Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or any of 343 Industries' or Bungie's titles. Trust me on this.
Unknown UNSC base
Sydney, Australia
Earth
Sol System
August 23, 2554
James Fisher sat in a dark room lit by a single lamp overhead. He sat at a glass table with his hands intertwined. He wore a simple grey UNSC jacket and grey trousers. Across from him sat a man wearing a black suit and black jeans. He held a touchpad and seemed to be scrolling through it.
The man's brown hair was combed neatly and his face had an unreadable expression. A mix of disinterest and mild annoyance.
After a while, he put the touchpad down and turned his attention to James. James glared at the man, but he seemed unaffected by it.
"Do you know why you are here, First Corporal Fisher?" he started, his voice clear and deep-as if it came from the bottom of his throat.
"No. But I'm guessing it has to be important for you to send armed guards to drag me out of my bunk at four in the morning." James replied, not bothering to hide the disdain in his voice. The man eyed him warily, his black eyes searching James' brown ones.
"Our reports show that your company has been on reprieve for the past two days. I don't believe that you had anything better to do." The words sounded bitter, but the neutral tone the man took made them sound more like a statement.
James released some of the tension in his shoulders and leaned back against his metal chair. "No, I didn't. So what do you want?" He said evenly. He felt that the more he cooperated, the sooner he would be done with this interrogation.
The man in the suit put the touchpad on the glass table. "Corporal Fisher, my name is Gillian Hill. I would like you to give me a full report on the Battle of Able."
James felt like bursting out in hysterical laughter and hitting the table until it broke, but the only sign of his discomfort showed in the form of his body posture straightening and his clenched hands reaching further across the table. New Acre. Able. They all brought up all sorts of bad memories. Memories he tried hard to forget.
"You brought me all the way here to give you a report on a battle that happened more than a decade ago?" James voice rose slightly with anger. "Yes, exactly." Gillian replied, even as ever.
James gestured to the touchpad. "You already have my damn report. What do you want me to tell you?"
Gillian took in another deep breath and pushed his chair further forward. "Do you know who I work for?" James gave him a confused look, 'Where was this going' "If I were to take a guess," He gestured at the badge on Gillian's suit. "I'd say you work for ONI."
The ONI symbol was unmistakable. A half-black and half-white pyramid with a circle in the centre. Gillian looked down at the badge and back at James. "Excellent educated guess, Corporal." Gillian's voice seemed sarcastic for a second before returning back to seriousness. "You asked why I wanted you to tell me your report," He waved the touchpad for James and then put it back down. "-eventhough I already have it, correct?" James gave a small, quick nod. Gillian took in a deep breath and flexed his shoulders.
"You see, Corporal, it's like a novel. You can read it as many times as you like," he began. "-but you really need to hear it from the author to get this… feeling from it. A certain enthusiasm whereby your perception of the story itself is different." Gillian put more emphasis on the ending of the sentence. "This is because it is coming from the mouth and mind of the one who created it, and not from the calculated and official. It has more passion and flare to it then anything." This made sense to James. 'But why does he want to know?'
Gillian leaned forward, closer to James. "I want to know your story, Corporal." He leaned back and picked up the touchpad and held it in both hands. "You may begin when ready." James could tell that there was no way to convince Gillian otherwise. His superiors had taken that certain tone before-and sometimes have even used the exact same words-and it didn't take him long to find out when superior officers took up the tone, there was no way to change their minds.
James took a deep breath, held it for a while, then let it out slowly. He thought for a while, going back to that event. All the memories slowly seeped into his mind, like a crack in the ceiling letting in rain water. He could almost see the memories through his closed eyes.
He put his hands on the table, letting his palms hang over the edge and leaving his fingers on the surface. "Where do you want me to start?" James asked. Gillian gave him a steel look before replying. "The beginning."