Chapter 1: The Unyielding Heirophant "So, what do we got?" asked General Haverson. "Two banshes to the east. A squad of grunts and heavy-armor brutes to the west." replied Seargant Hale. "Really? Well, open the COM link to the Gettysburge. I need to report in." ordered the General. "Sir, yes, sir!" The COM link made a click and a voice questioned: "What is the password for clearence to the Gettysburge?" Haverson made a sigh. Computer A.I.s were so troublesome. Everything you tried to access iin ONI were gaurded by them. Most of them, if not all of them, were annoying. "The password is Unyielding Heirophant. The A.I. paused. "Correct, patching you through to the Naval Intelligance of the Gettysburge." Static filled the COM and it went dead. "What the-" screamed Haverson, but before anymore words could escape his mouth, a loud boom sounded throughout the world of Artemis V. He looked up at the dark sky, and a spray of fire and bright lights filled the air. "What," asked Haverson, "was that?" "The Gettysburge." said General Haverson. "Seargent..." "Aye, sir?" "Patch me through to Blue I and Blue II. It looks like the Covenant know we're here.." Spartan-117 checked his mission clock: fourty-five minutes until extraction. It was a small amount of time, but it would work. "Blue I, are you ready to move out." "Ready," replied Fred over the COM. "Ready," Linda replied. John looked up at the dark sky of Artemis V. The once bright, beautiful clouds were now dark and filled with the flames and debris of what once was the Gettysburge. The world of Artemis V was filled with lush jungles and high mountains, so traveling was very difficult. And even more difficult was the job of avoiding the Covenant army. They were approximately a mile away from their destination: An abandoned UNSC base filled with nuclear warheads. With ammunition and bombs being quickly depleted by the Covenant-human war, nuclear warheads were considered gold. "Allright, time to move oiut.." Blue I moved silently, as if invisible, through the thick jungles. Although a beautiful area, the Covenant would soon glass this world and every living thing on it. Suddenely, something moved in the trees. John quickly raised his hand. Fred and Linda halted. "Something on my radar appeared. It's not a friendly. Move quick and quiet. If an enemy attacks, you attack back, understand?" Green lights winked on his HUD. "Good, move.." Silently and quick they moved, dodging treelimbs, snakes, poisinous fauna, and, even more dangerous, the Covenant. In ten minutes, they reached their destination. "Holy.." Fred whispered silently. In the middle of the jungle, they spotted the UNSC base. Covenant stood gaurd that ranged from Jackals, Grunts, Hunters, and Elites. Covenant Engineers had opened the doors of the building and were searching inside for the warheads. John's adrenaline levels peaked and his biosigns streadily rose on his HUD. Fred and Linda's did the same. "Linda, find a good sniping position and cover us. Fred, you distract them. You have a few frag grenades, use those. Also, take out as many of them as you possibly can with your Assult Rifle. I'll come in from the front when their distracted and take out the rest. Everyone understand?" Green acknowledgement lights winked on his display. They all went into position. Kelly took the sniper, Fred got into position to jump the Covenant, and the Master Chief got ready for his part. When they were all positioned, the Master Chief yelled: "Move in!!" A sniper shot soared through the air and struck one of the Covenant Elites square in the head. The Elite dropped to the floor, dark- blue blood squirting from the wound. The brutes roared with anger. The sound of Assult Rifle bullets sounded and two more Elites fell, dead The squad of Covenant warriors turned to look behind them. John moved in, aimed his Assult Rifle, and released a hail of gunfire upon the remaing five elites. Two fell dead and the remaining Elites turned to face John. They aimed their plasma rifles, but they quickly met their end by Linda's sniper rounds.John, with the remaining Elites dead, turned his attention to the ten Brutes rushing towards Fred. Fred was shooting like a madman, kiiling three brutes in the process. The remaining seven were only a few feet away when two more fell to the ground, dead. Smoke and blood gushed from their head. No doubt that was Linda's doing. John quickly skidded to a halt, leveled his Assult Rifle, and fired. He killed another Brute. John's team was very lucky that in the confusion of this ambush, the Brutes forgot to pick up their weapons. Fred fired another volley of ammunition from his weapon;two more defeated. Another roar of sniper bullets rushed through the sky and struck the remaing two brutes in the head. All Elites and Brutes eliminated. The Grunts, Jackals, and Hunters were the only threat remaining. John opened his COM." Do not reply! I repeat, do not reply to this message! Regroup in the woods. ASAP!" Dr. Hasley wiped the sweat from her brow and sighed. The Gettysburge had survived... but barely. Half of the ship was gone; the other half remained. She reached in the pocket of her labcoat and withdrew Cortana's data chip. She inserted it into the A.I. slot in the Gettsyburge's control station. A faint hologram of Cortana appeared. "Hello, Doctor Hasley." "Hello, Cortana." she said dryly. "How much damage has been done to this ship?" "Registering.." Cortana paused. Then, she continued. "Currently, all weapons, thrusters, back-up thrusters, slipspace drive, and-" "Are all offline." interrupted Dr. Hasley. Cortana's hologram darkened to a dark violet. "Yes." "Perfect. Open up private COM link with Spartan-117. Current location: Artemis V." Cortana's hologram darkened further. "COM systems are off as well. It will take two hours to repair them and put them back online." The doctor smiled. "Do it. Then immediately patch me through. Also, begin a thorough scan for anymore Covenant cruisers within a twenty click radius." "Registering commands. Commands complete. Anymore requests?" asked Cortana. "Can the slipspace generator be repaired?" "Scanning.." Cortana's image began to blur and then she replied. "It can be repaired, but after one more jump it will be beyong repair. So, you must make one jump wiseley. Do you wish for me to repair it, Doctor?" "Yes, please do." (P.S. I will update with add-ons for chapter one. Chapter one is nearly or is halfway done. Right now, I am doing a 'write as I go' method.)
and while you continue your gallant attempts to prove nearly the entire forum wrong, if you decide to continue THIS story, spell check like no other. I can't tell you the number of spelling errors i've spotted in the first 2 paragraphs. Secondly, your spacing between lines of dialogue is destroying the story. put a line between, makes it easier to read.
Well is it good...at all???? What do you mean by spacing between dialogue? Thanks for the critique. I appreciate it. =]
