AN: I do not own Halo or Infinite Stratos. The rights belong to their respective owners.
Year – 2525, 3rd February
Location – Harvest, 1 klick west of drop point , Pelican 47B
"Thirty Seconds!" the pilot yelled.
As the pilot yelled to the marines, they all prepped their weapons, preparing for the imminent drop off. Jaeger did the same as the other marines, but with Athena bugging his thoughts, it was quite difficult.
Come on Jaeger! Talk to meeee!
Athena, please don't do that.
Do what?
Moaning.
I am not moaning! I'm just trying to make small talk.
I have no interest for small talk Athena.
…
Good. Now keep quiet.
Hard ass.
What was that?
Nothing...
Jaeger just shook his head at Athena's comment, and instead focused on more pressing matters, they were just approaching the drop zone. He pulled off the assault rifle off his back and stepped toward the edge off the now open loading ramp.
"Alright marines! Let's move out!" Jaeger ordered loudly as he jumped off the loading ramp.
He landed swiftly and waited for the rest of his squad to touchdown. The marine squad exited the pelican and walked to face Jaeger. He gave a gesture for them to follow him, which they did so with no hesitation, the perfect mentality for any soldier. Jaeger set off with a fast pace, but slow enough for the marines to catch up. He found this quite irksome, having the marines around would just slow him down. But orders were orders, and he had to follow them.
Ignoring this, he kept up his pace. He knew he had to reach Gladsheim, before this new enemy got to them first. He could hear the marines behind him, their ragged breath gave the inevitable truth that they were getting tired. They'd travelled quite the distance at this point. Knowing that ordinary marines couldn't keep up with his pace, it gave him a hint of irritation. We'll never make it in time at this rate he thought to himself.
Well not everyone is a SPARTAN Jaeger, you should know that much.
I know Athena, it's just that I can't finish my mission with them holding me back.
Is that all this is about? The mission is more important than them?
The mission is more important than anything.
That's a bit close-minded...
If that's what you think. But every soldier knows the mission comes first, sometimes victory can only be obtained through sacrifice.
I still can't get my head around your opinion Jaeger. Everyone deserves to live, to feel. Even soldiers.
Jaeger looked back at the marines, noticing some of them having trouble breathing. He groaned inwardly, hardly believing what he was about to do.
"Marines, head to the extraction point. I'll head on alone and escort the civilians myself. Keep the area clear and wait for my arrival. Corporal Jameson, you'll be in temporary command of the squad until I return. Are we clear?" Jaeger ordered.
Some of the marines had looks of disbelief written on their faces, finding it hard to fathom their squad leaders order. This was short lived however, as the SPARTAN repeated himself.
"Are we clear marines?"
They all gave a salute and gave their unified response "Crystal, Sir!"
Jaeger gave a short nod, and with that, the marines began the long journey to the extraction point.
Happy now Athena?
Yes, well done Jaeger.
Yeah, yeah. Let's just get going.
Year – 2525, 3rd February
Location - Gladsheim
"RUN!"
Sounds of the strange gunfire stormed throughout the small village, mixed with the horrified screams of the villagers. It was pure pandemonium, everyone was screaming, running from the monstrosities murdering the villagers. Blood curdling screams echoed all around, the attackers showing no mercy as they butchered anyone that got in their way. Among all this chaos was a little girl, cut off from everyone in the village, sobbing with no end as she hid from the massacre.
I don't want to die!
"RAGH! Chieftain, I found one, a runt!" a bestial voice roared.
The little girl slowly turned her gaze, facing the source of the voice. She let out a high-pitched scream. What stood before filled her entire being with great fear. A 9ft tall ape-like beast stood before her, dressed in dark blue armour, drenched in blood. Human blood. The beast, from what the little girl could see, was grinning, showing a set of sharp yellowed teeth. The little girl shuddered when she noticed more blood surrounding the beasts mouth.
The girl tried backing away, but the beast harshly grabbed one of her arms, dangling her above the ground. The girl could do nothing, she was immobilized by fear, her voice snatched from her. Her captor kept her dangling, and took the girl to another group of five other beasts.
"Chieftain, look what I found!" the monster said victoriously.
One beast stepped forward from the group. This one stood out from the others, presuming it was the chieftain. This one wore golden armour. But what stood out the most was the giant sledgehammer placed on it's back. It grunted to her captor, and it dropped her. She fell with a painful thud onto her knees. The golden-armoured beast knelt and stared at the girl. It took a long intake of air through its snout, laughing gutturally as it finished.
"Mmmm, fresh meat. This one is young, so tender..." It trailed off.
The poor girl tried to stifle the flow of tears that begun cascading down her face. She never felt so scared before, even before all this horror happened, where she was always alone, with no family and friends. She felt so alone, so powerless against these monsters.
Another one of the beasts stepped forward from the group and spoke "Maybe we should roast her. She'll be so-"
But it was cut off, a single gunshot sounded throughout the village. The beast that spoke now stood with no head, as it exploded at the instant the gunshot went off, spraying the others with bloody pieces.
The remaining beasts looked frantically for the source of the gunshot, furiously searching for their comrades killer. They all stopped searching when another, hoarse voice spoke.
"Get away from the girl. Now." the voice commanded calmly.
The beasts, as well as the little girl turned to find the source of the voice.
What stood in front of them shocked them, especially the girl. A 6ft figure, adorned with black bulky armour with their firearm pointed at them. The beasts let out a low growl at the figure.
The figure spoke up once more "Don't make me repeat myself."
A moment of silence passed, but it was swiftly broken as one of the beasts roared and charged at the new arrival.
Jaeger stood stoically, unfazed by the charging creature.
The creature raised one of its arms, ready to strike him. When the creature was in Jaeger's reach, he acted instantly, his SPARTAN instinct kicking in.
Jaeger pulled is own fist back and thrust with all his strength as his fist collided with his attacker's head. A loud crack sounded with the impact, and the beast was sent hurtling backwards with immense speed.
It landed at the feet of the other beasts, the rage threatening to burst free at their comrades demise. The little girl on the other hand was frozen in place, not by fear, but by shock. She just witnessed the armoured individual dispose of one of the monsters with ease in a matter of seconds.
"KILL HIM" the chieftain roared.
The group of beasts leapt into action, with chaos ensuing; their weapons forgotten, resorting to their fists to pummel the new arrival. Jaeger readied himself, preparing to quell his attackers. One lunged for him, but Jaeger swiftly jumped over it, landing behind it grabbing its head and snapping its neck, all with a single fluid motion. Another went in for the kill, but was met with a forceful kick to its gut, along with a punch to its jaw. It screamed in pain, now clutching its broken jaw. Jaeger wasted no time, pulling out his combat knife, embedding it into the screaming beasts skull. With only two more remaining, Jaeger took the initiative, tackling the two to the ground with a bone crushing force. He went on to stab one of then in the neck, moments after the other rolled away and stood up groggily. Jaeger ran with great speed, reaching the beast, he leapt onto its chest with one foot, kicking and breaking its neck with the other. Jaeger landed gracefully, with the body of the now dead beast falling to the ground with a loud thud.
The Chieftain went berserk, pulling the giant hammer of its back, charging with inhuman speed at Jaeger. He turned to the chieftain, with combat knife in hand. Within a split-second, Jaeger threw the knife at the chieftain, whistling through the air. With a moments passing, the knife embedded itself into the chieftain's eye. It stopped its charge, howling in pain trying to pull the knife from its eye socket. It didn't notice Jaeger closing the distance until it was too late. Jaeger pulled off his M6C off his left thigh, raising it point blank at the chieftain's head, and pulled the trigger.
The chieftain fell to the ground with no sign of resistance, showing that all life had left it. As Jaeger put his pistol back onto it's magnetic strip, he heard small sniffles with his augmented hearing. He turned to find the source. The little girl.
The girl looked up at Jaeger, and held an expression that he interpreted as fear.
You know I think she's scared of you Jaeger.
Why should she? I saved her life.
You can't blame her Jaeger, she's just a little girl. And you are quite intimidating.
Well then why don't you talk to her? Tell her I'm here to get her to safety.
Don't you want to at least-
No.
(Sigh) Fine, unplug me.
Jaeger complied and pulled Athena from his interface. He held the data chip in the palm of his hand
kneeling down to the girl, and Athena materialized as her avatar.
"Don't worry little one, we're not going to hurt you" she said warmly.
The girl hesitated slightly, but spoke up in her own time.
"Who are you?" she asked
"My name is Athena, and this is my... errr, friend, Mr SPARTAN" she said with a sweet smile.
The girl took this as an opportunity to glance at 'Mr SPARTAN'. She stared into the orange visor with curiosity. This made Jaeger a little uncomfortable, so he decided to acknowledge her inspection of him with a small nod.
"Why are you here?" she asked with a slightly frightened tone.
"We were sent here to evacuate all the civilians from this area." Athena said, pausing before adding "But we weren't fast enough" she finished sadly.
Jaeger looked around him, a sad sight indeed. Countless bodies of all the people he couldn't save. He felt a pang of guilt hit him, an unusual occurrence. He knew he should of gotten here faster, then maybe the whole mission wouldn't have gone FUBAR. Jilan's going to be all over my back about this he thought. He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard another sniffle. He snapped his vision to the little girl, now crying with tears falling from her eyes.
"It was horrible, they killed everyone" she said shakily.
Athena tried comforting the child. "Don't worry, we're going to get you to safety. There's no need to cry anymore, we'll protect you."
The girl ceased her crying at Athena's comforting words. "Really?" she asked quietly.
"Yes, isn't that right Mr SPARTAN?" Athena replied.
Jaeger just nodded at Athena's question. He noticed the girl ease up at his conformation, but he could still sense a small hint of anxiety. She's still afraid of me. I need her to be relaxed around me if I want her to follow me he thought to himself.
He was about to speak, but Athena voiced his concern for him.
"Why are you so afraid little one? Mr SPARTAN won't hurt you."
The little girl sank back slightly "But he looks so scary." she replied.
Athena pondered on how to remove the child's fear of Jaeger, she knew that they needed her to trust them before they got going to the extraction point.
"Mr SPARTAN, why don't you show her the SPARTAN smile?" Athena suggested.
Jaeger hesitated at Athena's suggestion, but if it was going to get rid of the girls fear of him, then so be it.
Jaeger lifted his hand and swiped two fingers across his visor slowly. After doing so, he noticed the girl was confused at the gesture.
"What was that?" the girl asked
"That was a SPARTAN smile. It shows that he's being friendly. See? There's nothing to fear" Athena clarified.
The girl finally relinquished her fear, and gave a smile to Jaeger.
"C'mon little one, we need to get you to safety now." Athena said.
The girl nodded, and with her motion, Jaeger stood up and inserted Athena's data chip into his neural interface. He could see that the girl was saddened by Athena's disappearance, but this quickly dissipated as Athena spoke through his comm unit.
"Don't worry child, I'm still here. Mr SPARTAN just needs me for a while."
"OK" the girl replied sadly.
We need to go Athena, more hostiles could arrive any moment, we've wasted enough time with this child.
I know Jaeger, but the girl has gone through enough already.
We need to get the girl out of here quickly, any suggestions?
Just one.
"Little one, could you come here for a moment." Athena asked politely
The girl complied, and approached the 6ft giant.
Kneel down.
What?
I said kneel down Jaeger, trust me.
I hope you know what you're doing Athena.
Don't I always?
Jaeger knelt down, and Athena spoke from his comm unit once more.
"Now, climb onto Mr SPARTANS back."
The little girl hesitated slightly, but did as she was asked. She struggled slightly at climbing onto Jaeger's back, but eventually found herself clinging to him. As she completed the feat, glowing projectiles flew past them. Jaeger turned his gaze to the origin of the strange projectiles, and groaned inwardly when he saw small dwarf like creatures with a strange contraption on their backs, along with another of the beasts he dispatched earlier.
Let's go Jaeger.
He didn't need to be told that, as he was already running from the new contacts.
Jaeger was sprinting back to the evacuation point, the hostiles out of sight. He noticed the white knuckles of the little girls hands on his shoulder guards. She was scared again, that much was clear. A strange feeling built up from the pit of his stomach as he noticed the girls fear.
What the hell is wrong with me?
Interesting. So you do have emotions.
What's that supposed to mean Athena?
Nothing, nothing. Haven't you got an extraction point to get to?
Jaeger just ignored her last comment, and kept up his pace. He had no idea why, but he had the strange urge to annihilate anything that caused the girl harm. He just pressed on, not caring for the reason of this new found feeling.
As he was nearing the evacuation point he noticed the same projectiles he encountered earlier. Dammit, they're here already, this is going to get a little hairy he thought. One of the projectiles flew past him. They had seen him. Jaeger retaliated by pulling out his M7S out, aiming at the enemy in his sight. He could see that the marines had done well, they were entrenched, never relenting in returning fire. One of the dwarf-like creatures pointed its weapon at one of the marines, it had a perfect shot. Before it could pull the trigger, it was riddled with a wave of bullets. It was dead before it hit the ground.
"IT'S THE SPARTAN! SUPPRESSING FIRE! LAY DOWN SOME HEAT DAMMIT!" Corporal Jameson yelled over the gunfire.
The rest of the marines complied with the order and held nothing back as they unleashed a storm of lead on their attackers. Jaeger took the opportunity to join them, pulling the girl off his back with his free hand, keeping her close to his chest to protect her from the gunfire. She yelped slightly at the contact, but Jaeger ignored, her safety was his main concern. He reached the marines and took cover behind one of the barricades that they had set up, keeping the girl close to him.
"What's the situation Corporal?" Jaeger ordered.
"They appeared out of nowhere sir, but we held our ground. A couple of casualties and even more wounded. There was only ten of us left when you got here sir." Jameson replied.
"You did a good job holding out corporal. How long until the extraction gets here?" he asked.
"About three minutes sir, but we can't hold out much longer."
"Don't worry corporal, I'll handle them." Jaeger looked at the girl, and she looked at him, tears welling up in her eyes and hands clamped over her ears. "I want you to look after her while I'm gone. Defend her with your life." he continued while pointing at the girl.
Corporal Jameson nodded, but something bothered him "Is she it sir? Where's everyone else?" he asked.
"Dead." Jaeger replied coldly.
"Oh, I see..." the corporal said with a pained expression.
"Don't linger on the past soldier, focus on what's going on right now. This girl is all that's left of the villagers. Do not let her die. That's an order." Jaeger said authoritatively.
The corporal shook off the sad news from his mind, and saluted to the SPARTAN. "Yes sir!"
Jaeger knelt down and put a comforting hand onto the girls shoulder. The girl looked up into his visor, clearly scared at the situation that they were in. She gave a small nod, and with that Jaeger went straight into action.
He leapt over the barricade head first, rolling back up as he landed. With his SMG in hand, he started hailing bullets into anything that got in his sight. One of the small creatures was unlucky enough to have its armour pierced, resulting in a small explosion from the contraption on its back.
Jaeger noticed this I see, so that's their weak spot he thought. He kept up his attack, the small creatures screaming, waving their arms around. The bigger creatures tried to keep them in order, but to no avail, Jaeger was causing too much chaos for them to counter.
Meanwhile the marines looked on in awe at the SPARTAN'S display. It was truly a sigh to behold. A single soldier standing on open ground, displaying no signs of fear in the face of adversity. Their situation had turned for the better as hostiles fell, one by one. A sudden roar of engines overhead caught their attention. A pelican came into view as it begun its landing, the loading ramp opened and a swarm of bullets erupted from the back of the pelican.
"Covering fire! Marines get in here on the double!" a voice shouted from the pelican.
The marines didn't need telling twice, they swiftly boarded the pelican, some covering their advance. Corporal Jameson offered his hand to the young girl. She took his hand and the both of them boarded the pelican. The girl looked back, worried for the SPARTAN.
"What about Mr SPARTAN?" she asked quietly pointing at the man in question.
Jameson smiled at the girl for her concern. "Don't worry kid, he can handle himself. He'll be here in no time." he said reassuringly.
"OK mister." the girl replied.
Jaeger, the extraction is here.
Got it Athena.
Jaeger emptied the last of his magazine into the closest creature. Without looking to confirm the kill he ran back to the entrenched position, where the pelican began lifting off. He picked up the pace, and with one monumental leap, he jumped onto the back of the pelican, startling the rest of the occupants. He took no time in replacing the magazine of his SMG and defending the pelican from the attackers left on the ground. The pelican was soon out of their range, and the back of the pelican closed, leaving the familiar red-lighting filling the back of the aircraft.
All was silent in the cabin. Everyone clearly had their new enemy on their minds. One marine spoke up.
"What the hell were those things?" he asked, addressing no one in particular.
"Those small things looked like the bulk of their forces, the grunts." another replied.
"Grunts?"
"Well we need to call them something."
"What about those 8ft things, the apes?"
"What about Brutes? They're animalistic enough."
"Ok,what about those bird things?"
"Jumpy as a Jackal those things were. Bloody things kept on dodging my bullets."
"Jackal's huh? That's-"
"Enough marines, call 'em what you want. It doesn't change the fact that they just attacked one of our colonies, and they sure as hell ain't gonna get away with it." Jameson interrupted firmly.
Jaeger just sat silently, keeping to his own thoughts.
This isn't the last we'll see of them, I know it.
Well aren't you just a bright ray of sunshine.
I'm just stating the facts as they are. There's a storm brewing, and humanity is about to find themselves in the middle of it.
Don't be so pessimistic Jaeger.
How can I not? I failed my mission, I didn't save everyone. This was my first deployment and it couldn't of gone worse.
But you saved someone, didn't you?
...
Yeah, I guess I did.
Jaeger looked at the one person he did save, the girl.
She was lucky we got to her in time. Those 'brutes' were dead set on eating her.
Oh my!
What is it now Athena?
I don't know her name.
Well why don't you ask?
Jaeger unplugged Athena's data chip from his interface, placed it in the palm of his hand and held it up to the girl. Athena's avatar popped up within seconds.
"Hello again little one!" she exclaimed cheerfully.
"Hello Miss Athena." the girl replied.
"You know, you never told me your name."
The little girl blushed in embarrassment "Sorry Miss Athena."
"It's alright little one, don't worry too much about it" Athena replied warmly.
The girl smiled at Athena "My name is-"
"Attention, we are approaching the UNSC Behemoth all hands prepare to disembark" the pilot said over the onboard comm.
"Another time perhaps" Athena said to the little girl.
Year – 2525, 4th February
Location – Hangar 5B, UNSC Behemoth, High orbit, Harvest.
The Pelican returned to the UNSC Behemoth, landing in Hangar. The occupants were just glad to be off Harvest, away from all the death on the planet below. The atmosphere was morbid in the cabin of the pelican, each soldier racked with guilt at all those they couldn't save. The ramp opened to them and they all exited the pelican with heavy footsteps. They could all see Commander Jilan waiting for them.
From Jilan's point of view, she could see their pained expression. They all reached her and fell into rank with Jaeger standing in the middle on the front row. She asked them the question that they had all dreaded.
"Where are the civilians marines?"
They all stayed silence, their heads downcast. Jaeger decided to speak up.
"We only saved one Ma'am."
"One?"
"That's right Ma'am."
She sighed at his confirmation "I thought I told you I wanted no casualties Sergeant Major."
"You did Ma'am."
"So why is there only one civilian with you?"
Jaeger paused for a moment, he knew that the failure was all on him.
"I wasn't fast enough."
Jilan sensed the SPARTAN'S regret. How strange... she thought. She decided to ease the SPARTAN.
"It's fine SPARTAN, sometimes things don't go according to plan."
"But if I had just gotten there sooner-"
"Then you would have been killed" a new voice interrupted.
Jaeger glanced to see the new arrival, or arrivals. John-117 and Kelly-087. They were with another SPARTAN that Jaeger recognised as Samuel-034.
"SPARTANS don't die 117." Jaeger replied.
"Maybe, but I'm certain that an entire regiment would give us trouble." John countered
"A regiment?" Jaeger asked.
"That's right. Kelly and I reached our sectors. They were overrun, we managed to save a few but even Kelly wouldn't of gotten there in time to stop them." he clarified.
Jaeger responded by turning his gaze to the ground.
"You may be right, but it doesn't make me feel better. Our duty as SPARTANS is the protection of humanity, whatever the cost. Even our lives."
Jaeger kept his gaze fixated on the ground, until he was interrupted by someone he didn't expect. The little girl was holding his hand, gaining the attention of everyone present.
"Don't say that Mr SPARTAN. I don't want you to die" she whispered quietly.
Jaeger looked at the girl. He was silenced, he couldn't speak. The child's concerned, strangely made that same feeling rise up again. He shook off the silence.
"I won't. Don't worry, SPARTANS never die." he said hoarsely.
The girl gasped a little upon hearing his voice. Mr SPARTAN can talk? She thought to herself.
Now that's a first.
What now Athena? Did I do something wrong?
Quite the opposite really.
How so?
You tried to comfort her.
…
Yeah, yeah, that silent treatment won't work on me Jaeger. I know what you did.
Jaeger squeezed the girls hand lightly, not wanting to crush her bones with his herculean strength.
"Thank you." he said plainly.
The girl gave him a bright smile in response. He didn't know what it was, but this girl was doing something to him. But, for some reason, he liked it.
"Alright miss, its time we got you somewhere safe OK?" Jilan said stepping forward.
The little girl hesitated, but Jaeger gave a SPARTAN smile to show that she could trust the officer.
"OK."
The officer gave her hand to the little girl, who took it gently.
"Marines, fall out." Jilan ordered.
The marines saluted half-heartedly and took their leave. Jilan walked off with the girl in tow. Jaeger took this opportunity to ask John and Kelly something that was bugging him ever since they got back.
"Do you think it's over?" Jaeger asked them.
"No. It was too easy, they wouldn't just let us leave without a fight." Kelly answered.
"We need to be ready." John added.
"Y'all worry too much. If they do come, we'll just kick their asses. There's four of us now, we can cause some major hurt for those alien bastards." Samuel spoke up.
The trio turned to Samuel, who just shrugged at them. John, Kelly and Jaeger just nodded at Samuel's enthusiasm. Jaeger decided to break the ice.
"Let's go to the mess." he suggested
The other SPARTANS nodded in agreement, and left for the mess hall.
I wonder where that kid went...
Something troubling you Jaeger.
No, its nothing.
Don't give me that Jaeger, you were thinking about that kid weren't you.
Maybe, maybe not. What's it matter?
It just shows that the mission doesn't come first.
Athena. Don't. Just listen-
No you listen Jaeger! Get it through that thick skull of yours already! Human lives aren't just a statistic!
…
Fine.
Good. Now eat.
Jaeger shook his head wearily at Athena's command, he was already eating wasn't he?
He was sitting down at one of the many tables in the mess hall with John, Kelly and Samuel. All of them ate in silence, a usual occurrence for SPARTANS. Eating was not a social gathering to them, it was a simple necessity, talking while eating would just slow them down, and SPARTANS were trained to be efficient. The silence was broken by the ship's intercom.
"SPARTAN-777 report to the medical bay immediately"
Jaeger stopped eating and looked at the others. They gave a quick nod, which he returned, before leaving the table and heading toward the med bay. As he was walking to the med bay, he placed his helmet back on, a habit he picked up during training.
He reached the medical wing in no time. The med bay door opened as he approached, allowing him to enter the room. He was about to take another step when something collided with his legs. He looked down to see the little girl clinging to his legs. He was confused by the gesture, and voiced his confusion.
"Is something wrong?"
The girl released her hold on his legs and looked up with glazed eyes, showing that she was on the verge of tears. "Nothing. It's just I wanted to thank you before I left Mr SPARTAN. I'm a little sad, I don't want to say goodbye yet." she said sadly.
Jaeger knelt down, placing a comforting hand onto the girl's shoulder, doing a SPARTAN smile with his free hand. The girl laughed lightly at the gesture, replacing her sad features with a more cheerful one. She wiped away the tears that threatened to fall, showing the SPARTAN that she felt better. Jaeger took the chance to ask one of the doctors the reason behind the girl's initial distress.
"Doctor, what's wrong with the girl?" he asked, keeping up his neutral voice.
"She's about to go SPARTAN. She's being transferred to a nearby freighter to get her out of the system. The freighters are going to earth, where she'll be given a new home. Don't worry about the details, but she'll be safe there" the doctor replied.
"I see. Thank you doctor." Jaeger responded.
Jaeger returned his gaze to the child. She looked at him with sadness in her eyes, he could see that she was reluctant to leave. An idea suddenly came to him. He had learnt, like all the other SPARTANS, that rewards were good incentives to get the job done. For them it was a break from the gruelling training, but he understood the principle.
"You know, if you don't go, you won't get your present."
"What present?" she asked curiously.
"Your going-away present. You sure you don't want it?"
"What kind of present is it?" she inquired
"You'll have to wait and see. I'll give it to you before you go, alright?" he offered
"Okay Mr SPARTAN."
"Doctor, could you please escort our little friend here to the Hangar?" Jaeger asked
"Of course." he accepted
The doctor stepped forward, gesturing kindly for the girl to follow. The girl gave a quick hug to Jaeger and skipped off happily to the doctor. The two of them left the med bay, but not before the girl waved goodbye to the SPARTAN. Jaeger returned the wave as she was leaving, the door shutting behind them.
Athena, what did that kid just do?
Why that would be a hug Jaeger.
What does it mean?
It's a gesture of trust, kind of like your SPARTAN smile.
I see, thank you for telling me.
My, my. Someone's being friendly.
Yeah, yeah. Keep it to yourself Athena.
"Doctor, why was the girl in the med bay?" Jaeger asked.
"Oh, it was just an examination. We checked for any sign of trauma, and injury. The results did show a moderate level of trauma, but that can easily be treated. You did a good job SPARTAN, keeping her safe that is." the addressed doctor replied.
Jaeger just nodded at the doctor's comment.
"One more thing doctor, which ship is the girl leaving on?"
"That would be the CMA Vostok sir, its docked with the Behemoth at the moment. It's in docking area A5." the doctor clarified.
Jaeger took his leave after the doctor gave him the name of the ship the girl would be leaving on. He didn't want to miss the girls departure. This worried him though, he wasn't supposed to form attachments, it could seriously affect his performance in combat. And it was a foreign concept to him, and it made him a little uneasy. Deciding against his better judgement, he shook off the dilemma from his mind, and headed straight to the docking area where the CMA Vostok was docked, but took a detour to his quarters along the way. He made a promise after all.
At Docking area A5-
"Don't worry kid, he'll be here. A SPARTAN is always true to their word." the doctor reassured the girl.
This made the girl feel a little better. She wanted to say goodbye to the SPARTAN before she left, and she was still curious about the 'present' he would give her.
Her spirits lifted as she saw the SPARTAN in question enter the docking area. She waved joyfully at the SPARTAN, who now noticed where she was.
Jaeger walked to the little girl who was waving happily at him. He eventually reached the little girl and knelt down to her. He did another SPARTAN smile, and the girl responded equally with a cheerful smile of her own.
"Hello Mr SPARTAN! I've been waiting for you!" she exclaimed happily.
"You've waited long enough. Now, I think I made a promise, didn't I?" he said rhetorically.
The girl nodded her head furiously "Uh-huh!"
Jaeger smiled underneath his visor as he pulled out a small black box. He spoke up once more before handing the girl her gift.
"Now you have to promise me one more thing before I give you your present." he paused "I want you to stay safe, alright?"
"OK Mr SPARTAN, I promise." she replied earnestly.
With that said he handed her his gift. She accepted it with a warm smile, clutching the box close to her.
"Would all civilians in sector A please report to the CMA Vostok for departure."
The girl's expression suddenly became solemn.
"I guess this is goodbye Mr SPARTAN." she stated sadly.
"Maybe we'll see each other again, some day. Don't worry little lady, it'll be alright." he returned comfortingly.
The girl just smiled at Jaeger's words, happy knowing that she would get the chance to see him again. Jaeger stood and gave the girl a small salute. The girl giggled and returned the action.
Jaeger began to walk back to the mess hall, but he glanced over his shoulder one last time to see the girl boarding the Vostok. He was feeling strange, a feeling he had not felt in many years. He knew what the source of the feeling was, the little girl. He didn't need a label for the feeling, he didn't care. It was... pleasant.
You know you can't hide your thoughts from me Jaeger.
It's not like I try Athena.
What's that supposed to mean?
It means I know what you were talking about earlier. I understand.
Well finally! It took you long enough!
Don't let it go to your head Athena.
Oh don't worry about me, I'm just going to enjoy my victory!
(sigh) You can be so difficult sometimes, you know that right?
I try.
You know, I think I'm going to watch the Vostok leave, just in case.
Now you're not even trying to hide it anymore.
I have no reason to now.
\With a clear goal set in mind, he headed to the nearest observation deck.
Observation deck A5 -
Jaeger could see the CMA Vostok, among other frigates drifting through space. He felt serene, glad that his new friend would now be safe.
This feeling was broken when an uncountable amount of slip-space ruptures appeared throughout the starlit space. Within moments hundreds of strange purple coloured ships exited the ruptures, and wasted now time in attacking the UNSC Naval Defence Fleet. The UNSC ships took time to recover from the surprise attack, the majority of the fleet were already fiery remains the new arrivals had decimated. But Jaeger wasn't worried about the lost ships, he was even more worried for the frigates evacuating the civilians.
He was faced with great horror when he saw the attackers open fire upon the frigates. Many were destroyed as multiple explosions riddled their hulls, only a select few escaped unharmed. Within seconds, all but one frigate remained. Jaeger noticed the last frigate attempting to make a slip-space jump. The frigate was about half way through when a stream of purple light struck the frigate, destroying it completely.
Before Jaeger had the chance to take action, the Behemoth's intercom boomed. "ALL HANDS PREPARE FOR EMERGENCY SLIP-SPACE JUMP!"
The ship lurched almost instantly as the voice gave the warning. Jaeger was slightly unbalanced, but he recollected himself. He clenched his fist.
Athena, what was that last ship?
Jaeger-
TELL ME!
…
…
…
The CMA Vostok
With Athena's harsh but truthful words, Jaeger fell to his knees, letting out a guttural scream. A few minutes. That's all it took for Jaeger to feel his entire being shatter.
Wooh! Chapter 6 is finished. Now some of you have been asking when the crossover will happen, there's good news. The next chapter is when the crossover happens, so sit tight while I write it up!