Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

When Casper opened his eyes, he saw that he was still inside the cryopod. Looking through the glass, he saw a technician typing sometime on the console in front of him that Casper recognized controlled all the pods in this bay. "All four suits are showing green," he heard the technician shout to someone above him. "Cycle complete."

"Well, this is familiar," Casper thought to himself. The interior of the ship looked very similar to have it was in the game. Only instead of witnessing it through a screen, he was there in person.

Casper's cryopod opened as well as three others. He attempted to get out of the pod but once he did everything around him started to spin, forcing him to lay back down. "Sorry for the quick thaw Spartans," the tech chief said. "Things are getting a little hectic right now. The disorientation should pass quickly."

Once the disorientation did pass, Casper got out of the pod. As he did, he saw Chief, Carter, Kat, and Emile all get out of the pods as well. He nodded to each them once he got out and they nodded back to him as well.

"Sam, bring up their health monitors," the tech chief, identified as T. Shepard via his nametag on his uniform, ordered to his companion.

"Right."

Vital signs appeared on Casper's HUD, right underneath the shield integrity display. "Vitals look normal," Shepard read from his console. "Minimal free burn. Okay Spartans, go ahead and climb out of the pod."

"Minimal?" Casper heard Emile mumble as he stood right next to him.

While Casper went into cryo-sleep before. This was the first time he did fully armored. His whole body ached and itched. Though, it wasn't as bad as when his body got blown up in Iraq during his first life.

" I gave you all a double dose of wake-up stim," Shepard said as the Spartans stretched their limbs to recover from the quick thaw effects. "Take a quick walk around the bay and we'll get your shields up when you are ready."

Suddenly, a loud rumbling shook the Pillar of Autumn causing the Spartans to tense up and glance at various entrances hostiles could come through. One thing was clear, the ship was under attack.

"What's the sitrep sailor," Carter asked the tech chief.

"Our orders are to make sure all four of you are combat ready. Everything else will be explained after." Shepard replied.

Carter seemed to accept the explanation, though he did seem to be unhappy about not knowing the full picture yet.

"Let's get this over with," Chief said as he stepped into diagnostic station for the shields of their MJOLNIR armor.

Shepard nodded as he worked at his station. "OK, Master chief," he replied. "We'll start with you, Sam bring his energy shields online please."

The station went online, and Casper watched as the two arms on the device began spinning around the chief while he remained perfectly still. His armor shimmered for a second as the shields booted up.

"Alright. Shields are fully charged," Sam reported to Shepard.

"Okay, Chief. We're going to bring them down to test the automatic recharge," Shepard said as the arms on the device began to slow. The lights on the arms turned from gold to red and electricity surged out of them. Chief's shields flared up for a second before they went down. A few seconds later, his green armor shimmered which indicated his shields came back online.

"Recharging normal," Sam announced. "Green is showing all across the board."

"Good. Now if you would step into the station we'll get your shields up." Shepard asked Kat which she complied once Chief stepped out.

One by one the shields were raised on all four of the Spartans with Casper being the last one. As soon as he stepped out of the station. A voice that Casper recognized belonged to Captain Keyes spoke through the intercom.

"Cryo bay 2, this is Oscar-6-Kilo. Send the Sierras up to the bridge immediately," the Captain ordered via the intercom.

"Captain, we didn't start the weapons diagnostics and I- "Shepard protested.

"On the double, crewman."

"Here we go," Casper thought to himself.

"Aye, aye, sir." The tech turned to face the Spartans. "The skipper seems jumpy; we'd better get moving. We'll find you weapons later."

Just before Casper could say anything, loud banging filled up the room from observation room above, through the only door leading into it. Everyone knew what this meant.

The Covenant was here, and they had boarded the ship

A panicking Sam tried desperately to call for help right before the door was ripped open by a Crimson Class Elite armed with a Plasma Rifle. Sam attempted to plead for his life right before the Elite quickly gunned him down. As soon as it noticed the others in the next room, I attempted break through by firing its weapon at the glass. It was proven to be useful as the reinforced glass held. The Elite snarled at the Spartans before he ran out to find another way into the cryo chamber.

"Sam! Sam!" Shepard yelled out despite already knowing Sam was already dead. When there was no response, he turned his gaze towards the Spartans. "C'mon, we've got to get out of here," Shepard yelled at the Spartans before running towards the exit to the room.

Casper followed closed with the other three right behind him. As Shepard made it to the door Casper was right behind remembering what had occurred.

Right before an explosion tore through the door, Casper grabbed the man and used his body as a shield to protect as shrapnel came through the corridor which resulted in his body moving a few feet down the corridor. Fortunately, his shield systems held and the tech chief was unharmed, shock evident on his face as he realized he was seconds from dying in a fiery explosion.

"T-Thanks, Lieutenant," Shepard said with gratitude.

"How'd you know about the explosion, Six," Carter asked. Confusion could be heard in his voice as he and the others wondered how Six knew that explosion was coming.

"Gut feeling, I never doubt it," Six said nonchalantly as he shrugged. Casper always said that whenever he did something like what he did just now. While for now everyone seemed to accept it, he knew he would eventually have to come up with other explanations to explain his actions to prevent others from becoming suspicious.

There wasn't any time for the rest of the Spartans to question his response as smoke began to clear the room as the fire suppression systems worked desperately to contain the fire.

"Through here," Kat said while pointing to a service crawlspace that seemed to lead into another corridor.

The Spartans worked their way through the empty space with Shepard following close behind, vaulting over a large pipe in the way. As they reached the next corridor, which looked similar to the one they just left, they opened the door where they were greeted by a firefight between three armed Sailors and a group of grunts down a large corridor.

"Go, bridge is down that way," Shepard said as he pulled out his service pistol and went to join the crewman in holding back the grunts.

Recognizing there was nothing they could do unarmed, the four continued to make their way to the bridge. Along the way, they encountered more firefights between the Covenant and UNSC forces. Makeshift barricades were placed upon hallways leading into the bridge to hold the aliens back. Both sides sustained heavy casualties as bodies lined up through the hallways, splattering blood on the walls and the floor.

"Spartans!" a PFC yelled at the super soldiers as they made their way past a barricade. "The bridge is this way; I'll take you come on!" He said before running down the corridor.

As they followed him, Casper recognized him as a member of the UNSC Army, 40th Infantry Division. While it may have been unusual to see Army personnel on a Navy ship. The Pillar of Autumn rescued UNSC personnel regardless of what branch they served in before it evacuated Reach. This included the UNSC Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard.

The soldier made his way passed an armory. The Spartans took a quick glance to see if there were any available weapons. Unfortunately, all weapons were gone and instead was filled with wounded as it was now used as a triage center.

"Right here Spartans, just through this door!" the PFC pointed towards the door at the end of the room.

As the four stepped on the bridge, crewman and officers were manning their stations with grim-faces as they manned their stations. Judging by their faces, they likely all accepted the likely of the outcome of this engagement. Emile seemed to be the most frustrated as he still didn't have a weapon other than his Kukri, which he seemed ready to unsheathe at a moments notice. Kat and Carter were soaking in the info on the screens of various consoles as the group made their way to Captain Jacob Keyes, who was studying a readout. A holographic display of a ring-shaped object caught Spartan's attention as they never encountered anything like that, they momentarily wondered what it was. However, Casper already knew what it was, a Halo. A weapon of mass destruction built by the Forerunners to wipe out life in the galaxy to starve the Flood. He said nothing as Master Chief announced their presence to the C.O.

"Captain Keyes."

A small grin grew on Keyes face as he turned around to face the Spartans. "Good to see you, Master Chief, Noble team," Keyes replied shaking our armored hands. "Things aren't going to well. Cortana tried her best but we never really had a chance." Keyes grin slid off his face as soon as his said that final word.

The mentioned AI appeared via a holoprojector right next the main display as soon as the Captain finished. "A single Halcyon-class Cruiser against an OPFOR that consists of a dozen Covenant Superior battleships. Given those odds I'm content with three…" Cortana paused as a red light disappeared from the display. "Make that four kills." Cortana turned to the four Spartans. "Sleep well?"

Emile shrugged while Kat just said, "I had worse." Carter ignored her and continued to study the display about the Halo.

Casper remained quiet as he subtly moved towards a nearby rail and readied himself to quickly grab it.

"No, thanks to your driving, yes," the Chief replied.

"So, you did miss me," Cortana said with a small smile on her face.

Suddenly, the ship shook violently, causing everyone to brace themselves against whatever they could. Keyes supported himself against the main screen while Casper held onto the rail he prepared to grab moments before. Chief, Emile, Kat, and Carter staggered but remained standing until the shaking stopped. "Report," Keyes yelled as he stood back up.

"It must have been one of their boarding parties!" Cortana responded. "I'd guess an Antimatter Charge."

"Ma'am! Fire control to the main cannon is offline!" the Autumn's weapons officer shouted to Cortana from her station.

"Captain, the cannon was my last offensive option," Cortana pointed out to Keyes.

Keyes let out a sigh. "Alright then, I'm initiating the Cole Protocol, Article 2. We're abandoning the Autumn. That means you too, Cortana."

"While you do what, go down with the ship?" Cortana asked with annoyance in her voice.

"In a manner of speaking," Keyes replied as tapped the main screen with his pipe. "The object we found, I'm going to try and land the Autumn on it."

"Captain's got guts, doesn't he?" Emile whispered to Casper who nodded his head in agreement

"With all due respect, sir, this was had enough dead heroes," the AI said as she shook her head.

"I appreciate your concern, Cortana, but it's not up to me. Protocol is clear. Destruction or capture of a shipboard AI is unacceptable, that means you're leaving this ship. Lock in a selection of emergency landing zones, upload them to my neural lace, and get yourself ready of a hard transfer," he ordered her.

"Aye, aye, sir," Cortana said as she complied.

As she did what she was told, Keyes turned to the Spartan." This is where you four come in. Get Cortana off this ship. Keep her out of enemy hands. If they capture her, they'll learn everything. Force deployments, weapons R&D…. Earth."

The greatest fear for humanity during the whole war was the Covenant discovering the location of Earth. If they did, Mankind would lose this war. "Sir consider it done," Carter answered for the group.

Cortana spoke up again. "The Autumn will continue evasive maneuvers until you initiate the landing sequence. Not, that you'll listen, but I'd suggest letting my subroutines handle the final approach once you begin the descent," she said.

Keyes nodded his head towards the AI. "Excellent work Cortana and thank you. Are you ready?"

Taking one final glance around the bridge of the Autumn, she let out a soft sigh. "Yank me," Cortana said, lowering her head with closed eyes.

The Captain typed in a sequence and pulled out the data crystal, Cortana's avatar disappearing from the holoprojector right before he did. "Good luck Spartans," Keyes said as he handed the chip over to the Master Chief.

Once he had the chip in his hand, the Spartan-2 inserted it into the back of his helmet.

"Don't get any funny ideas," the Chief uttered.

Kat looked at him in confusion, "What was that Chief," she asked."

The Master Chief shook his head before replying. "Nothing."

"He was talking to the AI, Kat, she just spoke to him privately when he inserted her into his helmet," Carter explained to Kat, who groaned as she realized it was obviously in hindsight.

"Come on two, you're supposed to be the smart one," Emile said to Kat with a clear amusement in his voice as well as smirk that everyone knew he had despite wearing a face-covering helmet. Before Kat could respond, Keyes drew his sidearm and handed it over to the Master Chief.

"I don't keep it loaded, son, you'll have to find it. And I only have one," He addressed the last part toward the Spartan-3s.

"Don't worry about us, sir, we'll find gear along the way," Six responded for the rest of Noble team.

"Alright then," Keyes replied with a quick nod. "Now, get going."

The group of Spartans made their way through the deserted hallways of the Autumn. They remained quiet as they remained on the lookout for the enemy, checking corners every time they stepped into a new room and communicating with hand signals. Firefights could be heard in the distant as evacuation order was given and the crew fought to escape the ship.

Eventually they came across a group of dead Marines with their equipment still on them. Before taking their gear, Casper made a quick cross gesture. Wishing them piece in their next life. He never really wondered if they would go into another universe like he did when he first died. Would he go into another universe that he enjoyed if he died again? He decided to cross that bridge when he came to it.

Chief and Carter both grabbed the MA5B Assault Rifle as well as the remaining magazines the Marines still had on them, at the same time, Kat grabbed the MA37 IWCS. Casper grabbed the M392 DMR while Emile took the M45 shotgun. The four quickly the remaining frags, smoke, and flashbangs before continuing to make their way towards the lifeboats.

"There! Lifeboats straight ahead!" Cortana exclaimed to the group. "Hurry up before they leave without us!"

No one needed to be told twice as they ran towards the three lifeboats still in their moorings, engaging Grunts, Jackals, and Elites that stood between and their escape. Unfortunately, the pods launched just before they arrived as they see through a window that overlooked the lifeboats. Once they were launched, cannons from one of the Covenant Warships fired upon. The blast destroyed the third lifeboat as well as struck the hull of the Autumn.

"The Covenant are destroying the lifeboats…" Cortana said as they watched the remaining two lifeboats make their escape towards the Halo. "They really don't want us on that ring."

"Well, that just means we gotta try harder to get down there," Emile replied as he gathered up more shotgun shells from a fallen UNSC Army soldier.

Casper said nothing as he continued to stare at the Covenant warships and at the Ring below. Knowing just exactly what they were going to have to face.

"Where are the closet set of lifeboats?" Kat asked as she checked the ammo on her rifle.

"Not too far," Cortana answered. "I'll set up a marker on your HUDs."

An arrow soon showed up on their visors that showed where they needed to go as well as the number of meters. "Let's get moving, Casper take point." Carter ordered

Casper kept his rifle raised as he moved down the corridor, occasionally glancing at his motion tracker to see if it detected any movement. However, there were no contacts, friendly or otherwise. Just as he was about to turn the corner, his tracker picked up movement. Casper raised up his arm to tell them to halt and motioned for them to stack up against the wall. He took a quick peak down around the corner and saw five Grunts, three Jackals, and three Elites. They didn't notice him when he took his head out of sight and told the others how many there were using his hands. When he was done, he motioned to Kat to prepare a flashbang and toss it down the corner, which see immediately understood. Once she was ready, Six gave a nod of his head and Kat threw down the corridor. The group of Covenant soldiers yelped out in surprise as they were blinded, which made them easy targets for the Spartans as they spun around the corner

As soon as the last one dropped, they continued to make their way to the lifeboats, only encountering a few more Grunts and Jackals along the way. When they got there, only Lifeboat remained as the remaining UNSC personnel climbed into it. One marine tripped before he got in, without wasting any time Emile grabbed him and threw him in while Chief pulled watched our packs as we piled into the lifeboat. As soon as I was in, I realized that there was no pilot, so I quickly made my way to the pilot's seat and aimed it at the Ring as I prepared it for launch.

"Now, would be very good time to leave, don't you think," Cortana said.

Chief seemed to agree because as soon as he was inside, he shut the doors to the boat.

"Punch it, Six." Carter ordered.

"Aye aye, sir," Casper replied with a two fingered salute before he activated the engines and launched the lifeboat out of the Autumn.

As they made their way towards the Halo, they watched as the Autumn sped past them towards the Ring. "I knew it! Keyes is going in manually!" Cortana exclaimed as the Autumn began its descent.

"Get ready people, we're entering the atmosphere in 5 mikes!" Six called out over the coms as we flicked some switches to help keep the pod stable before they entered the atmosphere.

Before they entered the Ring, Casper took a moment to look it from orbit one last time. Seeing it from above, there was a strange beauty behind. However, Six knew about the true purpose of the Halos and the enemy that once wiped out a more advanced species than the ones they were already fighting. How merciless, ruthless they were, and how they would stop at nothing to achieve their aims.

And he was ready to face it head on.