Message from the general: ok folks, this chapter is gonna be confusing, so just sit tight and hold on for the ride. It should all become clear as the story progresses. Don't forget to review.
Disclaimer: I don't own Halo, all OCs are mine
chapter 1: not your average helljumper
August 15, 2572
location: Sol system, Earth, Australia- camp Sturgis
"Damn it, marines, move it!" Staff Sergeant Garnet cried. His ten man fire team was pinned down only a few meters from their objective. One ODST stuck his head around a barricade and received a round to the head. He collapsed in spasms and Hairnet raised his rifle and put two in the bastard that tired to come around the corner, hoping to catch the rest of them off guard.
"Leave him!" Garnet barked when two of his helljumpers tried to help their fallen comrade. "Corporal, "where the hell are you?!" He barked into the radio.
"Right where I need to be" a female voice responded.
"Damn it corporal, if you don't stop talking in riddles I'll..." but he didn't get the chance to finish as an enemy force came around the corner and he along with two other helljumpers fell as the rounds struck their bodysuits. The remaining six ODSTs peppered the enemy force and they too dropped. Garnet could barely see through all his convulsions but he narrowed his focus and caught a black blur moving behind their objective. The perimeter guards dropped and the blur moved at lighting speed, secured the objective and ran off.
"Exercise complete" a voice said over the PA. The stun pads on Garnet's bodysuit deactivated and he was able to get up, as were the the ODSTs 'killed' in the exercise.
"Corporal, get out here" Garnet barked.
Another ODST emerged from behind one of the barricades, holding a BR55 in one hand and the green flag in the other. She tossed the flag over to Garnet.
"What the hell was with that stunt?" Garnet demanded, "you were supposed to stay glued to my six".
"Sir, I saw an opportunity to flank the enemy from behind and I took it" the Corporal replied.
"And if this were a real situation myself and privates O'Brien and Patterson would be dead because you weren't there to back us up" Garnet snapped. "If you want to be a member of the helljumpers then you will learn to work as a team. Dismissed, Corporal".
The Corporal snapped of a quick salute and promptly marched off the outdoor training field. She handed her BR55 and sidearm to the armory tech outside the range, then went back to the main barracks. Her room was shared with her fire team, and she was the only female member, not to mention the youngest at 19. The Corporal removed her helmet and set it in her locker, then began to strip off her bodysuit. She had a very athletic figure, underneath she wore a black tanktop and underwear. She put on a set of pants that matched her top and stuck the vest and suit in her locker. Her dogtags rattled together as she laid down in her bunk, which was nothing more than a compartment in the wall with a mattress, and a small shelve. Plus a mirror. She looked into it and her face stared back, she had piercing blue eyes. Her hair was a light brown color, and way over regulation. She had it done up in a long braid behind her head. Her eyes shifted to her dogtags, and the information stitched onto the metal.
CPL-Stevens, R
DOB: 3/4/53
SN: U7209-C
Corporal Rebbecca Stevens, in the corps that was her identity, but there was so much more beneath the surface. She had always been a fast runner, Rebbecca's mother told her when she was young that she got it from her. Her fierce determination however came from her father. Both of them never talked to Rebbecca about their pasts, but she knew they were both in the military. That's why she decided to enlist in the Marines and join the elite ODST branch. That was a year and a half ago. She was still in training but had risen in the ranks rather quickly.
Her team was on a destroyer prepping for a live HEV drop when there was an explosion on the munitions deck, trapping three marines. She braved the fire and rescued them, not to mention blew a hole in the hull, extinguishing the fire before it spread to the archer missiles. Command had advanced her a full rank level and she was promoted to full corporal, and given a commendation for bravery. Rebbecca also had a reputation of going rogue, not working with the rest of her team to achieve the objective. Rebbecca had always felt something deep inside her, that she was better than all the rest and not just because she was fast. She was smart, had quick reflexes and was determined never to quit. Rebbecca glanced over at a small picture frame on her shelf, there were three people in the shot. A man with blond hair and a woman with light brown, shoulder length hair. Between them stood a little girl. Rebbecca and her parents when she was five. Rebbecca's moment of nostalgia was drowned out as seven members of her team entered the barracks. One of them, O'Brien, pulled a chair up to Rebbecca's bunk and sat down.
"What's your malfunction, Stevens?" he spat, "don't you know, there is no I in team".
"I didn't see you at that flag" Rebbecca replied, "I thought you said you were able to take down five members of team Sigma in the last match. Or was it the other way around?"
"Watch your mouth" O'Brien snapped.
"This probably isn't the first time you've boasted to a girl about the size of your ego" said Rebbecca, "or other things".
O'Brien's face turned red and a few of the other ODSTs chuckled. But O'Brien had come prepared, and had managed to dig up a little dirt. "At least my parents aren't a couple of freaks".
What he didn't know was that he hit a sensitive spot. Rebbecca lunged at him with lightning speed. Smacked a quick uppercut to the top of his head. Both of them landed in a heap and the other helljumpers did nothing, except encourage more fighting. O'Brien quickly regain his posture and smacked Rebbecca across the face. She fell of to the side and O'Brien stood over her, a smug look on his face. He prepared to kick Rebbecca in the side but as he sent his foot forward she used her speed and grabbed it first, pulled hard and O'Brien lost his balance. Rebbecca raised her arm and prepared for a finishing blow.
"Corporal, stand down!" Garnet barked as he walked in. Rebbecca, O'Brien and the other helljumpers stood at attention as the staff sergeant walked in. "I want to know who started it?"
"She did, sir" O'Brien said.
"Walk with me, Stevens" Garnet ordered.
Rebbecca shot O'Brien a glare before following the staff sergeant out. He took her to his office, a small windowless, oak paneled room with a pair of chairs in front of his desk. The other helljumpers had nicknamed it 'hell's receptionist's desk'. Rebbecca took her usual seat while Garnet settled into his chair.
"Stevens, what exactly did he do to provoke you?" Garnet asked.
"He called my parents freaks" Rebbecca explained. "he can damn well insult me but he knows they're not here to defend themselves. He doesn't even know them".
"Does it even matter that he's insulted them?" Garnet asked. "I mean they've been dead for what, ten years?"
"Thirteen years, sir" Rebbecca corrected, "dead or not, I'm not going to let some arrogant punk insult their memory".
"Stevens, I'm going to give you a little life lesson. If you want to be in the helljumpers then you'll learn to take bullshit like that. I've gotten it a few times myself and you learn to deal with it. Corporal, I should tell you that I've been getting reports of your behavior from other personnel. There's considerable pressure on me to demote you, hell they'd like nothing better than to throw you out of the ODST branch". Garnet looked down a minute before meeting her eyes. "How much do you know about your parents?"
"They died when I was six" Rebbecca replied, "all I know is that they were in the military".
Garnet sighed, when Rebbecca's request for transfer to the ODSTs came across his desk from his CO, he had to be given a briefing on her parents, specifically who and what they were. He was told that Rebbecca didn't know and frankly he had a hard time accepting her into his trainee team, due to her parents. There was still a lot of bad blood between Spartans and ODSTs.
"Sir, do you know something I don't?" Rebbecca asked.
"No, Corporal" Garnet said. "do you have any relatives off base?"
"Just an uncle" Rebbecca replied, "he's not technically my uncle, but he raised me after my parents died."
"I'm putting you on leave" Garnet said, "I suggest you go see this uncle of yours, cool off for a few days. No buts, soldier".
"Yes, sir" Rebbecca replied.
August 16, 2572
location: Sol system, Earth- Chicago
"Uncle Avery" Rebbecca called as she entered, "you in?"
"well, well, well. If it isn't my favorite helljumper" said Avery Johnson as he entered the foyer and gave Rebbecca a hug. "What's wrong this time?"
"I had another fight" Rebbecca said, "Sergeant Garnet suggested I take some leave".
"Well you're always welcome here" Johnson said, "your room is just the way you left it".
"Even the bed?" Rebbecca asked.
"Your aunt is still trying to teach you a lesson in cleanliness" Johnson said as Rebbecca started up the steps. She let out a small chuckle as she arrived on the landing and walked into her old room. All of her possessions from when she was a kid were still laid out among the various shelves. Her bed was still a mess from when she was here last, ten months ago. Rebbecca set her duffel on the bed and went into the small bathroom connected to her room. She stripped down, entered the shower, hit the hot watter setting, undid her braided hair and let the water flow across her body. The hot water relaxed every muscle in her and after about ten minutes, she exited and donned a set of bed clothes. Rebbecca set the tint setting on her windows up to the max, completely opaquing them, then removed her duffel and plopped on the bed. Her arm wandered to a stuffed raccoon at the other end of the bed and she pulled it close. Even though Rebbecca was 19 years old she still loved that animal, that was a part of her she especially didn't want O'Brien finding out about, her soft interior. She fell asleep and dreamed about the last time she held the animal that close.
"Rebbecca, honey" her mom said. "mommy and daddy have to leave for a little while, you're going to stay with uncle Avery until we get back".
"Why, mommy?" little Rebbecca said as she ran into her mother's arms, carrying her stuffed raccoon.
"We have to go somewhere to help some of your daddy's friends" her mom explained.
Her father came in carrying two duffel bags toward the door. He set them down and took Rebbecca from her mother's arms.
"Listen, sweetie" he started. "I know you don't want us to go but I promise we're coming back. We can talk about our little trip that you wanted to take, just the two of us. You still need to pick a place to visit".
"I will, daddy" Rebbecca replied as she kissed her father's cheek.
He held her closer and whispered "I love you, Rebbecca".
"I love you too, daddy" Rebbecca replied.
When he set her down she noticed him wipe a tear away from his eye, then he walked over to uncle Avery who had just entered the house. Her mother came over and hugged her goodbye. Her father smiled at her before leaving the house with her mother.
"You ready to go, squirt?" Johnson asked. "your aunt Jilan has been dying to see you".
"Yeah" Rebbecca replied as she held her raccoon close.
A couple of weeks later she was at her uncle's house playing a board game with her aunt when there was a knock at the door. Two men in white uniforms were standing outside when Johnson opened it. Her aunt went over and stood with Johnson as they talked with the Navy men. She leaned on him slightly and put a hand over her mouth. Johnson wrapped an arm around her aunt and the Navy men left. Her aunt was crying and Johnson had a saddened look on his face when they came into the living room.
"Rebbecca, we need to talk" he said.
She sat next to her aunt on the couch while Johnson knelt in front of her and set a hand on her shoulder.
"Rebbecca... your mommy and daddy aren't coming back".
"What are you talking about?" Rebbecca asked in an innocent voice. "daddy promised me, silly".
"Honey..." her aunt said but couldn't muster the words, neither could Johnson. Rebbecca realized they were telling the truth.
"But he promised!" Rebbecca cried, her voice marked in sadness. She wrenched free of her aunt and ran upstairs to her room, grabbed her raccoon and cried into it. She felt a hand on her back and turned to see her uncle Avery standing over her.
"It'll be ok" he said.
"No, no, no" she cried, "he promised him and mommy were coming back".
--
The next morning Rebbecca awoke at five in the morning and went downstairs to the kitchen to find Johnson already up and about.
"I thought you gave up the whole early to bed, late to rise thing?" Rebbecca asked.
"Your aunt has me adopting an alternative lifestyle" said Johnson.
Rebbecca got a glass of orange juice and sat down at the table with Johnson.
"Uncle Avery, I wanted to ask you about my parents" said Rebbecca.
"Your father told me never to bring this up" Johnson repeated, yet again. "every time you have that dream its always the next morning that you want to know what happened."
"Cut the bull, uncle" Rebbecca snapped, "I'm not a little girl anymore. I deserve to know."
Avery knew this was one battle that he couldn't put off and with Jilan out of the house he had no backup on this. But deep down he knew it was the time. "Follow me" he said as he took Rebbecca and sat her down on the couch. Johnson took one of the armchairs across from her and let out a sigh. Where to start he muttered. "Do you know about the Spartans?" he asked.
"Who hasn't herd of them" Rebbecca replied. "especially the Master Chief. What does this have to do... you're joking".
"I'm not" Johnson said, "both your mother and father were Spartans".
"Was he... the Chief?" Rebbecca asked.
"No, but he was a Chief Petty Officer" Johnson corrected. "The Spartans received certain biological and chemical enhancements to their bodies, and some of them were passed on to you. You don't have the strength or reinforced bones but your reflexes and eyesight are a bit more sharper. And your speed you get from Kelly. That's your mom's name".
Rebbecca realized that she didn't even remember her parent's real names, but she was six when she saw them last, after all. "What was my father's name?" she asked.
"Kyle" Johnson replied, "Kyle-091 or Kyle Stevens, that was his name before he came here".
"What do you mean 'came here'?" Rebbecca asked.
"I figured your father would give you the bogus story about being from Mars" said Johnson, "he's from Earth, just not our Earth".
"Could you get more confusing" Rebbecca snapped.
"I think I know the best way to clarify" said Johnson as he removed a data disk, hanging around his neck. He went over to a terminal and inserted the disk. The holographic projectors in the living room came on and a screen materialized in front of Johnson. It showed three different file folders, he accessed one and a text file appeared, called: disclosure. He rotated the holographic text to face her and let Rebbecca read. She read it over three times before understanding the dynamics.
"This is too weird" she said, "No way am I believing this".
"Its the truth, hell I had a hard time believing it when the Master Chief showed me" said Johnson, "this was originally meant for him but a series of events forced your father to reveal this to the other Spartans and eventually the UNSC security council".
"Tell me about them?" Rebbecca asked.
"I can only tell you what I know" Johnson said. "your father fought the Covenant throughout the entire war. Since he knew what was going to happen he tried to change events for the better, but time had the upper hand and most of the time it didn't work out. In fact I was supposed to die 19 years ago, during the final battle on Earth. He saved me".
Rebbecca was speechless.
"Now I don't know much about your father or mother but the Chief told me a bit about the two of them. They were friends from the get go when Kyle joined and Eventually it grew into something a little more. It happened during the final months of the Covenant war from what I understand. Your father had just been able to return to his Earth and Kelly came along for the ride. He actually was the one to send himself here in the first place".
"No way" Rebbecca said.
"He finally got the chance to say goodbye to his folks and he came back with Kelly. They hooked up after we rescued them from Reach. They and three other Spartans eventually ended up on a planet with Doctor Halsey and a secret group of Spartans. They were trapped there but were rescued by an old friend who Kyle managed to save years earlier by warning him of his fate. They all returned to Earth and participated in the battle when they technically weren't supposed to, according to Kyle's history. If I remember correctly that's also the time Kelly got pregnant with you".
"During the battle?" Rebbecca asked.
"She was pregnant through out the whole thing, they only found out toward the end and even then she continued to fight. Your father was wounded and almost died. He recovered and about three months later, Kelly gave birth to you. Both of them stayed in the Navy and took desk jobs so they could raise you, but it didn't work out".
"Uncle, what happened to them?" Rebbecca asked.
"I'll tell you all I know" Johnson replied, "where did it all start?"
