Halo: Unbroken Bond

Nightmares

Jason Miller
February 10, 2558
UNSC Infinity


I keep having the same dream over and over again. Only it’s not just a dream. It was an event that happened in my life. It is something that has haunted me for fourteen years. The dream, or nightmare, always starts the same way every time. On the Earth colony planet of Miridem, in the city of New Harmony, I am with my family just enjoying a nice evening with each other. My ten-year-old brother, Kyle Miller, is sitting next to me when it happened.
Next thing I know there is a huge explosion and our house begins to collapse. I get trapped under the rubble, but I can still see the chaos happening around me. Strange reptilian creatures, armored and with mouths like claws, walk over and inspect the ruble. The creatures are Sangheili Elites, soldiers of the dangerous military alliance of alien races known as the Covenant. The leader spots my parents with their legs trapped under the ruble. Speaking in their native tongue, he commands two of his soldiers to drag them out.
“What do you want from us!?” my father yelled as the Elites pulled him to his feet. The Sangheili leader just stood there, staring at my father with the eyes of a killer.
“Mom? Dad?” a voice called. It was Kyle, terrified by the sight of the Sangheili.
“Kyle, just stay were you are!” my mother yelled. “Don’t come any closer! Do you understand?”
“What are you doing to my parents? Let them go!” Kyle screamed, as he charged toward the Elite holding his mother. The Elite reacted quickly and threw my brother across the yard. There was a crunching noise as my brother hit the ground.
I tried to yell, but my voice couldn’t be heard over my father’s furious screaming.
“What the hell did you do to my son!” he yelled. “You’ll pay for that!”
It was no use. My father couldn’t break free. My mother just broke down in tears.
Finally, the leader began to speak. Not in his own language, but in English.
“I grow tired of your resistance!” he roared in his deep voice, raising an energy sword above his head. “You humans are pathetic.” With one fatal swing, he cut through both of my parents’ chests.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My parents have been killed right in front of my eyes. I turned my attention to my brother, who was screaming in pain because of his broken arm.
“Get up, boy!” The Elite shouted, lifting my brother up by his waist. “You’re coming with us.”
“Let go of my brother you split jawed freaks!” I screamed.
The Elites noticed me. One of them started to walk towards me with his energy sword drawn.
“Leave him. He will die eventually. Let him suffer.” the leader said, walking away with my brother in his hand.
How did this happen? I thought. Where did they come from? Just as fast as the Elites left, something else arrived. It was a flying troop transport called a Pelican. It flew low to the ground and let several UNSC soldiers out to inspect the ruins. The men wore body armor and carried assault rifles. Finally, one of them spotted me.
“We’ve got a live on over here!” he yelled. The soldiers rushed to my position and lifted the ruble off of me. They put me on a stretcher and put me in the Pelican to send me to the nearest UNSC base for medical attention. As they start to lift off, my vision begins to darken and that’s when I wake up, gasping for air.
Fireteam Mythic

Jason Miller
February 10, 2558
UNSC Infinity


I lay awake in my bed, still not able to fall back asleep. I have been awake for more than three hours because of my reoccurring nightmare. As I lay there, terrible thoughts keep popping into my head.
What am I going to do? Can I save him? What if I’m not strong enough? Is he even still alive?
Eventually, I sit up and push aside the thoughts, knowing they will only make things worse. As I sit up, Roland, the Infinity’s AI, speaks on the Intercom.
“Fireteam Mythic, please report to the bridge. Commander Palmer wants to speak with you.” I got out of bed and put on my GEN2 under suit. As I finish putting it on, someone opens the door.
“Piss your pants again, Miller?”
It was Kory Jackson, the leader of Fireteam Mythic, standing in the doorway. He was a strong Spartan, the best in our team. Not only that, but his skills on the field out matched most of the other Fireteam leaders. To them, he was someone to be respected. But to me, he was much more than that. He was a friend of mine before I enlisted into the army.
“Shut up Kory. You know that’s not what happened.” I said, thinking of the nightmare again.
“Lighten up, it was just a joke. Besides, Commander Palmer needs us in the bridge in case you haven’t heard. The rest of the team is already suited up. We’ll meet you up there when you have your armor on.” he said, walking out of the doorway.

Everyone else in Fireteam Mythic was waiting for me in the bridge. Our team consisted of Kory Jackson, Mike Wilson, Katy Wilson, Jessica Brooks, and me. Each of us had our own customized set of armor. Kory wore the Rogue armor variant with a blue paintjob. Mike and Katy both wore the Recruit armor variant. Mike’s was colored white with a red secondary color and Katy’s was colored sky blue. Jessica had the Air Assault. Her colors were red and white with red being the dominant color. My armor variant is the Deadeye variant with the colors black and red.
The process of putting the armor on is quick and easy. There’s this machine that puts it on for you. I stand in it with my arms stretched out to the sides. The machine rotates around me and assembles the armor piece by piece. First, it assembles the legs, then the arms, and then the torso. Finally, it puts on my helmet and I step out of the machine.

I walk into the bridge to find that everyone is waiting for me, especially Commander Palmer who looks very impatient.
“Great. Now that you’re here, we can get down to business.” she said, glaring at me. “I have an important task for all of you. Recently, a Pelican carrying supplies to a UNSC outpost stationed on Requiem has lost contact to the Infinity. Kory, I want your team to find out what happened. If they’ve been shot down, help any survivors you see and make sure those supplies are intact.”
“Where do we begin our search?” Kory said.
“Well, the first thing I want you to do is to see if there is a Covenant Relay blocking our communications. If there is, which I doubt there won’t be, destroy it. After that, see if you can contact Delta team. They were onboard the Pelican when we lost contact. If that fails, search the perimeter. They couldn’t have gone far. As soon as you find them, contact the Infinity and tell us what the situation is. We’ll send a Pelican to your location to pick up you and the supplies. Understood, Spartans?”
“Yes ma’am.” we all said, saluting.
“Good. Now get prepared.” she said.
“You heard her, Mythic. Let’s move. I want everyone ready and on the Pelican ASAP.” Kory said, walking towards the door. The rest of us followed.

The Pelican was fueled and ready by the time we got to the hangar. Our weapons were on the racks beside the Pelican and we each grabbed our choice. Kory grabbed a Battle Rifle and an Assault Rifle, Mike and Katy both picked and Assault Rifle and a Magnum, and Jessica picked a Designated Marksman Rifle, or DMR for short.
The sniper rifle was last on the rack. I grabbed the sniper rifle and a DMR. After that, we all got into the Pelican and took off. Once outside the hanger, I walked into the cockpit and could see the massive Forerunner shield world, Requiem. It was a planet covered by a metallic outer shell with one giant hole as the opening. Since there was no natural light, the Forerunners, with their ancient technology that surpasses our own, created an artificial sun for life to thrive on the planet. As we approached Requiem, I could tell that this mission that Commander Palmer gave us was not going to be as easy as we thought.