A Planet to Escape To
Chapter 4 and not much else to say except I hope you all enjoy it!
Disclaimer: I own nothing, all characters copyright of Bungie and 343.
The Chief just stood in the hallway and weighed his options. Normally his military training would require him to follow orders of his superiors but his own instincts were screaming at him to disobey. "What does ONI want with me?" He asked calmly to by himself some time.
Niles narrowed his eyes behind his visor. "That's classified information Chief. As a soldier, your first reaction should be to follow the orders of your superiors. If you don't come with us then we will drag you with us."
'They want me to fight.' The Chief realized as he sized them up. They had full armor on while the Chief was still in Marine fatigues but the Chief was willing to bet they didn't have augments like his. ONI wouldn't use something that dangerous if they wanted their own Spartans. 'They probably better training than a normal Marine but not as much as we had.'
"Last chance Chief, comply with the order or you will be arrested for disobeying an officer. Either way you are coming with us!" Niles said as he and Stocker assumed a loose stance.
The Chief was about to retort until he noticed a slight outline behind the two Spartans and he couldn't help but smirk. "I don't think I have to worry." He said calmly.
"And why is that?" Stocker asked tensely.
The Chief still smirked. "Because it's now one-on-one."
"What do you-" Stocker was cut off when something grabbed him from behind and threw him into a wall. He was knocked out by an alien hand as soon as he hit the ground.
"What the-" Niles never finished as the Chief appeared in front of him and landed a right hook that turned his head almost 90 degrees. Niles dropped to the ground and didn't move.
"They were Spartans?" The Arbiter said as she decloaked.
"ONI wanted quantity over quality I guess. All the hoopla without the training, they were trying to rely on their ranks instead of their skills." The Chief responded with a quick chuckle.
The Arbiter let a huff of disgust. "They would've fallen like cowards if they were deployed in the war."
"Something tells me that they were about as green as they could be." The Chief said before he turned to her. "Why were you here anyway?"
The Arbiter turned her attention to the Chief. "I was here to update your leader on our status. Now that our objective is done, we were to depart back to Sangheilios to tell the news. When we had a grasp of the situation, we were going to send a message to invite humans for peace talks."
The Chief inclined his head. "I understand." He glanced at the slowly stirring forms of Niles and Stocker before walking to her. "Cortana told me to get to the bridge for something."
The Arbiter nodded and made a motion for him to follow her. "The sooner, the better." She said as she looked back the Spartans. "Why were they after you?"
"ONI wanted to talk to me. It was only a matter of time before they tried something like this." The Chief replied solemnly.
"They won't like this." The Arbiter warned the Chief.
"They don't like anything that doesn't fit in with what they want. They have been slowly changing ever since the war turned around and no one knows what they are doing anymore." The Chief said as they reached the tram line.
"And your government does nothing?" The Arbiter said as the tram moved silently through the station.
"Not even the government knows what they are doing anymore. Every time they ask what is going on, ONI claims it classified and need-to-know basis only. It doesn't help that they are trying to replace UNSC brass with their own candidates." The Chief said as he let out a sigh. "I think they might try and start something but no one knows what it is except them."
The tram stopped outside the bridge and they walked to the doors. "Do you think they will try to incite your race against us?" The Arbiter questioned.
"Let's hope they don't." The Chief said as the bridge doors open and they stepped through them.
Lord Hood was near the front shaking his head as he talked to a couple of people in black clothing. "For the last time, this is still my station and you have no authority here."
"Our authority comes directly from ONI and includes any area we deem necessary to carry out our orders." One of them said.
"This isn't an ONI facility; it is a UNSC Military station. Your request to detain one of my soldiers is denied." Hood said warily.
"You will regret this action. ONI will not allow this obstruction to remain here for long." The lead person shot back.
"Get off my station before I have you escorted off." Hood said warningly. The leader snarled before he and his partner walked away as the Chief and the Arbiter walked up.
"You won't evade us forever Spartan. You and that bitch will be captured eventually." He said before he was punched in the gut by a Marine beside the door and put on the ground. "Unhand me now!"
"Get those two out of my sight and off my station." Hood ordered as the Marines saluted and "escorted" the two men out of the room.
"Sir, reporting as ordered." The Chief saluted.
"I apologize, Chief but we received numerous requests to have any remaining Spartan II's to be detained. As you can tell, those requests have been met with a strong rebuttal." Hood said as the Chief nodded.
"I understand however I was waylaid by new Spartans. Spartan IV's they called themselves." The Chief replied and Hood dropped his head.
"So the rumors were true after all." Hood said quietly.
"Sir?"
"ONI has a new branch of personal, Chief." Cortana replied as she appeared on the terminal. "They are making new Spartans with one exception. The Spartans answer ultimately to ONI and not the UNSC. The UNSC can give them orders but ONI's orders trump the UNSC in their eyes; if the UNSC tells them to protect some civilians and ONI tells them to ignore the civilians and continue to the objective then the Spartans will follow ONI's orders."
"ONI wants a new military arm under their control then." The Chief replied tiredly. "What exactly is going on sir?"
"I don't know Chief but they were right. You can't evade them forever if you stay here." Hood said as he turned to the Arbiter.
"We already have his armor stashed in the dropship and whatever personal effects that were in his barracks are also secured." The Arbiter replied as Hood nodded.
The Chief didn't like where this was going. "Sir?"
"We need to get you away from Earth, Chief and the only place we can send you that is outside of ONI's reach is….well." He points to the Arbiter. "It's only until things die down, Chief."
The Chief looked from Hoods weary expression to Cortana's smirking expression and finally to the Arbiter's mixed look of happy and hesitant. "I don't suppose I have a choice, sir."
"It's only for now, Chief and you will have a small group of Marines going with you. It's mainly for company but also as an advance diplomacy party. They will begin to engage in talks until the diplomatic fleet arrives." Hood said as the Chief sighed.
"Is Cortana coming with us?" The Chief asked as he glanced at her.
"Do you really think you're going anywhere without me?" She asked in mock-hurt. "I'm appalled Chief that you would think that I would abandon you."
The Chief shook his head. "When do we leave sir?"
"We can depart when you're on board, Spartan." The Arbiter said as she looked at Hood. "By your leave shipmaster?"
"Good luck, Chief." Hood said simply as he shook the Chiefs hand.
"Thank you, sir." The Chief replied as he turned to leave before plucking Cortana from the terminal. "At least we can get some quiet before we leave." He said as pocketed the chip.
"This way Spartan, the sooner we leave the better we are." The Arbiter said as she turned and walked out of the room. Unknown to everyone, she had a Sangheili version of a smile on her face. 'Unexpected yet not unwelcome. All that's left is to convince them to stay in the Vadamee keep and then everything will fall into place from there.'
While the Arbiter was planning, the Chief was following with a frown. 'Something is off with this situation. ONI wants all remaining Spartan II's detained like we are criminals. Something is going on and I don't like it.'
Little did the Chief know that he would have a new problem to contend with on Sangheilios.
And I will end it there. It's shorter than the other chapters but I wanted something out as I found out that I wouldn't be around to write this weekend. Same old same though read and review and also on my profile is a picture of what a confirmed Sangheili female looks like. It isn't what the Arbiter looks like however, it is really just so those who don't know can get a look at them.
I hope you enjoy it and I will see you all next time my fellow alien lovers! XD