World: Halo

Status: Super old and probably has no future unless you guys REALLY want it to be a thing

Link: none

Summary: We were the last of our kind. Bred for combat, built for war, we were the masters of any weapon, pilots of any vehicle... and feared no enemy.

I was armored in red, he was armored in green. I favored the pistol and sniper, he favored the shotgun and explosives. We were the best team anyone could have -and did- design. With dead-on accuracy, and a bravery to make even the toughest Hunter fall to its knees before us, we were unstoppable. We communicated through Cortana's chip, our thoughts soundlessly merging. But without one, there was no other. Without him, I was not me. And when the Maw came to an end... I was nothing.

Why I wrote it: I liked the idea of John having a twin named Sierra. Idk why, it's not canon and honestly, doesn't really even make sense but wth. Who cares, right? Anyways, I broke this chapter down in 2 since I really only ended up writing half of it. Enjoy!

Chapter 1, The Pillar of Autumn: Part 1

"Cortana... all I need to know is did we lose them." Keyes gazed out at the stars erupting all around him.

"I think we both know the answer to that." Cortana, her miniature figure glowing an electric blue, folded her arms and looked up at the captain.

Keyes sighed. Then he spotted something not too far away in the vast space...

"We made a blind jump! How did they-"

"Get here first? Covenant ships have always been faster. As for tracking us all the way from Reach... at light speed, my maneuvering options were limited." Cortana turned to look at the deep purple ship that was quickly gaining on the Pillar of Autmn. Keyes started pacing, his strain showing.

"We were running dark, yes?"

"Until we decelerated, no one could have missed the hole we tore in subspace."

He walked over to one of his crewman's consoles and peered over the Marine's shoulder.

"They were waiting for us on the other side of the planet." Cortana gazed out at the mass of rock to their left, and the ring-shaped figure next to it. The Marine obediently pressed his forefinger on a button, and his middle to another, and he brought up a diagram of Threshold, and it showed the ring-figure in orbit.

"So where do we stand?"

"Our fighters are mopping up the last of their recon picket now, nothing serious."

Keyes examined the diagram, then stood up and pulled his pipe from his mouth, and tapped it to shake some ash from it. He closed his eyes wearily and took a deep breath.

"But I've isolated approach signatures from multiple CCS-class battle groups, make it three capital ships per group. And in about 90 seconds they'll be all over us." She looked up at Keyes for his reaction.

"Well, thats it then. Bring the ship back up to Combat Alert Alpha. I want everyone at their stations." He sounded grim. He knew this day would come, but it frightened him more than he would like to admit that it was here.

Cortana tipped her avatar head and asked as if she hadn't heard right. "Everyone sir?"

"Everyone."

Chaos burst out. Alarms rang throughout the ship, and Marines scattered to make it to their stations.

"And Cortana?" Keyes asked. The blue avatar appeared again.

"Hmm?" She looked up at him. He raised his head to look out at the stars.

"Let's give our friends a warm welcome."

"I've already begun."

In the Autumn's hold, a Marine waved a pair of glowing batons, directing a Pelican into its correct positioning. Cortana's voice rang on the COM around the ship.

"Attention, all combat personnel: Please report to your action stations. 5th Platoon, secure airlocks on Deck 11. 14th Platoon, rendezvous with 22nd Tactical at bulkhead Charlie 14. "

A line of Marines starts talking and preparing various equipment, from machine guns to Scorpion Tanks to Warthog Jeeps.

The Sergeant, his skin a deep chocolate brown, approached them.

"You heard the lady! Move like you have a purpose!"

"This is not a drill, I repeat this is not a drill."

The Marines scrambled to form two lines. The Sergeant paced through the aisle between them, and shouted,

"Men, we led those dumb bugs out to the middle of nowhere to keep 'em from gettin' their filthy claws on Earth. But we stumbled onto somethin' they're so hot for, that they're scramblin' over each other to get it. Well, I don't care if it's God's own anti-son-of-a-bitch machine, or a giant hula hoop, we're not gonna let 'em have it! What we will let 'em have...is a belly full of lead, and a pool of their own blood to drown in!"

The Marines snickered a bit to themselves.

The Sergeant turned around and eyed his troops. "Am I right, Marines?"

They yelled in unison, "Sir, yes sir!"

The Sergeant looked them over, pleased. "Uh-huh. Damn right, I am. Now move it out! Double time!"

The Marines broke formation and ran up a ramp out of the area. The Sergeant followed them slowly. Cortana's voice sounded again,

"Attention, all personnel: We are re-engaging the enemy. Internal and external contact imminent."

The Sergeant faced his troops. "All you greenhorns who wanted to see Covenant up close, this is your lucky day."

In another area of the ship, two people stood next to their consoles overlooking a pair of white Cryo Tubes. On their computers showed a memo from Cortana:

Unseal the hushed caskets.

The first officer looked over to his partner.

"Woah, sir?"

"Right. Let's thaw them out. Do J117 first." The second one pressed a button, and steam flew from the left tube.

"Okay, bringing low-level systems online. Cracking the case in thirty."

Then...

"He's hot! Blowing the pins in five..."

The lid on the left casket swung open by itself. Inside revealed a green-suited Spartan. He rested motionless in his tube, then slowly began to shift. The first man ran down to assist the awakening Master Chief.

"Sorry for the quick thaw, sir. Things are a little hectic right now. The disorientation should pass quickly."

The Spartan shook his head and thrust himself from his tube, moving each of his muscles to make sure everything was in order. "I'm fine."

The green-suited soldier looked over to the other casket, then back at the first soldier.

"I see you haven't released Sierra yet."

"That's in progress, sir." The officer quickly motioned for his partner, still up above in his observation spot, to start thawing the second tube while the unfrozen Spartan stretched his fingers experimentally. Soon, the other sealed casket was steaming too, and the lid slowly rose on its own.

And there I was. I felt the change immediately, from extreme cold to what felt like being in an oven. I couldn't move, and the voices around me sounded unfamiliar and strange. Slowly, I felt heat spread from my fingertips up to my chest, then down to my feet and up to my head. At first I felt the occasional twitch or spasm in my hand, but gradually, I started to come to life. Much slower than my twin, but the moment my eyes flew open and I leapt from my case, I was ready to rip the Covenant's skulls from their spines and throw them away, laughing, like Sergeant Johnson always told us before a battle. That, and to "blow the hell out of those dumb bugs, until we don't have anything left to shoot 'em with! And then strangle them with their own living guts" as he put it. I always appreciated his sense of humor in our situations; he never failed to find a way to make us feel confident and ready.

I saluted John 117, my brother. His green armor was shining with melted frost, and when I looked down mine had the appearance of his that was drowned in blood. I liked it.

"It's been awhile, John."

"Agreed, Sierra."

I looked at him for awhile, then turned to the Marine.

"What now?"

"We have to take you to Captain Keyes-" He cut off as a loud banging started on the door inside the glass overlook that his partner was in with all the controls.

"Oh no! They are trying to break in!" The officer cried, frozen with fear. The door burst, and we watched, breathless, as a red Elite came in and shot balls of energy from his Plasma Rifle. The "bullets" penetrated the officer's chest and by the second shot, he was dead.

The Elite looked down and spotted us, and tried to shatter the glass with more shots. After it held, he ran off.

"No! Sam!" The remaining Tech Officer shouted in panic. "Come on J117, S117, let's get the hell out of here!"

To clarify which "Chief" they were talking to, people generally classified us as "J117" and "S117", which stood for our Spartan tags, John 117 and Sierra 117. Since we had the same birthdate and parents and home world, we were given the same number. We had risen together in the Spartan Training as a team, and soon became top of our class. When it was time for them to choose which was better, they chose me, for my caution and intellect, among other things. I was the one most likely not to crash a Warthog into the side of a mountain because I wanted to. But I had said that me and John were born together and so would fight together, and gave them the option to make us both Master Chief, or neither of us. Their choice led me to where I am right now.

The officer ran out of the room through a crooked door. I jogged after him, John on my heels. I wished I had a loaded machine gun- my adrenaline was already flooding my bloodstream and my instincts made my hands itch to hold a weapon. I heard a clink of metal-on-metal behind me and I turned my head to see John, his Spartan helmet reflecting the glowing silver blade in his hand, about as long as my hand fully extended. I reached down with my right hand to my opposite knee and unsheathed a similar dagger, its handle a bloody red. In the handle was engraved the characters S117. John had one almost identical to it, but green and engraved with his Spartan tag.

"Ready?" I asked my twin, taking a deep breath.

"Ready." He replied, and I could tell his instincts were on edge too. We were ready to do what we were bred to do; kill.

I ran around the corner of the hall to see the officer try to open another door; however, it only responded with a fiery explosion, sending his body flying along with several smell pieces of metal.

"Shit." John muttered, and climbed over a couple tubes to our left instead. I followed him, ducking my head down so that my helmet didn't bang against the ceiling.

John turned to face me, and I put my hands on my hips expectantly.

"Yes?"

"I think we should split up. You go help the Marines with the contact and I'll find Keyes."

I rolled my eyes, completely aware that he couldn't see them.

"Of course. Make me do the dirty work." I folded my arms, smirking to myself.

He chuckled.

"Hey, now you have a chance to sharpen that blade on some Elite armor! I almost envy you- the first kill is always the most exciting."

I sighed noisily.

"Whatever. See you later." If I was completely honest, I was glad he was the one to talk to Keyes. Though I knew the only reason he decided to go was to see Cortana first (he had a certain intimacy with the artificial intelligence), I would much rather save Marines and slaughter Covenant than sit and chat with the Captain. I had all due respect for the man, I just was always one to take action, not discuss it.

I ran across a slain Marine, his Machine Gun a few feet from his limp form. I reached down and picked up the gun, then cocked it, the barrel staring down the corridor in front of me. As I turned the corner, I saw another dead Marine, in front of a doorway in which was a large room. I looked across the room to see another doorway, and in it was several Marines, trying to fend off a Sangeili Minor Elite. The Covenant had his hand gripped around the throat of a soldier, and I could see the Marine was dying. I threw myself across the room, plasma bullets filling the air and bouncing off my shield from Grunts to my right, and landed hard on the Elite. He fell over and let go of the Marine, who quickly got to his feet and shot the Elite in the head with his pistol before either of us came to from the daze I had induced upon us with our collision. I scrambled to my feet and reached for my gun, my finger immediately flying to the trigger guard. The butt pressed hard against my shoulder as I whirled around, ready for resistance. I was ready to kill.

"John, Sierra and the Marines could use some help! Do what you do best!" I heard Cortana's voice, and I instantly knew that John had her chip attached. I smiled a bit to myself. I liked Cortana.

"Hey Cortana."

"Sierra! How pleasant to see you! I have just been catching up with your brother. He says my driving isn't good."

I chuckled. "Well at least it's better than my Ghost driving!" I heard both her and John laugh. Awhile back, in another Covenant battle, I had crashed three Ghosts in a row because I didn't know how to drive them. It was still a running joke for us three.

I saw a needle fly past my eyes, an inch from my helmet. I spun to the shooter's direction and pulled the trigger of my Machine Gun. The Grunt fell back and slid across the floor, his dark red blood staining the floor around him. The Elite next to him yelled out in rage and ran towards me. I had my finger on the trigger to shoot him, but just as I was going to pull it back, the Elite fell dead with the shot of a pistol. I looked to my right to the first doorway and saw John standing over a dead Marine, his Pistol sights still on the dead Sangheili. I smiled at him and nodded my appreciation.

We were a pretty good team, if I did say so myself. 

Note: Unlike the picture, they are siblings, not love interests, I just love the art.