Spartan One 008

Name: Orion Winters

Level 5 Sentinel 

2000 EXP to Next Level

Powers: Warp (II), Shredder Ammo (IV), Tech Armor (II)

Free Points: (2) 

Missions: 

1) Survive Troy Campaign (24hrs): 5,000xp

2) Slay 500 enemies: 500xp

3) Slay 50 enemies SMG/Assault Rifle/Sniper/Shotgun/Pistol, [25 enemies: Rocket]...100xp each.

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Crawling out of the flaming, sideways tilted Pelican, Orion saw a city in crisis. Cars were parked bumper to bumper, store fronts had their windows smashed in, and smoke rose up from several distant buildings. 

Standing in the heart of a city center surrounded by skyscrapers, he felt like he was in downtown NYC. Except the flavor was all different. It felt like some fusion between an 80's scifi city straight out of Robo-Cop, with that Cyberpunk dystopian vibe. Neon was everywhere, and a nearby advertisement kept showing people wearing clothing that people in the 80's thought looked futuristic. He didn't have time to appreciate the peculiarities of this new culture he found himself in, as multiple screams of terror were on the horizon. 

Although he didn't see anyone running around, he did spot several Warrior bugs crawling along the edge of a building as if they were something out of Spiderman. In their claws, they carried corpses, and seemed to be in a hurry somewhere. 

Taking out his sniper, he bagged two of the black-yellow insects, before they retreated out of sight. 

‘That's not right. Warriors almost always go on the offensive. Something doesn't feel right.’ Orion thought to himself with a frown. 

Whilst he was collecting his thoughts, a wave of super heated goo came flying down from low orbit. The Space Bug that they nuked from the inside had splattered, and its bits & pieces were flying everywhere. 

Orion took this brief interlude to consult the map built into his HUD. Linked in real time to the Mad Cap's sensors, it presented New Troy-the name of this city-as a series of grids. There were green dots representing UNSC forces, red for enemy, blue for civilian, and curiously, yellow for corporate forces. 

Five blocks away, a large cluster of blue dots estimated to be no less than 12,000 civilians were holed up in a building protected by less than 200 green dots. Meanwhile, at least a thousand red dots were converging on the location. Deciding to reinforce them, he tuned in to the local broadcast to get a handle on the situation. 

“~bzzt, this is Corporal Rico, of the 412th Mobile Infantry, if you're listening to this channel, all surviving UNSC soldiers converge on my location! Repeat, all UNSC-gah!” The man got out, before the line went dead. 

“Orders, sir?” The Sergeant approached with a question, whilst the rest of the Spartans, Lt. Hood and 12 volunteer Infantrymen formed a firing line. 

Orion was about to move out, when what looked like a giant beehive came roaring overhead. Covered in flames, a slick syrupy liquid trailed down its sides, protecting it from harm. The hive soared past them, and several blocks later, crashed with a loud oomph. 

Dust roiled up towards them, and Orion stood his place as the ground shook. 

“What in the Goddamn?!” Johnson swore. 

Seconds later, a priority transmission was blinking at the corner of his helmet. It was the ONI spook, Harper. Reluctantly accepting the call, Orion was first to speak. 

“Talk to me, Harper, I'm enroute to reinforce some civvies, and don't have the breath to spare on idle conversation.” 

“That hive you just saw land contains thousands of Warriors, and at least five of those Tanker Bugs.” Harper said in a clinical manner. 

“So we'll just off them when we come, and Tanker Bug???” Orion quickly replied, eager to end the conversation, and get his men on the move. 

“ONI has officially classified the so-called ‘beetle bug’ that shoots fire from its mouth as a ‘Tanker Bug.’ As for why it matters, it crash landed next to the Arasaka headquarters located on Troy. Rescue their executives, secure their data, and I will squeeze them for all their worth. Your Spartans will be armed with new, cutting edge technology.” Harper said, like a businessman closing a deal. 

Orion grit his teeth, and clenched his fist tight. The gear they had now was serviceable, but their basic ODST style armor was, frankly speaking, dogshit. At least when compared to the best Humanity had to offer. That said…

“No dice, Harper, you couldn't make me abandon the people of Troy even if you ordered me to.” Orion bit back, microseconds away from cutting the link. 

“We are not enemy's, Winters. Do not mistake this offer as an order. You are a Hero of Humanity. I told you, you had ONI's full support. It warms my heart that you care so much about your fellow man. Ultimately, Arasaka are nothing more than upjumped netrunners one failed jack away from cyberpsychosis. Beholden to democracy, and not shareholders it is we who are the guardians of Earth, and her children.” Harper said in a charismatic tone, as if he truly believed such ideals. “Please. Enjoy your gift.” 

The ONI spy then cut the link, much to Orion's mixed feelings. ‘What the hell was that about?! One second, the guy suggests I go back up Arasaka, the next it's almost as if he's praising me for my humanity. Truly, he is an ‘Illusive Man.’ 

Shaking his head, he got his thoughts out of the clouds, and started issuing orders. 

“Alright, men, due east of here several blocks away, several thousand civilians are hiding, our UNSC brothers & sisters can barely hold out. Our mission is to link up with survivors, and kick bug ass!” Orion said in an authoritative tone. 

“B-but we're not even a platoon. After a suicide mission like what we just did, we can hold position, and link up with a greater force, right?” One of the men from the Mobile Infantry-a Corporal-spoke up, much to many head nods from his fellow soldiers. 

Although a sharp rebuke was on his tongue, Orion ultimately sighed as he saw the reluctance, and fatigued looks upon their faces. The fight through the Space Bug had been incredibly dangerous. Almost pitchblack, and covered in a toxic mist, it was one of the worst combat scenarios for any man, much less for Spartans. Considering over 50% of the unit perished, it was no wonder that these survivors were reluctant to press forward. This wasn't some game where the NPC teammates were always ready to throw down, and go gungho on every engagement. 

Morale was a very real thing. Although they had achieved victory of a sorts, moving from one combat zone to the next without a break was enough to drive anyone mad. 

He was about to order them to hold position, whilst he advanced with the Spartans, when a medium sized transport ship came roaring overhead. Practically a long, flat ship with claws & magnets meant for transporting vehicles, it came in fast & low, dropping off a giant treaded vehicle. 

“By golly, never thought I'd see one of these puppies on the battlefield.” Johnson whistled. “Of course, this one's much more impressive than the junk haulers I saw in the manual.” He said, gesturing towards a giant mounted gun at the top. 

“Private, what am I looking at here?” The Sergeant barked his question. 

“A modified M312 Elephant, sir! Fully enclosed, with guns mounted on the rear, sides, and top. Comes with a max speed of 60mph, but this one looks custom.” Johnson succinctly reported. 

Orion was quite happy with this gift. Unlike the Elephants from Halo 3, this one was much more sleek, and resembled a troop transport, more than a vehicle scavenger like later models. About the size of four to six large garbage trucks put together, it was big enough to easily accommodate their squad. If they packed it like sardines, 50 to 100 people could fit inside. It even came equipped with a Warthog, and a pair of Mongoose ATVs! 

Once Halsey reverse engineered shielding technology, he could see something like the Elephant M312 becoming a more mainstream vehicle. As of now, it was vulnerable to those Tanker Bugs, but against the Warriors…it should practically be like a mobile fortress! 

Johnson walked up to it, and ran a hand along its side, as if he were a car enthusiast appreciating a nice ride. A hatch opened up, and much to Orion's surprise, Harper was there flanked by a pair of fully armored ONI MP's. Marching up to the tall robotic eyed man, Orion reluctantly saluted his minder. 

“Harper, this is the gift? Shouldn't you be aboard the Mad Cap pushing some pencils behind your desk?” Orion said in a whisper. 

“Let's just say Arasaka won't be too happy when they learn their newest gadget isn't reinforcing their own base.” Harper said with a thin smile. 

Orion burst out laughing. No wonder. 

“No wonder why you wanted me to reinforce them. After this, your ass will be on the line once the corpos complain.” Orion said with a cheerful chuckle, however, his cheer was soon to sour as he considered the power/influence Arasaka might have over the government. 

“Director Parangosky is a woman of far seeing vision. The ‘corpos’ as you put them.” Harper said in disgust. “Are unworthy of our fear or trepidation. Now then, Lieutenant, do not mind me. She's all yours.” Harper said, standing aside.

Orion saw the man's confident demeanor, and grumbled to himself. Marching past him, he walked up a flight of stairs, and entered a control cabin. Inside were several seats with screens on them, where one could autonomously control the guns, or view the outside world via cameras. 

“Hood, can you drive this thing?” Orion asked over his shoulder. 

The overly muscular stocky pilot ran his eyes over the controls, and sat down in the driver's seat. After flicking several switches, and revving the engines, the Elephant roared to life. 

“Excellent. Head towards these coordinates.” Orion ordered, linking the onboard systems with the map he had been viewing in his HUD. 

“Hold on.” Hood gave that one word of warning, and then punched it. 

The experimental Elephant then ‘rocketed’ forward at a staggering 80mph, exceeding the speed Johnson had quoted earlier. Driving it like a monster truck, Hood rammed his way through traffic like some crazy match of GTA. Cars were pushed aside, or smooshed by the massive vehicles girth. 

Meanwhile, the engines were whining, and thick diesel plumes were belching into the atmosphere as they hauled ass. 

“Contact.” Johnson-who was manning the top cannon roared, and squeezed the trigger on his virtual display. 

As the operation commander, Orion had been monitoring all of the cameras instead of wielding a weapon, and watched as Johnson's gun ripped apart a pair of Dragonflys. The flying teal-green bugs fell down, and were splattered against the fully covered cabin, spreading green gooey blood all over the machine. 

Soon after, the other guns began to belch hot death at the enemy. Round after round of led tipped bullets the size of an average basketball player's finger punched into the armored carapaces of Warriors. Shredder Ammo proc'd with everyone in his squad, meaning every bug they came across was mowed down!

Drawing near to the skyscraper, it became apparent how destructive & brutal the fighting had been. Although there were small mountains of bug corpses lining the defensive line, they kept coming in an endless tide. Using the advanced cameras, he could see that there were less than a dozen soldiers left defending the lobby. Ammo was running low, and the wounded were gasping on the floor. 

A Tanker was advancing towards them, and already sprayed three dead. 

“Give them hell, Hood, punch your foot to the floor, I don't care if our engine breaks!” Orion roared, knowing that if they delayed for even a second, and that defensive line broke, that skyscraper would transform into an all-you-could eat Human buffet. 

“Acknowledged.” Hood said in a focused tone.

“Strap in, everyone, we're going to ram the big one!” Orion called out down to everyone else in the Elephant. He then sat down in a command chair within the cabin, and buckled up. 

“Brace.” Hood muttered as the Tanker Bug came into view. 

The Elephant roared across the highway. Its engines were whining as it crunched its way over one bug corpse after another. Running yellow-green with the blood of their enemies, the machine rammed into the Tanker, making a resounding crashing sound. 

Rattled, but still lucid, Orion saw through the cameras that the big armored bug was heavily wounded, yet still conscious. Turning towards them, hot orange chemicals started to come out of its mouth. Acting on instinct, he activated [Warp], like he had through the Pelican during the space fight, and spawned a Mass Effect field outside the cabin. It tore at the creature’s head, making it flail to the side as it began to disintegrate. 

Loading a clip into his magazine, he jumped down from the second story of the interior of the Elephant, his boots loudly clanking onto the metal deck. Slamming his fist on the release switch for the door, the ramp opened up to a horde of several hundred Warriors. 

“Come on you apes, you want to live forever?!”