//------------------------------// // First Contact // Story: Halo: Stranded // by The R0fl Guy //------------------------------// Master Chief was collecting sticks, logs, leaves, and anything he could find to create a camp. He had found and brought back many materials, and was returning with his last load of supplies. According to his mission clock, it had been roughly two hours and fifteen minutes since he landed. Chief had decided to make the drop pod a forward operating base, in case he had to leave the Dawn or fall back to a safer position. To do this, he needed to gather enough materials to build it. He had grabbed an emergency supply satchel when he fled the Dawn, and it contained tools and rope, among other things. All the essentials to setup a small camp--save for the materials nature could supply--could be found inside of the satchel. It also contained a side pouch holding six MA5B Assault Rifle magazines and three Fragmentation grenades. He was almost back to the drop pod with a final load of logs, when he heard rustling in the bushes to his right. He turned, dropping the logs and drawing his SMG, and crouched low into a defensive position. He checked his motion tracker and noticed one small red dot in the bush. Despite being small, this dot was quite a bit larger than any of the other dots filling his motion tracker. It was most likely a predator, he thought. After a few seconds of silence, the dot slowly moved away and out of the range of his motion tracker. Chief waited for ten seconds, his M7 scanning the surrounding bushes the entire time, then decided to move on. "It was fairly small. Most likely nothing to worry about," Cortana said calmly. Chief re-attached his M7 to his side, then picked up the logs he had collected that trip. He moved slightly faster. Upon reaching the drop pod, he heard more bushes rustle. This time though, his motion tracker picked up four dots; the small one, and three bigger ones. He crouched into another defensive stance, SMG raised, and waited. The dots disappeared instead of moved away, which meant that whatever was stalking him from the bushes was still there. After seven seconds of silence, eight yellow eyes came into Chief's view, his motion tracker tracking the small movements of them as they crept forward. Then, in one quick movement, two huge wolves launched out of the bushes at him. Chief easily dodged, ducking under both of them. They flew over his head and landed a few meters away. He turned to look at the two wolves he had just evaded, his gaze causing the larger of the two to release a vicious howl at him. The other two wolves still waiting in the bush decided to attack, attempting to take him by surprise now that his back was turned. Chief had expected this, and when he saw two dots moving towards his back on his motion tracker, he sidestepped to his left while spinning his body around to land a devastating punch square on top of the larger wolf of this duos head. His fist connecting with its head made a sickening thudding sound, and it was dead before it knew it. Its head was crushed--reduced to small bits of wood and tiny splinters. The other wolf was devastated at the sight of another from its pack killed so easily, and ran to the first two. Chief examined the wolves, and saw that they were made out of sticks and logs, nothing else. “What the hell are these things?” he asked Cortana. “Some form of wolf. A strange one, indeed. They act just like normal wolves, but their skin seems to be replaced with wood. Just hit 'em where it hurts Chief, neck, head, doesn't matter. Look at what you did to the last one,” Cortana answered calmly. Feeling quite sure that he had the upper hand, Chief lowered his SMG and attached it to his side. Better not to waste his ammo when he knew he could take them down with his fists. The wolves were now closing in on Chief in an attempt to surround him. He took a defensive stance and waited for them to attack so that he could counter-attack them. He did not need to find out if their teeth were able to puncture his armour by making a foolish first move. He knew they were only wolves, and most likely child's play for him, but he wanted to see what they were capable of before initiating a fight. The wolf closing on his right snapped at him, then faked a jump at him to see if he would flinch. When Chief did nothing but angle his body slightly towards it, the wolf stepped back, demoralized. The wolf directly in front of Chief decided to take action, and ran at him in an attempt to tackle him. Even charging at full speed, the wolf had no chance of touching him, and Chief easily sidestepped to his left. The left and right side wolves quickly decided to try and tackle him while he was off guard, but unfortunately for them, Spartans were almost never off-guard. They leaped at him, but right as they were about to collide with him, Chief delivered a nasty elbow to the jaw of the wolf on his left, and at the same time a devastating blow to the head of the wolf on his right. The wolf to his left hit the ground behind him hard, slowly dying from the blow that ripped off its jaw, while the one to his right slammed into the ground a few meters in front of his feet, killed instantly. The remaining wolf was the smallest one. It looked to its three fallen comrades, and with a short whimper, decided to retreat. “Smart thinking,” Chief said as he watched it run off into the foliage. “Strange, this variation of wolf contains some sort of thick sap-like blood. Not surprising, since they're made of wood, but how they managed to acquire wood for skin seems completely illogical. They don't even contain organs, it's as if they only need the sap-like substance to survive, so I don't know why they would feel the need to be predators. Perhaps there is something else that drives them to kill. I'll have to look into this.” The Master Chief scanned the area and saw nothing but endless forest. Satisfied that he was once again alone, he picked up the logs he had thrown down and began heading back to the pod. He was walking through a patch of thick bushes, almost back to his makeshift camp, when he heard voices ahead. He stopped and crouched low by instinct, then slowly crept forward towards the voices. He carefully placed his load of logs down, then quietly moved a large bush aside just enough to see where and what the voices were coming from. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw them. First he saw two large horse-like beings with horns and wings, who he recognized as alicorns; mythical creatures he had once learned about long ago. One was pure white, with a colourful flowing mane and tail, and the other was dark blue, with what looked like the night sky in its mane and tail. He then saw a dozen smaller ones in golden armour, and six others beside them. Some of them had horns, some had wings, and some had neither. They all had strange pictures on their flanks too, which confused Chief even further. He recognized the creatures as unicorns and pegasi, all of which he learned about when he was a boy. Of all the strange things Chief had seen over his life of fighting, this had to be one of the strangest. Up there with the Gravemind, for sure. He continued watching them as they stared at his drop pod, looking uncertain on what to do. “What the hell are these things?” Chief asked simply, beginning to wonder how many other insane things there were on this planet. “They look like equines, or unicorns, pegasi, and alicorns if you will. How they talk, and why they look that way confuses me as well though,” Cortana said. “I thought all horses were disgusting,” he replied. “Yes, but it sounded like they were talking, so clearly these ones are of a higher intellect than normal equines. They must be capable of taking care of themselves too,” Cortana stated. To the Chief they looked relatively harmless, but he knew better than to approach unknown aliens--horses or not--with unknown intentions, so he moved to a better position to watch them. As he did, he snapped a branch off of the bush he was behind, creating a loud and sharp crack. He cursed MJOLNIR's bulky design under his breath, and crouched down again. “What was that?” one of them asked in a slightly fearful tone. This one was cyan, with a rainbow coloured tail and mane. "Do you think it was an a-a-alien?" a butter coloured one with a pink mane and tail asked fearfully. “Ah don't know, it came from those bushes though,” an orange one with a blonde tail and mane wearing a stetson said slowly, pointing a hoof towards the bush that Chief was behind. When Chief heard their voices up close, he immediately began to wonder just how complex these ponies were. Their voices sounded female, and the orange one even had a southern accent. “Careful girls, do not get too close. Let Luna and myself handle this. Guards, stay back, we do not need to intimidate whatever may be in that bush,” Chief heard the large white one say. He contained a small chuckle as he heard the white alicorn say they did not need to intimidate him. “Hello, is there someone in there?” she asked soothingly, “We mean you no harm, we would just like to talk to you," she said. “Celestia, whatever it may be, it most likely does not understand you. It's no use,” Luna snapped. Chief was surprised they spoke English, very surprised, actually. He knew his translation equipment would do him no good since they were unknown to it, so he was glad he could understand them. “You never know, Luna,” Celestia replied. She asked again, “Is there anything in there? We just want to talk.” As dense as the forest was, Chief would not be able to hide from them forever. He wanted to keep his position hidden from any of the planets inhabitants until he and Cortana could properly assess them to see if they could be of any use. He needed to get the equines off of his trail. If he evaded him, they would surely follow. He would need to drive them away. “Yes, there is,” he said ominously. All twenty one ponies gasped loudly when they heard the Spartan's deep mechanical voice. He had never thought about it until now, but his voice did sound quite intimidating. To some it may have even sounded scary. Every one of the ponies stood still, clutched by fear. They looked towards the direction Chief was in as if expecting something to happen, and eventually the two princesses broke out of its grasp. “Why are you hiding in there?” Celestia asked nervously, her voice almost down to a whisper. “Would you prefer if I came out?” Chief replied menacingly. “We mean you no harm, can you say the same to us?” Luna asked sternly. “I can't make any promises,” he answered grimly. At this, the royal guards straightened up and rushed to the princesses sides. “Come out slowly, no sudden movements!” Shining Armour said in a loud, commanding voice. Chief noticed that the voice of this one sounded male. Judging by their weapons and armour, the equines did not seem to present a threat to Chief. Intimidating them would be fairly easy, he thought. Following his orders, the Master Chief moved the foliage and bushes aside, and stepped out into the open. There he stood in front of them, a massive seven foot tall Spartan II, fully clad in MJOLNIR Mark VI Powered Assault Armour. He was quite a bit taller than Celestia and Luna, and much more bulky, making the other ponies seem like tiny toy dolls to him. All the equines could do was stare in awe at the hulking beast. The guards, taking an immediate disliking to him, raised their spears and formed a protective shield around the princesses and the girls, Shining Armour at the front of the shield. Instinctively, Master Chief took a step back into a fighting stance as well, raising his M7 at them. “Guards, lower your spears!” Celestia commanded. They were hesitant at first, but after a couple of seconds they reluctantly lowered their spears, keeping a tight grip on them. “I apologize. I can assure you, we mean no harm to you. My guards are just taking the necessary precautions,” Celestia said, her voice sounding much more nervous than it had ten seconds ago when she wasn't looking directly into the Spartan's polarized faceplate. “Step away from the pod,” Chief said forcefully. “Now," he added. He knew the pod represented no amount of significance, but he would be as intimidating as he could, and hopefully it would drive the strange equines away. The girls were the closest to the pod, so they very cautiously moved a few meters away from it, their eyes glued to Chief the entire time. Shining Armour stared down the barrel of Chief's SMG, and he slowly asked, “What does that thing do?” Before he could react, Chief aimed at the ground beside Shining Armour's hooves and let a three round burst go. The shots cracked out into the night with a trio of loud pops, sending bits of dirt flying in every direction. The guards and the princesses all jumped at the sound, and the girls shrieked in terror. Shining Armour almost fell over from the shock, but regained his composure soon after. He raised his spear at the Master Chief, directing the other guards to do the same. “That was completely unnecessary,” Princess Celestia said in an offended but still fearful tone. “All of you, leave this area now. You're interfering here,” Chief said with much force. He knew they were interfering with nothing as he would need to relocate now that they had found his camp, but he would need to be rid of them first. “We will not be told where we are and are not welcome in our kingdom. Now lower your weapon, we simply wish to talk,” Luna said, matching the force of Chief's voice. She continued, “Where did you come from and why are you here?” “That's classified,” Chief answered simply. “This is your last chance to leave, you're interfering with UNSC business,” He added in a very menacing tone. “You will not speak to us like this. We are the princesses of this land, and we demand you tell us what we ask,” Luna replied, starting to become angry with the strange green alien. “Have it your way,” the Master Chief said, realizing that they would not leave him be unless he forced them to do so. He remembered that making the first move against an unfamiliar foe was foolish, but these creatures seemed to possess some intelligence, and he wanted to be rid of them as soon as possible. The sooner they were off his trail, the better. He raised his SMG at Princess Luna and was about to fire when a soft yellow aura formed around his hand, forcing him to lower the weapon. He noticed the same coloured glow around the white alicorns horn. The guards took this as a signal to attack, and Shining Armour and two other guards charged at him. The aura tore the SMG out of his hand and threw it to the ground, eliminating his plan of cutting the equines down as they ran towards him. It then formed around his hand once more, but he quickly fought out of its grip. He was surprised at how strong it was. The guards were closing in on him fast, so he stepped back and crouched low, ready to counter-attack the charging equines. Shining Armour was first up to bat. The stallion charged at Chief, teleporting to the other side of him at the last second in hopes of getting a quick swipe from behind, but the Spartan reacted to this, knowing he was there with the help of his motion tracker. He turned and dodged the first swipe of his spear, blocking the second with his arm. Shining Armour was shocked at how solid the Spartan's arm was, and took a few steps back. The other two guards closed in on Chief from behind, and attempted to stab him in the back. He batted the first lunge away with no effort, then grabbed the second spear and ripped it from the guards hooves. He snapped it in two like it was made of paper, then dropped the pieces to the ground. Now it was his turn to attack. Chief rushed towards the first guard that attempted to stab him, grabbing him by the neck in a flash of green, and threw him into the ground, breaking his neck and sending a spray of blood from his mouth. The second guard attempted to land a punch to the Spartan's gut, but Chief grabbed the guard by the foreleg and in one quick motion launched him into the drop pod, snapping his spine in two. He turned to Shining Armour--who was standing in disarray at the quick and brutal deaths of his guards--and ran at him full speed, attempting to flatten him with one swift punch. He raised his fist, about to bring it down onto the captain of the guards head, when Shining Armour teleported to the other side of him in a quick attempt to save his life, barely managing to dodge Chief's fist. Chief hit nothing but air, and stumbled slightly. He regained his balance immediately though, and was unimpressed at the guard attempting the same move twice. He quickly pivoted and delivered a powerful round house kick to the guards gut, shattering his ribs and cracking his armour in multiple places. Shining Armour fell to the ground and began wheezing in tremendous pain. Chief moved in to make the killing blow, when he found that he could not move. It was exactly like his dream, only this time he was surrounded by a soft yellow aura. The same aura that had prevented him from firing his SMG before. “ENOUGH!” Celestia bellowed in the royal Canterlot voice, finally broken out of the death grip the Spartan's harsh actions had on her. She and Luna hadn't witnessed such actions of brutality since the time of Discord's rule, when they were much younger. She continued, “WHAT DO YOU THINK GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO COME INTO OUR KINGDOM, THREATEN ME, MY SISTER, MY GUARDS, AND THEN ATTEMPT TO KILL US? YOU WILL SUBMIT TO US, OR WE WILL RESPOND IN THE PROPER MANNER.” “Release me,” Chief said firmly. “VERY WELL, IF YOU CHOOSE NOT TO COMPLY, WE WILL TAKE ACTION,” Celestia yelled, extending her wings. “SUCH ACTS OF VIOLENCE AND MURDER MUST BE PAID FOR WITH THE ULTIMATE PRICE!” she roared. Her eyes and horn began glowing an intense white as she lifted herself into the air with her wings. It reminded Chief of a Covenant battleship's plasma cannons before they were about to fire. He couldn't move, and all he and the others could do was watch as the princess prepared to end his life. Suddenly, he felt a sharp jolt throughout his body. He realized it was his energy shields coming to life around him. Cortana was going to put him into armour lock, he thought. Then without warning, his shields flared around him, lashing out at the surrounding aura and forcing it back, releasing Chief of its grip. The two energies mixed, and created a shock wave of electricity. In the confusion the Master Chief rolled to his side, narrowly dodging a huge beam of energy Celestia fired at him. He thought it looked like a Spartan laser firing, just instead of being red, it was an intensely bright white. "You aren't getting yourself killed on my watch," Cortana said in a playful but still serious tone. The beam hit the ground where he stood only two seconds ago, leaving a crater the size of his drop pod. Chief eyed his SMG lying on the ground near his feet, and quickly picked it up. He fired the entire magazine into the now hostile group of ponies. Celestia and Luna countered his attack with a protective shield of pure white and sapphire coloured energy; Chief's bullets simply bounced off of it. He had to get away from them; the white and blue alicorns were too strong for him to fight with his limited supplies, and he had no battle plan. He reached into his satchel and drew a frag grenade. Hitting the small red button to prime it, he released the spoon and threw it at them. It detonated as soon as it hit their shield, creating an incredibly loud boom and covering the area in a large cloud of smoke and dirt. This gave Chief the distraction he needed to bolt into the forest and disappear, so that he could think of a plan to combat the alicorns.