Author's Note: If you have any tips writing tips, please feel free to comment.
Again, I gratefully accept constructive criticism as a means to help me develop my skills further as a writer.
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Chapter 29: Splitting Up
Location: Epsilon Eridani system, UNSC Pillar of Autumn
August 30, 2552
0558 hours
The mission had just encountered another snag.
It never entered Matt's mind that he would fail to achieve his objectives. He had to succeed.
Failure meant death for not only himself but for all the Spartans... every human.
He stood at the view screen in the cargo bay and reread the priority Alpha transmission Captain Keyes had sent down:
Alpha priority channel: To Fleet Admiralty from REACH Space Dock Quartermaster AI-8575 (a.k.a. Doppler) /
/triple-encryption time-stamped public key: red rover red rover/
/start file/
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED
Item: Covenant data invasion packets detected penetrating firewall of REACH DOC NET. Counterintrusion software enacted. Resolution: 99.9 percent certainty of neutralization.
Item: Initialization of triple-screening protocol discovered the corvette Circumference /Bay Gamma-9/ isolated from REACH DOC NET.
Item: Covenant ships detected on inbound Slipstream vector intersecting Bay Gamma-9.
Conclusion: Unsecured navigation data on the Circumference detected by Covenant forces.
Conclusion: VIOLATION OF THE COLE PROTOCOL. IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED.
/end file/
He replayed the distress call from Reach's ground side FLEETCOM HQ.
"... They've breached the perimeter. Fall back! Fall back! If anyone can hear this: the Covenant is ground side. Massing near the armory... they're—"
Matt copied these files and sent them over his squad's COM channel. They had a right to know everything, too.
There was only one reason the Covenant would launch a ground invasion: to take out the planetary defense generators. If they succeeded, Reach would fall.
And there was only one reason why the Covenant wanted the ship Circumference —to plunder its NAV database—and find every human world, including Earth.
Captain Keyes appeared on the viewscreen. He held his pipe in one hand, squeezing it so tight his knuckles were white. "Commander, I believe the Covenant will use a pinpoint Slipspace jump to a position just off the space dock. They may try to get their troops on the station before the Super MAC guns can take out their ships. This will be a difficult mission, Commander. I'm... open to suggestions."
"We can take care of it," Matt replied.
Captain Keyes' eyes widened and he leaned forward in his command chair. "How exactly, Commander?"
"With all due respect, sir, Spartans are trained to handle difficult missions. I'll split my squad. Four will board the space dock and make sure that NAV data does not fall into the Covenant's hands. The remainder of the Spartans will go ground side and repel the invasion forces."
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Matt-038 (Halo Fanfiction)
FanfictionSpartans never die... They're just missing in action. These are the infamous words said about Spartan II supersoldiers. The Spartans are the last hope to stop the alien race known as the Covenant from wiping out the entire human race. This is the st...
