Chapter 4

     The down time required from Ilos after their mission was seven days. This was requested from Waylen herself during the early years of Project Freebird when she was investigated for unnecessary cruelty after a 125 hour field exercise had nearly killed Janet-335 and Charlie-337.

        During their down time, the Spartans kept up with their normal training regimen of weight lifting and sparring. It was also a time for reflection on the mission they had just completed against the Insurrectionists, and a time to think about what was coming next.

        By the time Baseless Accusations gave word that Jackson’s new Mjolnir suit had arrived, Ilos was ready to get back out into the field.

        After the initial calibrations, and oogling over the shiny new armor, it was time for Ilos to pack up and leave. When Jackson arrived at the Spartan’s personal hanger, the soldier paused to admire the pitch black ONI Prowler rising above him. Its sharp hull had been buffed and repaired since their return, and it looked practically new. He also noticed a bull skull with horns painted onto its side, a curious addition he was sure wasn't from the repair team.

     The squad leader met the others loading the last few crates into the ship, and jerked his chin towards the front of the ship. "Anyone know where the paint came from?" he asked.

     Chase-211 passed him with a crate and made an exaggerated shrug. "I'd talk to the guys that worked on her last," he said.

    "I'm sure Acc might know," Charlie said, a grin in his tone.

   Jackson knew immediately who did it, but decided to let it go. He kind of liked the new paint.

     After the final supplies were loaded, Jackson took to the bridge to oversee the take-off. Melecia-336 was already at the helm, going through the pre-flight checks. He was the best pilot the team had, and frequently flew whenever the need arose. He operated alone, and had shown he worked best without a co-pilot, so Jackson didn't yet take the seat next to him, but rather stood to the side with arms folded as the engines warmed up.

      "Ilos ready for departure," Melecia said, speaking into the communicator.

    Baseless Accusation's avatar appeared on the dashboard, and it nodded. "You're cleared for departure. Come home safe, Spartans," the AI said.

   It was now that Jackson took the co-pilots seat and strapped himself in, but didn't touch the controls. The Prowler rose as the ceiling opened above them to reveal a massive shaft. The platform underneath them tilted and the ship was attached to a track following the wall. The track moved the ship faster and faster up the wall, until the darkness opened up and they were launched into the daylight above the surface.

    They quickly burned through the sky until they broke the atmosphere and glided into the vacuum of space. There was a brief feeling of weightlessness before the artificial gravity kicked in. It was then that Jackson unhooked himself and gazed out over the darkness.

     "Twenty minutes until we're good for slipspace entry," Melecia said, glancing back at Jackson.

    "Thanks for letting me know. I want to see you in the war room in 5 minutes," the squad leader said. The other Spartan nodded his acknowledgement, and Jackson left to let the other soldiers know.

      The team was gathered 5 minutes later, and stood staring over a holographic projection of the data Baseless Accusations gave them. It was a series of stellar coordinates, matched to Solar System signatures. All of them were far behind enemy lines, and undoubtedly enemy occupied. The question on the table was where they would start.

     The Spartans went back and forth about this subject. It was obvious that they needed to find more information, and these potential solar systems would be a good place to look. Since they hadn't yet dealt with the Covenant, the biggest question arose of how and where they would look. They eventually decided on figuring that out when they arrived at the first destination.

     The trip was going to take a few weeks, as they had a ways to go. So the team were going into Cryo-stasis. A "dumb" AI would be used to monitor the ship and wake the Spartans if trouble arose, or when they reached their destination.

    No one on board was happy with leaving everything to the AI, but Jackson refused to let anyone stay awake. They hadn't brought the resources the one person would need, and it would be a waste anyways. It would be the first time outside of training they'd utilize cryo-stasis, and no one was thrilled.

   When the vessel successfully entered slip-space, the team stripped down and filed into their separate chambers. Jackson made sure to be last inside, and checked over the systems after the others had gone to sleep. He needed to inspire confidence in his team, but harbored worry himself.

     Chase hadn't agreed to use the chambers unless they each had weapons installed into the system. They had spent a week rigging combat knives so that when they woke, the weapons would be automatically distributed in case of emergencies. Jackson went through to check each of them were working before finally stepping into his own chamber.

    With one last look into the darkened room, he activated the system and fell into a deep slumber.

      After a vague sensation of time passing, Jackson was violently awoken when the lid of his chamber was ripped open and a four fingered hand gripped him around the throat. The blue glare of an Energy Sword snapped Jackson out of his drowsy haze and made him thrash in the Elite’s grasp. Its grip faltered right as the Sword came slashing down, but missed as the Spartan jerked away.

    Jackson was dropped and he found himself face-to-face with the closed helmet of a Covenant Elite. The looming alien drop-kicked him across the deck where his back slammed into one of the occupied cryo-pods.

   A second Elite roared in surprise and reached for its weapon, but the first already had its second weapon out and shot searing hot plasma from its Plasma Pistol. The Spartan scrambled away and the shots hit Chase's Cryo chamber. The emergency systems popped his door open, and Chase woke up almost immediately.

     The Spartan came out with his knife in hand and body-slammed the nearest Elite, ramming the blade up through the alien's chestplate. The alien fell to the floor, and the second Elite ran into Chase, knocking him flat. It was about to bring its sword down when Jackson grabbed the Elite from behind, climbing onto its back and shifting his weight backwards. The alien was put off balance, allowing Chase to take his knife and cut through the Elite's throat.

    Purple blood sprayed all over the deck as the alien fell to the ground alongside its partner.

    "Wake up the others," Jackson told Chase. The squad leader grabbed the alien's pistol and went to the door to make sure there wouldn't be any surprises. He was shaking his head as faintness came in waves. This was not the wake-up he had planned.

   The other Spartans had a much less jarring wake-up process, but it was still quick and they were somewhat shaken as they left their chambers and saw the two corpses.

    "What's the plan, squad lead?" Chase asked once the others were awake and alert.

     "We split into two teams. One goes for the bridge, the other goes for the hangar. Find and neutralize any threats along the way," Jackson said.

    No one had any arguments, so Jackson took Chase, Melecia, and Janet to the bridge while the others went the other way.

    They moved quickly through the halls, and came face-to-face with another Elite. This one was bigger than the two they had taken out, and carried a Plasma Rifle. Jackson had taken the Plasma Pistol, while the others had their knives. The Elite didn't stand a chance with four Spartans charging him. With three corpses on their ship, the soldiers moved quicker now. The aliens would be missed right about then, and others might come to investigate. Or the ship they came in on might still be occupied and open fire. All of this was going through Jackson's mind as they moved through the Prowler.

       They reached the bridge with no further encounters. Melecia fell into the pilot's seat, but frowned as he tried to bring the ship back to life. "The AI's not responding, and I'm getting red lines from down in the engine room. Someone needs to go down and reset it," the Spartan said, looking back at the others.

    "I'll go to the engine room. Chase, you help the others in the hangar," Jackson said.

      "Copy that, squad lead," Chase said, half saluting the other Spartan.

Jackson left the bridge and parted ways with Chase. The Squad leader had spent two months memorizing every piece of the ship, then solidified the memory during their hunt for Grizer. He knew where he was going and got to the engine room quickly.

    He entered the room and swept for threats. It wasn't the largest of spaces, and had few places to hide. He checked what few places there were, and satisfied it was clear, lowered his weapon to reset the system.

    As he did so, the Spartan felt a disturbance. Before he could turn to face it, a sharp electrical sound snapped behind him and an ominous blue glow lit the room. He registered the Energy Sword just before he threw himself out of the way.

   The sword swiped sideways, just barely missing the Spartan as he turned the tumble into a controlled roll and came up with his pistol leveled. The air in front of him wavered and a Sangheili appeared in front of him out of camouflage. Jackson fired until the weapon overheated, but the Elite shrugged off the shots and came charging at the squad leader. He raised his Energy Sword and sliced sideways in an effort to decapitate the Spartan.

    Jackson dodged again, but the Elite reacted quickly and swiped its leg out, catching the Spartan and knocking him into the floor. Everything seemed to slow as he stared up at the alien. He focused on the sword poised above his head and the two dangerous tips coming straight down.

    The Spartan rolled away from the blade, but wasn't quite fast enough and felt searing pain as one of the edges sliced its way across his face, sending searing pain across his right eye and forcing him to clamp it shut. This time Jackson didn't try to distance himself, but came up from behind and used the last few shots in the pistol to break the Elite's shields.

     Furious that he was denied the kill, the alien charged Jackson again and body-slammed him into the wall. The Spartan found himself pinned under the Elite's furious grasp, and his vision blurring as his throat was being crushed. The sword started to rise again, but never finished its swing as the engine room's door opened and plasma fire pelted the alien's back. With its grip still on Jackson's throat, it turned around, using the Spartan as a shield.

     "You shoot, he dies!" the Elite barked. Its own language came out first, followed by a flat english translation from a speaker somewhere in its suit.

    Chase had returned from the hangar, and was standing in the doorway trying to figure out what to do next. They had never come across an english speaking Elite before, and were taken aback.

     "I will leave alive, and your ally will too," the Elite said, keeping its Energy Sword poised carefully close to Jackson's chest.

     With no other option, and no one in their Mjolnir yet, Chase had no option but to comply. He backed away from the door and motioned for the Elite to leave.

   The alien backed away, keeping Chase in front of him. Jackson was forced to walk with the elite as he made his way to the hangar, still keeping his sword carefully close to Jackson.

      The Spartan hoped that his team could get the jump on the alien and free him, but the Elite was careful to cover his blind spots and enter with the others in his sight.

     Everyone immediately had their weapons drawn on the Elite, but didn't open fire. There were a small number of corpses in the hangar, mostly Grunt, and there was a lone Phantom ship parked there as well.

     No one said anything, as the situation was made perfectly clear. Jackson was brought into the Phantom. The others tried to follow, but the Elite made it clear they couldn't. The alien started up the ship, moved Jackson back to the gravity lift, and kicked him out.

   The others opened fire as the ship locked up and pulled out of the open hangar doors, but were unable to stop it.

        Jackson directed Kia to the engine room and the squad leader went to the bridge to hopefully watch the Phantom get blown apart.

    Instead he saw Melecia under the control panels fixing the wiring. "Report," the squad leader said.

      "They broke a lot," the pilot said. "The AI's gone, and I can't get anything to respond."

    Just then, there was a hum that came back to life and the lights snapped back on. Still, the weapons and engines wouldn't respond. The Spartan watched in frustration as the Phantom disappeared into the distance.

    "We've got a Cruiser signature at extreme distance. Probably their ride," Melecia stated, standing over the radar display.

     Jackson needed to act now. Things were about to get so much worse if that Cruiser got any closer. "Janet, tell the others to get suited up in case we’re holed. Melecia, stay here and get this ship working," the squad leader said to the other Spartan that had followed him. He then left to get his Mjolnir as well.

      With the modified stations they had thrown together, the process only took a few minutes. Soon there was an entire team of Spartans in their armor, ready to fight.

     Jackson returned to the bridge and found Melecia furiously working with the controls, and the Cruiser had turned into a visible dot in the distance. Time was almost out.

     "Status?" Jackson asked.

     "Kia's almost there. As soon as we're able, we're jumping," Melecia replied. "Given that Cruiser doesn't reach us first."

Another tense few minutes passed where the Cruiser grew into a worrying size, then there was a beep from one of the controls. "Got it!" Melecia said. The viewscreen turned away and he felt the ship accelerate. Soon after, they safely transitioned into slipspace.

    "Were we followed?" Jackson asked.

   The other Spartan leaned back in his seat and shook his head. "No idea," he replied. "but I don't think so."

    "Good job, Spartan. Keep an eye on our six," Jackson said, and left the bridge.

     He made his way down to the engine room and took his helmet off and ran a hand through his shorn hair, then winced as he touched the wound on his face. He still couldn’t see out of his right eye, which was increasingly worrying.

     Kia saw it, and raised a brow. "Is your looker okay?" she asked.

    Jackson looked around the room and frowned. “No,” he answered. He tried to focus and managed to pry open the swollen eye enough to see, but still saw nothing.

    The female Spartan left the room and gestured for him to follow. "Gotta get that wrapped, unless you want an infection," Kia said.

    After getting his wound cleaned and wrapped, the squad leader met Kia in the war room. "The AI dropped out of slip early to fix a small issue with navigation," the Spartan explained. "A nearby Covenant Cruiser heard the exit and came to investigate. Lacking any combat capabilities, the AI initiated the Cole Protocol and started thawing us, which is why you were even vaguely awake when that hinge-head popped your chamber open."

    "So the nav data is gone?" Jackson asked, a sinking feeling developing in his chest.

    "Yes."

     "So we're back to square one."

     "Not quite," Kia said, walking around the table. She pulled up the star charts and typed in a set of stellar coordinates. It was in the same system they had traveled to. "This was the only one saved from the purge. I'm not entirely sure how, but I'm thinking whoever put this information together had a safe guard in place to protect it from the Cole Protocol."

    Jackson leaned forward, intrigued. "Interesting," he muttered. It seemed that someone was playing a game. Almost like the attack was supposed to happen, and the protocol was supposed to be initiated.

     "I want you to salvage what you can with the AI and tell me what you find. I'll get these coordinates up to Melecia in the meantime," Jackson said.

      He returned to the bridge where the pilot was leaning over the controls, focused on a readout. "Got a new flight path for you," Jackson told him. The pilot subtly jumped as he was snapped out of his thoughts.

     "Thanks," he said with a polite nod. Then he frowned upon seeing the bandage around Jackson's face.

      "I got hit. Kia patched me up," the squad leader explained.

    Melecia nodded and returned to his work. "Be more careful next time," he said.

       With the emergency jump to slipspace, it had put them off course by a long ways. Jumping again would be ineffective, so they had to drop back to normal space and coast to their destination. After this was done, Jackson once again called the team into the war room. Melecia had done a scan of their destination and found a Covenant orbital station over one of the planets. Jackson already had a plan in mind, but wanted feedback from his team.

    After listening to their "compliments" on his bandage, the squad leader laid out his plan. It would be a simple information stealing operation. In and out with no casualties. His hopes were that they would find a lead to their illusive High Councilor.

    No one had any objections, but rather worries of Jackson's combat effectiveness. It was a legitimate concern, given his affected vision, so Jackson agreed to stay on the ship for this operation.

    After drawing straws, Kia and Parkson were picked for the excursion, and the meeting adjourned, leaving the  Spartans to go about repairing the damage that the Elites had done to the prowler. There wasn't much to fix but gutting out the former AI, and bringing it back up to where the Spartans wanted it. Clean-up duty was prevalent as the Elite blood had stained the deck, permeating the entire ship with a coppery tinge.

     As they worked, Jackson couldn't stop thinking about the only Elite that had survived. They were still in the same system, and would hunted now. The squad leader found the idea interesting. Only time would tell how big a problem it would be. And time was not on their side.