Chapter 2: Natterjack
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The Mess Hall was a very wide open room, with tables lined up neatly in rows, most of them occupied, and what seems to be booths lined up on one of the walls, with a window showing off the vastness of space outside each one. For the amount of soldiers in here, it was actually relatively quiet. Makes sense, I guess. In the military, you take every chance you get to have a good meal; you'll never know if it'll be your last.
I walk over to what appears to be a buffet style lineup of foods, but mostly stuff like oatmeal, some sausage, the occasional plate of scrambled eggs, and some fruit. I pick up a large red apple and look out among the vast array of tables. Normally, I would just pick the nearest table and sit, but something compelled me to march over to the far wall and sit down in one of the empty booths with a window. I sit down on the red plastic and set my datapad on the table, then look out the window, taking a bite out of my apple.
The vast blackness of space begins to make the gears in my heard turn, and I begin to think about how...lonely I am here. Dad and Mom died around a year ago, but I was blessed with many brothers and sisters. I'm the eldest in a family of six, but out of all my siblings to think about, my thoughts drift to Marie. Ah, Marie...she's the definition of sweetheart. I don't think as long as I've been alive that she's ever insulted anyone ever. You can imagine my surprise when she told me she was joining the U.N.S.C with me. But with this draft, I begin to worry if I'll be able to keep in touch with her. She's still in active duty I believe; could she even receive communications from me? I am the leader of a Fireteam now, so does that mean-
"Clench that apple any harder and you'll be getting apple juice, lad."
I jump slightly at the sudden voice, losing my grip on the apple, which falls on the floor, next to the stranger's black boots.
The sudden arrival was a man with greying black hair in a crew cut, but he seems to have let it grow out a bit. His face is chiseled and a little round, and seems to have a black light beard, as well as a pair of emerald eyes. His body is fit and a tad bit buff, reminding me alot of a swimmers body, but with white skin.
He bends down and picks the apple up quickly, brushing it off on his black and white Camo pants and setting it on the table. He also seems to be sporting a long sleeved black shirt that looked a little tight, and had the emblem of the U.N.S.C on his right shoulder. What surprised me a little about him was the fact that he had a black gun holster on his hip, but with nothing in it. Is that some new fashion fad? Eh, I'll never understand how people dress...
"So, you're the new recruit, eh?"
I lean back into my seat and look up at the man; he can't be much bigger than me in height.
"New to the ship, yes, but not to war."
The man chuckles and motions towards my seat.
"Mind if I 'ave a seat?"
The way he speaks is rather strange; it seems to be a mix of both a Scottish and British accent, but every time he speaks, it's like they both fight for control of which accent wins out. Most of the time it's the British one, but it's still a little difficult to understand. I nod my head, picking the apple up from the table and brushing it off.
He walks over to the seat opposite of me and sits himself down, his eyes scanning me for a moment before he extends his hand.
"Name's James Mercer III. Pleasure to meet ya, Mr...?"
I look at his hand for a second , then back to my datapad. The name Mercer sounds familiar...but I take his hand and give his hand a shake.
"Orion Tennecks. Good to meet you."
He smiles and retracts his hand, now choosing to stare out the window with a sigh. I take this opportunity to open my datapad back up and scroll over to the first document of my team members. Sure enough, it's labeled Mercer, James, but strangely leaves out the part of him being the third. The rest of the document goes into his physical details like his height and weight, but is rather vague in personal history, with black marks covering most of it.
I set the datapad down and look back towards James, who is still staring out the window with a glazed over look on his face. I cross my arms and decide to try something to make sure it's really him.
"So any reason you've come over here, Natterjack?"
He shakes himself out of his reverie and looks over at me, a small grin creeping onto his face.
"Finally put two and two together, Tortoise?"
Now it was my turn to grin.
"So then you know who I am."
"I also know you're leader of Crimson, too."
"Then I can assume you know you're already a part of that Fireteam."
James smiles, leaning backwards in his seat and crossing his arms.
"That would be correct, sir."
I raise an eyebrow at this, my expression becoming a little more serious.
"Sir?"
James shrugs, his smile still on his face.
"You're my superior, right? Gotta call you sir, then."
I pause at this and look at my datapad again, scanning his document until I find what I need.
"...says here you're thirty seven. You know, with a record like yours and your experience, you could have easily gotten my position. But they didnt give it to you. So how come?"
James merely shrugs again, his body becoming a bit more relaxed.
"I'm a strategist, yeah, but that doesn't mean I'm fit to lead. I've read your file too, you know, and I've heard what Palmer said about you. There's a reason they hand picked you and didn't just give it to any old Spartan on Infinity."
I sigh, scratching the back of my head.
"How much did Palmer say about me?"
"Only as much as she could. My file isn't the only one covered in black ink."
He gives me a wink, and I roll my eyes. He sits forward and points at my datapad.
"You mind if I take a look at this?"
I give him a suspicious look, sitting forward as well.
"What is it you're looking for?"
He puts his hand in his pocket and pulls out a disk shaped object and places it on the table.
"It has the rest of your team members in those documents, right? If I take a look, I can give you their locations so you don't have to be running all around Infinity looking for them. This is a big ship, mate. You don't want to get lost."
I give him a stare for a few more seconds as I ponder this. He seems like the trustworthy type, but I've been deceived before. He might give me locations , or he might just straight up delete the files for shits and giggles...
I decide to take a chance and slide the datapad over to him.
"Alright. Just don't delete anything, or its your ass on the line."
He nods and pulls the datapad towards him, looking at the documents. After a few seconds, he hits a button on the disk like object he pulled out, and it begins to glow. An image of a Sangheili with some type of robes on appears and turns towards James.
"Something I can help you with?"
I raise an eyebrow at what I see. An image of a Sangheili? A disk like object?
"Is that...an A.I? Of a Sangheili?"
James looks up from his datapad, then down at the minature Sangheili.
"Yep. Made him myself. Modeled him after Ysan 'Mdatum, a Sangheili Counselor. He helps me out pretty much everywhere, from day to day tasks to battle tactics."
"You made an A.I? All by yourself? How!?"
James shrugs and looks back at the data pad.
"Had a lot of free time on my hands."
I sigh and roll my eyes. I'll have to be patient with this guy and ask again later; it seems like he's almost done with this.
James and the A.I talk for a minute about the other documents, then Ysan nods and turns to the datapad.
"I'll send their most likely locations into the datapad. You should probably leave now if you want to catch them."
James looks back to me and hands me the datapad.
"There you go, directions and everything."
I look down at the datapad, which is listing off directions in text and displaying them on a mini map. Man, this ship is huge. Some of the directions take up five pages worth!
"It'll be a miracle if I don't get lost doing this."
"I can guide you around."
I look up to James who is still grinning like an idiot. I raise an eyebrow at him, my suspicion aroused.
"Why are you helping me out all the sudden?"
"'Cause its the job of the vet's to keep the newbies on the right track. Come on, I know the ship pretty well, and with Ysan with us, we'll never get lost."
'Famous last words', I whisper to myself as I let out a small sigh and stand up from the booth, taking another bite out of my apple and turning to James, who has stood up as well.
"Alright then. We better get moving."
He nods and grabs Ysan off the table and puts him back into his pocket, and we both start heading to the exit of the mess hall, James leading the way.
"Don't worry." he says, turning his head to me as we walk. "I even know a few shortcuts! We'll get there faster than you can say 'Irony'!"
I raise an eyebrow at his choice of words, but only let out another short sigh and follow him out the large door.
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Hey, hey! How's it hangin', people? So, here's our first OC and second member of Fireteam Crimson, James Mercer III, courtesy of Karmaisms. Let me know what you think of him and the chapter in the reviews please! Also, OC submissions are still open, and I am in dire need of female OC's! If you'd like to send an OC, take a look at the form in Chapter 1 or on my profile, but remember to read the rules for it in Chapter 1 first! I should also mention that you can send multiple OC's, even ones that are related to each other! You can even send a relative of Orion if you'd like! Just be sure to clearly state that to me, as Orion has five other siblings. Thanks again for reading, and have an exquisite day!
-Nate
