{"sf1_id":556418,"sf2_id":"Rno8j3x1","title":"Halo -chapter 1","author":"Dukeman","words":1235,"posted_at":"2013-06-27T07:15:00.000Z","tags":["Abduction","Character Development","Halo","Human","Husky","Sci-Fi"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/556418-halo-chapter-1","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/Rno8j3x1","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/fa/6b/fa6becf4-8e66-4123-98fc-ea24f69b2bc5","description":"#1 of Halo\n\nThis is my first story I hope it's good. It's set halfway in Halo's storyline.","content":"Year 2550\n\nThe human-covenant war is raging; humanity is vastly  \noutmatched by superior technology and an endless horde of aliens. The UNSC fights  \nthe covenant, but it is a hopeless war. Dr Catherine Halsey led the Spartan  \nproject to combat their enemy but to no avail. Her super-soldiers were the best  \nfighting force in the UNSC but it was not enough. Halsey's next move was to  \nmake more Spartans, but different.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nPlanet Modar-\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nSeth swung a punch and it connected with the bully's nose,  \nmost likely breaking it. Seth was strong for a six year old child but he preferred  \nto observe from a distance. Today was different however when his daily bully Bronson  \ntook it too far. Seth had been eating his lunch far away from everyone else in  \nhis school as he watched the other kids playing when something wet and sticky  \nabruptly coat him. He spun around to see Bronson had tipped orange juice all  \nover him. Some distant kids came over to watch the commotion; the embarrassment  \nwas too much for Seth.\n\nHe was considering whether to run away or just cry when  \nBronson pushed him over. The bully jeered at him then bowed to his audience. By  \nthe time he turned back to Seth, there was a fist in his face. The blow sent  \nhim staggering back as he held his face in pain, the surrounding children were  \nawestruck. Bronson clenched his fists revealing his bloodied face and snarled a  \nchallenge. Seth launched himself at the bully but was knocked down when Bronson  \nshoulder-rammed him. Bronson knelt down and Seth head-butted him, leaving them  \nboth dazed. They recovered and were about to clash again but a surly voice  \nblared through.\n\n\"STAND DOWN\" A man in a suit eyed them both when an older  \nwoman came to his side. She spoke with a calm voice, \"Relax Palmer, they're  \njust children\". The reply was submissive and the woman turned to Seth, \"Seth Balter,  \nI would like to see you\". Seth had no idea who this woman was, but she seemed  \nnicer than that idiot Bronson. The other children slowly left not wanting to  \nget caught up in whatever this was. He cautiously walked over to her with a  \nlittle blood in the corner of his mouth and covered in sticky juice. \"My name  \nis Catherine Halsey; I would like to ask you some questions\".\n\nSeth nodded and she started making small talk, \"What were  \nyou doing over there?\" He shifted between his feet, \"Fighting\" He didn't really  \nfeel like small talk but she kept at it, \"Do you like fighting? Were you  \nwinning?\" Seth replied with as much dignity as a sticky six year old child  \ncould, \"He started it, but I think-\". Halsey cut him off, \"Would you like to  \nwin every fight? Win everything?\" Seth wasn't sure what this woman was getting  \nat, but he replied with a shy nod. \"Very good Seth, we need to take some tests  \nthen we'll come back later maybe\"\n\nAfter half an hour of blood tests, an IQ test and some other  \ntests he didn't understand, Halsey and Palmer left Seth to his own will. It was  \ngetting late so he went home, which luckily wasn't far. He arrived home to see  \nhis mother cooking dinner and his father reading the daily news on his glasses  \nHeads-Up-Display (HUD). \"Hey son did you hear? The UNSC found some sort of alien  \nlife far away from here\". Seth considered sharing his story but his parents  \nwould disprove of him getting into a fight.\n\nThey sat down and ate dinner whilst discussing various  \nthings. Afterwards Seth went upstairs and took a shower, it was pure luck they  \nhadn't discovered he was sticky from juice for a couple hours. He came out  \nfeeling renewed and went to bed. His pet husky 'Jeff' was sleeping on the bed.  \nSeth slid into bed and Jeff woke up, the husky yawned then climbed in next to  \nSeth and licked him. He chuckled and set his dog down next to him. Seth hugged  \nthe warm ball of white fur to sleep, and they both quickly dozed off. Seth didn't  \nknow why, but he really liked huskies, especially Jeff.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nSeth awoke next morning and started his waking up routine  \nfor school. He said his goodbyes to his parents, kissing each on the cheek, and  \nthen he ruffled Jeff's fur and left the safety of his house. About half-way to  \nschool, he was ambushed from behind. He felt his arms being instantly  \nrestrained and thought Bronson wanted to go another round, but then a syringe delicately  \ninserted into his neck and offloaded the drug. The figure and an unconscious Seth  \nfaded to the shadows, never to be heard from again.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nUNSC prowler 'Night Hawk'- travelling away from Modar-\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nSeth awoke in a cot inside a metal room with a few other  \ncots inside it each holding another child. He groggily got out and tried to  \nrecall what was happening when he saw a window. _I could use this to escape_ he thought. His plan was foiled quickly  \nwhen he realised his home planet Modar was outside that window, and shrinking  \nsteadily. _I'm in space_. Seth started  \nto panic and rushed over to the door and slammed on it with his tiny hands.  \nThis door would obviously not open and the other children seemed to be  \nsleeping, so he found little to do but sleep in the cot he awoke in.\n\n\u0026nbsp;\n\nThere were only two people to crew the Night Hawk, excluding  \ntheir cargo children. Palmer set a course to jump and started charging the  \nslipspace drive. A couple centuries ago, these drives were invented allowing  \nhumanity to spread their reach across the stars. The small ships engine let out  \na small hum as Palmer floated across the cockpit in null gravity to check some  \ndisplays. Catherine Halsey sat strapped in her chair to prevent the lack of  \ngravity from pulling her away as she was writing into her journal. Palmer  \ncouldn't see what she was writing; she could even be drawing as far as he knew.  \nBut his job wasn't to pry at Halsey, just to escort her and assist when  \nnecessary in her mission, whatever that was. All he knew was that she went  \naround collecting data on certain small children then occasionally instructing  \nPalmer to abduct them. It seemed creepy.\n\nAs Palmer ensured all systems were in check, Halsey stowed  \nher journal then asked Palmer, \"Have you come to realise the purpose of these  \nabductions yet?\" Palmer found his chair and strapped himself into it, then gave  \na lie for his answer, not sure of what was expected, \"Are we collecting  \nchildren to pit them against each other in a pit-brawl?\" Halsey did not see  \nhumour in that, she just vaguely replied: \"This is another Spartan project,  \nhopefully more successful than the legendary Spartan twos\" He was aware that  \nHalsey created humanity's finest soldiers, but he couldn't see how this would  \nbe any different. \"Ma'am, with respect It feels like we're repeating what you  \ndid\". She leaned forward from her chair and activated their set course now that  \ntheir slipspace drive had finished charging. \"We are repeating history Palmer,  \nat least so far\". The prowler vanished into the darkness of space, leaving no  \ntrace of what had been done to alter the course of humanity.\n\n\u0026nbsp;  \n  \n\n"}