- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
Here it is. The PM's have been sent and now its time to get the story out. Enjoy.
The End of a War
Chapter 9
Old Friends, New Friends, and a Little Something to get you Guys off my Back
These damn security measures get more annoying every time I have to come back here.
Colonel Ackerson waited impatiently as his handprint was scanned, acknowledging that it was actually him trying to enter the War Room in Section III’s underground network of bunkers. While traversing several kilometers below the Earth’s surface was necessary to reach the heart of the ONI compound, he still found it aggravating each instance it was necessary, and since the Covenant appearance in the system, he had almost been living there.
“You may proceed sir,” the impeccably uniformed Marine announced once the verification was complete. Grumbling to himself Ackerson walked through the doors and down the corridor that would lead him to his destination.
The particular meeting he was heading to had been called by Fleet Admiral Cortez, and Ackerson had it on good intel that it had something to do with the backing off of the Covenant fleet. The emergence of the unidentified ship in the middle of the battle had thrown ONI for a loop, struggling desperately to gain whatever information there was on the object. Admiral Hood, who was still on the Cairo Station, had alerted command that the ship was of Forerunner origin. While information on the Forerunners had been extremely limited at the start of the Covenant War, ever since Dr. Halsey’s freaks and her A.I had returned they soon had more information than they could analyze.
The Colonel was still fuming about the survival of the remaining Spartans, especially since he had finally gotten some more funding for his Special Warfare project when it had been announced earlier that all of them had perished along with the fall of Reach. Their return had meant he was put on the backburner once again, while the Spartans basked in the limelight.
“Colonel Ackerson, glad you could make it.”
The other members had already arrived, and Ackerson knew a thinly veiled reproach lay behind that greeting, but he would be damned if he’d let them think he detected it.
“When the Admiral beckons, I shall come,” he responded with fake humility. Struggling vainly to keep the frown from his face, Ackerson found his seat and waited for the meeting to start.
Admiral Cortez spoke first from his seat at the head of the room.
“At precisely 1348 hours, the previously unidentifiable Forerunner ship entered the system from Slip Space. Admiral Hood received a transmission over a private com from Spartan -117. The ship was controlled by the Covenant, and the Master Chief intended to retake it.”
There were a series of murmurs from around the table, and Admiral Cortez waited until they had died down before continuing.
“Admiral Hood was able to get Spartan -117 to give him a short briefing on what transpired after In Amber Clad followed the Covenant flagship into Slip Space. After exiting Slip Space, the crew aboard the frigate found themselves in another system entirely, where another Halo was discovered.”
There were no murmurs this time around, and Colonel Ackerson attributed that to the majority of them being too stupefied to speak.
“Spartan -117 landed on the ring, and followed one of the Covenant Hierarchs; the Prophet of Regret was its name. He assassinated the Prophet and then was captured by…” the Admiral paused slightly, as if struggling to comprehend what he was about to say. “By some kind of creature that was apparently the leader of the Flood. Shortly thereafter the Master Chief was transported aboard a Covenant city, one that had entered the system before the death of the Prophet of Regret.”
Colonel Ackerson sat forward in his chair and spoke. “So the Spartan was captured by the leader of the Flood, yet somehow survived? Did he kill it?”
“It would seem that he was instead sent to the Covenant city on a mission from the Flood leader,” Admiral Cortez explained, then quickly continued. “The Covenant were intending to activate Halo, it seems that they believe it has some kind of religious significance. I would presume that the Flood leader did not wish for such an event to occur, and sent the Master Chief to stop the Covenant.”
“At this time, Commander Keyes and the troops under her command attempted to retrieve the index that is necessary in activating the installation, but they were captured by the Covenant. It is not known at this time whether they are still alive. Spartan -117 discovered that the Prophet of Truth, was planning on taking the Forerunner ship and bringing it to Earth, and boarded the ship to stop him. Cortana was left behind in case the Halo installation was somehow activated. If that occurred, she would destroy both the Covenant city and Halo.”
The room was silent, as the occupants mulled over that bit of information. Colonel Ackerson had been aware of this before heading to the meeting. One of his agents aboard Cairo station had furnished him with the news earlier.
Admiral Cortez cleared his throat to get the room’s attention once more.
“Spartan -117 somehow caused an explosion of sufficient force aboard the Forerunner ship to disrupt communications from all stations for a period of five minutes. He was subsequently thrown off the ship before it disappeared, most likely into Slip Space. Admiral Hood has informed me that once the ship disappeared, the Covenant fleet backed off, and he has sent the Master Chief to finish them off.”
Colonel Ackerson nearly felt a smile light up his face with that bit of news. By the last reports, there was still a large number of the Covenant fleet still functional. Sending one Spartan after them was a suicide mission.
“I received some good news just before arriving here,” Admiral Cortez announced, directing attention once more to himself. “Spartans -104, -058, and -043 have all returned from surgery. Their status is critical still, but no longer life-threatening.”
Goddamnit! Why can’t those bastards just die!? First they survive the glassing of Reach, then they survive being onboard the Athens and the Malta when the Covenant blew them up.
“Unfortunately it will be quite some time before they’ll be up and walking, let alone ready for battle,” Admiral Cortez continued, turning towards Ackerson. “I guess that means we’ll be needing to get a good look at your weapons program, Colonel.”
Shaking himself from his angry thoughts, Ackerson plastered an impassive look onto his face.
“Yes sir, the newly designed MAC guns are ready for deployment. The plasma upgrades that we improved upon from the Covenant ships are more than we could have hoped for,” Ackerson said, trying his best to keep the boastfulness from his voice.
“That’s good to hear,” Cortez acknowledged. “Were the improvements Cortana delivered implemented as well? General Strauss was quite interested in her description of their performance against the Covenant ships.”
“Of course sir, I made sure they were added personally,” Colonel Ackerson ground out through a clenched jaw. He kept his temper in check however; it would not do to lose control here.
With the three other Spartans out of commission for a while, and Spartan -117 heading towards certain death against the Covenant fleet, he would finally be recognized along with his achievements.
Things were finally starting to go his way.
-----------------------------------
“Where the hell are we?” Jan asked, searching her ammo belt for another magazine. The fighting had been intense, and she was running desperately low on ammunition.
“This appears to be some kind of communications relay station,” the Master Chief said, slinging his rifle and walking to an access panel. Jan watched as he began accessing the system.
The Covenant aboard the ship had been tenacious in trying to overwhelm them. The disarray among the Covenant fleet had been the only factor in keeping them alive.
Well, that and him, Jan thought as she stared at the Master Chief. He’s like a God during battle. Nothing phases him; he keeps his cool even when we’re a few seconds away from having a volley of plasma vaporize us.
Jan had been under the impression that while the Spartans were excellent soldiers, they were certainly not the behemoths that ONI public relations liked to describe them. Seeing the Master Chief in battle however, had quickly destroyed that thought. That the Spartans had somehow nearly been completely wiped out seemed unfathomable to her.
“It looks like the Covenant has finally figured out were aboard,” the Spartan announced from the communications station. Jan moved to stand beside him as he gazed intently at the controls.
“You can understand their language?” she inquired, unconsciously stepping closer as she peered at the doors behind them. The last group of Drones they had encountered had been torn apart rather viciously by the Spartan, and she suspected the noise had attracted more attention. The Master Chief turned slightly and tapped his helmet.
“Translation software,” he said. “The commander of the ship just sent out a broadcast to the whole fleet saying that their under attack. We’ve got a couple of minutes before the other cruisers send more troops and we get overrun.”
Jan fought the tingle of fear that lanced down her spine and gestured to the other doors that would take them further into the ship.
“We’d better get a move on then. If we can find the engines and plant the nukes were not going to have much time to get out of here before the whole fleet is on top of us.”
The Spartan shook his head, surprising her.