Half an hour later
Location: Axiom main base
The pelican flew back towards the base, It's five taskforce members talking amongst themselves about what they had just been through at the New Haven outpost some ten miles away. When the base came into view, the pilots began to descend the pelican towards it. When it was about twenty feet above the ground, the pelican came to a halt and slowly lowered to the ground, the landing gear unfolding themselves as it neared the ground. When they touched the ground, the craft jolted slightly and the five jumped down onto the ground.
When they were all off the craft, sergeant John walked up to them from a nearby small cube shaped building.
"Good work, troops," he said. "Follow me,"
He led them back towards the cube shaped building. They followed, Marcus leading them. They were wondering about how to explain his to John. The Covenant at the New Haven outpost might be something serious and they had to let him know about it.
"Aren't you gonna tell him what happened?" Stinger whispered to Marcus, who nodded in reply.
"When we're inside," Marcus told him. "I think that's what he wants anyway,"
The door on the front of the building opened as they approached it and John led the group of taskforce soldiers inside into a small square shaped room with a window on the opposite wall with a stairwell leading up to the roof on the right wall. There was a bookcase along the back wall next to the window and a desk in the middle of the room with a chair behind it. In the corners, both left and right, next to the entrance door were alien plants. A holo-light hovered in the air a few inches below the ceiling. When everyone was inside, Marcus at the front of the group of taskforce soldiers and John had walked behind the desk and turned to face the troops in front of him, John began to speak.
"So what happened at the New Haven outpost?" he asked.
"We found Covenant soldiers there, sir," Marcus replied.
"How many?"
"An Elite and a squad of three Grunts to start off with. Then, a Covenant drop ship arrived with a Jackal sniper, two Hunters, and a few more Grunts and Jackals,"
John 'hmmed' when Marcus told him this. This was strange, very strange.
"Was the outpost destroyed?" he asked.
"No, sir," Marcus replied. "That's what's really strange. They didn't destroy it like they usually would. And, there's something else as well. Me and Tanya overheard them talking."
"What did they say?"
"We heard the Elite, which was in the control room of the outpost, say it was looking for something. I don't know what so I asked base control and they said captain McCrea had been there a few days before and had returned with something, but I don't know what and neither did base control."
Again, John 'hmmed'. This was getting to be very strange. Captain McCrea goes to the New Haven outpost and returns with something, then the Covenant arrive at the outpost days later and attack it but don't destroy it and they're overheard looking for something. Maybe it was what McCrea had, but even John, who was a close friend of captain McCrea, did not know what it was he had returned with.
After a few seconds, John cleared his throat.
"Right, well, that's all then," he said. "You guys head back to the barracks and, and this includes you guys as well, we'll say nothing more on the matter,"
At these words, the squad's eyes went wide with shock. What! What did he mean they were not to say anything more on the matter? What was going on?
"What do you mean: we won't say anything more on the matter?" Marcus asked.
"I mean, we won't talk about this attack in the presence of anyone else," John replied. "And I also mean you won't talk about this to everyone else in the barracks,"
"What!" Stinger exclaimed. "Why?" he demanded furiously.
"Because I don't anyone else to know that the Covenant sent a small team to this planet!" John replied, his voice also rising. "If everyone else in that barracks was to know about this, then they would start their own goddam solo missions to find the Covenant! Plus, for all we know this could have been a recon team!"
"Yeah, but the Covenant will send a fleet here once they know they've lost a team!" Alice told him.
"Exactly!" Tanya butted in. "You know that the Covenant will come here to find out what has happened to them!"
"Which is why if they do, then only you guys will be informed," John replied. He walked around the desk and stopped in front of Marcus and stepped closer towards him, making him back away a little until he was part of the group. "Now you guys listen, and listen good!" he growled. "No one else is to hear about this attack! You guys are not to speak of it to anyone else! You are not to mention it to anyone else. You are not to even mention it in the presence of anyone else! And if one other person in that taskforce, who all these warnings mostly apply to, hears of what happened today, then you will all be thrown out of this taskforce and the UNSC military and possibly even face imprisonment!" he paused and stepped back a pace from the group "Do I make myself clear?" he said in a calm tone.
The squad members looked at each other, all with shocked filled eyes, for a moment before Marcus sighed and faced John.
"Yes, sir," he said lowly.
"Good," John replied. "Now go back to your barracks," he ordered. "And remember, keep quiet," he added.
The squad nodded and walked out of the building back towards the base to get to their barracks. As they went, they began to whisper amongst themselves why this was happening.
Marcus was shocked completely by this. Why were they not allowed to tell anyone else about this? It was stupid! They had a right to know as well. They had fellow taskforce soldiers. Also, John said that the Covenant squad they encountered could be just a recon team, but Tanya and Alice had pointed out to him that the Covenant might come here in full force once they realise a recon team is missing. This was stupid. Stupid and…and…and foolish.
However, Marcus was still fixed on something else as well. What was it the Covenant was looking for that captain McCrea supposedly had? What was it? Was it plans for UNSC fleet deployments, or some kind of Covenant technology captured by the UNSC that only McCrea knew about, or was it something else? Maybe it was information that had the secret location of Earth on it, but if it was then why go to an outpost? Usually anything of that importance or classified stayed in the highest and most secretive of all military structures.
This was strange. They had to find out what this thing was captain McCrea may have, and what the Covenant were looking for, and also try and find a way of telling everyone else of what had happened today. However, that meant risking their place in this taskforce and, as John said, if anyone found out then they could find themselves out of the taskforce and even out of the UNSC altogether. Oh, this was a very bad situation.
Shaking the thoughts out of his head, Marcus set his sights on getting back to the barracks to rest and think about what could happen in the days following what had happened today at the New Haven outpost.