"What do you suppose the special assignment is?" Allen asked. He and Steve were in the armory gathering equipment.
"I don't know. That's probably why it's special," Steve replied.
Allen frowned and held up a magnum pistol, checking it over. "You ever notice how we seem to be the only ones who get all the 'special assignments'? And they aren't even that special."
Steve racked the bolt on a battle rifle and dry fired the trigger. "So what are you saying?"
"I'm saying that we're the odd balls out of all the Spartans," Allen said. He sighed and sat on a bench. "You ever notice how the others are all, 'Yes sir, No sir, Not today sir, my sense of humor was removed in training sir, they traded my spine for a stick up the behind sir."
"What's wrong with being gung-ho military?" Steve asked.
"Nothing is wrong with it, but I don't think it's all that gung-ho stuff," Allen said. He shook his head and added, "I don't know what it is."
"I think it's because we don't conform to the strict, by-the-book military way of thinking," Steve said. "Yeah, we have all the special training and what not, but I think it's because we still retain some form of creative thinking."
Allen shrugged. "I guess that's okay." He picked up a pair of SMGs and stripped them down for cleaning. "You know, sometimes I wonder why I was picked to be a Spartan," he said.
"Yeah, I wonder what Dr. Halsey was thinking when she picked you too," Steve said laughing. Allen gave him a dirty look and threw a dirty cleaning rag at him. "I'm being serious here."
"You? Serious? Ha! That'll be the day," Steve said, earning another object thrown his direction, this time a pinned grenade. "Hey, be careful with that!" Steve warned. Allen shrugged. "So what? The pin's still in."
Steve put the grenade back in the crate it came from and stood in front of the weapon racks. "I don't know what to bring," he pouted.
"So take one of everything," Allen suggested. He finished cleaning the SMGs, reassembled them and set them aside with the pistol.
Steve thought about Allen's comment and nodded his head. "That's actually not a bad idea. You never know what might come up."
Allen retrieved a combat knife and began to sharpen it. "We probably won't even need all of it," he said.
Steve eventually decided on one of everything except the rocket launcher. "Might as well take it," Allen said.
"Then you take it," Steve shot back. Allen shrugged and said, "Maybe I will. I'm better with it anyway."
Steve and Allen set aside the weapons they were taking along with extra ammo and a crate of grenades.
The next morning, Steve and Allen reported to the lab to get outfitted with their armor. As the technicians were helping them put it on, Dr. Halsey appeared. Allen noticed her approach and said, "Good morning Doctor."
Dr. Halsey nodded a curt acknowledgment and said, rather crossly, "I see you two have been busy."
"You mean that thing at the pub?" Steve asked. "We already told Chief Mendez we were sorry."
"Yeah. He made us stay after class and write 'I will not beat up ODSTs a million times each on the black board," Allen chimed in. Dr. Halsey shot him a dirty look and said, "I could lecture you, but I know you wouldn't listen." Steve nodded enthusiastically. Dr. Halsey continued, "However, I will say try not to let anything like this happen again. We can't afford to have the Spartan program come under a bad light. All of my opponents would use this as an example of billions of dollars wasted on super soldiers who operate under different rules."
Steve yawned. "This is starting to sound like a lecture, and we do operate under different rules," he said.
Dr. Halsey shook her head. "There's just no getting through to you, is there? she said sadly.
"Don't worry Doctor. I'll do my best to keep him in line," Allen promised.
"That's what I'm afraid of," Dr. Halsey said under her breath. She shook her head and stood up straight. "When two are finished here, come see me. I'll brief you on your mission."
"Yes Ma'am," Allen replied. Steve merely nodded his head. Dr. Halsey shook her head and left. The technicians finished assembling their armor and Allen stood up. He put on his helmet and the Heads Up Display flickered to life, performing a quick suit diagnostic and health check. He stood almost 2 meters tall and weighed close to half a ton in his armor, colored blue with silver highlights. On his right shoulder was a brown number 5, outlined in gold.
Steve stood up and stretched, his own red and black armor gleaming in the lights with a black devil skull and crossed combat knives painted on the shoulder. Even in armor, he still stood several inches taller than Allen. Steve sighed and put on his helmet. "All right, let's go see what the doc has for us," he said. Allen followed him out.
The door to Dr. Halsey's lab opened and she turned around in her chair to face the two Spartans. She tapped a few keys on her keyboard and a holographic image of the galaxy appeared. Dr. Halsey pressed a few more keys and the map zoomed in on a small corner of the galaxy, displaying several planets.
"I take it this is Reach?" Allen asked, pointing at the map. Dr. Halsey nodded. "We are here on Reach. You will board a military transport and head to this planet here," she said. The map of stars changed position and centered on a small planet several light-years from Reach.
Steve narrowed his eyes and said, "That's in the Outer Territories. Why are we going there?"
"On this planet, known as Omega 4, is a Slipspace monitoring post. It is the farthest in a string of stations that monitor the space lanes between the Inner and Outer Colonies," Dr. Halsey explained.
Allen thought for a moment, then peered closer at the star map. He pointed at the planet and said, "This one is in line with Reach."
"That is correct," Dr. Halsey said. "The last transmission was two days ago. I'm sending you two as an escort for team that is going to investigate why this station went off line. Your mission is to escort the scientists and get the station running again. We can't afford to lose even a single monitoring station."
"You think it was the Covenant?" Allen asked. Dr. Halsey sighed and said, "The higher ups in the military won't consider it, but I believe it is a distinct possibility."
"You're probably right," Steve added. "I'd like to think the place just broke down. It's gotta be, what, twenty or thirty years old? And this planet is a frozen rock by looking at it."
Allen rolled his eyes. "Great. Another hot vacation spot we get to visit."
Steve shrugged and said, "Hey, join the military and see the world, right?"
"Too bad I've never seen a world I'd actually want to visit," Allen grumped. He crossed his arms and made a sour face.
Dr. Halsey cleared her throat. "If you two don't have any questions, I have one more thing." Allen and Steve grew quiet to listen. "I had your armor upgraded to better withstand the cold environment you'll encounter." She turned back to her desk and picked up a data chip. "I'm also giving you this," she said and handed it to Allen. "It's an AI to help with the station repairs and anything else you might encounter on your mission."
Steve looked over Allen's shoulder. "What kind of AI is it?" he asked.
"To put it in terms you might understand, this AI is like Cortana, but not as smart. It also has a different personality," Dr. Halsey said. "Make no mistake, it's still better than any other AI program."
Allen reached into a pocket and pulled out a data reader. He inserted the data chip and turned on the display. A small holographic figure of a woman wearing Ancient Egyptian clothing and wig appeared. "Hello. My name is Isis. I am pleased to make your acquaintance," she said.
Steve leaned over Allen's shoulder. "I know you're just a bunch of colored pixels and data, but you're kinda cute."
Isis peered at Steve and said, "Well, would you prefer I look like this?" Isis changed forms to a wrinkly old woman with long stringy hair and long curved nose.
Steve recoiled in horror and Allen raised an eyebrow. "There's something you don't see every day," he added.
"It's like the ugly stepmother in those fairy tales," Steve added. Isis changed forms back to her original depiction. "I'm glad we understand each other," she said. Allen powered off the data reader and Isis disappeared.
Dr. Halsey dismissed them and the two Spartans left. As the door closed behind them, Cortana appeared, wearing a confused expression. "Did I hear correctly? You gave them Isis?" she asked. Dr. Halsey nodded her head. "But isn't that AI-" Cortana started, but Dr. Halsey cut her off. "Think of it as part of their punishment," she said. Cortana gave the doctor a confused look. "What? I'm not allowed to have a little bit of fun every now and then?" Dr. Halsey asked.
"I just assumed such petty games were below you," Cortana replied, crossing her arms.