A/N: So, yeah, this is an AU. The timeline fits more with what actually happened in canon, a la Fall of Reach (the book), in that Reach didn't have a month-long campaign; rather, it was a four-hour slaughter. Noble Team still exist, but their lineup is short a man after Thom-A293's death on Fumirole. Their role is also very, very different in the story, meaning at times, they'll seem rather out of character. Not to worry though, because this is just an AU! Meaning events happened differently; meaning that the characters have been shaped differently by their pasts. Artemis-B312, as seen in the series From Team To Family, is the main focus once again - actually, it focuses a little more on her this time - and she, too, is a different character.
Sorry this first chapter is so short, but as the title says, it's merely a prelude. A taste of what's coming up next! Hopefully I'll work on the proper first chapter soon! :D
Anyway, enjoy, and remember, this is an alternate universe, and canon divergent. So please don't hate me for what I write here.
Gunfire chattered behind her; louder, closer than before. An explosion went off, too close for comfort, and she jinked to the left to dodge. Her feet pounded the pavement, and her breaths came in short, sharp gasps. They were coming for her. She had to run; had to move; had to get out of there. But she was running out of time, out of energy; they were closing in.
No! I will not let you have me again! Monsters…
She was sobbing for breath, now, tears blurring her vision. She could hardly see, but she knew these paths well. Her feet would not fail her now. They hadn't before; they never would. Unlike everything else in her life, her feet had never let her down. Never taken her astray. Never caused her to get lost, or to falter, or to step onto the wrong path.
She leaped, arms pinwheeling, soaring through the air, and dropped to a roll at the last second. She popped up, and was on her feet and running again in a heartbeat.
You will never have me! I was never yours…
She cried out, suddenly, as sharp, white hot pain spread through her back, radiating throughout her body.
"You… bastards!" she rasped, wheezing, stumbling. They shot me.
No… NO! Never again… never again.
Another shot rang out, punching through the meat of her thigh, and she staggered, steps faltering. No… please… anything but this. Still, she pushed herself, continued on, though she was sluggish now; not the liquid grace she had been before. No longer did she move as fast as mercury; she was as slow as a river during flooding season. A third shot cracked through the air, and the Spartan crumpled to the ground in a heap, like a puppet with its strings cut.
Please… please don't take me. I'll do anything you want. I'll even kill for you again, but please, please don't take me back there…
They were surrounding her now, guns drawn and pointed at her head. She raised her palms, a fog clouding the corners of her vision, her ears ringing. It was too late. They'd gotten her; they were shackling her, lifting her up, dragging her back. Taking her back to their hideout; the place where she'd been ripped apart and been remade. Reborn into something new.
She wasn't going down without a fight.
Snarling like a wildcat, the Spartan struggled to rise into a kneel, elbowing one of the Spooks in the face, followed by headbutting one in the face; a third wound up with a knee to the groin. Those three dropped back, struggling; a fourth swooped in, and the next thing she knew, she was jolted with electricity, and she dropped to the ground, convulsing.
"My dear one, why do you continue to fight us?"
A shadow loomed over her, and the other Spooks backed off - albeit barely, and with their guns still trained on her. It was him - the leader. The one who had taken her and reshaped her into something else entirely. The one who had ruined her life. The one who controlled her; told her what to do.
Venom in her eyes, the Spartan glared at him, her lips peeled back from her teeth in a silent growl of warning. Her expression was full of hate, all directed at him.
To his credit, he didn't flinch. Simply laughed and shrugged it off, as though he didn't seem to realize - to care - that he was staring in the very face of danger. "So you have learned, it seems. It took us a long time to track you down. But we found you. As I said, there is no escape. This is your destiny, dear one."
She tried not to flinch at the nickname. She'd always hated it. She wasn't his pet; wasn't an animal. She was a human being, and a Spartan-III at that. She was not his.
"There is no use resisting. You are ours, always. We made you, and we can destroy you in an instant. You are lucky that you are so valuable, or we would have destroyed you long ago. Take care in that, dear Phoenix."
He leaned away, and she struggled in vain to rise up and strike him down, before they knocked her out.
"My name… is not… Phoenix," she bit out, fighting the hands that held her down, "My name… is Artemis-B312… and I… am not… yours!"
There was a snap of fingers, and her world went dark.