made his way up a makeshift ramp, which constantly travelled up and down as the MAC gun fired. He slipped his way past the other Elites, being wary of the time, and stepped onto the lift.
As he sped up, Corntana said to him "By the way, there are a number of Elites guarding the bomb. You may need to get creative."
"And you were going to tell me this when?" the Chief asked, amused.
He didn't wait for an answer, though, because suddenly, the elevator door opened. He immediately tossed a few gernades, which took out most of the Grunts and an Elite. he quickly used the shotgun to take out the rest of the Elites, when Cortana appeared in the holoprojector, and said "Me, inside your head, now!"
The Chief took out the chip in the projector and placed it inside his armor. he used Cortana's knowledge to deactivate the bomb. "How much time was left?" he asked.
"You don't want to know," answered Cortana.
"Sir," Miranda Keyes said from her ship, "I'm engaging the fleet."
"No, soldier," Hood answered.
The Chief then had a crazy idea. "Sir, permission to leave the ship," the Chief said.
"What for, Master Chief?" Hood asked.
"To give the Covenant back their bomb."
Hood paused, then said "Granted."
The Chief dragged the bomb back into the lift, when Cortana said "I know what you're thinking, and it's crazy."
"So? Stay on the ship."
"Unfortunately for us both, I like crazy."
It was an example of the bond they shared, being part of one mind, that some of the Chief rubbed off on Cortana. Suddenly Cortana asked, as they reached the hangar "What if you miss?"
The answer was obvious. "I won't." The Chief pulled the lever that released the airlock.
it was one of the things he was trained for. As the bomb gave way to the vacuum, the Chief grabbed hold on it. The bomb flew through space, the Chief close behind. Guns barely missed him, but still he felt no fear. As he reached one ship's reactor, he quickly activated the bomb, and pushed off of it. he flew though space, his velocity increasing as the bomb exploded. As he dropped, he landed on In Amber Clad. He heard Johnson say "For a brick, he do pretty good."
And then, in a calmer tone, he heard Miranda say "Saddle up, Chief. We're taking this fight to the surface."
The Chief smiled.
The last Covenant cruiser floated, dead in space. Regret rose up and asked the Ship Master the status of the vessel. The feedback was not good. Their hull was torn wide open. They would have to stop on Earth and use the metals there to repair the ship. The sheer embarrasment of it was excruciating. But to repair the ship, they would need a distraction. "Weapons Master," he called.
"Yes, Prophet?" replyed the weary officer.
"Ready the Scarab," Regret ordered in a final tone. "Oh, and weapons master?" he added in a phrase he had heard the humans give all the time when they knew they were about to go into the battlefield with the most uneven odds. "Give them hell."
"Yes, Prophet," the master gave in reply. After he walked out of the room, Regret looked down on Earth, and laughed.