//------------------------------// // The Pillar of Autumn // Story: My Little Spartan: Friendship Evolved // by Revan //------------------------------// 0204 HOURS (SHIP'S TIME), SEPTEMBER 19, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR) / UNSC CRUISER PILLAR OF AUTUMN, LOCATION UNKNOWN Master Chief was flabbergasted. "The crew did WHAT??!!" Cortana emitted a sigh, then spoke. "The crew set the thaw timers on the cyropods, then placed them into the specialist HEVs. They were launched right before we were boarded." The Master Chief had known that there were six Spartan-IIBs onboard The Pillar of Autumn. What he hadn't known until about 15 seconds ago was that the secrecy that still enveloped them meant that they'd been placed in prototypes of a new variant of Human Entry Vehicles and ejected immediately upon the impact of the first Covenant boarding pod as it slammed into the ship's hull. He silently cursed the security measures, as the Marines could've used their support. As he shot another Elite in the head with his pistol, he silently hoped that they made it down to the ring's surface safely. Then a squad of Grunts rounded the corner, and his mind refocused on the task of getting himself - and Cortana - safely off the ship. DEPLOYMENT +00 HOURS:07 MINUTES:32 SECONDS (SPARTAN B-597 MISSION CLOCK) / HEV SPECIALIST VARIANT SP-II PROTOTYPE ALPHA-I, ON THE SURFACE OF RING STRUCTURE OF UNIDENTIFIED ORIGIN AND PURPOSE, REFERRED TO AS "HALO". Spartan-IIB Alpha, known as Spartan B-597, awoke, her eyes opening to the sight of fellow Spartan-IIB Beta, whose official designation was Spartan B-913, opening the lid on her cyro tube. "Welcome back to reality, Spark!!" "Uugghh, my head feels like an entire Covenant cruiser crashed inside of it", Spark groaned as she pulled herself up and out of the tube. She shook herself, ridding herself of some residual grogginess. She then stepped outside the HEV and surveyed her surroundings. They were in a canyon, which had a stream running through it. Of much more interest to Spark, however, was the fact that they appeared to be on a giant, ring-shaped structure. "How is this even possible? The amount of energy needed to power such a massive construct would be..." Spark trailed off as she started to run mathematical calculations in her head. "INCOMING!!!" Spark ducked and rolled, her trust in Pink's strange precognitive ability absolute. An instant later, a massive green explosion rocked the downed HEV. "Hunters!!" Pink yelled, simultaneously rolling and unslinging a rocket launcher that had been brought down in her HEV. She came to a kneeling position, aimed, and fired, all in the space of 1.47 seconds. The first Hunter was running down the hill, and wasn't able to evade in time. His head was blown off by the 102mm rocket, and he collapsed, his momentum sending his corpse careening into the escape pod. The second Hunter, however, was still alive, and he roared in anger at the loss of his bond brother. His fuel-rod cannon glowed green, charging up for another shot. Spark closed her eyes and concentrated. The Hunter was suddenly flung away by an invisible force, the shot from his fuel-rod cannon hitting the nearby mountainside. Pink fired a second rocket, which caved in his armoured chestplate, killing him. "Pink, are there any nearby Covenant troops?" Pink concentrated. "There are two Banshees 1.45 kilometers upspin from our position. There are also a large number of Covenant ground patrols nearby, and they're searching for any survivors." Spark grabbed an MA5B assault rifle out of the HEV, and rammed a full clip of ammo into it. She then grabbed a quartet of frag grenades, checking the pins on them. As Pink grabbed more rounds of ammo for the rocket launcher, then added a shotgun to her arsenal, Spark grabbed a sniper rifle. She sighted through the scope on a tree on the other side of the canyon, test-fired the weapon, then, having satisfied herself of its accuracy, she turned back towards Pink. "Let's give them something else to worry about."