Author's Note

Well here goes my first fic. Please any criticism would be appreciated. I know there will be spelling and grammar errors, so please note them in the comments or PM them to me. Tell me what you think in the comments on each chapter please.

The Con

"Alright that's enough pictures for now. It's my turn to walk around some and see the con." Jack called out as he lifted his custom made commando rifle. It wasn't an exact replica of Commander Raynor's black marine suit, but it was as close as could be. Everyone seemed a bit sad but began to dispurt and head their own way.

The whole costume was hand made by Jack himself. Everyone seemed to love his costume; he had seen videos of exoskeleton online and decided to make his own. So using small quarter inch PVC pipe he designed one, using free flow hinges to help with the joints. He drilled small holes in the pipe so metal rods could hold up plates of black molded plastic for the actual combat suit exterior. He took into account the matter of plates sliding under one another as his arms or knees bent, one plate slide under the other to avoid colliding.

His rifle was rather simple. First he carved it out of molding plastic to get the right shape. Second he primed it with a black base and went over with a black mettalic finish. Third, he took an exacto knife to cut nicks into the rifle. Finally he used small brushes with silver paint to give the weapon a worn and battered look.

The only thing his costume really lacked was the combat helmet, having focused so much on the suit itself, didn't leave a lot of time for the helmet. He just kept telling himself the helmet didn't matter, because he could say it was too hot inside the suit if the helmet was on. It wasn't the best excuse, but most people seemed to understand. With it being his first on most people expected the costume to have a few flaws.

He finally started walking around the booths, being able to see over basically everyone as he was a good six feet on his own, but the suit made him a solid seven. A few of the stands were interesting; there were even some advertising local LARP events, but he shrugged and moved on.

Jack made his way to the merchandise eventually, almost no vendor was involved in costuming. Well that was until he heard a voice call out to him. "Marshall Raynor, I have some things for you to see." Jack looked over to see a fully done up Graven Hill, but what caught his eye was the slew of items displayed in the booth. The whole front table was nothing but miniatures. Jack recognized a lot of them, spying A Spear of Adun, a Hyperion, the Normandy, The King of Red Lions, and an accurate Spirit of Fire from Halo Wars. It was impressive by far, but what caught his eyes were the helmets along the back wall. Almost everyone imaginable was there, from StarCraft marines and Halo Spartans, to Dragon Age and Dark Souls.

Jack was a bit shocked as he walked over and looked over everything, his eye catching the miniature Hyperion and the... skull helmet along the wall. "Alright how much for the helmet and the Hyperion model?"

The man rubbed his chin before pulling the helmet off the shelf and setting it down in an open space. "Well the model is about one fifty alone, but the helmet is two hundred. How about I give you a bundle deal, so you can get both for three hundred?"

Jack bit his lower lip before twisting off a gauntlet and reaching into his side holster for his money, but before he could pay another person walked up towards them.

"Hey now, how do you know this helmet will even fit on your head or work with your armor?" Jack looked over and saw a man dressed as Patches from Dark Souls and rubbed his chin for a moment.

"The man does have a point, but I do need a helmet. Can I try it on?"

Graven didn't seem pleased as he glared at Patches; who just smiled before waving a hand. "Go ahead and try it on."

Jack smiled as he lifted the helmet up and set it over his head, it had a bit of weight but settled on the mount rather perfectly. It even settled into the collar and locked in place when he twisted it. He started looking around to test how much it limited his vision, before there was an urgent beeping. It took a moment for him to push up the visor so he could check his phone; a simple red message flashed at him over and over again, 'Riot!'

Jack swore silently as he shoved the phone back in his pistol holster on the belt, then tried to take the helmet off. He grunted for a minute, trying to force the helmet to turn, but it wouldn't budge in the slightest. A large sigh accompanied the look at the stall owner before he tossed down the money for the helmet. "The helmet seems stuck. I need to leave right now, but I will be back so we can take this damn thing off my head."

Patches laughed as he looked at Graven. "See I knew this would happen!"

"I'm sorry Marshall, I will fully refund the money when we get the helmet off you." Graven bowed his head as he collected the money and slipped back into his stall. With that Jack stalked off towards the front doors.

Patches eyed the man before him and smirked. "Seems I win this match old friend."

"Well why would you say that, he still needs to come and buy the other piece."

"Are you so sure of that? I am The Con for a reason." Patches smiled before he slipped into nothingness and disappeared.

One half hour taxi ride later.

Jack grumbled as he tossed cash through the door into the back of a van. He didnt feel bad making the driver put down all the seats for him to be able to kneel in the back.

Something told him this may be a false alarm but he hoped it wasn't.

So the space marine walked around to the service entrance in the back to walk through the cargo doors. After swiping his badge, Jack stepped inside the main corridors. Each easily ten feet tall so he had plenty of head space and room to walk. A quick glance around and a frown later told Jack that nothing seemed was out of place. So he steaded heading towards the main cell block.

There still wasn't any sign of anyone, not until he got close up to the s and peered inside. There was nothing wrong at all. All the prisoners were in their cells and the guards at their posts.

Jack was curious as to what happened so he reached in for his phone but felt something different, so he pulled it out. Sitting in his palm was the Hyperion miniature, but he was sure he didn't pay for it... So how was it possible for him to have it?

Before he could even question how it got there a blinding flash of white light filled the entire prison.

Jack was disoriented for a moment before looking down as he felt that he wasn't his usual self. He heard servos working as he moved an arm and gasped. The suit just wasn't a costume anymore and he felt as if his body was different as well. He glanced around and noticed he was standing in the bridge of the Hyperion. Everything seemed so real, but it had to be a dream, it just had to. Right then he looked out the view screen and noticed the world below. It seemed like nothing he had ever seen before, dark orange and purple covered most of it. There was a large portion of desert but also some odd shapes in there like a giant statue made of red, like a bloodstain. Okay, that was disturbing even more than the Sun and Moon being equal distance from the planet.

He didn't have a lot of time to examine the scenery as small black dots appeared from the planet and streaked towards the ship. Alarms sounded as the computer announced, "Enemies Detected!"