"It's alright, Rosie. You can come out now." Dr. Halsey's voice rang out through the underground lab that was now vacant aside from the single member of Noble Team, A SPARTAN who went by the name of Jun A266.
"Doctor? Who are you talking to?" Jun asked through the filter of his helmet that permitted him to talk to people out of his MJOLNIR armor.
"Jun, I'd like to introduce you to someone very special to me. She has been my personal bodyguard during my internment here on Reach through the Covenant invasion. Her name is Rosenda A344, but I call her Rosie. She's a SPARTAN like yourself. C'mon out, Rosie." Dr. Halsey called out in my direction.
In accordance with her command, I stepped out from the shadows that concealed my armored self. I took off my burgundy helmet so that this Jun character could see my face. This prompted him to do the same, shouldering his sniper rifle, much like the one that I had hidden away in my previous hiding position. We each shook hands and offered a smile in each other's directions, as opposed to our usual method of 'smiling', our index and middle fingers running down the center of our polarized helmet visors.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, SPARTAN."
"Likewise. It's been so long since I've seen one, I thought I was the last one left."
"You're not that lucky, A344."
"Well, that has yet to be seen." I said with a smirk.
All I got for a response was a grunt from Jun. He put his helmet on once more as a loud rumbling shook rocks down from the cavern roof.
"Doctor, we mustn't be too long. The charges are set to blow this lab to kingdom come in approximately 5 Minutes. I'll check the perimeter to make sure there are no stragglers." Jun replaced his sniper rifle in his hands and turned to walk out of the lab through the open blast doors. Halsey and I kept our eyes on Jun until he left our line of vision.
"Ok. Rosie, there's something that I need to tell you. 2 things I need to tell you, as a matter of fact."
Dr. Halsey looked around the metallic room with eyes that conveyed of her knowledge of the futility of the defense of the besieged human colony of Reach. It was as if she was certain that the Covenant would overrun the planet's defenses and destroy humanity's footprint with their purple glassing beams fitted to their CCS Class Warships. The sleek, purple ships came to mind for a brief moment as I gazed upon the Doctor overlooking all of her monochromatic equipment for what was likely the last time. She sighed on a decibel level that someone without my heightened hearing would not be able to hear. Her eyes moved from the equipment to my face, the stern expression not leaving for my benefit.
"Do you remember anything about your sister?" She asked after a brief pause.
"Bits and Pieces, Ma'am. Shediddie when I was three." I said with a small chuckle. Humor was my best coping mechanism for that particular situation.
"I thought as much. I figure now is the most optimal time that we're going to have for me to tell you about this."
"About what, Ma'am?" I said in an unusually curt tone that was a rarity for me.
Once again, Halsey paused. She briefly looked down, and took a deep breath. After a moment, she looked up again once more.
"About who your sister was, or is."
I was taken aback by this sudden revelation. Doctor Halsey knew about my dead sister? Why did she correct herself to speak in the present tense? These were two of the thousands of questions that ran rampant in the fabric of my mind. After allowing the lump in my throat to settle, I decided on the question that seemed the most pertinent.
"What do you mean, 'is', Doctor?" I asked in a calm voice that effectively hid the anxiety that her statement shot throughout my person, a quality extremely unusual in a Spartan, superoldiers who were meant to be unfeeling mechanisms of war. However, I was not like everyone else.
Not one to follow the chain of command or respect authoritative figures, I was constantly being moved from squad to squad. I already know that, had I been a regular marine, I would've received a Dishonorable Discharge by now. However, given my "augmented" status, I was still viewed as a vital part of the war effort and placed in a position that I would not get in the way of other, more acquiescent brethren of mine: The personal bodyguard of Dr. Katherine Halsey.
We bonded over the past few months over things that no one had bothered to teach me as a child soldier. She taught me about how to fully appreciate the beauty and the world around us. I grew as both a soldier and person in my time with her. Finally, she taught me the most valuable lessons that a would-be unfeeling war machine like me would never have learned otherwise: How to live, not just to be alive. I learned how to love. Finally, I learned how the most important lesson of all: how to be human.
"Your sister is a testament to one of the biggest sins that I have ever committed. If there indeed is a God, then He surely is waiting for me on the other side with a vengeance."
"I don't understand, Doctor." I said shakily, not aware of my constant interruptions and their impediments on Dr. Halsey's story.
"Do you realize how the Spartan program came to fruition? What was the spark that lit the flame in which you were forged?"
"Yes, Ma'am. The Spartan II program, spearheaded by yourself and CPO Mendez."
"Precisely. Well, in the infancy of that program, I did many atrocious things. Things that are morally unsound, yet were necessary for the good of mankind. I tore apart families for the sake of bringing the galaxy together."
"What do you mean, Doctor?" I was afraid to speculate where exactly this was leading. I had a good idea, but I was afraid to dwell on it, afraid that I would be proven right.
Halsey looked up at the jagged, gray rock ceiling of the lab, staying silent for a moment.
"Have you ever heard of the Spartan II named Linda 058?"
A smile crossed my lips as the name escaped hers. She was a legend, the idol of which I centered around my entire career as a United Nations Space Command sniper.
"Of course I do, Ma'am. She'sonlythe greatest shot in the galaxy!" I said, not doing well to conceal the joy that I felt inside of me at the utterance of the name.
Halsey smiled, but only momentarily. Her grave expression returned as she continued to tell of Linda.
"Do you know who the second greatest Sniper in the UNSC is?"
Once again, Halsey had given me reason to beam a smile, this time with pride for myself.
"Last I checked, I was the one who held the Number 2 spot. I have all of her statistics saved in my database, and I am always trying to meet them, and surpass them. I have a setting on my HUD that gives me a notification for every time that I come close to beating a record of hers."
Once again, another chuckle from Halsey.
"Would you believe me if I told you that there was a particular reason that you were on Par with Linda?"
"That would depend on what reasoning you gave me, Ma'am."
"What if I told you that she was your sister?"
It felt as if the wind had been knocked out of me. Her words were a figurative punch in the gut, and I didn't know how to recover. Halsey noticed this, and wasted no time in continuing.
"Rosie, there are many things that I have done, things that I have no way of redeeming myself of. You were the way out for me. I thought that, if I could try and make you into the best human being you could possibly be, then maybe I would be able to sleep at night. I'm terribly sorry that I kept this from you for so long. I hope that you will find it in your heart to forgive me."
I stuttered, struggling to find the words to convey how I felt at this new revelation that came from Halsey.
"Rosie, I know this is a shock to you, but there is a much larger matter at hand. I trust you overheard the conversation that Noble team and I had together over the issue of Cortana?"
I bowed my head down, still reeling. Despite my being a human, I was still a soldier, and I knew that a soldier's main priority is to follow orders.
"Yes, Ma'am?"
"I'm sure you know the importance of the AI that Noble is currently charged with protecting. I call her Cortana, and she has more data than any other in the UNSC. I think it goes without saying that she is currently the most valuable asset on Reach. That being said, we cannot risk her falling into Covenant hands."
"What do I need to do, Ma'am?" I asked sternly.
"I want you to follow Noble team as they make their journey to the Pillar Of Autumn's docking bay. No matter what happens, you must keep a low profile so that the integrity of the mission is not compromised by any…psychological factors. They must complete their mission with any kind of outside influence. You are only to monitor and ensure the safety of Cortana, not Noble. They can handle themselves. But just in case something goes wrong, you must retrieve the AI and take it to the Pillar of Autumn. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Keeping an expression to match the Doctor's, I replaced my helmet over my head. The systems came online once more as the helmet attached to the rest of my armor. I placed my sniper rifle in my hands, and instinctively ran my hand down my thigh to ensure that my M6 Magnum was in its proper pouch within my armor. Halsey's form was highlighted a green color to signify that she was a friendly.
"Good luck, Spartan. Do what you do best. Be seen and only heard."
My brain still throbbing from the revelation that my idol was in fact my sister whom I thought to be dead. I now had the hellish task of ensuring that this emotional strain would not compromise my own mission. I took a deep breath, and voiced my understanding of her words. Despite her directions, I elected to remain silent as well and equipped a silencer to the barrel of my rifle to maintain total stealth.
"Didn't you hear, Doctor? Spartans make their own luck."