Beyond the Horizon (Universes that were considered for insertion #1 MCU)
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Beyond the Horizon (Universes that were considered for insertion #1 MCU)



    A man stumbled to his feet, staggering as he looked at the massive army in front of him as he grunted and tightened down the broken shield on his left arm once again before walking towards the aliens that were arrayed before him. His fists clenched he glared at the alien that stood in front of the alien army before his radio crackled.


    “Captain d* *ou co*m* *n? Cap, it’s Sam. Can you hear me?” a voice asked as the lone man held a hand up to his ear to reply. “On your left.” A golden portal opened up behind and to the left of the Star Spangled man as he turned around in shock as three figures left the portal. T’Challa and two of his warriors walking in step with each other.


    Captain America gasped slightly as he took in the reinforcements that had arrived, a smile appearing on his face as more and more portals appeared, the Wakandans chanting as more and more people came through the portals.


    “Avengers!” Captain America yelled as he called Mjolnir back to his hand. “Assemble!”


    As the words left his lips, something unusual happened though. In one timeline that had been witnessed by Dr. Strange, this merely signaled the attack for the assembled forces that were arrayed against Thanos and his armies. But in this timeline, something else entirely took place.



    ---------------------


    “What the fuck just happened to us?!” I asked as I stumbled back up onto my feet.


    “No clue sir, but whatever happened, we’ve only got the other two Warships and the Marksman with us,” Admiral Jewel said as she strapped herself into her chair.


    “We’re in orbit over Terra,” the sensors officer reported. “But there are some ships that are sitting parked in low orbit over a concentrated area, and they do not look human.”


    “Can I take a look at the feed?” I asked.


    “Yessir, transferring to your station now,” he replied.


    “Fuck,” I muttered as I looked at the ships that I recognized from a long distant past. “Scrambled all of our forces, and get ready for a hot drop, we’re going straight into hell for this one!”


    “Are you sure?” Jewel asked.


    “Yeah, they’re going to need all of the help that they can get down there,” I replied as I began to move toward the dropship collars. “Get word to the Ducal Guard and the Marksman. All of those alien bastards are hostile and are to be shot on sight. Don’t let them survive.”







    “We good to go?” I asked Mathis as we all got into our delivery vehicles.


    “Yessir, we’re ready to drop on your command,” Mathis said as he held his helmet in his right hand and mine in his left. “You sure this is the course of action that you want to take though sir?”


    “Yeah,” I said with a small smile. “This is how we’re going to do this.”


    Climbing into my Warhammer, I powered up the Fusion engine and waved to my wife who was across the drop bay from me.


    “You ready to fight some aliens Natasha?” I asked over our private channel.


    “Always,” she replied with a chuckle. “Now let us show these aliens why we are some of the best warriors in any universe!”


    “Punch it,” I ordered over the command channel as the dropships released all of their drop pods at once, the tanks, Mechs, and infantry all riding to the ground in unison while being escorted by the dropships that would be falling after us.



    ------------------------


    “Assemble!” Rogers said with finality as what looked like debris fell from the sky and landed in the middle of the enemy army. Groups of two-story robots looked over the battlefield as tanks and infantry drop pods crushed the enemies that they landed on before rolling off of their platforms.


    “Sorry to crash this party,” a voice said from one of the robot’s speakers and the radio at the same time. “But it looked like y’all could use a hand.”


    Steve just turned and looked at Thor and Stark for a moment, getting a shake of the head from Stark and a shrug from Thor at his inquiring glance. Before turning at the sound of weapons fire from one of the giant machines tearing into a Chitauri Leviathan and sending it crashing to the ground before the rest of the newcomers began tearing into the army with expert precision.


    “I do not know who you are,” Thanos roared as he looked at the war machine that the voice had come from. “But you will regret interfering in this!” He ran towards the black and gold painted machine as it tore sections of his army to shreds.

    Swinging his double-edged and bladed sword, Thanos began to carve massive chunks of armor off of the feet of the machine that towered above him before it darted out of the way and sprinted towards one of his ships before taking off and flying towards another Leviathan before it killed it with what looked like lightning from one of the massive guns that adorned its arms.


    Stark was about to say something when Thor cut him short.


    “Let us join in!” Thor roared as he took off with Stormbreaker in hand, lightning surrounding him and assisting him as he launched himself into the air and landed next to a cluster of the newcomer's infantry, swinging his axe as they continued to systematically dismantle any Chitauri that got within range of their weapons.


    “Thanks for the assist,” a giant of a man said as he nodded at Thor. “But I think you might want to help out some other teams, we’ve got this handled.” The man said as he turned and fired his shoulder-mounted inferno gel SRMs into a cluster of Chitauri and watched them melt into a puddle of flaming goo.







    Thanos could not believe his eyes, his army was being dismantled in front of him as he finally crippled the war machine in front of him. It fell to its knees as he pulled his sword out of the rear of the giant machine and watched as a mere human left the cockpit.


    “You!” Thanos roared as he picked up the armoured human and slammed him into his own war machine until his helmet cracked and came off, revealing an older man with gray-streaked throughout his hair and beard. “Do you realize what you have done?!” Thanos asked as the human spat blood into his face. “I was about to fix everything before you intervened!”


    “Fix it?” the human laughed as he coughed more blood up. “You’re just a crazy man who doesn’t understand the way that the universe works.”


    Then, a red-haired woman trembling with rage emerged from behind the mad titan, her hands glowing red as she launched energy bursts at Thanos, causing him to drop the armoured human and move to evade the energy blasts before trying to carve the redhead into two with his sword.


    “You took everything from me!” the woman said as she snapped his sword in half and began to rip the armour off of the mad titan.


    “I don’t even know who you are,” the Titan said as he was lifted into the air along with pieces of the Earth around him. “Rain fire!” he ordered one of his subordinates as he struggled to survive Scarlet Witch’s onslaught.


    Thanos’ ship tried to open fire but had to change and defend itself from the group of dropships and fighters that made themselves known, the Sting gunships taking the brunt of the damage while the ASF support that was with them began runs that ripped pieces of armor off of the alien vessel.


    “This is how you die,” Wanda said as she clenched her fists together before a needle came through and pierced her arm, the energy leaving her hand and allowing Thanos to move away from the enraged woman as she turned and disintegrated Ebony Maw with a flick of her wrist.


    “Here,” the armoured human said as he struggled to stand up. “I’ve got a med kit in the mech, let me get that patched up, you don’t want to bleed out.”


    Some of the rage left Wanda’s eyes as she saw the man struggle to climb back into the war machine’s cockpit to remove the medkit.


    “Here,” the man said as he wrapped up her arm and secured the bandage. “Now go finish him off, I’m pretty sure I’m done here.”


    Wanda just nodded in thanks as she took off into the sky once again to look for Thanos.



    -------------------------



    “Does anyone have eyes on Duke Hull?” Mathis asked as he dodged an energy blast from one of the alien staff weapons.


    “Negative,” came the responses from all of the Ducal Guard and Marksman.


    “Then we must find him!” Natasha said as she sped up her Nighstar and began to comb through the battlefield looking for her husband.


    Running through the battlefield, Natasha finally saw the ruins of her husband’s Warhammer slumped over on its knees, the massive War machine being crippled and blackened darker than its paint as the distinct signs of weapon damage marred the surface and scarred up pieces of the massive machine.


    “No no no,” Natasha muttered as she looked for any signs of an ejection. “Mathis! I need you here, I don’t know if Mark ejected or not!” She commanded into her comms as she turned her Nightstar back and forth so as to see if she could locate Mark.


    “I’ve got two platoons en route,” Mathis said as he used his jump jets to move quickly through the battlefield with a couple of groups of the Ducal Guard. “ETA is two mikes.”


    “Natasha then looked down at the foot of the Warhammer with enhanced magnification and saw a figure slumped over against it. The figure was painted in the standard colours of the Ducal Guard and didn’t seem to be moving at all.


    “If I cannot achieve my goals,” A voice rang out through the battlefield, seeming to draw all of the combat to a close. “Then you will not live to see your victory here.” The titan strode towards the man slumped over against the Warhammer and picked him up by his throat.


    “Mathis, I cannot hit him with my lasers without also hitting Mark,” Natasha said as she felt helpless watching her husband be picked up as if he weighed nothing.


    “We’re moving as fast as we can,” Mathis gasped out as he pushed the platoons faster.


    “What is he doing?” Natasha asked as she saw her husband push a button on the slate mounted to his left wrist. “No, you cannot do that!” She yelled from inside her cockpit as she watched Mark override all of the built-in safeties of his Mithril. “I still need you,” she began to cry as a flash of light erupted from where the two figures were and then vanished, leaving nothing but a charred Warhammer’s foot and a broken helmet behind to show that there was a man there before.


    Screaming in rage, Natasha began to push her Nighstar to its limits, breaking apart every single cluster of the aliens that were in sight, and even firing the last of the ammunition for her twin Gauss rifles at the ship that was still hovering over the battlefield, the Sting gunships taking the opportunity that was provided by the mad Titan’s death to finally drive the alien vessel down to the ground as it collapsed and crushed what was left of the alien invaders.




    -----------------------



    “Well, this is the last thing I expected,” I said as I looked at the white nothingness that surrounded me.


    “Why do you never do what I expected you to do?” a disembodied voice asked from the whiteness. “You are always the anomaly among the others that I have plucked from their own lives.”


    “I’m not sure what you mean, but if this,” I indicated the wall of white in front of me. “Is all that’s left for me, then just put me into nothingness. I’ve done plenty in life, and in my death, I’ve ensured that more people lived. I’m an old man, and I’ve had a full life. My only concern is that Natasha will do something crazy now that I’m gone. She has a tendency to do drastic things when her loved ones are affected.”


    “That is what I am talking about,” the voice said with what felt like a disappointed tone. “You were never supposed to encounter her that early. And by doing so you derailed many of my plans and cost me much in bets with the others. Now, I will send you on to the next life as you desire, but know that the other copies of you survived in their new universes for much longer.”


    “Eh,” I shrugged. “I’m not concerned with competing with other versions of myself. Whatever I manage to accomplish I can be satisfied with. Now, can we get on with the next part? I want to see Sapphire again.”


    “If you insist on being obstinant,” something that sounded like fingers snapping echoed through the white space.


    The white space vanished, leaving me blinking as I took in a massive city shining on a hill.


    “Let’s go experience the greatest adventure yet,” I muttered to myself as I began to walk down the narrow path to the gates made of white.


    -------------------------


    Natasha and Wanda stood in front of the Warhammer that had been turned into a grave site and memorial for all of the people that had died fighting off Thanos' forces.


    "I am sorry for your loss," Wanda said as she turned to the older woman. "I understand what it feels like to lose someone that you love."


    "I always knew that it was possible," Natasha said as a lone tear trailed down her face while she held Melissa tight to her chest, her silver-streaked red hair concealing part of her face as the blond buried her face into her shoulder. "But we always seemed to be invincible together."


    "It was my fault," Mathis said as he knelt in front of the memorial, his normal powered armor having been changed to a black suit with gold trim. "I lost track of where the Duke was on the battlefield," Mathis stood up and made his way over to the group of women. "I am sorry for failing you, Natasha."


    "No one failed," Melissa said as she pulled herself free from the hug that she had been trapped in by Natasha. "He chose to go out like that. Uncle Mark has always been like that."


    "If he were anyone other than who he was, he would not have been the man that I grew to love and married," Natasha agreed.
     
    Beyond the Horizon (Universes that were considered for insertion #2 Stargate (Atlantis) Part 1
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    “There’s not going to be a problem,” Dr. Mckay said as he argued with Dr. Zelenka.

    “You don’t know that,” Zelenka stated, trying to argue his position.

    “If it seems like we can't fix it, we'll just turn around and go back!” Mckay said as he continued packing up a case. “Now, I realize I am invaluable everywhere-”

    “You know what? Forget it. I take it back!” Zelenka retorted.

    “Sorry, nope. You can't take it back because you've just admitted that I'm smarter than you!” Mckay said smugly, a smirk on his face.

    “I admitted no such thing!” Zelenka protested.

    “I know it's hard to say, but the truth shone through when you prepared to speak,” Mckay said arrogantly.

    “You are a miserable little man,” Zelenka said through gritted teeth.

    “Hey, hey, let's not ruin the moment,” Mckay continued working on the case while going silent before turning and facing the other scientist. “Keep an eye on my city for me while I’m gone. Hmm?”

    “Good luck,” Zelenka said as he shook Rodney’s hand.

    “Right,” Rodney said as he turned and began wheeling the tray away.




    “You’re going to be fine.”

    “Yeah, that’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one with an eight-hour ceiling on their breathing!” Mckay breathed out as he floated ‘down’ relative to the bottom of the Ancient defense satellite.

    “It’s completely dead,” Mckay said over the radio.

    “Well, we thought as much.”

    “I’m going to hook up the Naquadah Generator,” Mckay said. “See if I can get some life support going.” He pulled the tether connecting him to the generator towards himself.




    “Here we go,” Mckay said as he powered on the weapons satellite.

    “Primary power online,” Dr. Grodin said as he floated across the ‘floor’ of the ancient weapon. “Looks like life support’s now at a hundred percent. And I think I found the switch to initialize the gravity.”

    “Great, just give me a second to oh!” Mckay said as he fell to the ‘ground’ of the satellite. “Oh yeah, yep. That’s permanent back damage,” Mckay groaned.

    “Sorry, I assumed it would come on more slowly,” Grodin said while Miller just stared outside of the ‘glass’ screen at the space around them.

    “You might want to see this,” Miller said as Mckay started to chew Grodin out. “Guys!”

    “What?!” Snapped Mckay.

    “There’s a fleet right there, and it doesn’t look like the Wraith,” Miller said as he looked at the side of a ship that was three times the size of a Daedalus class Battlecruiser.






    “What is going on?” Dr. Weir asked as she walked onto the floor of the control room.

    “Dr. Weir,” Zelenka said as he turned to her. “We just had a fleet of unknown ships appear right next to the defense satellite that Rodney is trying to fix.”

    “Are they Wraith?” Dr. Weir asked as Major Sheppard ran up the stairs of the control room.

    “No ma’am,” Zelenka said as he shook his head. “They don’t look like anything we’ve seen in the Pegasus galaxy.”

    “Try and contact them,” Weir said confidently. “They may be able to help us.”




    “Where the hell are we?” I asked as I stormed onto the bridge of the Manassas.

    “We have no idea,” Jewel said, her voice coming from the comms station. “None of our Hyperspace navigators can give me accurate information.”

    “Sir, there’s some sort of station here, and it looks like it’s got power,” the sensors officer relayed to the Manassas’ captain.

    “It’s your call sir,” The captain said as Jewel nodded.

    “Alright,” I sighed. “Try and hail them, but keep our weapons pointed at them, I don’t want this to end up with all of us dead.”

    “Copy that sir,” the sensors officer said as she turned to her terminal. “Unkown station, this is the Kentares Guard Ship Manassas, do you read me?”

    “Manassas, this is Atlantis, we hear you,” a feminine voice replied. “I apologize that I have to greet you with such informality, but our enemies are fast approaching and we need assistance. The Wraith are coming, and if we are not ready they will make it to Earth, and they will feed on everyone there.”

    “The Wraith?” Captain Jason Wylde mouthed. “Atlantis?”

    I just shrugged a bunch of half-remembered things from a TV series beginning to kindle in the back of my mind. “Beats me,” I replied to the captain.

    “Atlantis, how long do you have until your enemies arrive?” I asked. “We may be able to lend a small hand with some defenses assuming you can give us data on the local star charts.”

    “We have less than thirty hours,” the voice said. “I’m afraid that unless you can escape that you are now stuck here with us until they arrive.”
     
    Beyond the Horizon (Universes that were considered for insertion #2 Stargate (Atlantis) The Siege Part I
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Beyond the Horizon (Universes that were considered for insertion #2 Stargate (Atlantis) The Siege Part I


    “I’ve sent my civilian vessels over to the empty system that you gave us the data on,” I told Dr. Weir. “I’m not sure that my ships will be able to take on anything bigger than the Cruisers that you’ve shown me the data on, but we were able to have our personnel tie in one of our spare Fusion reactors into the defense satellite that you were working on, and it should be able to provide the power output that is required for at least a small time.”

    “We’ve got two Puddlejumpers waiting nearby to extract both of our people should something go wrong,” Dr. Weir said. “Now, you have nuclear weapons that you said you’ll be willing to use?”

    “Yes,” I replied. “But given the relative strength of the fleet arrayed against you,” I shrugged. “I fail to see how effective they will be. As it is, I’m not certain that we can do more than assist in the defense of this city against these ‘Darts’ and anyone that manages to actually land and try to utilize conventional small arms on the inhabitants of this city.”

    “Yes, these mechs that you possess don’t seem to be something that will be of assistance on Atlantis,” Dr. Weir said with a sigh. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful to have allies in our fight against the Wraith, I just wished that you had more to bring to the table for this.”

    “My ships are going to remain hidden around the dark side of the moon,” I said. “They’re priceless, and damn near irreplaceable, and I’m not certain that you have anything that could make up for the loss of one of them, much less all three. Now, in regards to mechs that will be of use to your city. Tell me, did you get to see the stats on the Rifleman?”




    “You are a terror to work with,” Dr. Rogers said to Mckay as she tied the fusion engine into the systems of the satellite. “But I suppose you are smart enough to keep up, so I suppose it balances out.”

    “You’re what? In your twenties?” Mckay said with his typical arrogance. “What would you know about powering laser-based weapons systems?”

    “I’m in my sixties,” Rogers glared at the Canadian physicist. “I’ve been working on laser-based weapons since before you were born, and I’ll be working on them and making them work better long after you’re dead and in the grave. Now, you can finish tying this engine into this weapon, or you can stand aside and let me do it, but either way, we are on a time crunch and cannot afford to laze about.”



    “Rodney, how goes the repairs?” Dr. Weir asked her head scientist.

    “They’re going well, even this bunch of primitives seems to understand that we’re working with some advanced tech here and are being careful,” Mckay said.

    “Primitives! A female voice was heard in the background. “I’ll show you just how primitive we are if you say something like that again.”

    “Anyway, we’re almost done,” Mckay yelped. “We’re going to be powering it off in a couple of minutes and waiting for the Wraith to get into range, we’ll update you when we’re finished.”
     
    Beyond the Horizon ( Stargate (Atlantis) The Siege, part II
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Beyond the Horizon ( Stargate (Atlantis) The Siege, part II

    “So,” Lieutenant Ford looked at the tall armored man who was showing him how to use some of the rifles they had brought down to Atlantis. “What do I have to do to get armor like that?”

    “Ask,” Mathis shrugged. “We’re allies for now, but we’ll probably ask you to be the guinea pig for these Wraith ‘stunners’ as you call them.”

    “As long as I can get one of these suits of Mithril then I’ll do whatever testing you want me to,” Ford said as he finally shot one of the rifles he had been given before grinning wildly. “I get to keep this, right?”

    “That’s not up to me,” Mathis said as he grabbed a massive machine gun and took it outside to mount on the railing. “Besides, we’ve got to survive first.”




    “We set and ready to go?” Mckay asked as they finished triple-checking everything.

    “We tied extra targeting into the defenses,” Dr. Rogers said as she tapped on her slate to get the last readings from the fusion engine that was assisting the Naquadah reactor. “I don’t think any of us want to be here if things go wrong.”

    “Agreed,” Dr. Grodin said as he climbed into the Puddlejumper that was docked to the defense satellite.

    “Just let me adjust one last thing,” Mckay said as his hands flew across the controls. “We don’t want this to go poorly.”

    “Mckay!” Grodin said as they saw the Wraith Hive’s come out of Hyperspace.

    “I know, I know,” Mckay muttered as he finally detached his tablet from the Ancient computer and ran into the Puddlejumper. “Get us cloaked and out of here,” he said as he moved up to the copilot’s chair.

    The scientists and the pilot moved far away from the defense satellite before watching as the Wraith passed by, seemingly unaware of their potential demise.

    Then, the satellite fired, the beam weapon shining in the void of space and tearing one hive ship in twain before switching targets and hitting the next.

    “Atlantis, we have two confirmed kills,” Mckay informed the expedition members then stopped smiling as the Ancient Satellite fired the third beam at the last of the Hive ships before stopping after causing some damage.

    “Atlantis, the satellite is down,” Mckay reported as the Satellite seemingly ceased getting power altogether. “We do not have a confirmed kill on the third hiveship.”

    “Come back to Atlantis, Rodney,” Dr. Weir instructed. “Our allies have some ideas on how to potentially take out the last hive ship.”




    “We’ve got AA defenses set up all around the city,” I told Dr. Weir as I entered her office. “My wife Natasha and I have put some Rifleman around the city to help deal with the Darts as well as setting up several mounted guns and some Partisan AA platforms.”

    “Have you tested your armor systems against the Wraith Stunners yet?” Dr. Weir asked. “I don’t want to have my people in the armor if it doesn’t work properly.”

    “The Stunners take two to three shots to break through our Mithril,” I replied as I crossed my arms. “But if they’re looking to take the city then they won’t be able to breach any of our suits in time to feed on us or do anything else like that.”

    “Do we have enough time to train with the suits though?” Weir asked. “Many of us are scientists, and we’re only trained in self-defense for the most part.”

    “They’re your people Doc,” I shrugged. “I’m offering the suits to any of the people who might want one before the engagement though.”




    “You have nukes and laser technology?!” Mckay asked in a high-pitched tone of voice. “Why didn’t anyone tell me sooner?!”

    “Because you were busy fixing the Ancient Satellite, Rodney,” Zelenka said as he rolled his eyes. “They’ve got capable people here, and we are nearly finished with modifying several of the nuclear missiles as it is.”

    “Bomb-pumped lasers?” Mckay asked as he saw some sort of small lasers being attacked to the tips of several missiles.

    “Yes Rodney,” Zalenka said as he helped remove a casing from one of the massive missiles. “Go ask Doctor Weir for the plan, we’re busy here.”

    “Fine,” Mckay replied. “But don’t bother asking me for help later on.”

    “We won’t,” Zelenka smiled as Mckay left the room. “Now, time to finish this up.”
     
    Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen: Spartans Never Die, They're just Missing In Action
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter One Hundred and Seventeen: Spartans Never Die, They're just Missing In Action
    Sian, June 18th, 3026

    Far into the asteroid belt of the Solar system of Sian, half of a ship floated. This ship was pockmarked with dents from asteroid impacts and micrometeorites. And on this day, something changed. A long dormant fusion reactor flickered to life, and what lights were left began to power on. And hidden away in a section of this ship was the lone room that was occupied.

    As the Master Chief woke up, he noted that the Freezerburn was worse than it had been before. Then, with a grunt he mentally set aside the pain and tried to open his Cryo pod. When it refused to respond to his prompts he decided to try something else. Grabbing the handle in order to open the pod, he gave it a sharp tug, breaking the seal on the pod and causing the door to raise open.

    "Cortana," The Chief's gravelly voice echoed inside of his own helmet. "What's the situation?"

    "Hey Chief," Cortana's Hologram appeared above the pedestal. "If you're watching this then it's been too long, and we were never rescued. I prerecorded a series of messages and left all of the files that you could potentially need in a series of files on your chip." The recording gave a sad smile.

    "You said to wake you up when I needed you, but if I had done that we would have both died a long time ago." The hologram paced a bit back and forth. "I left a series of hacking runtimes and algorithms that you can use via your hud and Neural Lace. But my effective lifespan was already over by the time you rescued me from the Gravemind."

    "I'm sorry that it has to be this way John, but by the time you see this, I will be gone." Cortana's message sighed. "There's just enough power for you to get to the remaining Pelican in the bay, from there it's all up to you."

    The Chief just stood there silently. The Green Giant doing his level best to process what was going on.

    Pulling the AI chip out of his helmet, he loaded it into the pedestal and issued the commands necessary to load what was left of Cortana's mind into the chip.

    Turning around, he grabbed the magnum that had fallen to the ground when the artificial gravity powered back on, and the MA5C ICWS that was in the weapons slot of the Cryo Pod and attached them to the magnetic strips on his Mjolnir Mk. VI

    Now that he had more weapons than just his fist he focused on his next problem. There was one Pelican dropship left in the Forward unto Dawn's bays. And he needed to ensure that it was fueled up and stocked with enough supplies to make it to wherever he needed to head next.

    But first, he checked the sensors that the Dawn had left in order to see if there were any sort of habitable planet in the general vicinity.

    Consulting what was left of the ships computers, he combed through the sensor data. After an hour of rapidly going through the data, he realized that the second planet in the system was habitable. Now that he had a location, he could begin plotting the trip.





    June 19th, 3026

    The Chief kept on loading the Pelican with everything he thought might be necessary for the weeklong journey to the second planet of the system. With a heavy grunt, he shoved the last crate into the troop bay of the dropship. Stepping around the supplies he had gathered, The Chief made his way to the cockpit where he sealed up the bay and powered the Pelican on.

    Once he had moved the Dropship out of the bay and plotted a course for the autopilot the Chief unsealed his helmet and grabbed the MRE that he had grabbed for a meal.

    With a heavy sigh, the Chief leaned back in the chair and heated up his food. He would be here for a while after all.





    June 27th, 3026

    "This is Sierra One One Seven, is there anyone out there?" The Chief broadcast from the Pelican as he surveyed the seemingly abandoned cities and factories.

    Seeing as he hadn't seen any signs of life aside from the surrounding vegetation the Chief decided to start with the Palace complex he had seen while searching the place.

    Making sure that all of his seals were intact, the Chief put his helmet back on and sealed it with a quick twist. Then, he took the Pelican off of autopilot and descended down into the courtyard of the Palace to see what remained of the civilization that was once here.

    Grabbing his rifle off of his back, the Chief calmly sealed the Pelican back up and began to walk up the steps to the entrance. He was going to find out what happened here, one way or another.

    Walking into the front doors, the Chief noted that the lights were still on, and that any automated systems should still be operational. It was then that he saw it. The first thing to give him pause. There was a dead man sitting in the entryway, he was holding a rifle of some kind and had been dead for at least two weeks if not more.

    Walking over to the Corpse, the Chief began to go over it. It was clearly human, and had writings on the uniform that were in a dialect of Chinese that he didn't recognize, and the rifle had a caliber marking on it that he didn't have any remembrance of ever having seen before.

    Kneeling down, the chief looked to see if he could figure out what killed the man, because it was not any sort of weapon that he could see. Then, he heard a noise deeper inside of the palace complex. In front of two doors that were two stories tall there was something moving. A heavy thud sound echoed through the corpse filled halls and the Chief began to move into the shadows. From the two heavy doors emerged what looked like a trash can with legs, and it was tall too.

    Turning its torso side to side, the massive behemoth began to examine every aspect of the room before spying the Chief, then the barrel of the massive gun that was mounted began to start tracking him. Moving forward in a burst of speed, the Chief did the opposite of what most people expected and ran towards the enemy machine. Using his augmented muscles and the enhancements that the Mjolnir granted him, he leapt up to grab ahold of the leg, and used it to vault himself up onto the top of the walking trash can. Seeing a hatch on the top of the machine, the Chief yanked it open brutally to see a human operating the machine cussing him out in a dialect of Chinese that he didn't know before he swapped to English.

    "What happened here?" The Chief asked in his rough voice. "And who are you?"

    "I'm the only one fucking left, and now I'm going to die too!" The man began to wail. "The Chancellor, he released a bioweapon of some kind, I only survived because I was training in my family's Urbanmech when it happened. Everyone was infected, and they all died weeks ago. I was the only one left until you showed up, and now I'm dead too." The man sobbed into his own hands. "I don't know what the chancellor had the Maskirovka cook up, but whatever it was, it lingers, and unless you stay environmentally sealed then you die just like everyone else."

    "How long do you have?" The Chief asked.

    "A week." The man finally calmed down. "I'll be dead by the end of the week unless you're some sort of super scientist underneath that faceplate of yours."

    "I'm not a scientist." The Chief replied. "But maybe we can find their research and see if they developed a cure."

    "What did you think I was doing?!" The man asked in a wail.

    "Stomping around in a giant trash can." The Chief stated bluntly. "It doesn't seem very useful."

    "There's a perfectly valid reason for the Urbanmech to exist." The man protested.

    "That gun would go better on a tank." The Chief said bluntly. "Now, let's go see what there is underneath this palace."


    Author's note: just realized I forgot some apocryphal chapters from BOTH. Expect two more to follow this. I’m
     
    Chapter One One Seven: Continued
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    Chapter One One Seven: Continued

    June 27th, 3026

    "Stay behind me." The Master Chief told the frightened man. "We don't know what may lurk down in the bunker underneath the palace."

    "I'm pretty sure it's death." The man replied. "Because I was the only person alive on this planet."

    "You'll make it." The green giant responded with his gravelly voice as he continued exploring the deserted and corpse filled halls of the Celestial Palace.

    "You don't know that!" The man said as he trailed behind the armored man. "You don't even know my name!"

    "It's Zhang Li." The Chief replied simply. "You're wearing a nametag."

    The duo proceeded to move on, finally finding an elevator that led to the depths of the palace. Seeing the Elevator, the Chief immediately turned and headed for the stairs.

    "The power is on dumbass," Li said. "We can take the elevator."

    "No, we're taking the stairs." The Chief replied as he began his descent. "More safe that way."

    "What do you mean safer?" Li asked. "It's coming when called just fine, see?" The elevator reached their floor and the doors opened, but before Li could step in, a shaped charge detonated on the elevator cable, causing the counterweight to disintegrate, and the elevator to fall to the bottom floor. A loud crash echoed up to the opened elevator doors before they gave a small "Ding" before closing again.

    "Wait for me!" Li called as he began to follow in the Master Chief's footsteps, and then paused to see that the giant of a man was already five flights of stairs down from himself. "How do you move so quickly?"

    The Chief just stared at the man for a second behind his golden visor before continuing his trek down the stairs.




    "The door is locked electronically." Li told the Chief. "Just leave me alone so I can die in peace."

    The Master Chief just gave him a look before turning to the locked door. Running some calculations through his head he drew his MA5C from his back and removed the magazine from it. Racking the charging handle and catching the round, he placed the 7.62x51mm round back into the magazine before inserting a magazine with a large S written on it in what looked like a silver marker. "Cover your face and eyes." He commanded as he racked the weapon to chamber a round. Firing into the wall around the door, the concrete began to fall apart and eventually the power source to the door was revealed. Placing the now empty magazine into his pouch, the Chief reloaded before placing the MA5C back onto the magnetic strip on his back. Grabbing his combat knife, the 36.58cm blade made up of a hyper dense alloy had no trouble slicing through the power conduit keeping the door shut. Sheathing his knife once again, the Chief grabbed the doors that had been previously held together by some sort of advanced hydraulics and began to force them open.

    "How the fuck did you do that?" Li asked with his jaw stuck open in awe.

    "Classified." The Master Chief responded as he walked through the now opened doors.






    "How far down does this thing go?" Li asked as they continued to descend into the bunker underneath the palace. "You could keep thousands of people here and with those hydroponics bays we saw earlier be able to feed them too."

    'There are two more floors until we reach the bottom." The Chief responded.

    "How do you even know that? You've never even set foot in this bunker until now!" Li once again was upset at his companion.

    "There was a map at the entrance to the bunker" The Chief responded. "You were too busy admiring the artwork on the way in."

    "And you memorized said map?" Li asked incredulously.

    "Yes." The Chief said as he continued to move on through the bunker. "The research area was two levels above us."

    "Then why didn't we stop there?!" Li asked.

    "We haven't cleared the entire area yet." The Chief responded. "And someone is watching us through the cameras."

    "Why didn't you say something earlier?!" Li began to freak out.

    The Chief didn't say anything as they rounded the corner and proceeded down the last two flights of stairs.

    When they reached the bottom, they found another set of locked doors, this set even more ornate and gaudy than the rest of the doors in the underground bunker.


    "Is that a gold plated door?" Li asked. "Why would you have a gold plated door as a security barrier? That doesn't make much sense."

    "It's not designed to keep anyone out." The Chief said as he walked forward and pushed the button that caused the doors to slide open.

    A man stood on the other side of the door with a mad grin on his face and a massive laser rifle in his hands raised and pointed at the Master Chief. With a squeeze of the trigger, a beam lanced out and then promptly vanished against the Chief's shields. Moving forward, the Chief grabbed the rifle and forced it upwards, diverting the path of the laser into the ceiling before he pulled it out of the other man's hands and broke it into two pieces. Then he grabbed the much smaller man and threw him to the ground and stood over him with his own rifle pointed at the man's face.

    "Stand down." The Chief commanded.

    "Or what?" The man asked with a mad grin on his face. "You'll kill me?"

    "Yes Chancellor, he will." Zhang Li said. "Now, I hope that you have a cure for the stupid disease or virus that you unleashed on us or I'll pull the trigger myself1"

    "A cure? Why would I have them make a cure for something that I wanted to kill off everyone on the planet?" The man cackled. "Everyone will die! And when the Davions get here I'll make sure there's nothing left to salvage!"

    The man kept laughing hysterically and didn't stop until a single shot rang out. Zhang Li lowered a smoking pistol and slowly dropped to his knees. "I'm dead, but that doesn't mean that others are going to have to die for this."
     
    117 Cont.
  • MarkWarrior

    Well-known member
    This is the continuation of the Master Chief's adventures in the AU of BOTH posted a little while ago.


    Sian, Capellan Confederations June 27, 3026

    "Come on," The Chief said to Zhang Li. "We're getting you fixed up," the green giant began walking out of the bunker.

    "What's the point?" the Capellan asked. "I'm a dead man walking."

    "There's always a way to win," the Chief grunted as he walked back up the stairs. "We just have to find it."




    "This is my ship," The Chief said as he climbed into the cockpit and began navigating the various systems and subsystems. "How much does your Urbanmech weigh?"

    "Thirty tons, why?" Zhang asked.

    "Because the maximum lift capacity of this dropship is seventy tons, and I do not want to leave your primary vehicle and means of transportation behind."

    "Just leave it here man, we can come back for it if we need to," the Capellan replied.

    "I have a vacuum-rated suit in the locker above your head," the Chief stated. "You'll want to put it on."

    "Why?" Zhang asked only to receive no answer, the Chief seemingly ignoring him in order to pilot the Pelican, closing the drop bay as the ship began moving upwards through the atmosphere. "Where are we going?"

    "You'll see," the Chief replied. "Get some rest, we'll be waiting for a while."




    After pushing the Pelican to its limits, they arrived at the Forward Unto Dawn's wreck scarcely five days later.

    "You sure we can find a cure?" Zhang coughed into his hand, small flecks of blood showing as he wiped it off on the armor that the Green Giant had given him.

    The Chief just looked at him, the reflective visor giving nothing away as the Pelican docked with the Forward Unto Dawn.

    "Wait here," the Chief ordered as he sealed the cockpit and opened up the bay doors to the void of the bay in the Aft end of the frigate. Pushing off, he moved to one of the few terminals that were intact enough to interact with, he needed to know how much power remained and if the reactors were still viable enough to open up a route to the medbay.

    Seeing that there was enough power to pressurize some areas of the ship and to keep the medbay running for a day or so, the Chief input a series of commands, the exterior bulkheads slamming down and sealing, allowing the ship to repressurize the hallways and areas that were in between the Pelican bay and the medical bay.

    "Come on," The chief ordered as he opened the Pelican's hatch. "We're going to the medbay."

    "What is this?" Zhang asked as he looked around the cluttered bay, the weapons, and other equipment having been thrown loose when the portal had cut the Dawn in half.

    "Dust and echos," the Chief replied, a frown appearing under his helmet as he recalled the words of Cortana years before.

    Moving weightlessly through the low gravity environment, the two of them eventually reached the Medbay, which seemed more intact than most of the ship given that it was one of the most centrally located rooms.

    Grabbing a Medical Scanner, the Chief began examining the Capellan soldier, eventually stopping to remove a couple of sections of armor to collect a blood sample.

    Placing the blood sample in the medical scanner, he began running everything through the equipment, the advanced technology speeding through the analysis before identifying exactly what the pathogen was and providing a list of possible solutions.

    Walking over to the sterile prep area that was kept separate from the rest of the medbay, the Chief began running the program to synthesize the cure that Zhang needed, the time eventually being sent to his Mjolnir with the projected time showing up underneath his motion sensors.

    "Get some rest," the Chief said as he reentered the medbay. "The cure will be ready in five hours."




    Aft end of the Forward Unto Dawn, July 4, 3026



    "So, you want to fix this pile of scrap up?" Zhang asked as they began moving supplies out into the dropship bay.

    "Yes, we'll make trips to the surface as needed to get the proper materials," The Green Giant replied. "The BDU you're wearing is sealed against foreign contaminants."

    "Right," Zhang muttered. "Because of course, it is. Anything else we need to get done?"

    "I need your information on any major industrial centers and possible power plants," the Chief replied as he fueled up the Pelican. "The Dawn's main reactor needs to be refueled, and until we have the right amounts of fuel we'll need to power the tools we're working with."

    "But why this piece of shit?" Zhang asked as he kicked a bulkhead. "There might be a Jumpship at the zenith point we can use."

    "Follow me," the Chief said as he turned and walked towards an area that Zhang hadn't seen before, a sign painted over the door saying 'Cryobay'.

    "This is why," The Chief said as he brushed the ice off of a few of the cryo pods, the people frozen within being too critically wounded to bring out of stasis until they could be operated on.

    "Damn," Zhang whispered as he saw the half a dozen people frozen. "Aren't you worried about them dying in there?"

    "The risk is there," The Chief said as he left the room, expecting the Capellan to follow. "But it is better than no chance at all."

    "Alright," Zhang said after he swore a bit in Mandarin. "So we fix this ship up. Then what?"

    "We go to Earth," the Chief said. "The UNSC will be able to fix these people."
     
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