Halo Aftermath: Seal of Solomon Ch. 1 (revised)

Chapter 1

The amber grains of sand swirled and danced in the heavy winds. The small excavation team worked feverishly to uncover the rest of a recently discovered door. This door, which they hoped lead to a larger Forerunner ruin below, was their only goal. Their sole focus. With three Grunts able to work comfortably abreast, the remaining two worked diligently to form a walkway. The slow moving storm winds had made that task increasingly difficult, reducing visibility to almost zero. Alien shouts pressed the team to work faster. It was all they could do. Either uncover the ruins or be engulfed by the storm.


“Spa…in two-three...I…epeat!…rtin…three-seven!” The message was garbled as it navigated its way through the whirling sands.
A pink figured gracefully danced across the visor, “We have an incoming message. I will clean it up as best I can.”
“Spartan two-three-seven! I repeat, Sp…tan two-three-seven do you copy?” It was the copilot of the pelican drop ship Harvest Moon, “We…unconfirmed hostiles clearing the ent-t-rance. Engage as needed. The res…ill find alter…route. Will advise.”
“Roger that Harvest Moon. Two-three-seven out.” she spoke, though with the storm it probably wouldn’t make it. “Rouge, set up a waypoint.” she said as the mongoose she straddled idled feverishly. She cranked the mongoose throttle as a marker flickered on the visor screen. The sand she kicked up joyously took flight and joined with the storm.
Hard to believe, she thought, this all stared well over a hundred years ago with the Covenant, a collective of alien religious zealots, glassing a single planet. Had it not been for one woman’s genocidal plan to crush the current colonial insurrections once and for all the human race would have stood zero chances in their coming battles. Installation Zero-Four, Zero-Five, the invasion of New Mombasa, the destruction--and eventual arrival on Earth--of High Charity, and the drawn out end to the Human-Covenant war. All of them lost save for the efforts of one man.
Her mongoose ducked and bobbed over the sandy dunes of Theater. It was another blistering hot day, or it would have been had it not been for her armor. Her thoughts eased back to the front of her attention.
He was truly a born hero; that man. Handpicked from among billions, survived genetic augmentation and ceramic skeletal bone implants, grueling military training, all to become the most renowned Spartan that would ever live. The tales of his heroics are what some would call fish stories, but they were all true. She had read the original debriefing files.
The best one, she thought, was what she called ‘The Run’. That man, Spartan John One-One-Seven, rode an all terrain warthog down the spine of the Halcyon-class cruiser The Pillar of Autumn in less than five minutes to escape the Pillars overloaded and soon to explode warp drives. This was, of course, the plan to stop the parasitic life form known as the Flood and a part of a universe destroying Halo Array, now known as Installation Zero-Four, all in one giant bang.
“The objective is two kilometers straight ahead.” said Rouge, who presently sat in the lower right corner of Luna’s Heads-Up-Display, adjusting her wings and flowing pink gown.
She bounded over the blind dunes as the sandstorm grew in intensity. It threw sand at her in an attempt to sweep her off course. She corrected her landings as she went, keeping her knees bent to absorb most of the shock, though her MJOLNIR Mark VI armor made that basically nothing. The red diamond ticked down the remaining distance, only another kilometer to go.
“Rouge, time?”
Rouge perked up, and then spoke solemnly, “Sorry Luna, you’re presently at two minutes thirty seconds. By my calculations you won’t make it within your designated time limit.”
It’s all this blasted up down. Guess some training is in order when we‘re finished. She revved the throttle as she shot gracefully over the dunes.

The Grunt excavation had gone smoothly through the day. They had exposed all the inner workings of the lost Forerunner door. Those stupid humans would pay for their sacrilege. And just as they cracked it open a huge explosion rocked the surrounding area, sending back in the sand they had just cleared. More sacrilege!
Alert now, the commanding Elites fanned out forming a perimeter in a search for the source of the explosion. As they looked, one noticed a faint light shimmering though the heavy storm. As time passed it seemed to grow in size and intensity. They stood in confusion until; at last, the rocket zoomed past weaving through the group of Elites eventually finding itself lodged in the chest of a Grunt. The resulting explosion killed two other Grunts and left the Elite shields weakened. Suddenly, a human mongoose shot off a nearby dune. Its rider guided it toward her intended target, abandoning it at the last moment. A rain of purple blood showered the rider as she readied herself.
“Nice splatter Mom!” Rouge said as she jumped in excitement.
The three Elites and the two remaining Grunts quickly assaulted their unknown assailant. Blue and green plasma rounds scorched the side of the sand dune, while those shots that did connect were absorbed by the woman’s shield.
She sprang forward, rushing the nearest Elite knowing the remaining rocket rounds she had were a waste at close range. Slipping between volleys of plasma bolts, she landed a fierce straight right into its abdomen, causing it to double over. Using its forward momentum, she grabbed its head while inserting herself underneath it. She pulled, extending and lifting with her hips, throwing the Elite completely over her small frame. The Elite began shouting curses; however, one well placed boot between all four of its mouth parts silenced it forever. “Stop!” a commanding voice shouted. Luna quickly spun around with a vicious back fist passing though a pink hologram. Rouge stood there, floating in the face of the Elite, her arm raised but with Luna’s fist now protruding from her own. The Elite spun from the back fist, Luna kicked out its knee causing it to drop. She reached around its neck and jerked up quickly. The reverse guillotine made a satisfying snap as the Elite went limp.
The two remaining Grunts threw their arms into the air and quickly began a retreat. The remaining Elite stood its ground, determined to kill the demon who had wiped out its entire excavation team. It brandished its plasma rifle; however, Luna had already loosed one of her two remaining rocket rounds. The Elite dove out of the way of one, but one Grunt was caught in the blast, taking the other with it when its methane tank exploded as well. The second flew gracefully into the Forerunner door, exposing a deep shaft within.
Luna ran past the recovering Elite, who had suddenly become aware of a faint blue light attached to its thigh, and toward the newly created opening. A howl could be heard as she breached the threshold, followed by an explosion.