Chapter 2
The next morning, Jack awoke with a pounding headache. Groaning, he rolled off the bed and fell to the floor, the impact rousing him awake.
"Hmph? You awake Jack?" said Jill from the other side of the bed
"Yeah, my head's killing me."
Jill stretched and yawned, "Could be dehydration, or stress, or hunger."
"I'm going to get some breakfast. You coming?" said Jack, already dressed
"No thanks, I'm still in mourning, so I'm going to make the most of it. Missions are alright, but it's nice to just lie back and not have to fight for our lives every once in a while."
"Amen to that," Said Jack, as he pulled on a shirt. "I'll see you later. Try not to miss me too much."
Jill threw a pillow at him just as he ducked out the door.
Everyone who passed him in the hallways gawked at him as if they had seen a ghost, well, it was damn close to that. He had been technically dead for the last few days.
"I wonder how many people showed up at the funeral." Thought Jack
The mess hall was full, and his team waved him over. He sat down and light talk continued as if nothing had ever gone wrong. It was a nice transition, and Jack felt like his life was back together in one piece. After breakfast, he went down to the med lab and asked about his headache, which had only gotten worse since he woke up.
"I can give you some painkillers, but it should go away by itself in at least a few hours, a day at the most. If it hasn't, come back." Jack thanked the doctor and left for his uncle's office.
"Jack, it is good to see you're up and about again. How are you feeling?" asked Governor Jiles, who was seated at his antique desk, going through a datapad.
"Fine, aside from this headache that isn't going away. Just waiting for the painkillers to work."
"Scotch was always my preferred method when I was younger." Said Governor Jiles with a wry smile
"Wouldn't that make it worse the next day?" asked Jack
"Sometimes, but it took my mind off the pain, and anything else for a while."
"What's that you're going through?" asked Jack, indicating the datapad
"The full details of the Covenant fleet we acquired a while ago. As it happens, it wasn't actually an entire fleet; only a dozen or so ships. Four battlecruisers, a carrier, three destroyers and five frigates. Takes a while to get an entire inventory on such large ships."
"That's still a large armament, in case ONI ever try to attack us directly."
"We're working on something big, that I shouldn't really tell you about, but I think it best you know in advance. Have you ever heard of the Storm Fortress?"
Jack thought for a while, "No, I haven't."
Governor Jiles stood up and turned to the cabinet against the wall that held his collection of liquor. On the top was a handcrafted model of an ancient sailing ship from the 1700's. He carefully pulled it down and placed it on his desk in front of Jack.
"This is the Storm Fortress. It was once a proud vessel built for the Assassins, feared throughout the Atlantic for its speed, power and durability. With this, it was thought that the Assassins would be able to take the Americas back from the Templars."
"Well, that obviously didn't happen, what went wrong?"
"One ship, the Morrigan, captained by an Assassin-turned Templar by the name of Shay Patrick Cormac. Your father made this for me for my birthday a long time ago. I loved the naval warfare simulations, and having something this powerful at your command was exhilarating."
Jack knew his uncle liked to ramble, and sensed he was getting to the point, as he gathered himself for the reveal.
"Using the Engineers we have collected, and the offspring they have, manufactured, I have decided that it would be a prudent use of resources that instead of trying to man thirteen Covenant ships; a near-impossible task given how many people we currently have in our ranks, that it would be easier to instead coalesce those resources into one super-heavy hybrid dreadnought. Under the guise Project: Storm Front. With this, we can modify the ships to our physiology and use it effectively, instead of blundering around ships built for creatures twice our size and bulk." Governor Jiles paused to let this sink in, and Jack waited for the rest of the description.
"Originally, I was worried that I would be putting all of our eggs in one basket, but now is not the time to be worried about eggs. Without the support from the Insurrection, who are at an extreme low point right now, we have to make it on our own. That is also why, effective next week, we are moving our base of operations to Vesuvius. We have clearly overstayed our welcome here. I am having all non-essential personnel and construction teams moved there to expand the colony so we can accommodate everyone."
Jack felt as though his uncle had finished, so he thought it time to voice something that had been bugging him for a while now
"Uncle, do you ever get the feeling that we don't deserve all this? I mean, I just luck out and kill a Spartan, providing us with the technology to save my life from deadly radiation poisoning a few months later, then we get access to god-like weaponry which in turn gives us a whole fleet of ships for free, and an undiscovered planet to hide on. Hell, I came back from the dead!"
Governor Jiles thought about this for a long moment, before putting his model back and responding to Jack.
"Actually, yes. I do feel as though this has been too easy. Even though we have made sacrifices, they are ultimately inconsequential to the gains. And historically, whenever the Assassins have had an advantage, we have it yanked away from us by Templars and end up worse off than before. It's a miracle we survived as long as we have. I feel as though fate has bigger plans for us, that this war for survival against ONI is just a distraction, but it's a damn good distraction nonetheless. So whatever fate has in store for us will have to wait until we get through this. That's what I think."
A silence hung in the air for a few seconds
"Uncle, why are you telling me about this project of yours anyway? I'm not in construction, what do I have to do with it?"
"Since you're brought it up, you are actually required for the construction of- well, it doesn't have a name yet, but as I said; like Infinity, this will be a hybrid vessel. It will combine human, Covenant and Forerunner technology much like the Shiv-class stealth ships your pioneered. They've proven quite effective in the field, and we've given you and your team credit for its conception. But we plan to use condenstone in it, and you're the only one who has influence over it. We need you to use the Apple to help build it."
"Uh, I think I can do that. Where is it now?"
"We're building it at Vesuvius. You can be on the next transport if you're up for it."
"Good. You can come with me, I'm moving off-planet soon anyway; I'm not needed here anymore."
"Alright, I'll see you then." Jack turned to leave, then stopped and turned back,
"Hey, I got a name for it."
"What?"
"Eternity's Eclipse."
Governor Jiles smiled, "I like it."
The next week was spent packing and organising what was to be taken and what was going to be sold to the Insurrectionists still there. There was a lot of junk that people had to get rid of for the big move, as not every member was used to living like a Spartan. Once that was done, the Assassins boarded the transport ships, and left Venezia. Very few stayed behind, at that was mostly to ensure they still had eyes and ears with ONI's enemies.
"You know, I think I'm going to miss this place." Said Miranda from the observation deck. Hank walked up behind her, "Really?" he asked, sceptical
She grinned and shook her head, dark hair bouncing. "Nah, was a crap-hole from the start. At least we got a nice new place where no-one's gonna find us."
"Yeah well, at least we had some memories."
"That's all you can ask for in our line of work. We're never safe and always hunted." Said Julia from a couch behind them. Miranda turned to reply, "The shadows are getting smaller, but at least we're making them darker."
