Halo: Incognito Spartan

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Halo: Incognito Spartan is somewhat like The Fall Of Reach for the Incognito Era, explaining how the Spartans of Incognito Company trained and fought through their lives. It also follows other, somewhat minor, characters as well.
== Chapter One ==
Jay woke up, cold, and he climbed out of the glass tube, afraid, his legs shaking like jelly.
What...?
Then he remembered. Watching as his mother had stabbed and stabbed their father to death. Hiding in a crate as their aunt and uncle were killed by creatures they didn't even comprehend. They had died because of those monsters with jaw mandibles, with glowing swords and bright blue fire that shot from their weapons. 
And then afterwards, jumping out of some ship...and failing.
And then being recruited by people wearing all black, with pyramid-like patches on their shoulders, a black circle in the center.
He coughed up a sour fluid from his throat, and seconds later he vomited all over the floor. Wiping away the bile from his mouth, he felt a presence above him, and he looked up to see a man in a uniform, holding some sort of short...stick? Staff?
"Get up, Candidate four-two-five!"
Jay struggled to get up, and then a blinding pain struck him in the back. 
"Get up, candidate four-two-five!"
Jay got up from the floor and saw that the other children were being pulled up from the ground, that or ripped out from their pods. Jay recognized them. They had been with him, all had watched that one man in the green armor speak to him. But it seemed that a lot of them...were gone. Not with this group.
They were the ones who failed, He realized, The ones who had been hurt by the fall.
He turned and saw his sister, Jayne, was already awake.
Good, he thought, at least I know someone here.
Jay was herded into line with the rest of the 148 children and noticed something; they were all around the age of 4, 5 or 6.
He saw a man in a different uniform walk into the room. He did not seem like the others, Jay noticed, as when he would walk past the other people in uniforms, they would seem nervous. He was the leader of the group, it seemed. Jay recognized the uniform from movies he had watched with his sister, a brave man commanding a small ship, putting down evil men and discovering aliens at the same time.
The man stopped.
"Trainees, your lives have been left behind, and now, it is required that you are to train, and train alone, alongside your peers. While you are not genetically related, you, are now brothers and sisters, and you will work with them for the rest of your lives."
"Your parents were killed by something that will destroy the human race, if you do not succeed at becoming the very things you were brought to become- Spartans."
"And, last, but not least, I am Captain Will Terlin, and will be training you for however long it takes, until you are transformed into something much, much greater than a simple child."
Pride rose up in Jay, and he beamed, although the pain from the man's staff still burned.
Jay climbed the rope, with his face showing pain. He made it to the top of the rope and climbed onto the platform. He pressed the red button on the control panel and an elevator carried his teammates to the platform. "Next time, guys," Jay said, annoyed, "You help me out, okay?"
Shane-I430 grinned evilly. "Maybe, maybe not." Jay rolled his eyes and motioned for the team to follow through the dark halls of the ship.
"What's this course again?" Jayne asked, curious. 
Jay gave his twin sister a look of annoyance.
"It's called 'ring the bell'," Shane answered, "Although a bit of a variation of it, I guess."
Suddenly, large guns opened up from the floor, firing stun rounds that peppered the air. Jay immediately jumped to the side, grabbing Jayne by the arm and pulling her behind a crate. Shane and Kal took cover behind a small terminal. 
"What do we do?"
The guns stopped firing and folded back into the walls.
"It's a timer," Jay realized, "They must be popping out every...Kal, how many seconds was that?"
Kal seemed to think, before replying. "Forty seconds."
The guns popped out again, more bullets firing.
Jay jumped out from behind his cover and slid under the guns, before turning back around and grabbing the back of the gun, forcibly turning the weapon towards the other. The stun rounds ripped into the gun next to it, sparks flying.
"Go, now!" He yelled to the others.
The other turret turned to him, and fired.
Jay let go of the gun and jumped away, a shock going up his arm as a round hit him in the arm.
He winced in pain and continued running, the guns seemingly unable to turn and pick them off, and a few seconds later, they folded back into the walls.
They continued to walk through the halls, before stopping at a large, metal door. 
"Shane, you're up."
"Yeah, yeah," Shane said in annoyance.
Jay fired a volley of bullets from his MA37 at the squad of grunts, knocking them down. He threw a grenade and took cover behind a Warthog. The spartan got up and began firing short controlled bursts, with the bullets piercing a Brute's skull. The Spartan squinted, and his HUD zoomed in on an elite. He motioned for Peter-I357 to fire, and he saw a bullet from an SRS99 Sniper Rifle pierce the Elite's skull.
Jay motioned for the ODSTs who had been on standby, and they did, somewhat nervous to be under SPARTAN command. They each stopped behind a fallen tree, where they sprayed bullets upon the Covenant forces.
I425 selected another target, this one a Brute, and I357 shot through the Brute's chest. Jay then turned towards Randolph-I335 and nodded, motioning with his hand.
Randolph nodded and gave the signature Spartan "smile" gesture with his two fingers.
Jay began squeezing off rounds from his MA37 and quickly ducked behind the broken, burning husk of a Warthog. He heard the sound of Banshees flying above, and the Spartan looked up, seeing the Covenant ships fire upon the UNSC. Plasma sent marines and several of Jay's comrades flying, transforming them from capable soldiers to burning, sizzling corpses.
He saw a rocket from a SPNKr hit on of the Banshees, sending it in a downward spiral. 
Towards Jay.
Aah....shit...
The door had been opened. I430 looked at Jay.
Shane knew what Jay was thinking, and this discomforted him.
At the end of the course, you will find a computer panel. Look for the bell.
They walked through the door, and they saw the panel. Dozens of buttons littered the terminal, each with the potential to be a mistake.
Now, they were looking.
Four Marines ran into battle, firing their MA5Bs, before being smashed into a rock by a Brute's Gravity Hammer. Jay got up and threw a Plasma Grenade at the brute, and it was knocked into a rock from the explosion. Jay fired on the Brute again, bullets tearing into its gut. But the alien simply roared in pain, staying upright, and the hulking xeno slammed it's colossal weapon into Jay's side, knocking the wind from his lungs and smashing the Spartan to the ground. Bits of broken stealth coating and metal fell from the dent, and the brute raised it's weapon to make the killing blow.
A sniper round tore through the beast's head, and bullets peppered it's regenerating shields.
Peter silently came out from his perch, sniper rifle still in hand. Kal and Jayne still had their rifles raised, and they pulled him back up.
"You should have continued the mission," Jay said, "We're suicide soldiers, remember?"
"Fuck, no thank you?" Kal said, unpolarizing his visor to reveal his face.
Jay smiled. "Thanks."
Kal grunted, repolarizing his visor. "Don't mention it." 
Jay saw a flash of light blue fly past his face and land on the ground next to him. 
"Grenade!" 
They immediately leaped to the ground, the blue light of the plasma grenade sending him flying into a tree. His visor slammed into the wood, cracking the glass, and he was knocked onto his back, the view going static for a few short seconds. 
Jay forced himself back up, everything burning. His fellow Spartans were getting up too, although they weren't as injured as he was.
He picked up his MA37 off of the ground and fired it at what he thought looked like a Sanghelli. As the bullets hit, he knew he was shooting the right target, as the blue glow indicated that he was hitting the Elite's shields.
The Elite's shields went down. Jay's rifle made the mechanical choking noise that was the weapon being out of ammo, and he reloaded. He fired fifteen more rounds at the Elite, and it went down when bullets popped through the skull, eyes and brain. After Jay's vision cleared up, he saw four banshees and a Phantom fly above, firing on the UNSC forces. Jay saw three Army Troopers fire their MA37s at an incoming Revenant, which promptly ran them over. Jay readied a grenade and jumped onto the vehicle, placing a grenade on it before the passenger shot at him. The Covenant vehicle exploded, and Jay saw four Scorpion tanks roll onto the battlefield. They began firing of the Phantoms that were heading towards their position. He saw SPNKR rockets hit a Banshee, and he saw Randolph continually fire, and then reload. Jay saw Kal fire his BR55 at the enemy, and Jay knew that so far, they were pushing the enemy back. Jay fired his own weapon and then put away his MA37, grabbing an M45E Shotgun off of the ground. The Spartan fired four rounds and reloaded, seeing the Brute coming for him. He shot the brute in the face and turned and saw four grunts running towards him. He emptied four rounds on each one and reloaded, realizing that he didn't have enough ammo to completely fill the shotgun. Jay heard the sound of a Fuel Rod Gun being fired, and he attempted to dodge it.
Jay was knocked into the air by the explosion.
He blacked out.
Jay looked around the bridge of the destroyed Charon-class Frigate. There were cracked navcomputers everywhere, and it seemed that there had been an explosion inside the ship. Jay readied his MA5D and walked, or more accurately, floated, through the wreckage. "Find anything, Anchor One?" Jayne said over the comms. "Nothing. It's like a ghost ship up here, too. As dead as the Epoch-class we saw earlier." "Roger. Me and Kal are returning to the drop ship, over?" "What about Anchor Four?"
"Adam's checking out one of the Covenant ships." 
"I'm going to help out."
"Be careful, Jay."
"Have I ever been?"
"Good point."
Jay continued floating through the wreckage and finally found something that interested him. There was a body of a dead Spartan-IV inside, with what looked to be the sword of a Promethean Knight. There had been a battle here.
Jay took off the helmet of the Spartan and held it in his hands. He sighed, looking at the helmet with a mix of anger and sorrow, things he rarely felt anymore.
Jay left the body behind and contacted the rest of Anchor Team. There was nothing left in the ship he wished to see.
Kal saw Jay get knocked into the air and get knocked into a tree. Kal began firing his BR55 at the grunts who were holding the Fuel Rod Guns. The Spartan saw Jayne run to her brother and take out a medpack. Jayne turned towards Kal and yelled. "Kal, look out!"
Kal turned around and saw an Elite charge at him, energy sword in hand. Kal jumped away from the Sanghelli and managed to get behind the elite. The Spartan jumped onto the elites back and stabbed it in the shoulder. The alien knocked Kal off its back, and prepared it's energy sword. Kal grabbed a suppressed SMG next to him and fired at his attacker. He saw four ODST drop pods land in the distance and Kal prepared a plasma grenade. He threw the grenade at the Sanghelli and the alien yelled something out that Kal didn't understand. The Elite exploded and Kal got up.
Jay woke up. "Oh thank god, you're awake!" His sister yelled, "We gotta move!" Jay got up and grabbed his MA37. He stumbled a little bit but then held his ground. He saw three Jackals with beam rifles prepare to fire. "Look out!" Jay yelled, pointing towards the snipers. As he yelled this, one of them fired and it shot through Leynord-I333's head. Jay began firing at the snipers and one of the went down, but the other two fired and one hit Jay in the leg, with the other hitting a tree. He saw Juan-I401 with an MA5B charge towards the Covenant forces, tackling a brute.
Juan fired his MA5B, and, realizing that he was out of ammo, reloaded. The Spartan took cover behind a crashed Pelican and readied a grenade, throwing it, and a small squad of grunts were thrown into the air by the explosion. Juan took cover behind a crashed pelican. The Spartan saw a brute charge at him, and Juan jumped up into the air and landed on the beast's back. Juan wrapped his arms across the Brute's throat and savagely began to strangle it. The alien writhed and began trying to wrestle Juan off of it's back. The Spartan stuck on, as if he had been superglued onto the alien. Juan heard gunfire, and he saw that marines had begun firing at the brute that Juan was strangling. Juan jumped off and let the bullets finish the job. Juan picked up the MA5B that he had discarded and fired at the alien once more to make sure that it was dead.
The Marines stared at him, in awe of a Spartan. "Let's go Marines!" Juan yelled, annoyed at their amazement, "No time to fucking dawdle, let's go, go, go!"
== Chapter Two ==
Six hours later
The Spartan's Prayer released several ODST drop pods landed onto the surface. Theron Gilbert felt his pod slam hard onto the surface of the planet and he grabbed his suppressed MA37, firing on a Jackal Patrol. He took cover behind a rock before they could react, and he heard plasma shots fly past his face. Theron activated a grenade and chucked it at the patrol. The Jackals were flung into the air, and heard them hit a nearby rock. He jumped out from behind the rock, expecting more plasma fire, however, he was met with the broken bodies of Jackal footsoldiers. Theron continued walking through the battlefield and saw a crashed pelican, and he saw debris from UNSC vehicles. He saw an Elite lying on the group, unconscious. Theron pulled out his knife and finished the job.
Six hours earlier
Juan heard the sound of a Wraith. Son of a bitch, he thought, as he heard plasma hit the side on the pelican he was taking cover behind. Juan put down his MA5B and grabbed a SPNKR rocket launcher off of the ground. The Spartan went out from his cover and fired two rockets at the Wraith. Juan discarded the rocket launcher and jumped towards his MA5B. But Juan felt his leg get grabbed. He turned and saw an Elite holding his leg. Juan grabbed his MA5B from off the ground and fired at the alien. The Elite let go and pulled out it's Plasma Rifle, and began firing. Juan rolled onto his side, with the shots barely missing. Juan got up onto his knees, and then fully got up. The Spartan slammed his fist into the Elite's head, and then he thrust his fist into the Sanghelli's stomach. He saw the Elite's eyes roll into it's head. Juan reloaded and continued on. He saw four phantoms come into view.
Fuck.
Jay stumbled and nearly tripped over Juan. "What are you screwing around for?!" Juan yelled to Jay, "What are you, disorie-" Juan saw Jay fall and collide with the ground. "Ohhh..." Jay got up and stumbled a little bit more, but he managed to keep himself steady, grabbing his MA37 from off the ground. I hate this job.
Jay pointed his rifle enemy's direction and fired four shots. The bullets missed completely and Jay groaned in a mix of pain and frustration. The Spartan fired another three, these impacting a Grunt's skull. Jay felt a searing pain in his left shoulder, and he saw a wisp of smoke coming from his left shoulder plate. Goddamn Covvies burned my armor! Jay thought, frustrated.
Randolph-I335 plowed through the crowd of Covenant forces, with his bulky SPI armor keeping them at bay for long enough. Randolph began firing his MA5B at the Covenant's general direction and heard the sound of bullets hitting an Elite's shield. Randolph saw the Elite charge at him, energy sword in hand. Randolph dodged surprisingly quick for one clad in such bulky armor, and the Spartan jumped onto the Elite's back. Randolph pulled out his combat knife and began stabbing over and over again until the Elite fell lifeless. "Well, one down, thousands more to go," Randolph said to himself, "Yeah, that's gonna be easy."
Jay grabbed a DMR from off the ground, and the Spartan fired four shots at a Ghost. His arm still burned from the Covenant plasma round. Jay heard twelve plasma shots fire at him, and the Spartan felt two shots hit his leg.
"Aggh!!" He yelled, "Goddamn them! Covies!!"
The Spartan saw a UNSC ship exit slipspace and fire a MAC round at the CCS carrier above the world. 
Holy shit, Jay thought, We need to make sure this world doesn't get completely glassed!
Six Hours Later
Theron saw the wreckage of a Scarab and knew that something or someone had destroyed the vehicle. Gilbert saw the wreckage of a Scorpion next to it, with obvious plasma burns from the Scarab. Theron kicked the Scorpion and heard a low growl from behind. The ODST turned around and saw an Elite charge at, without a weapon. The Human fired a wave of bullets but the Elite's energy shields blocked the human bullets. The Sanghelli swiftly kicked the ODST into side, knocking him into the destroyed vehicle. Gilbert punched the Elite in face, but to no avail, as the beast grabbed him by the throat and began tightening his grip on Theron's throat. "You vermin don't know how to give up, now don't you?" Theron smiled grimly.
"Hey asshole," He barely said, "That's a compliment."
The Elite saw the live grenade in Theron's hand and cursed.
Threk Sal'omee threw the human to the ground, but he was too late.
Six Hours Earlier
Randolph saw the Scarab hit the ground almost immediately. "Scarab!" He yelled, firing his MA5B at the machine. He saw a Scorpion tank roll slowly towards the machine and fire a tank shell at the Covenant machine. The Scarabs slowly turned around, looking unfazed, and released a wave of plasma onto the Scorpion. The Scorpion exploded, leaving only it's charred remains. If there's no killing that thing with a tank, Randolph thought, Then I'll have to do it myself.
Randolph sprinted at the machine and avoided a wave of plasma, then jumped on, weapon ready, and saw a group of grunts running at him.
"Die, bitches!" Randolph yelled, releasing a wave of bullets on the Covenant Aliens. Randolph began plowing through the group of aliens as if he was a football player plowing through a group of opponents.
Randolph stopped and saw the thing he was looking for.
I335 smashed the shield generator and grabbed a Plasma Grenade that he had picked up earlier, and stuck it on the core. Randolph jumped off the Scarab and saw the vehicle explode in blue plasma.
"Your training was hard, and long," Will Terlin said to the new Spartan-IIIs, "You can now, from this day onward, be considered Spartans."
"There is no denying it, you will lose your friends in battle. But you will ultimately help humanity succeed."
"And good-bye, and good-luck, Spartans. I'm afraid this may be the last time I will see you all in one place, at the same time."
Terlin hesitated, wishing that it didn't have to be done. He cleared his throat, and said, "Now, to business. The world you are going one was recently Glassed by the Covenant. You are to eliminate these forces, and, although I personally doubt this is as possible, find any survivors and evacuate them. To your dropships, Spartans."
The Spartans nodded and began to clamber into their assigned Pelican Dropships.
Engines from the aircraft roared, and the Pelicans took off, heading for the Shield World.
Jay had thought about what the Captain had said. The last time? What....does that mean?
The Spartan loaded his M7S as the ship entered the world's atmosphere. He looked at the rest of his team. 
We're ready, motherfuckers.
The door of the craft opened, and Jay jumped out.
Shit, The Spartan thought, seeing a Phantom fly above as the rest of his team exited the vehicle.
The ground of the world looked burnt, destroyed. The skeletal remains of colonists were scattered, and the sky was filled with smoke and embers.
"So this is what a glassed world looks like," Jay said to himself, in wonder.
Jay got down on his belly as he heard the sound of Jackals and Grunts chattering endlessly.
The Spartan activated his photoreactive panels and got up slowly, and looked at his team. They did the same.
The Spartan saw a sort of path around their enemy that led to a ledge.
"Adam, You see that ledge?" He whispered, motioning towards his goal.
"You gonna get the drop on them?"
Jay nodded.
If Jay could see under Adam's helmet, Jay would be sure Adam was grinning.
"Kal, with me."
Kal nodded hastily, readying his shotgun.
Why did you choose Kal, idiot? He thought to himself.
Jay walked past the aliens, praying the armor's stealth capabilities wouldn't malfunction, and began to walk up the ledge.
The two Spartans made it to the top.
Jay nodded, and Kal deactivated his camouflage, jumping down and shooting a grunt with his shotgun. Jayne and Adam took this as their signal, and got up and began to fire at the aliens.
Jay took out his M6C/SOCOM and fired two shots, both hitting a Jackal in the skull.
The Spartan jumped down, firing two shots from his M6C, and then pulled out his M7S.
Don't get shot, don't get shot don't-
A green bolt of plasma hit Jay in the back of his leg.
Jay whirled around and released his entire magazine on a grunt.
I425 put away his M6C and reloaded his M7S.
Jay pulled out his combat knife as he saw the glowing blade of an energy sword move towards him.
The Elite jumped at the Spartan, energy sword in hand, barely grazing Jay's right shoulder as he jumped to the side. Oh, you son of a bitch. Jay fired his M7S, with the bullets bouncing off of the Elite's shields almost harmlessly.
C'mon, those shields have to drain! Jay thought as the Elite began to run towards him.
Jay saw a plasma grenade on the ground behind the Elite.
Oh, screw it!
Jay lunged for the grenade and activated it, throwing it at the Elite. The Elite yelled in anger and began to run towards Jay, trying to take down the Spartan with him. Jay jumped back, startled, and witnessed as he opponent was blown to bits.
Jay got up and heard something on his comms.
"Destroy-" He heard a voice say, with static surrounding it. "Destroy the Anti-Air-" A large explosion could be heard in the background of the message. "Destroy the Anti-Air Guns, I repeat, destroy-" Another explosion.
The connection went dead.
Spartan-I303 loaded his SRS99 and looked down the scope of the rifle. He zoomed in on a Brute Chieftain and fired a shot. The bullet shot through the Brute's shoulder, and the Spartan grinned. He glanced at Randolph and nodded.
Randolph nodded back, and grabbed his SPNKR off the ground.
I303 couldn't help but let out a small laugh.
The rocket hit the ground next to the Brute and knocked it into the air, crushing a small group of Grunts.
Spartan-I303, for the first time in years, felt happiness.
I303 swung his leg into the side of a rebel's head. He pulled out his M6H2 and fired two shots, both killing two innies driving up to him in a Warthog.
He heard the sound of a large vehicle driving up to him.
A Scorpion. No, wait, is it a Grizzly?
He turned and saw the twin barrels of a Grizzly Tank.
Son of a-
An explosion from a plasma grenade went off in the distance. Lisa-I322 slowed down, letting the rest of her team go ahead. John-I426 turned, confused. "What is it, Lis?" 
"Did you hear that?" She said, motioning for the others to listen closely. John shook his head no.
"Exactly," Lisa said, "It's too quiet for a warzone. Yes, we heard the sound of a Plasma Grenade. But nothing really else."
"I mean, the planet's really large, maybe that's it."
"Maybe. But I'm not counting on-."
She was interrupted by the sound of a Beam Rifle being fired. The plasma bolt shot through Max-I418's head. "Max!" She heard someone say. Then, she realized, that she had said it. Lisa turned and pulled out her M6G, and fired rapidly at the Jackal. Another bolt hit Lisa in the leg. The hot feeling in her chest, a feeling she did not feel often anymore, grew.
Rage.
She saw John-I426 take cover behind a large crate, only for a Plasma Grenade to stick onto it and send the Spartan flying into the air. During his trajectory, Lisa saw Plasma Fire rip through his armor and suit.
"John!"
The rage grew.
There was only one Spartan left on her team, and it wasn't her.
Lisa turned to face Julia, but saw no one. Shit, the Spartan thought, annoyed. Even during training, Julia always found ways to disappear. 
But, with her luck, Julia would somehow find her, so, Lisa wasn't worried.
Tal-I301 turned the corner of the broken, abandoned store, M6D at the ready, and fired four shots that would put down two grunts. Tal checked his motion sensor and saw a red dot heading towards him. Tal saw a shimmer from the Stealth Elite and fired a shot at it.
With it's camouflage found out, the elite took out it's energy sword, and charged at Tal. The Spartan jumped to the side and saw the Elite slash past Tal. I301 turned towards the Elite and pulled out his M90 Shotgun. "Say goodbye, split-lip," Tal said, before firing three shots. The Elite's shields absorbed the first shot, becoming drained, and the other two knocked him into an empty shelf, that proceeded to fall over. Tal fired another shot, which turned the Elite's skull into a bloody mess. 
"Good riddance."
Lisa grabbed the Gravity Hammer up from the ground, seeing that it was next to a deceased Brute. The Spartan readied the hammer as she saw a Phantom dropping off a group of Elites and Grunts.
I322 stopped, seeing that the enemy had seen her.
"Come at me, bitch."
The Covenant forces began to fire, and Lisa sprinted forward, trying to dodge as many bolts as she could. She swung the hammer and it smashed into the ground, sending two grunts flying. She turned as she felt two plasma bolts burn into her right shoulder. The Spartan saw the two drones flying around, with plasma pistols in hand. She saw a Brute charge at her, as if in rage.
Lisa hefted the hammer and threw it with all her might at the brute, and the hammer smashed into it's chest and knocked it into a wrecked Warthog.
The wrecked vehicle exploded, and Lisa pulled out her BR55. The Spartan aimed her rifle at a Jackal, and pulled the trigger. The bullets bounced off it's shield, and she cursed. That was my last mag!
She threw it at a Grunt, whom soon fell over. The Spartan pulled out her M6G and aimed it at a drone, and pulled the trigger three times. The drone fell from the air and landed on top of an Elite, which shook it off. She heard the sound of a Beam Rifle fire, shooting through the aliens head, and saw a Spartan walk up and look at her handiwork, kicking it's body. She turned to Lisa, somewhat annoyed.
"Why do you guys always leave me behind?" Julia-I346 said, jokingly. 
Lisa smiled, glad to see that her friend hadn't been killed yet. "Where'd you get that weapon?" Lisa asked Julia, curious. "Ran out of ammo for my Sniper Rifle, killed a Jackal for it. Looks nice, doesn't it?"
She nodded, somewhat uncaring, but, for the most part, agreed.
"Anyways," Julia said, "We better get out of here. Command is ordering us to regroup and take out those Anti-air guns that are keeping the UNSC from mass-deploying troops here."
"Wait, then how did our dropships get us in here?" Julia shrugged, a gesture that frustrated I332. "I can only guess that they have active camouflage, or something." Lisa nodded and picked up a fallen MA5K carbine from the ground, next to a dead Spartan.
"Recognize him?"
Lisa shook her head no, and turned the body over with her foot, revealing the number printed on his chestplate. "Rick-I331. Well, I guess the jerks always die, am I right?"
I332 sighed. She hadn't been that fond of Rick, but she didn't want to see him killed. He had at least tried to kill those who killed his parents. Because of that, she had respected him.
Peter-I357 maneuvered through the burnt, broken trees, trying not to get the barrel of his SRS99 caught in the bushes. Peter took a few more steps, and he found himself at a ledge, a dead end. Shit! Peter thought, getting down on the ground as he saw a Phantom fly low over the ledge. The Covenant ship stopped, and deployed two hunters and four Jackals. This...this is a perfect spot! Peter thought, aiming the barrel of his SRS99 and looking through it's scope.
He aimed for the first hunter's weak spot, where Lek-Golo worms were showing. Peter opened fire, and the bullet missed the hunter. Fuck! He saw the Jackals turn and begin firing upon him with their plasma pistols. Peter looked through the scope again, and opened fire once more, a bullet going through the Jackal's head. He aimed again, this time at another weak spot from the first hunter.
He fired, and this time, he didn't miss. 
The Hunter went down, and the second one turned towards him and released a wave of plasma at him from it's hunter cannon. Peter rolled to the side and slid down the ledge. He strapped the SRS99 back on his back and pulled out his M7S SMG, and continued sliding. The hunter attempted to smash Peter with it's left arm, but Peter rolled out of the way and jumped forward. I357 got up and aimed his SMG at the Hunter's back, and opened fire. The hunter turned and smacked Peter into the air with it's left arm, and Peter smashed into a tree. The impact knocked Peter's breath away, but he forced himself up. "Not today, asshole."
Peter looked at his M7S and found that it had be split in half by the impact.
"Seriously?" He said to himself, annoyed.
I357 saw a fallen SPNKR rocket launcher on the ground and picked it up. Peter had rarely trained with the rocket launcher, but he figured two rockets would be enough. I357 began to run towards the hunter and jumped, firing two of the only rockets in his replacement weapon. The rockets knocked the Hunter into the air, colliding with the ledge. The body began to shake uncontrollably, and then went limp. Peter took out his combat knife and turned towards the jackals, and smiled to himself.
To the jackals, he was a blur, slicing and stabbing through his opponents, until there was only one left. The jackal fired two shots, both hitting the armored Spartan in the shoulder. The Spartan, in pain, roared out and grabbed a fallen needler from the ground. He released a wave of needles that collided with the Jackal, and Peter's opponent's had been finished off.
"Captain, you know that if we go through with this-" 
Will Terlin held up his hand, to silence the scientist.
"I know. But ONI want's Spartan-IIIs, and we are going to give them to them."
"But-"
"You know that if we fuck this up, ONI is going to have our ass. So we do this right, we don't get the trainees killed, and we celebrate by sending them into battle, and we have a beer. Sound fair?"
The scientist hesitated.
"We're ago for CHRYSANTHEMUM augmentations."
Jay walked into the lab, not knowing what to expect. He saw tools, attached to the ceilings, looking as if they were meant poke and prod him. Jay saw needles attached to mechanical arms, as if he was going to be injected with something. He saw a computer monitor as well, and Jay felt as if something was going to happen.
Get on the table, His instincts told him.
But fear told him another story.
They're going to kill you! His mind screamed.
But everyone else was doing it. He got on the table, and lay down, closing his eyes. He vividly saw, in his mind, his mother, even after it had been years since her suicide.
He felt the tools get closer to the sides of his head, and he felt two needles penetrate his skull, and felt other needles go into his limbs. 
Get out, get out get-
Jay felt pain. Bindings held him, keeping him from escaping. He spasmed, and his head began to ache. His heart beat faster.
Everything went black.
"Fireteam Eta Two, are you there, over?"
Tal-I301 opened fire on the group of Sangheili with his MA5B, firing all sixty of his rounds. He reloaded once more and took cover behind a crate. "Fireteam Eta Two, do you read?" 
"This is Tal-I301 from Fireteam Eta Two, we're reading, over!"
"Reach is being glassed, evacuate New Alexandria right now!"
"How?!" Tal yelled, exasperated as he heard plasma shots collide with his cover.
"The UNSC Spartan's-"
The signal cut out.
"The UNSC what?!"
Tal looked up and saw the UNSC Charon-class light frigate being split in half by a wave of plasma from a CCS-class battlecruiser. The ship began to fall into the atmosphere of Reach, and Tal felt his heart sink.
He turned his attention back to the small skirmish.
Tal motioned for his teammates to use their frag grenades, and Tal took out one of his own. He activated it and rolled it over at the Elites. The aliens didn't notice the small explosives, and they were knocked back by the force of the blast. Two of the Elites went limp, dead, and the other two roared out in anger. They each threw one blue, glowing ball that many recognized as a plasma grenade.
Tal jumped back from the blast, surprised that he hadn't been killed yet.
 
Jayne looked out into space from the bridge of the ship, still unsure why she was called there, along with her brother, teammate and leader, Jay.
"At ease, Spartans."
It was very rare for them to not wear their armor, it was uncomfortable, and the armor had somewhat become part of Jayne. She relaxed her shoulders.
"Do you know of the Insurrection, Spartans?" The two nodded, fully aware. The Captain's eyes flicked between both Jayne and her brother, cold, and calculating.
"Well, one such a force has managed to get ahold of...former UNSC ships. Around six in fact."
"Which system?" Jayne asked, curious.
The Captain stopped himself.
"The Beta Hydri system, I428."
Jayne racked her brain. Where had she heard that name before?
If the Captain had noticed Jayne's expression, he didn't show it.
The captain seemed to hesitate to say his next words.
"You, your team, and twenty other Spartans, are to board at least three ships...and destroy them."
Jayne glanced quickly at Jay. His face was a mix of shock and anger and...something else. She turned her attention back to the briefing.
After leaving the room, Jayne looked at Jay again. "Hey," she asked, "Have you ever heard that name before?"
"Huh?" Jay said, "Oh, yeah. You don't even remember?" 
Jayne sensed a hint of annoyance in Jay's voice.
"I'm afraid not."
Jay seemed to sigh in frustration.
"Well, remember before our mom killed herself, and before dad was killed in the attack?"
"Vaguely."
"They mentioned the Beta Hydri system. I don't remember much, but I recall them mentioning that they were afraid that those damn Covvies were going to attack the Beta Hydri system."
"But why would they be concerned with that, if we didn't live...."
Jay stopped and looked Jayne in the eye.
"We lived there, Jayne. Somewhere in the Beta Hydri system. They're attacking our home."
Tal sidestepped the Sangheili Zealot and jumped onto it's back. Tal pulled out his combat knife and began stabbing into the Elite's neck. Tal jumped off and heard a plasma pistol being fired at him.
"Oh hell no!" Tal yelled as he turned and narrowly dodged the bolt of plasma. Tal pulled out his M6G and fired, killing the Skirmisher who had fired it at him. Tal ducked under cover nearby a Warthog that had been flipped onto it's side, praying that it still had at least some structural integrity. Tal watched as a Falcon flew above him, only to be shot down by a nearby Shade Turret. Tal saw where the Falcon was going to crash, and he didn't find it very flattering.
Tal jumped away as soon as he knew that the Falcon was going to crash into his former position. Tal heard a large explosion, and his ears rang painfully. He turned to see the spectacle, and he was glad that he hadn't been there a few seconds ago.
Tal got himself up and saw several grunts heading towards him. Tal began to fire, and when he did, they returned fire. Tal felt a plasma bolt graze his side, and he groaned in pain. "Whoohoo, Flopyup managed to hit the Demon!" One of the Unggoy said as the bolt hit Tal's side. "Well, Flopyup," Tal said, aiming his rifle at the grunts, "You're the first to die."
Tal opened fire, the bullets hitting the unfortunate Unggoy in the head.
"No! Not Flopyup!" The grunt's began to fire rapidly at the Spartan. Tal pulled the trigger several more times, until all of the grunts were a blue, bloody mess.
Tal dodged a plasma bolt and took cover behind the hollow remains of a Scorpion. The Spartan began to devise a plan. His teammates had been killed, no way around that. But...
Tal saw a banshee scream towards him. The Spartan jumped to the side as a green ball of plasma roared towards him. His ears rung as the banshee turned around once more and screamed towards him again. The aircraft began firing blue bolts of plasma at him- he didn't have time. Tal was ready to give up. Until he saw a jackhammer launcher on the ground. 
The Spartan sprinted towards it-
And grabbed it right as plasma bolts hit the ground behind him. The Spartan aimed the SPNKR at the Banshee, and Tal fired as it locked on. The missile roared towards the banshee in hit it in it's side- and it began to spiral down to the ground. His heart skipped a beat as it fell down towards him.
The spartan snapped into action, jumping out of the way as it-
His shields gave out as the debris slashed through his titanium chest. A breach. But he was still alive, and his shield bar began to regenerate. Tal didn't realize he had been holding his breath until his HUD gave him a warning. His heart rate had spiked, and there was a small injury in his chest. But he was still alive. That was the most important part.
Tal-I301 forced himself up, feeling himself slide slightly as his shields finished powering on.
Tal had no time to celebrate. He needed to get out of there.
Jay loaded his MA37 and shoved on the helmet that obscured his scarred face, and watched as the aft door of the Pelican opened up to reveal the half-barren, half rebuilt planet. It had been a while since he had been on the world, but the memories of the battle were still fresh.
The pelican slowed, turned, and Jay almost hesitated, reminded of the time that he had failed jumping out of the pelican back on that one planet...but he couldn't remember why.
Jay tightened the straps of the jetpack before running and jumping out of the aircraft, rifle in hand. He saw the others jump out as well, green acknowledgement lights blinking on.
They landed in the forest two kilometers away from the rebel base, and Jay motioned for them to move towards the complex.
Jay's throat was dry. He didn't exactly know why. It just wasn't explainable. 
The wind gently blew through the trees, causing them to sway back and forth. The moon shone in the sky. Alien crickets and birds made chirps of the early morning, even if the sun hadn't risen yet. 
It was too quiet.
A rookie, gung-ho marine may have said that it didn't matter because they would make their own noise. A smarter, more experienced soldier would say that it meant an ambush. But a Spartan- one like Jay- would say that it meant both an opportunity and a threat. 
It was an opportunity in the sense that they could induce fear on the sleeping terrorists. It was a threat in the sense that the rebels could hear them a lot easier. 
Category:Stories