Chapter 1: Buck

October 29, 2557

0539 hours

Aboard the UNSC Midnight Walk en route to the UNSC Infinity

It was a sight that you would see more and more often in the colonies. Faces etched with age, worry, fear, hope but worst of all, memories. All those painful memories. That was all you could really call them. Memories. Memories of the Great War. Whether it be a soldier, civilian, adult or child, every single human wore the same weary look, from Earth to Sansar and back again. Those who were left were the survivors, no single doubt about that. Indeed, a face could tell you a thousand stories. Maybe that was why he loved the armour so much.

Edward Buck stood in front of his locker, helmet in his hands, staring into the visor. He was a man that had seen more of his fair share in the Great War. Harvest, Reach, he'd seen most of the outer colonies destroyed by the Covenant, even participating in the First Battle of Earth. He smirked, that's what they're calling it. The first battle. As if all the battles that came before it didn't mean shit. You tell that to the families left out there and I'd be willing to bet they wouldn't like it. Maybe that's why Mickey did what he did.. Buck shook his head. Mickey...of all the people in Alpha Nine, he shouldn't have been surprised that Mickey would turn to the Insurrectionists. And the Rookie...Buck personally attributed the soldier's death to his own shortcomings as a leader. Shoulda seen it coming, Buck...shoulda known... Of course, there was no Alpha Nine anymore. With Dutch retired, the Rookie dead and Mickey locked up, all that was left was Romeo, Veronica and himself.

(Veronica) a small smile appeared on his lips as he pulled a small photo from his breast pocket. It was of them together on holiday, taken the year before on Trinity. Her sandy blonde hair had shimmered in the sunlight, her eyes glinting brightly, her smile broad. She looked happy... Of course, she was the one to convince Buck to join the Spartan IV's, with the help of Jun of course. He remembered the night well.


Over a year ago

The Planet Trinity, The Scorpio System

A dark, star filled night, a quiet bar devoid of all life save Buck and a few others. The quietness was broken as a tan skinned man entered. Combat boots laced tight indicated he was a military man, although his build suggested he was more of a tank than a soldier. He was dressed in suit pants and a white button up shirt with an olive green tie hanging loosely around his neck, though under it all, one could clearly see bulging muscles bigger than any human could possibly possess. His height was also something that Buck later made a note of. The man was over 6 foot 7, impossibly tall. Throughout all of that though, the thing that stood out the most was the tattoo branded against the side of his head. A fist clutching at three arrows. He sat next to Buck, the seat buckling slightly under his weight as a slightly spooked bartender approached him.

"I'll have whatever he's having" the man said, indicating at Buck. Once the bartender walked away, he turned to Buck "have you reconsidered our offer?"

Buck swirled his beer in his glass, looking at the mans face "You know, Jun, you really do have a knack for just turning up randomly in the middle of nowhere with some way to bother me. This part of your training or something?"

Jun laughed "if you want to blame someone though, blame Osman and, I guess to an extent, Veronica. After all, they're the spooks, I'm just the hired help. I didn't want to gate crash your time off but you know how they are..."

Now, Buck turned to Jun, giving him his full attention "I have been thinking about it. And I've spoken to Veronica about it. I hadn't exactly expected this, though your little spiel on ONI wanting the best of the best, the most experienced, the most knowledgable yada yada yada, it makes sense. You want to create the perfect soldiers who already have it all sorted out up here-" he tapped his head "and then make them better. Just like every Spartan program before."

Jun listened carefully as Buck talked, his eyes glued to the ODST "fact of the matter is, I don't do this without my squad. Romeo, Dutch, Mickey.." He nearly said the Rookie but cut himself off before the word could be uttered. His death was still too fresh in Buck's mind "they're either all given the option or I simply won't. After all that we've been through, in New Mombasa and now more recently, I'm not simply going to walk away."

Once Buck was finished, a silence descended over the two soldiers for a few minutes as they sipped their drinks. Osman had warned Jun that this would happen. He at least knew that the distinct possibility was there. He sighed "the offer is going to go out to them on your go. The higher ups decided that if this were the case, your entire squad would be given the option to join the program."

Buck cracked a small smile "good to know ONI is actually listening for once. Of course, they're always listening, just not doing much" Jun laughed at the joke as he paid for his beer then handed Buck a sleek tac pad.

"Once you're back in Sydney, visit section 6. You know where to find them. On the pad is a ton of paper work. You know how the brass like their shit sorted." Jun then held his hand out to shake, which Buck grasped "I'll be seeing you around" Buck nodded in reply as Jun stood, walking out with his hands firmly secured in his pockets.


Looking back at the event, Buck held no animosity to it. Although he hadn't seen Veronica in almost a year thanks to the augmentations and training that he'd required, his time as a Spartan IV so far was interesting to say the least. He'd been active in the field for three months and had to admit, if he had the augments and skills he had now during the war, things could have gone a lot smoother. No time for ifs and buts now. suddenly a loudspeaker dinged overheard, causing Buck to flinch. The voice was metallic, the small ship's AI "all hands, we are preparing to dock with the UNSC Infinity." Buck stuffed the photo back into the pocket and pulled on his helmet, locking it in place. He strode quickly to one of the access hatches on the ship's port side, ignoring the looks that various people gave him. Perks of being a 6 foot 8 behemoth in this armour, I suppose. Wonder why they never mentioned that in basic.

The hatch opened into a bright expansive room, almost twice the length of the trawler he had arrived on. The helmet's visor auto adjusted to the bright light and polarised within seconds revealing a few details. Despite the huge room, it was nearly devoid of life, save for a few figures standing a couple hundred meters away. The room was also filled with military hardware, pelicans, broadswords, boxes, weaponry and tools. Buck hopped out of the ship, landing on the gun metal grey floor with a solid thump. Several marines began to filter out of the trawler, moving cargo. Many of the boxes had engraved on them the infamous Office of Naval Intelligence Insignia on their outer hulls. This was no ordinary cargo and, Buck thought, neither am I. As he approached the figures, his IFF scanner picked them up. The first man, shorter than Buck but at least 6 foot tall, wore the traditional garb of a ship's Captain, his insignias shining on his lapel. The second figure, however, stood around Buck's height, dressed in armour that carried the ONI symbol on his breast pocket. Once Buck was close enough, he snapped to attention. "Spartan Edward Buck, reporting for duty sir."

The Captain smiled warmly, holding a hand out to Buck "at ease, Buck. I'm Captain Lasky, the ship's Captain." Buck shook Lasky's hand as he motioned to the Spartan next to him "this is Spartan Jameson Locke. I believe you know each other"

Locke nodded "good to see you again."

"Likewise" Buck said neutrally.

Lasky spoke again "Osman is already on deck and waiting for us so I'll have to cut the tour short, sorry about that." He began to walk but looked back at Buck "oh and, welcome to Infinity."


Editor's Note:

Hope you enjoyed Chapter 1. Leave a rating as well as any feedback that you have on the story (this is my first one so try not to be too brutal xD). I'll try to post a new chapter as often as I can.