Don’t shake the lightbulb
This time, the Spartan returned, and he was dragging… piles of enemy armor, to which he then dumped into a pit. “Evening ladies. You were busy.”, the Spartan remarked. The Spartan then remounted his gun, and kicked a drawer. “You took the heavy weapons, huh?”. The Marines then shifted their shoulders, and shut the blast door. “High time I tell you our names, sir. I’m a Gunnery Sergeant Reeves II, the original one was blown to bits in New Mombasa, but we don’t talk about it. This Marine here, is Tom Robinson.” The CO waited for a response, which was a terse “001”. “I’m asking for a name, not a number, Spartan.” The Spartan then told the CO he didn’t have a name, or at least he’d didn’t remember. The CO asked if he remembered his childhood, friends, or family. “Gunny, I don’t remember a thing. My friends all died. They were lost during the Battle of Earth. I don’t remember who my family was, so shut your cake hole and let’s move back up.” The CO, now slightly angered, followed suit. The Spartan then grabbed a piece of the wall, yanked it back, and ordered the Marines to suit up.
When they got back up to the surface, they discovered carnage, crashed banshees, wrecked Ghosts and wraiths. Bodies. The base was absolutely destroyed. The walls were, well, melted. Dead marines. A solitary gun emplacement, with many bodies around it. The Marines and the Spartan went inside, and found some survivors, crouched around a smoldering fire. “What happened?”, the CO said. One of the survivors threw the CO a “Action Replay” cartridge, and told him to use it on the old game console in the corner. The cartridge already in it was a recording one, and the onslaught began.
