"Screw you guys!!!" Michael shouted as the bottom of the UNSC Reaper disappeared from above. Why did he join the ODSTs, none of this would have happened if he hadn't joined them. Of course if he hadn't joined the ODSTs he would also probably be dead right now. Michael's entire squad had been killed when their Pelican had been shot down by a Banshee during an attempt to extract a V.I.P. from yet another dying planet nine months ago.
Michael sighed, perhaps this was the best thing for him after all, there was no way he was going to be able to live a halfway normal life after insulting the head of the Office of Naval Intelligence during a meeting she was having with several key personnel from various branches of the UNSC armed forces. Still it had been worth it, if just to see that look on her face when he voiced his opinion of what he thought of her damned experiments and speeches. Oh he had showed her, he had showed that damn hag what he had thought of her freaking programs, including the Spartan II program that had robbed him of his twin sister when they were both only six, he had showed her. But of course he had acted in haste, only one person had ever made enemies with Margaret O Parangosky and survived, and he certainly wasn't that person.
So despite the endless assurances by his superiors that his outburst was completely justified and charges would be brought against Margaret immediately for what he had revealed he knew she wasn't going anywhere. No, the war was in a critical state, the UNSC needed every man and women they could get. Margaret was too important to lose, too big to fail, which was probably why Alex and Chris had tricked him into getting in his drop pod to go on a "mission" with "other ODSTs" when in fact as Michael had discovered just minutes before it was really just an excuse to get rid of him, to spare him from the wrath of Margaret and his other enemies, which he had plenty of.
Of course like most of their plans this one didn't seem to be very well thought out, the planet of Pandora was devoid of any sentient life, he would be utterly alone on an alien world with only his armor, his gun, and some rations. That was assuming the duo had packed any rations. Still, Michael had to admit dying cold and alone was probably better than getting hauled off to some remote O.N.I. interrogation center/prison in the middle of the night and never being seen or heard from again by anyone. Michael relaxed a little and made an obscene gesture to his window, not that anyone could see it at this altitude, all there was up here were clouds, lots and lots of frikin clouds. Michael yawned, maybe if he was lucky his pod would spontaneously combust, that would save him a hell of a lot of time, still there wasn't really anything he could do right now. The navigation screen was projecting 5 hours until impact with the surface, so all Michael could do now was wait, and wait, and wait.
"Someone's flipping me off." Margaret O Parangosky stated as she slammed her playing cards down on the table and stood up.
"Not me." Chris stated rather calmly while attempting to sneak a look at Alex's hand.
"Margaret." Alex said calmly. "You're a terrifying, beautiful, lady. Who would be stupid enough to flip you off?" He questioned while staring at her. Margaret turned so she was facing him and snarled.
"Michael Dedia Fox." She growled as she stormed out of the room. Chris and Alex exchanged looks before turning back to the game as an Engineer sat down at Margaret's seat.
"Say, anyone got any babies on them?" The creature asked as it scooped up Margaret's hand with its tentacles.
"Not tonight More Balanced Than Most." Alex stated as he shook his head.
"Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn." The Engineer said as it took a puff of a cigar before extending a tentacle to Chris.
"You want a smoke man?" It asked casually.
"No thanks." Chris replied. "I only smoke Gravemind." He added.
"God, that stuffs expensive nowadays, say you hear the latest rumor from the battlenet?" It inquire to which both of them shook their heads.
"I just got a message from the ship's A.I. , we're jumping to slipspace." It said casually to which Alex and Chris exchanged glances.
"I would hate to be anywhere near this thing when it jumped, I mean if you were in a pod of some sort you'd be totally screwed." The engineer paused. "Hey why are you guys running away, you frikin losers! Winners never quit!" It shouted as it waved a tentacle at them angrily.