Diggy Diggy Hole
The scent of freshly made coffee brought the rear admiral back to life. Her eyes were no longer unseeing as she shook off the zombie-like trance she had been intimately familiar with for the past hour. Dragging her gaze upwards, she watched in appreciation as one of her ensigns placed a large cup of coffee on her command console while sharing a small empathetic look with her. The enlisted man excused himself politely before moving back to his own station.
Commanding her muscles to cooperate, Celestia dragged her limb through the air and clutched the hot mug. Carefully bringing it back to herself, she placed it to her lips and suddenly downed it all in one go. With her chest feeling pleasantly warm and the psychological effect of the coffee kicking in she gave a brief stretch and a quick blink of her eyes before focusing on the screen in front of her.
Further reports crawled up her screen as they continuously updated, varying from things like military shipments, battle group positioning, and rebel activity. A normal human would have been forced to filter the reports and split the workload with their ensigns, but Celestia was not a normal human, her centuries and centuries of life having given her the skills necessary to sort through and analyze massive amounts of data quickly. Although, she would admit that there was at the very least a teeny tiny difference between the kind of paperwork she dealt with at the castle back in Equestria when compared to that of the mighty logistics of man.
Thus her replacement of tea with coffee.
Celestia’s ship, the Vengeance, was a Valiant-class super heavy cruiser currently docked at a resupply depot in high orbit above the glassed remnant of a former UNSC colony world. There were many private industrial ships using the station to offload their own cargo, a space elevator then shipping it down to the surface where workers chipped at the glass around the clock. Normally, Celestia and any other commanding official of the UNSC would have been wary of resupplying at a private depot, but they were close enough to the inner colonies where UNSC support was almost water tight, seeing as they had almost lost everything to the Covenant invaders only a few years before.
The same couldn’t be said the further out you went, thus why Celestia had chosen to resupply here. After the ship was ready to go, Celestia’s next stop was much further out, delving into the outer colonies, or what was left of the once lush worlds, having been reduced to glass, ash, and dust. They would not be cleared of glass for a long time, decades for some, centuries for others. The few surviving human worlds scattered amongst the dead planets were not happy about the favoritism in cleanup priorities shown to the inner colonies, only adding further to the rebel support in the isolated survivors.
There were many operations currently ongoing in the known insurrectionist territories and Celestia was just about to lead one that would deal a good blow to the rebels. While her sister fought many of the ground battles, Celestia was after bigger fish. Word had come in from a trusted source that the rebels were building the beginnings of a large staging area on a desolate moon not too many systems over from Luna’s current position. While this could directly threaten her ground bound sister, she knew better than to question her sister’s safety, knowing that it was nigh impossible to kill either one of them. Instead, she was heading this mission as expected from any soldier serving in the UNSC. There was a dangerous target that threatened the already shaky stability of man and innocent lives were most certainly on the line. This simply had to be dealt with, no question about it.
Celestia drummed her fingers on her console, thinking about her earlier conversation with Luna and the revelation that Ale had indeed returned… or so she assumed. While she was distrustful of Nightmare Moon, her gut told her there was no trap to be had, at least not in the case of Ale’s existence. She felt it truly was him and until she got a closer look at him, she would continue to believe so. However, it was important to remain cautious and she worried over Luna. Her little sister could certainly be rash at times, and her current mission was definitely not the place for her heart to sing to him. The potential consequences of any such confrontation between the two of them would prove to be disastrous to their situation, enough so to threaten the lives of their fellow squad members. The sooner she herself could step between them and truly get to the bottom of things, the better.
Unfortunately, she would not be making a pitstop after this, especially anywhere near Newark. She did not need to tip off the rebels of the approaching strike group accompanying her flagship. Resupplying at her current location was risky enough, seeing as any one of the workers could be potential informants for the rebels. Celestia knew this and wanted to be underway to their target as soon as possible. The issue of her sister’s long lost lover returning would have to wait, even if it brought up a few painful memories of having put off her sister a long, long time ago, and reaping the consequences that had followed.
Dispersing of the thoughts with an iron wall surrounding her conscious, Celestia continued scanning the reports, waiting for the ship to be readied for departure. There was little time before she would again be thrust into battle, and she had work to do.
The tall and lush forest trees sat still in the quiet night with only the trilling of insects and the barks of the nightlife to keep them company. The serene silence did not last for long as a sudden roaring whine thundered over the treetops, causing the canopies to thrash wildly as the flying object passed mere meters above them. The glowing blue engines acted as a spotlight as the alien ship moved swiftly along its path.
Standing in the troop bay of the Phantom transport, a tall and heavily armored Sangheili watched the greenery below whip past. His yellow reptilian eyes peered out from under heavily pronounced and scarred ridges designed to naturally protect them from attack. His natural defenses were more or less unneeded however as he was covered from head to toe in highly advanced alien armor, sans his beady eyes. The proud warrior’s armor was… strange to say the least. There wasn’t anything special about it; quite the opposite in fact. When compared to the armor worn by his brothers in the troop bay, the strengthened maroon metal was quite dull and sported very few elaborate shapes or curves. Nonetheless, it had a very good reason for not being as colorful or decorative, and if you scrutinized it carefully, the reason why became very apparent.
He desired only efficiency and wasted nothing, his armor too fitting these very specifications. Simplicity meant less chance for failure, and on a battlefield failure meant death. Many an enemy had underestimated the power and lethality of this alien, including members of his own kind. The thirst of his blade painted his armor and skin in many coatings of blood from all species, and it only hungered for more. Even now the pure killing intent emanating off of him caused his brethren to shy away to the far side of the troop carrier. A wise choice if one had seen what he was capable of.
“We are approaching the LZ specified by the humans Shipmaster.” The radio died as the pilot terminated his brief transmission through the troop bay comms.
The large Elite only stared outside, observing the large mountain they were speeding towards. As they neared, two bright white lights on the wooded slope came to life and flashed in two second intervals, drawing the Phantom in closer. The Phantom slowed down and came to a hovering stop next to the lights, revealing a well hidden hanger door. The lights stopped flashing and a uniformly jagged line of light cracked horizontally in the door before the two metal halves began to open, revealing a bustling hanger.
The troop carrier carefully floated inside once the doors offered enough clearance. Two human flight deck officers guided the ship further in with glowing orange batons before assisting it in landing. The ship settled with a smooth thud before the engines began winding down. The Elite waited patiently as the troop bay door opened with a hiss, his underlings carefully shuffling up behind him.
Once the door was completely open, the Sangheili shipmaster stepped off of the ship and took a quick look around, noting the stares and unease of many of the human soldiers. The shipmaster was unconcerned and swung his head slowly from side to side, his troops walking past him towards a few human workers who looked on in obvious anxiety. After a terse greeting, the two species began to direct one another in offloading the large crates riding in the Phantom.
The lead Elite watched the proceedings with flinty eyes, indiscriminate with his hard gaze. However, he still waited patiently and did not take any further action. His troops would get their work done and did not need him to hover over them. If they did, they would have already been thrown out of the airlock or became intimately acquainted with his blade.
The shipmaster did not have to wait much longer before he spotted an expected figure further back in the large hanger. Heads taller than the surrounding humans, the blue alien lumbered through the bustling humans towards the shipmaster. The Elite still waited ever patiently for the blue armored Fleet Security Officer to approach. The lesser finally stood before him and he bowed his head in respect, yet he held no fear in his gravelly voice as he greeted in Sangheili, “Shipmaster.”
The addressed Elite bowed his head back, acknowledging him. “Veer Uthem, I trust the meeting has been arranged?”
Veer nodded, “Yes Shipmaster Kur Vol, the human leader has agreed to speak with you tonight.”
Kur Vol’s mandibles clicked together. “Excellent. You have done well Uthem.” He gestured with his clawed hand, “Take me to him. I do not wish to tarry here for too long.”
“Right away Shipmaster.” Veer turned and walked a step ahead of Kur, leading him through the human hanger. The working humans scattered out of their way, their fear palpable in the air as the large Elite was taken through the crowded work zone. Kur felt filthy even wandering through their midsts, the highly unorganized and ill equipped troops proving to be even lower than the damnable UNSC. Kur was very intelligent however, and knew better than to start anything. He needed them and they needed him. His troops were under strict orders to avoid any and all confrontation with these Nishum. A breakdown of relations with the human rebels now would prove disastrous and very troublesome for him.
Veer brought him through an armored door guarded by two soldiers on either side, the humans watching the Elites with obvious distrust. The metal hallway was short and cluttered with only a few rooms branching off to each side, looking to be communications and office rooms. The hallway quickly ended with another armored door, through which Kur Vol stepped out into another large hanger, although it was merely a makeshift armory and motor pool. There was even a good sized concrete cargo dock off to one side, forklifts busily loading and offloading a few good sized trucks with more waiting in line.
Veer stopped when they stepped off the grated walkway and onto the soil of the cavern. “The humans will bring us to the center of their operations as a show of good faith and trust.” The flight security officer sniffed. “Trust, they’re no better than the Jiralhanae in that regard.”
Kur glanced at him. “You’d be mistaken if you trust them at all.” He turned his gaze towards a passing cargo truck. “They’re liars, and crafty ones at that. You’d do well to remember that.”
“Of course, Shipmaster,” the officer bowed his head. They both looked up as the familiar sound of the human’s combat scout vehicle came roaring through a separate cavern. The classic green machine was escorted by another one of its kind. Kur recognized the first one to be a troop transporter while the one tailing behind it was the more known anti aircraft variant. A human climbed out of the front passenger seat and approached the two Elites.
He stopped at a respectful distance, yet his eyes were narrow and not very welcoming. Kur Vol knew he was sizing them up, and the Elite was doing the same. They say the eyes are the window to the soul, and both could see the darkness within each other. The gruff looking human had spine, and that was something Kur Vol could respect. Even if it was only by a fraction. The man finally blinked before addressing them. “Shipmaster Kur Vol and his liaison I presume?”
Veer nodded. “You are correct,” he responded in decent English.
The human didn’t react in any visible way, nor did the attitude emanating off of him change. His body stayed just as rigid as it had before. The man jabbed a thumb at the troop transporter, “Get in. We’ll escort you to the mine.” With those few instruction, he turned around and walked towards the front passenger seat of the troop hog.
Kur Vol looked at Veer before moving towards the back of the troop transport, his subordinate following closely behind. The large Sangheili climbed into the back and seated himself uncomfortably in the much too small human made seats. He wasn’t complaining about the lack of an armament on the vehicle, seeing as he would be hard pressed in fitting in the other one behind them. The flight security officer seated himself across and offset from the shipmaster, giving the two room for their legs. Once the human had gotten inside his seat upfront as well, the hog’s engine revved as it began moving forward.
The Elites and humans sat in silence as the Warthogs traveled down the tunnels, their forms being lit up at consistent intervals from the passing lights above them. The shipmaster took this time to meditate, although while maintaining a cautious air of attention to his surroundings. He at least had the benefit of not having to worry about snipers, having experienced his own fair share of close calls with the dishonorable humans that lurked in shadows far away from the battlefield.
He didn’t have to wait much longer as the Warthogs moved swiftly through the mostly empty tunnels, only encountering a cargo truck every now and again. He looked up as a dull roar and distant clanking sound teased his hearing. The Warthog came around another wide corner before the Elite could make out the end of the tunnel. He looked on as the road exited the tunnel and turned onto a long and heavily reinforced metal bridge. The ambient sounds that at first had whispered to Kur Vol now became almost deafeningly loud as the hog left the tunnel and started driving across the massive bridge situated in possibly the biggest hole in the earth the Elite had ever seen. The source of all the noise was a huge circular drill bit that looked more like a saw carving its way into one of the walls. It was supported by equally large crane arms that disappeared into a gargantuan facility. Actually, the plant looked like it was built around the drill really.
It actually took a bit for the machines to cross the bridge, seeing as it was simply of that size. Nonetheless, they arrived at the other side where the facility was located, coming to a stop on a concrete road outside of the building. The Elites climbed out and stood patiently as the human once again approached them. “Stay here. Don’t go anywhere and don’t touch anything. I need to check in with the boss.” He quickly walked away, leaving the two Sangheili with the other humans in their escort and the passing workers.
Kur Vol walked away from the Warthogs and stepped up to the edge of the concrete roadway. He looked over the edge and traced the road as it switched back on itself over and over, never actually reaching the bottom of the hole as the shipmaster realized there was no visible bottom. The facility he was standing next to was actually pretty small in comparison to the confusing mess of industry at the bottom of the mineshaft. He could see where all the stone brought in was broken down into its base elements, sought out for the microscopic ores it held, before it began its long journey through the maze like organization of refineries, treatment plants, manufacturing sheds, and other large buildings, all with their own purposes. The worst part was that he couldn’t even be sure if all of this was stacked on top of other buildings. Who knows just how large this place is?
The Elite slowly shook his head before pulling back, noticing that Veer was standing a little ways off. The officer nodded a bit. “If I may be honest Shipmaster, the humans still continue to surprise me with their sheer tenacity to build and conquer that which they desire. Even now they rebuild on their lost worlds, picking up from where they had last left off.”
The shipmaster headed back over to the Warthogs, noticing that the human was coming back. “That, or they’re stubborn. Something that does not bend will break given enough time Uthem. The Covenant was an unfortunate example of this, and had we not broken when we did the humans own stubborn resolve would have been their destruction,” he stated with a clenched fist. Veer bowed his head in respect before they met back up with their human escort.
“I take it everything is ready?” Kur Vol stated, looking at the human.
The human grunted, his arms crossed. “Yeah, he’ll see you now.” He shifted and leaned in a bit closer. “But no funny business. We go in, and we go out. Keep this business opportunity short and sweet.” The human talked as if he himself was the leader of these so called ‘forces’.
Kur Vol gestured for him to lead the way, giving the Sangheili equivalent of a smile, if such a thing could exist with a mouth full of serrated teeth, when the human turned his back. Little did the human know how much an Elite could learn when they disregard their old beliefs, especially with an enemy as treacherous and backhanded as humans. His smile grew a little bit wider.
‘Yes… I am looking forward to this… business opportunity….'
The air was hot, very much so, and it was fairly questionable to call the moisture in the air humidity, given that it didn't smell or taste like water. This did not concern the three specialized marksmen, having long since learned to ignore horrid stenches, war having introduced them to some even worse so than this. The only difference here was that they didn’t have their sealed armor to help keep out the elements, having stashed their equipment and armor in a safe place in case they needed to make a fast exfil. They only carried with them a few miscellaneous items such as fake ID’s to mask their names, a handful of terran money in place of standard credits that they had looted off of the occasional lone passerbyer, a magnum or security knife based on their preferences, and civilian clothing.
Three people were hard to mask, but then again they weren’t necessarily looking to hide. Their ID’s, while hiding their names, didn’t show them as deserters, but instead as servicemen who had been court martialed. The three man squad even had a real story to use as a cover if they were questioned, seeing as the truth was easier to convince someone with than a lie, not that they planned on being questioned in the first place.
Leo, Vega, and Sergey were finding themselves entering thicker crowds of people, having entered the more flashy part of town. It didn't take too much effort to ‘blend’ in here, seeing as the sheer volume of people did keep them well hidden. However, none of the citizens looked very lively, just shuffling along to their next paychecks and meals. The atmosphere was very low, yet the snipers could easily feel the tension in the air. Something was definitely causing stress over the people. It should have been fairly obvious, what with rebel troops walking and driving here and there, patrolling as if they owned the place. However, these citizens should be more supportive of them, so why were they so deferential and skittish around the traitors?
Whatever the reason, they would keep an ear out as this tension could be something they could exploit upon for their own use in the near future. As it currently stood, there objective was to gain more intel on the rebels, and also see if they could find anymore news about the Zealots they had discovered earlier. So far, they hadn’t spotted any suitable areas to set up shop, but if there was one place to learn more about how things were going locally, it would be somewhere with people who have loose lips and fast words. As luck would have it, the sniper squad spotted a bar tucked a bit away from the main drag, nestled between two buildings. They walked towards it in such a fashion as to appear like good friends, working their way through the crowd.
“Hey Sergey, where did you put Rex?” Leo asked as they approached the bar. The Russian took the very random and odd question in stride, having worked covert ops long enough to know when someone was attempting to make themselves look natural in any environment.
“He’s in the bathroom. I made sure to shut the door this time; don’t need another mess in the kitchen.” They glanced so quickly around that anyone who had been looking for suspicious people would have failed to spot it, meanwhile the ODSTs themselves didn’t spot any watchers. The doors to the bar parted easily enough and the atmosphere was fairly loud inside.
“He better not, I’ll skin him otherwise,” Vega added, giving a bit more natural input to their little ploy in case anyone really was paying attention.
Sergey took the lead and navigated through the many tables and people in the bar, working his way over to one of the side booths. So far nobody had paid them any mind, too busy laughing with their own friends and attempting to outdrink the other. “This place looks nice, good find.”
Sergey reached the table first and scooted in all the way, making room for Vega to sit beside him. Leo naturally took the seat across from them. Vega looked around the table quickly before leaning back. “What, no peanuts?” he asked disappointedly.
“A bit hard to find around here,” an older looking woman stated as she came up to the table. “We don’t get very many off world shipments.” She eyed the three men around the table, scrutinizing them closely. They stared right back, albeit purposefully making it obvious that they too were sizing her up. They added with it a small pinch of annoyed amusement, as if they were used to such things, giving no reason to shy away or reveal any information about themselves. After a few more seconds, she tossed down three menus, evidently satisfied with her own conclusion on them. “Would you like anything to drink?” she asked as she adjusted her server's apron. “Tonight’s special is the House blend.”
“I’m feeling adventurous, I’ll take one of those please ma’am,” Leo said. He glanced over to his comrades.
Vega drummed his fingers on the table before simply saying, “Whiskey.”
“I’ll take the House blend as well, thank you.” Sergey grabbed the menus and distributed them, watching the woman snap her gum before walking away.
The ODSTs glanced around their booth and the bar with an air of curiosity. “Well,” Vega opened his menu, rapidly looking through the worn list of food, “it doesn’t look too bad. I can see some things I recognize.”
“And would that be the… am I reading this right?” Leo made a show of looking closer at his menu. “The Dumped Dumpster? Nope.” He proceeded to flip the page.
Sergey chuckled a bit, not paying too close attention to his menu. While they did intend on ordering food as to not make them stand out from the crowd, and even with their joking attitude, it was all a part of their appearance. The three of them were keeping their ears open for anything of remote importance and kept their eyes scanning as discreetly as possible.
So far, most of what they had heard were random things, such as work, family drama, cursing of the situations they found themselves in, etc. The bar denizens didn’t look anything special as well. They all looked and sounded like a bunch of down on their luck citizens with nothing better to do than to drown out as much pain as possible. There was a surprising lack of rebels in the bar, but for all the snipers knew they weren’t dressed in uniform.
They settled in for what could potentially be a fruitless stake out of sorts. Leo grabbed a deck of cards that was tucked against the wall on the table and began to deal them out, adding to their cover so that they didn’t completely stick out like a sore thumb.
The other two marksman grabbed their hands and fell into routine, keeping their senses up while they played their cover. It didn’t take long however for one of them to bring up something that had been sitting in the back of their minds. “So, anybody want to address what happened earlier today?” Leo made small talk.
Sergey and Vega only shared a brief look at one another, knowing exactly what he was talking about. “There’s not much to talk about,” Sergey stated.
“Sure there is.” Leo stated, carefully gauging his tone. This was rather delicate stuff they were talking about, and to delve too deeply into a conversation wrought with potential emotional distractions and uneeded worries in the middle of a mission could prove fatal in some cases. “We’ve all seen how she operates before. That was something different. There was no need for it to get something she wanted.”
Vega shook his head. “Quite frankly, it’s none of our business. We don’t need to get involved. I trust that she knows what she’s doing and it won’t interfere with our job.”
“This is our own we’re talking about though Vega, not just some objective or potential collateral. They don’t have the kind of skills, if you can even consider them that, we do, and it can affect them badly.”
“That’s not fair Leo,” Sergey laid down his cards, folding. “Even if things like this don’t get in our way, you should have some faith in our co-workers. We’ve been with them for a long time, and we’ve all seen the good and the bad. This shouldn’t slow them down, especially with the current dangers we have.”
Leo nodded. “I understand, but this could still bring consequences, either good or bad, to our dynamic. If things don’t work out well or if there is even outright discontempt for one another…. A division like that could be very dangerous indeed.”
They all sat quietly for a bit, mulling over what had been said. Vega conceded, “I suppose you’re right. However,” he stated with a finger raised, “She gets final say. It is her choice.”
“I think everyone else will support her in her decisions, if they’ve picked up on it that is.” Sergey browsed his cards. “They trust her. She hasn’t given them a reason not too. I can’t exactly fault her anyways. It is what it is, even if we have trouble relating to things like this after the kind of hell we’ve been through.”
Leo frowned a bit, but he eventually shrugged. “If I find a good time, I’ll ask her about it. Otherwise, all I can really hope for is that it all somehow works out.”
The ODSTs were satisfied with their conclusions and continued to play their game, having avoided using names and giving away any other important information that may compromise them. Their conversations turned into more mindless and meaningless things, devoting more of their thoughts and awareness to their surroundings, attempting to pick up on any useful information.
Their diligence paid off when Vega suddenly tapped twice on the table. The other two instantly zeroed in on his signal and quited. Vega stared at his cards before closing his eyes, carefully attempting to pick back up on what he had heard. It took him a few seconds to systematically segment the different sources of noise in the room, focusing on one and ignoring the others until he moved on.
“... the new delivery should get us a new supply of assorted gemstones. You can tell Jim that he’ll…”
“...-ckman has proposed. Hopefully we’ll get peak efficiency and maybe climb out of our current economic dec-...”
“... kidding me?! You jacka-...”
“...-nd so I said to him, ‘I’m telling you, the tow hooks don’t give it justice. The sleek design and it’s agility totally should warrant the nickn-...”
So far, none of the conversations matched with the brief moment of clarity earlier, where he had snatched a brief tidbit about the rebels. All he could hear was random junk that was of no use. However, not one to give up easily, he kept searching. After a few more attempts, he finally caught it.
“...-on’t know what’s going to happen, but whatever it is, it’s going to be very bad. Victor has a place for us to hideout if things finally come to a breaking point. We’ve all seen the signs. The rebels have been patrolling more actively and taking over more districts, plus the recent sighting of rebels standing outside the capital house. That can’t be good news.”
Vega mapped the position of the conversation in the room before dropping a four of spades from his hand. The two other ODSTs noted the specific card and adjusted their own attention accordingly, eventually finding the same conversation.
“Having a hideout isn’t going to be enough though. I know we have plenty of supplies like food, but we’re going to need more. Now, I know a guy in Samarak that can lend us a few weapons, for a good price at least. He’s willing to trade. But it’s not going to be easy, what with the increased agitation and presence of Sapien Sunrise. We’d be lucky if they didn’t find us within two blocks of the pla-...”
Their eavesdropping was interrupted when their server came back, drinks balancing on a ratty looking servers tray. “Have you decided what you’d like to eat?” she asked, tucking the tray under her arm after having passed the drinks out.
“We’ll need a bit more time please,” Leo said, attempting to get rid of their distraction before they missed out on any more clues. She shrugged before leaving, allowing the ODSTs to attempt to find their current interest.
‘What is the current conflict with Sapient Sunrise here? There shouldn’t be any conflict involving them. Yet, Samarak was a Sangheili sounding word.’ There was also the matter of the apparent rebel takeover in the Administration District of the city. Currently, Vega tasked the rebel information to be the priority, given that was the whole reason they were here to begin with. He quickly made a show of exchanging his cards before again trying to find the conversation they were listening into.
He didn’t get the chance to before a drunkard stumbled into their table, laughing very obnoxiously as he fell flat on his chest. Neither one of the ODSTs went for their weapons, knowing to do so would definitely provoke a nasty response from the patrons here. Instead, Leo cracked a smile and slapped the man heartily on the back. “Looks like you’ve had too much to drink there bud,” he said in an amused yet friendly tone. “Here, let’s get you back on your feet.”
The man continued with his belly heaving laughter, barely helping himself as Leo helped him back upright. He swung an arm around the ODST and tried to compose himself, still bursting into bouts of chuckling. He wiped at his eyes with his free hand before calming down a little bit, looking below eye level as he gathered his thoughts. “Y-you think sooo?” he spoke in a slur. “H-I’ve had mmmuch worse, I can asszure you. Hey,” he said as Leo let go of him, sitting back down. “Hey, I’ve,” he paused as adjusted his dangerous sway. “I’ve got a good one for you.” The man invites himself in the spot next to Leo before he sets his hands palm down on the table, taking a moment to release a burp.
“If you’ve had much worse, I’m glad I never challenged you to a drinking game eh?” Sergey said, smiling towards the man.
“Psh, that’s because you drink like an old man.” Vega turned his gaze to their little visitor. “I’m more of a challenge. We’ll have to have ourselves a little competition after you sober up.” The three ODSTs kept up their ‘charming’ attitude in an effort to appear as natural as possible. Sooner or later though, if the man didn’t leave by himself, they’d have to turn to less subtle measures to try and get him to leave.
The man lost all self control and burst out laughing again, pounding the table in joy. Nobody really paid them any mind, having seen much of the same thing being replayed every so often in the bar. This was good for the marksmen, as it kept attention to them low. The man eventually relaxed a little bit, looking at the two men across from him.
“I gotta say, I’m *hic* a bit surprised that you,” he pointed at Sergey, “aren’t making claimsz that you can *hic* outdrink anything less than an ocean, if you excuse my ster-, stero-, stearoteotyping.” He stopped, mulling it over. “Yeah, yeah that sounds right. And you,” he pointed a few inches off of Vega’s shoulder, his eyes closing a bit. “I could beat you right now. There’s *hic* no such thing as sober for me anyway.” The man than shook his hands in a disoriented fashion in front of him before blinking away the grogginess in his eyes. “Anyways, I have a real good one for you. My grandpa taught me this joke back *hic* before he turned into such an ass.”
“Well,” Sergey said, “Let’s hear it.”
“Alright, alright.” He calmed himself down for a few seconds before taking in a deep breath and holding it, his hands gripping his legs under the table. He didn’t move immediately though, still holding his breath for a few more seconds longer than he comfortably should. Time seemed to slow just a little bit and Leo suddenly got a very intense rush of adrenaline, his body beginning to fire on all pistons as his gut started to warn him of danger. His eyes only had a second or two to start looking for the danger before the man released his breath, leaning a little bit forward. “So three spies walk into a bar….”
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Well to answer your question I didn't have any issues with loose coding in your story so I say you did a good last minute edit
Dun dun duuuun! Cliffhanger!
Is this the end of the undercover mission of our heroes, or is it just a drunk joke? Let's find it in the next chapter 
I personally think that this chapter is good, I guess that the main problem came from the change of scenes. Anyway, good job with the bar scene, you captured the atmosphere even better that what Karen Traviss did in her books.
I leave you alone for one month and there is a diggy diggy hole joke... We need to talk.
7446120 Aye, but the bars were not important in her stories. And uh, I may or may not be wrapping up Mortal Dictata. I have like, 50 or less pages to go. And change of scenes from the Sangheili to the ODSTs?
7446290 What can I say? It's a big hole.
7446524 aye lad, that it is... That it is
7446524 The transition between the two parts was smooth. Kur Vol looks like a clever bastard, while from the scene with the ODSTs we see how they are trained also for undercover ops (not like in the Kilo-5 trilogy, where they seem unable to operate against other humans).
7446660 Ah, I see now the wisdom you shed upon me. And I never really noticed that before. Now, back to the detonation of the plasma torpedos.
The chapter seems fine to me... And trust me, I've been having that google docs issue constantly. Its annoying as all hell.
7447019 I had that issue one or two times when I first used the gdoc upload, but for the past two years I've never had a problem with it again. I really hope it doesn't start rearing it's ugly head again.
yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you finshed it I'm so happy
I AM SO RANDOM
chapter name remind of this
7448298 What else would it remind you of lol
7448318 plus made think he dig a trench
7446894 I honestly don't get that scene. Covenant torpedoes are basically a mass of plasma enveloped by a magnetic field, but the way that scene is described in the book they seem like the ones you'd see in Star Trek.
Is this a reference to Red Vs Blue? When the reds are arguing about the warthog and weather it should be named a 'Puma'? I'm guessing this because the bit about the tow hooks is very similar to Sarge's point of "You see those tow hooks? They look like tusks!"
A serious scuffling was heard at the next table over "SHIT! WE'RE MADE! WE GOTTA GO!" was heard as three men ran out of the bar with the supposed 'drunk' chasing after them proving he was actually sober the whole time. The ODSTs just looked at each other and continued on their act.
7449016 Lol, that'd be funny, and yes, it is a reference to RvB
I see what you did there
img.ifcdn.com/images/3214106df714bb4bec510e141f2c43eeb97e2e60d49335f3920ee5ce0cb9d270_1.jpg
Is this just a halo fanfic now or?
7451590 I could show you the storyboard, but then that'd be massive spoilers now wouldn't it? They will get back to Equis, no worries about that, and I think I'll make a chapter or two if it fits the story of NMM back in Equestria. As for where the story currently is? I've seen maaaaany stories of ponies being brought to human dimensions or worlds where they themselves are transformed, and there's almost nothing MLP about it ever again, at least not until the very end. Some of these stories are incredibly popular too.
In another perspective, the first Guardian story (which is undergoing a rewrite) was pretty much completely in Equestria. This one won't completely* be in Ale's universe, but the majority is. So it could be seen like a giant balance if you want to get creative.
Le Gasp I do not approve! He Should be saying spais! RANT RANT RANT RANT *drags you off to world of tanks* NYAHAHAHAAHHA you shall suffer now for your insolence! :P *ahem* Overall love the Chapter Reqster Keep up the good work, and I shall drag you off and distract you again in the future no matter how badly you hate the game
7459623 I don't hate it, I'm just trash at it lol
It's been to long good to see this one still going
Hehehe, it's been a while
the ending perfect
(read in russian accicent) drunk man got good joke , i got better (burp) 1 nazi german, 1 drunk russian, 1 serial killer american, and 1 silent japanese man (burp) they go back in time to kill their past and future selfs....haha get it this comment shouldn't exist.....
"4th wife bring me and comrade more volka"
i'm not drunk enough to be funny
7464545 busybusybusybusybusybusybu-
7465178 lol
I sure hope that Ryan can pull a Grif in our beloved ODST's favor
This is what I mean
7469470 I think you're going to be surprised how this turns out.
7469489 I normally don't like surprises, but because its from you... HELL F*CKING YEAH!
need new chapter ......dying...of awesome starvation........"Again"!!!! *chough* *chough* (thud)
Want to know more!!!!
Writer....Writer....Writer I want to know more plz
Will there be another chapter?
7897364 Yes. I've just been heavily distracted trying to keep up with my studies at university. I use my free time badly too. I'm trying to find a better way to manage my time and get writing back as one of my priorities. Hopefully I can crank something out before Valentine's Day.
7898596 I was curious because I read through your three stories of Ale a third time and I still enjoy them for how well the relationship is. Also on a side note when luna made the comment about Ale's cannon and her teams reaction was way to priceless.
7898744 Glad you like it :) the first story and how their relationship develops is going to be heavily overhauled though. It's far too Gary Stuish if you ask me. I was a hard novice then.
Well luna and Ale make up and well Ale regain his memory, and have the scouts cover been blown, find out next time on the "RETURN OF THE GUARDAIN"........ I GOT TO KNOW MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm just going to leave this comment here.
I hope it's not dead.
I cant wait for the next update!
8201625
8236823
Been really busy helping my family preparing for a move. We're almost done and the new location should help out with my inspiration to deliver what you guys are desiring :) Hope you all are doing well!
8249040
Awesome
*Scribbles violently on a sheet of paper*
*promptly slams paper into the door*
*stamps with staple gun a dozen times*
' WAIT FOR 'RETURN OF THE GUARDIAN' UPDATE '
Waiting
Waiting
Waiting
............. is this dead
Waiting for Reqqy........ Doo dooo dooooo xD
Honestly, to everyone who is waiting, Reqiuem is currently been procrastinating for over a year in getting everything done. He's working on rewriting the stories right now with better content, so don't fret, because EVENTUALLY he will update the story. I just don't know when, me and his friends do a great job at distracting him from writing xD
8486596
C'mon Night, we gotta let the man work sometimes. :3
8608107
But distracting him is fun mah dude.
8612686
Oh but of course.
Spotted/Documented/Reported.
They got caught. That man was a Really good drunk actor. I wonder how this is gonna turn out.
8486596
8608107
You two are just cruel.