- MaxRealflugel
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- Elder Mythic Member
John reached over and picked up another one of the weapons, feeling the weight and balance of the new addition to the Spartan arsenal.
“Have these been field tested sir?” he asked
The generals face quickly turned from a sly confident grin to a more serious and worried expression.
“They were tested briefly Chief; both in development and in the field. Unfortunately seven marines were killed when we encountered some…cooling issues.”
“Cooling issues?” remarked Kelly
Sensing that the Spartans needed a more reassuring voice, Doctor Halsey quickly intervened.
“The previous designs were somewhat flawed. But we did managed to reverse engineer the cooling system on the Covenant plasma rifle, and adapt it to suit the HHAG” explained Catherine, pointing to the unusual cooling fins on the side of the weapon
“You need us to test out the new design, don’t you?”
“I’m afraid so Chief.” replied the general, gritting his teeth.
Catherine took a step closer to the group, “The new design has been test fired, but it needs a more rigorous workout. Should the cooling system fail, I’d rather have a fully suited Spartan holding the weapon.”
John nodded, “Understood.”
“There’s a CQB (Close Quarter Battle) range over to the east Chief, take your team over there and try out the HHAG’s.” instructed Moore.
John acknowledged the order, and all of the Spartans proceeded to make themselves more familiar with the HHAG.
Each weapon was fitted with a sound suppression system, an optical and thermal sight and a magazine filled with 40 of the micro-darts.
Each dart was effectively a small fin discarding titanium round. When fired, each micro-dart was accelerated to sub-light velocities – making them highly effective against even the most heavily armoured of foes.
Covenant shielding on an Elite, or the large bulk of the Hunters would be penetrated with ease – immediately killing the target.
John had used the HHAG’s larger, older cousin: the Gauss cannon, which was mounted on LAAV version of the Warthog. But even these could take several shots to bring down Hunters or Wraith tanks, never mind a new and even more deadly threat.
John just hoped that the HHAG was a much improved design to that of the Gauss cannon.
Whilst everyone was checking their equipment, John walked over to Doctor Halsey.
“Doctor...any news on Cortana?”
Cortana had been taken from the comfort of John’s armour shortly after he received his formal debrief.
Her lifespan had been seriously depleted due to her permanent active status. When Doctor Halsey had performed a simple diagnostic of her system she had discovered that Cortana only had an operational lifespan of another 12 weeks.
Doctor Halsey had ordered that the technicians do all they could to increase her life expectancy.
Initially the outlook had been positive, but even with the addition of Covenant technology, extending Cortana’s lifespan to a figure beyond the typical 7-year point would prove more than difficult.
Catherine tried to smile, but she had little news for John.
The technicians were still working around the clock to correct the inherent design flaw that every AI had. Almost unlimited processing power came with a significant price, an incredibly short operational life.
“I’m sorry John,” she said with a sigh. “But I haven’t heard anything that might indicate there’s a solution.”
John gave his trademark nod, and then simply turned and walked away with the rest of his Spartans, heading for the range.
The CQB range was a collection of naturally created lanes in the landscape. Each lane was flanked by two large walls of earth which, like the rest of the range, was covered in a mix of grass, heather and small tuft like mounds of hard mud.
Some of the lanes were small – designed exclusively for one person. But most were large enough for two people.
Further along the lanes were a series of automated targets, which were staggered along at irregular intervals. Each target was usually a thin sheet of aluminum, but with the sudden change of weaponry and ballistics, the general had ordered an upgrade of armour on all of the targets. Each one was now covered in a skin of ablative armour that was more commonly found on the front of a Scorpion tank.
John told everyone to pair off and make their way up their corresponding lane.
The first run would be in slow time. So they could become more familiar with the HHAG’s capabilities. After that each pair would be race up the range lanes, using cover, changing fire positions and generally being more aggressive in their assault.
Each of the newer Spartan III’s was paired off with a Spartan II.
Kelly was with Olivia, whilst Fred casually strolled up the range with Mark. Linda crept along with Ash firing as they went.
John walked up one of the other smaller lanes on his own, followed at some distance by Doctor Halsey.
The first target had been fashioned into the basic outline of a Brute chieftain. Complete with gravity hammer and an elaborate headpiece that had been fashioned from wood by an obviously bored range warden.
John calmly raised the short barreled HHAG and aimed it at the target. The optical sight immediately adjusted to his armour variant, and an enhanced image of the target appeared on his HUD.
John switched the safety to fire and caressed the trigger.
The HHAG coughed and a single thunderous round flew from the barrel, heading for the heavily armoured target. A small puff of smoke and a single bright spark briefly danced on the skin of the metal before giving way to a hole almost four times the size of the micro-dart.
Beyond and through the smoldering hole, John could see a small patch of smoking grass immediately behind the target.
Still pointing the weapon at the target, John turned his head to look at Doctor Halsey. “Tell the general that I like his new toy.”
Catherine simply smiled and then continued to follow John as he advanced along the CQB lane, firing as he went.
John like the rest of the Spartans, enjoyed another 2 hours of racing up and down the range. By the time they had finished, each target was almost completely destroyed.
All of them agreed that the HHAG was a dream weapon.
The other weapons that General Moore had laid out were simple upgrades of present weapons - Assault rifles that were fitted with armour piercing rounds and a more powerful version of the BR55 battle rifle, along with a magnum pistol with an improved firing system and rate of fire.
The General explained that there was more in the pipeline, but they need to ascertain whether the HHAG was a combat ready weapon.
But something wasn’t quite right. John could feel it. He started to wish that Kurt was with him so that he could use his accurate hunches and premonition-like feelings.
The security around the range was quite significant, even with the possible threat of this new species that could arrive at any time. John felt uncomfortable.
He opened the secure COM and activated the one frequency that only Spartans used.
“Fred, did you notice anything unusual when we arrived?”
“No not really. Although this place is crawling with marines, and I keep seeing a pair of Hornets patrolling the line of cliffs to the north.” Replied Fred
“Something’s not right.”
“I know what you mean John. But then again, maybe people are just a little jumpy after the war.” Offered Fred
“No. It’s something else.”
John walked over to General Moore, tightening his grip on the impressive HHAG.
“General.”
Moore smiled, “Yes Master Chief.”
“What’s going on?”
“I...don’t know what you mean Chief.” Replied Moore with an odd expression
John grabbed the General by the scruff of his neck and lifted him effortlessly off the ground.
“Bull-blam!- sir. You brought me and my team along for more than just a weapons test. What the hell is going on?” boomed John
The General tried to struggle from John’s vice-like grip, but there was no way out.
“I strongly suggest that you put me down Master Chief,” Moore continued to struggle “Or you may be on the receiving end of a court marshal!”
John lifted him higher, “Sir I recommend that YOU tell me what the hell is going on!”
Catherine came running over along with the other Spartans.
“John, what are you doing? Put the general down.” Pleaded Catherine
“I won’t ask again sir” warned John as he tightened his grip again.
“Okay, okay. I’m sorry Doctor, Chief. But there is more to this weapon test than a simple run along the range area.”
John lowered the General to the floor. “Go on.”
“When we were mopping up the Covenant resistance in the area around here, a small group of Brutes made a run for a network of caves along the cliffs to the north. We sent in some ODST’s and marines to clear them out, but they were all killed. We need you to head down and clear the cave system.”
Doctor Halsey stood there, wide eyed with shock and disbelief. Then she slapped Moore across the face, “Bastard!” she yelled.
John smiled inside his helmet. “Well blue team, you heard the General. We’ve got some apes to clear.”
John and the other Spartans readied their weapons before marching across the range towards the cliff face to the north.
To be continued...
[Edited on 01.19.2009 2:51 PM PST]