CHAPTER 16

JUNE 21, 2530 0700 HOURS UNSC MARATHON CLASS CRUISER LEVIATHAN

Margaret and the others stood opposite the front of the two Naval Guards, armed with MA5B Assault Rifles. Their faces were opaque beneath modified CH252 helmets, they were usually MP (military police) issue.

One of the still guards finally spoke. "Your clear, the Admiral's expecting you" Margaret couldn't tell which of the two guards had spoken, they looked completely identical.

they had introduced Black to the bridge of the massive warship, Leviathan. Which had been cleared of the assigned crew and organised into a private briefing room.

"Welcome aboard the Levi, Black Team" Stanforth said, at the centre of the bridge, standing behind a holotank and display. A robed avatar manifested from the databank

"This is Beowulf" Stanforth said, introducing the figure, like Deja, Beowulf was an Artificial Intelligence, he was likely of the same level as "dumb" like Deja, yet he was still extremely intelligent, he also had a way that made his Anglo-Saxon appearance more unsettling to Margaret than Deja's calm Greek goddess form.

Beowulf's avatar merely noticed the Four Spartans, and never said a word. Stanforth turned to speak.

"As you know, the UNSC has been placed at full alert to fight the alien threat discovered at the Epsilon Indi System." Stanforth said, "Harvest was ground-zero, our first encounter with what we now call "The Covenant"."

"Colonial Authority discovered Harvest had been attacked and the colony was destroyed." He nodded to Beowulf "Show them, Beowulf" a moment later a fireball of a planet occupied the screen, as if claimed by hell, angry, burning patterns carved into the surface. "approximately near 3 million lives lost."

Margaret had lived on Harvest, that's all she knew of her childhood, Harvest looked nothing like the planet she was now looking at. "Harvest was only the beginning." he took a breath and carried on, "As you know, the UNSC has mobilised and sought to contain the Aliens and protect the Inner Colonies, Reach and Earth. Admiral Cole has since mobilised a Battlegroup to reclaim Harvest.

"Cole's Battlegroup had initially destroyed the excursion force at Harvest, at the cost of thirteen vessels." He said.

Margaret could taste the hesitance Stanforth said, Admiral Preston Cole was one of the most revered officers in the UNSC, establishing a record of laying the law throughout the colonies. A man who was nothing short of Legendary amongst the Navy, this status was bolstered by the ONI Propaganda machine, which turned the "Victory" at Harvest into a significant victory, and used it as a UNSC recruitment message to the populace.

The truth was humanity was now looking at extinction. Reports from the Former Colony stated that their weapons were hundreds of years ahead of anything humanity had, and that their ships "energy shielding" was nigh impenetrable. the force present there consisted of one ship, the single ship was enough to destroy thirteen UNSC ships out of the largest battlegroup in human history, before being taken out by a large en mass volley of Magnetic Accelerator Cannons from the battlegroup, proving the only weapon capable of depleting the covenants energy shielding so far into the war.

"Two months ago, a Prowler sortie made radar contact with Covenant forces on Harvest. We found three of the Covenant Battleships making ground contact on the surface of Harvest, within it's polar region. Initial reports that Covenant Ground Forces have amassed on the surface of Harvest's polar region, which has been one of a few areas of the planet untouched by Covenant Plasma bombardment." Stanforth said,

"Do we know what they're doing down there, sir?" Victor asked

Stanforth turned towards Victor, "that's what your here to find out, Spartan. Aswell as killing as many of these Alien Bastards as you can."

"You'll be deployed some Klicks from the main Covenant landing zone, you'll be deployed with a FURY Warhead, find this landing zone and why they decided to land here, then deny them what they're looking for, sink it all. Your new equipment should come handy too."

"New equipment, sir?" Margaret said, the Spartans glanced at each other, then back at the Admiral.

"Doctor Halsey has made....recent advancements in Battle Armor. fielding have helped ONI to produce upgraded models of MJOLNIR Battle Armor. This particular operation will see this as a field test of these improved variants to suit your needs."

He turned to Lieutenant Ayanda Coetzee, a young, dark skinned naval lieutenant.

"This is Lieutenant Coetzee. She will introduce you to MJOLNIR."

"You'll deploy with a pelican I have requisitioned and refitted for your needs, you'll be deployed with a FURY Warhead, find this landing zone and why they decided to land here, then deny them what they're looking for, sink it all, Spartans.

"We'll get it done, sir!" Margaret saluted, the three others followed suit.

UNSC LEVIATHAN, HANGAR 2

The Hangar had mostly been cleared, usually bristling with activity and loading for any further deployments, the hangar was seemingly deserted, amongst the loaded Pelican Dropships, centre-front were several frames holding grey coloured heavy battle armour, set onto several Plexiglas mannequins suspended from the frames. Technicians were all around the suits, screens and displays had been hastily set up, alongside a makeshift gym which seem meant for metahumans.

Coetzee finally spoke, her heavy south African accent sounding through the vast empty space, "This is MJOLNIR."

She rose her eyebrow at them, Otto gave a low whistle, Victor stared hard at it and frowned, Roma was probably busy finding something to be cynical over.

Coetzee nodded to a technician, "lower them down." The technician nodded and pressed a button, all four frames slumped to the platform with a metal clang.

"Doctor Halsey has been fitting Spartans with these Battle Suits to fight the Covenant, they are tailored to your new physiology. No other human can wield this suit, you are not normal humans, however."

"Are there any questions?"

"What are the design Specs, Ma'am?" Margaret inquired.

Coetzee smiled, "Here, Chief Petty Officer" she snapped her fingers and a holographic display manifested in front of them, completely identical to the four battle armour suits in front of them.

"These battle suits are made up of a multi-layer alloy of impressive durability, a new refractive coating has also been installed to provide additional protection versus the weapons of our new alien friends."

"The suits have bio-monitors that constantly regulate temperature and fit, an onboard computer that helps control the suit and reacts at the speed of thought, it connects to your standard-issue Neural Implant. Effectively, you can control this suit by merely thinking about it."

She clicked her fingers again and the holographic armour projection disassembled into it's components. the inner suit resembled vein-like structures, optical crystal and the circulating pump of the reinforced power pack at the rear of the battlesuit.

"The layer also has a liquid crystal which makes it up, this can amplify force drastically, you'll be able to take a lot, hand out a lot and move a lot faster than any human ever could." Coetzee finished

"This suit also offers protection from hazardous elements, including vacuum, you have 90 minutes of breathable air, as well as flawlessly able to operate underwater too, this suits are tested to be able to handle extremely tough environments of any type, proven by field deployments from other Spartans."

"I think I'm in love, Ma'am" Otto said

"You should be, 31, you will be physically, electronically and mentally connected to this suit, it should function and feel like a regular part of your body, like a second skin."

Margaret doubted the "second skin" the suit looked incredibly heavy, despite being less bulkier than the ADS (Armor Defense System) suits she and Black had practiced on during training, she betted that even lifting the right arm would be a hard task inside the suit.

"Finally, these suit models have been exclusively fielded to BLACK Team to meet their mission specs and parameters. Lessons learned from MJOLNIR have been applied here. These suits ought to make you near-invincible with the right training and tactics. Projects like these aimed to improve the operating standard of MJOLNIR, the MJOLNIR Armour system has been equipped with upgrades to it's VISR and heat dispersion systems, while maintaining the previous enhancements with the earlier suits the other Spartans used at Chi Ceti IV."

Margaret imagined herself inside the suit, and felt immortal, like the chalice that brought everlasting life or death.