SGTLEGENDKILLEЯ

Within These Moments

Act I

"Roots"

Chapter I

"Miss Kaitlyn Baker"

H.D. 7:25 P.M. March 25th, 2571

It had been nearly two years since the start of the Reborn conflict; The United Worlds Alliance had been as quick to take on the Reborn fleet, but with quick action and a bit of help with the locals they and successfully subdue them. However, despite the definitive victory, this war of course was not without casualty. Several planets and star systems had been greatly affected by the short conflict, and many millions had perished on either side, whether they be UWA, Reborn, or civilian. With the Reborn dissolved the UWA fleet was heading home. Leading the fleet was a proud and victorious capital ship; a Sangheili built CSO class Supercarrier, the UWA Re-education.

The UWA had been responsible for saving an entire galaxy and more. Even though they had embarked towards home two days prior, the entire ship never ceased in the celebration. There were at least a few decks left on the ship where one could slip away from the chaos, however, sitting in one of these quiet spots was a Sangheili, quietly staring out a window. He had just been recently enlisted into the Enhanced Tactics Operatives after his world had been invaded. It had been quite the ordeal that he felt conflicting feelings on what exactly had happened.

Despite all that he was feeling, he only wanted to watch the stars pass the window of the ship. In reality he wanted to get away from everyone and be to himself. However, this still place would only remain for a short while as the sounds of footsteps were approaching from one of the halls. He looked over to see Major Baker, a female Sangheili ETO Officer from Earth, or as he knew, some other version of Earth he had never seen. The Major was quite the interesting character to him as she was one of the smallest adult Sangheili he had ever met; in fact, he figured she was no larger than an average Human. Regardless, she was his superior and the thing that confused him the most currently was the fact she was carrying a case of beer with her.

At the sight of a superior, the Sangheili stood from his seat to greet her. "Major." He spoke with a definitive tone; he was still new to this whole Military thing.

The Major smiled slightly as she drew closer. "It is alright… You go ahead and sit down."

"Yes, Ma'am" He replied before returning to his seat.

"Listen…" She sighed. "There is no reason for all of the formality. No one is following rank right now." She said as she took her own seat. "Relax."

"I guess you're right…" He sighed. "Everyone is partying"

"Yep" She admitted softly as she nodded. "But after what fleet just did, I think it is to be expected."

"Yeah, I get that, but it's all too loud for me." He sighed as his shoulders sagged slightly.

"What do you mean?" She looked at him.

"All of the crazy raving going on."

She laughed at that. "You just called it raving?" She asked amused.

"What else would you call it?" He asked, chuckling with her.

"Probably the same thing." She shrugged. "So is it just the noise that turns you off?"

"No." He answered. "I am fine with the noise. It is just too many people."

"I see…" She said thinking before leaning forward to open the case of beer.

"Don't get me wrong. I love being around people. I am very social. I just prefer the quiet; I prefer being in my own corner doing my own thing."

"That is why you came down here?" She asked, looking up at him from the case of beer.

"Yeah. I just wanted to sit in the quiet and think and not have people dancing, drinking, and asking me a whole bunch of questions." He admitted honestly, his shoulders sagging.

"And here I am asking you questions…" She chuckled before pausing thoughtfully.

"It's ok." He said, smiling slightly. "...What did you come down here for?" He wondered thoughtfully. "I am clearly not in the way of anything on the ship."

She shrugged and began to open the case of beer. "Honestly? I was doing my job as us Majors are supposed to and I was peeking through the cameras with some of my buddies down in the Security Sector and I saw you down here by yourself." She answered with a slight sigh. "Just wanted to see if you were alright."

"And the beer is because?" He asked, leaning back bemused.

"Who doesn't like beer?" She asked as she pulled a beer out of the case and tossed it too him.

He caught it and gave a chuckle. "I can think of a few people who don't."

"Well those people are pussies and shouldn't join rank." She laughed. "We don't need that kind of negativity in our lives."

"No we do not." He replied leaning forward. He would then use the short table in front of him to open the bottle of beer. With the edge of the cap on the edge of the table and a slight smack of the palm, the beer was easily opened. It was an old party trick he learned back before the war. Something simple, but it was just enough to add some spice to the encounter. He leaned back and took a nice long sip; he hadn't been thirsty, but the beer tasted great.

"Anyway…" she paused to open hers with a bottle opener she had on her. "What kind of stuff are they asking you new guys?" She asked, sitting back.

"It is all miniscule stuff, but they are just asking the same stuff all the time. All the time it is: 'What is it like back home?' 'What kind of music do they have?' 'Oh? You must feel so primitive here, right?'" He said, giving her some examples.

"I could see that getting annoying."

"Exactly" He said.

"So…" She sat up to listen more comfortably. "Private Gregory."

"Mm?" He looked to her again.

"If we are going to be talking so freely may I ask what your first name is?" She asked.

"Well…" He shifted his mandibles slightly. He was stalling as he briefly thought through some confliction. "I am… going by K'egan now… At least it should it keep some questions at bay." He answer her as he rubbed his forearm. He wasn't used to the name. "What is yours, Miss Baker?"

"Kaitlyn." She smiled.

He smiled slightly. "I like that name."

"Well thank you…" She smiled back before taking a sip of her drink.

K'egan looked out the window and grew a bit quietly thinking. "Can I ask you something?"

Kaitlyn hummed slightly. "Sure."

"Why are you so small compared to the rest of us Sangheili?" K'egan asked, leaning forward.

She shook her head with a soft hum. "I am come of a line of Pygmies that originated from some small area of Sanghelios." She answered with a nod.

He nodded slightly in understanding. "Is Baker your birth name?"

"I was adopted." She answered simply. "My birth name is Kaeet. My parents just kept it the same and adapted it for the sake of ease."

"Oh…" He paused again thinking. "That makes sense."

She paused to take a long drink of her beer.

"How does that work? Why didn't your parents have their own kids or adopt Humans?" He paused. "Were they both crazy liberals?"

"Fuck no." She laughed. "My dad is the hardcore opposite. Both of my parents had a long family history of military…"

"Well then who broke the ice?" He sat up interested.

"It was my mother." She answered after thinking for a moment. "And if I remember the story correctly from my father, it wasn't really even their choice…"

The date was October 26th, 2553. A Trenton and Caroline Baker found themselves walking through the doors of the Albany New York State Adoption Center. The two, being quite the passionate couple, had wanted nothing through their years but for the war to end so that they could settle down and start a family. Unfortunately for them, towards the later parts of the war, the two had suffered injuries on Earth. They would find later that the injuries would lead to numerous complications when they tried to have children of their own. Regardless of what difficulties they faced, they both were retired ODSTs; they would find a way.

"Are you ready for this, baby?" Trenton, always supportive, asked her as they walked through the doors.

"Of course. Trenton, I've wanted to have kids with you since we've known each other; we are not leaving here without a kid." Coraline said definitely.

"I figured. You've have been setting that in stone since you got the letter of approval." Trenton rolled his eyes playfully.

"You're goddamn right I am." Coraline boasted. "Now come on, babe. Hurry up.

"All right, All right." He sighed as he did what he was told.

After Trenton and Coraline had signed into the adoption center they were given a huge packet of material to glance through. Neither of them were surprised by this. That were going through government funded services, reading was expected. However the surprise hit them when a trio of Military Police approached them and informed them that they needed to speak with the Adoption Center Lead Director.

With great confusion the two followed the men up to some elaborate office with a straight suited man with faded gray hair waiting for them. Everything in the office was of some part luxury from the dark wood desk to the several bookcases filled with all sorts of law material and other related topics. It felt more like a lawyer's office, but such a place was probably not intended to be seen by many going through the adoption process. This was where the hard paperwork was done; who knows what sort of red tape, black label deeds had been done across the polished desk.

"You may leave." The Director waved at the escorts before they were barely through the door. "Mister and Misses. Baker. Would you sit down please?"

"Sure…" Trenton said as the two complied. "What is this about, sir?"

"Well… firstly I wanted to say congratulations on passing all the questionnaires and background checks. You guys did perfectly!" The Director stated.

"Then why are being called in here?" Trenton asked with a sense of skepticism.

"Trenton…" Caroline grumbled under her breath as she put her hand on his leg, reminding him to stay calm.

"It's fine, dear." The Director chuckled. "Anyway. I shall get right into the short of it."

"Please do." Trenton quipped as he took Coraline's hand.

"You two did so well on the approval process that you have been placed in a roster list for a special program." The Director explained. "You guys don't seem racist or sexist or even that outspoken on who you vote for."

"We try to be laid back as possible." Coraline answered with a slight chuckle. She was getting a bit nervous.

"And that what we are looking for."

"Why, exactly. What is the roster for?" Trenton asked, looking to get to the point.

"After the Human and Covenant War, both the Human and Sangheili governments started trying programs to see if they could actually coexist with one another." The Man explained further. "One of the current programs that the government is experimenting with is called the Interspecies Adoption Exchange Initiative."

"And… what is that?" Coraline questioned as she began to grow more concerned.

"It is a program that our governments swap orphans around a bit. Sangheili couples looking to adopt can adopt a Human child, and then Humans take home Sangheili."

"Well I guess that sounds like it could work in theory…" Trenton admitted, thinking.

"That is what I like to here." The Director smiled.

"...But with all due respect, sir, but that is not what we are interested in doing. Thanks but no thanks." Trenton answered.

The Director sighed suddenly and looked down at his clasps hands on his desk. "See, that is the unfortunate thing, Mr. And Mrs. Baker. The program has not had many volunteers yet. So I am afraid we are going to enroll you regardless."

"Excuse me?" Trenton leaned forward. "You want to run that by me again?"

"You guys don't have a choice. At first we allowed a choice but due to lack of enrolment, we have to retract that choice."

"What kind of horse shit is that!?" Trenton was getting upset.

"So you're telling me that we have absolutely no choice?" Coraline questioned, also getting upset. "This isn't legal! We are not signing anything."

"Well…" The Director shrugged slightly. "You are right, but we do have full access to your back ground standing in the system, and we have the full capability to list you two as an ineligible to ever adopt so much as a household pet." He threatened bluntly.

Coraline's jaw dropped slightly as she realized fully what was happening to them. While it had not been flushed out in detail, she could see the signs being set up. Trenton's hand tightened on her knee protectively, but he gave no words for the man. Neither of them were prepared for such a weighted factor to be thrown at them. Without words, the room felt heavy. With the exception of their hushed, stressed breathing, the room was still; they were speechless.

The Director grew a conniving smile. "I'll leave you two for a few minutes to discuss your options." With that, he got up and left the room.

"W… what the fuck just happened?" Coraline asked as she looked down at the floor. She knew what was going on, but she wanted to be hear it.

"We just got fucking spooked." Trenton said standing up, furious. "I knew it. This guy reeks of ONI. I can smell it!"

Coraline was already fighting back tears. She had never imagined that it would go this way. How could she have? "What are we going to do?"

"We aren't going to do anything he wants us too." Trenton said, being firm on the situation.

"Well we kind of have too." Coraline was recognizing defeat.

"No, baby. We don't have too."

"Did you not hear him? It's this or nothing. Maybe it won't be that bad." Coraline wiped her eyes of her tears.

"No. We can't do this. It isn't right."

Her throat tightened up, choking on her attempts to hold back her whimpering. She knew that no matter which route they would chose, it would be a struggle. "We could find a way."

"Absolutely not. We didn't fight in that war for to have to put up with this shit!"

"Oh I feel the same way, Trenton!" Coraline quivered. "But you heard him… We are laid back and not racist or anything." She said, rolling her eyes.

Trenton grumbled harshly. "I get that, baby. But this isn't the difference between black and white. This would be a fucking alien!" He exclaimed angrily.

"Then what the fuck do we do, Trenton?!" She looked up to him, growing louder with her own frustration. "We have wanted this for too long to just do nothing!"

"Well fuck me!" He exclaimed. "We already have a pair of cats and a dog. Maybe we could make due."

She rolled her eyes before shooting him a glare. "How long would that last us?"

"Long enough." He said as he paced to the other side of the room.

"And what is stopping them from taking the current pets?" She challenged. "If they can make us ineligible that easy I am sure they could take whatever they wanted from us!"

"I don't think they would." Trenton grumbled.

Coraline only grew more upset. "Don't give me that bullshit!" She raised her voice, standing up and pointing at him. "There is no god damned way we can step around this.

"Coraline. Listen…"

"Don't you fucking tell me to listen, Trenton!" She yelled, silencing him where he stood. "There is nothing we can do here other than make a choice. We can stand her all day yelling about to the point we flip our shit and get arrested, or we can think for a fucking second!" She stopped for a moment to catch her breath. "We need to try it."

"But Baby." Trenton challenged her once again.

"Stop." She placed her palm on her face for a moment. "They are not giving us a choice. Do you see that?"

"I do…" He admitted quietly. He really had no pawns in this fight; it is how it always was with the two. "Are you seriously considering this?"

"Fucking listen to me closely:" She said strictly, with shaky resolve. This entire thing was against her morals, but she knew what they would have to do. "I am going to do it with or without you."

Trenton grew silent. He hated when she gave ultimatums.