A Spartan's War
A/N: I'm making some pretty big character changes! Jessie is going to be more tolerant, I felt she was a character that was easy to dislike, and Tiffany will be less of a bitch, more oblivious. Jess will also be somewhat more lenient about being touched, if she initiates the contact, then all is well. Jessie will also be more neutral about John [going back to my indecisiveness about who I want to pair her with].
This chapter has been edited as of Aug.2011
Chapter 1: The New Spartan
PILLAR OF AUTUMN-05:30 HOURS
Jessie-057 punched her alarm clock again. The constant beeping stilled and she sighed. Spartans were only allowed six hours of sleep. She rolled over and rubbed her eyes, encouraging them to wake along with the rest of her body. Jessie sat up and slowly set her bare feet on the cold alloy floor of her quarters. She pulled her fingers through her matted hair and paced over to the bathroom, yawning.
Jessie squinted her eyes at her early morning reflection in the mirror. She ran a comb quickly through her tasseled dark blonde curls. She needed to see a barber, she could barely stuff her hair under her helmet, now that the curls ended at the middle of her neck.
Her dark blue eyes hinted at the extra sleep her body wished it could get and her lips were slightly chapped. The Spartan had pale skin, the result of constantly wearing heavy armor and rarely seeing the sun. Her face still looked unemotional at the early hour and young. She chewed her lower lip, a nervous habit she had, and removed her sleep shirt. The number 057 was tattooed on both her upper biceps. She stood at 6' 7" when out of her armor and close to 6' 10" when in her MJOLNIR armor. Scar tissue covered her body from the augmentation process and many new, angry red scars lanced her body as a monument to all the battle she had participated in.
The Petty Officer pulled on a pair of dark grey pants and a black fatigue shirt with the letters UNSC emblazoned in light grey across the chest. She grabbed her ID tags and roped them around her neck, black silencers keeping the tags quiet as the settled on her chest. Jessie then pulled on a pair of worn black boots.
PILLAR OF AUTUMN-07:50 HOURS
Jessie entered her room for the second time that morning. She had been in and out of meetings all morning. Blue Team's most recent mission the topic of discussion.
"Jessie?" Cortana's voice echoed in her room. "Chief needs you on the deck. The new team member is due to arrive today." Codes flowed over Cortana's pastel blue image. She daintily sat down on the hologram emitter.
"What squad is the Spartan being transferred from?" Jessie brushed her hair behind an ear.
"That is something for you to take up with John. 10 minutes. The bridge." Cortana's image flickered and the Smart AI's form disappeared. Jessie removed her fatigues and donned her UNSC uniform. She turned the light off and walked out into the starship's hallways.
"Hey, Jess! You hear about the new Spartan?" Frederic-104 came up from behind Jessie and then walker next to her.
"Let's just hope he's better then you and Will put together." She playfully teased her teammate. His eyes danced with laughter and he brushed a lock of black hair streaked with silver out of his eye. He chuckled, but cut short when a group of ODSTs stepped into the empty hall.
"What do they want?" The two Spartans stopped walking. As did the six Orbital Drop Shock Troopers.
"What do you think you are doing down here, freaks?" The tallest ODST asked.
"We don't have time for this." Jessie said.
"Just tell us what you want. We have places to go and people to see." Fred didn't have time to deal with angry Helljumpers now.
"One of my men has been pulled from duty to recover from injuries inflicted by one of you," He pointed a long finger at the super-soldier. "The big one with no expressions," He crossed his arms across his chest. "And you, 057, have beaten up one two many ODSTs." He flicked his chin at Jessie.
"So what? We've taken a few of you on." Jessie said. Fred turned slightly and saw the pissed Helljumpers move a little closer.
PILLAR OF AUTUMN-08:30 HOURS
John-117, the Master Chief, sighed and looked at the military clock sitting above one of the computer terminals in the bridge. It read 0830 hours. Where were Fred and Jessie! They were late, but the Pelican with the new Spartan was just as fashionably late.
Dr. Halsey noticed his irritation and said, "Don't worry, John. They'll be here." She folded her hands in her lap and turned her gaze to the door.
"I hope they hurry up and get here." William-043 picked at the front of his uniform.
"Maybe you should go look for them, William." Will made a face when Dr. Halsey used his full name.
"With all due respect, Doctor. I don't want another Spartan to go missing before the Pelican shows up." John smiled briefly and turned around when Cortana came to life on the hologram emitter.
"They're coming, Chief, but they ran into a little trouble on the way here." Cortana placed her hands on her holographic hips and turned a lighter shade of blue.
"Trouble? Care to explain, Cortana?" John rubbed his temples in frustration. His whole morning had been frustrating and he didn't need it to get any worse.
"Ask them yourself." Cortana motioned to the far door with one hand. Fred and Jessie came in, straightening their uniforms and moving around the men on the bridge until they came to the small alcove the rest of their team was waiting in.
"Where have you two been? You're a half hour late!" John spread his arms.
"We were on our way here, but we ran into a group of Helljumpers who are angry at you." Jessie admitted.
"What makes you think it's the Chief?" Fred asked.
"What makes you think it isn't the Chief?" John raised an eyebrow as he was thrown out of the conversation. Fred was about to say something to the Master Chief, mouth open to expel words, when the large door across from them opened. An alabaster girl walked out followed by Captan Jacob Keyes.
"John-117, Frederic-104, William-043, Jessie -057, this is Tiffany-126." The Spartans snapped to attention and Tiffany followed slowly. Keyes saluted back and they stood at ease.
"Tiffany, this is Blue Team. You will serve alongside the Master Chief and his squad." Captain Keyes said.
"Why don't you all go down to the barracks and get used to each other?" Dr. Halsey and Captain Keyes left the alcove. Halsey heading back to her lab and Keyes back to his post on the bridge.
PILLAR OF AUTUMN-09:00 HOURS
The five super-soldiers entered the barracks and Will turned on the lights. Jess turned to look at Tiffany.
She was young and her body showed the telltale signs of Spartan augmentation. She had bright pink straight hair that was cut in a bob that stopped at the bottom of her ears. The girl also had large brown doe eyes. Disturbed, she noticed the girl had her uniform unbuttoned enough to show a little bit of cleavage under the tank top beneath the jacket.
Jess sat down on one of the bottom bunks and braced her elbows on her knees. She watched her new team member looked over her new squad.
"So do you guys go by ranks, names, number, or what?" Tiffany looked to Jessie when she asked her question.
"John goes by Chief, Fred, Will, and I by our names. Technicians tend to call us by number, and troops call us 'Spartan' or by our rank." Jessie explained.
"Oh. What's your name?" Tiffany sat down on a bunk and gracefully crossed her legs.
"Jessie."
"Oh! Really? I thought is was someone else on the team. You do know you have a boys name, right?" Tiffany said with a flourish of her left hand.
"Excuse me?" Jess raised her eyebrows and stared at the girl in front of her. "You want to say that again?" She pushed, jaw muscles tightening a bit.
"Knock it off." John turned to the two women, aiming his comment at the blonde woman. "Tiffany, it is nice to have another Spartan at our disposal."
The woman blinked slowly. "You must be John." She stood up and extended her hand to him. He took it and shook warmly. She then moved on to introduce herself and shake hands with Will and Fred. When she sat down again, she just smirked and looked over to Jessie.
What was the woman's problem? Jessie leaned her head back against the wall, not caring to listen as Tiffany told her story to the three captivated men. Something about the new Spartan just seemed, off.
PILLAR OF AUTUMN-10:00 HOURS
As Blue Team began to file out of the room, their little meet and greet session over, Tiffany called out to Jess.
"Would you stay for a moment?" She hadn't moved from her position on one of the beds.
"Sure. What do you want."
"Some girl to girl time."
"I don't do much of that." Jessie slowly settled into a seat.
"So, are you with any of them?" Jessie instantly knew she was questioning the status of the men she worked with.
"No. I'm not with any of them. No other man either."
"Good." Tiffany practically purred. "That means I don't have to worry about you."
"Worry about me? I know you don't mean that in context of a battlefield." Jessie wasn't really good at all the 'girl talk'.
"The Master Chief is quiet the catch is he not? Just a word of advice, but if you know what's best for you, you'll keep your distance from him." She reached forward and patted Jessie's knee. She pulled her leg away.
"Don't touch me." She said slowly.
"Touchy are we?" Tiffany deliberately reach forward once again and settled her hand on Jess' shoulder before she swatted it off with a smack.
"So fragile." Tiffany clucked her tongue three times then stood and left the room with a little wiggle of her fingers in a small wave.
Jessie knew Tiffany was going to be a pain in the ass.
Okay, compared to the old version of this chapter, it changed quiet a lot. Please deal with me as I try and reconfigure this story, it doesn't seem right to me at the moment. 1-9 need some major work.
-Masterful-Mind