I do not own Halo or any characters that are copyright of Bungie or 343 Industries but I do claim ownership of all characters that I have made myself for this story, and it is based upon the Halo games as well as the books so there may be parts you may not understand because you have not read all the Halo books.
This story occurs in the post Halo 3 period and the first few chapters will be Prologues which may occur before the post Halo 3 period. Please bear with me as I attempt to create everything and I welcome constructive feedback to improve my writing and also to ensure the satisfaction of you and your fellow readers.
The Story of Agent 017
The war has taken billions of lives, among which were both civilian and soldier casualties. The war in which humanity had to face odds that it has never anticipated, a war against an alliance of different aliens who had far superior technology, technology that was based upon an ancient race who ruled the galaxy but are long gone from this world. The reason for their disappearance from the dimension that we exist in is to escape from an ancient evil that feeds off sentient life itself, imprisons it to wreck destruction upon worlds for nothing but the Gravemind's greed for power that will never be satisfied. The war against The Covenant lasted almost three decades, and humanity lost all its colonies except one to The Covenant Empire, Earth. Earth was humanity's last stand, the mother of all colonies. Soon the flood came and The Covenant worked with the humans to fight of the ancient foe. Soon the Gravemind was killed and The Covenant learnt the truth of the rings called Halo. Soon peace settled in the galaxy but the end of one war does not signal the end of all wars, Humanity has yet to face more challenges to restore all its colonies to their former glory, to rebuild the balls of glass into sustainable human habitat for Humanity to flourish again. –Dr. Catherine Halsey, HIGHCOM Facility Alpha-3, Zurich Switzerland
0900 hours
January 3rd, 2553 (Military Calendar)
Sol System, Earth
(Exact Location Classified according to ONI)
A young man walked in and looked around, seemingly scrutinising every details that he could see. He slowly took his hands out of his black overcoat pocket and rubbed them together to generate a meagre amount of heat and moved over to the reception in an inhumanly fluid manner. He placed his hands heavily on the counter to get the attention of the female receptionist who seemed to be occupied with trimming her nails with her teeth.
The bouncy receptionist crunched up her forehead upon boing interrupted but soon had a dazed look when she observed the immense high of the man before her and accidentally swallowed a nail which she was supposed to spit out. The man coughed to mask his chuckle and stared at her with stony eyes and raised an eyebrow, awaiting a response from the frightened receptionist.
"H…ow m…may I he…lp you s…s…sir?" she stammered.
"I would like to see a patient who is undergoing treatment in this fine establishment," he finished with a frown.
"W…ho m…m…ight th…this patient b…b…be?" she asked with quivering lips.
Stop being so frightened, I don't kill humans unless they pose a threat
"I am not going eat you because I already had my breakfast. The name of the patient is Miranda Keyes," he answered, annoyance thick in his tone.
"B…but sir O…N…N…I said h…her p…p…res…ence here is cl…cl…assified, h…ow d…did you k…k…now and no c….c…vilian is all…owed t…t…to see h…her," she added with a smile but eyes that hinted fear.
"Override code S-017," he remarked and leaned against the counter.
"A Spartan!" the receptionist said under her breath.
Wasn't the height a dead giveaway?
"Maybe, maybe not. And next time blurt stuff out into your mind, not into the air cause people listen," he remarked.
"He…r w…ward is D…D02-09, so it is on Le…vel 2 and is f…f…found in Block D of th…is medical facility, have a n…n…nice da…y," she replied as she proceeded to sit down.
017 turned on his heels and made his way to Block D, promptly putting his hands back into the overcoat pockets. He was new to this facility because he did not visit medical facilities often and this one was built recently, right after the Human Covenant War.
This facility is remarkable due to the research on Forerunner artefacts. As such to further advance the medical industry to enable healing the injured be faster and yet cost efficient with Forerunner tech.
Once he was there he got into the lift with a bunch of civilians and what seemed scientists. He had to bend down a little so that the roof of the lift did not scrape the top of his head which got surprised and questionable glances from the other passengers of the lift which he ignored.
Once he got out of the stuffy lift, he moved to the room that the receptionist told him about, D02-09. Once he was present before the door, he did not bother to knock and barged into the room.
As he made his presence announced, several men in pure black dress uniforms without a single medal on their left breast pockets approached him without a hint of fear.
"Who might you be and state your business before we silence you," One of them said with a toothy grin, but his eyes burned with anger and bloodlust.
"Well it seems that Margaret did not tell you that I was going to drop by to pay the Commander a visit? Or are you just playing dumb hmm?" The Spartan calmly replied and sat down on a nearby chair.
"All right, we know who you are Spartan 017, but we still yet to know why you wish to meet the Commander? Is it on business or is this something personal? You should leave her because she had to undergo intensive surgery to get those Brute Spiker rounds out from her," two of them moved forward to loom over the Spartan.
The Spartan got up from his seat which cause the two in front to move back hurriedly and cause the one behind to fall, who had a distant look. He pushed the two aside and hurriedly helped the fallen ONI operative to his feet.
"Thank you so much. ONI sure loves to lie about The Spartans, you guys are really nice. I am sorry if those two are bitching with you and I sincerely apologise on behalf of them," he was about to rant on but 017 placed a finger upon his lips to signal him to stop.
"You are welcome and I understand. You seem to be new to ONI, what might your name be?" The Spartan asked with genuine curiosity.
"It's Johnny Ambrose, what might the mighty Spartan's name?" he said with a slight laugh but quickly restrained himself.
"It's Farhan, but my last name is classified," he replied with a slight arch of his lips, smile barely visible.
And I don't even know it myself, let it be classified or not
"Ah I see. Ok enough of small talk you want to know what happened to Commander Keyes and how she fairs right?" Johnny asked with a worried look. Farhan nodded in response and gave him a go ahead, when the other two ONI personnel left the room out of frustration.
"Well so far we know it seems that she had like a hand full of Brute Spiker rounds shot into her back by the Prophet of Truth, but 2 of them hit her spine, one went between two vertebrae so it damaged the spinal cord which cause the bulk of the complications faced in the surgery," he said with a downcast look as he shook his head in disappointment.
"But there is some good news, because of the Prophet's horrible aiming none hit the back of the skull which will result in an instant kill, and all the rounds hit muscles not any major arteries and barely missed the heart, but hit the left lung which resulted in the left one to collapse so she needs a flash cloned replacement," he continued and looked at Farhan, who had a distant look on his face.
"Hey buddy, you alright?" Johnny asked as he snapped his fingers before his face. Surprisingly Farhan did not flinch, rather inhaled and exhaled deeply and looked at Johnny with a neutral face.
"Hey don't worry? She will be fine, she is a strong and resilient Commander just like her father the late Captain Keyes," he said with a chuckle, but did not realise that at the mention of the Captain, Farhan flinched slightly.
"Why don't we sit, this will be a while," Johnny proposed as he pushed two chairs together side by side with ease.
"Thank you Johnny," Farhan said and sat in his designated spot beside Johnny.
Farhan craned his head to look behind him and saw a woman who had light blond hair and from a distance grey strands are visible, seeming around her fifties. She was wearing an off-white lab coat.
She gave me a sad smile, revealing her dimples and easing the wrinkles on her face. She slowly frowned as she looked at Farhan's physique. She looked at Farhan in an interested and awed manner, something he had never seen before.
"Are you one of them?" she asked as she finally looked at him eye to eye. Farhan grimly nodded. The elder doctor smiled, this time it met her eyes as well. "Dr. Hillary is the name, nice to meet a Spartan in person, will you please come with me to meet the Commander. She ought to have plenty of bed rest but one or two visitor wouldn't hurt I guess," she huffed as she led Farhan and Johnny to the bed. The bed was surrounded by a thick woollen curtain.
Keep the cold out I guess
As they moved over near the bed, he saw that Miranda was being dressed with the aid of several nurses. "Don't go in there yet Johnny, it seems she is getting dressed after the surgery," Farhan stated and placed a firm hand on Johnny's chest to affirm his point. Dr. Hillary hurried over to the bed and peeked in.
"H…ow did you know that?" Dr. Hillary moved over to them, with a baffled look on her aging features.
"Classified ma'am," Farhan replied dryly and waited. The three nurses parted the curtains and gave the Commander well wishes for a speedy recovery and finally faced them. They looked Farhan over like a lion eyeing its prey but was interrupted when Dr. Hillary cleared her throat.
"Don't you ladies have somewhere to go to hmm?" Dr. Hillary grumbled. The girls looked at the elder doctor, in a pleading manner.
"Indeed. You people should leave immediately," rumbled Farhan and gave them one of his death glares.
If only looks could kill, something even Spartans can't do
One whistled while the other two shared a look and started giggling as they proceeded to leave the room.
"Hope those two can keep them occupied," Johnny whispered into Farhan's ear.
"Wonder why women giggle when they look at me," Farhan thought out loud.
"To get your attention, especially if you are appealing to them," Johnny explained.
"Intriguing behaviour," Farhan said under his breath as he strolled over to Miranda's bed, Johnny and Dr. Hillary in tow.
Farhan pushed the curtain aside and was greeted with an expected sight. A sleepy Miranda lay in bed, clinging tightly to the blanket given to her to provide maximum insulation for herself.
Upon hearing the sound of approaching footsteps and the rustling of curtains, she forced her eyes open and saw the first person she wasn't expecting.
"Farhan?!" Miranda exclaimed and nearly jumped out of the bed in surprise.
Same old, same old
"Where am I? What is the status of The Human Covenant War? Why am I lounging in a hospital bed? Where is the Chief? Is the Prophet of Truth dead? Is the Covenant successful in activating the Halo Rings? Oh god answer my questions Spartan!" Miranda yelled at the top of your lungs.
"Calm down Commander, everything is fine. The Covenant has disbanded and the Elites have still kept their alliance with us, hunting down any remaining Loyalist ships with a hybrid team containing humans and Elites. This will further strengthen our alliance with them. All the Prophets are dead so it seems the War Chieftain have taken political roles as well," Farhan explained in a low tone only audible to her.
"But the Chief is stranded in space, there have been a dozen search teams but none have found him yet, even UEGSS fleets can't find him, I am sorry," Farhan had a sour look.
"Well the Chief is strong. Being stranded in space will not kill him, even a fleet of Covenant couldn't kill him so he can fend for himself for now," Miranda said with a reassuring smile.
"Any news on the other Spartans, let me see oh yes, Blue team hmm?" Miranda asked while taking a sip of water from a bottle of water.
"Ah Johnny? Dr. Hillary? Can you two step out for a moment? The Commander and I need to talk something personal for like five to ten minutes ok?" Farhan asked without looking at him.
Johnny nodded and gave Miranda one last look before leaving while the Doctor checked the monitors for any abnormal readings. Seeing everything is fine she left without another word. Miranda pushed her brown bangs aside and slowly eased into a laying position because she was feeling extremely tired.
"You want to know how Dr. Halsey is doing, well she is currently trapped in a Dyson Sphere but the UNSC has sent several ships to go retrieve her and the other Spartans with her, so by the time you leave this hospital she should be back on Earth along with my fellow Spartans," Farhan explained in a hushed tone.
"Let us hope she is alright brother," Miranda whispered with a she slowly closed her eyes.
"I am no brother of yours, I am a Spartan, related to no one but my fellow Spartans," Farhan replied sternly.
"What? You are my brother and you know it, you were put under Mum to protect you from ONI," Miranda replied, all trace of tiredness gone as she slowly sat upright once more.
"What ONI did wasn't exactly wrong. It was for the good of the program," Farhan whispered.
"They experimented on you! They used you like an animal!" Miranda hissed.
"Don't think me as weak, I was the first to receive it to ensure they were safe for the others, to ensure they lived to protect Earth and her colonies," Farhan replied without hesitation.
"To hell the other Spartan IIs! You were taken out of the program to be what? The guinea pig of it huh!" Miranda retorted, voice thick with disgust.
"Well if you don't like the program so much, if you think I should have been given lesser suffering so as to increase the death rate within that program then it would be possible that humanity's saviour John would have never existed," Farhan explained calmly.
"I did what was right for humanity that's all, like the way Captain Keyes gave his life for humanity to continue to progress to the peace we have been yearning for almost three decades," he continued.
"But ONI was almost going to continue their retched tests on you if not for the intervention of the UGESS, put you under the care of my mum, our mum a year or two after I was born right?" Miranda enquired.
"Yeah. The UGESS regulate the manner in which ONI carries out its experiments, like ensuring that the parents of the Spartans don't not get shocked by the absence of their child by making sure ONI puts flash clone replacements, ONI doesn't exactly like to follow standard protocol you know," Farhan said with a dry chuckle.
"We will discuss this another time. Anyway how long till mum arrives back on Earth from the Dyson Sphere you said she and the other Spartans were trapped in?" Miranda asked as she slowly slipped into slumber.
"Seven days, give or take two," Farhan rumbled as he parted the curtains, informing Dr. Hillary about Miranda's status and left the facility without another thought.
A.N.: This is the prologue, to make sure that everyone understands in my story Miranda isn't dead, please bear with me because it may be confusing but it has an element of mystery at the beginning but I promise it will be a sci-fi and a romance story as well. It will have much more battles and action and it will be based upon more characters in the Halo books and games and UEGSS is a secret service which is larger than ONI and regulate what ONI carries out, their role will be explained later in the story. I welcome PMs also to give me ideas. Thank you my readers and enjoy the following chapters that will be out sooner or later. And please favourite and follow this story.
