Orpheus: Halo

Orpheus

It has been five years since the destruction of the second Installation 04. The UNSCDF has rebuilt it's strength and now strives to repopulate all the abandoned worlds not glassed by the Covenant Armada. Their military force now includes of the Elites and some few Engineers. The new recruiting programs have boosted the number of new marines per month from fifty to about one hundred and fifty. Not only this, but the UNSC and ONI have restarted work on the Spartan Program, hopefully to recreate a younger, newer generation of Spartans equal to the presumed dead Master Chief.

With it's main forces obliterated at Earth and during the Battle of the Citadel, the Covenant has retreated far away from Human and Elite space, although they still occupy several frontier outposts on their spatial borders. But even now, UNSC troops engage the Loyalists in a hundred brushfire wars on different planets. But this time, the aliens are at a disadvantage. The Covenant's hierarchy is also changing, as they are now led by an enigmatic Brute chieftain, known as the Prophet of Eternity.

The Elites are officially led by a young warrior, Kile. Yet he is too inexperienced, and Rtas' Vadume and the Arbiter lead in his name. The Elites form the frontline and the barrier between the UNSC and the Covenant. Since the Elites' military force is weaker then the UNSC's, because of the multiple long wars against first the UNSC and then the Covenant twice, they have a harder time holding back the still numerous Covenant, which still brings in recruits from it's participants' homeworlds, even after it's defeat at the hands of the Master Chief and the Arbiter.

Meanwhile, Spartan Team Alpha accompanies three mega-carriers, each holding fifteen thousand colonists and marine support staff, to the distant outpost world of Actaeon in order to produce more home space and resources for the United Nations. The team of Spartans consists of five elite Spartan-Ⅳ soldiers, the Spartans, Ian, Serge, Tracy, Hugh and Janice. Their mission is to protect the colonists and the Governor, Marcus Fleming, from any kind of attack.

The story opens with the sudden assassination of Serge, the Spartans CO, when cloaked Brutes suddenly appear on the planet and he is killed in an ambush. The four remaining Spartans must try to escape the planet until help can arrive to evacuate them. Here, they begin to fully grasp the full history of planet Actaeon. And the intentions of it's native predators, the Flood.


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Orpheus
the tales of the Spartan IVs


Chapter 1. Prologue
0900 Hours, January 3, 2560 (Military Calendar) /
Tau Lambda System, City of Harshire

Ian saw the enemy approaching his position. He was well concealed, but he knew the Hunter alien would notice him as soon as he got close enough. He inched forward, rifle aimed squarely at the point of orange flesh barely visible under the impregnable armor. His shield bar flickered a hairsbreadth as his MJOLNIR combat armor scratched against a shattered combat knife. He stopped moving, and slowly his finger moved to the trigger of the sniper rifle. The Hunter stopped as well, he too aiming his weapon, at the barricade Charlie Company's marines had set up in front of the colonial administration building. The beam slowly charged up, as a group of Brutes prepared to charge as soon as the barricade was destroyed. The sun shone off their armor and the blades of their brute shots. Ian could see the helmet of their officer, a muscular Brute in the golden armor of a high-ranking captain. He gave a command to one Brute, who quickly drew a single grenade and looked for an angle. It was at that moment that Ian fired on the invaders, a series of four decisive shots which ended the battle.

The first shot hit the Hunter in his unprotected back, and he fell forward onto his own weapon. The weapon discharged through his 'chest' with a sickening crunch as it burned the Malekgolo to a black crisp and came right through the armored battle suit. The second shot hit the other hunter as he turned to face Ian. It hit the neck piece of the alien and he spun around for a moment and then fell sideways in a puddle of luminescent orange blood. Ian's third shot struck the Brute with the grenade in the unprotected spot where his eye had been. His head seemed to come apart in a gory spray of cooked flesh, and the just ignited grenade fell and hit another Brute in the boot, drawing blood and catching there. The final shot struck the captain in his neck, and while he collapsed, a section of his head was severed from the dead Brute. It had taken only ten seconds for Ian to defeat the attack his Covenant opposite had sent to defeat their small force of marines and colonists. The grenade detonated as he turned and walked down from his position to the base, strode past the four dead Jackals and past a file of Grunts in terrible, contorted positions of death, and back down to the building where his men waited. He'd done well this time.

Four other Spartans waited outside the base. He could also see Captain Kleiner and his mean waiting alongside them with their saviors. One of the Spartans opened a COM channel to Ian. "Pelicans and Albatross will be here in 60, we cleared out the local AA and all of the Covenant over the valley. We're done here." It was Serge, his CO and a man he respected for his courage, and disliked for his recklessness in battle. He nodded, and walked inside to pick up his single bag.

A minute later, he sat in the third Pelican as it quickly gained altitude and prepared to head into space. The small room that was available was packed with a medium squad of marine infantrymen who talked about the silent Spartan as if he wasn't there. "I saw it all, man. He was like pow, pow, pow, and those assholes just fell over like, real fast!" one marine told a friend, who kept repeating his compliments to the Spartan. Another marine, who sat across from Ian, was quiet and stared at Ian like a painting. He finally waved his hand briefly to get his attention, then said "Hey, how do get to be a Spartan? Where can I sign up?" He seemed content with his question. Ian looked at him, then he replied "You don't sign up. They choose you. Just hope you're not on their list." The marine thought over Ian's words for a moment, then trembled. "I don't want to know anymore, man, never mind.."

The marines' chatter continued until they reached the ship, the last Pelican to land, and were forced to wait as the enormous Albatross dropship lowered two warthogs and a single mongoose onto pads. The airlock doors sealed and the Pelican lowered itself to the floor. The marines piled out of the cramped interior and entered the ship. Ian was last. The marines all ran down a hallway and into the mess hall. But Ian slowly strode down the hallway, and into the Spartan's quarters. Janice and Serge were already there, and he nodded at them as he set down his bag. His teammate handed him a sack with a uniform and an M6G within. "What's this for?" he asked curiously. Janice shrugged and took out the same uniform from another bag. "ONI wants us to keep under the radar a bit. We have to blend in." She hurriedly removed her own helmet and her armor, and set them in an ammunition case. Serge and Ian did the same, and they were soon able to get the undersized marine fatigues on correctly.

As they left the quarters for the mess hall, they discovered Hugh and Tracy, their fellow Spartans, were already there. They sat down to eat with Charlie Company's survivors, opposite Kleiner and some of his marines. The captain nodded at them as they sat, and returned to his meal. They ate for a few minutes, then returned to their quarters to don their armor and head to the bridge, as per the request of a crewman who met them at their table. They soon arrived at the bridge to meet Captain René DeGalles, commanding officer of the Innumerable, a Marathon-class cruiser. With the UNSC in full rise, their cruisers could be built in large numbers once again. With their own fleet in disarray and now outnumbered, the Covenant could now be beaten as easily as they could on land in some cases. The officer greeted them, and shook hands briefly with Serge. "Spartans, welcome to my ship. It's going to take a few days to reach earth, so make yourselves comfortable." He gestured to the crewmen around him. "If you need anything, just ask one of my men. If they aren't busy, they can help you." Serge nodded "Thank you, captain. I'll make sure we get that down." He made a tiny signal to Ian. Ian nodded, and the Spartans returned to the quarters to wait out Slipspace, with only a table of ONI spooks waiting for their report.

NOTE This section is incomplete, and very short since I've been working on some reeeaaally important stuff recently, and have'nt had much time for this. However, I will take this one back up if I have maybe some small help or maybe some encouragement and good reviews. Thank you. REMEMBER, I wrote this when H3 came out, so it's still a bit rusty.



Chapter 2. Acteaon
0300 Hours, March 5, 2560 (Military Calendar) /
Eridanus System, space over colony world Actaeon,
Aboard carrier ship London

Colony Transport Carrier Two shook slightly as it exited Slipspace. The crewman at Navigations nodded shakily at the commander, then turned back to his console. Commander Leonardo Jekhov flipped a switch at his own station and started his broadcast to the frightened colonists in his ship's cargo hold. "Attention, all colonial staff and civilians onboard, this is Commander Jekhov, commander of the London. We've just exited Slipspace, and we are now above Actaeon, your new home from now on. The UNSC thanks you for volunteering for this mission. Your hard work will help millions of men, women, and children across Human space. Thank your for your help, now please form single file lines to each dropship that we have prepared for your journey. Thank you." He turned to his bridge crew as he switched off the public COM broadcast. He nodded once then turned away. "I expect all of you to make sure these civilians don't panic or get too excited. Head to the shuttle dock." The men and women saluted briefly, then turned and walked off the bridge, leaving behind only a skeleton crew of junior officers needed to man the ship.
Ian and Tracy sat opposite each other inside one of two forward Pelicans, spiraling down to the colony. Next to Ian were two marines, the Governor, and two aides. Governor Marcus A. Fleming looked sideways at his escort. A pair of marines that he'd met and taken a liking to onboard London, but whose names now escaped him, Marty and Hilary, his personal aides, and two of the massive Spartans that the spooks down at ONI had sent to "help" with the operations ground side on Actaeon. He was scared by the strange armored men, who he was sure were'nt even totally human, as the UNSC's propaganda claimed to the scared masses. Just brave soldiers in suits of armor, a modern knight in shining armor, they'd said in the newest vid released to the public on the Spartan soldiers, because they inspired the marines.

He didn't believe a single word. "I'm damn sure these freaks are just ONI's pet windup tin soldiers, just fighting for their own fucking secret reasons!", he'd angrily told the crewman who'd told him that the Spartans would be his escort. His hostility was not unknown to Ian and Tracy, who'd noticed his glares and angry silence. When Ian had removed his helmet during the flight, the governor had turned away, as if in disbelief that the Spartan was a human like him or the marines. But unknown to even the observant super soldiers, his hostility was based in past events. The twenty-two year old Spartans hadn't even been in the UNSC when the Master Chief had ruined ex-Major Marcus Fleming's life. It had started way back in 2525, when..

..During Operation TREBUCHET, he had abandoned his post in the Eridanus system and joined Colonel Watts and his Insurrectionist sect. He'd risen swiftly to a high rank thanks to his military past in the UNSC, and he and Robert Watts had gathered men from throughout the system, even bribed an aristocratic rich man named Jacob Jiles to join their group, who'd later proved to be a valuable, if not slippery, asset to the Eridanus rebels. But when a team of the mysterious Spartan IIs had captured Watts a long time ago. When Fleming had heard of his partner's capture, he'd run from the group he'd led for some time and rejoined the UNSC, claiming that he'd been help captive, and the ONI assholes who interrogated him had believed every word, even given him a promotion for escaping, a medal, and a ticket to the showers. He once again rose through the ranks, now with some false-earned respect from his fellow marines. He fought the Covenant a few times in some minor battles, killed a few Grunts and Jackals, and got promoted again. Things had changed since the last real Covenant War. He'd left the UNSC a decorated officer and retired, only to rejoin to become a planetary governor of one the new Outer Colonies. All that had led him to this one moment, sitting next to the heirs of everything that had ruined his grand Insurrectionist career. He would get even.

The Pelican slowly lowered itself to the concrete landing pad. The dropship eased itself to the pad, and opened it's blast doors. The two marines jumped out and looked around, panning the horizon with their battle rifles, then turned and nodded to the Governor. He clapped each private on his back, then jumped out and landed on his feet. The two aides tried to climb out, but had a little trouble, and Marty collapsed and fell over the side, as the marines laughed. Both Spartans jumped out only when the Pelican began to rise, and landed hard on their feet. The concrete cracked slightly at their landfall, but the group kept walking down the pad toward a guardhouse at the end of the lengthy platform. Each, excluding the Spartans and the marines, presented keycards to the MP on duty. Around them, they could see the tall forms of instacrete buildings and apartment complexes. They seemed incomplete.

Nearby, a long row of hundreds of civilian vehicles were inspected by marines for bombs or weapons. Meanwhile, a line of marines did pushups behind a barracks center. Four civilian warthogs pulled up beside the group. Fleming got in the second with one of his aides, and the convoy drove several blocks down to the administration center, a large building complete with balconies and pillars supporting them. The two marines stopped at the door, then returned to the 'hogs. The two vehicles swiftly returned to the motor pool to be impounded with the rest of the local government's vehicles and tools.