MetroidxHalo SITMWY Chapter 10

Chapter 10: That Old Familiar Feeling


Sergeant Avery Johnson was having a bad day. It wasn’t because he was stuck trekking through an alien world, or because he was battling vicious creatures; those were nothing to him. But if not, he wondered, than what was it? It could be the entire scrap yard’s worth of floating robots hovering around him.

“Do pay attention, Reclaimer; as we exit this hallway, there will be a fantastic sculpture to your left. Truly, my creators were exceptional artists, and their brilliance is not to be ignored.”

Of course, it could also be this ridiculous talking light bulb that was giving a museum curator’s tour of the Library when what it SHOULD be doing is directing him to the nearest Space Pirate so Johnson could exercise his itchy trigger finger. But no, it wasn’t either of those things. As he thought on it, an image of a beautiful blonde woman clad in orange armor flashed through his mind, followed by the uncomfortable feeling of realization; was that it? Was he jealous of his best friend? Johnson was quick to drive it from his thoughts; there would be a time and place for fighting over a woman’s attention, and right now he needed to concentrate on fighting whatever scum the galaxy had decided to throw at him.

“Reclaimer? Your attention is required.”

Johnson turned to Adjutant Reflex and answered with a snarl. “Listen, Tinkerbell, if this is another damn painting…”

“A contingent of Invaders are approaching. As your fleshy frame lacks protection, it is advised that you place a priority on self-defense.”

Johnson grinned and loaded his shotgun. “It’s about time…”


***

Pirate Aerial Recon Squad Epsilon stood watch along the facility’s perimeter. When they had first arrived at this facility, referred to as a ‘Library’ by this ring-world’s creators, holding their position had been difficult, as the Sentinels that patrolled this Halo were adamant about keeping them out of the Library. But now that the Sentinels were preoccupied by their reinforcements, Squad Epsilon gained a much-welcomed respite. Their luck and their break, unfortunately, both met their end when the Hunter arrived with her new ally in tow. And when the much-loathed Hunter attacked them with a strange new weapon, hurling crystalline projectiles at them which chased their targets and skewered them with dozens of tiny shrapnel, the unanimous statement of the few survivors before meeting their demise was “Oh no, not AGAIN.”

The Master Chief lowered his rifle as the last Pirate collapsed into a bloody heap and charged into the Library’s elephantine halls without waiting for Samus. If there were Space Pirates outside the Library, alone and unchallenged, it meant that they were inside too, and it meant that Johnson was in danger. He was forced to abandon his long-time companion on High Charity, when it meant rescuing the Sergeant or saving the universe, but he wasn’t going to let it happen this time.

The Library itself was silent, save for the sounds of armored feet against the stone floors, and the silence was unsettling. This was normal for these long-forgotten Forerunner facilities, but now it also meant that whatever fighting that was going on was far from here. Johnson was alone with the Monitor and the Sentinels, neither of which could be trusted entirely. The Chief ran harder.

Here and there, Pirate corpses and Sentinel debris littered the otherwise pristine floors. Most of the corpses were of the jet-pack-equipped variant that Samus had identified as Aerotroopers, but there were a few that the Chief hadn’t seen before. They wore much heavier armor than their comrades, with a wicked, foot-long scythe encompassing their entire left arm and a similarly shaped helmet covering their entire head. He made a mental note to ask Samus about them later, after he was sure that Johnson wasn’t in any danger, and continued running.

Finally he reached the central chamber, the multi-floor room that held the Index on display at its top level. The Chief’s arrival was met with the very familiar sound of a shotgun being fired followed by Johnson shouting “Come and get me, ya oversized cockroaches!”

Sergeant Johnson! Cortana called up to him.

“Hey kids, what kept you? I’ve had nothin but tin-cans and bug-eyed freaks to keep me company.” The Sergeant answered through his transmitter.

Sorry to keep you waiting. What’s your situation?

“My situation’s that I’m up to my ass in alien bastards, what do you think??Just hurry on up, I’ll figure something out. And don’t take your time either, there’s something else here with the Pirates.”

Covenant?

“Think there might be a few of them pokin around too, but I’m talking about something else, something big. It’s makin a royal mess, and the Sentinels are trying to keep it occupied, but they’re not havin much luck.”

We’ll be there as soon as we can.

The Chief could hear Samus approaching behind him and turned to face her. “Johnson’s hanging in there, but he doesn’t have much time.”

She nodded. “Then let’s not wait to join him.”

***

So much like insects they were, buzzing about him, making every effort to bar his passage. It was delightfully unfortunate, however, that their mighty weapons were but an annoyance to him and nothing more. A swipe of his hand sent robotic Sentinels flying, and when he unleashed his full firepower against them, they fell before his onslaught. Only one dared stand and face him, and it was the tiniest of them all, the bright light on its face blinking rapidly as it spoke.

“Leave this facility at once, Invader! The Index is not yours to claim! It is reserved for another!”

He chuckled; the audacity of this machine to believe it could order him around! He opened his mouth to silence it for good…

“I implore you to cease this fruitless behavior! My casing is quite capable of withstanding your weaponry, as has been proven while you destroyed my Sentinels!”

If it wasn’t so much of an irritation, he would be amused by this little robot. “I have other ways of removing you from my path, gnat, and will exercise them if you do not move of your own volition.”

“Even if I wanted to, I could not! I am programmed to defend this Installation with my very existence, if need be!”

“Suit yourself…” he nodded to one of the other Pirates, all of whom were standing idly on the other side of the room so as not to place themselves in their master’s path. Upon his command, the Pirate bounded forward and pounced on the Monitor.

***

The lift slowed as it reached the top floor, but the two super soldiers didn’t wait for it to completely stop before charging out into the adjacent hall.

As they ran, Samus glanced around at their surroundings and was dismayed to find that they looked exactly like the rooms in all the other floors they had traveled through. “How could the Forerunners find their way around this place; it all looks the same!”

The Chief didn’t turn to answer her, but merely grumbled with a bit of nostalgia “Atleast this is your first time here.”

Before Samus could ask him to clarify, Cortana shouted Chief, incoming! Watch out!

He skidded to a halt, barely avoiding colliding with the bounty hunter behind him, as a dozen heavily-armored Pirates descended from the ceiling and spread out to block their passage.

The Chief recognized them as the unfamiliar corpses from earlier, and so nodded in Samus’ direction and said “Samus, what are these guys, I haven’t seen their type before.”

“Beam Troopers.” She answered. “Elite troopers with weapons and armor powered by the same energy that my weapons use.”

He glanced down almost hesitantly at the arm cannon on her suit that dealt out death and destruction literally single-handedly. “The same juice that your beams use?”

She nodded. “Hence their name.”

The lead Trooper brandished his scythe, roared and charged at the pair with his comrades close behind. “Then this should be interesting…”