- Rainman89
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Read about the Forgotten Spartan I Program
Butane: To protect the world from devastation!
sir_brilliant: To unite all people within our nation!
Rainman89: To denounce the evils of truth and love!
sir_brilliant: To extend out reach to the stars above!
SpaceGhostFlyer: Jessie!
Butane: James!
sir_brilliant: Team Rocket blasting off at the speed of light
Butane: Surrender now or prepare to fight
sir_brilliant: Meowth, that's right!
Posted by: explosivediahrea
Why not just bleeding tell us if it's Halsey or not?
Because that would just ruin the suspense. And I hate to ruin the suspense.
Chapter 19
1237 Hours, December 18, 2525(Military Calendar)/ UNSC Cruiser Connecticut en route to the UNSC Remote Scanning Outpost Sophocles, on the edge of the Titan System
Simmons’ men were briefed in the Reach Military Complex’s amphitheater. The UNSC lost contact with Harvest; the ships sent to investigate were attacked and only one returned. Admiral Cole is going to throw the sons of -blam!-es the biggest party the human race has ever thrown and your all invited, etc etc. The brief was highly patriotic, and the men were eager to test their limits. Simmons on the other hand was perplexed by the situation. He was pretty sure, nay; positive that this was what Dr. Halsey had been hinting at for months, and CPO Mendez had all but given it away.
Within twenty-four hours of being briefed Simmons’ company was on board the Connecticut en route to the scene of the action. Admiral Cole had his flagship, but Simmons was glad to be aboard this cruiser. It had just rolled out of the docks at Reach, a pinnacle of human technology. It wasn’t only the ship that made Simmons secure, but the fact that the UNSC’s greatest weapon was aboard the Connecticut. While Simmons was surprised to find the Spartan’s were aboard, he was remarkably relieved. Apparently the Spartans had actually seen some action with the enemy. At least, that was the scuttlebutt.
He had only seen Fred in passing, but Simmons would have recognized him anywhere. A few days after the first sighting, and there had been no sign of Fred or any of the other Spartans. Simmons was beginning to think he had daydreamed the whole thing, when he received a summons to the main briefing room. The ship’s briefing room was full when Simmons got there. More officers than you could shake a stick at, and three Spartans.
“As many of you know, the Harvest colony was lost some time ago, and Admiral Cole succeeded in taking it back. The results were less than encouraging.” The ship’s Captain pulled up the main viewscreen and provided an image of what had once been the Harvest colony. The majority of the men in the room gasped at the ravaged planet. One Lieutenant shed a single tear. Destruction on that scale was not pretty to behold.
“Our main objective is to evacuate the colonies in the Titan system and return them to UNSC controlled space. This,” the Captain said, showing a lengthy JAG edict, “is the Cole Protocol. It basically states we cannot allow any sort of navigation information to fall into Covenant hands. All ships’ databases, colony computers, heck, every kids’ palm computer has to be purged or destroyed. That’s where the Marines come in.”
“Your role will be to maintain order during the evacuation process and make sure the necessary purges go off without a hitch. In the unlikely event the Covenant should appear, UNSC HighCom has dictated the rules of engagement as such. You are to shoot only after being shot at, and your primary objective is to secure the lives of the civilians. The lives of your men is your secondary concern, and inflicting casualties on the enemy is your tertiary goal. To brief you on engaging the Covenant, you will receive a presentation from Major Mitchell at 1500 hours today. We arrive in-system tomorrow morning. Be ready to head planet side by 0600. Dismissed!” The Captain saluted the men, and they returned it promptly.
As everyone was filing out, Simmons fought his way over to Fred and John. “Sir!” Fred exclaimed as he caught sight of Simmons approaching. All three Spartans immediately saluted and Simmons returned it in style. “At ease Spartans. How are you doing? Haven’t seen you guys in a while. Since right after the augmentation in fact. Was it successful?” Simmons was eager to know if the Spartans had managed to achieve the physical prowess he had come to rely on.
“Yes sir.” John replied. “Dr Halsey told us the results were far more than she anticipated. She said she wished she had done more studying into the results of your augmentation. Oh, and she sends her regards.” John had, if possible, become more military formal since their last meeting.
“What have you been up to recently?” Now Simmons was just plain curious.
“You know. Same old, same old.” Fred answered mischievously.