Hello, readers and welcome to the second chapter of Crossing Over. Please leave comments and suggestions so I may make improvements to my story.
UNSC Daniel Boone
Colonel Nakashima Namikaze walked into his room. For an officer's quarters onboard a frigate, it was quite spacious. In it was a decently sized work desk that doubled as a holomap projector. There was also a bed and a private restroom. 'It is better than nothing.' the colonel thought.
He sat down at his desk and moved a stray strand of silvery hair from his face. Naka began fumbling around in his pocket until he found what he wanted. He pulled out a small, metallic disc and placed it on the desk in front of him. Naka stared at it for a moment and then pressed the center. Instantly, a hologram of a woman in classical Greek garments appeared.
"Good morning, Director." she hummed.
"It is never a good morning when you have to lie to your comrades, Ophelia." Nakashima responded bitterly. He loathed how the UN used the Survey Corps as a cover for their organization. In fact, he wanted them to work hand in hand with one another. "How are the trainees doing?"
"Incredibly well, sir. Some of them have fully recovered from the augmentations and are already participating in training exercises."
'Already recovered? 'The officer frowned ever so slightly. 'That just means we will be needed to deploy them against threats faster.'
He then returned to his ominously stoic gaze. Turning to the AI, he asked, "Have there been any new developments concerning rouge Spartans?"
"If you are referring to Spartan 117, there are many-"
"That is not who I am concerned with right now. He will be handled when I need to step in." Namikaze cut in.
"Of course, sir, you want the usual. Since you last checked in on these particular Spartans, more details have come forward from witnesses. All of the soldiers responsible for the bombings of New Warsaw, Glasgow, and Chernobyl II were all wearing black and red Mjolnir ORBITAL armor. There are no records of these soldiers ever being recruited into Spartan - IV, ONI, or our own programs. Oh!"
"What is wrong, Ophelia?" the officer inquired, shocked by her sudden exclamation. The AI began moving around pieces of data, and then looked back up at Nakashima. She had a concerned expression upon her face.
"Sir, when I was cross referencing these image parameters, I received numerous reports of these soldiers being present around facilities owned by the Umbrella Corporation." Ophelia replied
"Umbrella? Why does that not surprise me?" he muttered to himself.
"Yooooooooooo!" a voice exploded so suddenly and loudly into Nakashima's quarters that he turned around, weapons drawn.
Nakashima realized it was just the Boone's AI, Prometheus Aquila, PA for short, and stayed prepared for attack. Let's just say that he was a bit annoying and had a horrible habit of nosing into people's business especially Nakashima's. When PA can't get into Naka's computer, the only place on the Boone that PA can't hack into, he annoys Naka endlessly. Naka glared up at the system from which the AI had been named He didn't put his pistol down, either.
"What is it this time, PA?" he growled.
"The commander wants you to meet him in the briefing room. We just got orders from HIGHCOM." PA replied. "And who is this lovely lady?"
It took Naka a moment to realize that PA was hitting on Ophelia and not wanting to be uncovered, he quickly shut her off.
"N...No one...she is just a hologram of my girlfriend." Nakashima stuttered out.
"Oh, really? Lucky lady." the AI jeered. "Better hurry up, though. You don't want to be late."
"Yes, thank you." Nakashima replied, venom dripping off of every syllable. He rose from the desk and made his way to the door. Just as he was about to pass through the doorway, the door suddenly slammedshut. He slammed face first into the metal bulkhead. The pain didn't bother him as much as the fact the AI purposely closed it on him.
"Oh, you little mother- "
Mess Hall, Daniel Boone,Deck C
"Give me your lighter, Ugwonyi."
"What for, Sarge?"
"Just give me your lighter. That's an order."
Roll call finished in under an hour, but took longer due to promotions. The extended length, however slight it was, was affecting Sergeant Cromwell greatly. She seemed to be more irritable and stressed than normal. Scott knew this was a bad thing because he'd done something incredibly stupid and managed to tick her off in the past. He could see that Cromwell was close to snapping and decided to butt in.
"Ugwonyi, give her the stupid lighter already!" he snapped.
"Uh, ex-cuse you." Ketrina she scoffed. "Let's remember the pecking order here. I'm an E-2, you're an E-1. You don't give moi orders, son."
"Technically, you can't start giving orders until you earn your first chevron and rifles." Yuga commented. "And Sarge?"
"Yes?" Lydia barked.
"Don't worry about her lighter." he remarked as he pulled out Ugwonyi's lighter from his back pocket. Ketrina gave him a dirty glare and tried snatching it away from the sniper. Yuga tossed the lighter seconds before hand, only to have it caught by Vendaya. The Russian gave a hearty laugh and slipped into his own pocket. Ketrina stood up and raised her fists.
"You wanna go?" she threatened.
"No, but if you are good girl and finish your supper," Vendaya taunted. "Then you can have lighter back."
Scott smirked as Ugwonyi began beating on Dmitry, who simply laughed it off. Suddenly, he was aware of a large form standing over him. Whatever it was behind him put its massive hand on his shoulder and frightened the soldier. Sommers tensed up.
"Relax, friend." A familiar, baritone voice ordered. Sommers turned to see that it was only the Elite, Zun. "Can I sit here?"
"Yeah, yeah..." Scott stuttered.
The Elite lowered his body awkwardly down onto the stool below him. Scott could understand why, though. This ship and everything on it was designed for humans, so for Sangheili it would be incredibly uncomfortable. As soon as he sat down, Zun leaned back and watched Ketrina continuously punch the unresisting Dmitry. He turned back to the human.
"Interesting squad mates we have got." Zun grunted.
"Yeah, no kidding." coughed Scott. He noticed that Zun didn't have a tray. "Not hungry?"
"No. That meeting with the Colonel has made me too unnerved to eat." he sincerely replied.
"Yeah, he kinda has that effect." Sommers explained. "It was like that when I first met him. Except creepier."
"What is it with you and saying 'yeah' to everything?" Zun demanded.
"Sorry, I just feel that I should be casual around friends." he confessed. "If you'd like, I could be formal all the time."
"Don't be." another voice broke in. "Otherwise you'll end up sounding like Levi here."
Scott turned his head to see Captains Petra Ral and Levi Ackerman taking their seats across from him. Petra, the cheery blonde, was the Apollo 3's platoon leader and 3-1's occasional squad leader. Levi, the tiny but menacing officer, was in charge of Thor 2. He was well known for (quite literally) beating sense into insubordinate soldiers (no matter their rank) and his refusal (or inability) to smile. Scott noticed that Zun was giving Levi a weird look. Levi, without looking up from his meal, coldly questioned him.
"Is there something wrong, Lieutenant?" asked the officer.
"Ah no, no sir." Zun declared hurriedly. "I was just wondering if your eyes could change color."
Levi's expression changed to a threatening glare as he looked up at the Sangheili.
"Excuse you?" he demanded.
"He met the BC today." Sommers explained.
The captain's expression changed to a pitying look. Zun obviously disliked the gaze, but didn't say anything.
"My condolences." nodded Levi.
When Sommers looked back at Petra, he realized that she had a worried look on her face. He immediately recognized that face. It was the expression that Petra made when 'that woman' was around. Quickly, there rose a commotion from the other end of the mess as maniacal laughter filled the air.
The whole room went silent as everyone watched two security officers desperately tug away at a brown-haired, goggled woman who had latched herself onto a rather surprised Elite Major. She obviously had a tight grip, because every time the officers pulled the woman's legs, the Major was pulled down closer to the ground. Finally she was torn away from the big alien and dragged out of the mess hall by her feet, protesting as she went.
"No, no, no! I need him for my experiments!" she whined.
Slowly the room returned to its normal noise level. Zun gave Scott a worried look.
"Who was that?" the Sangheili pleaded.
"That was Major Zoë Hange," Scot whimpered. "The head of our science department-"
"Hey, wassup space marines?!" a voice roared over the intercom. A collective groan rose from the human soldiers (along with multiple facepalms and facefaults).
"Whaaaat?" the voice questioned. "Are you not happy to hear my wonderful voice?"
"Just shut up and give us the freakin' info already!" demanded someone in the mess hall.
"Fine." the voice said, obviously hurt. "It's not like an AI has feelings, you know-"
"PA! We have no to time for your banter!" another voice snarled.
"Okay, okay. (But I'm changing your name to Richard Cranium)" PA responded.
"I heard that." "Richard" grunted.
"Anyways, would all ground force personnel please report to their respective briefing rooms." requested the AI.
"Well! That was interesting." Scott muttered.
"First squad, on me!" shouted Cromwell.
I would again like to thank Raiba for proofing my work once again. Next Chapter: Orders Received! Investigation of the Silent Colony begins.
Be warned, though- we're slowly approaching crossover territory.