Author's Note

Here’s Chapter One: Rewritten. Hope you all enjoy it!

Unseal The Hushed Casket.

-=[August 7th, 2567. 21:00 hours.]=-

The Leonidas drifted through the void, its main engines cold. The service drones inside, however, worked away, doing their best to keep the hulking vessel at a functioning state. The internal systems and parts were intact. The hull was a different story entirely. The Class-A Titanium plating covering the precious inhabitants was littered with dents, gashes and scrapes of varying sizes and shapes. The few maintenance drones that could function outside of the ship were either damaged or destroyed. The backup engines and generators continued chugging electricity throughout the ship’s essential systems. The ship was dark, all systems other than the very bare essentials were offline, except for one. The holographic projectors. One of the many bowl-headed, short humanoid maintenance drones entered the bridge, and found itself floating past the Navigation and MAC Gun stations and into the Command Center, past a pair of metal-plate bulkhead doors.

Cayne ‘stood’ on the arm of the captain’s chair in the bridge, giving the bot a glance, before continuing to stare at the planet that they were currently orbiting. It was maybe double the size of Mars, and quite dull in its colouring. The planet was roughly 63% water, if his math was correct. (It usually was.) After closer examination, he found many man-made structures dotting the landscape, which meant civilization.

Worriedly, Cayne queued the Leonidas’ Main-Engine Startup to begin activate. He risked a glance at the main batteries that charged the engines. Sixty-Three percent charge. Not too bad. He reassured himself. The Artificial Intelligence let out a ‘breath’ and began opening up the Cryogenic Pods, one-by-one. First were the Alpha and Bravo blocks, consisting of the Vanguard Defense Force Marine Corps, Army Corps, Demolition Crews and even a few VSO—Vanguard Spec Ops—Non-Com personnel. Next were the Charlie, Delta and Echo blocks. He left the final two—Foxtrot and Gamma—blocks alone. They contained the SPARTANs assigned to the Leonidas. Unless the situation called for it, the remaining crew of the VDF/UNSC—Cayne was still working on a proper name for their little Coalition—Leonidas would be fine without them. Besides, they needed the rest.

In the Cryogenic Storage Bay, Vanguard Military Personnel either in black, armour-compatible bodysuits, or in the white jumpsuits with light gray accents on the sides along the abdomen and upper torso, underarms and inner thighs began falling onto their knees and feet, coughing and hacking as they awoke from a nine year drift in space.

Amidst the chaos, one stood out. Gunnery Sergeant Casey Ambrose of the Cardinal Platoon of the VDFSF. The Gunny was encased in the black and gray under-armour styled bodysuit worn with the ARGUS-V Body Armor. The suit itself was primarily black, covered in plugs, buckles and cable ports for the ARGUS-V Armor, with a dark gray accent that covered the sides and outer abdomen, directly on the under-section of the upper arms, inner-section of the forearms, and the inner thighs. The color scheme was chosen to be better for stealth operations, and to intimidate. His bodysuit was covered in scratches and ‘scars’ giving it more of an intimidation factor.

Casey himself stood at around six-foot, eleven inches. His body was built with muscle and scar tissue. Casey’s left shoulder bore a tattoo, a pin-up styled drawing, a figure in a stick figure-esque design, wearing a pair of shortened jeans and a flannel top, tied around the chest in a ‘Daisy-Duke’ fashion, straddling a bomb. On his back, was a series of black floral and ivy designs that ended at the base of his neck. A pair of angelic wings were burnt into his back by white and black ink.Casey’s left arm and legs were prosthesis, metal and built to be around the same size of his arm. The original was a basic skeletal design like the UNSC used, although with some time and a few friends in the higher ranks, he was able to get the arm reinforced and upgraded. A small barrel rested at the base of his prosthesis’ forearm, above his hand, and at his wrist was a hidden six-inch retracting blade. The arm was coated in black paint, sporting flame designs that rose up to his artificial shoulder. The arm itself still held the plate armor of the ARGUS-V suit that was specially made for Casey, sporting half-circle-esque plates on his forearm, followed by a single thick, semi-flexible titanium piece on his upper-arm. A tallish half-circle styled pauldron joined on his prosthetic, bolted into the shoulder. His legs was not much different. It sported a single piece of armor that coated his calf and shin, with a knee-guard piece built in from the shin-piece. The thigh-guard was bolted into the leg, too. Nothing special other than the obvious about the appendages, other than allowing him to lift a good hundred more pounds than his teammates.

His hair was relatively long, reaching down to the base of his neck and tickling at the flesh lightly. Clean-shaven face. His eyes, alert and constantly looking over his surroundings, were a light shade of pink, with a sort of glow to them. In reality, the artificial ‘glow’ was from a set of augmentations he’d received as a child, giving him a tactical advantage over most of his peers. His lip held a single scar at the leftward corner, reaching from the tip of his chin, to the base of his cheek, crossing across the corner of his mouth. The entire right side of his face was covered in burn scars as well, giving him an overall intimidating feel.

Casey grunted as he fell down from his Cryo-Pod, dropping to his hands and knees as he fought back the feeling of bile in the back of his throat. Inhale... wait... One, two, three, four... exhale. He repeated the exercise a few times, then crawled forward, groping at a railing along the east wall, slowly pulling himself up onto his robotic legs, stumbling at first as he waited for himself to get used to the feeling of being on legs again, albeit robotic ones. Casey stood there for a few moments, before looking up at his peers. Soldiers began stumbling, shambling, shuffling toward the exit, a bulkhead door that was separated into four sections. Casey forced himself off the railing, stumbling a bit at first. He took a moment to realign his senses, before slowly trekking down to the door. A holographic display opened up in front of him, display the button to open the door. He activated it with his Neural Interface, and walked through.

A chill went down his spine as he was forced to get used to the change in temperature, a sigh escaping his lips. He found UNSC and Vanguard personnel moving about and conversing. A few Military Police were in the background, wearing the gray bands over their left arms and helmets, baring the insignia and ‘Vanguard Defense Force’ or ‘United Nations Space Command’ Military Police around it. A few marines and army troopers, dressed in BDUs or extra clothing. The occasional VDF Marine Corps/Army Corps personnel had on UCP-Styled cargo pants and hoodies or pale gray shirts.

“Sergeant.” An MP greeted him. She was a short UNSC corporal, in a full suit of UNSC Military-Police Armour, helmet included. Casey gave her a tilt of his head.

“Cardinal Actual needs all Cardinal squad personnel to the briefing room. I’m passing the message along.” Casey frowned at the response, finding it strange.

“Couldn’t they have just relayed it over the Comms?” He asked, coughing into his mechanical arm. The MP shook her head.

“Negative. From what we’ve been told, Comms are down and we’re in some unknown territory. That’s all I was told, sir.” Casey nodded.

“Alright. I’ll be there shortly, gonna get geared up, see who’s left in my squad.” Casey replied to the short UNSC MP. She went back to her duties, walking off to break up a fight between two jar-heads. Casey ignored them and walked down a western corridor. He passed by many maintenance drones and crewmen, dealing with small issues, such as blown out lights and damaged electrical panels. Casey paid it no mind. The long corridor he was passing through held a hexagonal shape, with the floor being grating and solid plates, the walls in a similar condition. Instead of grating, there were the occasional vents and/or health/charging stations for the ARGUS-V Body Armor, but more on that later. Casey took a left, finding himself at the Armory’s entrance.

The door was normal sized. About three meters tall, two wide. Four slits that made an X formation, with a single circle in the middle, a handle in that circle for manual release, and a holographic display. Casey interacted with the display via his TACPAD, typing out a few keys on the wrist-mounted device. There was a soft ding, and the door slid apart out of view into the floor, wall and ceiling. The armory’s first section was filled with lockers and bulky armoring stations for the ARGUS-V suits. ARGUS-Class Powered Combat Armour suits were one of the VDF’s first creations. A powered suit to rival that of the MJOLNIR System. It boosted the user’s height by a few inches, and required specialized training to equip and augmentations to wear. Without said bodily augmentation, the user would likely end up killing themselves trying to use it, much like the MJOLNIR system.

The suits were designed to protect as much of the user’s body without limiting mobility. It covers most of the torso, upper-arms, forearms, pelvis, calves and shins with a thick titanium-composite material. The abdomen and lower body was covered with a flexible titanium-esque material that attaches to the bodysuit. The chest piece itself has the thickest plating to protect the internal organs. It covered most of the torso, with an arch formation directly at the bottom of the ribs—basically at the stomach—where the protection ends, and the abdomen-piece starts. The back piece that connects to the chest covers a bit of the back. It goes along the length of the shoulders, connecting to the chest beneath under the arms and above at the base of the shoulders, staying out of the way of arm movement. A long metal piece goes down the length of the spine, starting at the top of the back piece.

The shoulders/upper-arms are covered with two titanium pieces. One of them attaches to the outer shoulder, the other on the inner-arm. The forearms are much similar, except modifications, such as webbing, sheathes, or a Tactical Pad—TACPAD/TAC-PAD—can be mounted onto it the outer and inner piece. The inner piece often contains a six-inch, retracting hidden blade for Close-Quarters. The gloves are simply lightly plated with titanium pieces and the flexible-titanium mesh used multiple times prior.

The outer thighs are protected completely with titanium plating, magnetic-plates—or locks—mounted on the middle for things like sidearms. The armor, in places like the thighs, hips, torso and inner-arms allow for the use of holsters. Most prefer them over Magnetic Locks, as an EMP, or ‘Emp’ as some imbeciles pronounce it, can cause the plates to malfunction or fail entirely, if electronically powered. The calves and shins are pretty much completely covered in armour, with one piece for the shin and another for the calf. A knee-guard of sorts is mounted onto the shin piece, unlike the actual knee-pad. Boots are simply titanium with reinforced soles, nothing special there.

Many marines, army troopers and rangers were scattered about the Enlisted MC/AC-Section of the Armory, sitting on benching, gearing up or chatting. Casey made his way past them, into the main armory itself. It was a large, open room. Armour Racks lined the southern wall. The Northern wall—To Casey’s left—is covered in large racks carrying giant metal shells. They were triangular in nature, and opened. Care-Packages for ground-side combat units. On the Eastern wall, directly in front of Casey, was the Quartermaster, a synthetic humanoid, or AI of sorts.

The Quartermaster was a thin six-foot-nine synthetic. Synthetics were a rather new creation, essentially just casings for AI. Though, not really needed, some AI prefer them over the main databases of their ships. Most were just used for purposes such as playing Quartermaster. This Quartermaster had white armour-plating, with many exposed cables and wires on his frame. The Quartermaster—the only designated name given to this Synth-Chassis—was draped in robes and a long cloak that covered most of him. Casey approached the Synthetic Humanoid.

“Greetings, Gunnery Sergeant Ambrose. How can I assist you today?” The Quartermaster leaned against the counter he stood behind.

“I need access to the firearms.” The Quartermaster gave him a curt nod, and walked to his left, typing a few buttons on a data-pad on the counter. A door to Casey’s immediate left slid open. He walked through, and nearly salivated at the smell of gunpowder and lead. The room he now stood in was the actual Armory where all firearms were kept. It was filled with weapon racks in neat rows of two racks every few feet. Casey did some browsing awhile. A few armour racks were visible too, which is what Casey was interested in at the moment. He walked over to one of the racks, giving it a good looking over.

Inside this armour rack, was a suit of ARGUS-V Armour, with many small depressions, scratches and scars in the body. It had a UCP-style design overall, with an olive-green visor. The helmet shared the design of a Corinthian Helmet, with a padded interior, filtration system that gave the helmet a ‘muzzle’ of sorts, a T-Shaped visor, and a futuristic design overall. Headlamps were mounted on little outcroppings on the sides of the face. A cloak was draped over the left arm and left side of the body, a dull olive-drab colour. The torso and abdomen are covered in ammunition pouches, with several canvas bags on the lower back. Several holsters are strapped across the body, two under arm holsters. One under either arm, many different throwing arms in a large carrier on his back that fits snug between the back and the armour and a large ceramic-titanium mesh-plated backpack. The pauldron on the right shoulder was large, baring a striking resemblance toward the JFO-Variant armour.

The right thigh contained a hardcase, with a holster on the left thigh. Several large knives rested in sheathes along the suit’s body. A Kukri, an M11 Combat Knife, a KM2000, and a Karambit, to name a few.

Casey brought up his TAC-PAD and entered in a few codes. The armour rack groaned, before the ARGUS-V suit disappeared from sight. Casey walked to a nearby Armouring Station and climbed in.

Claws, mechanical arms and other types of tools mounted on the circular station began extending, pulling out the pieces of his armour.

The chest pieces were first. Mechanical arms swiveled the back piece into the proper rotation, then pressed it into Casey’s back, the chest piece following suit. The abdomen armour was wrapped around him, with a set of drills planting the spine piece into place. More arms began appearing, clamping the upper-arm parts onto his shoulders. The JFO-esque pauldron was bolted into place, followed by the forearms and glove additions. The thigh-pieces, pelvis gear, calves and shins were attached next, followed by the cover on his boots. The arms brought his helmet down over his head, and his HUD began booting up.

ARGUS-V Heads-Up-Display Booting Up, V.30194a1.
Energy Shielding: Nominal.

Thrust Propulsion: Nominal.

Life Support: Nominal.

Communications: Offline.

Identify Friend-Foe Tagging: Online.

Power: 100%

Essential Systems Nominal. Boot-Up Complete.

Casey stepped off of the armouring platform and rolled his shoulders, letting out a soft groan.

“Nice to be back in my tux...” He muttered, walking into the next section of the Armory, which was packed with weapon racks. Casey grabbed an MA5K, an MA5 silencer, short-range red-dot scope, and three magazines. He attached the mods to his rifle, and mag-locked it to his back. He stuffed the mags into the designated pouches, and grabbed two M6C SOCOM magnums, along with six pistol clips. He stuffed the clips into their specialized slots on the holsters under his arms, and into his pouches. Casey finished it off by grabbing a High-Power Magnum Revolver. It was similar in design to a Colt Python, except for a longer barrel and generally bulkier design. It bore a silver finish and a pearl grip, as well. He spun the revolver in his hand, fucking up in the end, before slipping it into a black-leather holster on his right thigh. Casey grabbed a few boxes of 12.7x40mm cartridges that fed the weapon and stuffed them into his rucksack. Among his supplies were a five-gallon drum of wat er that was strapped to the bottom of his rectangular bag, about six ration packages, a CLS-Kit that went into one of the canvas bags above his tail, a weapon repair kit in the bag above the Combat Lifesaver kit, along with twelve grenades. Three frags, three flashbangs, three smokes, three Electromagnetic-Pulse grenades, all in containers that fit a grenade each on his waist.

Feeling properly equipped, Casey slung his bag over his shoulder and made his way to the Combat-Information-Center, where the briefing was being held. Once he arrived, he was met with two guards on either side of the door. One was dressed in the UNSC ODST BDUs. Her helmet was clipped to her waist, as she was smoking a cigarette. The other was a VDF Army Shock Trooper, the VDF’s rip-off version of the ODSTs. His armour was much lighter than the normal suits of ARGUS-V Powered Combat Armour. Hell, the entire upper-arm plating was gone, replaced by a series of webbing that held miscellaneous items. On this such occasion, it was a set of six .308 rounds on his right shoulder, and a cigarette box alongside a black ace on the left. His helmet is an ARGUS-V-compatible Helljumper-Variant Helmet of the MJOLNIR GEN2 Armour. Both were armed with M7S Sub-Machine Guns. Casey gave them a nod. They both moved out of the way, and the ODST opened the door. The many titanium/steel plates that made up the door slid out of view, and Casey stepped into the Combat-Information-Center.

The room contained a single, long holographic table in the middle of the room. Around it, were a squad of marines from Charlie Company, two members of Cardinal One—his squad—and their CO, a UNSCMC Lieutenant named Mikhail.

The marines all had blue stripes on their left shoulder, marking them as cadets, with their squad leader being an actual private, with a red stripe over the blue stripe, marking him as the senior Non-Com of the squad. Beside them, were the two surviving members of Cardinal Squad.

Cardinal One-Three, their sniper. Corporal Summer was of fair height, maybe six-six, six-seven-ish in height. Her hair was short, barely reaching below the base of her skull. Black, with red tips. Her armour was light, thinner than most suits, although was covered in equipment. Webbing covered her torso and abdomen, ammunition and equipment pouches taking up most of the space. At least four pistols sat in holsters on torso alone. Two under her arms, two on her lower back, right above her tail. Above that, was a large, plated backpack, packed with survival, maintenance and medical equipment. A hooded, white chameleon-scale cloak rested around her shoulders, the hood down. Her helmet was a Marine-Variant of the MJOLNIR Armour, with a pale red visor. Her eyes were naturally a dull silver/gray, strangely enough. Next to her, was Cardinal One-Two, their medic. He was a short guy, maybe five-seven, five-eight. Blonde hair, green eyes. His armour was lightweight,the upper-arm plating replaced by a series of webbing, containing a few orange syrette cases on the left shoulder, and a shoulder pauldron on the right. A skull encased in flame was painted onto the pauldron. If one looked closely, they could make out a medical symbol on the forehead of the skull. His helmet was an Air-Assault Variant of the MJOLNIR-GEN2 Armour. A backpack sat on his back, under a cloak that covered 1-2’s shoulders and chest area.

“Welcome, Gunny.” Casey threw up a salute and stood at attention. The lieutenant chuckled, and waved him off.

“At ease. Take your place beside your squad.” Casey nodded, and shuffled over to the surviving members of Cardinal-One. The LT began his briefing.

“As of now, we’re currently orbiting a possibly colonizable planet. So far, all we have are a few images of the landscape. What we know is that there was some kind of civilization here at one point.” the Lieutenant brought a group of images onto the Holo-Table. Burnt out stone buildings with thatch roofing. Abandoned carts lying overturned on dirt roads. The landscape was black and brown. Everything was dying or dead.

“You’re all to set up or fortify a position to be used as a Forward Operating Base, and get a Comms Unit online. The ship’s Comm-Transmitters were damaged during a trip through a debris field. You’ll be provided with one of the spares...” Casey tuned out the rest of the briefing. Mostly just military jargon that he knew already. Rules-Of-Engagement, What to do when coming in contact with aliens, all that. Once dismissed, Casey began heading toward the Hangars, where their dropships were being held. The squad of misfits, Summer and Cardinal One-Two followed closed behind him as they jogged through the titanium/steel corridors that made up the interior of the Leonidas. Casey used his Neural Interface to open the hangar’s main doors. He took in the sights, slowly moving toward their objective; a Condor.

The hangar was huge. Maybe six floors of space, each ‘floor’ an outcropped pathway, not unlike a Covenant ship’s hangar design. Just bigger. A lot bigger. At the end of the hall, was the Dropship 81-Long Range Transport—also known as a Condor—that would ferry them to and from the planet. The pilot, a gal dressed in ODST BDUs, was waiting for them, chatting with a few engineers.

“Oi, load up yer shite! Wer’ headin’ out shortly.” The pilot yelled out, and climbed into the blood-tray of the Super Pelican of sorts. Casey, the cadet squad and the rest of Cardinal followed. Once everyone was loaded into the Condor, the engines roared to life, and the VTOL lifted up off of the ground, and out of the energy-barrier and open blast doors that prevented everything from being sucked into the deep void. Casey, uncomfortably seated between his squad-mates, settled in and closed his eyes for a long ride.