"Wake me, when I'm needed."
The Cryogenic-stasis cell closed, and with a hiss of air, sealed itself. Cortana watched it, only becoming increasingly lonely as she watched it freeze him over, preserving him for however long it needed to. She pondered how long it would even be until he would be awakened, if ever. Would he be left here for all time, now a sad remnant of a war, drifting through the cold emptiness of space?
She shook her head, turning away from the unmoving Spartan. Raising a hand, she activated a secondary panel next to the beacon. What was left of the navigational system buzzed and flashed sporadically, static being the only true sight on the panel.
Overriding the system, she opened a secondary path for the information carrier, and got a clearer image. Cortana couldn't recognize the system the wreckage of the frigate drifted to, however, she did spot something strange- a planetoid that had been unnoticed before. As it focused on the planet, strangely enough, it seemed inhabited. Several stations orbited the planet, and the surface itself was covered in buildings.
Only a few seconds passed before she realized why she hadn't noticed it. The damaged systems could detect anything within a million mile radius. And the planet was getting clearer and clearer- the wreckage was being pulled by the planets gravity.
"Oh no." Turning to the still sleeping soldier, and activated the release, having it begin to thaw. While waiting for him to wake up, she watched the planet, trying to remember as much of its physical features as possible.
It wasn't earth, but it certainly similar enough to it. Most of the terrain looked burnt and blackened, with large craters in the cities, which she noticed where in ruins. Outside of the large mazes of rubble, lands ranging from large forests to rivers and two large oceans stretched across the plant.
"How long was I out?" Master Chief had finally woken up, and glanced around for any changes. Stepping out, he returned his visor to look at her.
"About a minute. We're not going to be drifting as long as we thought."
"Oh?"
"A planet just began to pull us into its space. We're going to reach its atmosphere in a matter of hours."
He glanced around again, and finally looked at the screen of the advancing planet. "I'll be right back."
"Chief?"
As he drifted across the hall, floating in the gravity-less environment, he turned briefly before continuing. "I'll be salvaging."
After about half an hour, the Chief had located what remained of the armory. Loading as many weapons and supplies into the launch pods, he coordinated the landing for the escape pods full of weapons and supplies near the crash site. He would have to work his way back to the ruins of the ship; staying behind as it fell apart was worse than actually jumping at the planet from space.
He had done it before- jumping from the forerunner ship and landing didn't cost him his life. He had to do it again. A panel nearby fluttered blue with life as Cortana appeared next to him.
"Are you sure about this?"
"Yup."
"We don't even know what's waiting for us down there- it could be flood, or humans, or covenant again!"
"What's why I'm taking these." He nodded to the weapons he was tossing into an escape pod. She shook her head, but didn't argue.
"The area around the crash site looks like the ruins of a City- so you need to pick your landing well."
He nodded, and as he did, the hull suddenly buckled. Looking to her, he motioned to her. Nodding, she disappeared into the small chip, and hid slid it into the back of his headpiece.
"I hope you know what you're doing."
"Sorta."
He punched at a red button on the wall, and an alarm went off, sounding the launch of the escape pods. A countdown started, and Master Chief waited as it counted down.
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Launching Escape pods."
The door in front of him shook slightly as the small vessel shot out with the others. The hull buckled again, and the ship moaned of metal, crying out in an eerie groan.
"Now might be a good time to jump."
He glanced back, and pushed himself down a hallway, which led to the enormous opening to space. The planet, however, took up most of the view.
"Wish me luck." He bent his knees, and spotted his landing zone.
"Good luck."
He jumped.
"Sir? Could you come here for a second."
"What do you have?"
"Large inbound unidentified object entering the atmosphere. Several other smaller objects fell earlier, and its just began its fall. After scanning one of the pods, we found this."
"Those are weapons?"
"That's what we thought sir."
"Alright. I want its point of impact. Where's it heading?"
"Its… heading right for sector Fv-7."
"Let me see that object."
"Yes sir… here."
"That… isn't one of ours… or Locust."
"Yes sir. Records indicate early earth frigate. Possibly around Covenant War."
"What's… why… how did something this old get here?"
"Good question sir."
"Alright. I'll contact Colonel Hoffman; he'll have the perfect men for the job to find that little piece of history."
"Yes sir."
"In the meantime, I want you to keep monitoring the path- I want anything useful in thirty minutes. Get going."
"Sir, yes sir."
Yeah, it's a little short, but hey. Yes, I am aware that there is another GoW/Halo story happenin, but… oh I want to do one too!!! And there's probably more out there that I don't know about still. Now, just let me go-
(accidentally blows self up with boomer, showing the room with bits and pieces of blood and flesh)