Halo: Evolution (BlisteredXCommie)

[Vailed In Black]

A lone pelican flew off of the ship 'Triumph' a frigate that was developed shortly after it's captain was fully inaugurated. The ship itself was flying to one of the newly developed MAC orbital stations around the planet earth, many had built in case of another disaster or war like the covenant war that happened only 25 years before. While this was going on there was already rumors that SPARTANs were being created, a new fourth generation but most of those were rumors were just rumors. Well at least to Emily Greenwood which had always looked up to the Spartans due to their heroic conquer of the Alien Covenant though they were still around they had peace.

When the ship had landed in one of the loading bays on the MAC station Emily's thoughts were racing as Lord Hood was going to announce something big which happens right after she had been just recently promoted. Her eyes though showed another side of her: calm, serene despite how excited, worried she was inside at the speech that Lord Hood would tell the best six captains he had under him. While she went through customs the notice spoke of six captains going out into the universe to discover a new place to live, as well as resources to mine as they needed more due to overhauling their military force. The war had left them really weak and even Reach was still glassed but slowly regaining its former glory.

Though that planet was off limits to them due to ONI wanting a piece of the action as well as owning already a large amount of Reach they had begun their own kind of rebuilding on that planet. Though there was talk of possible recolonization at the moment ONII had only stated they wanted to rebuilt their facilities. While back on Earth their natural resources were starting to dwindle so this exploration mission was pretty vital. Emily finished going through customs as she kept her roster open of her ship which was going to gain a new crew member, however she didn't have clearance to fully see the member. Her eyes furrowed as she was annoyed to all hell with the military how they didn't tell her everything or any of their trusted Captains or soldiers under their command until the last moment.

When she reached the tram she could hear already Lord Hood summoning the rest of the captains to the command center of the MAC space station. The tram moved quickly going through a lot of other work stations aboard the space station itself as it quickly raced to its destination. Emily causally moved to the doors as they slid open quickly the marine saluting her as she walked past him out into the lower command center. She quickly ascended the stairs toward the major platform where Lord Hood stood with his hands behind his back. He had already looked like he was giving the speech that he was going to give them all at once or that could be what she saw as she saw his lips moving. When she finally go into the line of Captains that she saw which were all pretty familiar as most of them had a lot more service under their belts when they were promoted where she was promoted with very little experience in the navy.

Lord Hood looked over at her smiling as he nodded, "Ah I see you are here. Emily Greenwood, Steven Harking, Cassandra Lark, Tyler Sweely, Travis Tack, Samantha Rooche you are all here as I have an important mission for you. You all know that we have only recently called peace with the Alien race known as the 'Covenant' they costed us dearly, our outer colonies, even our inner colonies almost Earth..." He said quickly as he walked past them his hands still behind his back as he turned back around walking back down them speaking again. "...This has left us in a very weak state, so much as a weak state that we cannot even go on much longer without losing what we have unless we find more places to settle and collect our resources. This requires you all go on a dangerous mission with just the frigates that I have given you. Sadly to say Captains that I cannot give you a destroyer or anything higher than a frigate as our stockpiles are running dangerously low, even building the ships that you have now command was enough to drain us considerably considering that they are on the smaller end of our war ships..." He continued as he finished that line then turned back around.

His eyes met all of theirs as he continued to talk again, "...Though even with these little to weak odds of success you must go fourth and achieve victory at all costs! You are all we have and we need you all to be ready to give your lives for the colonies that we are to build, and the lives you are saving down on the planet that we all came from!" He stopped as he stood in front of all of them his eyes again going over them. "I have had coordinates loading into each of your data pads, they will have locations of possible sites that we may be able to harvest or even settle down as we tracked this planets as possibly hospitable. Your mission is to recon these planets and discover if our machinery had the right mark, if not are to return immediately to get another set of coordinates. Otherwise if we don't find something soon we may all parish or at least be at the mercy of whatever could attack us." He finished his speech with 'God speed.' accompied with an salute.

Emily saluted him back as she took her pad out already loading the coordinates back to her ship to have her navigator load them. Though the mystery recruit was still not accounted for and she couldn't get past all the red tape to take a look at their file which began to infuriate her. Before she left the platform she walked back to Lord Hood, "Sir! I need to ask you a question." She stated in professional tone as Lord Hood nodded, "speak." he said quickly as Emily nodded, "Sir, I have a new roster and I cannot access their military service record and I am a captain. What is going on?" She asked as Lord Hood smiled, "Emily, I know that this is infuriating but you must keep faith, though have you heard of the S4's already beginning their launch? That they are being placed on ships on dangerous missions? Well I think that counts as the Triumph becoming an candidate for such a Spartan....so I would keep an ear out besides they should be reporting soon or so I am told." He spoke to her his back to her though a smile was across his lips as he held his hands together. Lord Hood had not forgotten Master Chief's sacrifice nor would he even turn down the S4 program as it could train the best of the best those that would be willing to give their lives like the rest of them though be there like a super man in the dark times.

Emily didn't respond but saluted turning away from Lord Hood heading to her ship. Her eyes didn't even leave her data pad as she kept looking over the manifests of the weapons, personal, and other support aboard the Triumph though what bothered her was the random person on her roster that wasn't showing up. As the tram made its way back to the loading dock she could only wonder what this person was and if they were an S4, if so she would be in safe hands hopefully if they believed in Master Chief like she did they would know what it would take to keep the people she cared about safe, to keep Earth safe. That was her thought as the Tram was quickly approaching its destination as the comm already spoke to her telling her that her new recruit was already moving toward the Triumph.

 

[BlisteredBlood]

Once the tram had stopped motion and opened its bay doors, the normal crowd of grunts began to step out of it, some of which were still talking amongst themselves about all sorts of topics in particular. But there was one that had stepped out in particular that seemed as though he had seen quite the number of battles, even for someone that was recently picked up by X-Ray Company. At his back was a standard issue BR68 HB SR assault rifle, something that was mostly common for most recruits that were brought on. His helmet was on for the most part until he got off of the tram and the rest of the company began to fan out in different directions, all of them looking for their COs.

From there, he reached his hands up to the helmet he wore and pressed a few buttons on it to disengage it from the rest of the Mark VII armor he wore, allowing it to be removed from his head. Once it was off, the face of a man named Seigfried Arlovsky could now be seen with parts of his head shaved down to a sort of mohawk. His eyes once opened were that of a dark brown, ones that seemed to have been forged in the fires of battle from what one could have guessed to have been numerous times. He was also a tall heavyweight of sorts, standing at roughtly 6' 8" and weighed close to 300 pounds, but the fact that he was able to move around like he was wearing a second - or third - skin in that nearly 1000 pound suit could've told anyone that he had endured the hellish conditions the SPARTAN-IV Program required, especially if they went through the X-Ray Company. The suit itself was modified for CQC (Close Quarters Combat), something that he had specialized in when he was younger even before enlisting. At his back also was an M52 CAWS shotgun, something that he used frequently, but not as much as he preferred the rifle.

Some would've argued that he looked to be somewhat lost, but in all actuality, even he was looking for someone that was in charge. Supposedly, there was a major mining operation that needed overseeing. He had arrived late, that much was certain, but the problem of it was that the transport that carried him and so many others over to the Triumph had experienced a delay. Seigfried's primary guess was possibly due to heavy traffic. But nevertheless, he was here now and he needed to get to work as soon as possible.

 

[Vailed In Black]

Emily got off her tram as she got confirmations that her new recruit to her ship was waiting on her ship at that very moment. Emily nodded as she jumped on a pelican heading off of the MAC station, there she was about to find out who this mystery person was though she knew his name she didn't know WHO he was. The idea was floating through her mind but if Lord Hood was smiling could this man be a S4? The thought again ran through her mind as Lord Hood did say they were using them in protection ops at the moment for dangerous missions. Emily slapped her head quickly as she felt so dumb! Of course! That only makes logical perfect sense to put an S4 on her ship! She is going to the unknown reaches of space to find a planet that might have something on that might have to be put down.

When her realization was done she found herself already being carried into the loading bay by the pelican as it landed, its doors opening touching the cold metal of the frigate she walked out of it slowly. She used the life support system to track her new guest/recruit as she noticed he hadn't moved all that much, maybe he was waiting for her? That was the more sensible idea as she slowly headed to the other side of the loading bay as she spotted him, she was right and Lord Hood's smile wasn't for nothing as she saw someone resembling Master Chief at least in armor but not the same configuration. This Spartan wore higher tech than even the Chief's as she could see it just by standing a little ways away. Emily smiled for a brief second as she couldn't hide it slowly walking up to the man she nodded.

"Ah, so you must be Seigfried Arlovsky the mystery man that was supposed to be a new addition to my crew.", She spoke quickly and briefly as she nodded, "I am Captain Greenwood, your CO, and of course you know you are on the Triumph." She continued as she beckoned him to follow her as she was going to take the elevator to the bridge of her ship. Though while they were walking toward it at least she hoped he was following her, "Command has given me you cause they want you to keep our operations safe while we chart, and begin to extract reasources from different planets so we can refill our own just in case another alien race like the Covenant attack our borders again. You are a Spartan so I see no reason that you need a huge platoon or even small squad I think you could handle a few dozen enemies even if they were alien by yourself or with a few men." She explained his mission as a little bit as the elevator doors closed.

Emily crossed her arms over her chest as she looked over at him, "There is your mission directive. If you need anything you can find them in the crew quarters, as for anything else I want you to do parameter checks throughout the time we are going to our destination as well as coming back. Due to the fact we could be attacked by anybody: Insurgents or even again Aliens. Though at certain times when you are off duty again, we got a rec and crew quarters for you to catch some shut eye." She explained more as the elevator stopped opening to a pretty standard straight forward appearance of a bridge as she walked out. Her eyes moved to navigation, "Did you get those coordinates plugged in?" She asked though it was dry and commanding as the navigation nodded her head "Yes ma'am, I have the coordinates plugged in the ship is ready to leave dock!" She said cheerily even despite Emily's cold demeanor as she went a check over systems as they all checked out. When she turned back to her recruit she somewhat smiled, "Well time to make history, we are going to far reaches of space! I'd get some shut eye as I will allow a little due to you being transferred but after a couple hours I want to see you in the halls protecting my people." She spoke plainly as she turned her head back taking a seat in the chair that seemed to be centered behind them.

 

[BlisteredBlood]

The waiting game was such a pain to deal with sometimes, Siegfried thought as he continued to stand there for the moment as a frown began to etch itself onto his face. But before it was a full-on frown, his thoughts were momentarily interrupted when he heard someone approach him from behind, causing Siegfried to turn his head to look back as he saw someone approach. Judging from the looks of her armor, she appeared to be someone who resembled to be someone in charge. Nevertheless, he gave her a quick salute and nodded his head once as he was given the SitRep of what was needed and expected of him. It was a tall order, but he nodded his response once more.

"It should not be a problem," He responded, the Russian twang in his voice heavily pronounced when spoke. "But I have had plenty of rest on my way here. But, if it's general security that you need, then so be it. I will be on my way to patrol the area as you see fit." He added before he replaced the helmet back onto his head, reengaging it to the suit with a pressurized hissing emanating from it.

Once it was on and functioning, Siegfried reached in back of him to produce the assault rifle and held it down towards the floor in both hands before looking off to one side then turned to walk away towards the crew quarters. There was no doubt that he was possibly in for a long trip.

 

[Vailed In Black]

When the orders were given she had ordered them to leave dock, with a quick tug they were off flying away from earth. Suddenly on all communication channels, "Slip Space jump imminent! Slip space jump imminent!" almost like a warning though more of a update as they could feel a little shake from the new advanced engine that was developed off of the Covenant due to the peace the humans shared with what was left of the Covenant which was a new slip space drive. If anybody was looking out the window they could see the tear in space as the ship slowly passed within its folds as the outside space quickly vanished through the intense speed of the jump.

Another announcement blared, "We will exit space jump in about 14 days, we will arrive at our destination at that point in time as well! All crew I repeat we will leave slip space in about 14 days..." the navigators voice ran over all channels even the ones within the ship itself. When everything was underway Emily stood up nodding to everybody as she went to take off her armor to put on her official captain's uniform which was easier to walk around in. She liked her armor but the UNSC also spoke of another advanced armor they gave the six captains to allow themselves to travel onto hostile planets or even debris with their crew.

Emily suspected that Lord Hood liked altogether participation which would allow one captain to bond with their crew. Emily shook her head though she was excited to use the suit so she could finally put her close combat skills to use rather than let them go to waste. She took the elevator to the part of the ship that was only accessible by her and the S4 that was now patrolling the ship, that was one thing she couldn't understand is that ONII only wanted the spartan to be able to come to meetings and other things that were high importance. She believed he was still a soldier despite that he was spartan he was still just a soldier under her command.

Though her thoughts traveled to Master Chief and how he saved Earth, if it wasn't for him the human race would either be enslaved or killed off. Her parents wouldn't have been born and she wouldn't have gone through this training to do what she had wanted to do since she was 15. While other girls wanted to do pretty things she wanted to be a soldier like Master Chief after her parents had told her about him Emily couldn't help but put him on a pedestal as a hero. When she finished her thought she was in her cabin quickly changing out of her armor getting a shower, putting on new underwear, her captains uniform as well as grabbing her data of her ship. She checked over the manifests one last time which often earned her extra prestige due to her double checking to make sure she wasn't over using or under using.

 

[BlisteredBlood]

Seigfried glanced up when he heard the announcement of a Slipspace Jump within moments causing him to stop in place for a moment and remain still. These things were always a blast to be in to some people, but to him? He wasn't exactly a big fan of it, but it was necessary for long distance travels. But once you were in the Slipspace Jump and cruising along, then perhaps it was a bit more manageable. Ugh. He thought with a shake of his head. Oh well. Might as well enjoy the ride as it happened. Once the ship was in, he felt it give a slight shake from the sheer intensity of it, causing Seigfried to stagger slightly before he shifted his balance to steady himself.

When the second announcement came in stating that it would be traveling like this for 14 days, Siegfried shook his head and frowned a bit under his helmet. Well, at least it wouldn't be like this for too long. With that, he soon resumed his partolling for about a half hour longer before he eventually stopped in place to heft the assault rifle up over his shoulder in pensive thought. For what reason was he selected for this job, he began to wonder. For all intents and purposes, the Master Chief would've been far better suited for something like this while he would've been put to further use somewhere else. But alas, he wasn't around now. So, it had to be up to him to keep everything in order along with the Captain.

Nevertheless, Siegfried wound up shaking his head, dispelling those thoughts for now and resumed his partolling of the ship which continued to be relatively quiet for now.

 

[Vailed In Black]

The next 14 days Emily had Seigfried all over the ship making sure there wasn't any 'security breeches' though they were mostly harmless practices in case of a real intrusion from an enemy. Though like most instances he was on top of it and was able to keep off the fake offender which made Emily smile knowing at least her ship would be safe from whatever could attack them. She had a spartan plus her crew of ODST and standard marines, the admiral wasn't skimpy on protection but he tossed in a new SPARTAN just in case to them for extra protection.

When the announcement popped on, "Slip space exit commencing, slip space exit commencing." with a sudden jolt of the ship left them in normal space in front of the planet they had detected. However there was something off, Emily sat in her chair as she had scanners scan over the planet. The readings were all over the place it almost seemed there was something else on the planet besides what they had originally thought. "Scan the rest of the area around the planet, any possible patrols from unknown aliens or even possibly the Covenant so we can discuss that this was staked out by the UNSC for possible colonization and resource collection cause some-.." She was cut off by her officer that sat in front of the sensors as it brought up an image. "Captain...you are going to want to see this...", He said quickly though slowly toward the end of the sentence statement.

When Emily asked for it brought up on the big screen her mouth dropped, it was the Forward Unto Dawn! She couldn't believe it! They all thought that the other half was destroyed by something seeing as the ship was sheered in half with the arbiter being on the side that came out onto Earth. "Crew! Call the S4 to the loading bay as well as a squad of men, I am heading out to the piece to see if we can rescue the Master Chief!" She said jumping out of her seat heading down into the ship to collect the suit getting it ready for its first run. The men and woman began to call to arms a small platoon including the S4 to meet the captain in the loading bay near a pelican.

Emily grabbed the suit quickly and effortlessly getting it on as well as the weapons she was designed to carry. A shotgun, one of the UNSC finest and a modified energy sword that was borrowed from the Covenant due to their offering to each other to advance each other. She put the suit on her hip as well as the shotgun on her back, her eyes filled with determination to save the one man in her mind that had saved her entire life. "Is the crew assembled?" She asked the comms officer as the girl replied that most of the men were heading to one of the pelicans at the moment. Without a moment to spare Emily grabbed the helmet fastened it onto her suit and headed out of the room making her way toward the loading bay. The only thing on her mind was to bring the chief home, and to show that they had a hero still to believe in.

 

[BlisteredBlood]

For 14 days, Seigfried had spent his days keeping his eyes on the goings on throughout the crew area, with occasional breaks in between. He would spend no more than 10 minutes for every five hours of patrolling before he would feel the need to stop and head for the

 

[BlisteredBlood]

For 14 days, Seigfried had spent his days keeping his eyes on the goings on throughout the crew area, with occasional breaks in between. He would spend no more than 10 minutes for every five hours of patrolling before he would feel the need to stop and head for his assigned quarters to at least relax for a bit.

At least, that's how it was before Siegfried overheard something on the intercom, stating that his services were needed in the loading bay area. With an arched brow and a slight frown, he slowly rose from the seat before he placed his helmet back on his head before taking hold of the rifle once more before mounting it to his back along with the shotgun once more before he headed out.

Once out in the hallway, he overheard some excited chatter from some of the other crew members, some of them saying that there was a possibility that Master Chief had possibly been found. If this was the case and if he was still alive, then perhaps his services were no longer needed out here anymore. He could return home at any given time and be replaced back into the squadron he was in previously and resume his active duties there. However, Siegfried knew better than to believe any of these rumors. Last he remembered, that explosion the Forward Unto Dawn endured was enough to have vaporized anything. Even he was aware that the armor he wore could only take so much abuse before the user inside of it was decimated. But then again, he did endure massive amounts of punishment times before and somehow came out on top.

Nevertheless, Siegfried needed to see this with his own eyes and judge this for himself.

Minutes later, he would arrive at the loading bay area, his eyes already looking at what appeared to be a small contingent of people that were readying themselves to a long haul from the looks of things. Of course, seeing that Peilcan there in the docking area also seemed to tell him that this was indeed a Search and Rescue Op. "I am present." Seigfried announced his presence as he stepped in. "I'm understanding that something important was possibly found, yes?" He inquired.

 

[Vailed In Black]

Emily stood in the entrance to the pelican as she nodded, "Scans pick up the Chief's suit signature but something is odd about it, there is some abnormalities inside the signature itself. So we assume that he is in danger and we need to either save him..." She said breaking off but looking down as she couldn't believe she was saying this, "...or kill him. We need to make sure whatever is causing the disruptions are ceased we don't need another alien force attacking our beloved planet Earth. As for the rest of the area around what looks like the section of the frigate Forward Unto Dawn scans indicate some kind of alien life form. Though what he have known is that the Flood were killed when Chief had set off the first halo ring which caused a massive explosion which is why the frigate was torn in two in the first place. The mysterious alien signatures are continuing to grow and multiply. I'd hate to say it even though we believe that the flood were killed in the attack for Earth I fear these might be the very flood we fought. Though we cannot say for sure which is why this op is both save and rescue as well as eliminate." She had looked down at the end of the pause but by the end of her orders she was back to her tough self. Though thankfully the suit's visor kept her face hidden as she was silently crying to herself as she didn't want to face down her hero and kill him.

When Emily had finished her briefing she ordered the troops onto the pelican once the group of men plus her S4 were aboard the pelican she hit the side. The pilot took off out of the loading bay as she had radioed the Triumph to keep on defensive as well as keep up possible slip space jump in emergency as she knew they couldn't face down a multiplying alien race by themselves. Emily had instructed the pilot to fly to an opening in the side of the frigate where he nodded already taking them into a small opening, the LZ was pretty small and there were a couple doors in multiple directions. Emily put on a wide holo tracker as it displayed the ship's blueprints then in 3-D showing where the chief was. Her eyes widened as it shown that the Chief himself hadn't gotten out of the cryo-chambers, her eyes searched for a quick route as she mapped one down she sent it to her men. "Men! This mission turned to an elimination mission! It seems whatever is affecting chief it affected him when he got out of Cryostatus which means it has him! We cannot take the risk of something finding Earth...so I am ordering a kill order on the chief..." Her heart sank when she said these words as the men around her could feel her pain though she didn't know what her S4 thought of the Chief but she thought of him as a hero, a very valiant hero that deserved a Hero's death if need be.

When she looked down for a second she grabbed her shoot gun, heading into the corridor in front of them she followed her map as she moved through the hallways fast. Though she didn't leave her men behind as they followed just as quickly behind her as she was nearing the signature of the Chief she could hear squishing sounds as she stopped for a second halting the march of the rest of her group as she turned on her flash light not really caring at the moment before as she just followed her 3-D holo-map however her eyes were now scanning the area around her. Her eyes widened as she saw what she hoped she didn't see; a hive lining! Just no ordinary lining but a flood lining! This kind though was new it had looked like it had evolved somehow and the lining was now reacting to her as she had finally stopped to look at it. Suddenly she jumped to the side as the lining threw some kind of acid at her which ate through some of the ship that wasn't corrupted.

Emily's head shot back, "Avoid any projectiles! It is some kind of strong acid shot out of the alien....or FLOOD lining! Yes we have flood I don't think this is anything but the FLOOD now we need to move! IF the flood get on the ship Earth is done for!" She yelled out as she jumped ahead running down the corridor, the men reacted when she had stated that but one of them didn't react fast enough as a blotch of acid hit his chest piece. The man screamed out as the acid ate through his armor like it was a piece of bread making its way into his skin until it had actually dissolved his heart itself. The man croaked like he had just had his heart crushed as he then hit the ground. The others taking the Captain's advice ran ahead with her though dodging any incoming projectiles afraid of the consequence of being hit. This kept going a great deal into the ship as she dodged out of the projectiles heading toward the Chief her eyes watering up hoping he was still alive.

Though she knew this was the flood the drones or even their little insects weren't attacking or trying to convert her men all the flood was doing at this point was throwing acid at them or what she thought was acid but some kind of compound that was quite strong. Maybe the flood didn't see them as a threat as she suspected since they probably could only judge that her small squad was inside of the second of frigate so she suspected that the flood judged them a minor threat despite being so close to Chief. When she had hit the section of ship where a staircase lead up to a walk way that went to a system's check and then the other way cyro stasis she headed toward the cryo-stasis pods. When she entered the room it was covered in flood goop. The light from the machines barely could be seen as the lining had all but covered up most of it.

There lay in the chamber as it was just opening was the chief; his armor was fallen off only little pieces had managed to stay connected as his flesh was bloated and expanded out of his suit underneath the armor itself. The chief's face was exposed but it didn't look like how he used to look as it was converted mostly into the flood. His body looked like it was in pain despite not moving much though he had several tentacles growing out of his body. Emily stood there as the rest of her men finally stopped seeing the spectacle that was in front of them, there beloved hero was now some kind of monster that belonged to their most hated enemy even more than the Covenant. Suddenly there was movement from the body itself as the chief had recognized humans or what was left of him.

Chief's left hand was completely gone mutated into something else thoug his right hand was still normal. Emily then jumped more as she heard a voice echo through the muck that was Chief's body, "Hu-hu...humans....n-ne-nee-....d to ...de-s...-troy...m-me....fl-floo-flood...almost...-done..." He struggled to say what he wanted as Emily readied her shotgun aiming it at the chief, her tears barely being held back as she aimed at him for a second. Though before she could fire the chief let out a scream as if something finally had killed him and his body went limp only for it to begin moving again though with the active flesh moving again that was chief so did everything else besides the lining. Now the little monsters and even other drones which were not the drones recorded but looked like other Master Chief's but not in his current state but the state when he saved Earth. The only thing is these things were flood like and they possessed strong powers like what the chief had and the knowledge to create their own weapons.

When Emily noticed this even though she didn't kill the chief she turned to the pedestal, barely able to grab cortana which she noticed while Chief struggled with what he was saying turning and heading out of the room, though now with everything coming to life things got hellish inside of the corridors. The group was going to have a hell of a fight heading to the pelican and Emily knew that as she held out her shotgun ready making sure the way to the pelican was ready.