The humming of the pelican's engine, the feeling of the air, causing everything and everyone to bounce up and down and to attempt to keep their balances, the smell of a freshly lit cigar. Dakota Shews took this all in, while she tried to put her entire life into one nutshell:

She was born on June 10th, father was Robert Shews, an active master gunnery sergeant in the marines. Her mother, Victoria De Renno was a secretary but a spunky, respected one at that. When Dakota was 3, her home on Asmara was attacked and her father died in battle, attempting to protect her and her mother. They moved shortly afterwards to Algolis and when Dakota was 4 ½, her mother remarried Travis McRoland who was also active in the marines as a Captain. He too was killed in action, leaving Dakota and her mother with his brother, John who was also away fighting for the universe. In 2534, Dakota was taken away from her mother who lived on Earth and a clone was left behind so her Spartan training could begin. From there, the routine Spartan II's process began; her and the 79 other children her age were taught everything. From math, to shooting a gun; to reading to making strategic plans to overcome their enemies. 8 years later, 80 children went through the Augmentation Procedure; only 40 lived with 10 crippled for life. Dakota and the remaining children were put into teams of 4, Dakota being the leader of her group. Ever since they had entered the academy, the Spartans-in-training had heard stories of the legendary Master Chief; at the age of 16, she was taken from her team-despite the protests from her teammates- and put next to her uncle to fight in combat. She had never met her uncle before; if she had, she would've known that he was Master Chief. For 2 years, they fought side by side against the flood and the covenant. During this time period, she had returned to her mother to show her that she was alive as the clone died 2 months after its creation. There was a great amount of tears, arguing, and apologizing.

Now, as Dakota sat on the Pelican and the driver announced the estimated time of arrival would be 10 minutes, she remembered back to only 4 days ago, when she and her uncle got into an argument while scouring a covenant infected forest on 51 Pegasi-B:

"Dak," the Chief started as all was calm around them and the 10 other marines. The Chief had ordered them to stop and rest only moments ago. "Yeah,Chief?" she answered; she could call him whatever she liked but thought it inappropriate to call him "Uncle" or "John" in front of anyone but Johnson, Keyes, or Cortana. "After this, I'm sending you out on your own." He sat down on a rock and leaned his elbows on his thighs. The young Spartan stood in front of him, looking into the helmet where his eyes were though she couldn't actually see them. She smiled and nodded, "Alright!"She agreed happily, "What do you want me to do? Go on ahead and thin out their numbers? Plant a bomb?" the questions were rattled off quickly and eagerly. The tall armored man shook his head from where he was perched and slowly stood up. He towered over the girl; him at 6'8 and her at 5'9. "That's not what I meant. I mean after this mission, I'm shipping you out on your own to somewhere else where you're needed more than here." He explained. Though he couldn't see it, Dakota's face went from excited and willing to shocked and confused. "W-what? What do you mean? Why! You don't need me anymore!" as she spoke, her voice got louder and more aggressive. Some of the marines stared, wondering what was occurring between the two Spartans. Other's just glanced as they were used to the family quarreling between them. "No," his voice was calm and smooth, "We do need you here; I want you to stay but, the closer we get to destroying Halo, the more dangerous our missions get. It would be selfish of me to keep you here because I want you to stay and then you getting killed. In two days, you'll be going somewhere where a Spartan like you would come in handy. Where you're in control and you call the shots." "But, I don't want to go anywhere without you with me! What the hell, Chief!" Dakota was gritting her teeth and giving him a death glare; but no one could tell. "Dakota," a female voice rang out in a low whisper. "Your uncle has been putting a lot of thought into his decision and though we both would rather you stay, we both think it's better for you to be away from this danger." Cortana agreed with her host. "But, I'm a Spartan for Christ sake! We're trained for this shit! Both of you know that!" Dakota countered. Both of them got silent, they knew she was right. "Hehe, I'm going on ahead." She snorted and took off into the forest. "Dakota!" the Chief called after her; all the marines were facing them now. "Chief, let her go. After all, she's 'trained for this shit'." Cortana sighed.

"ETA: 5 minutes" the drivers announcement interrupted the girl's memory. She concentrated on the rest of what happened:

5 hours later, there still had been no sign of Dakota. At first, alien yelling and gun shots could be heard about 3 miles away but that was 30 minutes after she had ran. Master Chief and the marines followed the cleared path created for them by the angry female; stepping over decapitated elites, strangled grunts, pulverized jackals, shot down buggers, and a pair of destroyed hunters. "Ay, Chief! Dak's a little pissed, eh?" one of the marines called, with a snicker. He ignored the comment, as the only thing keeping him from going off on the marine was his worry for his daughter-like niece. "Do you think she's close by? It's getting dark." Spartan 117 asked his A.I. "Why don't you look for yourself." She answered. Up ahead, in the darkness of the forest, the yellow light from assault rifle bursts and the blue of plasma rifles could be seen. "Stay here." He ordered before taking off towards the fight. Only moments after the Chief took off running, did the fighting cease; no lights and no sounds except for Master Chiefs feet on the forest floor. After a few minutes, he slowed his pace to a walk. "Lights on, Chief." Cortana suggested though it had sounded more like an order. The lights from his helmet flicked on and he continued to walk. "Chief, over there!" the A.I. exclaimed. In the distance, a faint light could be seen. The green armored man quickened his walk and as he neared the clearing where the light seemed to shine from, he could hear panting. He pushed his way past the remaining plant life and into the clearing. There, he gazed upon his Sapphire armored niece who sat on a log, looking down between her legs at her helmet that lit up the area she had claimed. To her right, a grunt attempted to crawl away, he had just reached the edge and was about to hide under the brush when the long, black haired girl stood up, strolled over to the struggling creature, grabbed its head between her rather large hands, and snapped its neck. She dropped the limp body and turned around; facing one of the only family members she had left. "Dak…" the Chief trailed off. Her green eyes pierced his armor and burned into her uncle's eyes, despite her bangs the hung in her face. She shook her head and walked over to her helmet. She looked down at it for a moment, picked it up, and put it back on with a hissing sound. "I'll go after the mission because you will it, Uncle. But for now, let's kick some ass together for the last time, ok?"

"Sarge, ETA: 30 seconds." Came a call from the cock pit of the Pelican. Dakota opened her eyes and gazed at Sergeant Johnson sitting across from her. "Ready, Dak?" he asked in the familiar rough voice Dakota had come to know and love; especially loving it when he would save her ass. "Ready as I'll ever be." she huffed. The blue terror stood up and slung her assault rifle and shotgun over her shoulder. She checked her pistols and made sure she had 4 frag grenades. "We're here." The driver called from the cockpit. "Take 'er down." Ordered Johnson. The Pelicans direction suddenly shifted; it slowed down, eventually stopped, and slowly moved downward. The bay door opened and revealed a warthog with boxes in it. Below, green grass could be seen. "Deploying warthog." And the vehicle was released from the grip of the ship. It hit the ground with a thump and the sound of metal rubbing together but it was intact and undamaged. "Well, this is it, Johnson. I guess I'll be seeing you." Dakota shrugged. "You'll be fine, Dak. Just treat them and protect them like you would me or your uncle." He suggested. "You know I will, Johnson." No one spoke after that. Dakota turned and was about to jump out the bay door when, "Dakota." She turned back around and inhaled the smell of the cigar that hung from her friends lips. "Happy Birthday, Kiddo." He smirked. She smirked back, "Tell Chief that I said 'Thanks for the GREAT present'." She rolled her eyes, referring to this transfer as her present. She jumped out of the Pelican and landed on the ground with a thud. She stood up straight and looked up into the open bay door. "One more thing Sarge: Where am I?" she asked. "Coagulation." He said before the bay doors closed and the Pelican zipped up into the sky….