Ch. 1
Spartan Commander Rachel Auri sits down in her quarters mulling over a few battle reports she received within the last few hours.
"Desk job is definitely not for me," she mutters as she set the data pad she held in her hand back down. She draws her legs up to her chest and she sits in the chair a little while longer before she gets up and paces her room. A soft orange glow behind her brightens up one corner of her room as Roland activates the holo tank by her door.
She turns around and gives the AI a brief smile.
"Hey Roland," she says. The AI inclines his head to her.
"Hello Commander," he replies.
"Checking up on me?"
"Something like that, yes." He clasps his hands behind his back. "I wanted to let you know that the armor variant you requested to be made a few weeks back is now ready to be tested."
"It's done? Good. Testing the armor will at least give me something to do for a bit instead of pace this room and go over battle reports." She picks up a nearby data pad and scrolls through it.
"That could change if you reconsidered leading a team."
"Roland, you know I can't do that right now. Not with what happened..."
"I know, ma'am. I was just making a suggestion."
"I'll... take it into consideration," she replies as she exits her quarters and walks down one of the Infinity's numerous long hallways. She passes by a few other marines and Spartans who walk through the ship, going about their duties. They steps aside to let her pass, saluting her as she went. She returned the salute or gave a nod to them before continuing on down to the armory.
She stops by a holo tank and Roland pops up again.
"I've been meaning to ask you something, Roland," the commander starts out glancing over at the AI. "The science base... on Requiem. There's... nothing left is there?"
"Nothing," the AI replies firmly, nodding his head. "We've checked and double check. The Forerunners that the Master Chief picked were nice enough to go planet side and confirm that there were no spores left floating around down there."
"Good," the Four replies. "And the data packet?"
"I'll forward you the results. Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"No. I can take it from here. Thank you, Roland. I'll catch you later."
The orange AI salutes her and disappears into another part of the warship as the Spartan walks over to her new armor. She steps onto the pedestal and the machinery whirls around her. She watches each piece fit over her and seal shut. It spins her around on her back as her chest armor fits over her. She is turned into an upright position and slips her arms through their armor pieces and they clamp shut. The helmet lowers down over her head. She ducks out around since she was free to move from the machinery, takes hold of the helmet and tucks it under her arm. She nods a thank you over to the techs who helped her out and she walks down the stairs to the sim room to test the armor out.
Along the way she bumps into one of her former teammate and friend she had known since they were in college. The strawberry-blonde haired woman looks up at the other Four's approach and grins.
"Hey Commander," she says saluting Auri.
"Hey yourself, Corporal. Or should I say Lieutenant Shenway." The commander grins at her friend who grins in response.
"I heard about the promotion. Congrats."
"Thank you, Commander," Shenway replies.
"You earned. You've been working hard these past few years. I don't know why they hadn't bumped you up sooner."
"It was only because you kept pushing me on." The commander tilts her head to the side and raises an eyebrow.
"Well, you did," Shenway says pushing herself away from the wall she leans against. Auri's eyes search her teammate's face, a question forming on her own. Shenway's face turns serious and she opens her mouth to talk when the commander holds up her hand.
"Shen, you know I don't feel ready to come back," she says.
"But Commander, none of that was your fault. We all thought those bastards were gone after Chief destroyed that last big cluster back on the Ark. We had no way of knowing that they were here. On Requiem."
Auri looks away from the other Four and sets her jaw.
"Palmer's assigning new Fours to Fire Team Ghost. Someone else will be leading us soon. I want that to be you. You got us out of so many hairy situations it's not even funny. You're a fantastic leader and there's no one else I'd rather have lead Ghost team."
"It's a... tempting proposition, Shen. It really is. But right now..." She looks up and gives her friend a weak grin that slips off quickly as she meets Shenway's green eyed gaze. "Right now is not a good time for me."
"Then why the new armor, ma'am?" Auri furrows her eyebrows for a moment.
"Your new armor," the Lieutenant repeats, crossing her arms over her chest. "I know the last one pretty much got trashed. Hell, all of ours did. We only new armor since we were going back out into the field. I didn't expect you to also put in a request. I'd assume that ordering new armor means you're going back out into the field, correct?"
Auri lets out a held breath. "Short recon missions. That's about it," she replies. "Staying behind a desk going over battle reports is fine and all but not as a permanent job."
Shenway uncrosses her arms. "I'll know you'll come back. You're a good leader, Commander. Kent, Daniels and I will be waiting for ya. And one other thing, Commander, if I may speak candidly?"
"Go ahead."
"I know you hate seeing the ship shrink but if you ever need to talk about... what happened or anything else for that matter, I'm here. We're here for you. You just have to let us in and not keep everything bottled. Eventually all that is going to burst the seams and coming flowing out."
"Thank you for your concern, LT, but I'm fine. I am really." The Lieutenant eyes the Four, debating on whether or not to press her former XO when Auri turns her head back down the hall.
"I've got to go but I'll catch you later, okay Shen?"
"I'll hold you to that, Auri."
"Stay safe and kick some ass for me."
"Will do, ma'am," the Four replies before leaving. Auri turns down the hallway and into the Sim room. The Simulator room was a smaller version of the War Games that the Spartans were normally put through. The room is about the size of a football field, give or take a few meters. It is a large maze-like arena full of deadly surprises. She walks over to the weapons rack and sorts through the different guns until she settles with dual pistols and a standard sniper's rifle. She walks over to a nearby panel where the soldiers could program the Sim or set it to random.
Auri taps in a few commands and turns the dial for enemies to be Sangheili.
"Figured I might as well get in some practice with these guys," she mutters to herself as she sets the Scout helmet over her head and walks into the arena. A countdown sounds off and the Spartan begins jog across the field, testing out her maneuverability in the suit.
"So far so good," she says to herself and ducks behind some cover as the seconds tick down. She draws out her rifle and prepares herself for the first wave. Blue Sangheilian holograms shoot out across the field, searching for the soldier. Auri stays behind cover for a few seconds longer as the holograms scan the area for her. The Four stays crouched as she eases out from behind the wall and fires off four quick stun rounds into the nearest targets. The hit holograms shimmer and vanish back into the system. The other holograms are drawn towards the sound and hurry over to greet the sniper.
The commander draws out her pistols and fires rapidly into the crowd, dodging other stun rounds aimed for her. When her guns click empty and ducks into a tight roll, smacks the nearest hologram with the butt of the two guns, rounds a corner and goes back into cover to reload. She takes in a deep breath before emerging when her vision suddenly spins.
"Damn it... Damn it. Not now. This is last thing I need," she mutters to herself and pulls back into cover; the red blips on her radar grow closer. She turns her head and searches for a plan, a route out.
If you can't go left or right, why not go up? she thinks and eases out of the crouch. The Four holsters her guns and jumps up to grab hold of the ledge above her head. She hauls herself over the wall as fast as she can and drops down on the other side. She races down the corridor and runs up a ramp. She hears the angry roars of the Sangheili below her. The Spartan watches their movement and eases out her sniper rifle. She zooms in and searches for a target all the while keeping an eye on her radar. The Four sights on two Sangheili patrolling an area a few hundreds meters East of her and squeezes the trigger. Three bullets fly out of their chamber and the two holograms drop.
She fires the last bullet and reloads the rifle before moving onto the next target. The Four glances up after a moment and looks around after realizing the area had grown quiet around her. She lowers her gun and listens. Faint movement on her radar catches her eye.
Crap. Camo, she thinks as she scans the area around her, searching for any sort of distortion. Forgot Roland programmed these guys to do that.
She freezes when movement out of the corner of her eye catches attention. She turns around and watches as a white armored Sangheili with an energy sword materializes in front of her. She stands up and grips her rifle as she eyes the alien.
"Take it you're going by the 'lady's first' rule then?" she says. The alien stands in front of her quietly when it starts walking to the side. They soon start walking around each other for a few moments.
"Guess I shouldn't keep you waiting then." She lurches forward and slams the butt of her rifle into it. The hologram jumps back and swings its sword in a downward strike. The blade passes through the rifle the Four threw up to protect herself. The rifle short circuits and sparks, now useless as if it were cut in two. She throws the rifle aside and draws her combat knife. She dodges another swing. She spins around and slams the dagger into the side of its neck. She jerks the dagger back out . Her opponent staggers forward, hand on its wound.
"That's what happens when you let your opponent make the first move," she says, adjusting the grip on her knife. The alien moves forward then feints to the right catching the Spartan on the back with its sword. Her shields flare and her back armor locks up as the stun sensors activate. She stumbles back onto the ground. The alien steps forward and aims the sword at her neck. She leans back a bit as the points of the blade near her when an alarm sounds off through the arena, signalling the end to the fight. The Sangheilian hologram gives her one last dark look before vanishing. Her armor unlocks once the last hologram disappears. The Spartan stands up, grabs her rifle and walks back to the entrance.
"Damn it. Didn't even make it halfway," she mutters to herself as she places the weapons back on the rack. "Got to get better at this." She removes her helmet and runs a hand through her hair.
"What the hell happened back there...? It... didn't feel like a panic attack... God," she grumbles. "This is second time that's happened. What keeps triggering it? Me being in battle?" She groans and shakes her head.
"Maybe Shen's right. I can't let this affect my performance in the field. I can't."