Halo: Operation X

Installation 01

The ship's gentle hum kept me tired, I laid back in my bunk in the dark room as the ship blasted into slipspace. We would only be a few minutes now, almost to the suspected Halo ring. I sighed as I looked down. From my gray sheeted top bunk, I could see the leg of my teammate below.

Another marine, designation Delta Bravo 126, or David Bales. He had black skin and short dark brown, almost black hair with dark brown eyes. He stood at around 5'11 and had a lean frame, with a bit of a stomach like myself.

I was a marine, Sierra Mike 115, Skylon Moss. I had tanned skin and long black hair on the top of my head and shorter on the sides, my eyes were a dark green and I was 6'2.

"Hey man, do you think it's really a Halo ring?" Another marine asked, his name was Andrew Antoine, he looked like David but skinny and shorter. He was a nice guy, but he was very cautious. He was the reason a lot of us were alive, but he was nowhere near as cautious as David, that man was something else.

"Don't be silly," The squad leader spoke, he was kinda an asshole. He was buffer than the rest of us, and he had a shaved head. He was older than the rest of us as well, in his 40's, his name was Kevin McCree. "The Master Chief took down the Halo rings years ago."

"Even so, doesn't mean it's not a threat."

"What did you say private?"

I sighed and sat up, I looked down across the dark room and stared at Kevin. "I said that even if the Chief took out the rings, doesn't mean that whatever this is, isn't a threat."

He crossed his arms, "While that may be true, it's not. I wouldn't pack much, we won't be gone long."

I sighed before jumping to alert as the rooms comms came online, Andrew turned on the lights as David got up. I jumped down to the floor and stood next to David, the speakers in the corner of the room dinged as they connected.

"Attention Marine Team 6, we are approaching the structure and are ready to deploy units. You will be moving out with MT1 through 5, and landing in a set zone. ETA 5 minutes, get ready men."

The comms turned off as we began to rush around the room, I threw off my shirt and pants before opening my locker next to David's. I pulled out my undersuit and stepped into it, I pulled it up over my body and turned to David. Like clockwork I zipped up his suit and turned around so he could do the same, I rushed over to the locker and grabbed my boots and put my feet into the gray armor. I clipped on my thigh armor and put on my gloves and gauntlets, I then hooked up my shoulder pads before attaching my chest plate. I grabbed my helmet and put it on before clipping the chin strap, I tested the blue visor and made sure it was clean and clear of scratches before testing out the HUD.

"MT6 1, check." Kevin spoke as he walked to the door.

"MT6 2, check." Andrew spoke.

"MT6 3, ready." David said.

"MT6 4, locked and loaded." I spoke as I equipped my pistol and put my DMR on my back, David had a pistol and battle rifle, Andrew held an assault rifle and pistol, and Kevin held a SAW and pistol.

We walked out of the room and began to walk in formation towards the hangar, we were on a giant battleship, with gray and white halls and bright lights on the ceiling. We walked into the hangar and saw the other teams walking towards the Pelicans, I looked up as Kevin snapped. He motioned at me with four fingers before pointing to a Warthog with two fingers, I nodded as I knew what he was referring to.

The team was looked upon like a deck of cards, and I was the Ace. Good at everything, I was a crack shot, a good pilot, and a designated driver. So I was tasked with many things over my training, and that's why the UNSC put me on the best team of marines.

I got into the Hog and drove it towards the Pelican my team was walking towards, I drove in behind the vehicle and the crane automatically lowered down to the frame of the car. Once it hooked on I stood up in the seat and checked the connection, I made sure to set the settings to air-lock, as we would be going into space.

I hopped out as I hit the raise button and stood next to the military bird, Kevin nodded to me as he walked inside. Andrew gave me a small smile as he walked in and David patted my shoulder as he passed, I was about to turn in as I heard a voice.

"115."

I turned around and stood in attention, "Captain Lasky."

"At ease. Today you are going onto what is suspected to be a Halo ring, and from what I can see it damn sure looks like one. Now I know Commander Kevin will not listen to anyone, and especially with you and his rough relationship." He said before placing his left hand on my shoulder, I looked down at the shorter man as he gave an authoritative look. "But I'm telling you right now, when you suspect that something is wrong, or shit hits the fan...you pull your team out. I can't risk you and your team, you're too valuable. Do you understand?"

I nodded as I saluted him, I was about to turn before his grip on my shoulder increased slightly. I turned to him confused, "Sier-...Skylon...I mean what I said, no matter what." He pulled a black case from his pocket and opened it. He pulled out a small pin, it had a triangular shape and was black in color, it had four gold stripes going along the top corner and two gold guns at the bottom crossed. My eyes widened intensely as he moved my chestplate out of the way and attached the pin to my black undersuit.

"Congratulations, you've just been promoted to Sergeant. Watch out for your team, and keep this between us. There's supposed to be a ceremony for this, but we don't have time. Get going."

I smiled and saluted him, "Thank you Captain." I said as I walked into the Pelican and closed the door. The ship's engine roared to life as the pilot started the flight procedures. I sat down next to David and buckled in.

"You ready?" David asked me.

I sighed as the ship left the hangar following the other 5, "I'm never ready for these kinds of things...But I'm prepared."

"I get what you're saying, this shit will get to you if you let it."

"That's my problem."

He gave me a questioning look, "I see everything on the field, people getting shot, killed. Rockets shooting past us, mortars and shit. But it doesn't get to me, because when I'm out there, serving humanity. I feel...good. Like I have purpose, like I'm helping everyone in the long run. And I don't think about the bad things, I just move on with what I'm supposed to do."

David nodded and motioned for me to continue.

"You're the teams covering fire, you cover us when we move out, and your always in the middle. Kevin is squad assault, he stays up front and blasts through what we need to. Andrew stands behind him, backup and medic. And me? I'm the teams marksman, I find a place to sit by myself, all alone. I watch over you guys, and when you guy's lives are in my hands I feel like I can do anything. Because I've got you covered."

"And we're grateful, if you weren't here we'd probably be dead." Andrew said as he joined the conversation, I nodded at him and looked to Kevin.

He gave me a small nod before the ship began to shake, I looked out of the back window and my eyes widened. "Holy shit."

The ring was many times bigger than Earth, I wouldn't be surprised if it were bigger than 10 Jupiters. The surface resembled the Earth and there was an atmosphere we were cutting through, "We're approaching the LZ, landing in 3...2...1...touchdown." The pilot said as we touched down.

I pulled down my visor and began to scan the environment, I opened the door as it said the oxygen was breathable. I walked over to the crate buckled into the seats as David moved to get the Warthog down with Andrew, as Kevin stood watch. I opened the case and grabbed the sniper rifle inside, I pulled out the ammo and clipped it to my belts and made sure that I grabbed the extra 14mm bullets and placed them in my pockets.

"Let's go Sierra!" Kevin called as the Warthog started up. I nodded and walked out before hopping in the back and setting up the rifle on its stands on the lining of the Warthog bed, David standing next to me in the gunner position. We then began to move out towards the other Pelican teams, to meet up and await instructions.

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Authors note
I just wanted to inform anyone reading this, that I will be uploading chapters probably weekly.