This is for Bungie, the mad geniuses who began a great series, and Sean A. Lusher, the author who provided the inspiration for this project.
Most characters in this story are owned by Bungie, 343, or the authors of the Halo books, particularly Karen Traviss. This is simply my borrowing of their characters.
Enjoy!
Converging Fate
Sydney had come a long way after the end of the war. The city had been rebuilt to near perfection in the four years since the Prophet of Truth's death on the Ark, and the rest of Earth was slowly recovering as well. It was interesting that people seemed to measure humanity's recovery by how far Sydney's rebuilding had progressed. It seemed humans would never lose their love for their own symbols of power.
In Serin Osman's opinion, she was simply glad the kashkak restaurant down the block was finally back up and running. It felt surprisingly comforting to reconnect to her Turkish heritage.
The head of the Office of Naval Intelligence stood at the window of her personal office, looking out over the capital of Earth and the center of the UN's power. Although it felt odd to say the organization still had power- since just about the entire human race now looked to Lord Hood as their leader- the legendary admiral still gave them some measure of respectful credit, so Osman thought she might as well do the same.
Even if she would never listen to a word they said to her. The only person she would ever feel bad about using her new position to fool was Hood, and as long as she allowed him to keep his "peace" with the Arbiter intact, she wouldn't have to concern herself with what Hood might think of her actions.
Her thoughts were disrupted as a blue light flashed into being in the air next to her. A fragment of Black Box, the sixth-gen A.I. known to everyone as BB, had been left on Earth to monitor the status there, and it was this fragment Osman would have to work with until she returned to the Infinity.
"Admiral," the fragment said, "the reports from Captain Lasky are in. The Spartan-IVs failed to apprehend her. It's likely she's already back at whatever planet the Storm Covenant has made their base on."
Osman bowed her head, disappointed. While she knew that the capture of such a cunning figure was a daunting task, Captain Palmer and the other members of the Infinity's Spartan-IV contingent had given her hope with their string of successes during the recent action on planet Requiem.
But Catherine Halsey had created the Spartans. Maybe not this current generation, but she still knew their capabilities better than anyone else. It should've been obvious that sending the Spartans after humanity's expert on the super soldiers would end badly.
We were unprepared and overconfident,Osman thought, and I don't intend for that mistake to happen again.
"Tell Lasky to stand down and not pursue the Covenant, BB," Osman ordered the A.I. "And your main fragment should ensure that Kilo-Five does not go after Halsey either. If the IVs couldn't do it, Naomi and two Helljumpers won't be able to either."
The hologram winked out without a word. Obviously, BB had not left any code containing his talkative personality in the fragment.
Serin paced back to her desk and activated a data pad, scrolling through lists and swiping sub-screens aside. She went over her options repeatedly in her head as she searched, and the same conclusion kept resulting.
Infinity would not be able to capture Halsey quickly and effortlessly, not with the doctor safely behind Storm Covenant lines, and the ship was too vital to send on a mission that would cause it such grief. Osman would not be able to send her most powerful weapon after Halsey again.
And sending Spartans carries its own risk, she thought to herself. Even if they have the highest chances of success, it's all too likely I might just be throwing away our heroes.
That wouldn't do at all. Admiral Parangosky would roll in her grave if Osman got Spartans killed on a capture mission. She needed a different way.
Osman thought back to her words from a few minutes ago, when she ordered Kilo-Five to stand down. Naomi would not be able to take down he woman who made her a Spartan, and Vaz and Mal, the ODSTs of the team, would likely shoot Halsey as soon as they saw her.
Osman could not fault them for that, but as much as she hated it, she needed Halsey alive.
Wait a minute, Osman thought. ODSTs…
With rapid strokes of her fingers, Serin brought up several rosters. Lists of all the active Helljumpers in the ODST battalions. An A.I. might have sped the process up, but Osman believed in seeing everything for herself, so that she might take notice of every single detail.
One such detail caught her eye. The name she was looking for.
"BB," Osman said aloud, "signal Commander Dare and get her onscreen ASAP. There's something we need to discuss."
It wasn't long before the massive screen on Osman's wall lit up and Veronica Dare slowly came into focus.
"You wanted to speak to me, Admiral?" Dare asked. The ONI officer stood at attention, utterly focused on the conversation. Most people tended to be overly attentive when speaking with the head of ONI, something Osman suspected had been greatly reinforced by the wrathful Parangosky.
"Commander Dare," Osman said. "I'd like to ask you about a certain Marine I'm looking for. The reports from the Siege of New Mombasa show me that you tasked a group of ODSTs to assist you in a data retrieval mission. Is that correct?"
"Yes, ma'am," Veronica answered. "Sergeant Major Buck, a Gunny Sergeant at the time, and his team. A reliable group."
"So it seems," Osman replied, amused. Veronica Dare rarely praised anyone, although Serin suspected Buck and Dare's recent marriage may have biased her opinion somewhat.
Then again, it was Dare. Serin had watched the woman destroy her enemies both on and off the field. She was more Helljumper than officer, really; criticism came naturally to her. For all Osman knew, Ed Buck was still subject to her scathing attitude no matter what relationship they had.
What Osman really wanted to hear, though, was Dare's opinion on a different Marine.
"I've read a lot of reports about one of the members of that squad. Many of them are rather unique, I have to say."
"Is there something you wanted me to clarify about them, ma'am?" Dare asked, straight to the point as usual.
"Yes. The kill counts recorded in their helmet cams during the engagement raised a lot of flags. 'Hyper-lethal,' as I'm sure you're aware, is a term pretty much reserved for the select few Spartans who manage to inflict massive casualties on the enemy during their operations." Serin raised her data pad, which was displaying the combat record of one ODST in particular.
"An unenhanced human managed to achieve a kill count that rivaled that of hyper-lethal Spartans. A significant chunk of the Covenant army that besieged New Mombasa was wiped out by one man. At least, that's what the reports say." Serin shut off her data pad and leaned forward on her desk, watching Dare intently.
"I don't value recordings and reports as much as the opinions of people I trust. I want to hear it from you, Commander. Just how good was this Helljumper?"
Veronica was silent for a moment, and even on a holoscreen, Osman could tell that her eyes were unfocused. She was clearly revisiting her memories of the battle of New Mombasa- which, Osman assumed, weren't all too pretty.
"The entire crew of a Covenant corvette came after the Engineer when we extracted it from the city," Dare said, her voice low, "and he slaughtered them all. There were barely any left for us." Veronica paused, swallowing. "He was the best I've ever seen."
Osman watched Dare's reaction, and her brow furrowed in confusion. "Are you alright, Commander Dare?"
The admiral's words seemed to snap Veronica out of her reverie. "Yes, ma'am" she replied, her voice steady once more. "It's just… we lost him on the Ark. Or at least, we lost him as a combatant. His arm was removed by a plasma round, and he was permanently taken out of the service. Neither Edward or I have seen him since."
Serin stared at Dare for a second, and then a small grin touched her lips. "That may be the first mistake I have ever heard you utter, Veronica. You never bothered to check what became of him after hostilities ceased?"
Dare seemed taken aback. "I simply assumed…"
"Never assume, Commander. If Parangosky taught me anything, it's that." Osman's grin grew a little. "Maybe we should give you the call sign 'Rookie' instead. God knows it doesn't really fit anyone who made it through that portal and back."
Dare chuckled at the jest. "Perhaps you should, Admiral." A moment later, however, her face grew focused again. "If I might ask, ma'am, what is your goal here? If I understand you correctly, he's fit for duty again, but… there must be more than enough new Spartan-IVs to handle anything that needs doing."
Osman sat down in the chair of her desk again, pressing a button on her keypad. In an instant, the channel they were communicating on was encrypted to the point that only an A.I. with BB's intellect would stand a chance of listening in on the conversation. And BB was one of the few already cleared for this knowledge.
"Lock your door, Commander," Osman said. "There are a few highly classified things you and I have to discuss."
(Sorry to anyone who's impatient for action, but there are two more chapters planned before the fighting begins. Bear with me here, and follow if you like this so far!)