0500 Hours: April 14, 2552 (Military Calendar) / Epsilon Erdani System, Planet Reach, ONI Swordbase.
An older woman peered up at the flickering screen before her, gray-blue eyes observing the rather complex stream of code that flashed across it. She sighed softly, her graying hair laying loose upon her shoulders as she spun in her chair and reached over to the desk. After checking one of the many mugs of cold coffee that lay about her small, cramped office, she lifted it to her lips and downed the ice-like liquid. It didn't taste wonderful, but it was something. She swirled the dregs of the coffee, shifting her attention back to her streams of code.
Dr. Halsey pressed a button, and on the small round platform next to her; a skeletal figure form. Followed by a complex line of code that shifted into what appeared to be a person.
"Wake up, Caitlyn." She spoke softly, her voice above a whisper. The hologram shifted into what Halsey had called "Caitlyn." It appeared to be a teenage female with a lithe, curved body. Her eyes were a magnificent gold, the hair that spilled across her shoulders were tainted into a bright orange. Her body was covered in a single black outfit that meshed rather well with her pale skin. Yet despite all of this, she seemed to retain an orange undertone to her. If Dr. Halsey shifted her head in the proper direction, she could even see the skeletal figure of her little Caitlyn.
"Greetings, Dr. Halsey." She spoke in a soft, polite manner. Her golden eyes peered right at her creator, a sheepish smile crossing her digital visage.
"I see you've finally learned proper speech. I was beginning to worry that his brain was too incompetent to recognize the English language." She spoke blandly, nudging those antique glasses back up her nose. Caitlyn looked very vexed at this comment, but passed the emotion off by swiping her bangs from out of her face.
"Anyway, initiate start up diagnostics." She rapped her fingers on the top of her desk, continuing to swirl the remains of the cold coffee in her other hand. Watching her very advanced artificial intelligence to its job.
"Initializing. Stand-by." She murmured, her avatar flickering for a moment. "Calibrating logistics, analyzing memory processing matrix.." She said coolly, flexing her hands irritably at her side. Her eyes never leaving Halsey.
"Good. Now, about your... assignment." Halsey spoke, her voice becoming a bit more business-like. "You're to be assigned to the Silver team. Consisting of the Spartans Tinsley, Joseph, Cameron, Chase, and Shaun. They are very special in their own right. Joseph with his cool intellect in the face of fire, Tinsley with his uncanny sense of when to pull the trigger, Cameron with his technological prowess, Shaun being able to stay calm in any situation, sometimes irrational. Then there is Chase with his speed."
"If they have all this, why do they need me?" Caitlyn asked quietly, her voice ringing with curiousity.
"You offer them something they do not have." Halsey said matter-of-factly.
Caitlyn's eyes widened, looking very confused. She didn't understand.
Halsey sighed, running her fingers through her graying hair. "You give them protection, Caitlyn, you are the only thing that can save my Spartans from the fate that was decided for them by ONI. I'm sure you've already hacked into the ONI section three database, so is there a point in telling you?"
Caitlyn smiled innocently. "Maybe. But I do see what you mean, what they have planned is... very unfair. Can't you stop them?
"I've already tried. There is no changing their minds. They did let me develop you for them, though. So it wasn't all in vain." She sighed again, setting the cup back on the desk, shooting Caitlyn a stern look. "Do I have your word that you will protect them?"
Caitlyn's smile faltered, looking much more meek under the stern gaze of her maker. "I will try. I... don't know how well I can do. I mean, what CAN I do?" She asked, leaving her small platform to begin walking the perimeter of the room. Gazing at the pictures that were crooked upon the wall.
"You'll be able to influence whomever you choose to host you. You can increase their reflexes, thought speed, and whether or not they will feel pain from a bullet or not. They will be in their hands. But the question remains: who will you choose?"
Caitlyn bit her lip, moving over to the selection of Spartans and gazing at their unmasked faces. All of them were handsome, you could tell by the look in their eyes they had seen the horrors of war. They were a family, they had trained together, ate together, fought together, and watched death happen together. Deep in her belly, she felt a twinge of regret as she looked at their faces, reading the data files on them. "I want him." She said suddenly, tapping her finger against the one wielding a Sniper Rifle, a rather innocent look across his face. Those ice blue eyes stared out at her unseeingly, there was certainly something special about this one. But what was it?
"Joseph? Are you sure? He's not the fastest, the strongest, the smartest, or even the best shot with that gun." She asked skeptically, her eyebrows vanishing behind her bangs.
Caitlyn smiled, her face lighting up with pure joy. "Yes. He is mine. He's the one I want, can I have him?" She asked childishly, and perhaps Halsey realized it. Just because the look on her face had switched to pure amusement.
"If that is what you want, then he is yours. We'll have the Violent Foreshadowing dock in orbit soon, you can meet him and the rest of your team then."
"Excellent!" Caitlyn chirped, clapping her hands together happily. "I do hope he likes me, otherwise I may have to hurt him."
Halsey chuckled, turning her eyes towards the screen where she began to type once more. "Now to summon.. him." She spoke in a tone of disgust.
0200 Hours: April 15th, 2552(Military Calender) / Epsilon Erdani System, Reach Orbit, Violent Foreshadowing Barracks
The soldier clad in green MJLONIR armor sighed, leaning forward to rest his head against his palms. He was so... tired. Sleep had evaded him since he and his team returned from their last mission. What a long night that was. He and his squad had to hold out against an entire armada of Covenant soldiers while protecting the ONI Legislation building. Thankfully they were able to succeed instead of succumbing the large number of covies who were hellbent on killing them. Joseph opened his eyes, his HUD flashed with a brief alert. One of his Spartan's were trying to tell him something.
"Yes, Cameron?" He asked wearily, still having not moved from his slumped position.
"Colonel Ulrich is requesting you on the bridge, sir." Spartan-273 spoke with a hint of anxiety hidden in his tone.
"What does he want?"
"Apparently it's for our next mission, sir. Something about recovery." After he said that, the com-light flicked off.
Joseph pushed himself from the cold metal floor and gazed about the barracks. Sure, he wasn't technically suppose to be in here, but since most of the Marines and ODSTs were deployed on Reach, he figured it would be a very quiet spot.
Unfortunately the calm silence was now over, and like all soliders, he was forced to answer Colonel Ulrich's call. The sliding doors open with a small hiss, the deserted corridors of the UNSC Violent Foreshadowing lay before him. This was one of the most tactically designed ships in the entire fleet, just with the way the halls twisted and had sudden turns and multiple branches leading off into dead-ends. No covie could navigate this frigate without difficulty. Even he, one of the well-versed Spartans when it came to sense of direction got lost on occasion.
All of his squads acknowledgment lights came on as he entered the bridge, every face in that command center turned to stare at him. His Spartans gave a salute, followed by a mirthless laughter through his comms by the largest of the spartans. His name was Tinsley, Spartan-231. When they were given the augmentations, he grew like a bean-sprout while the rest of them evened out at pretty much the same height. He was a gift to have in battle, especially when he could rip an Elite limb from limb with just his bare hands.
"It's about time ya got here, Joseph. I was wondering if you'd fallen through the space ducts again." He laughed loudly, loud enough to be heard through the helmet and to where fellow marines and pilots could hear him. All of which turned to stare in wonderment, 'for most of them had never heard a Spartan make such a noise.
"Yes, yes. We have other matters to discuss besides his absence." Came Shaun, his low, deep voice seemed to instantly calm the situation. A rare gift among Spartan's, since they tend to wrestle around like bull elephants in their free time, just to see who was better.
"Indeed we do." The smallest of his squad spoke, his voice was soft and meek yet it held a certain edge to it. This was Spartan-319 Chase. The fastest and the most agile of them. "Please, continue Colonel Ulrich."
"Very well." He spoke, his brown eyes staring over towards each individual Spartan. "We understand that you are the best infiltration and recovery squad the UNSC possesses. If this is true, then we have a very high profile mission for you." He adjusted his tie with a grimace, folding his hands behind his back after and continued to speak. "Have any of you heard of ONI Swordbase?"
All of the Spartan's nodded, listening with rapt attention.
"Good. Dr Catherine Halsey has been listed as "M.I.A.." We do not know where she is, or if ONI Swordbase even still stands." At this, all of the Spartan's froze. "I appreciate that you understand the gravity of this situation." He spoke grimly, his face darkening. "A few days ago we received an emergency docking signal from Swordbase, but since then it's gone completely offline. We were going to dock, but we didn't know exactly how to proceed. Our emergency protocals state that-"
"If an emergency beacon goes offline, abandon it and continue the main objective." Said Joseph matter-of-factly. Leave it up to the Silver Squad leader to know the ONI and UNSC rulebook cover to cover.
"Precisely. However, seeing as Dr Halsey was last seen inside Swordbase, and she is more valuable to us than even the ONI Brass, we decided to ask what you all thought."
"Personally," Started Cameron, his voice slightly shaking with anticipation. "I think we should drop directly into Swordbase using Helljumper pods. This not only gives us the element of surprise, but it gets us as close as possible to Swordbase without sending a Pelican or a group of Falcons into the hotzone."
"Really, Cam? Do you see me fitting into a Helljumper pod?" Tinsley asked, who stood very close to eight feet tall.
"With some modifications, yes." Said Shaun, who crossed his arms across his chest.
"Excuse me, Colonel Ulrich." Joseph asked kindly. "Would it be possible for that plan to work?"
"I don't see why not. But how will you recover Halsey once you get there?"
"Well, if worst comes to worst I can always hijack us a covenant Phantom and fly her back here." Tinsley laughed, clearly enjoying this.
"You couldn't fly a Hornet in practice, let alone a Phantom!" Chase said incredulously while Shaun and Cam shook with laughter.
"Alright, alright! Enough!" Joseph barked, irritating apparent. "If there is a Falcon or Pelican still at Swordbase, we'll snatch it then. If not, we'll just hike from there to the nearest L-Z." He spoke with exasperation, wishing he could run his fingers through his hair and across his scalp.
"Sounds like a plan, Spartans." Ulrich said, clapping his hands together as he began to bark out orders towards the rest of the crew. "Make sure you bring her back alive, Spartan." He added gruffly, turning his back on Joseph.
"Aye aye, sir." He stated dully, but turned on the spot and departed with the rest of his Spartan's towards the launch bay.
0400 Hours: April 15th, 2552(Military Calender) / Epsilon Erdani System, Reach Orbit, Violent Foreshadowing Launch Bay
After a few long hours of metal working and rather advanced electrical work, they were ready. Tinsleys helljumper pod was almost twice the size of a normal one, but it was worked in such a way that it had more of a bullet-like spin to account for the mass. If the winglets held true, his descent would go flawlessly.
"Spartans!" Boomed Joseph, watching all the acknowledgment lights flick on at once. "Today we begin a dangerous task, one that could easily be our last. We're going to rescue Doctor Catherine Halsey and anyone else left in ONI Swordbase. If we do not, then may our heads forever be hung on shame." He spoke grimly, reaching into one of the containers to withdraw a SRS99C-S2 AM, extending mag, explosive round Sniper Rifle. Clipping a few extra mags onto his waist. Also taking a pistol and attaching it to the magnet at his side. "Spartans!" He called again, this time his voice donned with confidence. "As the Great King Leonidas once said: Tonight, we dine in hell!" He roared, hearing the cheers of his Spartans before they all stepped into their pods and closed the doors.
A countdown ensued.
5...
4...
3...
2...
1...
They dropped.
That's when it all went horribly wrong.
Authors note: Uh oh! What'll happen to our protagonists in the next installment of Halo: Ghost Project? You'll just have to wait for me to get off my lazy bum and write the next chapter! Hahahaha! Oh, I also plan on releasing audiophiles(haha) of key dialogue in the story. I hope you had fun reading this chapter, I sure had fun writing it! Please leave me a review and tell me what you think!