Disclaimer/A.N.: Spartan Ninja: I still don't own Halo. If I did I wouldn't have left the Chief and Cortana adrift in space or Blue Team, Halsey, and Mendez in the Dyson Sphere in Onyx or Grey Team as M.I.A. But I will be changing that here. Again, there won't be any fighting right now, but there will be in a couple of chapters. I promise. Until then, enjoy what I have to offer. And anyone who has a better idea for the title, I'm all ears. I personally hate it, but I couldn't think of anything else. Now, on with the chapter.
0158 hours, January 17, 2559 (Military Calendar) / Uncharted System, Aboard Pelican enroute to the UNSC New York
As the Pelican came close to the frigate, it started to decelerate, causing the ODSTs and Spartan in the troop bay to lurch towards the front of the dropship. Soon they were inside the frigate where gravity was restored to the once weightless soldiers. After a couple of seconds of hovering, the dropship's landing gear was deployed and the ship landed.
Inside the ship, The ODSTs and John were undoing their harnesses, preparing to get off. When the Chief tried to stand up he stumbled back a step. Six years in cryo can do things to a person. Before the hatch came down though, Jake pulled John aside.
"I think it's only fair to warn you," he started, "that you've become quite the talk of the UNSC. There have been numerous search parties that have been looking for you, with the crew of each ship eager to find the legend that is use. When he found your ship the entire crew went abuzz. By now the entire crew must've found out, probably right outside this hatch, waiting for you. Be prepared for a big welcome party." When John heard this he remembered what happened at Cairo before the Covenant found Earth. There was a huge crowd cheering for him, Johnson, and Commander Keyes. Although it was nice to know you're something special, John really didn't like big receptions. He'd take a gun on the field over a medal in a ceremony any day.
"And one final thing," he continued. "There are some people on board who say they know you. Hopefully you remember them."
"Who could they be," was the first thought the Chief had at hearing this. Almost everyone he knew was gone, dead or otherwise. As he was about to go through the roster on his HUD of everyone he's worked with in the line of duty, the Pelican's rear hatch opened up, revealing scores of people in the hanger. The ODSTs stepped out first, stepping to the side to flank the Chief as he exited the ship. As he stepped out he saw navy personal and marines alike cheering for him. As his eyes scanned the crowd he noticed that the crowd consisted of more than just humans. There among the people were several elites. Upon closer inspection there was one that he recognized above the rest.
The Arbiter. When John reached the crowd the Arbiter stepped forward to meet him.
"Spartan, it's good to see you're alive," he said in his deep, booming voice.
"It's good to see you too," he replied with a gentle nod of his head.
"It's been many cycles since you disappeared. We thought you were dead."
"Didn't you know," John started in his serious voice, "Spartans never die."
"So it seems," the Arbiter stated. "You Spartans truly are demons. No matter what happens, you all cannot be killed."
"All?" John questioned.
"Yes all," he stated. Before he could ask anything else, the Arbiter stepped aside to reveal a site that brought John to the verge of tears.
"Oh John," Cortana said quietly. Even she was surprised at what she saw before John and herself. She couldn't bring herself to say anything else, not wanting to ruin this emotional moment for John.
Standing a few feet behind where the Arbiter was were seven figures clad in Mark VI Mjolnir Armor as well as ten others in a seemingly cut down version of his armor. John turned on his HUD as to know who they were. He soon learned that before him stood Maria, Grey Team, consisting of Adriana, Jai, and Mike, and three of the members of Blue Team, Fred, Linda, and Kelly. The names of the other soldiers, however, were unfamiliar to him.
All 17 of the armor-clad soldiers before him greeted him by making a quick swipe with two fingers across their faceplates. John returned the gesture with his own Spartan Smile. He wasn't alone anymore. Yes he does have Cortana, his closest and dearest friend, and has been reunited with humanity, but until just now, he thought he was the last of his kind, the last Spartan. Yet standing before him, as if returning from the grave, stood seven of his brothers and sisters. Words couldn't describe how he felt, mostly because he had almost never the need for the emotions he felt now.
"It's great to see you again Chief," said one of the shorter Spartans as he approached the Chief. John recognized him as Fred, the number 2 Spartan in everything during training. When he came with-in arms reach he gave the Chief a good pat on the shoulder.
"It's good to see you too, Fred," John replied, looking Fred in the eye, or visor if you will. He then leaned his head to see the rest of his fellow Spartans, then continued, "It's good to see all of you." He paused for a sec before asking, "What are you guys all doing here?"
"Well," Mike started, "we heard news that the UNSC thought they may have found you and your ship, and being one of our fellow Spartans, we wanted to be the first to welcome you back from your long time spent in isolation." The other Spartans nodded in agreement. It seemed that they had forgotten about Cortana.
"And so here we are," Maria finished.
"Thank you, all of you, for being here," John said, his voice shaky from new emotions he was suddenly feeling.
"No problem Chief. We and the III's will always have your back," Kelly said.
"The III's?" both John and Cortana asked. Cortana said it more to herself, being that only John could here them on their private com channel. John looked towards the group of unknown soldiers and connected the dots.
"Yes, III's John," Linda replied, walking towards him from her spot at the edge of the group. She then gestured to the group of unknown soldiers standing with them. "These are the Spartan III's, John." As if she could read his mind, she answered John's questions before they came out. "From what Dr. Halsey managed to learn from them, they were to be our successors as super soldiers. They were made in groups of 300+. They may seem like a step back, but they're really a great leap forward. Me, Fred, Kelly, Will and Kurt have all seen them in action, and they've got some impressive skills. Sad thing is, these guys are just like us, the last of their kind. The other 900 something soldiers were killed in suicide missions. Unlike us, they were disposable. Ackerson planned to make thousands of them, but it all ended with his death." She would've gone on, but there were some things that could wait.
John found himself with many questions, but decided only to ask the ones he thought most important. "Wait, you said that you saw the III's in action with Kurt. I thought he was M.I.A."
"That's what they wanted us to think," Jai said, hints of venom in his voice.
"Turns out Ackerson set up that last mission Kurt went on so that he would have a trainer for his Spartans," Kelly said.
"So he's alive?" John asked, a tinge of excitement in his voice at seeing another one of his brothers again.
All the Spartans, II's and III's, bowed their heads slightly. Judging from their reactions, he wasn't going to like the answer.
"No, he isn't," said one of the III's. Before he continued he introduced himself. "My name's Tom, I'm one of the only two III's in the second class to still be alive today. The other is my partner Lucy." He pointed to a slightly shorter III, identifying her as Lucy. "Your friend Kurt, he was an excellent teacher. If it wasn't for him, most of us wouldn't be here right now."
"What happened," John asked. In all honesty, he didn't want to know, but he needed to know how his one of his Spartan died.
"To make it quick," another III started, "we were on the run from a Covenant force much greater than our own inside some kind of an alien construct-" "Forerunner," the shared thought went through both John's and Cortana's minds. "-When we found a way out. A teleporter of some sort. We have to thank you for that. Had something to do with you activating Halo that the teleporter activated. Unfortunately, we had to wait to make sure we wouldn't be followed through. We fought hard against the Covenant, but we lost couple of our own," he gestured at the III's, "and a II as well. Before you say anything, it wasn't Kurt that fell then. He was still in the fight. I believe his name was Will."
"No," John mumbled. The Covenant had taken another brother from him. The III continued on.
"Eventually we went through just before time ran out. But we weren't sure if the Covenant would find a way through, so Kurt stayed behind. The rest is a mystery, but from what we had left him with, I think he detonated the two Fenris Nuclear Warheads we had with us. Whatever he did, he managed to stop the Covenant on our tail. From what was left of the enemy when we went through, I'd say that would've been several legions of Covenant he'd have taken out. A fitting end for a Spartan."
"Yes indeed," thought John, as the loss of two more of his Spartans sank in.
"My name's Ash by the way the way," he said, trying to change the subject.
"Thank you, Ash, for telling me this," John said, looking down at the young super soldier. "And for being with Kurt in his final hour. It means a lot to me to know he went down fighting, especially with other Spartans. Hopefully I can see what he's taught you."
"Thank you Master Chief sir," he replied. "I should introduce you to my team mates here. They've been dying to meet you." He gestured for the other III's to come over. He started pointing to the Spartans as he called their respective names. "This is Mark, Olivia, Zoe, Justin, Danny, Halle, and Luis." Each Spartan nodded their head as their names were called.
Before any more talk could continue, everyone around them fell silent. Curiosity got the better of him as John turned to see what caused this. Bodies in the crowd were parting as a man made his way to the Chief. When he got clear of the crowd John saw that he wore the emblem of a commander. Seeing that he moved to salute him, the other II's and III's followed suit as the commander neared.
When he stood in front of them he returned the salute. "At ease Spartans," he said with an English accent. He then turned to John, somehow being able to distinguish him from the other Spartans. "Ah, Master Chief, it's such an honor to meet you. My grandfather has told me so much about you." He reached his hand out for a handshake. The Chief quickly returned the gesture, grasping the commander's hand and giving it a good shake.
"Thank you commander…" John paused, not knowing the commander's name.
"Hood. Commander Tyler Hood," he responded.
"So your grandfather is…"
"Fleet Admiral Lord Terrance Hood. That's right. He sent me here since he couldn't come himself."
"Why is that?" John asked. He knew Hood was old but with the advances in medicine a person could live near 150 years old, excluding time in cryo.
"Let's just say that cryo hasn't had the best effects on his health and leave it at that. He's fine now, but he can't go into cryo anymore without risking his health." John just nodded in response. "Any way, I wanted to welcome you back to humanity. I see you've already become reacquainted with your fellow Spartans." Hood glanced at the other Spartans. "But there are a couple of others who want to see you that you probably know just as well as these guys do."
"Who?" asked John.
"I have a hunch," Cortana said on their private channel. Before she could speak her mind though, the commander stepped aside a revealed two people walking up from behind him until they stood a few feet from John. Had John not been wearing his helmet his jaw may have dropped in shock. It was like looking at ghosts from the past.
One figure was male. He was about six feet tall with grey hair and a well-groomed black mustache. He had a set of faded scars going from his brow to chin and skin of a tan variety from being on the battlefield. His eyes were a battle hardened brown that showed his experience in battle. He wore a standard UNSC olive uniform with several stars and medals on his chest along with the symbol for Chief Petty Officer. The other was female. She had graying black hair with wrinkles around her grey-blue eyes, obstructed ever so slightly by a pair of glasses. From them you could see intelligence beyond her years. She stood at a little more than five and a half feet and was draped in a lab coat with a blue jumpsuit underneath.
Silence filled the large room as everyone watched as John faced the two newcomers to the room. Only a few knew how much of an impact these two have had on John's life.
The CPO gave John a salute, which he quickly returned. Silence once again filled the room as their hands returned to their side. The three of them were at a loss for words. Finally, the CPO spoke. "Damn, I guess I was right when I said you can't be killed. I never thought I'd see you again in this lifetime. It really is good to see you again Chief."
"Same here Mendez," John said to his old trainer. "And to you too, Dr. Halsey"
"Why thank you John," she said in a charming and disarming voice. "It brings me great relief to know another of my Spartans is alive. Unfortunately you were the last unaccounted Spartan on the roster, but let us not worry about that." John nodded at this, sighing inwardly at the fact that all that was left of his family was in that room. "And how is Cortana?"
Cortana turned on the Chief's external microphone so she could answer. "I've seen better days, but I'm okay right now." Both John and Cortana knew that to be a lie. She was entering rampancy and unless something was done she'd have to be shut down.
"That's good to know," Halsey replied, with an all-knowing grin. It seemed that as though she knew otherwise. Then again she probably did. She always had a way at figuring things out.
Suddenly there was a loud rumbling that filled the room; surprising most of the people there are scaring the rest. The other Spartans all reached for their weapons, mostly battle and assault rifles, while the elites present pulled out plasma rifles and a plasma sword for the Arbiter. They all stood as if ready for something to burst in at any time. After a few moments of nothing, Mike asked, "What the hell was that?"
John started to speak a little sheepishly, obviously embarrassed by what happened. "Excuse me." Everyone looked at John. If looks could kill, then Chief would've been dead several times over. "Sorry, I haven't had anything to eat in six years."
"Well then," Fred said as he stepped next to John, "Let's not keep you waiting any longer. Let's get some grub. The mess hall is just down this corridor." He started walking to one of the exits of the hanger to the rest of the ship. John soon followed, with the II's and III's close behind him. Finally, Mendez and Halsey followed the super soldiers. With the legend gone from the hanger, everyone went back to their stations or quarters on the ship to prepare for the journey home.
End of Chapter
Spartan Ninja: Thank yoou to all of you who have read, reviewed, faved, and alerted for this story. The first chapter alone exceeded the reception of all my other stories combined except in visitors and hits, but it isn't far off. This chapter was less of a personal chapter and more of a reaquanting with old friends and allies. Just so you know I've used halopedia for all my referances. Yes I know Halsey had greying-black hair in the novels, but Halo Legends gives us images and they depicted her as blonde, so I'm sticking with that. Next chapter is where we discover the solution to John and Cortana's problem. It will take some time though. I can only write for three hours at most each day and these chapters take a lot of effort to put together. So please tell me your opinion on the story. Love it, hate it, I just want feedback, so please press the green and white button below this message. Thanks.
