Halo: Man and Machine - Chapter 3

	Something woke me up. I felt the ship shake. Suddenly, warning lights began to bathe my room in orange light, and the sound of the attack alarm went off. “Shit!” I exclaimed. I ran over to the pedestal and turned it on. “Jennifer, what the fuck is going on?!” The AI glimmered and appeared before me. “We're under attack by the Covenant! Captain wants you to armor up and get to the bridge as quickly as you can.” “Alright,” I replied, “Tell the skipper I'll be up in 15. See you on the bridge!” I yelled as I ran out of the room. Being dressed only in the standard issue grey t-shirt and underwear probably wasn't the most flattering thing, but the situation demanded for not a single wasted second. I ran down the hall and took a left to the armory containing my weapons and armor. The trip didn't even take me a minute. The armorers already had my suit ready to be applied to me.
	My armor was the civilian outsourced version of the Mark V. I heard some other SPARTANs that had gone back to Earth had gotten the newest Mark VI, but unfortunately I didn't have that luxury. I had colored it blue, my favorite. Camouflage didn't matter as, being one of the infiltration specialists of the program, I had been given a next-gen cloaking device. It was reversed engineered directly from a prototype Covenant system, or so they told me. I had a knife sheathed blade-up on my left shoulder plate, and had a datapad on my left forearm. Pouches covered the majority of my chest, and a hard case on my left side completed the suit. The techs finished putting on the last bits of my armor and a scrawny woman handed me my up-armored helmet. It seemed to put her under a decent amount of strain, but I took it as though it was weightless.
	As the HUD booted up, I went to retrieve my weaponry. My personalized M392 DMR was suppressed and had a grippod on it. I loaded up the respective pouches with the 20 round L-mags, and put the rifle on my back. Next was my pistol: the M6C SOCOM, integrally suppressed variant. I usually went for the extended 20 round mags, and loaded one in the pistol and pulled the slide back. The weight of the slide made a satisfying sound, which combined with it's size made it fairly obvious why the Helljumpers called it the “Automag”. I holstered it on my suit and went on my way to the bridge; the HUD guiding me to the most direct route.
	The ride on my way up to the con was a nightmare. I'd seen more than my fair share of battles, but this seemed a bit more chaotic then usual. I rode up with a team of ODSTs and crewmembers, who I assumed were taking their places on the bridge. One of the ODSTs nodded to me, but under his helmet I couldn't tell who it was. Assuming it was Barnes, and not wanting to be rude, I gave him a quick nod back. I saw various scenes on my way up, none of them welcoming. Marines and ODSTs falling into formation, and Pelicans being prepped for flight. The last one was the most disturbing. Is Rodriguez considering abandoning the Vienna?” I thought. Suddenly, a loud, hollow sound rang out. The MAC gun. The other troops around me started cheering, and a smile came on my face. It meant we were actually giving them a good fight, and that we weren't going to go down without bringing more than a few with us. But, just as quickly as it came, the smile faded as I was reminded of the reality of the situation. Shortly after, we went up to bridge.
	I made my way through the bustle and found the captain and Jenn looking at TAC-Glass. It seemed as though there was 3 marks other than our own. A lush, blue and green planet was in front of the bridge's viewport. “Captain!” I said, saluting him as I had earlier. “At ease, Spartan. As you can see. We're got quite a bit of mess on our hands here.” “What's the situation, sir?” “Well, we entered out of slipspace to meet with a resupply ship, the Pickett's Charge. It seems our alien friends beat us to it, and three CCS-classers were lying in wait for something bigger. That something, as you can imagine, was us. Thankfully we approached them bow-first and I managed to obliterate one with our MAC. We'll probably be able to eliminate the second with the MAC as well, but the third will most likely land troops aboard the Vienna. I want you to lead a group of Marines and repel these Covenant sons of bitches off my ship. As a precaution under the Cole Protocol, I'm going to send Jennifer here with you. She's already given me all I need to finish the rest of the cruisers off, so don't fret about me. Dismissed soldier.” He turned to the AI. “Jennifer, prepare for transfer to Sierra One-One-Four.” After a moment, she replied: “All right, yank me.” The AI chip extended out of the console, and I put it in the back of my helmet. I turned around to leave but not before the Captain gave me some final words. “Godspeed Petty Officer, and good luck.” “And to you too sir,” I replied and left the con.
	Jennifer gave me a waypoint to my Marine detachment. “So, what planet are we above exactly?” I inquired of her. “Charon II,” was her reply. “It's a mining planet. We get 10 percent of our titanium alone from it.” I wondered how the Covenant found the Charge. I doubt it had come out of battle, being a supply ship. So how did they find it? I thought to myself. Was it just blind luck; a random jump? This war has been truly unlucky for us, honestly. I can count our victories on two hands. Hell, they'd probably find Earth through a random jump knowing our luck. As I finished that thought, I arrived to a squad of Marines. I saw a few familiar faces, Pulowski being one of them. “Hey, look who they assigned to us!” he said to his fellow Marines. “I told you we'd stand a chance against the Covvies!” He turned to me, and lowered his voice a bit. “If even half of the stories are true, I think we'll be fine.” “He's right Leathernecks,” I said to the group. “Our orders are to repulse the Covenant, and I have full faith that we will execute these orders with extreme prejudice. I believe in each and every one of you, and I look forward to seeing you all after this ordeal. Drinks will be on me, Marines.” I saw a flicker of hope in the eyes of the troops. Some cheered. I knew it was a bit hopeful, but I've seen how much harder troops fight when they have something to believe in. I took the suppressor off my DMR and put it on the small of my back. I wouldn't need it in the tight confines of the hip. I racked the bolt on my rifle and exclaimed: “On me Marines! We're moving out to Subsection Echo. Let's move it out!” I took point, and the Marines followed.
	In my command I had a basic on-board sanitation unit. 5 marines with MA5C assault rifles, 3 with M7 SMGs, a Marine with an M247 GPMG, and one with the M90 CAWS. They all carried two frag grenades, while I had four. We ran to our destination. We got there quickly, and just as quickly understood why we were stationed there. Lifeboats ran long the walls. Not only was it important to us to protect our way out, it was important to shoot any Covenant bastards that tried to make their way in through the lifeboat locks. Two metal barricades had been set up in the hall, providing us cover. I instructed the Marine with the GPMG to set up behind one, and Pulowski behind the other. The others, including myself, took cover behind support structures in the wall. I heard our MAC gun fire again, and another cheer arose from the Marines. “The Captain must really be giving them hell!” said Jennifer. I concurred with her mentally. In in instant, I felt two small vibrations and heard metallic thuds. Covenant boarding parties. “Here we go Marines! Let's give these sons of bitches something to remember!” A thunderous “OOH-RAH” filled the room. I couldn't help but give a quick smirk under my helmet. “Here they come!” said the construct in my helmet.
	The pressurized doors of one of the lifeboat's made a whooshing sound as it opened, and two foolhardy and perhaps overzealous grunts entered the corridor. Being close enough, I lined them up with the reticle in my helmet, and squeezed off two rounds of 7.62x51 in less than a second. In an instant, the rounds struck their heads, and they dropped like sacks of potatoes on the ground. I heard a hushed and impressed “Shit” come from one of the marines. Seconds later, three Jackals with energy shields entered our hallway in a phalanx formation. Behind them were seven grunts, and an Elite formed the rear. Plasma bolts filled the air above us. “Use your frags Marines! Roll them under the Jackals!” Pulowski and another Marine primed the buttons on their M9 frags and rolled them gently under the birdlike creatures. We took cover and heard two loud explosions, as well as the shrapnel bouncing off the exposed parts of the room. We retook our firing position. Two of the Jackals were dead, as was one of the grunts. Unfortunately, the Elite was fine, although it seemed as some of his shielding had been chipped away, and he was now exposed to our gunfire. Two blue plasma bolts passed by me. I peeked around my pillar and fired off two rounds, hitting a grunt center mass. Down he went, twitching in a pool of his own blue blood. I heard the Marine on the GPMG scream an insult at the alien invaders as he tore up all those unlucky to have remained in his way. He cut down the last of the grunts and sent the Jackal and Elite ducking for cover about 10 meters in front of us.

	I pointed to the MG gunner, “Marine! Keep those bastards under fire. Make sure they don't move a fuckin' inch!” “Yes sir!” he replied. I turned around to the rest of the Marines behind me. “Alright, here's the plan Marines. We're gonna use frags to flush that Elite out of hiding. When he's exposed, focus fire on him till he goes down. Once he's dead, stop firing. I'll deal with the Jackal myself. Everyone got it?” They all nodded. “Alright. Frag out!” A cacophony of “Frag outs!” followed my own and three frags laid more or less at the feet of the Elite. Mine was the only one actually under him. The Elite warbled something in his alien tongue, and jumped out of cover. The shrapnel did some damage to his shields, but they were still up. We popped out of cover. “Focus fire!” I exclaimed. The combined fire of all our weapons dropped his shields down nearly instantly, and the eight and a half foot alien fell just as soon. A pool of purple blood began covering the floor. The Marines stopped firing and I lept out of cover. Time slowed around me. Spartan Time was what we called it. I holstered my DMR and took out my pistol. Approaching the Jackal, I dropped down and slid on my back. Still sliding, I passed by him. He turned his body towards me, exposed. I heard him squawk at me, and in response I delivered a .50 caliber round right between his eyes. The creature dropped lifeless to the floor. Time began moving normally again, and I got off the ground. The corridor was silent for a moment, then I heard cheers from the Marines. “Fucking BAD-ASS!” I heard Pulowski say. “Damn, I wish we had seven of you Spartans!” said a female Marine. “Jenn,” I said smugly. “Would you mind turning on the auto-translate? I would have liked to hear that Jackals exclamation of surprise before I put a round in his head.” “Sorry,” she said sheepishly. Our celebration was short lived however, a massive explosion rocked the ship, and knocked the Marines to the glossy floor. “What the hell was that Jenn!” “If my sensors are correct, the ship's been...blown in two!” “Shit! What are our options for getting off! We won't have long before we crash into the planet!” “Analyzing...the remaining lifeboats have been damaged by the explosion's shrapnel or plasma from the firefight...But there's still a Pelican and crew waiting for takeoff in Hanger Bay 3. CCTV footage shows them to still be fine. I'll tell them to expect us...There's a large Covenant force of about 40 making their way to Hanger 3. They'll be all over them in 5 minutes.” I turned to face the Marines. “You all heard her! We're getting our asses off this ship. Follow me Marines, double time!” I pulled the rifle off my back and began running as Jennifer gave me a waypoint on my HUD. I had to slow myself down so the Marines could keep up, but no way in hell was I going to leave my comrades behind. I tac-reloaded my DMR, putting the spare mag in my hardcase On our way there, we passed by a group of dead technicians. A grim reminder of our own mortality.
	We reached the hangar in the nick of time. It was enormous. A Pelican dropship waited for us, and two pilots waited outside by the troop hold. When we reached them, the Marines were short of breath but I hadn't even broke a sweat. The Marines piled inside as the co-pilot took his seat at the controls. The pilot remained outside. “What are orders sir?” She exclaimed, barely audible over the engines. “Get to your station. Once we hop inside, seal the back and prepare for trans-orbital flight. We're getting off this ship and landing on the planet.” I noticed a green flash in the corner of my eye. “Fuck!” I yelled, as I pushed the pilot into the troop compartment. A plasma pistol bolt hit my armor and was absorbed harmlessly by the shield. The doors on the other side of the hangar bay were open, and about 40 xenos were pouring out of it. I stood my ground, suppressing them with my DMR and sending them diving for cover. I put a round straight through an Elite's mouth as the dropship began to lift off the landing pad. I jumped aboard the Pelican and grabbed hold of one of handholds. This was going to be a rough ride.