The War at Home

by SPARTAN-IV A061

It's bigger! It's better! It's more detailed! It's just plain awesome! It's sequel to "The Fight for Sanghelios", this novel continues with Commander Lombardi's story, who must now unite the known races, lest a larger threat loom on the horizon. He must also start to learn the reality of a family, something he has not known for a while. Alternate Universe

1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

March 27th, 2553 1600 Hours

Orion Council Facility, Qikost

"Welcome to fuckin' Antarctica sir!" The Marine pilot stated as we touched down on the ground. Qikost was indeed a freezing planet, correction, moon, so everywhere on the moon was like Antarctica. But, it made sense to have the Council here, because not many people would want to hang around here. "Thanks, Lieutenant, have a good one." I stated as I got off the Pelican. I felt extremely odd out of my MJOLNIR Mark VII Commando armor, but I was properly dressed for this cold. A couple of ODSTs came up and greeted me. "Sir, right this way. It's much warmer inside, believe me." I followed the ODSTs towards what appeared to be an old Covenant building and went in through a shield door. As if someone flipped a switch, the instant I passed through it became regular room temperature. As we walked down a hallway one of the ODSTs turned to me. "You don't recognize me do you James?" I knew that voice from somewhere, and I realized who it was. "How are you Ed? Didn't know what happened to you after Sigma Octanus." He chuckled and replied "Not bad, but you're one to talk. Right after the Ark you disappeared to god knows where. Then, next thing I know you're a Spartan and the hero of Sangheilios." I laughed and said "Well, I'm sure we'll have time to talk later Buck." He replied and gestured towards a doorway "Indeed, I think Lord Hood's waiting for you, we have yet to see Rtas. Isn't it that?" "Yes," I answered, "I'll see you."

As I entered the room Lord Hood was sitting down looking at a datapad. He noticed me and smiled. "Hello, James." he spoke. "Hello to you too Lord Hood." I replied. He then said earnestly "Just call me Terrence, we're practically the same rank now, with you being the main representative." I nodded and sat down. "How's Sasha?" He inquired, knowing that I cared for her more than just as a teammate. "She's slowly recovering, they don't know if she'll be able to go into full operational status again though." I answered. "Well, I don't think you'll be either James." He replied. However much I wanted to disagree with him, I knew he was right. Although I had fought war for many years, I now had to become a diplomat. It wasn't the easiest task. He then asked, "What do you think about replacing ONI?" "Why do say that?" I asked back. "You know they were fueling an insurrection, that could turn out to be counterproductive. Especially if we have no idea what they're doing." I then asked back. "Then who would we have for intelligence on future hostiles?" He answered. "I'm pretty sure we can form a joint Intelligence Agency with the Sangheili and possibly the races of the Covenant, should they agree to join." A door opened and a ODST walked out. "I think they're all here sir. Come on in."

Terrence and I got up and walked through the door into a room that had a large table in the middle with chairs around it. I saw recognizable chairs, then saw chairs as if they were made for giant people along with different kinds of other chairs. They were for the other races. I sat down as the Sangheili walked in. Thel 'Vadam, the former Arbiter of the Covenant and the leader of the Sangheili, along with Rtas 'Vadum, the leader of the military, and Field Master Avu 'Med 'Telcam sat down. There really wasn't much to discuss, as it had been mostly discussed back on Sangheilios and Lord Hood with HIGHCOM and the President. Mainly we were going to talk to the Covenant leaders right now. "Well, let's get talking with our new friends." I said. Thel saw the humor in this while Rtas and 'Telcam said nothing to this. I hit a button and stated "Alright, bring in the San Shy'yum." A door opened and escorted by a squad of ODSTs was a trio of San Shy'yum, otherwise known as Prophets. The Sangheili showed some hostility towards them, but for the most part it was covered. "Hello, Prophets of Equanimity, Vigilance, and Loyalty. We are here today to make you an offer." I could tell 'Vadum was getting, irritated shall I put it, at me referring to them as Prophets, but their titles were their names and they deserved that. Equanimity spoke up, "And what might this offer be? You have clearly defeated us." "We would like to invite your race, and only your race you are representing, to the Orion Council. This is not similar in anyway to the government of the Covenant. With this we all retain our own governments, and laws that apply to our races, but we must follow laws we come up with here. However, before I get into details, I need to get this out of the way." I nodded to the AI, Black Box, who had volunteered to temporarily help out. With that, a hologram of the galaxy appeared, with the Orion arm labeled along with the locations of the Halo Installations, Forerunner Shield Worlds, and known worlds. "Now I hate to say this, but your religion is based on a misinterpretation of a Forerunner glyph, along with a message." A glyph appeared and I stated, "This glyph here, what you think is 'Reclamation', actually means 'Reclaimer'." The glyph turned 180 degrees to show it upright. "The Great Journey was from a message of the Didact, the leader of the Forerunner military to his wife, the Librarian, who had stayed on Earth to make sure the construction of the Portal was completed. What you think is transcendence is simply the activation of a weapon of mass destruction that annihilates all sentient organisms with 25,000 light years in order to combat the Flood." The Hologram transformed to show a facility that appeared to have samples, "As seen here from Installation 03, after the Forerunners activated the Array, and consequently annihilated all sentient life within range, including the Forerunners and the Flood, the Forerunner constructs reseeded life. This is the reason why we're here, we weren't left behind." I prepared myself for the religious attack, but it never came. Instead the Prophet of Vigilance sighed. "While it is, troubling, to hear your words, we know we must accept the truth." I relaxed a bit, these Prophets, who apparently were the leaders of the Covenant Fleet, the last one that was known at that, seemed reasonable, and more importantly intelligent. "So you wish us to join your Council, yes?" Equanimity asked. "We do, but it is entirely your option. With this Council we are hoping to prevent any future wars and if there are any bigger threats, such as the Flood, lurking out there, that we're prepared. Look at the Forerunners, they had one of the most technologically advanced societies ever known, but because they refused to let others fight with them, they fell." I answered. Loyalty spoke up, "What of the Covenant? Surely they won't all agree to this." I sighed silently and explained again. "There is no more Covenant. Either way, the Council's joint forces is separating the races, you will represent only the San Shy'yum." The San Shy'yum proceeded to mutter amongst themselves and finally reached a decision. "We will join this Council." Equanimity stated. "Good, we'll have a meeting next week." I stated. The ODSTs escorted them out and then I turned to the Sangheili. "Well, that's one less enemy we have to deal with." I stated. Thel replied, "Indeed, but what of your ONI?" I took a breath and stated. "I have agreed with Lord Hood's suggestion, I believe ONI is too out of control to be kept in operation. We can create a joint Intelligence Agency with the Council, combined with the joint military force." Lord Hood spoke up, "There is a slight problem, however. After ONI recovered Doctor Halsey, our former ONI scientist, they transferred one of their prisoners they had captured during your last armaments deal, 'Telcam. His name is Jul 'Mdama. I am sure we can all agree that he needs to be released immediately." 'Telcam seemed actually conflicted of this and stated, "I am not sure if that is the wisest idea. Granted, he was captured, and then withheld from our knowledge, but at the same time his, views, on humanity are quite conflicting with what we are attempting to do. He may destroy what we are trying to build." I decided that I needed to say something. "No, we can't leave him in an ONI research facility, at the very least he deserves to be released. If he becomes a problem, I'm sure we can take care of it. If we keep him, and his presence is leaked, that will become a horrible situation." Everyone nodded at this and Rtas spoke for the first time "So is the session adjourned?" "I believe for today yes." I replied. Everyone got up and proceeded to leave and Buck was waiting outside for me. "How are things going?" He asked as he beckoned me to follow. I nodded at Lord Hood and followed him. "Just fine, right now." I answered. "Good, because you know me, if there's going to be fighting I like to know." He replied, half serious. "Oh yeah, and I got a comm from someone named 'Pyro' from the UNSC Hopeful, he said that Sasha's able to move around, and can come here." He informed me. "He make any jackass remarks?" I asked. "If you mean him saying something about 'driving your girlfriend all around' then yes." I chuckled at this. "Well, tell him that everything's just fine, and as long as Sasha doesn't mind the cold, it's good here." We stopped in front of a door and he gestured towards it. "Guess everyone who's stationed here get's a damn room. Not just a bed, but a room!" He said with clear joy. For a lot of the UNSC veterans, the barracks were home. I think the last time I had actually had a room to myself was back in 2524, before I signed up for the Colonial Militia on Harvest. I walked inside and it reminded me of a fancy hotel room. "Everyone has this?" I asked. "Yeah, even us troopers." He replied. "Good, because otherwise I would have given you my room." I stated honestly. "Wouldn't be surprised James. I'll let you know when Sasha is here." He informed me as he walked off. He didn't really know anything about who Sasha was, but I am sure he could infer. As I sat down at a desk, I started to think about how I had become friends with Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck.

I met him in the Outer Colonies, when humanity had Admiral Cole leading victories, and there was some hope of survival. When he joined, I was a Master Sergeant, and he was Private Edward Buck. Over the years, we became good friends and surprisingly he never was wounded. The last time before now I had seen him was at Sigma Octanus IV when I was Major and led my regiment. After that he had disappeared. I sat for a while just thinking about the war, and generally wondering how the hell I had survived it all. My thoughts were interrupted when I heard a particularly rowdy voice emanating from the hallway. There was only one person that voice could belong to. I opened the door and walking down the hall was Pyro and Sasha.

"Goddamn, Commander, you know how irritating it is to usher along a tip-toeing Spartan?" Pyro joked. "You know how irritating it is to listen to your remarks Pyro?" Sasha replied. "Well, anyways it's better to do this than go and continuously get debriefed by ONI." He spoke. Sasha was walking a bit slower than a normal person would, no doubt because of the fact she had been shot. "Oh yeah, and Commander, you mind me sticking around? I know it's going to be boring here, but it's sure going to be less boring than whatever else ONI has planned." "Sure," I replied, "Go talk to a Gunnery Sergeant Buck." "That guy?" He stated as if surprised. He then turned to leave, and I helped Sasha inside. "What's the medical plan with you?" I asked. "I'm supposed to see the onsite doctor once a week, twice if there's problems." She replied as she sat down on a couch. "But enough about me, what's been going on with you?" She asked. "Well, I'm right now trying to get everyone to be friends, and I know it's not going to be easy." She chuckled, "You ought to see the stuff on the Waypoint. There's debates as to what's going to happen." I stood there for a second, wondering who had said something about the Council. "I know that look, turn on the TV." She preferred to call it that, and I honestly didn't care. I turned it on and went to Waypoint Nine. A male and a female reporter were sitting talking about this. "So that still doesn't answer the question, why are we making nice with the things that were killing us not even a year ago?" The male one criticized. The female one replied, "I don't know. But Commander Lombardi seems to think its not a problem." I turned it off and was irritated. "Why hasn't the President said anything?" She looked at me as if something was wrong. "Sangheilios really must have screwed up your focus, she's coming here." She answered. Wow, I really was thick occasionally. Three representatives, why wouldn't the President be here. "So until the President says something, I'm a pariah." She chuckled. "Whatever, they didn't have to fight. And anyways, from what I understand, just about everyone on Sanghelios thinks you're a hero." She stopped as if she realized something. "What about ONI? How are you..." I interrupted her, "We are already considering it, and we're also making sure a Sangheili prisoner they have returns home." We sat there and just remained silent. "Say, isn't around dinner time? We should head to the mess hall." She broke the silence. "I don't think you should do that, Sasha. You weren't walking that well when you came here." She grunted as she got up clearly not in the state she said she was. "I'm fine." "I can get some dinner, you need to sit down." She almost now apologized, "I just don't want to mess with your schedule." I looked at her surprised. "Sasha, I care about you alot. I don't care, I just want to make sure you're alright."

After we finished up dinner and Pyro, who had stopped in to have dinner with us, left, she asked, "So I presume I'm staying with you?" "Why not?" I answered. "I guess I'll sleep on the couch, I -" I cut her off. "I think you got something screwed up when you got shot, I'm fine with you sleeping in my bed. And I don't mean that the way Pyro would take that." We chuckled and I helped her over. We both had our uniforms on and that was fine. Didn't need to start having, close experiences, quite yet. "Thanks," she said. "Good night." As I turned out the light, I replied. "Good night to you too."