After a 300 year journey the Guardian of Equestria returns, only to be greeted by a very different world. Surviving is one thing, being hunted is another.
After a 300 year journey the Guardian of Equestria returns, only to be greeted by a very different world. Surviving is one thing, being hunted is another.
Book 3 of 3
MLP: FiM belongs to Hasbro. Halo elements belong to Microsoft, Bungie, and 343 Industries. Image credit: Microsoft
Not knowing anything was such bliss. The comforting black void prompted a thoughtless atmosphere, not a single emotion or care in the world could be made known. They say you don’t dream in cryo sleep; that your body is just in a state of stasis where nothing, not even brain wave lengths are active. Others would argue that they can very much dream while frozen, describing whole and detailed worlds in their subconscious realm. Scientists would argue that they just experienced that while waking up and it just seemed to be forever. There is one thing known for certain though. You don’t dream when you’re dead, even if your body is frozen.
Something changed in the void, almost as if an invisible pulse washed over you. Sound was the first thing registered. A muffled shrilling and whirring sounds emanated from some far off point. There were no thoughts, just a mild curiosity. Sight came next as a very distant star blinked into existence. The gentle pulsing drew you in closer, a sense of movement occurring in the surrounding blackness. As the source of the light came closer it seemed to be part of something bigger, almost as if the blackness was just a mask and you were peeking through a tear, only glimpsing a small part of the outside world. The curiosity grew into something more, a burning desire to investigate. As soon as that feeling washed over the blackness something else followed it, a tingling. It seemed as if you were a part of the darkness, a cold, numb, extension. Suddenly pain rocked you, making you scream out silently. The light rushed forward and ice cold air rushed into you.
Ale gasped, thrashing violently as a shrill scream became rapid beeping, pounding the side of his head. His chest burned in pain while his extremities felt like dead logs, flailing about in panic. His vision cracked, causing the confused Ale to fall forwards. A loud shattering sound echoed around him as he curled into a tight ball on the cold, steel grating of the floor. His hearing and vision faded in and out, the only constant source of sound was his rapidly beating heart in his head. He closed his eyes, desperately wishing for the pressure behind his eyes to go away. A warm liquid suddenly flowed through his body, allowing feeling to return to his being. It calmed him drastically and the pressure disappeared. He opened his eyes, conscious thought returning to him. Glass, grey metal, light, HUD flickering, red liquid… Blood. His eyes felt extremely heavy and he closed them, giving in to the darkness that he was so well accompanied with.
A dull tone emanated in Ale’s ears, causing him to stir slightly. A sharp pain flared in his arm but was quickly subdued when Ale relaxed. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked. A bright pulsing message was lit right in front of his face.
Ale collected his thoughts and remembered everything that had happened. His curse, the search, discovering the solution, the mad dash to escape, and the fight with Luna.
‘Luna…’
Ale subconsciously sent the message away and carefully shifted again. He ignored the pain in his arm and struggled to get his arms under him. With a fatigue he hasn’t felt since his days in training he mindlessly pushed himself up into a sitting position. The first thing he noticed was that he felt warm, comfortably so. The exception was a slight coldness radiating from his arm. He glanced down at it and understood the message he was greeted with when he had awoken. There was a fairly large blood encrusted needle sticking out of a medical access terminal in his armor. The only reason he hadn’t bled out was because the enhanced clotting abilities in his blood jammed up the needle and the surrounding area. Ale glanced around himself and noticed that there wasn’t too much of his precious life fluid smeared on his armor and the floor. He was lucky.
One thing did confuse him though. Why was there glass everywhere? He could tell the glass emanated from a source behind him. When he looked over his shoulder he was shocked by the sight. Not only was the glass canopy of the cryo pod shattered, but the whole pod itself was damaged beyond belief. The monitor was cracked and was flashing a static induced red. He could see the restraining cuffs, in the event of an emergency, hanging loosely as he no doubt broke out of them. That was surprising as they were meant to hold down a Spartan as well.
Turning his attention back to his arm Ale grabbed the needle. He sucked in a breath before pulling it straight out. He withheld any outburst and instead clamped his hand over the wound. After half a minute he moved his arm and saw that the small yet ragged wound had a sticky film of blood over it. He gently pushed his under suit over it and watched it seal itself. The built in gel dispensers began disinfecting the wound as Ale mentally commanded the medical terminal in his armor to close. A status report of his armor flared to life in his HUD, reporting green lights and that his environment was currently sealed. He blinked it away and carefully got to his feet. After giving himself a moment to shake off the dizziness he began walking towards the bridge.
As he walked he noticed that the ship seemed to be in the exact same condition he had left it in. Not a single speck of dust was present as the ship’s sterilization filters did their job. He also realized that, even though he was fatigued from his sleep and injury, he walked with a much livelier step. This didn’t mean he was excited necessarily but he certainly felt much lighter. Ale stopped in his tracks as it dawned on him. The curse, it was gone. His mind and soul suddenly felt much freer now that they weren’t subdued. Ale’s smile faltered though. He continued walking while pulling up the mission logs.
BEGIN LOG: PRIMARY SLIP SPACE DRIVES ACTIVE COMMENCING IN 10 SECONDS… … SUCCESSFUL ACTIVATION CRYO POD STATUS… ACTIVE CHECKING OTHER DATA… NONE FOUND END LOG…
BEGIN LOG: SECURITY BREACH IN CRYO BAY INTRUDER UNKNOWN PERFORMING SECURITY SWEEP… CLEAN 17.5 SECONDS OF CONTACT SCANNING… UNKNOWN ANOMALY IN CRYO POD 32 OCCUPANT STATUS… UNDAMAGED INCREASING SECURITY MEASURES END LOG…
BEGIN LOG: SLIP SPACE EXIT IMMINENT REVERTING BACK TO REAL TIME… SUCCESSFUL VENTING EXCESS ENGINE HEAT… … INPUTING PRE-ARRANGED COORDINATES… PRIMARY SLIP SPACE DRIVES ACTIVE COMMENCING IN 10 SECONDS… … SUCCESSFUL ACTIVATION END LOG…
BEGIN LOG: CRYO POD DEACTIVATION !WARNING! FATAL CARDIAC ARRST IMMINENT NOTIFYING CRASH TEAM… ... TEAM UNRESPONSIVE TAKING EMERGENY ACTION… STANDBY... ... VITALS STABILIZED !WARNING! OCCUPANT GOING INTO SHOCK SEDATING… ERROR CHECKING OTHER DATA… NONE FOUND END LOG…
Ale was a little concerned about the ship sensing something that shouldn’t and couldn’t have possibly been there while in slip space. He was a little spooked that it was also supposedly in the cryo bay with him, the anomaly being at his pod. He decided to look into it later as he had more important things to take care of. The doors to the bridge slid open as Ale approached. He stepped inside and headed towards the command chair. He sat down, letting his aching body rest.
“Cass-,” Ale coughed, wincing as he tasted some of the preservative fluid that came from the cryo pod. He cleared his throat and tried again. “Cassandra?”
The nearby holopad flickered to life as the ship’s ‘dumb’ A.I. appeared. “Yes captain?”
Ale rolled his eyes at the title, still disagreeing with the A.I.’s faulty reasoning. “I assume everything went relatively well during our trip and that we’re making good time?”
“Yes sir. We are currently 18 hours from reaching our destination.”
Ale nodded. “Wake me two hours before alright?”
“Yes sir. Goodnight.”
Ale rested his head back against the chair and closed his eyes, thinking of home. He felt a pang of sorrow. How had Luna fared without him? Did she hate him? Ale also realized something else. Twilight and her friends were most likely long gone by now. He remembered wishing her well but in the desperation of the moment he hadn’t taken his words and the situation into full account. The comforting blanket of unconsciousness soon wrapped over him, promising to take his worries away.
Ale paced back and forth across the command deck. If his helmet wasn’t blocking his face he’d probably be biting his nails at this point. Cassandra had awoken him as requested and they were about to exit slip space. In the little amount of time he had between waking up and now he had created a game plan. As best as he figured he would exit slip space, park the ship in orbit, and take a Pelican down to Canterlot. He would then, hopefully, be met by an ecstatic Luna and Celestia where he then would explain everything and rejoice in his homecoming. Simple yes, but Ale being trained as a Spartan always knew that plans never went the way they were supposed to. So he kept his spirits high but hoped to god Luna wouldn’t slap him to the Moon.
“Captain, you’re going to wear a hole in the deck at this rate.”
Ale stopped and stared at the A.I. “Did- did you just say something sarcastic?”
The A.I. then looked confused. Confused? Cassandra then replied, “Sorry sir, I scanned my programming and found an unauthorized sub routine. I have eliminated the bug labeled, ‘Lighten up Ale, XOXO Discord’.”
Ale literally almost cracked his visor with his face palm. “Never mind. How much longer until we are in real time?”
“One minute and 17 seconds sir.”
Ale took a deep breath and calmed his nerves. He stood at parade rest and stared out the forward command view. He watched the swirling purple and blue hues of slip space wrap around the ship as they traveled down an invisible tunnel. A little timer in the corner of his HUD appeared and began counting down to the last few seconds.
Ale smiled as he felt relieved to finally be home. Slip space stretched and became warped as stars began coming into focus while zooming past. The ship decelerated and entered real time, arriving just outside of where Equis was located. Ale’s smile disappeared and a look of panic entered his eyes.
The Moon filled the view screen entirely and was cracked in half, huge chunks of debris filling the space between. A massive asteroid was flying in from the top right corner as the ship’s alarms began wailing. Cassandra suddenly appeared on the holopad.
“Taking evasive ac-,”
*CRASH*
Ale raised his hands as he was launched off the floor and smashed through the forward observation glass, his suit’s alarm blaring. He was rapidly approaching a chunk of moon rock before a piece of his ship slung past him, bashing the rock out of the way. Ale was pelted with debris from the collision as he floated rapidly through the spray of dust. He maneuvered himself so that he was facing towards the ship and immediately pulled his legs into his body, barely avoiding another chunk of ship. The Ember was rocketing towards him while tearing itself apart. Ale fired his thrusters and was able to dodge some of the incoming debris; his suit’s shielding only just recharging. He had just positioned himself to avoid a piece of sheared armor plating when it unexpectedly exploded. Ale was too slow to dodge the piece as it shifted course, smashing into his whole body. Ale was dazed as he flew straight back from it, clipping his head on a stray moon rock. Ale’s body began cart wheeling, his vision fading in and out.
Fighting to maintain consciousness as he was still in grave danger Ale was able to fire his thrusters and stabilize his orientation. Turning towards the planet he saw that he was just about out of the moon’s debris field. He made his body straight as an arrow as he barely skimmed past the last moon rock. Pieces of his ship a fair distance in front of him began heating up as they collided with Equis’s atmosphere. Ale’s suit was rated for atmospheric reinsertion as the gel cranked up in pressure and his armor locked. He noticed that they were going to land in the dark side of the planet so nobody could miss the crashing object. Ale entered the atmosphere face first, his vision obscured by flames. Eventually, the flames died down a bit, allowing Ale to see. The dark ground was still far below him with some of the ship’s wreckage racing towards it. Ale unlocked his armor and repeated the same movements he had performed when he first arrived, spreading his limbs out in a spread eagle formation. He slowed down enough to see the rest of his burning ship to fall past him.
The ship cratered into the ground, a brilliant white fireball obliterating the surrounding countryside. Ale had bled as much air speed as he could, curling up into a ball and reengaging armor lock as he cratered into the ground as well. Ale’s hearing was ringing loudly and his vision was black. After a minute his vision cleared up, revealing the beautiful view of charred dirt. Ale slowly uncurled his body and pushed himself off the ground. After checking his surroundings and ensuring his armor was fine and his weapons were intact Ale double timed it to a ditch. He leapt into it and crouched with his helmet just barely peeking over the edge. He didn’t have to wait long for a large detachment of Lunar Guards to show up, circling the crash and searching for anything of interest.
Ale patiently waited for Luna or Celestia to show up, sitting for almost an hour. He eyed the moon, confused as to why it was split in the first place. Ale checked the time, confirming it twice as it stated that it was two in the evening. Then why was it pitch black outside? Ale decided that he needed to do a little more investigating before making his presence known. He crawled away from the ditch and slinked away into the night.
‘Please, don’t let it be what I think it is. Let her be okay…’
------------------------------------------------
Nightmare Moon stared out from a balcony jutting out from the mighty castle. She was focused on the massive fireballs falling from the sky. She smiled cruelly. It had been 250 years since something interesting happened. The anomaly had entered her domain a few minutes ago, disturbing her from her bath. She watched as it impacted the ground far away, lighting up briefly. Pushing mana into her horn she alerted the Lunar Guards nearest the crash to investigate. Her horn died as she turned and walked back into the castle. Stained windows dictating Equestria’s history passed on either side of her, the most recent windows generating a pleasing mood.
After Luna had once again fallen Nightmare immediately cast a brand new spell upon herself. Predictably, the Elements of Harmony had been wielded against her. The new spell had, instead of deflecting the energy, transformed it into a power source to fuel the spell. With as much power as she needed she was able to separate herself from Luna, effectively becoming an independent organism. Using her new found power, she entrapped the Element bearers and scattered them across the globe, sealing them in their own nightmares. With Equestria’s greatest weapon out of commission it was child’s play to deal with Celestia and Luna. The two princesses had not fought in a long time and were no match for the terror of the night. Thrusting Equestria into eternal night Nightmare enslaved the nation.
One painted pane showed the curve of the planet with the nations of the world marching towards Canterlot. Nightmare was painted against the blood red moon with her wings spread. The next glass pane showed the armies burning, the ground turning to molten rock. Nightmare could still see the hardened lava plains in the distance. The Minotaurs, Zebras, Dragons, Diamond Dogs, and many other creatures no longer existed. Everything became dreadfully simple after that. Her subjects no longer defied her and instead obeyed unquestionably. Several generations of enslavement will make you love your master.
The last pane troubled her though. It showed a dark alien figure standing defiantly, enshrouded in fire. It was said to be the prophecy of a warrior’s return. A silent sentinel. A guardian of Equestria. Nightmare moved on and headed for the courtyard gardens. She stepped outside into the cool night air. The only reason the planet had not become a ball of ice was due to her magic, the moon providing a supernatural warmth to keep the climate stable and allowed plants to grow. That was another reason the ponies resistance had crumbled; realizing that they would all die without Queen Moon’s power.
She passed statues of little importance, a strange creature known as Discord being the only known statue. Nightmare reached a clearing and spotted her target. A tall stone statue that was crumbling slightly with abuse stood proudly in the middle of the clearing. It wore strange armor and emitted an aura of power, strength, and hope. It disgusted Nightmare. Hope was for the weak. Nightmare smiled as she thought what she would do with such an inspiring figure. It was simple really.
“Take away their drive and they simply fail,” Nightmare said aloud. Her fang filled muzzle smiled at the cruel thought. After succeeding with that she would simply take care of the warrior the same way she did Celestia and Luna. She turned and headed back towards the Canterlot castle, intent on finding a very old artifact as it would be needed again.
Ale meticulously climbed up the steep cliff, avoiding slick moss patches. After sprinting across flat plains he reached a jutting mountain range. Since his ship was pancaked and not in orbit any longer Ale did the next best thing; head for high ground. He needed to scope the situation and figure out what was going on and how best to deal with it. Ale flattened himself against the cliff, blending in with the shadows as a Lunar scout flew past meters away from him. Ale let out a breath as the batpony continued flying, oblivious to his presence. During the few hours since the crash it had been like this, a game of hide and seek. Ale did not reveal himself as something was obviously wrong. He had not seen hide nor hair of anybody he knew.
He looked up and continued to haul himself up along the smooth rock face. He neared the edge and when his fingers clasped the edge he swiftly hauled himself up. He pulsed his promethean vision while checking his sectors, satisfied that he was alone. Ale looked out over the valley that spanned far below him. The Everfree forest occupied most of the valley before rolling green plains defied its dominance further on. In the distance Ale could see the dark form of a mountain on which Canterlot rested on. It was hard to make out but after zooming his vision as far as his HUD would allow Ale was able to make out the city. What greeted his sight shocked him. A large purple, almost black dome greeted his vision. It was opaque and covered the whole city. From what he could make out the buildings looked very gothic as well.
Ale had expected some things to change over 300 years but this was something else entirely. Dark thoughts entered his mind and Ale shook his head, refusing to believe his gut instinct.
‘It can’t be. She’s gone, banished, and Luna is too strong.’
Ale noticed a dull light glowing on the horizon, a sense of relieve overcoming him as he waited for the inevitable sunrise.
‘Maybe Celestia just changed the times of day or my monochrome got rattled.’
After a few minutes with no change from the dull glow Ale investigated further. His suit pulled in some of the surrounding air and tested it with a simple onboard chemistry kit. Ale’s jaw dropped when a surprising amount of sulphur tested positive. He looked at the dull glow and realized just how similar it looked to an atomic strike. A powerful one. As far as Ale could tell the ground was razed, a rippling heat was rising into the atmosphere. Ale would have originally assumed that the MAC strike all that time ago could have destabilized the ground and caused volcanic activity but with how strange things were Ale had to debunk that theory. Ale’s shoulders slumped in defeat and he shook his head, accepting the inevitable.
Ale stood still for a long time, staring at the ground as he struggled with his emotions. A thought ran through his head that caused him to laugh dryly.
‘Look at me. A Spartan, an angel of death bred for war and indubitably racing towards his death, feeling. It’s unnatural. I allowed myself to open up to those around me and look at what I’ve done. I’ve failed.’
Ale began to shake slightly, his body reacting the only way it could to these thoughts. His eyes stung as tears pushed themselves out, a soft sobbing sound emanating from the broken Spartan. The chemicals released in this state eventually calmed him. Ale stopped shaking and began breathing deeply, attempting to make sense of all the new feelings rushing through him. He looked up at the night sky, watching the gentle twinkling of the distant stars. His entire life flashed through his head, smiles, frowns, and several more tears gracing his face as it all rushed past. The empty space drew him in, giving him further clarity as all his surroundings faded out of his senses.
He closed his eyes and listened to his heart. It beat steadily, filling him with his precious life fluid. He dug deeper and opened his mind further. A very distant warmth graced his soul, filling him with hope. It was at this point; this moment in time that Ale knew what he must do. His destiny called to him, pulling him onwards. Before Ale knew it his eyes opened and he began running. Within seconds he was over the edge and he began falling towards the distant ground. Ale had not felt like this in a very long time. His mind was clear, his body ready, and his will stronger than ever.
Under the dark cover of the heavy forest Ale trudged along, sweeping the underbrush to the sides of him. None of the creatures that inhabited the Everfree challenged his path, the Spartan seeming too alien to them and an unknown. In the animal kingdom unknown’s were dangerous and better left alone. The flash of distant lights prompted the Spartan to crouch. He continued to walk forward until the underbrush and the trees around him began to thin out. Ale went prone and crawled quietly to the edge of the forest. Peering through a set of ferns Ale could see the town of Ponyville. The once erratic town was a far cry from what Ale was seeing. The buildings were a dull grey brick and were lined up in a strict utilitarian fashion. Hanging lanterns lit up the streets with a dull glow, the light seemed very depressing. Night guards walked in pairs as they patrolled the streets.
With the fiery wreck of his ship blinking in the distance Ale knew better than to attempt to walk the darkened plains, guards no doubt scouting the surrounding and outlying areas for any survivors. With this in mind Ale decided he would have to take a more direct route. He backed away from the town, his form engulfed in shadows. With surprising swiftness and agility Ale quietly jogged through the forest, keeping the edge of it to his left and within sight. It didn’t take long for him to reach a babbling brook. Ensuring that his gear was strapped on him securely Ale slipped into the water and began to swim upstream towards Ponyville.
The high banks kept his head hidden as he exited the forest and followed its curving path. Up ahead he saw a dimly lit cobblestone bridge. A batpony guard was standing on it, swiveling his head side to side every now and then. Ale submerged his head with a muted bubble sound and continued swimming. He headed to the very bottom, depending on the gloomy water to hide his large form. The gloom became brighter as he neared the bridge, the lantern lights struggling to penetrate the rivers depths. A dark shadow passed over him before the light returned, the Spartan confirming that he had passed under the bridge. Even though the light began to fade the further he swam Ale figured it would be safer to continue swimming completely submerged.
A few more minutes of fighting the current brought Ale to the edge of the town. The water stayed fairly dark as the water ran through a channel sided by high cobblestone banks. Ale’s plan to swim through the entire town ground to a halt when he encountered a particularly troublesome obstacle. A very large steel grate greeted his vision in the murky water. Ale inspected it closely and investigated his position. Clinging onto the grate Ale breached the water’s surface carefully; the dark shadow in the water ensuring Ale that he was under a bridge. The grating reached all the way to the top of the low arch in the bridge. The ledge only provided Ale with minimal cover so Ale had to work quickly. He tugged on the steel and found it to be very stout; the metal was sealed into the cobblestone.
Ale couldn’t risk breaking the metal as it would no doubt alert the guard to his presence. Thinking quickly he ducked back under the water and swam straight down along the grate. He reached the river bed and began digging in the sand next to the bars. Ale figured he would just dig his way under them and continue moving up river. He was disappointed when he encountered a cobblestone ledge lining the bottom of the steel. Risking discovery Ale mentally commanded his helmets lights to turn on and peered at the connection. There was no sign of rust or any kind of wear on either of the material. He turned off his lights and thought carefully. Who ever had built this was a genius and took many factors into account.
‘The steel must be enchanted.’
In a combat situation Ale would have taken one of his grenades and detonated it next to the grate. This was not an option now as it would send a plume of water into the air, sealing his discovery. Lacking practical options Ale carefully surfaced again. He had is back to the grate and attempted to see over the high banks along the edges. He immediately ducked when he saw two pairs of guards walking on either side in opposite directions. He listened to the loud clanks of armored hooves on stone approach, pressing himself further into the dark recess of the bridge. The footfalls stopped and Ale listened carefully as the guards began speaking.
“Gold Eye and White Fang are late.”
“I’m sure they will be here shortly. The meteorite has everyone on edge.”
‘Both males…’
“That was no meteorite. Nothing natural has straight lines and markings on it.”
“Are trying to convince me that aliens exist?”
“Maybe not aliens but instead an alien.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Haven’t you taken history?”
There was a moment of silence, Ale taking this moment to move carefully out of the ledges cover and along the bank the guards had stopped on.
“Yeah. Where are you going with this?”
An irritated sigh was heard. “Remember the legend of…” There was a pregnant pause as Ale moved to the cover of a covered boat. “… The Armored Guardian?” Ale struggled to hear the guard’s whisper.
“You know we’re not supposed to mention that!” the other guard hissed.
“I’m well aware. But where else have you heard of strange events like this one occurring from?”
Ale picked up a loose brick and hefted it in his hand, testing the weight.
“You don’t mean…”
“That’s exactly what I mean. Queen Moon is not going to be happy if the prophecy has come true.”
Ale paused, thinking carefully. ‘Prophecy?’ He pushed this to the back of his mind as more important information had taken over. Ale slumped slightly as what he feared was solidified into his mind. Luna had succumbed to the darkness and was now corrupted. Ale shook his head; he couldn’t fail now.
“I wouldn’t want to be her advisors about now.”
“Agreed. Speaking of which where is our relief?”
Ale pictured his mental map of the surrounding area he had gotten a glimpse of and, coiling his arm back, heaved the brick in a very high arch. After a few seconds a loud clattering was heard not too far away in a darkened alley.
“Did you hear that?”
“Yeah. Wait here; I’ll go check it out.”
Ale waited patiently as one set of hooves faded away. Ale climbed up the bank and carefully peered over the edge. The other guard was standing right in front of him, thankfully facing the other way. Ale pulled himself out and stood straight up, his form towering over the guard.
“Psst!”
“Wha…”
SMASH!!!
Ale caught the guard before his unconscious form could clatter loudly to the ground. Ale quickly carried him over to a nearby pile of barrels and crammed the guard into one, the guards face swelling up rapidly. Ale patted the guard and secured a wooden lid over it.
“Hey Crescent, I think it was just a cat!”
Ale vaulted over the edge of the bank and clung to the wall. The hoof falls of the other guard echoed out onto the street.
“Crescent?”
A small piece of the brick wall Ale was digging into broke off and fell into the water and splashed loudly. The other guard approached the edge rapidly.
“Crescent?!”
Ale sprung straight up and clamped his hand over the batpony’s throat and dragged him over the edge with him. Ale pinned the guard to the wall with the hand that was choking him while his other arm held the both of them up out of the water. The guard frantically beat on Ale’s arm, making a terrible gagging sound while his hind legs kicked him, the golden flare of his shield holding steady. The guard’s eyes pleaded with Ale, the light beginning to fade away. When his eyelids closed Ale counted for a few seconds before easing the pressure on his throat. He slipped the unconsciousness guard into the boat and covered it with a tarp. With the guards out of the way and the promise of another group showing up Ale quickly moved into the streets, sticking to the deep shadows.
As he passed by houses he couldn’t help but notice that nobody other than guards was walking about. He figured the ponies must have some sort of curfew. He had just crossed an intersection when a pair of guards rounded the corner up at the next intersection. Ale quickly ducked into an alley and crouched, pinning himself to the wall. After a few seconds Ale concluded that they hadn’t seen him. He waited patiently for the guards to pass him so that he could continue on his way. A shuffling next to him alerted Ale that he was not alone. With lightning speed he turned towards the source and had his combat knife at the ready. A pair of grey eyes peered fearfully out at him from a pile of garbage. The two stared at one another before Ale reached ever so slowly towards the eyes. He shifted some of the garbage and started when a filthy pegasus colt was revealed. The pony had a dark blue coat, or at least Ale thought it was dark blue as the pony didn’t seem to have had a bath in a long time.
Ale held his palm vertically flat to him as he sheathed his knife, attempting to assure the pony that he meant no harm. The clanking of armored hooves in the street prompted Ale to place a finger to his visor, gesturing for the pony to be quiet. The two were silent and unmoving as the guards walked past, oblivious to the two in the dark alley. When the coast was clear Ale felt a light tapping on his arm. He turned around and saw the colt flinch.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt you,” Ale whispered.
The colt watched him carefully for a few moments before nodding.
“What are you doing here?”
A deep sadness filled the colts eyes, eyes that Ale could tell had seen far too much for his age. “Hiding.”
“Where is your family?”
The colt began to shake. “Th- they’re dead,” he all but whispered. “The queen’s guards came for them one day. My m- mother told me to run. Never stop running.”
Ale looked upon the sadden colt and shook his head slowly, rubbing the colt on the back comfortingly. “Shh. It’s going to be alright.”
The colt sniffled a bit before looking back up at Ale. The Spartan was surprised at the amount of hope radiating from the colts previously darkened eyes.
“I know. Now that you’re here everything will be alright!”
“Shh!” Ale peeked out of the alleyway, ensuring that no one had heard the colts outburst. He faced the colt and crouched to his level. “Stay quiet.” The colt nodded in understanding. “Now, what did you mean?”
“You’re the Armored Guardian aren’t you? I saw a statue of you in an old history book my dad-,” the colt stopped and rubbed his eyes. Ale patted the colt, nodding at him in sympathy. The colt looked back up at him. “My dad told me about you. He said one of my great grandparents served with a warrior, a warrior so powerful that all of Equestria’s enemies fled at the mere presence of him. They say he stood over seven feet tall and had the strength of 1,000 earth ponies. His weapons had unimaginable power and were used to protect Equestria and everything we stood for.” The colt looked side to side before leaning closer to Ale. “My dad made me promise to never repeat this but they said his love was so great that you could hear his princess clear across Old Canterlot.” The colt leaned back and continued, “That part always confused me though.”
Ale was stifling a chuckle at the last part of the colt’s explanation. He shook his head and placed a hand on the colt's withers. “Yes, I am the Armored Guardian you speak of.”
“Then you’re here to over throw the queen right? Just like the prophecy says.”
“I don’t know about the prophecy but I do intend on confronting the ones responsible for all that’s going on.”
The colt smiled happily and hugged the Spartan. “Thank you!” the colt exclaimed, careful to keep his voice down.
Loud shouting dragged Ale’s attention away as he let go of the colt and checked the street. A guard was flying along the street, yelling all the while. Four guards came careening from one of the intersections and hailed the flying guard. Ale listened carefully as the flying guard relayed his orders. The colt was tugging on his arm, claiming Ale’s attention once again.
“What’s going on?”
“The guards know I’m here.” Ale looked towards the colt. “They found some… evidence I left behind.”
The colt looked at him in confusion. “Why would you leave something behind?” the colt stated, like it was obvious not to leave something that would make others aware of the object they were seeking.
“It’s complicated.”
Thunderous galloping prompted Ale to once again check the street. He saw a group of batpony guards running up the street with a panicked looking unicorn leading the way.
“Where is he!?”
The unicorn stopped and his horn lit up, a magical compass appearing in front of him. To Ale’s horror it pointed in his direction. The guards began running in the direction the needle pointed.
“Oh no!” Ale looked down at the pegasus. The colt continued speaking, “That’s Search All! His special talent is finding things!”
Ale patted the colt on the head. “Don’t worry.” He checked the guards position and saw them rapidly approaching. “Listen to me very carefully! You stay here and hide. I’ll run out when they get here okay?”
Ale was peering around the corner while he spoke. He felt the colt touch his arm and looked down to see the colt smirking at him. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.” His statement confused Ale but he listened as the colt continued. “See the window ledge up there? Climb up there and wait. You need to stop Search All. Otherwise they will find you anywhere. I’ll be the distraction.”
Ale looked down at the colt and shook his head. “There is no way th-,”
“There’s no time! Don’t worry about me; I've fooled those guards before. You need to stop the queen!” The colt began pushing Ale towards a ladder on the wall. “Go! You’re our last hope!”
Ale looked down at the colt sadly, seeing the tears in the pony’s eyes. Ale slowly nodded before climbing up the ladder. Before the pegasus turned Ale asked him a simple question. “What’s your name?”
The colt smiled at him, “Evening Mist.” A long deceased guard was brought to Ale’s mind; one of the first pony guards he had met and the first to fall in Ale’s war against the changelings. He saluted the numerously great grandfoal. The colt was still smiling as Ale continued climbing.
Within a few seconds Ale was in position and couldn’t find the colt anywhere. The group of guards ran in, the unicorn known as Search All looked around nervously, no doubt a civilian judging by the clothing he was wearing.
“Well? Where did he go?!” a guard demanded.
“Th- the spell said he was in here!” the rather pudgy unicorn responded.
“Check again!”
The unicorn’s horn lit up and the compass appeared again. The unicorn looked on in confusion when the dial began spinning rapidly.
“I- I don’t understand!”
With the guards distracted a sudden blue blur erupted from a pile of trash and bowled the guards over, Evening Mist flying out into the street.
“Ha, ha, ha!” the colt was laughing madly as he rushed away.
The guards stood up and began to give chase before the leader yelled, “Ignore him! The Warrior is the priority!”
“Yes sir!” the guards chorused.
“Your mother’s a whorse!” a distant voice called out from down the street.
“…”
“I should know! She had a nice pair of combat boots!”
“That, that… He’s DEAD!!!”
The guards yelled loudly and ran after the colt, the squad leader followed them, all the while yelling at them to get back in line. Meanwhile, the unicorn was staring at his spell in confusion. It was at this point that realization dawned upon Search All and he looked up ever so slowly. What he saw made his eyes widen in fear.
“Hello.”
CRACK!!!
‘I am the darkness…’
Ale dragged the unconscious unicorn into a pile of trash and continued on his way, moving rapidly as the patrolling guards were now aware of his presence. After slinking a few blocks Ale found the river again. Looking down the street he saw the edge of town within sight. Hearing guards moving into the area Ale ran and dove into the river. He kicked hard and began swimming out of town, intent on following the river through the plains and all the way to Canterlot.
An armored gauntlet broke through the surface of the raging water and clasped firmly onto the bank of river rock. A huge alien form lugged himself out of the water and lied down on the flat rock for a minute.
‘I may be a super soldier, but damn. They should make us swim almost 200 miles upriver for training. The Covenant wouldn’t have stood a chance then.’
Ale pulled himself up to his feet and looked around. He was standing in the mouth of an outcropping in the mountain, a waterfall gushing out from a hole near the ceiling. Ale wouldn’t be surprised if hundreds of thousands of gallons of water was pouring out every minute. He turned away from the clear falling water and headed out of the partial cave. Sticking to the rocky cliff he traversed along it for an hour. A very old NAV marker lit up his HUD and Ale headed towards it. Approaching the cliff he saw the old rusty NAV sticker. Running his hand along the cliff face he took a few steps along it before his hand lurched forward into empty space. Ale smiled as he stepped forward. Ale remembered discovering this natural optical allusion a few years after his marriage, climbing the mountain as he snuck away for a party.
Luna had not been very happy about that.
Ale continued to trek uphill on the ancient path, keeping an eye out for hostiles along the way. His form barely fit in the canyon, the walls on either side stretching far away above him. After a few minutes of walking Ale ran into a dead end. He approached the wall and searched for the first hand hold he had driven into the cliff side. He looked carefully and found that the first few spikes had rusted away completely. The rest above them looked to be in decent condition. Ale couldn’t use his jet pack as it would cause a very loud echo to emanate from the canyon, the sensitive looking ears on the batponies no doubt able to catch the sound. Ale sighed as his situation just got a little bit harder.
The Spartan placed his back to one side of the canyon and his feet on the other. He extended his legs until he wedged himself firmly. Taking step after step he inched his way up the canyon, wincing as his armor made terrible squealing sounds against the rock.
“Maybe using my jet pack would have been a quieter option.”
Ale continued climbing up the wall, wishing he could just shoot himself, both embarrassed and desperate to stop the nails on chalkboard sound he was creating. After what seemed to be a century Ale finally was within reaching distance of the first handhold. He reached up and grasped it firmly. His other hand reached up and grabbed the next one in line. Ale eased his weight of the walls and placed it all in the two metal rods. Ale began to heave himself up when a low crunching noise reached his ears. He stopped and stared at the hand holds. The crunching sound started again when Ale shifted, only this time it didn’t stop. A large crack appeared on the rock, emanating from the first metal rod and zig-zagged up to the next one. Ale once again sighed as the cracking increased in volume.
“Fuck me.”
Ale moved quickly as he launched himself up, rapidly scaling the metal rods as the crack chased him up, the hand holds falling out as a massive rock slide began falling. Ale swore explosively as some of the rods broke instantly or were missing entirely from the cliff face ahead of him, prompting him to use his own momentum and monkey crawl upwards before gravity caught up with him. After a few more moments Ale hurled himself over an outcropping in the rock that emanated from a cave. Ale stood and panted, the crack stopping at the ledge. Ale sighed and took a step, only to stop as the whole outcropping shifted and dropped a few inches violently.
“…”
CRACK!!!
Ale fell onto his belly and crawled as fast as he could as the rock fell, the Spartan struggling to keep up. With a mighty jump off the edge he was able to catch the ledge with one hand. Unfortunately, the rock slide had stirred up quite a bit of gravel and Ale’s hand slipped. With a glint of silver and a violent flash of sparks Ale’s descent stopped. He clung to his combat knife as it was buried deeply into the rock face. Pulling out his smaller security knife Ale began to stab his way up the cliff. He aimed his security knife over the edge and pulled; the steel biting into the loose gravel. Catching a hidden ledge Ale clawed his way onto the remains of the outcropping and shuffled away from the unstable surface.
Ale carefully peeked over the edge and winced as he saw a large dust cloud at the bottom, distant flying specks flying towards it. Ale had to move and fast. Turning he became engulfed in the dark cave. His night vision sufficed for most of the journey, guiding him through the twists and turns of the cave. A dull glow far ahead of him caught his attention. Ale turned off his night vision and investigated. He reached a small cavern and was shocked at the dazzling display in front of him. Large crystals protruded from the walls and ceiling of the cavern. The shone with an unnatural light, magic no doubt the cause of it. The last time the Spartan had walked through here the crystals were incredibly small, only just beginning their growth cycle.
The space was damp, very much so. That and magic must have accelerated their growth. Ale found them rather beautiful and vowed to come back one day. Pushing onwards he exited the cavern and reached his objective. A hole in the wall to his left opened up to a rather disgusting sight. A dark, sludgy river oozed along a natural channel in the cave floor. Ale followed the rock until he reached the tail end of the Canterlot sewage system. Thankful that his air was only recycled throughout his suit and not the horrendous stench of the sewage Ale traversed the cobblestone maze.
Checking street grates every now and again he eventually made his way to the castles edge. The sewage tunnel had a large steel grate blocking his path. Knowing that breaking through it by force was still not an option Ale turned towards a street grate. He peered through it for a few minutes, waiting for a guard patrol to go past so that he knew he could safely get out without being spotted. When almost 30 minutes passed Ale became confused. Surely there were patrols in the capital city of Equestria?
Deciding to take a gamble Ale grabbed the grate and pushed it upwards, sliding it out of place and along the curb. Ale reached through and attempted to pull himself through. He was able to twist his head through before his flared back armor wedged itself. Ale once again sighed as he pulled with all his strength, crumbling the cobblestone around him. Ale slipped out of his newly made hole and didn’t bother trying to cover it up, instead deciding to sprint for the nearest alley way. He slid into cover and checked his surrounding vectors. Again, every direction was clear.
‘Who the hell runs this place?’
Ale ran across the street and dived into the bushes lining the castle wall. He slinked along them until he reached the guard house and castle gate. He peered out from the bushes and observed the lone guard standing in the entrance. He pulled out a laser mount for a rifle and aimed it out of the bush and near the guard’s feet. He turned it on and jiggled the pointer around, causing the red dot on the ground to move about erratically. This caught the guard’s attention and he stared at it in confusion. Ale moved it forward and watched as the guard followed it, attempting to stomp on it. Ale almost laughed out loud at how stupid the guard was, reminding the Spartan of a cat or dog. He messed with the guard for a few more seconds, placing the dot on the guard’s body. The stallion shrieked and began punching himself.
“…”
Ale was literally flexing his muscles painfully to prevent himself from laughing, causing some painful cramps throughout his body. If Ale had enough time he probably could have made the stallion beat himself unconscious. Deciding to cut to the chase Ale brought the dot to the edge of his bush. The stallion glared at the dot with an unmasked rage. He charged at the dot, galloping with everything he was made of. Ale yawned as he simply extended his arm through the bush. The stallion yelped as he as he struggled to stop; only to fail and run head first into Ale’s stationary fist of doom. Ale cursed and shook his hand.
The stallion was pretty thick headed.
Ale put the laser mount away and made his way into the courtyard. Moving along bushes, stone walls, and fountains Ale kept himself hidden from the sentries of the castle. He found himself under a dark balcony, Ale looking side to side before leaping up to it. He pulled himself over the edge and walked quietly though the darkened room. He opened the wooden door on the other side and peered into the bright hallway. There were sentries posted throughout the hallway, shooting down the idea of traveling through it. Ale closed the door and looked around the room. It was an unused maid room by the looks of it. Ale found a small door on the other side of a large dresser. Ale opened it and found the numerous hallways the castle staff used to get around. Ale glumly noted that it was just as narrow as the canyon he had encountered. Shaking his head he squeezed himself in and began walking.
After getting lost numerous times and surprisingly encountering no one Ale finally reached what he believed to be Luna’s room. He cracked the door open an inch, not knowing what he would find on the other side. He opened it further when he discovered it to be dark and empty of occupants. Ale stepped through and found dusty white sheets covering the furniture. Ale glanced around the room carefully, looking for any sign or clue of Celestia’s whereabouts. He would need her help to change Nightmare Moon and get Luna back. Ale walked around the room and began pulling the sheets off of the objects they were hiding. The bed was unmade on Luna’s side of the bed while Ale’s side was untouched. It looked like it hadn’t been touched since he left judging by the amount of dust on it. Ale investigated Luna’s writing desk and discovered a cluttered mess. Many of the documents were messily written and some of the ink was blotched. Ale frowned sadly as he guessed why it was blotched. The fire place had ashes several hundred years old and there was a peculiar mirror he had never seen before tucked against the far wall.
There was one more sheet pinned on the wall. Ale remembered it to be a portrait of Luna and the soldier cuddling by a lake. Ale reached up and yanked it off. The square frame was still there but instead of a painted picture a swirling black mass filled his vision. Ale backed up quickly and reached for his rifle as the black mass jumped from the picture and swirled around Ale. The Spartan lashed out with the butt of his rifle but only passed through it harmlessly. His shields began draining rapidly as the energy was consumed. Ale was caught off guard as his over shield popped quickly and attempted to roll way.
…
His body was refusing to move. Ale panicked and fought with all his strength to move. A painful cold flooded in through his Neural Interface. The biting cold ripped through his body, Ale wanting to scream on the outside but unable to.
‘Hmm… You are quite a piece of work.’
Ale heard a voice in his head, causing Ale to begin struggling mentally and will the intruder away.
‘Be still!’
Ale roared mentally as his body felt like it was being burnt by plasma on the inside, the pain literally eating its way outwards.
‘You will listen, or I will kill you this very instant.’
Ale continued to struggle, managing to unclench his hands and drop his rifle. He attempted to reach up and yank off his helmet to manually pull out the NI core. It would be very painful but it would stop the invader. His arm froze and Ale began to scream out loud as he felt muscles begin tearing and internal organs twisting.
‘You are strong, but not strong enough.’ Darkness began creeping in on Ale’s vision, red spots flaring everywhere and white flashes appearing with his heartbeat. ‘I can make this stop. All you have to do is accept my proposition. I promise that you’ll find it very tempting.’
‘NO!’
Ale realized that he was choking on his own blood, his cough reflex failing.
‘You seek Luna. I can give her to you. But you must cease struggling and listen!’
Ale literally felt his heartbeat slow and lacked the will and strength to fight anymore. Releasing his fight he crumbled to his knees. The cold disappeared and Ale breathed heavily, coughing blood up. After a moment he slowly looked up. Luna, or what used to be Luna was standing in front of him. She looked down at him with a cruel smile. Ale slowly reached for his combat knife, his muscles screaming in protest.
“Ah, ah, ah!” Ale froze when he began feeling the onset of paralysis again. “I thought you promised to play nice?”
Ale looked at the dark alicorn and spoke lowly. “What do you want?”
“It’s not about what I want, but more about what you want.” Ale looked at her in confusion, his silence causing Queen Moon to huff irritably. “Luna. You want Luna.”
“What are you talking about? You are Luna. She’s a part of you.”
“Hmm, I think not. You see I kind of got my own body. Luna is far from here.”
Ale lurched forward, attempting to get up from his knees. “What did you do to her!? Where is she!?”
“Stop.” Ale once again froze, his rage burning deeply within him. The Nightmare walked up to him and peered into his visor. “I’ll give her to you. I don’t need anything from you in return.”
Ale stared right back at her, disbelieving every word she had to say. “I don’t believe you.”
“What does your heart say?”
Ale recoiled at her response. ‘My heart?’ Even though Ale didn’t trust her past the tip of his nose he couldn’t help but draw attention to his heart. It was beating rapidly, longing for its partner. Ale watched a smile worm its way onto Nightmare’s face. She stepped away from him and her horn lit up, sending a beam of darkness into the mirror by the wall. It became a swirling portal, the cosmos clearly visible in the swirling mass.
“She is there along with her sister. You may go to them.” Ale stood painfully, his body creaking slightly. He picked up his rifle and held it on standby. “Kill me and the portal closes, locking your loved one away forever.
Ale’s heart was pulling towards the portal, feeling his partner’s soul licking at his. The Spartan stepped towards the portal and looked at the alicorn.
“Wherever I end up, I will return from. Know this, no matter where you hide or where you run I will find you, and I will kill you.”
The alicorn looked at him smartly before replying, “I look forward to it.”
With those parting words Ale stepped into the portal, intent on finding Luna.
Gentle vibrations traveled up Ale’s legs before his body mass began dissipating the waves. Harsh lighting filled his vision before he mentally commanded his HUD to polarize further. He shifted slightly and a dull clang filled his hearing. He looked down and saw the steel grating of the floor. Looking back up he turned his head left and right, checking his surroundings. He was in a small room with a single bed, sink, shower, and desk filling the space. There was a large storage locker and a huge titanium safe located on the wall as well. The room, quite standard in all UNSC ships, still seemed… unfamiliar to Ale; and yet he knew this was his room. The screen on his tac pad on the desk displayed his personal user settings as well as his name, rank, and insignia.
The environment confused Ale, the super soldier attempting to remember how he got here. A sense of belonging flooded through him and he relaxed. What was he thinking? Of course he was supposed to be here. He vaguely remembered recent battles with the Remnants of the Covenant. He didn’t give them much thought as a strange sense of carelessness washed over him if he tried to remember the battles in detail. Shrugging he made to step forward before a rush of hot air blew through him. He recoiled in further confusion. His armor’s environment controls read no changes and reported full system operation. The heat smoldered into his core and he felt a blanket of warmth cover him, comforting his troubled thoughts. Ale shook off the mental confusion and blamed it on his aging body.
He stepped towards the safe and instinctively input the code. The side light on the lock beeped and turned green while the door swung open with a soft hiss. The back wall of the safe had particularly shaped cubbies, Ale realizing they were storage compartments for his individual armor pieces. Deciding to leave his armor on he closed the safe and checked the locker, finding it to be storage for his weapons that he was currently equipped with. There also was a cleanly pressed dress uniform and a few other odd trinkets located in a side compartment set aside for such objects. He closed the locker and stood in the center of the room; a little lost as to what he should do. Shrugging he sat at his desk and began cleaning his weapons.
“Shut your trap Brenden and lay some suppressing fire!”
“Yes sir Sergeant James sir!”
*RATATATATATATATAT… RATATATATA…*
“Where the hell is Sean at!?”
*BANG*
“Rocket down!”
“... Never mind, I found him.”
“Move up, double time!”
Twelve dark shapes darted out from cover and began sprinting through the black smoke that filled the air. They ran towards an old mining outpost, the rusty complex providing the Insurrectionists the perfect real estate in the surrounding area. The troops were breathing heavy as they stormed through the main gate, instinctively taking cover behind scattered equipment and low walls in the small courtyard. Not a moment too soon as a LAAG opened up from a shrouded window located high up on the cliffside.
“Fucking predictable.”
“Stow it Sean!”
“The feck’ did I do? Brenden said it!”
“And you would instigate it!”
The chain gun continued to rain lead heavily around the courtyard, spraying across the cover the ODSTs were hiding behind. Whenever one of the highly trained soldiers popped up from hiding the chain gun would sweep back in their direction, forcing the ODST back into the dirt.
“Call in the calvary!”
“Shut up James! She’s working on it! You just focus on not getting killed!”
“Aha! You do want me around!”
“I’m going to kill you!”
“Love you too Chuck!”
“You two are going to be on latrine duty for the rest of the campaign if you don’t shut your pie hole and fire on that HMG!”
“Yes sir Chronos sir!”
The heavy gun was steaming visibly, the gunner neglecting to give the overheating weapon a break. A slight shimmer appeared behind the gunner before falling completely. The intimidating Spartan was never seen as she raised her magnum and placed it on the back of the gunners head. The rebel froze, the machine gun whirring down as he released the triggers.
“Lights out, asshole.”
The weapon reported loudly while a bright flash briefly flickered into existence. The gunner slumped to the ground as the Spartan put her weapon away. She stepped up to the window and vaulted out, falling two stories. She landed with a loud thud, her legs folding into a crouch to dissipate her momentum. She stood up and strolled towards the assembling ODSTs with a visible swagger.
“All clear,” she reported as she joined the group, her smirk practically oozing through her golden visor.
“Remind me never to get on her bad side.”
“You better not Alex, her backside is mine.”
“You couldn’t handle her Rico.”
“And how would you know?”
“Call it, a woman's intuition.”
Rico stared at her before replying in Spanish. Chuck burst into laughter, the only other member in the squad who could understand the Hispanic’s native language.
“What did he say!?” Chuck just continued laughing, provoking Lilly further. “I’ll beat that ghastly taco language out of you if you don’t tell me chump!”
Chuck’s laughter dried up. “What did you call me?” he asked in dead seriousness.
Lilly smiled, knowing full well that she had hit a nerve. “What? Got a problem with me calling you chump, chump?"
“Why you-”
“Chuck, Lilly, can it. We don’t have time for your squabbles.” The two ODSTs quieted down as the imposing form of their Captain approached them. “Now, if you’re quite finished we need to finish clearing out the compound. Erika, did you search the building on your way to the gunner?”
“Uh… well, not really.”
“... Ha! She messed up! You owe me 20 credits!” Brenden said, gesturing for Lilly to cough up her debt. The Private First Class pulled out her knife and began sharpening it along her shoulder pauldron.
“You’re not getting out of this one.”
Lilly then scratched her armor with the knife, producing a terrible squealing before she finished her stroke, her knife held in front of her as she tilted her head inquisitively.
“... Eh, maybe some other time then.”
A few of the group chuckled before straightening up, a certain eyebrow lift from a woman with her hands placed on her hips evoked respect from her troops. She shook her head before giving out orders.
“Ryan, Erika, clear out the docks. Watch the cliff edge though, there could be mines. Eton, go with Brenden towards the motorpool. The rest of you, rally on me. We’ll clear out the main building. Move out!”
The soldiers began splitting up and headed towards their respective objectives. The black armored Spartan IV looked at her assigned companion and sighed. “Of course I’m stuck with the rookie.”
A voice called over the radio, “What was that?”
“Nothing sir!”
“That’s what I thought. Besides, he could use the experience from a veteran like you.”
The comm clicked dead before she could reply. She looked towards the oblivious Private who was eyeing the docks. She sighed again before pushing past the Private. “Listen up kid! You stick on my ass like flies on stink and maybe you’ll live through this.”
“I was wondering what that smell was.”
Erika smiled before turning towards Ryan. “I’ll give you that one rookie, but if you do it again I’ll break your nose.”
The rookie mumbled, continuing the short trek towards the docks with the Spartan. They arrived within two minutes, the tall Spartan halting. “Movement, watch your sectors.”
The Spartan held her SAW out in front of her and swept side to side, checking the corners of scattered crates rapidly. There were storage sheds to their right, a cliff on their left, and a massive warehouse in front of them.
*Static* “Find anything yet?”
“No sir. We’re moving towards the warehouse.”
“Keep me posted.”
Ryan checked his SMG before following the Spartan into the building. The room was incredibly gloomy, shafts of light cutting through the dust filled air from ventilation windows located near the ceiling. Both Erika and Ryan were unbothered from the dust as their suits were sealed and provided them with filtered air. This was not the case for someone else as a distant cough echoed throughout the room. Both soldiers froze, their weapons pointed to one of the catwalks up high.
“Cover me,” Erika said over the comm.
“Yes ma’am.”
The Spartan began moving slowly in a combat crouch through the room towards the steel staircase leading up to the catwalks above, keeping watch for any ambushes along the way. She stopped when she heard a faint sound coming through the floor beneath her. She listened to the sound as it slowly increased in intensity. Ryan stopped looking up at the catwalk and listened intently. His eyes suddenly widened as the noise increased drastically.
“MOVE!” The Private began running towards the confused Spartan. Erika was about to command him to stay when the crate next to her suddenly exploded outwards. Her form was brightly lit up in white light as 3.28 tons slammed into her. She crashed through the windshield and crushed the driver, causing the Warthog to accelerate rapidly. Ryan watched in horror as the ‘Hog’ smashed through the weakened wall of the warehouse and become airborne off the edge of the cliff, taking the Spartan with it as well.
*Static* “Private! What the hell is going on!?”
Ryan was about to respond before weapons fire began pouring over his location. Ryan instinctively leaped towards a nearby crate and crouched behind it, firing blindly around the corner.
“Ryan!? Answer me!”
“It’s an ambush! They took Erika off the cliff with a goddamn Hog!”
“Fuck! We’re coming to you! Hang on!”
Ryan’s SMG clicked, signalling that the magazine had run empty. Swift as lightning, he dropped the spared mag and swapped it for a fresh one. Breathing deeply, he popped out of cover and sprayed the top of the crates the rebels were hiding behind. He quickly dropped behind cover as they in turn returned fire. The clattering of boots on steel echoed above him and his stomach dropped. He quickly began shooting up at the darkened maze of catwalks. He smiled when he heard screaming and turned his attention back towards the crates.
------------------------------------------------
“Movement!”
The squad dropped onto their knees and fired down the path, dropping the rebels that were moving into a flanking position on the warehouse.
“Let’s go people! We don’t need another fatality today!”
The squad hustled to their feet and began sprinting towards the crumbling building, heading straight towards the flashes emanating from the open doorway. They stacked up on the either side of the door.
“Ryan, what’s your status?”
*Heavy breathing* “Running low on ammo! I can’t see where they’re coming from!”
“Corporal, sitrep!”
Corporal Eton peeked around the doorway and activated his VISR.
“Unknown number of hostiles, filing in from a hidden entrance on the floor and the catwalks above.”He waited a second before continuing. “Damn it. Ryan is right in the middle of it. He’s taken cover behind a crate.”
“Move in on my mark. 3…”
The clicks of magazines being secured and armor checked filled the air quietly.
“... 2…”
The ODSTs slowed their breathing and positioned their weapons at the ready.
“... 1… Go, go, go!”
The soldiers filed in quickly through the opening, firing their weapons to cover their entrance. They moved from crates to other pieces of debris, covering each other with suppressing fire as they moved closer to the Private.
“Reaching objective in 5…”The Squad slammed into the crate, halting their momentum.
“Rico, check him!” the Captain ordered.
Corporal Rico dropped back into cover before crouch walking over to Ryan. “Have you been shot?”
“No. I think I had a heart attack though.”
“Well, nothing I can do about that. If you need a band-aid I have plenty of those.”
Ryan stared at Rico for a few seconds before shaking his head. “N-no thanks. I’ll just suck it up.”
Rico patted him on the shoulder. “Good man!” He turned and headed back towards his post. “Good as new Captain!”
“Excellent! Now let’s give our new friends a warm helljumper welcome shall we?”
“Oo-rah!”
The sound of gunfire echoed louder trifold as the squad all began firing at once. The screams of the rebels signalled their success as they cut down the enemy with the utmost efficiency. It didn’t take long for the highly trained squad to eliminate their enemies, only spurts of gunfire signalling the execution of a few stragglers. The squad relaxed and began checking themselves for injury or damage to their equipment. The Captain walked up to the hole in the ground and turned on her tactical lamp. The hole had a large sloped ramp leading into an underground weapons cache. She shook her head in disgust before turning towards her squad.
“Chronos, I want that hole filled 2 minutes ago!”
“Yes sir!” The soldier ran over to the hole and disappeared into the depths. The Captain turned towards her troops.
“Anyone hurt?”
“No sir!”
She approached the rookie and crouched next to his sitting form. “What happened?” she asked gently, the squad quieting down as they witnessed a rare event.
The Private refused to look her in the eye as he responded, “We heard something up above. Erika went to investigate while I covered her approach. There was sound coming from beneath us. Next thing I know those fucking bastards took her off the cliff.” The rookie finally looked up into her visor. “I-I tried to warn her. I’m sorry Captain. I accept full responsibility for losing a key asset to the team.”
Her smile was hidden behind her helmet as she shook her head. “It’s not your fault Private. You did what you could and you did it excellently. Things happen in war that we cannot control. I selected you for this squad for a reason Private and I’m not about to have High Command questioning my decision because of a faulty soldier. Get up before Erika comes back from the grave and kicks your ass for feeling sorry.”
The rookie gave a muffled chuckle before taking the Captain’s outstretched hand and lifting himself up. She patted him on the back and let the squad surround him and give their support briefly. She turned towards James, “Sergeant, radio in Fleet. Objective complete. One casualty. Lieutenant Erika Steiner.”
James glumly nodded before attempting to reach Fleet. The Captain turned around in time to see Staff Sergeant Chronos jogging out of the hole. “Explosives set Captain.”
“Good work. Alright Shadow, time to ditch this place. We got places to be!”
“Oo-rah!”
The squad began to move before a brief flash of light from the rafters caught their attention. A loud bang resonated throughout the room, one of the soldiers falling to the ground with a clatter.
“Sniper!”
“Get to cover!”
The soldiers hid behind cover, attempting to hide every part of their body.
“Who was hit!?” the Captain demanded.
“Rico!”
“Rico can you hear me!?”
The form on the ground didn’t respond and was silently still.
“Fuck! Sean, where’s he at!?”
“The rafters, 11 o’ clock!”
“Can you take him?”
“You bet your mother’s arse you can. Sally’s on the job.”
Before anybody could move gunfire erupted from all around them. “Move!” The squad sprinted as quick as they could, moving to a nearby control room on the ground level.
“They’re flanking all around us sir!”
“Well start firing and show them we mean business!” Every trooper popped out of cover quickly, fired, and ducked back into safety. They would shuffle slightly to either side of the position they had just fired from to attempt avoiding the sniper. It was at this point that Private Daniel noticed movement from Rico.
“Captain! It’s Rico!”
The Captain pulled out a fiber optic camera from her wrist mounted tac pad and fed the end around the corner of the building. She could see the numerous flashes from the rebel soldiers coming from all directions. She zoomed in on the form of Rico and smirked. She watched as he slowly moved his hand towards his satchel, a brief glimpse of purple causing her to smile wider.
“Covering fire!” the Captain yelled, the troopers acting upon her command instantly and without question. They all popped out of cover and fired from the crumbling control room. Rico rolled onto his back and yelled at the top of his lungs.
“Say hello to my little friend!” The tell tale sound of a Needler rang out over the explosive resonance of ballistic weaponry. The deadly shards of pink doom sought out their target, hiding high up in the rafters. A scream followed by an explosion with red rain signaled the end of the sniper.
“The Covenant are here?!”
“We gotta get outta here! Retreat!”
“You’re not in command! The Covenant are not here! Keep firing on the damned UNSC!”
Rico took the rebels momentary distraction and hauled himself to his feet. He sprinted towards the control, cussing obscenities in Spanish as bullets peppered after his wake. He didn’t take the time to run around the side and through the door, deciding to instead launch himself through one of the few unbroken windows closest to him. The Captain retracted the camera and grabbed Rico’s armor, hauling him towards her behind cover.
“You damn fool! Why didn’t you respond to us!?”
“Well if somebody,” he turned towards Sean, “hadn’t been so preoccupied making out with their weapon the sniper would have been taken care of.” He tucked his plundered Needler away. “But no, I gotta take a round in the back and almost cough up my cajones.”
“I’ll make sure Sean is doing his job properly next time,” the Captain humored Rico. “Can you fight?”
“Yes sir!” The Captain nodded and released Rico, allowing him to begin firing his own weapon. The Captain checked her rifle before standing and firing alongside her team. These were her kids, and she was responsible for them. You don’t get assigned to Shadow, Shadow picks you.
The team continued fighting for almost 10 minutes non-stop before trouble reared its big ugly head once again.
“I’m running low on ammo!”
“We all are Alex! Only shoot at what you can see!”
The squad slowly came to the realization that they may not make it out of this alive. The grim soldiers continued to fight, burning through their ammo reserves.
*Click, click, click*
The Captain tossed her rifle down and raised her sidearm, popping off headshots as quickly as she could. The brick wall next to her suddenly exploded, showering her armored form debris. She quickly rolled away from the hole and continued to fire. A few seconds later the rebels ceased firing.
“Why’d they stop?”
“Shhh!” The Captain slowed her breathing and opened her senses to her surroundings. She noticed that there was a subtle vibration in the floor. It was slowly becoming more prominent, the rest of the team suddenly noticing it as well.
“I would know that sound from anywhere,” Ryan reported as noise began echoing off the rocks outside of the warehouse. The Captain nodded in agreement.
“Tank.”
The team instantly began preparing any grenades or explosives they had available on them.
“The Innies aren’t firing because they believe that a tank will stop us.”
*BOOM*
A shrill echoing noise screamed through the air before one of the walls in their cover exploded.
“Everyone, cover Chronos and James! Give them your explosives. Chronos, now would be a good time to detonate the hole!”
“Yes sir!”
The 66 year old Staff Sergeant pulled out a detonator and, on the Captains command, detonated the C-4 in the tunnel. The fiery column shot into the air, burning a few Innies hiding in the rafters. Their burning bodies ran along the catwalks, a few falling over the safety rails. The Scorpion turned its attention to the explosion, giving the team it’s window.
“And I thought I was the rookie.”
“Covering fire!”
Shadow Squad stood and fired on the Insurrectionists with the dredges of their ammo. Chronos and James ran out of cover and sprinted for the tank with all their might, the Staff Sergeant outpacing his younger comrade. Thier run was interrupted when the turret of the tank turned towards them and opened fire, forcing them to jump into a ditch. The round slammed into the ground nearby, tossing gravel over the soldiers.
“Shit! We are so fucked!”
“Captain! We are no go copy?”
“... Is there anything you can do?”
“Negative! We’re pinned down!”
“Stay put! I’ll see what I can do!”
The Captain looked at her team, most of them firing their sidearms as they didn’t have any other ammunition. A few members of the team looked at her and nodded, knowing full well that they weren’t throwing in the rag yet.
“It’s been an honor Captain.”
“Oo-rah!” the team chorused.
The Captain smiled and shook her head. “What are we!?”
“Helljumpers!”
“Where do we come from!?”
“The Shadows!”
“See you in Hell!”
“Feet first!”
The ODSTs were hopped up on adrenaline and ignored the projectiles impacting near their bodies. They roared mightily and fired as their very lives depended on it. Everything slowed down, the battle frozen in time; explosions and bullets became visible for a split second. The Captain had a strange sense of deja vu, a distant warmth sparking slightly within her. Her eyes widened as memories came rushing past. The warmth was very tentative, almost non existent.
‘Ale?’
Time sped back up into real time as static burst through the radio.
“I don’t believe it! Captain! It’s the Lieutenant!”
The Captain shook her head, cursing her bodies misgivings. She couldn’t be distracted by her false desires. She placed her hand on the side of her helmet. “What do you mean!?”
“It’s Erika! She’s- oh shit!”
The Captain didn’t receive a response as Chronos and James witnessed the Spartan running at the Scorpion like a bull. The driver saw her coming out of the corner of her eye and attempted to turn the turret towards her. The tank was too slow as the Spartan simply jumped and landed on the tank with a loud clang, slightly denting the metal beneath her. She stood directly over the cabin of the tank and stared through the orange glass at the driver.
“Enjoy the view, it’s the last thing you’ll ever see!”
With each leg firmly planted on either side of the cabin she punched through the glass and grabbed the rebel by his shirt collar. With one swift pull she yanked him out of the tank and threw him clear over the cliffs edge, the rebel screaming the whole way down. It was a long, long drop. The Spartan climbed into the cabin and turned the turret back towards the warehouse. She steered the tank forward and began mercilessly firing into the rebel groups. The squad got up and spread out, intent on cleaning up anything she missed. The tank soon fell silent as it’s scanners didn’t show anymore hostiles.
The squad rallied up on the tank and watched as Erika pulled herself out. The Captain approached her and smiled. “It’s good to see you.”
Erika did not respond, prompting the Captain to frown. “Lieutenant?”
The super soldier fell over into a crumpled heap, the Captain getting the full view of her status. Her armor was heavily dented and it looked like one of her legs was bent slightly.
Rico was immediately over her, plugging a tacpad into a port in her armor. “Captain! She’s going into shock! Her body sustained heavy injuries! She has a collapsed lung, internal bleeding, one fractured femur, and a broken tibia and fibula! Her armor is severely warped by her broken leg!”
The Captain turned towards Sergeant James. “Get Fleet Comm now! We need medvac!”
“Sir, yes sir!”
The Captain crouched next to Erika and looked at Rico. “Is there anything you can do?”
“Morphine. I can give her morphine. Other than that, she’s out of my hands. You need a tech squad to get her armor off!”
“Do what you can.” The Captain looked towards Erika and grabbed her hand. “You will make it through this you hear me!? Answer me soldier!”
Erika turned her head slightly, looking at her Captain. “I-I’ll be back r-right? They’ll patch m-me up and send me back out, right?” The Captain nodded, squeezing her hand harder. “D-don’t go back out there w-without me.”
The Captain turned towards her onlooking team. “Daniel, Brenden! Carry her out, carefully!”
The two ODSTs nodded before gently grabbing either side of her. They picked her up and shuffled out the door, Rico attaching a syringe box to a medical port to Erika’s armor.
“You’ll be okay Erika,” Brenden said. “After all, we still have to prank the Captain, eh?” Erika gave a weak chuckle before coughing.
“Set her down here!”
They did just that and stood by incase they were needed again. The rest of the squad set up a defensive perimeter around them. They had technically just cleared out the area but this was a war zone.
“This shouldn’t have happened.”
“You’re damn right Eton. Just be proud that you took out a rebels weapon cache. You saved lives today.”
“Yeah, I still don’t feel like I did.”
The Captain silently agreed, turning towards the sound of a Pelican dropship.
---------------------------------------------
A low beeping emanated from the tacpad on Ale’s desk, causing him to wake up abruptly. He clambered out of bed, his armor clicking and the bed groaning from his weight. The gel layer in his suit was much more comfortable than the UNSC issued mattresses. He approached his desk and read the new message waiting for him.
‘Spartan 02-05,
Report to meeting room 7 for briefing.
Commander Typhoon, UNSC’
Ale acknowledged the message and turned his tacpad off. He slipped his helmet on and walked out of his room, the door sliding shut behind him. He walked down the hall like he had done it hundreds of times, heading down several decks until he reached the middle of the ship. He stopped at a door marked ‘Briefing Room 7’ and opened it. Ale saw a large squad of ODSTs and a ship officer in the room. The officer was sitting in one of the chairs by the long table while the rest of the ODSTs stood or leaned against the wall. One of the ODSTs was bend over the table and in the officer's face, and by the sounds of it disagreed with something.
Ale stopped, the door closing behind him. The two were still arguing and didn’t pay any attention to him, it was the stares of over a dozen ODSTs that made him wary. They weren’t hostile persay but they did ooze judgement. Whatever was going on, Ale didn’t like it.
“For the last time, Captain, there are no other Spartans aboard and High Comm wants your team equipped with one.”
The officer stood up, prompting the Captain to stand up straight as well.
“I don’t care what they say! I handpick my team! You got that? I am not going to have an un-,” the Captain froze when she looked over and saw Ale.
“Ah, Chief Petty Officer. This is Captain Luna of Shadow Squad. She’ll be your new CO. Now, if you’ll excuse me I have other duties to attend.” Ale stepped out of his way and let him through. Ale turned his attention back to the Captain. She was… interesting to say the least. She had a strange dye of blue in her hair and her eyes were a striking cyan. Must have been some sort of mutation. She was also staring at him with an intensity that made Ale very uncomfortable. The rest of her team was staring at the Captain, looking a little unsettled as well.
Ale stepped forward and saluted. “Spartan 02-05 reporting for duty ma’am!”
The ODSTs quickly jerked their heads toward Ale, some of them smiling. After a few seconds their smiles turned into confused frowns as they looked towards their Captain again.
“Uh, Captain? You alright?”
Luna blinked and closed her mouth with a click. She kept her eyes on Ale but turned her head slightly towards her team. “I’m just fine Sean.”
She turned full on to Ale and nodded, allowing him to drop his hand. “Well, welcome to Fireteam Shadow, Shadow Squad, The Creeping Black, whatever you want to call it. We have been called many things.” She twirled her finger in the air and began moving towards the door, the ODSTs placing their helmets on and following after her. She motioned for Ale to stick beside her as she continued down the hall.
“You will refer to me as sir, not ma’am. One thing you need to know is that in this squad, rank does not matter. You could be a Private for all we care. We are in this together and I expect results. High Comm thinks that you will be the perfect replacement for our last Spartan.” She stopped and stared through Ales visor, her height terrifyingly similar to his. “I will be the judge of that. You read?”
“Yes sir.”
“Excellent. She opened a door nearby and her troops filed past. “Welcome to your new home.” Ale peered through the doorway, his sight greeted by a small hangar. Checkerboarded drop pods consisted of most of the space. Along one wall there were weapon racks and storage containers. There were several heavy steel doors aligning one wall, Ale spotting two bunks in one open door. He turned and looked at the Captain.
“I already hav-,”
“Someone will grab your possessions. If you’re going to be a part of my team you will eat, sleep, and live with my team. Is that a problem?”
Ale eyed the Captain carefully, sizing up just what he was getting into. Her eyes stared into his, Ale noticing a careful guard hiding what she really was. He nodded before replying, “Yes sir.” He stepped through the doorway and prepared for the long road ahead of him.
The door slid shut, hiding Ale from Luna’s view. She nodded towards a passing Marine and walked quickly down the hall. She reached a bathroom and stepped inside. After checking the stalls to make sure they were empty she approached the sink and turned on the faucet. She splashed cold water on her face and began shivering violently.
“Calm down Luna. Get a hold of yourself. It’s not him. It can’t be. It’s just a Spartan who just so happens to share his armor design, colors, insignia, service number … voice…” Luna slumped against the wall and began crying quietly, tears that were a long time coming. She stifled her sobs and beat her fists on the wall. Painful memories flashed through her mind, causing her further grief. She missed her home; she missed him.
Sniffeling loudly she stood back up and straightened her hair. She adjusted her armor and wiped her eyes. Staring into the mirror she nodded before exiting the bathroom. She headed towards the nearest secluded tacpad she could think of. Which just so happened to be the now empty room of her most recent recruit. She had a mystery to solve.
“Uhg, what now?” The lump in the bed stirred, a hand slipping out from beneath the covers. The hand waved around until it finally landed on the nearby desk, carefully feeling out for the glowing tacpad. Making contact, the tacpad was picked up and brought over to the bed. A feminine face peeked out from the covers and squinted, the harsh light irritating her retinas. Tapping on the pad, she ceased the beeping and replaced it with a voice.
“This is the Admiral,” she lazy spoke.
“I need to talk to you.”
“Luna? I thought you had boots on the ground in Newark right now.”
“No, I’m on the Grazer right now. I need your help.”
The Admiral rubbed her eyes and sighed, “What do you need? Did someone threaten to demote you again?”
“This is not funny Celestia!”
“All right, all right.” Celestia climbed out of the warm blankets. “What’s going on?”
“Ale.”
Celestia stopped, her eyes staring off into space before she slowly blinked. “We already checked the files. He disappeared four years ago when the Enduring Ember encountered a slip space anomaly. There were no survivors.”
“Celestia-,”
“Luna,” Celestia interrupted, “Are you sure you want to go down this path? The pain it caused last time-,”
“This is different! I saw him!”
Now that certainly caught Celestia’s attention. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that someone claiming to be Ale and wearing his armor is in my crew room this very moment!”
“Did he see you?”
“Yes, but he did not recognize me.”
Celestia thought for several seconds, attempting to think of any scenario where such a thing could be possible. “Did he say anything about Equestria? Was he confused or anything?”
“No,” Luna responded, her eyes falling as Celestia attempted to make eye contact through the video call, “He looked as if he was right at home.” Her face lit up slightly, “Maybe if I talk to him, he-,”
“No!” Luna jumped in surprise.
“Why not?”
“If it truly is Ale, then how did he get here? It should be impossible. If you were to question him directly it could lead to bad results. What if this is a trap Nightmare has created?”
“She has yet to bother us here sister.”
Celestia nodded in acknowledgment, “True, but there’s a first time for everything.” Celestia breathed deeply, attempting to collect her thoughts. “Is he assigned to your team?”
“He is a replacement, yes.”
“Then treat him no differently than you would any of your squad mates. You can get close, but be subtle. Ask him some vague questions, get to know him. If he expresses anything of importance, tell me. We’ll go from there. I’ll look up his records.”
Luna nodded slowly before locking her eyes with her sisters. Celestia could see the hurricane of emotions boiling in her gaze, too numerous to count. Blinking, the call ended, leaving Celestia alone in her dark quarters. Celestia laid back, staring at the ceiling with the tacpad in her lap providing a low source of light. After thinking for a few minutes she groaned, pulling herself out of bed. Swinging her legs out in front of her, she stood up and fumbled through the darkness. She reached the counter and turned on the cooking light. Programming the nearby coffee maker, Celestia shuffled in the cupboards for a mug. She placed it in its designated spot before moving to her wardrobe.
She had just zipped up her uniform when the scent of coffee filled the room, followed by the satisfying gurgle of the heavenly brown liquid falling into the mug. Her body already rapidly awakening in excitement over the nectar of the gods, Celestia rapidly made her way to the steaming cup and, without giving it anytime to cool down, took a single hardy gulp.
Releasing a breath of satisfaction, Celestia made her way to her desk, picking her tacpad off of the bed along the way. She sat down, taking a small sip of her coffee as she settled in.
“Alright, let’s see who this stranger is…” Celestia began throwing her weight as a one of the upper Rear Admirals around, bypassing several high clearance levels until she reached her goal, the service records of the Spartan II’s. She browsed through them quickly as most had large MIA’s stamped across their files. She quickly found the odd file marked, ‘HLV 02-05’.
She wasn’t all that surprised to see that the file read ‘Active’ as she had no doubt that Luna was telling the truth that there was indeed a Spartan II in her team. She set her coffee down as she rapidly scrolled through most of his record, mumbling along the way.
“Participated in numerous ground engagements… Stationed at Reach… Defense of Earth… Sydney… Patrols… Ember…”
“…”
“What?!”
It was a good thing Celestia had set down her coffee as she had saved herself the pain of scalding hot liquid pouring down her lap. She leaned closer to the tacpad, eyeing the wall of text intently. She scrolled through it quickly, eyes darting across the page.
“Impossible…” Leaning back from her desk, Celestia quickly began typing, her fingers pounding away on the durable glass. She only needed to send a few sentences. After coding the message heavily with CLASSIFIED and EYES ONLY she sent it on its way. Pulling her head back and rubbing her eyes, she reached for her coffee and drank deeply. She sighed before speaking.
“It’s going to be a long day…”
Ale glanced throughout the room awkwardly, watching as the ODST’s settled amongst their fellows with practiced ease. Ale shuffled towards the drop pods, mentally mapping which one belonged to whom. There were 16 pods in total, Ale having already found his pod as it was marked with his service number.
‘They work fast.’
Heading back towards the living area, he was greeted with the stiff stares of the highly trained hell jumpers. Ale met their gaze through his helmet coolly, slowly heading towards a large weapons case lying on its side. Ale sat down upon it, still watching the troopers. Ale pulled off his helmet and set it by his side, allowing his face to be seen. Several of the troopers grunted before breaking away, continuing their previous activities. Ale blinked before unclipping a tacpad from his side, extending the sides out and turning it on. He checked his most recent message, a more detailed briefing from Commander Typhoon.
“Hey, you’re sitting on my weapon.”
Ale looked up as one of the ODST’s approached him. He was wearing standard ODST armor with steel being the most prominent color. He chose an interesting color for decoration, violet. Wanting to prevent conflict and, as most Spartans were introverted, Ale stood, grabbing his helmet as well.
Ale was surprised when the helmetless trooper gave him a thankful nod before kneeling by the case. Ale sat down on another nearby crate, one of many that littered the room. Nonetheless, Ale was surprised when the trooper opened the crate, revealing a weapon that was centuries old. The trooper, noticing Ale’s gaze, smiled warmly as he gently picked the weapon up.
“It’s a beauty isn’t it? Cost me an arm and a leg to convince the weapons Sergeant to clear it for use. Been in the family for nine generations.” The trooper began stripping it down, checking the individual pieces for damage. “Name’s Sergeant Brenden Kuhlenberg. Yours?”
Figuring it wouldn’t hurt to get on the troopers good graces as he was now a part of the team Ale complied. “Ale.”
Brenden nodded, “Alright. It’s a pleasure to meet someone of your… specialization Ale. Don’t see too many Spartan II’s walking around anymore.” Brenden pinched his finger and swore loudly, shaking his hand quickly before finishing piecing the weapon back together.
Out of curiosity as to how such an obsolete weapon was still in use, Ale asked, “What kind of ammo do you use for it?”
“Ah, you’ve noticed. This, my good sir, eats 7.62x51 mm rounds. Before you ask, yes, I do have to get special ammunition. I used to be a gunsmith, so I know a few people who have the tools to make it for me.” Brenden placed his weapon back in its case before sitting on it, brandishing a shotgun. The Sergeant pulled out a cleaning kit before glancing up at Ale. “So, where did they drag you from?”
“I-,” that strange feeling flooded through Ale’s system again, making his thoughts murky.
Brenden paused in his cleaning, eyeing the Spartan curiously before shrugging. “It’s alright, I understand. Classified and all that hog wash.” Ale blinked before shrugging, his thoughts clearing up.
Ale looked to his left when he heard the door to the repurposed hangar bay open, allowing three additional ODST’s to enter the room. The three froze when they spotted Ale. Ale didn’t need to look twice to tell that they were scouts, the sniper rifles on their backs being proof enough. The new trooper’s demeanor was easily distinguishable. They were the cold and silent type; lone wolves. Ale watched them warily as they suddenly moved towards the other ODST’s, hardly giving Ale another glance.
“Guess they didn’t hear about me being the new replacement,” Ale stated as he glanced back towards Brenden.
The Sergeant shrugged before continuing his task, “Don’t worry about the rest of them. We’ve just worked with Erika for a long time. Nobody likes replacements.” Knowing that he wasn’t quite helping the situation, Brenden added, “Hey, they’ll get around to liking you. We’re all here for the same reason, kicking ass and the wonderful food.”
Ale gave a small smile, genuinely laughing on the inside. Brenden laughed and shook his head, taking a gamble by smacking the Spartan on the knee to grab his attention. “See them over at the table?” he gestured with his hand. Ale looked over in the direction he pointed and watched the group of five troopers play a card game, nodding in confirmation.
“The loudmouthed Private over there is an expert in field equipment, particularly vehicles. Ryan can drive pretty much anything.” Ale committed the Sergeants words for later use, watching as the grey and yellow ODST laughed with his comrades. In order to work as a team, you have to know one another like a family.
Brenden continued, “Corporal Alex Gunza. He is our short range scout.” The black and red armor hid his face as he calmly waited for his hand. “Nice guy,” the Sergeant added. “The blue one is Private Dan. He’s pretty much the pack mule, doing whatever anyone says. However, do not underestimate him. He’s got quite the tenacity in battle.”
The second to last group member at the table hit the table with a clenched fist, a frustrated look gracing her face. “That’s PFC Lilly Vena, but she prefers Vena. Don’t step on her toes. The red paint job isn’t all paint.” Brenden gestured to the final ODST at the table. “That bulky bastard is Sergeant James Hunter. He’s pretty much a cyborg, but don’t let anyone here catch you saying that. He’s been through a lot and has garnered a lot of respect.” As if he could hear them, the black armored form of James turned his head and nodded at Ale. Brenden nudged Ale, “He’ll be your best friend on the field. Do not betray his trust.”
“The two in the corner over there are Corporal Nisitra Eton and PFC Chuck.” The black and dark blue trooper seemed to be talking quietly with the black and red armored form of Chuck.
“Chuck have a last name?” Ale asked.
Brenden shook his head. “Doesn’t have one. He was an orphan. Anyways, the Corporal is quiet. We think he was placed with us as a form of punishment but the Captain hasn’t told us. The PFC is similar to Vena. They both have anger problems.”
“The war was long,” Ale wisely said.
“Amen to that,” Brenden threw his arms in the air. He quickly continued cleaning his shotgun. “The one damning that stew to hell is Corporal Rico Sanchez. Don’t ask about his nick name. He’s the cook when we can have a fire as well as the medic. Take it from me when I say you’re better off brushing off wounds than you are letting him treat you. Trust me, I have experience.”
Ale eyed the uniquely tan and blue colored cook as he accidentally dropped a blood congealing bag into the boiling pot. “I’ll pack extra bio-foam.”
“Wise decision,” Brenden nodded. “The Staff Sergeant in the corner tinkering with the bomb over there is Chronos. It’s not his real name. There was a computer error that wiped his existence from all records. His whole recorded life has been logged from his very first day at camp. Nothing they can do about it as he doesn’t talk much.”
Ale eyed the black armored soldier before asking, “When does he retire?”
“As far as we know, never. For an oldie he outpaces all of us.” At Ale’s questioning gaze Brenden simply shrugged. “You’ll see.”
Remembering his count of the drop pods Ale asked, “And the other five?”
Brenden pointed through one of the open doors, Ale clearly seeing a black and green ODST lying on his bed. Strangely enough, his weapon was lying on the other bed that occupied the room. Ale watched as one of the scouts walked into the room and stop when they saw the DMR. The grey and black trooper picked it up and tossed it to the other bunk.
“The one who is currently tucking in ‘Sally’ is Sergeant Sean North. We think he’s in love with that DMR. He’s had it for a long time. He’s a bit gutter minded, so he will get on your nerves. Corporal Leonardo Wright has the honor of sharing the same room with him, the poor bastard.”
The grey and black scout placed a pair of headphones over his ears before shutting the door, presumably wearing them to drown out the Sergeant before going to bed. “Leo has a tendency of sneaking up on people. So be wary of that.”
The two other scouts finished putting their gear away before heading into the same bunk room, closing the door behind them. “Shoot, we just missed them. Those two are like brothers when it comes to timing. They eat, sleep, and practically shoot at the same time. Corporal Emilio Vega was the one with the steel grey armor. He’s got a scar on his cheek from a close call with an energy sword. Also, don’t ask about his eyes. They are white because of a birth defect.”
Brenden shuddered. “That white visor of his gives me the creeps. He’s reserved but dependable. His partner in crime is Corporal Sergey Petrovich. He’s the one with the black armor and camo netting. If you need a cool head in a hot situation he’s your guy.”
Ale made a mental tally before asking one more question, “And the Captain?”
Brenden began putting his cleaning kit away as he responded, “The Captain’s name is Luna. Interesting name ain’t it? She’s the real deal. Listen to her and she’ll get you out alive.”
Brenden leaned back. “She is a real piece of work. She’s been promoted and demoted enough times that Fleet Command finally set her at one permanent rank. She would have been decommissioned a long time ago if it weren’t for her ability to get results.”
The Sergeant shook his head, “Hell, she was only a Corporal when they dropped the battalion in an effort to stop the invasion of Reach. Half of them died on the approach alone. They delayed one of the Covenant landing zones for three days. She was pulled out of Reach right underneath the noses of the Covenant. I heard she was the only survivor of the battalion.” Brenden looked left and right. “The details are covered in black ink, but from what I was able to uncover she had fought them off for 32 hours by herself. I don’t even know how that’s possible! One human against an invasion force?”
Ale stared at the Sergeant in disbelief. “Is that true?”
Brenden opened his mouth to respond before he was interrupted, “I can neither confirm nor deny those events.”
Luna briskly walked down the halls of the Grazer with an unmatched determination. The marines and other personnel who encountered her recognized her current state, rapidly parting to allow the Captain access. She had a reputation and the storm cloud on her face was not something easily missed. Her wrist mounted tacpad beeped, alerting her to an incoming message.
The Ember never disappeared. He’s been logged throughout several engagements throughout the past 4 years. Be wary, something is wrong…
Luna erased the message, strong emotions pulling at her being. ‘If the Ember never disappeared it’s got to be him.’
Luna stopped in front of her squad bay room, taking a moment’s reprieve. Straightening her face Luna opened the door. Within a second she already had her squad mates locations mentally mapped.
‘Five at the poker table, four in bed, two on the crates, two by the weapons rack, one in the corner, and the other one starting himself on fire,’ Luna smiled internally as the numbers matched. Intent on briefing Ale, she began heading towards him and Brenden. As she approached she heard the tail end of an excited conversation between Brenden and Ale.
“… -ow that’s possible! One human against an invasion force?”
“Is that true?”
“I can neither confirm nor deny those events.”
She watched as Brenden’s eyes comically widened before he rocketed into a stiff straight standing position. Ale quickly followed suit.
“Sir!” Brenden stared straight ahead as Luna slowly walked around him.
“What have I told you about digging through things you are not meant to see Sergeant?”
“That doing so will invoke a wrath in the likes I have never seen sir!”
“That’s right.” She glared at the Sergeant, letting him cook under her gaze. “This is your final warning. If I catch you again you will be reprimanded. Understood?”
“Sir, yes sir!” Brenden gave a stiff salute.
“Go prep the empty bunk in your room for your new roommate. You are dismissed.” Luna did not miss the gleam of excitement in Brenden’s eye. The Sergeant quickly policed his equipment before darting off to one of the open doors, Ale noting its position as he was no doubt the ‘roommate’ as the Captain had put it. Speaking of which, she was giving him a good look over, mapping his face with her gaze.
Ale could not tell if she found what she was looking for as she broke his gaze and tinkered on her tacpad. “Follow me.”
Ale did as he was told, scooping his helmet up with him as he followed the Captain over to the card table. “Gather up everyone! We got a mission brief!”
The troopers who were not occupied in the land of dreams dropped what they were doing and crowded around her. Satisfied that they were listening Luna began. “The UNSC has decided to press our efforts in taking back Newark from the Innies. Recent intelligence reports have found that the rebels have made use of the planets vast cave system. Since the Innies have struck a personal blow against us, Fleet Command has seen fit to insert Shadow Squad into the very heart of the rebels command and control.” The squad did not sigh or give any other sign of dissent. They had a grudge.
“Intel has given a rough idea of their location, but we will be playing hide and seek. Expect decent resistance in between long stretches of backpacking. We’re going to be packing heavy. We will have boots on the ground tomorrow at 0600. Any questions?” The troopers said nothing, prompting a smile from Luna. “Excellent. The others will be briefed in the morning. Get some rest.”
The troopers broke up, going back to finish up their previous tasks. Luna headed over towards the weapons rack and prepped her gear for tomorrow. The low thuds of the fully armored Spartan drew near. “What do you need Spartan?”
“Sir, I fear that I may be a liability to this team.”
“Why is that?”
“It is apparent that the troopers had strong feelings for Erika. They do not seem to take kindly to my presence sir.”
Luna turned towards him. “Do not worry. You do your job and they’ll do theirs. In time they will come to trust you. Was there anything else?”
“Permission to speak freely sir.” Luna nodded. “Sergeant Brenden did not mean any harm. He was informing me of the squad member’s sir.”
“Sergeant Brenden has a tendency to dig where no smart dog should, resulting in him seeing… delicate material. It is unwise that he bring attention like that to himself. Threatening punishment is for his own good.”
“Then why did you assign me as his roommate sir? He did not look disappointed in the slightest.”
Luna smiled, “Go to bed Chief Petty Officer.”
Ale stood straight and saluted. He about faced and headed towards a very happy looking trooper. Luna wasn’t sure if she should be relieved or not. When Ale had his helmet off, Luna had studied him intently, finding him to be exactly like her husband. She breathed deeply before letting it out. If he was indeed Ale, she had to find out for sure.
“Lights out in five!” Luna exclaimed as she walked towards her personal cabin.
“Wha-, but the stew!”
“Rico, you look like hell,” Ryan said. “You have some trouble there?”
Rico brushed off some of the ash from his armor. “It’s not that bad. You should have been at my family reunion.” Rico shook his head sadly, mumbling a prayer in Spanish. “Nana was never the same.”
Ryan stared at Rico in uncertainty. “Yeeeaah, okay. I’m going to bed now.”
Vena walked past Rico, patting him on the back. “Don’t worry, you can make… whatever it is again some other time.”
Rico perked up, his smile threatening to fracture the room’s cameras. “That’s it! No need to remake it! I’ll just seal it in handy bags to distribute amongst us on our journey!” The members who still had not made it to their bunks watched in horror as Rico pulled out blood bags and began filling them with the grey bubbling sludge.
“Are those unused or-,”
“Don’t ask!” James interrupted Alex, pushing him away from the scene.
Rico glanced about the room, confused as to why it was so empty all of a sudden. “Was it something I said?” The tanned trooper lifted a bit of his body suit and inhaled. He paused for a few moments before shrugging indifferently. “Eh.”
Fireteam Shadow moved quickly down the halls of the Grazer, headed towards the large hangar bay of the ship. The team was fully armored and each member sans Ale carried large rucksacks. Ale had a specialized tactical vest designed to snap onto his armor while several of the other troopers carried slightly more than just their rucksacks, the black duffel bags hauling extra equipment. Walking down a large ramp, they filed into a cavernous room. Two Pelicans sat waiting for them, their engines already running hot.
“You know the drill troopers! Ale, you’re with me!” Luna shouted, her team splitting into two groups of six and seven. The Spartan noticed Corporal Wright, Vega, and Petrovich split from the team and head towards a Falcon. Realizing they were going to scout ahead, Ale followed the Captain’s group into the far right Pelican, dull thuds emanating from his armored weight. The ODST’s secured their belongings before strapping themselves in, Ale copying their actions.
“ETA 12 minutes sir!” the pilot shouted, turning his head back to ensure the team was set.
“Leviathan one and two, you have a green light.”
“Roger, we have the sky.”
Ale felt his gut shift as the Pelican left the hangar floor, quickly thrusting outside of the ship. The Grazer was within Newark’s atmosphere, meaning the flight was already slightly turbulent. The voice of the Captain caught Ale’s attention.
“Listen up! We are landing at Checkpoint Zulu. Ground transport is waiting for us there as the birds can’t get us any closer. Chronos has already briefed the others, so I expect to get rolling seconds after we land. Clear?”
“Sir, yes sir!”
Ale double checked the condenser coils of his weapons, the blue glow in the ‘magazines’ giving the all clear. Daniel sat directly across from Ale, staring at the weapons through his visor with fascination.
“Are those the new prototypes?” Ale glanced up at the Private and nodded. Daniel looked along the weapons length, admiring it. “It’s quite a weapon. I was studying advanced weapon mechanics before I signed up. I knew that the UNSC think tanks were theoretically drawing up designs, but I never knew that they succeeded.” The trooper hesitantly continued. “Do you think I could have a chance to observe them?”
Ale saw no reason to deny his request. They weren’t exactly a secret that was kept hush-hush. Ale nodded, prompting the trooper to shuffle excitedly.
“You can do so when we get back to the ship Private. Focus on the mission,” Luna stated, secretly smiling under her visor. It would be good for the Private to stretch his mind. She could see that, at times, Dan would get a bit bored with the mindless off duty tasks of her squad.
“I don’t know why you’re so excited,” Sean remarked, the Sergeant thumbing the side of the barrel of his DMR. “Weapons like Sally here have their own elegance. She’s a real beauty, she’s deadly, and she has quite the kick.” Sean mock aimed his weapon, which Ale noticed even had the name ‘Sally’ stenciled just beneath scope mount.
“Oh god, if he keeps this up he’s going to start making out with ‘Sally’,” Corporal Alex finished, his fingers providing air quotes.
The troopers occupying the back of the Pelican laughed, brightening the mission atmosphere. “Aye, shut your bloody gob!” Sean rubbed his DMR with affection, “You’re just feckin’ jealous that you can’t find a woman with desirable traits like Sally.”
“Oh, I didn’t realize you liked cold, hard, an-,”
“Alright, enough of that,” James interrupted. “Leave Sean and his love alone. Besides, we all know he can’t talk to a real woman without spitting spaghetti everywhere.”
“Oh,” Luna spoke up. “Am I not a real woman?”
The squad turned and stared at James. Instead of panicking under the heavy gaze of his team mates James replied with confidence, “No sir, you’re a brutal son-of-a-bitch.”
If the atmosphere wasn’t quite enough, it most certainly was now. Luna, her expression hidden under the silent and cold gaze of her silver visor, leaned forward. Everyone watched with bated breath, waiting for her to tear into the Sergeant.
“You’re damn right, and don’t let anyone tell you any different!”
“Hoo-ah!”
Ale slowly panned his view left to right, realizing just how close this team, no... not team, family really was. The Spartan wondered if he could ever really become a part of something as alien as this. He noticed that the Captain had her head turned in his direction. Even though both his and her visor hid their eyes, Ale was certain that she was locking eyes with him. She nodded ever so slightly, almost as if answering his question. The Spartan turned his attention back in front of him. The room stayed silent as the team quietly mulled over their own thoughts.
“30 seconds!”Two loud clanks followed by the whirring of the ramp opening followed the pilot’s announcement. Ale turned his head to the left to stare out the slowly widening view of the sky, every other member turning their attention towards the same view.
“Gear up!” The troopers released their harnesses as they quickly began following their Captain’s orders. Ale ensured that his tacvest was secure, pulling on a few straps before tying them out of the way.
“Form up!” The five ODST’s and Spartan lined up in two rows, their Captain standing at the back of the right line with Ale at the back of the left line.
The ramp was lowered all the way, allowing Ale to watch as they flew meters away from the side of a dusty mountain. They continued to follow along it as they continued at a steady rate of descent. The mountain pulled away from them as they neared the ground. “Go, go, go!”
The troopers moved forward, the first two having to jump out and land on the ground running. Ale followed, the Pelican only touching the ground for a mere seconds before its passengers were off, allowing it to take back off into the air. They had landed in the middle of a small base, a few prefabricated structures surrounding them. Ale could see several Marines goggling not only at the legendary team, but the rare sight of a Spartan II as well.
The second Pelican came flying in, all though Ale noticed that it wasn’t approaching quite as nicely as the one he had ridden in on. The second bird landed hard, slamming onto its landing gear. Ale heard the metal groan slightly in stress as well as a few bolts popping. The ramp opened agonizingly slow, revealing the sound of shouting emanating from within. The gantry way wasn’t even fully open before the team of seven rushed out, still shouting. The Pelican rushed off as quickly as it had landed, roaring into the sky. Now that Ale could clearly see them he frowned. The team was covered in a grey substance, prompting the other troopers to laugh. They were instantly silenced when they could feel Luna’s stare burn into them. Turning back towards the new arrivals the Captain stormed up to Chronos.
“What happened Staff Sergeant!?”
“Sir, Corporal Rico’s stew from last night dissolved its containment bags. When the Pelican had to perform a high G turn to avoid a particularly nasty spot of turbulence, the substance breached his rucksack and sprayed the entire troop bay. The Pilot was not happy about that, sir.”
Luna turned her gaze to the Corporal who, strangely enough, was not covered in any of the rather smelly stew. After eyeing him for a few moments she sighed. “Corporal, while I understand that you were trying to be helpful, please refrain from storing your masterpieces with us on future missions.”
“Yes sir!” If Rico’s helmet was not currently fixed in place, the team would have seen the particularly large shit eating grin plastered across his face.
Luna turned to the unfortunate troopers. “Go find the supply Sergeant here and have him spray you guys down. I want it done ten minutes ago!”
“Yes sir!” The troopers ran off towards the barracks, Marines pointing where they should go.
Luna turned towards the others. “While the others are having a nice shower, go prep the hogs. We are behind schedule.”
Luna waved them off before they could respond, turning herself and heading towards the already departed troopers, intending on starting a fire underneath their ass’s.
Ale and the rest of the squad moved, following Sergeant James as they headed towards the motor pool. Two exiting Marines quickly moved out of the way as the ODST’s and Spartan jogged past. The team moved through the garage, watching as different vehicles were worked on. James stopped to ask a passing Marine where there NCO was. The Marine pointed towards a pair of boots that were sticking out beneath a nearby Scorpion. James thanked him and headed towards the large tank. Banging the side of the armored treads with a balled fist, James waited patiently for the man beneath to roll out.
The man was wearing a pair of dirty fatigues, no doubt unafraid of getting hands on with the vehicles. He stood up off the maintenance cart and wiped his hands on a rag. He pulled the large cigar from his mouth with his left hand while offering his right hand to James.
“I assume you’re the ones stealing my rides?”
James took his hand and gave it a firm shake, “Yes sir.”
The NCO glanced across the squad, his gaze not lingering on the Spartan in the slightest. The graying man put the cigar back in his mouth before gesturing for them to follow. “I got what you need. The boss had me slate a few rides for your arrival.”
The NCO led them around one of the lines of vehicles being worked on, revealing the launching platform. Two standard M12 Warthogs along with a M831 Troop Transport sat on their respective platforms. “I got three brand new ‘hogs’ for you.” He turned towards the squad. “I’d like to get them back in one piece.”
“No promises,” James replied.
The NCO grunted, “I expected as much.” He turned and waved his arm at the vehicles. “Well then, they’re all yours. Good luck.”
He walked over to the door controls and opened them, watching as the team climbed into the Warthogs. James, Sean, and Alex jumped into the driving seats while Ale and Dan simply hung off the sides of the troop hog, holding on tightly as the three vehicles moved off the platforms and up the incline out of the motor pool. They steered towards the last known location of the Captain and the rest of the squad, pulling up alongside the barracks. They rolled to a stop, allowing Ale and Dan to let go and land on their feet. They did not have to wait long as the Captain and a thoroughly soaked group of ODST’s jogged around the corner.
“Brenden, Alex, and James! I want you to take rear!” Luna yelled as she pointed at the last Warthog. “Ryan, Ale, and I will take point! The rest of you in the transport!”
The squad hurriedly followed her orders. “Where do you want me sir?” Ryan asked.
Luna did not miss the hope in his voice, knowing exactly what he wanted. “You’re driving Private. You are the vehicle expert after all.” Ryan swooned before beginning to excitedly sprint towards the Warthog. “But,” Ryan stopped as he caught the tone in her voice, “You will drive safely and with the team. No jumps. Understood?”
Ryan gave an audible whine of disappointment before giving a sloppy salute. “Yes sir.”
Luna shook her head. “You can listen to music, as long as it’s quiet and does not irritate the others. Alright?”
Ryan perked up, nodding enthusiastically. He continued towards the Warthog at a slower pace, albeit with a subtle bounce.
Ale raised his head at the Captain before shrugging his shoulders towards the turret. Luna responded, “I’ll man the gun Spartan.” Ale nodded before climbing into the passenger seat, the vehicle shifting slightly to the right due to the difference in weight. Luna placed her assault rifle on her back, jumping up in the bed of the FAV. She looked behind her and confirmed that the rest of her team was ready to go. She gripped the handles of the turret before commanding, “Let’s go Private.”
The hog jumped forward as the Private stepped on the accelerator, leading the convoy past the guard gate and out of the checkpoint. The mountains towered on their left while a great expanse of flat, rocky ground stretched to their left, eventually dipping into a valley on in the distance. The horizon in front of them was occupied by a large green smudge.
“Follow this trail on its current heading. It will take us to the edge of the mountains before dipping into the forest.”
“Yes sir!”
Ryan leaned towards the center of the Warthog, tampering with some of the controls. Ale watched from the corner of his eye as the screen prepped a file that was wirelessly downloaded. Ryan looked up at Ale with a smile. “If the Captain says you can do something, do it. You may not get another chance.”
Ale simply nodded his head towards the windshield, gesturing to something that the Private could not see. Ryan looked up and quickly jerked the wheel, barely avoiding a large boulder.
“Eyes on the road Private!” Chronos yelled over the radio. “We’re following your lead!”
Ale placed his rifle upright on the floor and clamped his legs on it. Settling his hands in his lap, Ale allowed himself to peruse his surroundings. The tires of the Warthog threw dust up violently, choking the air behind it. His suit was sealed, meaning he was enjoying dirt free air. The vibrations of the hog prevented any body part from falling asleep, keeping him awake and alert. He could clearly see in front of him as the mid morning sun was to their backs. Ale turned his head slightly, observing the mountains approach from his left. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the Captain leaning on the turret as it was rather tiresome to stand there and hold the gun when there was no immediate threat of combat. She was facing forwards with her head slightly tilted down. Ale could tell she was lost in thought. The Spartan faced forwards and leaned back, relaxing the tension in his body for the long drive ahead of them.
Now while the Spartan may have been observant, he is by no means a mind reader. He was correct in that Luna was thinking, but he did not know what she was so lost on. Much less that he was what was on her mind.
Luna found her eyes tracing back to Ale yet again, quickly snapping them back in place. She could not get herself to focus. He was distracting her. ‘C’mon Luna! The mission comes first. We are moving into very hostile territory and need every ounce of focus if I want to get everyone out alive. Including Ale.’ Again her eyes deceived her body’s command, straying to the grey and red armored super soldier. She studied his form, remembering what he looked like under the unrelenting battle skin. She sucked in a quiet breath when a particular detail struck out at her.
‘How did I miss that?!’ The emblem, her emblem, that she had bestowed upon Ale all those years ago still sat upon his shoulder pauldron, glinting dully in the sunlight. She stared at Ale with all the more ferocity. ‘It’s got to be him. He did not have that before his arrival in Equestria.’ Luna stopped herself, reigning in her emotion and urges. ‘I need more evidence. I will not jump to conclusions. Not just for his sake…’
Luna filed away the new information she gleaned just from simple observation, mentally planning her first report to Celestia. She would do exactly as her sister told her. Besides, as far as both Luna and Celestia could tell, they were indeed in an alternate dimension. Who’s not to say that this was a different Ale?
The convoy continued along the small trail, the forest growing much larger and the mountains on their left almost upon them. The ground in front of them dropped away for hundreds of feet before leveling out. The ancient lake bed eventually sloped back up towards the forest. The Warthogs turned left and finally reached the mountains. There was a small ridge that traveled along its base, following the contours of the extinct lake.
“Steady on Ryan. I do not want to fall off.”
Ryan did not answer as he slowed his speed, snaking the hog onto the narrow road. Ale slightly leaned to his right, peeking over the edge of the Warthog and realizing just how close the wheels rode to the edge.
“This is a good place for an ambush,” Ale said aloud.
“Let them try! I got a nice surprise for them!” Lilly’s voice reported over the radio.
“Private, put that down! I do not want to be blown clear off the ridge understand!?”
There was an audible sigh over the radio, “Yes, Chronos sir.”
The convoy continued moving along the ridge, steadily closing the distance between them and the forest. Ale suddenly straightened, his head perking to the right and away from the mountains. Reaching over, he turned the music off.
“Hey, I wa-,” Ale snapped his fingers, halting any further speech from the Engineer. The sudden pause in music grabbed all of the trooper’s attention, causing them to pay close attention to their surroundings.
“Two bogies four o’ clock, high!” Nisitra called out, dragging the team’s eyes in that direction.
“Friendlies?” Luna asked?
“Can’t tell, sun’s causing too much of a glare.”
“Do not open fire until it’s confirmed. Remember, there are civilians here,” the Captain commanded.
The group continued to watch the aircraft, the machines moving at a parallel course to theirs. They did not move any faster or slower than the convoy, keeping a constant distance away from them. Ale heard the faint clicks of the safety being disengaged on the turret behind him. Ale shared the same feelings and grabbed his rifle. When he looked back up the world slowed down.
Moving at a speed incapable of being seen by the human eye, Ale reached for the wheel of the Warthog. A massive shower of dust slowly rained down several meters in front of them, barely hiding the form of a massive boulder in front of them. The second Ale’s hand made contact with the wheel he clenched his fingers, crushing the metal. Time sped back up as he jerked the wheel towards him hard, steering right and launching the Warthog off the edge of the ridge. The hog roared loudly as it became airborne, floating in free fall for several short seconds. Ale’s visor bounced violently off the dashboard as the vehicle made contact with the steep grade. The glass windshield shattered and sprayed glass over its occupants. Rocks thudded loudly off the metal frame as the FAV tore its way downwards. The vehicle slammed forward and shifted right, almost flipping sideways into a dangerous barrel roll.
“Son of a bitch!” Ryan mashed his foot to the floor as he straightened the Warthog, saving them from disaster. Ale quickly looked behind him, confirming that the Captain was still on the turret. The back of the hog was crumpled, Ale finding the reason why as the massive boulder from before continued to chase them down the slope, albeit losing ground to them.
The air suddenly became deafening as red streaks barely missed the Warthog, throwing up even more dust. The roar of two Pelicans flew overhead, missiles flying from them towards the ridge.
“Move or you die!” Luna yelled over the radio. Twin columns of dust signaled that the other two Warthogs were racing along the ridgeline and towards the forest. Ale marked the two Pelicans as hostile, watching as they rose into the air and away from the mountain. Luna swung the turret around and tracked them. “They’re coming in for another run! Ryan! You floor it to the forest!”
Ryan was well ahead of her, the speedometer failing to register their speed as it exceeded the normal max going down the rocky slope. The gun opened up, brass shells spraying into the air as Luna lobbed penetrating death at the two hostiles. Two missiles cleared their pods, rocketing towards the hog.
“Move!”
Ryan jerked the wheel hard, barely keeping the vehicle from rolling. The Pelicans over shot and roared past, Luna chasing them the entire way. They reached the bottom of the slope, skidding into a left turn as the Private floored it towards the forest. They could see the other two hogs crash through the forest brush up ahead. The Pelican’s were just passing over the forest, using the airspace to loop back around, when a rocket screamed out of the foliage and collided with the wing of one of them. The bird went down quickly, steering sharply in one direction due to the loss of control. It disappeared in a plume of flames on the side of the mountain. The second Pelican dodged a second rocket, ignoring the source as it raced head on towards the Warthog, intent on stopping it from reaching the safety of the forest.
Luna was still firing, ignoring the rapidly over heating weapon. Taking slow breaths, Ale placed his foot on the edge of his ‘door’, leveling it with his body. Quickly propping his assault rifle between the armored joint of his thigh and kneecap, he steadied his aim with the makeshift brace. Pulling the trigger in controlled bursts, he fired through the empty space in which the windshield once occupied and sprayed the cockpit of the Pelican with super condensed plasma.
The hardened glass melted under his assault. The molten glass sprayed the pilot, burning any exposed flesh to the bone. The Pelican, its pilot having quickly died under his fatal injuries, stopped firing and continued flying overhead, eventually hitting the ground behind them and sliding along it, eventually stopping with smoke billowing out of its engines. A few seconds later, the hog slid into the underbrush, effectively hiding it from sight. The other two hogs were waiting nearby, slipping behind Ryan as they quickly continued down their path.
Ale let out a slow breath before setting his foot back on the floor, still clutching his weapon tightly. The underbrush was whipping past, the hog rocking sporadically as it traversed the rough terrain.
“Ryan, ease up,” Luna commanded. “Chronos, James. Sitrep.”
“We’re fine here,” James called in.
“Chuck got a faceful of exhaust from the rocket sir. Other than some blackened armor he is fine.” The sound of loud arguing could be heard in the background. “Although Chuck isn’t too happy with Lilly.”
“Excellent. Button down the kids Staff. We still have a little ways to go.”
“Yes sir!”
Luna cut the comm and relaxed her hold on the turret. She glanced down at the other two occupants. Ryan was tense and gripping the wheel hard, his eyes tunneling on the small path. Ale had an air of indifference. The Chief Petty Officer slowly turned his head left and right, scouting for threats in the heavy underbrush.
“Private, relax.” Ryan took a deep breath before slowly leaning back in his seat, allowing his stress to bleed away. Satisfied, Luna took in the state of the hog. The windshield was gone, but it was hardly needed. The back of the vehicle was severely damaged, pushed in a good foot and a half. If it had been just another short foot, she would have been in trouble. The Warthog wobbled in the back, Luna realizing that the axle had taken damage as well. Other than the dented steering wheel faulted from the super soldier, there was no further apparent damage. They had been lucky. If the boulder had landed on them…
Luna erased those thoughts and cleared her mind. She had survived worse. The dimension in which her husband had grown in was far from safe. Over the centuries she had learned to avoid or deal with danger quite well. The wars she and her sister had fought in were numerous and hardened them more than any other vet in existence. If she had questioned her place here, she no longer did.
Her thoughts came to a close as they reached a clearing, the canopy of the trees arching over the empty space. They could not be seen from the air. The convoy rolled to a stop near the middle and lit up the other side with their headlights. A large rocky outcropping disappeared into the brush on either side of the forest in front of them, splitting into a massive hole in the wall.
Luna, Ale, and Chronos dismounted the hogs and approached the cave. They barely stepped inside and scoured along the edges of the cave entrance, their tactical lamps providing an additional light source. A brief transmission was suddenly beamed into Luna’s comm system, a low blue light and gentle pinging sound alerting her. She opened the written report and smiled.
“Alright, mount up. Scouts have been here and report that the system is traversable by ground transport. We’ll move until we can’t.”
The three ran bag to their respective Warthogs and slowly drove into the cave. “Eyes peeled, they could be anywhere.”
“Captain, any word on what we’re doing after this?”
“Your only concern should be the mission, Sergeant. But when I hear something you’ll be the first to know.”
“Will do. Oh, and Captain?” Sean stated, “I forgot my night light.”
The crunch of gravel echoed lowly through the dark tunnels as the heavy rubber wheels of the purring machines compressed the loose soil. The convoy journeyed further into the dizzying black, the hog lights only penetrating so far. Some of the squad members shuffled, not out of fear or discomfort of the blackness, but more out of boredom. The Spartan in the lead Warthog scoured the walls up ahead of them, his eyes never ceasing in their arduous task. Ale kept his helmet lamps turned off, making him a less distinguishable target in case there were rebel snipers. Although, it was fairly difficult to miss a half ton Spartan riding around in a brightly lit Warthog in a tight space.
Soft conversation emanated from the Troop Transport Hog, the troopers slowly relaxing the further they went in. Staff Sergeant Chronos held onto the top support running above his head in the center seat with his right arm, gazing out at the gathered ODST’s. His eyes ran along each individual, instinctively searching for any loose buckles, unmaintained equipment, and any other potential dangers. Being the oldest in the squad and over half a century old, he was naturally expected to be the slower, dumber, and weakest member of the squad, even with his rank. It came as a surprise when the greenies learned that he was the exact opposite. Quick, intelligent, and having a seemingly never ending level of stamina, the 66 year old war vet had lived through it all.
He glanced at one of the troopers who currently had his helmet off and flipped upside down in his lap. He was toying with some of the internal components of the helmet, swearing quietly every time the Hog hit a rough patch. “Everything alright there Private?”
The trooper looked up, “Yes sir. I’m just about finished cleaning the air filters.” He shot a venomous glance towards the only female member of their squad other than their respected Captain. The fiery redhead raised a clenched fist with the exception of a single digit up, causing Chuck to grunt before he returned to his task.
Chronos lips pressed flatly before he continued looking on, the rest of the squad still conversing with one another quietly. It was fairly common for the old trooper to be as quiet as he was. He had a lot to think over. 40 plus years of battle will do that to someone; the long years giving him much to reminisce about, some thoughts not of war. His life before the conflict was but a hazy memory now. As far as he knew, he could very well be the last member of his blood lineage. He would never know, the casualties caused by the alien menace were too numerous to count. All in all, life hadn’t treated him well before the ODST program, hell, even before the Marines. That didn’t matter now though. He would never admit it out loud, but as far as he was concerned, these men and women with him right here, right now, were his family. They were his kids just as they were Luna’s.
Corporal Eton set his Battle Rifle down and un-holstered his two magnums, the dull grey metal shining dully. He watched as the stealthy assassin procured a small cleaning kit from within his armor. Nisitra Eton was a fairly recent addition, only having been in the squad for a few months. The Captain had neglected to inform the Staff the reasons of his addition, but Eton had, at first, been incredibly distant from them. He watched as the Corporal swiftly took apart his weapons and began cleaning them with precision. The soldier looked up to him, receiving a nod in return from the Staff, gesturing for him to carry on. Chronos had an idea as to why he was assigned to them, but, as he trusted Luna’s judgment, kept his suspicions to himself.
Speaking of suspicions, Chronos turned his attention to Corporal Sanchez, turning his head to the front passenger seat. The medic and hobbyist ‘cook’, if you could call him that, had just laughed mirthfully in response to a joke from Sergeant North, whom was currently driving. They spoke loudly and brought life to the dreary atmosphere. They were a strange pair, being the best of friends one moment, and the bitterest of enemies the next. While Chronos could still smell the rancid concoction of stew and… whatever the hell was in his fatigues beneath his armor, he still held a modicrum of respect for the hispanic. He pulled his own weight around and, when situations were dangerous, he performed his job flawlessly.
The Staff’s eyes narrowed; he still had yet to figure out who exactly put margarine in the showers.
“... chance you should stop by sometime. It’s an unbelievable place and, as a bonus, is untouched by the Covenant. They blew right past it.”
Sean glanced quickly towards Dan, “Trying to get her to ‘swing’ by your bed is more like it eh?”
The Private shook his head in good humor, “No, not at all. The view is quite incredible.”
Sean stared at Dan for a few seconds before giving a sigh. “We need to get you laid.”
“Ah, I may know of someone. Back in my hometown there’s this place my brothers took me when I was little.” Rico began a wheezing laugh, “And we would look through the walls.” He paused before beginning to laugh again. “Our mom was not happy. My backside was tanned for days.”
Chuck, having finished cleaning his helmet and placing it back on his head, replied, “How could you tell it was tanned?”
Rico stopped laughing and stared straight at him. “Is that a racist joke?” Chuck simply shrugged. Rico sniffed audibly through his helmet, “Well, at least I wasn’t given the last acronym of a woodland animal for a name.” The soldiers remained quiet, a single cough breaking the relative silence. Rico looked back and forth before sighing, “I tried.”
Private Hanson shifted his armor, “To get back on track, no Rico, I’ll take a rain check on your, uh, chicas.”
The medic waved his hand, “Your loss.”
The Private turned to Sean, “I wasn’t making a pass at Lilly either. Besides, she has a boyfriend remember?”
Sean’s smile was visible under the un-polarized visor of his helmet as he looked straight ahead. “Aye, you are clueless ain’t ya?” At Dan’s questioning silence Sean tilted his head at an angle towards Lilly, “She ain’t the kind for commitment. You see, this ‘boyfriend’ of hers is actually one of what I’m sure to be many boy-toys she lures along.”
Dan shook his head in disbelief while swiping his hand outwards, “Nah, that’s not true. She’s too respectable for that.”
Sean shrugged, “I don’t hear her disagreeing with me.”
Dan turned to look at Lilly, who currently had her visor polarized. “He can’t be right, right?” When the PFC didn’t respond and continued to hold an air of indifference Dan seemed to falter slightly. “What about… Jeff, yeah, Jeff was his name. The Stock Master in military surplus?”
“Where do you think she gets all of those blue toys of hers from?” Chuck quipped, pointing at one of the metallic blue balls equipped to the PFC’s grenade gondolier. Dan’s form faltered slightly. Rico waved his hand in a ‘see’ gesture.
The squad continued to chat for several more minutes, all the while keeping their eyes peeled for anything unusual or hostile. Nisitra had long since finished cleaning his weapons and stayed quiet throughout their conversation, just as Chronos was doing. The old man didn’t like wasting words on conversation that wasn’t relevant to his current mission objective. His neck beginning to stiffen, Chronos looked up to stretch. He stared at the cave ceiling while rotating his head before he saw something unnatural flash past above him. He paused and continued to watch the ceiling as it moved. A mere second passed before another object flashed past. He quickly identified it as a grated light that had been drilled into the rock and watched as a power cable snaked along to the next light.
“Captain, look up.” He waited patiently for the Captain to come to the same conclusion.
“Ryan, stop the Hog. Chronos, we need eyes ahead.”
Chronos acknowledged before looking up to the angsty troopers. He pointed, “Eton, you’re with me. The rest of you stay put.”
Chronos scooped his M41 Rocket Launcher off the bed of the Hog before shuffling past the troopers and jumping out the back, Corporal Eton following closely behind. Chronos quickly looped the strap for the explosive weapon through his left arm and over his head before he hefted his Assault Rifle and jogged past the troop transport. He moved quickly, much faster than others his age and had already cleared the gap between the Hogs. He acknowledged a small nod given to him from Ale before racing past the bright lights of the lead Warthog.
“VISR on Eton,” he reminded over the radio, reaching up briefly to turn on his camera for the Captain to keep tabs on them. The Staff Sergeant could see through the dark abyss as green lines lit up the boundaries of boulders and other obstructions along their path. He continued to follow the snaking cable above their heads while maintaining a five meter lead in front of Nisitra. The two continued to jog, their armor jostling slightly.
A dark rectangle shape loomed into range of his VISR, prompting Chronos to sprint into cover behind a nearby rock. Eton dropped next to him and checked his DMR. Using hand signals, Chronos signalled for Eton to scan the anomaly. The stealth specialist crouch walked towards the edge of the rock and peered around the corner with his weapon sighted in. Chronos waited patiently for the Corporal to finish his assessment.
“Guard house, no lights. Doesn’t look like anybody’s home.”
Chronos creeped behind Eton and peered with him for a few seconds before tapping him on the shoulder. Chronos moved past with his rifle raised and sprinted towards the dark shack with Eton tailing right behind. Reaching the shack, he placed his left shoulder to the concrete wall while Eton faced the opposite direction. Chronos dropped his left hand and briefly touched Nisitra behind him before swinging around the corner of the building. He approached the dark entryway and stopped at the edge, covering Nisitra as he raced past the open door to the other side.
The pair paused briefly before breaching the room. Chronos and Eton cleared the room almost instantaneously as it was very small. There were computers by gate control, a lunch table sat in the middle, and a pair of weapon lockers hugged one wall. Chronos shifted over towards the lockers while Eton inspected the dead computers. Chronos opened one of the lockers and turned on his helmets tactical lamp. A brown leather jacket was hanging inside of it while a magnum sat at the bottom, bullets strewn around it in a haphazard fashion. He closed it and turned towards the table. Eton was experimentally tapping on some of the computers buttons, attempting to get them working. Chronos sifted through some papers on the table, finding only log sheets and timetables.
“No power,” Eton quietly said, aware that there could still be others nearby. “That would explain why the lights are off.”
“That doesn’t explain why their are no guards, rebel or civilian.” He lifted a plate that held a partially eaten sandwich. “The question is, where did the inhabitants go in such a hurry?”
“Maybe they knew we were coming. The abrupt departure points towards rebels.”
Chronos pondered thoughtfully, “That would explain the missing rifle from the locker.” The pair stood quietly for another second before he lifted his rifle in his hand, resting it on his shoulder. “Better get the Captain’s call on this.”
“Sir, did you receive the transmission?”
“Yes Staff. Hold down the fort, we’re on our way.”
Chronos acknowledged before he pointed towards a window facing away from the direction they had arrived in. Eton stood next to it while looking through it into the dark. “Call out anything you see.”
“Yes sir.”
Chronos moved over to the gate control and peered through the reinforced glass at the ground. The barricade was a hydraulic bollard-type road barrier. They were lowered, meaning the Hogs would be able to pass over them.
“Sir, I see a structure on the other side of the cavern.”
Chronos shifted away from the glass and approached Eton. “Anything else?”
“No sir. No contacts. It’s dark as well.”
Chronos nodded, “Keep an eye on it.”
The two troopers didn’t need to wait long before the low rumble of the Warthogs could be heard approaching. Chronos walked out of the guard shack and waved down the lead Hog. He approached Luna while she was still manning the LAAG.
“Sir, there is a structure up ahead. No contacts as of yet.”
Luna’s lips were a grim line before she nodded, “Alright Staff. We’re moving in. Let’s go Ryan.”
Chronos stepped away. “Let’s go Corporal!”
The Staff Sergeant approached the Troop Hog and climbed into it, turning in time to see Eton double-timing towards the now moving vehicle. The Corporal vaulted into the back of the vehicle, settling down in his previous spot.
“Prep your gear. I want a perimeter around the Hogs when we dismount at the structure.”
Chronos checked the acknowledgement lights before shouldering his weapon, waiting patiently for their arrival to the dark building. The rest of the troopers stowed away any loose items before sitting in silence. The Warthogs rumbled through the dark cavern, their lights only just beginning to light up the building. Chronos scanned the windows for the glint of scopes and, finding none, prepped to dismount. The Warthogs pulled along the front side of the concrete and steel building, parking in front of a large steel door.
“Go, go, go!”
The troopers jumped off the sides and out of the back of the Hog, rushing to cover while setting a perimeter around their transports.
“Stay on the gun Brenden,” the Captain radioed over to the rear patrol. She stood by the steel door and motioned for James. Chronos stood nearby with his back to them, scanning the black from which they had come from.
“I want this door open Sergeant,” Chronos overheard.
“Yes sir!”
The Sergeant took his backpack off and set it on the ground. He rummaged in it briefly for a small scanner before plugging it into the door controls. The Captain approached Chronos, “What are you thinking Staff?”
“Rebel outpost. Heard we were comin’ and packed up shop.”
Luna thought momentarily. “Civilians?”
“Unlikely. They wouldn’t leave.” Chronos scanned the perimeter again. “They would have resisted our ‘invasion’ and claim that we ‘threaten their work’.”
“But why leave a defendable area?”
Chronos paused, “Perhaps to throw us off our game.”
Luna smirked briefly, “Straight to the point.” She gazed around quickly. Chronos noted the Spartan’s position, crouched near the front of the lead Hog and gazing into the blackness with his rifle raised. He turned his attention to James as Luna began talking again, “If that’s the case, we need to find out where they went. We’ll clear the building.”
“Yes sir.” Chronos shuffled away from Luna as she headed back towards James. “Shadow, let’s go!”
He waved his arm in a circle towards the door as the squad members hustled past. He followed the last trooper, Sergeant Brenden, whom was carrying his shotgun with his MG-3 draped across his back, back towards the steel blast doors.
“Sir, ready when you are,” James announced.
“Stack up!” Luna called.
The troopers made two lines on both sides of the blast doors, Ale leading the left line while Lilly led the right. Subconsciously knowing when, James executed the door commands. The steel doors hissed briefly before sliding apart with a loud whirring. The troopers ran in, thundering across the grated floor. They were in a long rectangular room with another steel door partially open on the other side. Two corridors intersected the middle of the covered room, the troopers splitting up and pouring down them. Chronos held his Assault Rifle forward and cleared room after room, finding them empty of life. Tactical lights strobed through the dark as the troopers kicked open doors and checked the vacant rooms.
“Clear!” Chuck announced as he backed out of the last room in the corridor.
“No contacts!” was announced from the other hallway.
“Alright Shadow, the previous occupants are possible Rebel forces. Begin investigating for any clues regarding their whereabouts. If you find anything, let Staff or I know.”
Acknowledgement lights winked on following the Captain’s orders. The troopers began searching the rooms closer, scattering stray paper and rummaging through drawers. Chronos browsed the objects on top of one of the desks. Finding nothing, he attempted to turn on the computer. When that failed he radioed, “We need to get the power on. There could be information on the computers.”
“On my way to the power box sir,” Private Daniel called back.
“Sir, the rear door is jammed. Looks like some cable got caught in the gears.”
“Can you clear it James?”
“Maybe, give me a couple minutes Captain.”
Chronos glanced around the room once more before stepping out of it. He quickly gathered the locations of the other troopers in the corridor, noticing that all their searches were fruitless. Shaking his head, he said, “Alright troopers, there’s nothing here. Rally in the central causeway.” The ODST’s ceased their investigations and moved up the corridor.
Chronos watched as James struggled to unwind as much cable as possible from the door gears in the floor. Luna looked up at him.
“Find anything?”
“No sir.”
The Captain shook her head. “Neither did we.”
“Sir, you better come take a look at this.”
“On our way Private.”
The Captain began moving towards one of the maintenance hallways. Chronos began to follow before looking over his shoulder, “Stay put. Help James if he asks.”
The two ODST’s moved through the cramped hallway before finding Dan standing next to a door. “In here.” He stepped inside and led them to a large blackened box on the wall.
“Explosives,” Luna muttered while observing the sparking power box. After a few seconds she turned around, “Too much shrapnel. We won’t be turning it on.”
Dan began following her out of the room. “Why would they, assuming they’re Rebels, destroy their own power?”
“To prevent us from using their own equipment is the most likely reason Private,” Luna responded. Chronos tailed after them back into the central room, noticing that James had stopped working on the gears.
Luna moved towards the corridor in which the other part of the team had disappeared down, motioning for the troopers to come back. “Status report James.”
“The drives are fried sir. Someone destroyed the back up generator on them.”
Luna stepped clear of the corridor as Sean, followed by more troopers, entered the room. Luna looked towards the ground in thought. “So they destroy their power and the door…. Well, they’re determined.”
“Or they had a disagreement.” Chronos looked up as their resident Spartan spoke up, stepping out of the corridor.
Luna’s eyebrow raise was visible through her helmet visor as it was unpolarized. “What did you find?”
Ale motioned for them to follow as he turned back into the corridor. Shadow Squad followed as he explained, “The barracks here are unmade, meaning that the occupants were rudely awakened. I also found some spent shell casings.” He opened a weapons locker in the hallway. “All the rifles are taken, but all other gear is untouched.” He faced Luna. “Someone shot at someone.”
Chronos nodded. “That still doesn’t explain their disappearance.”
The half ton Spartan shrugged. “Maybe there was a change in leadership?”
The three stood in contemplative silence for a few seconds, the rest of Shadow Squad waiting patiently for orders. Ale hefted his Rifle. “I found a map as well.” He handed over a tacpad. “Found it in one of the offices.”
“Good work soldier,” Luna replied, looking at him with thanks before tapping on the controls, uploading the map to her VISR. Everyone waited as their Captain studied the map.
“Alright, the tunnel outside only leads to the surface again. There's another tunnel beyond the rear door that leads further into the cave complex. The map isn’t super extensive, but we should be able to find more.” She turned and hustled back into the causeway. “Let’s go troopers!” She pointed to the partially open door.
“You heard the lady! Double time!” Chronos shouted as he pushed the troopers out the door. He watched as Ale squeezed through the small gap, immediately scanning his surroundings before covering the other soldiers coming through. Chronos stepped through, meeting Ale’s gaze briefly. Chronos waved for him to go clear the tunnel ahead with the other troopers, internally pleased with the new replacement. He would do.
Shadow Squad began patrolling down the cave, leaving the derelict and silent building behind.
Shadow Squad humped it along the cave floor, their breaths visible in the cooler temperature. Bright white lights crisscrossed in front of them as both their visor and weapon lights were turned on. The hustling soldiers were far from comfortable, their sweat soaked clothes causing them endless amounts of misery in the chilled environment. They had been moving at a quick pace for over three hours, having only taken one five minute break half an hour ago. There was still no sign of rebel activity in the tunnels, only adding further tension on the soldiers. They knew their enemy was out there. Not knowing where they were only frustrated and slightly unnerved them as well.
The squad continued to jog lightly, the slap of their combat boots and rustling of their armor and equipment keeping them company.
Brenden grasped the center of his shotgun with his left hand briefly, shifting a strap on his shoulder slightly to help ease the inevitable chaffing of the wet clothing under his armor. He looked up towards the head of the pack from his position near the middle, spotting Ale. The large super soldier leading the pack was moving with an impossible grace, his heavy form making barely a sound. The Spartan’s movements were very fluid like in nature, something that could only be achieved with years upon years of training and service in the field.
He shook his head slightly while taking a breath, the cool air flowing in through his helmets open air vents. “I bet he’s got an AC and heat unit packed away into that tin can,” he mumbled, a small spike of jealousy evident in his tone.
“Heh,” Ryan chuckled. “I bet if you asked nicely, he’d share some of the space in there with you.” The Private looked over his shoulder at Brenden, a small smirk visible through his visor.
“Actually, the MJOLNIR Mark VII features a climate regulating unit,” Private Daniel spoke up. “It keeps the wearer at a comfortable temperature and offers a sealed environment.” He paused to take a few breaths while adjusting his helmet briefly. “In the case of space combat, it has 90 minutes of breathable air, meani-,”
“Yeah ok! We get it. It’s fuckin Tahiti in there.” Chuck cracked his neck quickly while keeping his pace behind them. “Enough talking about it already.” The temperamental soldier avoided a slick looking rock in his path. “Let’s just get this over with.”
“Ah, don’t like being in deep dark holes?” Sean asked, the Sergeant jogging in front of Ryan.
The PFC ignored him. A hand grasped his shoulder from behind in a reassuring squeeze. “You know full well that this place is giving everyone the creeps,” Lilly announced.
She released her grasp and fell back into position behind him as Dan spoke. “Lord knows I want to see the sky again and never lose sight of it.”
“Amen to that!” Lilly said. “Besides, not everybody is as intimately acquainted with the deep dark holes of their weapons as you Sean.”
“Ouch, that’s gotta hurt.” Rico’s pack made slightly louder sounds as some of his cooking utensils have no doubt gotten a bit loose from their long hike.
Sean remained quiet, finding no good response. Alex, taking the opportunity to keep up conversation while also steering it away from more agonistic topics, asked, “Staff! Any word on where exactly we’re heading?”
Chronos, second from the rear of the pack, kept a hard look on his face. “You know as much as me kid.”
“Well then… that’s reassuring,” Sean finally said.
“Ugh, this is bullshit!” Lilly exclaimed. “I don’t know why we didn’t just blow open that gate and push through with the Hogs.”
“The terrain is pretty bad in here. It would have beat the Hogs to hell. Furthermore, we are making faster time on foot,” James said from the rear, checking over his shoulder every so often. “Every bit of explosive may be needed. We don’t know when we will get supplies next.” He paused. “Who knows? We may just get in a bigger jam that actually requires a bit of tough love.”
Sean smiled. “Yeah, I’m sure you are packing some ‘tough love’ robot man.”
“Aaaaaand we’re back full circle again,” Alex sighed.
James merely raised an eyebrow. “You’re lucky I know you, else you’d be missing some teeth about now.”
Sean mock gasped. “Oh no! I can’t go and have teeth like Rico now can I?”
“Te va a encantar el ingrediente special que le voy a poner a tu cena hoy,” Rico spoke in a low tone.
Sean turned to look at him curiously. “What?” Rico pulled off his helmet, snorted long and hard, cleared his throat, and hocked a loogie onto the cave floor before slapping his helmet back on. Sean faced forward and kept jogging, feeling slightly worried.
Meanwhile, Captain Luna checked her wrist mounted tac pad, tapping on it briefly to check the map they had found. She had deduced that most of the tunnels were just that, tunnels. There wasn’t any particularly large space or other anomaly that could signify a Rebel hideout. There was however, a particular area at the very edge of the available map that showed the tunnels moving in a more unnatural way. Nature doesn’t make straight lines. Not wanting to run into any dead ends and lacking other good options, she had decided to head towards them.
Luna couldn’t help but agree with some of the squad’s sentiments. Trudging through caves to hunt down a hidden enemy was no easy nor safe task. The situation was made even worse with the little amount of intel they had to begin with. To her, High Comm had pretty much said ‘Go in there, find them, and kill them’. Absolutely zero regard to the safety of her squad had been given. Luna sighed slightly. ‘The joys of being a highly self reliant, effective, and deadly asset.’
She looked back up and held her Assault Rifle close. Corporal Nisitra was a few meters ahead of her whilst he followed Ale at a relatively similar distance. Luna ignored the now quite chatty group of ODSTs, allowing them to talk freely after over three hours of near silence.
‘Speaking of silence….’ Luna watched as Ale continued jogging forwards, his rifle held in ready position as he scanned ahead of him. The Spartan hadn’t said anything since they left the abandoned checkpoint. Longing pulled at her soul. To just hear his voice was soothing to the dull aching within her.
Wanting just that, she sped up her pace, passing Eton. She gestured for him to slow down, allowing the entire squad to slow their pace slightly to catch their breath. Luna pulled up next to Ale, her height allowing her to keep up with the long strides of the Spartan. Ale didn’t need to be told to slow down as he had already noticed the change of pace on his radar.
Ale kept his rifle aimed forward and his eyes scanning the darkness in front of them. “Something up Captain?”
The two of them came to a slow jog, allowing more breath to be used for talking. “We are nearing a fork in the tunnel. The map doesn’t show much further beyond that.”
The Spartan looked to her briefly, “Seems like you’ll have to make a decision.”
Luna shook her head. “That’s not how it works with us. Consider this another thing that my team does differently. We all make decisions together based on our own experiences and most intelligent course of action.”
Ale turned his attention forwards with a little nod. “Alright, sounds good.” They continued for a few seconds before the Spartan spoke. “Permission to speak freely sir.”
“No need to ask Spartan. Speak your mind.”
“With all due respect sir, I’ve never encountered someone quite like you.”
An amused grin split Luna’s face as she continued moving. “I get that reaction more often than you may think. Care to elaborate?”
“Well, most leaders I’ve been around don’t consult their team like you do. They trust in their training and, more often than not, ignore what the team has to say. It’s… different, to say the least.”
Luna shook her head. “I’ve seen a lot in my life, much more than you may think. I’ve seen more battles than your average soldier and much more than that of a class taught leader. My experience has always taught me that the lowly grunts of a military are much more knowledgeable and have more instincts than that of their COs.”
“I see…” Ale didn’t offer anything more. She suddenly heard a small commotion behind them.
“Where did you get that?”
“I’m afraid I can’t tell you that. Secret cook’s code of honor.” Rico chuckled.
“Aw, c’mon! I haven’t seen a banana in years! Where would you even get your hands on one?” Sean complained.
“He probably stole it,” Lilly said. “He’ll steal anything you leave unattended.” Lilly then looked at Sean. “I didn’t realize you were so excited about stuff like that. Are you finally coming out of the closet?”
Ryan laughed. “That’s twice now she’s got you Sean!”
The squad continued to harass each other, a sign that they were still doing just fine to Luna. When soldiers didn’t bully each other, you knew that there was a problem.
“Rico!” Luna shouted.
The hispanic stopped snacking on the fruit. “Yes sir?”
“Please refrain from participating in the black market and flaunting your gains in front of the squad, understood?”
Rico nodded seriously, his helmet clutched in one hand and the half eaten fruit in the other. “Yes sir!”
“Good. From now on, I expect you to get enough for everybody next time.”
Rico stumbled slightly in astonishment. “Y-yes sir!”
Private Dan shook his head. “Is that even sanctioned?”
Sean reached in front of him and slapped the side of Dan’s helmet. “Shut your gob you idiot!”
Ale shook his head, a surprising action from the so far quiet and focused soldier. “None for me please.”
Luna quirked her head sideways briefly. “Why not? Don’t like them?”
Ale paused, his polarized visor adding further to his silent nature. He seemed to have to think about his answer before he finally replied, “I don’t actually know. I just know that I’m not supposed to have them. Strange isn’t it?” He shrugged and kept moving.
Luna’s eyes widened as her step slowed, allowing Ale to pull ahead of her. Her thoughts were tumultuous, a storm of noise and images roiling through her mind. She felt her soul ache harder, causing her to slow further.
Eton was beginning to pass her. He noticed her strange pace and spoke, “Captain? Are you ok?”
She took a staggered breath, holding her pace while also trying to recover from her thoughts. She nodded, Eton taking his cue to continue in front of her. Luna’s eyes locked onto the super soldier, memories of their first few days together running rampant. She didn’t care what Celestia said or did. ‘You are Ale. You have to be. Who else could it be but you? No, you have come back to me, my beloved.’
She stared hard at Ale, her body running on autopilot as it navigated behind Eton. ‘But why don’t you remember?’ She gritted her teeth and pushed the thoughts away, blinking a few times due to the effort. Now was not the time. She distracted herself by pulling up the mission timer on her HUD. ‘06:52:37,’ she read.
‘We’re making good time,’ she thought. She continued to jog, her extra duffel bag strapped across her back weighing her down. The newfound strain didn’t register to her as her magically induced strength and her own thousands of years of training made her more than suited to the task. She had a lot of time to practice in this body, knowing it better than others did their own.
“Ah, shit!”
Luna whipped around, her rifle raised at the source of the exclamation. The others in her team had copied her actions flawlessly and quickly assessed the situation. A member of their squad, Private Dan, had slipped off a large, slanted boulder and fell into a small muddy trench. He quickly pulled himself up and shook his arms once downward, flicking off as much mud as possible.
“Crap.” He grumbled briefly before looking back up towards his now gathered teammates, instinctively ensuring that all his gear was still in place.
“You alright?” James asked.
“Yes sir, just lost my footing.”
Corporal Alex took a few careful steps along the boulder and held out his hand, Dan taking it and pulling himself back up onto the path. “Thanks.”
Luna lowered her rifle before looking at the rest of the team. “Let’s go people.” She turned and took a few steps, falling in behind Eton and Ale.
“Hold up! I got something.” The rest of Shadow paused again as Alex shined his tactical lamp down into the mud. He swept it across before carefully vaulting into it.
“What is it Corporal?” James asked as he added his own light in an effort to help Alex as well as see for himself. Alex’s specializations in scouting meant he was able to spot things others couldn’t, a useful talent when tracking an unseen enemy. The scout walked past the turned up mud Dan had landed in and crouched near a more undisturbed part of the small mud pit.
“Tracks.”
“Rebels?” Lilly asked, excitement evident in her tone.
Alex traced a print out with his hand before setting his elbow on his knee and turning his head to look over his shoulder at the squad. “No, unless you know of any that are digitigrades.”
Silence other than the occasional drip of water permeated the cave. Alex looked back down at the tracks and studied them. Chuck sighed before tilting his head sideways slightly. “Well, guess we have some more unexpected company eh?” he said with a slight air of sarcasm.
Luna frowned before asking, “How many?”
Alex stood back up and, taking James’ hand in assistance, was pulled up onto the flat rock. “Three. But there could be more. These three could have just been careless in where they were walking.”
Luna tightened her lips in a grim line. “Alright, you know the drill people. We have some guests. Keep your eyes peeled for movement. Possible Spec Op unit. Keep an eye out for camo. If you see anything, call it. We’ve all lived through the war, we know what they are capable of.”
Luna began moving away. The rest of the squad moved in behind her with a subdued silence, their minds on high alert as they carefully hustled along. The squad’s radios crackled and popped briefly before Luna spoke, ensuring everybody could hear her.
“Alright, I know what you’re all thinking. This mission just went from finding a needle in a haystack to finding a needle in a haystack riddled with rattlesnakes.” She didn’t need verbal confirmation to know that the squad agreed. “Currently, we have some Covies who have, to our knowledge, violated the treaty and have made landfall on a current warzone without UNSC permission.”
“Covenant presence would explain what we found at the checkpoint,” James reminded.
Rico kept his eyes forward. “Sabotaging their own equipment and intel in an effort to slow their pursuers? Sounds about right.”
“However, they may not be a part of the Remnant.” At the squad’s silence Luna sighed. “Yes, as unlikely as it sounds, we don’t know their motives. So, I expect you all to approach this with extreme prejudice. Check your fire and watch your six.”
“Oo-rah!”
The squad continued to move for another 20 minutes, all the while talking quietly with one another every so often. While the atmosphere had become heavier with the new knowledge, the squad members themselves weren’t necessarily worried. They had dealt with the Covenant many times before together and in their original squads. The end of the war didn’t mean they could go home either, resulting in plenty of other engagements with both remnants of the Covenant and the revitalized Rebel presence. But encountering them at the same time, that didn’t happen often and was bad news for anybody caught between them.
The squad stopped talking when Ale suddenly raised a clenched fist. “We’ve reached the fork in the road, Captain.”
Luna stepped past Ale, gesturing for the troopers to set up a small perimeter. She pointed at Alex, “Corporal, see if you can find out which tunnel our targets have gone.”
The black and red ODST pointed his light into the left tunnel and moved down it slightly, scouring for any signs of use. Meanwhile, the rest of the troopers continued to stare into the surrounding darkness, daring anything to come out. Luna checked her tac pad while Ale stood by and looked between the two tunnels.
Alex stepped out of the left tunnel and moved into the right, Ale following a few steps behind him. Ale stared down the tunnel while Alex flashed his light at the ground and along the walls. He hadn’t been looking long before clicking his tongue. He walked backwards a few steps before moving back to Luna.
“Find anything?” Luna looked up from her wrist mounted computer.
The Corporal pointed to the left tunnel, “Nothing in there, at least, not recently.” He shifted to the right, just as Ale walked out of it. “There are good signs of foot traffic in the right tunnel. Recent too.”
“And the Sangheili?”
“Nada, the ground is too hard for anything distinguishable to be imprinted.”
Ale stepped up to them. “There’s fresh air coming down from there too. It has to make contact with the surface somewhere.”
Luna tilted her head before taking off a glove, holding it out towards the tunnel. Sure enough, she could feel a small, cool breeze tickling the sheen of sweat on her hand. She pulled her glove back on before nodding. “Alright,” she looked towards some of the surrounding troopers. “Form up! We’re leaving this place.”
The soldiers pulled away from their positions and rallied behind the Spartan before they funneled into the right exit, their pace quick as they looked forward to leaving the quickly growing darkness behind them.
Exotic animal calls echoed strangely off the steep yet heavily vegetated canyon walls, the thick green leaves and brightly flourishing flowers doing nothing to mute the wild life. The strange, yet fragile jungle ecosystem had been located in the canyon for centuries. Small rivers cascaded off the walls in short intervals, feeding the small, yet thick forest. The sunlight was, for the most part, blocked as trees grew away from the cliff sides and rocky riverbanks, the canopy only allowing enough light through to keep the underbrush healthy. There were breaks in the trees where only bushes grew, the trees having been knocked aside by falling boulders and landslides, allowing the systems star to shine in full when directly above the crack in the earth. A small yet well treaded path cut through the canyon’s forest, moving between the trees and sometimes going right up against the canyon walls or down to the small, raging river.
In one of the clearings up towards the top of the hilly canyon floor, near the wall of a cliff and just below the top of a small knoll, sat several large bushes. Two indistinct forms were located just beneath the skirt of the bushes, relying on the heavy shadows of the brush and the surrounding heavy vegetation to hide them from sharp eyes. A large weapon was lying on the ground and covered with some of the local fauna, blending the deadly tool into it’s environment.
Corporal Emilio Vega, or just Vega, manned this heavy weapon. His ice white visor was a few inches away from the scope, giving him enough room to look both through the scope and a wider field of view of the rest of the canyon. Corporal Sergey Petrovich sat beside him, his own rifle propped up beside him. He held an artist's notebook in his lap and was carefully moving his hand across the paper, pressing a charcoal pencil on the paper. A Spartan graced the paper, the slimmer armor giving away the gender to be female. It showed her right in the heat of battle, an assault rifle clutched in one hand while firing, a grenade being primed in the other. While it was easy to see that it was, in fact, Erika, it would unfortunately never be seen by her, instead being stored with the other numerous detailed sketches of battle, environments, and anything else that caught the sniper's eye.
‘And… done.’ Sergey finished with a flourish of his hand, marking his signature. He placed a plastic sleeve around the page before closing the very durable sketchpad. He then placed it in a tough and waterproof nylon bag used just for his sketchpad and art tools. He placed it in his rucksack and sealed it up, his motions fairly slow and quiet in order to maintain his cover. He then pulled his knees up and rested his arms on them, staring quietly down the small hill and into the jungle.
The scout snipers had purposefully avoided placing themselves at the top of the hill as it was an obvious vantage point. Instead, they settled themselves about halfway down and had tucked into the heavy foliage. The beaten path could be seen in brief intervals through the trees until a small wedge shaped break in the trees protruded from their clearing, giving a good view of the shaded trail.
Two hours ago, the small ODST team had caught up to a small band of rebels near the exit of the cave system. The rag tag bunch of soldiers were very heavily armed, but were not well equipped in armor, tools, and other miscellaneous items. The rebels had made a very brief stop to distribute a small amount of food amongst themselves. The three man sniper team had taken that time to move far ahead of them, lying in wait for their passing and trailing them to their destination.
Sergey and Vega had set up shop to report the passing of the rebels while Corporal Leonardo Wright had gone further ahead to scout out for any further resistance or reinforcements. The two ace marksmen waited patiently for their objectives, a very slight drizzle beginning to fall, the small raindrops causing an almost deafening roar in the canyon.
The strange yet effective combination of three snipers had worked out fairly well for Shadow, proving to be invaluable time and time again. The team specialized in many different tasks, ranging from assassinations, scouting, sabotaging enemy supplies, crippling leadership, torch and burn ops, etc. They softened the enemy before the calvary showed up to punch a hole through the Innies and wreak havoc. Shadow had a rep, one which rippled even in the farthest reaches of military activity, both friendly and enemy. They were spoken about in soft tones, whispering as if fearing that they would be heard by the inked legends.
Sergey counted the number of raindrops landing on his shoulder pauldron as it dripped in a steady beat from a low hanging leaf, all the while keeping his eyes unfocused, staring straight. The tactic allowed any abnormal movement in the heavy brush to be spotted almost instantaneously. Corporal Vega continued resting on his belly , ignoring the water as it slowly began to seep through the gaps in his armor and soak his clothes. He rested one arm beneath the rifle while the other held the grip in a loose, comfortable grip.
They sat this way for another 30 minutes before Vega slowly let go of his rifle and held up five fingers to Sergey. The 27 year old acknowledged with a green ping on Vega’s HUD before continuing to hold his position, giving no signs of life. Vega lowered his hand and rested it back on the rifle's grip. The rain began to pound harder.
Not more than five minutes later, indistinct voices could be heard emanating from the forest. The snipers did not move an inch. Dark clothing could be seen in the trees as the voices gained volume. Eventually, the small group of rebels walked into the ODSTs field of view along the trail in the small clearing in the trees. They were located about 700 feet from the knoll the troopers were on. The rebels looked cold and miserable, voicing their complaints loudly as they trudged along the quickly mudding path.
Vega watched through his scope as they passed through the clearing in a minute. They waited until the voices began quieting, holding still until they were deemed to be a sufficient distance away. Vega moved his head away from the scope before beginning to move onto his hands and knees to get up into a crouch. A red acknowledgment light appearing on his HUD made him stop instantly, only allowing his head to look forward very, very slowly.
He stopped when he could see back down the hill and the path. His eyes instantly locked onto three anomalies rapidly moving along the path. The bubbly ripples caused by the rain were an instant give away to the three cloaked figures, clearly Sangheili by their stance, height, and quick movement. They made no noise as they raced across the clearing and into the underbrush after the rebels.
Vega waited for a few more seconds before slowly finishing getting into his combat crouch, clutching his weapon across his torso. Sergey moved up next to him and held his rifle with his right hand, grabbing ahold of Vega’s shoulder with his left. “We got company.”
Vega nodded. “They must have stopped when the rebels did.”
Sergey patted his shoulder a few times before beginning to crouch walk out from the bushes and along the tall vegetation. “Let’s hope they didn’t see us then.”
Vega followed the camo netted soldier, keeping his head low and his weapon clear of the brush. “Things just got interesting.”
Heavy breathing echoed loudly in the small space before being carried away on a strong breeze. The cave floor was graded upwards and slick, as rainwater hurried along its path. Shadow struggled to keep their footing while hustling up the slope. Small curses could be heard as a few of the troopers almost tripped on protruding rock ledges or stones on the floor that their lights didn’t pick up fast enough.
They were guided onwards by a bright twinkling in the distance, every step bringing them ever closer. The light suddenly seemed to accelerate towards them, the optical illusion a welcome relief to the weary ODSTs. They did however, slow down, not neglecting the very real possibility of danger to ambush them upon their exit.
The light would have been blinding if they hadn’t polarized their visors, daylight now flooding the entrance of the tunnel. Ale was the first to leave the maze behind him. He quickly scanned left to right while stepping away from the gaping maw behind him. Shadow Squad quickly followed in his foot steps, disbanding to prevent a single well aimed rocket shot from taking them all out.
“Watch for snipers!” Luna commanded, checking the far ledges on the other side of the canyon wall.
Heavy rain pounded just a few feet away from them, an overhang providing them cover from the water. The ground sloped away from them until it met a flooded creek, the raging torrent moving a few hundred meters away from them along the canyon floor until it disappeared into another cave at the end of the canyon.
The squad, after having checked their sectors, relaxed.
An awed whistle was heard. “This place sure is pretty,” Brenden spoke, hefting his shotgun onto his shoulder.
Luna looked down the canyon until it twisted out of view, the giant and painfully green jungle trees a welcome sight. “You’re not wrong about that.”
Lilly cracked her neck and stretched her shoulders. “I’m just glad to be out.”
“Aye,” Rico agreed, the soldier leaning down next to a flowering bush, gently touching a shockingly pink flower appreciatively.
“Gonna pick those for your boyfriend back home?” Sean asked, watching as Rico carefully picked one.
Rico pulled a tiny cookbook out of one of his front pockets and opened it to a random page before placing the flower in it, closing the cover tightly. He stepped away while putting it back into his pocket. “It’s for my Nana. She used to have a massive garden planted in the backyard. She must have had hundreds of flowers.” He shook his head. “It’s been years since she’s been healthy enough to tend to them.”
Everyone stood quietly for a moment, sobering the thought. Ryan stepped up to Sean and smacked him lightly on the shoulder. “Now look at what you did,” he said, gesturing to the squad. Most of the troopers still had their visors polarized, but their body language alone showed that they were feeling a bit morose, no doubt thinking of home.
Ale suddenly shifted, the slight noise of his weight crunching the gravel underfoot catching the squad’s attention. “The rebels have been here,” he said, pointing to a small clearing a good distance away, nestled into the underbrush.
Luna stepped next to him and peered in the indicated direction. She used her own helmet's zoom capability, now able to see an abandoned campfire and other random junk scattered in the trampled grass. She nodded. “We’re on the right track.” She pointed two fingers forward. “Let’s go. The rain will mask our approach if they’ve stopped again.”
The squad lined up in the same order, with the exception of Alex, who had moved up to the front, and stepped out into the downpour, following an almost obliterated dirt path. The trail led down the slope and next to the swollen creek, the water threatening to consume it. The plant life began thickening drastically to both sides, the troopers keeping their wits about them.
They didn’t walk far before they reached the clearing, the water having already flooded half of it. Ale went to the remnants of a campfire while the others stood patiently. The super soldier crouched and picked through the waterlogged fire pit briefly before standing up. “There’s still a bit of heat in the sheltered coals. We’re a few hours behind.”
There was a rattle as Rico kicked a metal tin, “I don’t know the kind of gear they are packing, but these are outdated rations.”
“That’s a good sign,” Ryan stated. “Better for us if they starve.”
Dan shook his head. “No, it’s not. If their rations aren’t even good anymore, that means they are spending less money on food.”
“Which they can then spend on weapons,” Chuck finished, realization dawning in his voice.
“They’ll be toe to toe with us in firepower,” Ale caught everybody’s attention, surprised that the Spartan was participating in generic talk. “And they more than likely out number us.”
“It’s nothing we haven’t seen before. After all, the Covenant had even bigger weapons.” James stepped past, checking something of interest to him.
Lilly placed a hand on her hip. “While James does have a point, nothing is ever a walk in the park. Not for us.”
Ale raised an invisible eyebrow, seeing first hand exactly what Luna had been talking about earlier. James was Lilly’s senior, and he had not seen communication between ranks quite like this before. ‘They really are unique.’
Luna nodded, “Wouldn’t be a Shadow mission if it were easy.” She clutched her weapon before gesturing with her head to move. “Shadow, we’re burning sunshine here.” She pointed for Alex to lead.
The troopers began to move out, but did so slowly. The rain, while masking any sounds they made, also made it harder for the squad to spot traps or other ambushes. Alex led, Ale standing right behind him in case he needed immediate support. The troopers constantly checked their sectors while also keeping an eye on where they were stepping.
The literal wall of rain eased up as the surrounding trees became older and much, much larger. The tangled canopy proved to be an efficient umbrella. The trail offered very little room to walk in, the razor sharp leaves of the underbrush sliding off the armored plates and tough fabric of the ODSTs.
“I don’t like this,” Sean said. “Those split-jaws could be anywhere. And I don’t fancy my chances in jungle combat against lizards.”
Nobody answered, very aware of the situation and how fast it could all go to hell. They instead continued trudging through the canyon, tirelessly watching out for danger. At one point, the creek had engulfed the trail completely, forcing the troopers to forge their own path. This was easier said than done, as the soldiers had to navigate almost blindly through the infinite number of bushes.
Over the next four hours, the rainstorm worsened. Water began punching through the canopy and practically drowned Shadow Squad, with the exception of Ale, whom had now become the envy of the cold and miserable troopers.
It was at the edge of one of the clearings that Alex raised his hand, halting the trooper’s progression. He scanned the other side, as he had done for every clearing, before deeming it safe. The squad stepped out and began to walk across the tall grass.
A sharp crack caused everybody to instantly crouch into the cover of the grass. The ODSTs remained quiet while carefully listening for anything that would give the possible sniper away. That is, until another crack sounded off, confusing the troopers.
“That’s not sniper fire,” James radioed.
The squad stayed put, water pounding off of their hunched forms. The cracks continued, slowly growing in intensity, soon accompanied by varying pops and strained yet odd groans. The troopers carefully shifted, attempting to find the source of the noise. This proved impossible as all sounds echoed from all directions off the canyon walls.
A very brief sound caught Ale’s attention, his enhanced hearing registering it as nearby and to the left. He slowly stood up to a half crouch, his eyes scanning the clearing as it lead to the canyon wall. A brief shower of pebbles rushed down the cliff face, causing Ale to drag his gaze upwards. By this time, the squad had noticed where Ale’s attention was focused and checked as well.
More pebbles and small rocks randomly fell away from their perches of the numerous ledges. Ale’s eyes narrowed. One of the waterfalls caused by the huge amounts of rain suddenly turned much darker, the groaning and cracking becoming deafening.
Luna started, “WE GOTTA MOVE!!!”
Just then, the canyon wall gave one last ear shattering pop before an entire section shifted and began to fall, a small wall of water finally being released. The troopers bolted, racing across the large clearing. The water flushed down the clearing and made contact with the ODSTs. While the dispersed water was only ankle height, it was very swift and strong, eroding the very ground beneath them.
That was not the trooper’s main concern though.
“Oh fuck!” Chuck yelled as one of the massive boulders raced ahead of the oncoming mudslide, passing in front of him by a few feet.
The line of soldiers slammed into the jungle, the mudslide racing perpendicularly to them down the clearing behind them a few seconds later. The ODSTs ignored the underbrush and continued to move at a full out sprint, the deadly mixture of rock and water obliterating the plant life. The troopers were no longer traveling in a line, instead running through the incredibly rough terrain randomly.
Boulders of varying size smashed through the brush and bounced off of trees, throwing deadly shrapnel into the air. The ODSTs ducked and weaved, jumped and skipped, barely avoiding danger while instinctively keeping an eye on one another.
“Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! SHIT!” Ryan yelled as he crested a small yet steep rise and tripped on a stray tree root, flying through the air briefly before tumbling down the other side. He struggled to his feet before grunting loudly as Chronos slammed into him, throwing him over his shoulder and continuing to move without breaking his stride.
Nobody could hear each other over the chaos, indistinguishable shouts and commands drowned out by the roar. The only thing that the troopers could hear other than the sheer destruction was the loud thudding of their hearts and their heavy breathing. Rain pattered against their visors and their muscles burned, all the while adrenaline drowning out the uncomfortable combination of internal heat and cold clothes.
“Up here!”
Shadow raced after the call of their leader, heading up a large hill. They didn’t stop until they reached the top, the soldiers leaning over and panting. Ryan demanded loudly to be put down, Chronos granting him his wish and letting him flop over his back and land on his rear, a sharp exhale wheezing out of the Private.
Ale stepped back towards the way they had come and watched as the massive landslide only grazed the hill as it continued to race both down and up river. He turned and waited for the ODSTs to catch their breath.
*Huff* *Huff* *Huff* Sean panted heavily before looking towards Brenden. “Did you *huff* see *puff* how fast *huff* pops ran?”
Brenden nodded, standing up straight with his hands on his lower back, taking a few deep breaths. “I don’t know what to tell you.”
“It’s insane that’s what!” Sean gasped out. He gestured to Chronos. “He still outpaced us!” Chronos grunted irritably before stepping away.
Without missing a beat, Lilly pounced. "Maybe if you dumped your girlfriend and actually lifted a quarter of your weight, you wouldn't have to worry about being shown up by someone three times your age."
Sean stood and stretched his legs. "Don't comment on my relationship decisions until you can actually keep one."
Lilly stepped forward. "And what's that supposed to mean?" she asked in a dead tone.
Sean smirked. "It means you're a harlot."
It was a good thing Lilly’s visor was polarized as the intense anger in her eyes could have started him on fire where he stood.
Luna brushed past the two. "Knock it off. Solve your problems when we're not on the clock." She glanced around at all the troopers. "Any injuries?"
"Other than a wounded pride," Rico said, pointing to Ryan, "we're green, sir."
"Sir," the Spartan spoke, causing her to face him. "The mudslide is slowing down. We should keep moving before the walls become compromised further."
Luna nodded before facing her troops, rain slinging off her helmet. "You heard the Spartan, we’re moving. I’d rather we stay a part of the quick and not the dead in this twisty box canyon.” The Captain started moving away.
"Why does that sound familiar?" Dan paused.
"I think you hit your head, Private. Let's go." James clapped him on the back before walking past.
Dan shook his head and walked down the other side of the hill. "I swear, I've heard it somewhere."
The troopers quieted down as they walked through the tall grass, ensuring to stay away from the now still mudslide as it would have, without a doubt, caught the attention of anybody traveling through the canyon.
With a few last thundering death cries, the bulk of the storm passed. The heavy rain left and was replaced by the final gasps of light rain, the canyon now enshrouded in a heavy mist as the swollen waterfalls continued to plummet down the walls.
The squad melted into the heavy shadow of the canyon as the star was now well past its apex. Ale and the ODSTs kept their lights turned off in the low light environment to keep from being spotted. VISR and Ale's own visual upgrades to himself and his equipment were more than enough to navigate in the dense jungle.
The cliffs of the canyon began to stretch much, much higher as the large chasm entered a vast mountain range. Ale himself could barely see some of the highest snow covered peaks. The now majestic piles of rock tossed the squad into a much darker part of the crevasse.
At one point, the canyon began to get bigger, and the exotic jungle began to be replaced by more deciduous plant life as the squad exited the self contained ecosystem. A small valley stretched to their right and to their left. It was impossible to see the entire thing as it too was covered in the more temperate trees.
At long last the rain broke, bright stars twinkling in the night sky. The squad stopped on a small ridge for a brief respite. Low murmurings broke out as the troopers relaxed and stretched, setting their gear down to take some of the weight off their sore legs.
Ale stood tall and near the edge of the ridge, keeping watch. The world was a luminescent green in the eyes of the Spartan, his night vision taking advantage of the bright starlight. A stiff breeze rolled off the mountain peaks and into the low valley, the trees swaying gently and the foliage rustling.
Luna checked her tac pad for any mission updates from High Comm before looking towards both ends of the valley. She glanced at her wrist mounted computer one more time before moving towards Ale, Chronos approaching them as well.
"Spartan," she called for his attention, the angel of death turning his cyan visor towards her. She turned her silver visor to Chronos, "No new mission objectives from Command." She shifted before looking at Ale. "And there's been nothing from the Recon team."
"What is the suggested course of action?" Chronos asked in a low gravelly voice.
Luna sighed. "Since we don't know the area, nor do we have an obvious target, we'll have to scour the valley for any signs of a Rebel presence."
Ale scanned the undergrowth. "That will take a while. A few days if we're thorough."
"My thoughts exactly," Luna placed a hand on her hip before gesturing with the other. "Which is why I think we need to split up into two groups."
The two soldiers she was addressing straightened and briefly glanced at each other before Ale went back to watching his surroundings. "We'll have to be careful. With possible Zealots running around, ambush risk is high."
"Aye." Chronos agreed.
Luna nodded. "We need to split up wisely." She pointed at Chronos. "You'll head one, I the other. The two teams need to have balanced skill sets, so you'll take-,"
Ale's rifle snapped up and he quickly took up a combat stance before rapidly walking past Luna, who turned around with her own sidearm raised. His enhanced eyesight had picked up the movement long before it had entered within his radar's range limit. He stopped and held steady.
A shadow melted out of the bushes on the far side of the clearing. Ale paused as a friendly IFF tag popped up on his HUD, the tag identifying the now humanoid shape as one of the Recon members.
Ale lowered his weapon as did the Captain beside him. She holstered her weapon before waving her hand, signaling to the now gathered and armed squad to relax. She waited patiently as the ODST hustled with a dead silence up to her and the Spartan.
Luna stepped forward. "Corporal. Good to see you."
Leonardo nodded, "Like wise sir."
"What's the situation?"
"A small group of Rebels passed by Sergey and Vega a few hours ago back in the canyon," Leo spoke. "They weren't alone either."
He held up a small holographic projector. A slightly blurry image flickered to life. It was hard to make out, but both Ale and Luna were able to pick up the distorted figures of three Elites.
"Zealot class," Leo pocketed his projector. "Both Sergey and Vega pursued until they made rendezvous with me. Near as we can tell, the Sangheili are following the Rebels."
Luna nodded before gesturing for her squad to rally up. "Confirmed Zealots, and they have a particular interest in our targets." She turned back to Leo. "Were you able to discern which group they came from?"
Leo shook his head. "Negative. But preliminary scans of their armor markings suggest Covenant sympathizers."
"That's not good," Luna said, tilting her head while thinking carefully. She looked straight to the Corporal. "Where are the others?"
"Waiting for us sir. We found where the Rebels have taken refuge."
Chuck held out his hands to the side. "Well? What are we waiting for?"
Luna nodded. "Lead the way Corporal."
Leonardo turned and began jogging lightly back the way he had come. Shadow followed as he led them through the center of the valley, moving quickly between the trees and other obstacles.
It was only about midnight by the time the squad reached the other side, following Leo along another ridge line until they dropped down into a small dip in the ground. Sergey and Vega were waiting, both soldiers lying prone by the edge with their snipers aimed down the other side towards the foot of a massive mountain. The squad gathered up behind the two ODSTs.
"Sitrep," Luna commanded as she crawled up next to them, looking down at their point of interest.
"Reinforced entrance to the mountain near it's base. That's where our targets headed." Vega adjusted his scope slightly.
"Nature of the site?" Luna zoomed in towards the dimly lit entrance, noticing several armed guards standing in front of a large and clearly artificial tunnel.
"Most likely civilian. They've been stopping the traffic coming in along the narrow roads and checking them. Most of it non-military," Sergey reported. "With the amount and variety of both commercial and civilian vehicles, there's gotta be an entire city under there."
Luna pondered his conclusion before clapping them both on the backs. "Excellent work. Let me know if anything changes."
"Yes sir," they both responded.
Luna crawled backwards until she was sufficiently far enough to stand. She walked a little aways from the gathered team. She activated her radio and synced up with Commands secure frequency.
"Fireteam Shadow to UNSC Grazer, do you read, over."
She listened patiently as a series of different clicks and beeps echoed over the static, Communications checking the authenticity of the hail.
"Solid copy Shadow. What do you need?"
"We've tracked Rebel forces to an unknown location. Possible civilian establishment. Can you cross our coordinates to anything in the database for Newark, over."
"Give us a hot second, pulling up records now..."
Luna looked over to her squad, watching as they quietly held their positions and waited for her orders. A short pop on the radio caught her attention. "Shadow, I've checked the coordinates. There's an old mining facility a few clicks away from you. The mine built a city called Ashes under the mountain. This was to protect it from raids since before the Covenant War. It's currently not under any government control whatsoever. The governing body was evacuated years ago due to sightings of the Covenant in system."
Luna paused as she digested the information. "Alright. And Grazer, we've had a confirmed sighting of Zealots. They're following our targets."
There was a pause before a different voice came over the broadband. "Shadow, this is Commander Typhoon."
"Sir," Luna acknowledged.
"Glad to hear you're all in one piece. What's this about Zealots?"
"Sir, we have three confirmed Elites. Zealot class. We think that they are Covenant supporters as well sir."
There was another pause. "You stay on your primary objective. Hunt down and take out the head of the Insurrectionists. However, these Zealots could prove to be a large problem as well. If you find the chance, find out why they're here, and what they are looking for."
"Yes sir, you can count on us."
There was a small burst of static before the original radio man spoke, "Shadow, you have ordnance of your tasking when available. Good luck down there."
"Thanks Grazer."
"Happy to be of service."
Luna turned her radio off before turning to face her ODSTs. “Confirmed civilian city. It’s called Ashes.”
“That doesn’t sound reassuring,” Brenden said, his MG-3 draped across his chest.
“Whether or not it does, we’re still infiltrating.” Luna adjusted her tac pad on her wrist. “Vega, any preferable ways to get in or blind spots?”
The sniper remained quiet for a few moments before replying, “We could hitch a ride on one of those trucks.”
Dan frowned. “They’ll be checking them. And,” he looked around the squad. “There’s quite a few of us here.”
“I say we just take out the guards and stroll in,” Chuck shuffled eagerly.
“And how would the Rebel command respond to a missing patrol?” Rico sarcastically responded.
“Sir, if I may?” Luna nodded at Sergey’s request. “I agree with Chuck. There’s far too many of us to attempt getting in via ground transport. We’ll likely be discovered. Besides, I’m sure with all the corruption in the rebellion, some of their soldiers have probably taken what they could and deserted.”
Sharp clicking and the sounds of gear shuffling turned everyone’s attention to Nisitra. The soldier was buttoning down any unnecessary items and was screwing silencers onto his magnums. Luna quirked an eyebrow.
Ale tapped his fingers on his free hand against his thigh armor. He stepped up to the edge of the crater and looked towards the entrance. He stared for a few seconds before stepping back. “Sir, I believe this to be the best course of action.”
Luna pursed her lips before turning to James. “Alright, after we take the guards, you’ll have to tap into any available terminals and turn off any possible cameras. Taking the lights out might be helpful too.”
“Yes sir.”
Luna prepped her two SMGs, the weapons already equipped with suppressors. “Let’s go.”
Darting from cover to cover, Shadow lived up to its namesake, moving as if they themselves were a living manifestation of the dark night. The squad moved quickly across the relatively flat ground, having already snaked their way down the slope towards the mountain entrance. The troopers had gone radio silent to prevent their channel being intercepted by prying ears. Seeing as they didn’t have their scrambler set up nor did they have the time to set up the machinery for it, they were forced to communicate with nonverbal cues. Luckily for them, they had plenty of practice and moved as if they were of one mind.
As they approached the road leading to the gate, the ODSTs made sure to take care of their steps, emitting nothing but pure silence. The soldiers creeped down into the ditch and waded carefully through the water until they reached the slope of the road, keeping their heads down as they moved. Ale was practically crouching due to his much taller stature, the Spartan looking rather comedic as he crouch walked while bending his torso over to keep his armor out of site.
When the sound of an approaching engine rumbled closer from behind them, the troopers dropped and pressed themselves against the side of the ditch, staying in the shadows as a bright pair of headlights swept right over their heads. The ground vibrated slightly and a few stray pebbles rolled past the soldiers as the heavy vehicle quickly passed, having never seen nor revealed the presence of the soldiers. Ale and the other troopers quickly got back up and continued hustling quietly down the waterlogged ditch.
The area near the concrete tunnel was lit up by a giant pair of fixed spotlights sitting stationary to either side above the entrance. Shadow stopped at the perimeter of the spotlights and carefully looked over the edge of the ditch, assessing the situation.
Four guards were posted by the entrance with another two standing above the concrete tunnel. The truck that had passed them earlier had been stopped and was being checked by one of the guards while another talked with the driver. Knowing that there were two less pairs of eyes watching the road, Shadow moved.
Captain Luna and Corporal Eton flanked left, staying low and hugging any available darkness as they crept towards the entrance. Meanwhile, Sergeant James and the chief petty officer found a large drainage pipe nestled under the road. They moved through the pipe, their feet splashing in the water. They exited the other side and continued to push forwards alongside the ditch. The rest of Shadow placed themselves in the tall grass lining the road in supportive positions, ready to cover their squadmates should something go awry.
Luna and Eton hid in a shallow recess in the ground while Ale and James were able to hide behind a cluster of boulders. The elite soldiers waited until the guards finished clearing the vehicle, watching as the guard who had been talking with the driver stepped back and waved the driver through. Eton holstered one of his suppressed pistols before tapping on his arm and lifting two fingers, pointing to the two guards on overwatch.
Luna nodded and watched as Eton crept away, slowly making his way up to the same level of the guards on the mountainside. To the opposite side of the entrance, James crouched beside his boulder and kept his finger clear of the trigger on his Assault Rifle. Ale stacked up behind him, his own specialized Assault Rifle clamped on his back as he instead drew out his security knife. Luna held one suppressed SMG in each hand, waiting until everyone was in position.
Three green acknowledgment lights winked in her HUD, the captain responding with her own action light. She pushed up onto her feet, using her springing action to boost her forwards and out of the depression. Ale however, was already sprinting halfway across from his starting point and his targets.
Four low and quick weapon reports echoed from above the tunnel, the two bodies of the overwatch falling to the ground with a loud thud, adding to the confusion the ground level Rebels felt as their brains were only just starting to register the incoming threats. Unfortunately for them, it had been a long shift and their reflexes were not up to par.
Luna’s SMGs were already lined up as she closed the distance. The weapons coughed and jerked in her hands, her countless years of training and experience holding the bullet spraying machines of death relatively still. Hearing two of their squadmates fall caused Ale’s targets to briefly pause, the Spartan punishing them by throwing his knife into the far guard’s chest. Its momentum carried it through his armor and buried itself to the hilt in his flesh, the force of the throw resulting in him being lifted off of his feet and to the ground. The other Rebel quickly refocused and turned back to Ale with his rifle raised, but it was far too late. The Spartan’s fist met his face in a loud meaty smack, the audible crunch almost wince inducing to those who witnessed the destruction.
With the targets down, James hustled out from his supporting position after having spotted an external terminal by the large metal door hanging adjacent to the entrance. The rest of Shadow moved out of cover and moved at a decent pace towards the rest of their squadmates, weapons raised in case a patrol showed up. Luna and Ale hustled the bodies into a nearby thicket, doing their best to cover up the evidence. After doing so, Luna and the arriving Shadow members, sans Ale and Eton, rallied up nearby James.
James had a tac pad plugged directly into the terminal and was rapidly scanning through lines of code and different system functionalities. Luna stepped up to him, “What do you have Sergeant?”
James tapped on the different glowing notifications and typed in different commands as he continued to work the system over. “Camera’s are offline. The feed was slightly delayed, so I was able to head off any recording of us. That is, of course, as long as there isn’t a coded archive downloading the data and broadcasting it onto a monitor. If that’s the case, we had better hope someone was on coffee break.”
“As long as we can get in before they find us out. We’ll be safer in the city.” A few ODSTs mumbled agreeance. “Anything else?”
James scrolled for a few more seconds before nodding. “I’ve found a different way into the city. There’s a maintenance corridor that travels alongside the tunnel before splitting off into a massive network of utility causeways surrounding and burrowing underneath the city. If we’re careful, we are less likely to be found in there than we are traveling along the tunnel.”
Luna nodded, “Sounds like a plan.”
Meanwhile, Ale was bent over in the thicket containing the deceased Rebels, retrieving his knife and checking them for anything of use, especially intel. After searching through their pockets and finding nothing of relevance on their mission objectives, Ale began to shuffle out of the underbrush. The pitter patter of light footfalls and the sound of heavy panting gave him pause, the Spartan turning to look into the tunnel.
A shadow was thrown up onto the back wall where the concrete curved out of sight. It was hard to make out as it was incredibly disfigured, but the mounting evidence fell into place as a dog and its handler rounded the corner. Ale immediately sent out a warning ping on the team’s communications before he slowly crouched back into cover, his slow movements less likely to catch anyone’s attention. The exposed ODSTs moved into the large shadow cast by the metal door and hunkered down, ensuring to hide anything flashy.
Ale and the rest of Shadow stayed still as the guard and his canine approached the checkpoint. The guard slowed down as he came within a few feet of the entrance, noticing the absence of the sentinels. He carefully raised his Battle Rifle as he took careful steps forward. The dog smelled the air carefully before growling, its gaze lingering over the hidden position of Luna and her troopers. His handler followed the dog’s lead and began to approach out from the tunnel, his rifle sweeping over their hiding spot.
Ale carefully drew his pistol, purposefully rustling the underbrush as the dog’s ears perked in his direction. The canine swung his head to stare in Ale’s direction, his hackles raising as he spotted Ale’s movement. The guard immediately turned and zeroed in on Ale’s position, his gaze locking onto Ale’s visor. His eyes widened as he recognized the iconic armor of the super soldier, causing him to drop the dog’s leash.
Feeling the leash drop, the dog did as it was trained and bolted, growling threateningly as it raced towards Ale. Hearing the dog’s growling, the guard snapped out of his fear and sighted in on Ale. However, a small shower of dirt and pebbles rained on his head before a series of coughs echoed above him, causing the guard to gurgle before Eton dropped on top of him and rolled onto the ground to bleed his momentum, his dual pistols crossed above his head.
Ale slapped his magnum onto his thigh before catching the charging dog into a head lock, snapping its neck swiftly and painlessly. The dog’s struggling ceased, a now deathly silence ruling over the checkpoint. Ale carefully set the animal down before moving out from his cover. Eton was rolling the body of the handler into the ditch before he joined the rest of Shadow as they quickly stood up. Luna looked over as Eton and Ale linked up with them, the two soldiers nodding. The captain lifted her rifle before pointing towards the entrance in a ‘move out’ gesture.
The troopers filed past her and into the tunnel, sticking close to one side. There was no place or shadows to hide in if they encountered resistance, the ODSTs having to rely on their ability to hear their enemy before they themselves caught them.
Other than a few scarily large rats, the troopers made it safely to a metal door tucked into one side of the tunnel. “James,” Luna called as she stepped past the door, sighting down the rest of the tunnel, covering the sergeant as he moved to the door. The half robot half human pulled out a strange looking card before swiping it through the key card slot. The light didn’t immediately turn green, but didn’t deny him as well. Instead, the lights turned orange and flickered for a few seconds before a cheery chime preceded the lights turning green. James opened the door and stood clear as Alex, Lilly, Leo, and Ale moved past, clearing the entrance for any possible threats.
“Clear,” Alex said lowly as he continued pressing forward. The squad followed, closing the door behind them.
The maintenance tunnel seemed to stretch on forever, the miles of pipes along the walls all meeting into a single point at the limit of their view range. Low yellow strobe lights were the only source of illumination in the steam clogged tunnels, the troopers relying on the condensed gas to hide them if someone were to step around any of the numerous intersections. At one point, the shrill whirring of a small engine echoed towards them, the squad hustling into another hallway before ducking under the pipes on the wall. Luna raised her Assault Rifle, “Let them pass….”
A few moments later, a small yellow maintenance cart drove past the intersection, civilian workers dressed in engineer fatigues talking loudly on the machine. They continued moving and disappeared into the steam. The troopers stood and continued on their way.
“To your left, 12 meters,” James reported after having glanced at his tac pad. The squad stopped at a small service hatch, Brenden stepping up to the door. He let his shotgun hang in its sling as he grabbed the large wheel on the door. With a strained grunt and a sharp squeal of metal, the wheel turned and the locks slid out of place. Grabbing his shotgun with his right hand, Brenden slowly pushed the door open while having his shotgun at the ready.
The door opened to reveal a long mound of dirt that stretched into the distance on either side of it. The troopers carefully stepped out onto the small dirt road between the door and the sloped dirt wall. Ale looked around in the dark gloom, noticing that the door was built into the cave wall. Luna gained his and the squad’s attention when she clicked her tongue, the captain crawling in prone position up the sloped wall. Ale and a few of the other troopers joined her.
Ale paused as he crested the ridge, his eyes widening a bit as he took in the sight. The cave he had originally thought that they were in was in fact a massive cavern, bigger than any he had ever seen. Nestled further below them and in the center of the giant space sat a massive urban sprawl, the dark city emitting enough light to reach his position, but not powerful enough to pierce the endless ceiling.
“Damn,” Ryan whispered.
Leonardo looked through the scope of his Sniper Rifle, combining both his HUD and the scope’s zoom ability to get a detailed view of the city. He looked into what he assumed was downtown, judging from the tall flashy buildings, heavy traffic, and air transports flying between the numerous buildings. He turned his attention away from that part of town and scanned towards his right, passing the more governmental district until he encountered the industrial park. Almost half of the park seemed to be in disuse, some of the buildings were burned out while others were simply abandoned.
The sniper spotted a suitable area to set up operations and tagged it on his HUD. “Captain,” he drew her attention. “I see an abandoned office building. Looks clear of activity and discrete.”
Luna synched up Leo’s marker to her and her team’s HUDs. “We’ll take it.” She looked left and right before she got to her feet and began shuffling down the hill, her speed slowly increasing until she was running at a good pace down the dark hill, Shadow following right behind her. They ran for a good 20 minutes before the large bowl shaped sides of the cavern began to flatten out. They didn’t stop however, continuing to move at a good clip across the large dusty plains.
Ale continued to scan along the city’s edge as they approached closer to the industrial park, noticing a distinct lack of military patrols along the edges of the city, sans for the occasional Rebel marked Warthog moving amongst the traffic on the busier highways near the more active part of the city.
The squad was only a few hundred meters from the outskirts of the city when a Falcon suddenly appeared above one of the high walls of a factory. The ODSTs dropped quickly into the dirt, relying on the dark gloom to cover them. The bird continued to take off before making a few lazy circles above the active factory, gunners lounging in their seats. Corporal Sergey traced the Falcon with his newer SRS99-5 variant, targeting all of it’s weak spots. The Falcon was soon joined by a Pelican before they both moved off deeper into the city.
Ale and his fellow soldiers got up and sprinted towards the industrial park. Dirt quickly turned into concrete and asphalt as they ran across an outer road and stacked up onto a building. The soldiers split up into smaller groups of three, with the exception of Ale, who soloed as he moved further away from the squad as a forward scout. If he encountered heavy resistance, he would be the most likely to survive the encounter.
Fortunately, the ODSTs and the Spartan were able to navigate through the concrete playground with little effort on their part. Their was very little Rebel patrols out and they had yet to encounter any civilians at all. The squad quickly moved towards their objective, darting across open spaces while covering each other. It wasn’t long before they reached the large office, Leo having picked correctly as the building was almost an exact clone of the many other buildings surrounding it, making it a suitable place to hide from the Rebels.
Ale was crouched on the corner of the intersection across the street from the targeted office building. Checking the streets, he quickly ran across and vaulted through one of the numerous broken windows, his feet crunching on the long since broken glass. The immediate room he was in possessed the burned out remains of a work desk and a few filing cabinets. The super soldier checked it for traps before moving towards the door, slowly peeking his head through. The large circular room turned out to be an elevated rotunda, both a spiral staircase and an elevator leading to further rooms on the different levels of the building.
Ale glanced around one last time before brushing past the rubble in the room to the main entrance of the building. He stood close to the edge of the door, aiming down one side of the street while standing far enough back that his rifle didn’t stick out of the building. Three troopers stacked up on the corner of the building across the rough road, briefly checking their sectors before hustling across. They brushed past Ale and moved into the building’s main room, stopping before they became too spread out. The building hadn’t been cleared yet and could still hide threats.
Luna was in the next group of three to rush over, the captain positioning herself on the other side of the door to help Ale cover the rest of the troopers as they made their way across. The last group ran into the building just as a Falcon lazily moved through the sky a few blocks down. Pulling away from the entrance, the squad rallied up by the rotunda. Silently, Luna used hand signals to divide the team up into two man teams, the ODSTs nodding in confirmation before arming themselves with the closest CQC weapons they had. The squad split up and began moving through each floor of the seven story building together.
As expected, the building was trashed and empty of hostiles, the inhabitants having abandoned it long ago. Luna lowered her weapon before meeting back up with the other troopers at an intersection on the top floor. She ensured everybody was there before depolarizing her visor. “Chronos, James, and Eton, you’re going to set the perimeter defenses and early warning systems. Leo, Sergey, and Vega are on overwatch. The rest of us will be setting up camp on the fourth floor; there was a decently sized and intact room on the east side. Remember, radio silence until James gets it secured, clear?”
The troopers and Spartan all consented to her orders before moving out. The troopers who hadn’t been assigned a specific task headed down to the room the captain had specified. Ale followed after the ODSTs, watching the troopers disperse after stepping into the room. They took off their larger equipment bags and set them down on the floor.
“Man, this place is a dump,” Chuck stated. The private kicked the burned out husk of a sofa.
Brenden walked past, having made a makeshift broom out of a steel pole and a wooden board to push the scattered debris on the floor out of the way. “Well then quit complaining and help us make it look pretty.” Brenden put the ‘broom’ in Chuck’s hands before moving on.
Rico took a deep breath, sitting back and lazily laying against a trash pile. “I don’t know what you guys are talking about. This is just like home!”
He looked up as someone kicked his foot. “C’mon, you’re not making this any easier,” Lilly said in aggravation, beginning to chuck Rico’s trash pile towards the far wall. The hispanic man huffed before getting up and assisting the private.
Luna looked towards private Dan. “Hanson, you’re going to help James set up when he gets back.” She pointed towards the inner wall of the room. “Grab some of the tables and set them up there.”
Ale watched everybody working before he secured his weapon. He unsnapped his equipment vest and moved towards the other bags. Dropping the bag, he then helped Dan move the tables, the Spartan effortlessly grabbing two at a time while Dan was stuck with only being able to move one. The two quickly finished, the private heading towards the pile of bags. He grabbed any and all computing and monitoring systems that James would need at his workplace.
Meanwhile, Ale helped clean the room. He picked up some of the broken and worn furniture and pushed them aside. Surprisingly, he found a large sofa in relatively good condition buried under more trash. Knowing that the squad would like something like this to take a load off on, he pushed it into the center of the room. He could already see some of their eyes lighting up and competitive glances being shared between them. He also set aside a rickety coffee table and a partially broken office chair. Wiping his armored hands in satisfaction, he looked around.
The troopers were mostly done with their tasks and the other ODSTs soon returned. They scattered around the room, low murmurs being shared between them as they claimed their own personal areas to settle down in. Ale, feeling a little out of place, leaned up against a wall. His view allowed him to see the entire room. James and Dan were setting up the computers with Luna standing near them, Rico, Brenden, and Ryan were talking to one another while looking at the sofa appreciatively, Chuck, Sean, Alex, and Lilly were finishing laying out their bed rolls, both Chronos and Nisitra were sitting on their bed rolls in silence, and the three man recon team were scattered near the windows, looking out into the urban rubble.
Having nothing more to do at the moment, Ale sat down, propping his knees up. He opened a small compartment in his armor and pulled out a small yet durable nylon bag. Opening it, he browsed over the weapon cleaning kit. The Spartan balanced it on his knee before grabbing his Magnum and beginning to disassemble it. He listened to the small amount of noise the troopers made as he occupied himself. He would enjoy the peace while they still had it.
The dark red broth bubbled lazily, the contents from deep within rising with the heat every now and again, never breaching the surface. The metallic orange lines of grease webbing across the surface almost simulated what the universe looked like from a perspective far outside its boundaries. A dark wooden spoon dipped into the surface and stirred slowly, jumbling everything within. Its handle tilted and the concave bowl of the spoon was lifted out. The broth was brought to the lips of the man tending to the creation. He was tentative at first, almost in a teasing manner, like one would be with a woman, drawing out the anticipation to reap a better reward.
At least, that's what he thought.
With a growing smirk, he finally gave in, his lips making contact with the spoon.
Everybody jumped slightly at the loud slurping noise, a few weapons being drawn halfway out of their holsters. All eyes zeroed in on Rico. The Hispanic man met everyone's gaze and gave a small wave with his spoon, accidentally knocking over a small container of sugar on his makeshift table, its contents beginning to pour into the soup. With a quick yelp, Rico fumbled with the sugar, whipping it back upright.
Everyone began to relax and returned to what they were doing. Sean slowly slid his standard issue sidearm back into its holster before shaking his head. "Jesus Rico, I almost shot your bloody head off!" Rico ignored him as he was too busy attempting to fix his mistake. Sean turned back to cleaning his weapon even though it had already been cleaned long ago. He really did take care of that which he loved.
There wasn’t much noise in the room sans for the shuffling sounds of the living. This was also contributed by their bodies demanding rest, having been up for almost an entire 24 hours.
Ale was lying down flat on the floor with his hands draped across his stomach, staring up at the ceiling. There were small cracks in the thick concrete, but none were a cause of concern. There were 263 of them, Ale having counted them three times. Feeling bored, Ale pushed himself up into a sitting position. He checked up on the captain. He blinked when his eyes locked onto her derriere as she was leaning onto one of the desks by James, pointing at various monitors while talking with him quietly. His body couldn’t help but notice that it was quite a nice derriere, her armor doing nothing to hide it’s curves. In fact, one could say that it only contributed to its form with its sleek and polished look. The battle hardened armor almost looked like leather in a way.
Shaking off the strange feelings within him, he moved his eyes away. Those were inappropriate and unprofessional thoughts. He ignored the foreign warmth blooming within him and made to stand up. From what he knew of her so far she would come up with a plan relatively soon, and he’d be ready for her orders.
Ale strolled over to one of the windows, standing far enough away to prevent anybody from easily spotting him, not that it was likely. There had been zero foot and wheeled traffic on their block according to their monitoring equipment hidden around the perimeter of the building. His visor glinted dully in the artificial light as Ale stared down the road to the east, easily able to see the expanse of downtown due to the tall and brightly lit towers. One of them even had colorful spotlights dancing across the sky, or at least the inside expanse of the cavern.
Ale blinked and breathed deeply, enjoying the surprisingly cool air. The same could not be said for downtown as it was more than likely very hot due to all the activity in the area. Feeling a presence to his left, Ale looked towards the trooper. Corporal Sergey Petrovich stood a couple feet away, looking out as well. Ale watched him for a few more seconds before, having not received any cues that the sniper wished to talk, turning to look back out again.
They stood in a comfortable silence, bonding in an unseen way. They enjoyed the moment of peace and inactivity as those who have been in battle have learned to appreciate.
After a few minutes, Ale glanced over as Sergey pulled out a sealed rucksack. The sniper pulled a metal box over to him as a makeshift stool before taking a seat. Ale watched with curiosity as Sergey acquired a pad of paper wrapped in plastic. The soldier carefully pulled it off and quickly flipped through filled paper until he reached a fresh sheet.
Ale's jaw had slackened after catching glimpses of the sniper's work. Some of it was absolutely stunning! The corporal stared out into the city before grabbing a charcoal pencil, never taking his eyes off of the scene, imprinting it onto his mind. Ale watched the soldier begin his work with a speed and efficiency that only true masters of their craft could hope to emulate.
"I draw," Ale blinked as the quiet soldier began to speak, "to one day show humanity the places we've been. I want to share the destruction and the beauty of the universe." He dragged his gaze towards Ale, still drawing blindly. "That way, people can truly sense the magnitude of what we did, what we fought, and what we preserved."
Ale was a bit surprised that a light Russian accent had slipped from the quiet man, said nationality generally being quite a bit more outspoken. Ale pointed at the paper, asking if he could look at it. Sergey gave a small nod before Ale leaned over a bit closer to his sketch, the sniper turning his attention back towards the city.
“Wow…” Ale truly appreciated the work, feeling humbled by something he himself couldn’t do. The trooper’s hand moved gracefully, leaving both elegant curves and sharp lines on the paper, the charcoal’s ruggedness accurately portraying their reality. Ale then respectively stepped back, giving the man some room.
Ale gave a final glance out the window before turning away from it and walking away. He passed Rico as he still manned his stew, Ale grimacing slightly as he caught a whiff. He instead approached one of the tables, said table having been requisitioned from James. Troopers Sean, Brenden, Lilly, Chuck, and Ryan sat around the table on whatever could support their weight in a relatively comfortable fashion. They all held playing cards in their hands, keeping them away from prying eyes. However, this didn’t stop them from laughing at an inside joke, the soldiers still having a good time despite playing a game that required stoicism.
Brenden looked up at Ale, noticing that the super soldier was watching them. He gave a brief wave to catch his attention. “Would you like to join us sir? We’ll deal you in Sean’s place as he’s about to bust anyways.”
“He might have better luck if he would stop rubbing lube on his girlfriend for 10 seconds,” Chuck stated, peering over his cards. Sean only shrugged in response, not bothering to take the bait.
Ale shook his head, “No thanks. I think I’ll just watch instead, keep myself occupied.”
Lilly raised an eyebrow. “A Spartan? Bored?” She gave out a small chuckle, “Lacking things to kill eh?”
“Aren’t we all?” Chuck dropped a card down before drawing another.
Ryan scooted his rusted out garbage can over, making room for Ale. The Spartan nodded his appreciation before grabbing a sturdy looking filing cabinet and placing it on it’s side next to the table. He was able to sit on it without accident, the metal giving a few strangled groans before settling. Nobody commented as they had been around a Spartan long enough to know many of the things that came along with them, including their crushing weight.
Brenden passed out more cards, skipping Ale. The troopers grabbed the new cards and quickly added them to their hands. The Spartan watched the proceedings, noting that none of them wore their helmets. He knew from seeing other soldiers during his career that wearing a helmet while playing card games was considered cheating and would earn your squad’s ire. Nonetheless, the players never really talked about the card game, preferring to harass one another instead. This negated the need for a straight face as any ‘tell’ could easily be dismissed as a reaction to the conversation itself.
“100 credits says Rico’s mystery meat will be in today’s meal,” Chuck said as he pushed bits of scrap metal into a growing pile in the center of the table.
“Doubt it, there’s nothing here he can use. I haven’t seen a single animal since leaving the canyon, not even a rodent,” Ryan said.
Lilly threw down another card, “I really hope you’re right Ryan because if there is something in there…”
Everyone at the table paused, realizing the implications. “Uh, I’ll just stick with my MRE for now,” Brenden rubbed his forehead.
Sean lazily tossed down a card before laying the rest of his hand face down, returning to his work on his DMR. “That reminds me, how much do you eat?” he asked, looking at Ale.
The Spartan turned his cyan visor to him as he responded, “In the field? Normally the standard rations unless I can get my hands on more.”
“You’re a pretty big guy though,” Lilly added, gesturing a hand to the size of the super soldier.
Ale hummed briefly, “Well, when I have access to the cafeteria, I’ll eat a little over 8,000 calories.”
Again, everyone paused, staring at Ale. “8,000 calories!?”
Ale nodded. “It used to be 10,000, but that was… earlier, near the end of my training. Our instructor was a bit more inclined into running us into the ground then.”
“But the MREs, even a full day's worth, doesn’t come anywhere near that count. By all rights you shouldn’t even be able to walk more than a few hours, much less participate in combat. How are you not constantly sleeping?” Brenden questioned.
Ale leaned towards the table in a conspiratory manner. “Regulation states that if I told you, I’d have to kill you.” He paused for slight dramatic effect before shaking his head. “Nah, but in all honesty, I can’t tell you. Just trust me when I say that my needs are taken care of.” Ale leaned back with a small smirk, “Besides, I have a bit more will than you give me credit for. A lack of energy doesn’t easily stop us as I’m sure you’re aware of from your own experiences in the field.”
With a quick shrug, the troopers continued with their game. “I’ll uh, not question all of the particulars. I already have a hard enough time trying to figure out exactly how you go to the bathroom,” Ryan stated.
Deciding to leave it at that, the Spartan brought up some of the most recent news he had updated into his suit before leaving the Grazer onto his HUD. He swiped through most of it fairly quickly, having no interest in many of the more civilian related activities. A lot of it was older information that the UNSC had only just released, filtering out all of the more classified material.
Ale quickly diminished most of the reading material before a small political piece captured his attention. It was a brief excerpt glorifying the actions of a recent invasion against a large Kig-Yar pirate outpost. The report detailed how a few well armed ships stumbled upon a nest of Kig-Yar pirates. The aliens had opened fire after the initial shock, the human fleet immediately retaliating. The UNSC moved in fast and hard, destroying most of the Kig-Yar’s defenses before they were able to dig in. The ships received minimal damage and had successfully deployed boots into the facility, conquering the pirates. While the victory in itself was impressive, the name of the one in charge was what really caught Ale’s attention. The commander of the fleet was Rear Admiral Celestia Arorous.
Ale felt as if he recognized the name, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. The soldier was able to connect two dots together however, having undergone advanced counterintelligence training alongside his fellow Spartans, and glanced in the direction of the squad leader. Both of their names were unique and just so happened to be related to similar things. He tapped his fingers in contemplation before deciding to address it later.
Ale rolled his shoulders, sighing, “Something bothering you?” His gaze settled on Lilly after he finished speaking, having noticed her glancing at him from time to time, chewing on her lip as she contemplated on something that obviously seemed important to her. She clenched her jaw and finished her turn. Her muted reaction did not bode well to the Spartan, figuring that the incoming conversation wasn’t going to be a good one.
“Well, last time I checked you’re a Spartan II,” the grenade happy trooper pointed out as she kept her eyes on her cards. Ale made a show of checking himself before nodding, playing into Lilly’s words. “If you were in such a legendary program then there must have been plenty of things you’ve seen or heard that not many others can claim to have experienced themselves.”
“Lilly, quit stalling. The man is a bit more straight forward,” Sean interrupted.
Lilly frowned. “I wanted to ask, what is the Chief like?” she asked, expertly choosing her words to present tense, not past.
The entire room went quiet, everybody having heard his name. Ale did not visibly recoil, but that was not a question he was expecting. A quick glance at the other troopers showed their surprise too, albeit not in a good way.
“Lilly…” Brenden uttered, glancing at Ale. “Maybe we shou-,”
Ale held up his hand quickly, stopping the Sergeant. He focused back on Lilly and saw a brief flash of uncertainty cross her face. Deciding to break the tension, the Spartan spoke carefully. “Lilly, you know that most of the Spartan program is buried under a mountain of red tape, so there are many things I can’t tell you.” She nodded in understanding. “Unfortunately though, I can’t answer your question. I never really knew him well,” or at all, “so I can’t tell you much about him.”
He waited a few more seconds before turning to Chuck. “I think it’s your turn.”
The PFC quickly began to move, jumping on the chance Ale gave him to help ease away the solemn mood. Nobody seemed to really want to talk about the larger than life hero, especially since he was still missing or, god forbid, worse. Some people who studied the records of the Battle of Installation 00 speculated that the Chief did not survive the premature activation of the newly built Halo, claiming that his luck had finally ran out. These people were quickly shot down by most of the public and metaphorically tied up and gagged, or at least there hadn’t been any reports of said people going missing, so the Spartan assumed it was just that, metaphorical.
The surrounding ODSTs stayed relatively mute while playing, their thoughts obviously having drifted down a darker path. Luckily, they all looked up as the captain approached. The helmetless captain glanced at Ale, her striking blue eyes locking him in. She quickly released him from her gaze and addressed the members at the table.
“Alright Shadow, here’s what our course of action will be. You six,” she gestured across the table, “will stay here until we get further info. The others except for Leo, Vega, and Sergey will also be staying with you.” Luna brushed a lock of her short blue hair behind her ear, having kept her bangs slightly longer. “We don’t need a large presence running around a hot zone.”
Ale glanced towards the sniper team, noticing that Sergey had already finished what he was doing and had buddied up with his normal work mates. They were already rummaging through their equipment in preparation of their orders. “And what of backup?” the Spartan asked.
“We’re on standby, but from here only. They’ll be on their own for a while if they run into trouble.” Luna looked at the sniper team. “They are more than capable of handling themselves. This isn’t their first foray into a potential den of lions. Besides,” she glanced at Ale, quirking a brow in a playful manner. “If it all goes up in flames, we have you for a reason don’t we?”
Ale propped an elbow on the table. “You need a makeshift tank? I’m your guy.”
Luna leaned towards Ale, an absolute evil look painting across her face. “Easy there cowboy. Your cannon ain’t that big, I’m sure of it.” Before anyone could even fall into stunned silence Luna leaned back and barked, “Get some sleep Shadow. I have first watch.” She stepped away from the table and moved to inform the other troopers.
Nobody moved and nobody dared to breathe. Ale’s mind was in gridlock as he stared at the space the captain had previously occupied. Finally, his muscles almost audibly grinded as he slowly rotated his head towards the other troopers at the table. To his surprise they weren’t staring at him, but rather at their captain. Ryan then coughed, bringing his fist to his mouth. “Did, did she just-,”
“I think the captain just made a pass… at a Spartan.” Lilly sat back into her seat, her eyes blinking. “Huh, well that’s new.”
“Just wait a second, I’ve seen her flirt before,” Brenden stated as he scratched the back of his head, “but that was few and far between.”
“And with a Spartan no less,” Sean threw in. “Those are some pretty high standards if you ask me.”
Ale gained control of his words and he cleared his throat. “I’m still here you know.”
Chuck waved his hand at him dismissively, “Yeah-yeah, but Brenden, I’ve only seen it during black op missions. You know, to get where we needed to go? Fluster the enemy?”
Ale just stared at the troopers blatant ignorance of his presence, especially when they were trying to puzzle out the rather awkward moment that just passed. As far as Ale could remember, nobody had ever made a joke like that or flirted with him, at least not directly. Being an organic war machine that could kill you a bazillion different ways in under half a second wasn’t exactly dating material for most people.
The Spartan frowned when the soldiers carried on the topic of their conversation. This wasn’t something he needed right now, especially in the middle of what could potentially be a volatile situation in the city.
Chronos stepped up to the table with his helmet securely on, looking around. “Time’s up. Finish your hand and call it a night.”
“But sir, we just ne-,”
Chrono’s glare could be felt through the armored glass of his helmet as he stared at Chuck. “There will be plenty of time later.”
The ODST wisely chose not to argue further and tossed his cards into the center. The group quickly cleaned up and disbanded from the table, Ale staying for just a moment longer. He drummed his fingers on the table before standing up and heading over to his previous spot on the floor. Lying down with a few small thuds, he found himself staring at the ceiling again. Ale ignored the cracks and instead slightly turned his head to the right, watching as the captain pulled up a chair near James at the computer table. She sat down before propping her legs up on the table near one of the computers, chatting quietly with James as the two prepared to stay up for a few more hours.
The captain pulled off her sealed combat gloves before sifting around her rucksack for a small shower bag. She quickly opened it and produced a pair of nail clippers, carefully using them to keep her nails short and trimmed. Ale knew that this activity read their current situation as green as taking care of personal things was done in times of comfort or safety. While they were nowhere near safe in a hostile city, this was most likely the only place where they would find sanctuary of some sort. Meanwhile, the super soldier was becoming a bit thoughtful. It was the little activities like trimming nails of all things that most people tended to forget about soldiers. They were still people, they just had training to do things that most people didn’t want to do. They had to sacrifice many things and participate in experiences that would break anyone lesser. In the end, if a soldier did not have to pay the ultimate price, they were able to leave such destruction behind and return to a better world, one that they had fought for.
But Ale didn’t know what that world was like, nor would he really ever know. He would die for this army, sooner or later. His body and mind belonged to the UNSC and he would most likely succumb to some sort of grievous injury in it’s defense, however this did not bother him. He may have been cheated of his lot in life but it turned out to be one of the greatest needed black marks in human history. Without not only a few handfuls of super humans, but something to rally around for inspiration and renewal of hope for all of the UNSC, mankind would surely have been snuffed out, it’s burning light forever diminished.
Ale stopped thinking about what could have been as it did not matter. The present was here and now and he had to keep focused to ensure that the future was not lost.
But first, he couldn’t do anything without catching some sleep. A sleepy Spartan’s a grumpy Spartan…. And a fatally short tempered one at that. Closing his eyes, Ale fell asleep rather quickly, never noticing as his Captain watched him fall into slumber, her nails having been forgotten.
‘Sweet dreams…’
----
“You ever see a Spartan draw? Well, only a mother can love a child's macaroni picture, and Ale is no exception!”
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….”
