Disclaimer: I don't own halo, all OCs are mine though

chapter 11: Kyle: incognito

January 17, 2537

Location: C202 alpha system, Mamore

"all passengers prepare for atmospheric entry" said the flight attendant as the passenger liner entered the planet's gravity well. Kyle fastened his seatbelt and closed his eyes, he remembered an incident at T.F. Green airport where the plane his family was on made a rough sideways landing due to cross winds. He had been requested for this mission by an old friend at ONI, he still remembered the incident a few days ago on Reach.


January 5, 2537

location: Epsilon Eridani system, reach- ONI headquarters

"sir" said Kyle as he walked into his superior's office and saluted

"at ease? said the man behind the desk, he appeared to be in his early forties, his uniform had the leaf of a lieutenant commander and the name on the uniform read, W. Leary. "How have you been, Kyle?" he asked.

"Fine, sir" he replied.

"ok, Kyle, lets drop the formalities here, you can call me bill".

"ok then, bill" said Kyle as he sat down in the chair in front of his desk. "So why am I here?"

"I have a job for you" Leary replied. "I need something taken care of and for that, I need a Spartan".

"Don't you think ONI will become suspicious?" Kyle asked.

"this is an off the books mission and I'm the top of the food chain on this op so there's no risk of the upper echelons finding out".

"Why me?" said Kyle.

"because I need a Spartan and I can't use any of the others. From what I've read they're not the sociable type. They can't easily blend in, that's where you come in, you know what to say and can handle yourself in a social situation without drawing suspicion".

"So what's the mission?" said Kyle.

"ever herd of a planet called Mamore?" Leary asked

"I can't say that I have" Kyle replied. "It kinda sounds familiar"

"Well I was hoping your insight was an asset we could count on for this mission but we'll just have to make do" said Leary.

"So what's happening on Mamore?"

"we think that a radical faction known as Kelorists may be planing to over through the colonial government on Mamore with some backing from the URF. Recently, they've been persecuted by the planet's Parliament and there has been a series of small bombings that were linked back to the Kelorists. ONI has a few operatives and we're certain its the work of only a few dissidents but considering how organized they are, the URF must be giving them support".

"What's my job in this?"

"you're to make contact with the ONI group on Mamore and get their intel. Now our last transmission from them said that the Kelorists were planing a possible take over of the local government, but they didn't specify a timetable. We need that information so HIGHCOM can decide weather or not to send in the Marines, we can't afford another insurrection with the covenant devastating the outer colonies".

"How bad is it?" Kyle asked.

"we're not telling anyone yet but we just got word from survivors from Admiral Cole's fleet, he'd dead along with all but two of his ships".

Kyle had always wondered what happened to Cole and his fleet, but he had a good feeling after reading about the picture that hung at HIGHCOM in Australia in First Strike. "So when do I leave?" he asked Leary.

"later tonight" said Leary as he handed kyle a file folder. "That has all your travel documents and intel on the situation, along with your background. You won't be going as a Spartan but as a freelancer named Kyle Stevens".

Kyle smiled a little at the thought of using his last name again, it had been too long.

"As far as anyone's concerned you're just a specialist we hire for off the book missions" said Leary. "All the proper authentication codes are in the files I just gave you". He stood up, "good luck, Kyle" he said to him.

--

Kyle was at the base putting his affairs in order before his flight, he'd just finished the lockdown on his MJOLNIR armor, making sure his bag was secured in the armored compartment. Suddenly, he felt someone tap his shoulder, Kyle spun around and Kelly was standing there

"so where are you going?" she asked pointing to the duffel bag on his bunk

"ONI ordered me on a op they need a Spartan for, I leave tonight and I probably won't be back for a couple of weeks".

"What's the op about?" said Kelly.

"Can't do that, its classified" Kyle responded

"isn't it always with ONI" Kelly responded. "Just don't have too much fun"

"oh they'll be plenty to go around when I get back" said Kyle as he picked up his duffel and walked to the door. He hated lying to her and everyone else, and his feelings for Kelly were eating him away inside every time he suppressed them. He just wanted to come out and tell her but he wondered if she felt the same way.


January 17, 2537

Location: C202 alpha system, Mamore

Kyle disembarked his transport and walked out of the small spaceport in Mamore's capital city, New Phoenix. He went out to the parking lot and looked around until he found a particular taxi. The driver was leaning up against it reading the local newspaper, on the front cover was a picture of the planet's governor, Mitt Giuilani, the caption said he was promising to bring the radical Kelorists to justice for the attacks.

"You know on Reach, January is a spring month" he said to the driver.

"well its always hot and humid as hell, here" he replied. "Name's Jameson, I assume you're the freelancer that prowler told us about".

"You'd be right" he said. "Name's Kyle Stevens".

"The others are expecting you" he said as he opened the door to his cab and Kyle got in. "We've been stuck here for six months being the handling team for the operatives" Jameson explained on the ride.

"How many are there?" Kyle asked

"there are four operatives on the inside and the handlers consist of myself and four others, so far we don't have a direct connection to the URF but we do have strong evidence that they've been supplying the radicals, arms and explosives" said Jameson as he pulled into a warehouse. Kyle and Jameson both got out of the car and Kyle noticed the various crates of equipment and computer monitors scattered around he noticed two people manning the computers and two more on a walkway above.

"Hey look at that, our mercenary is here" said a young woman from the balcony.

"everyone, this this Kyle Stevens" said Jameson who then proceeded to introduce the members of his team, the two at the computers were Bill Kerry and Chris Harling the Tech guys. Up on the balcony was Nick Capra, their profiler. And Alison Todd, the only woman on the team.

"I'm sure you must be tired" said Kerry. "The bunk room's back there" he said pointing to a door behind a few crates.

"Thanks" Kyle responded as he retrieved his duffel from the cab and went into the bunk room. After a couple hours of sleep he was woken by Jameson who brought him out to their "operations center".

"We just got a message from one of our contacts" said Kerry. as he displayed a text message on one of the screens

URF sending MG to the K. Timetable accelerated, over through imminent!

"he also included some info on one of the targets we've been surveying" said Jameson as he brought up a photo of a middle aged man with a bald head. "This is Jacob Alexander, a man we suspect is in the inner circle and possibly one of the leaders of the Kelorist dissident movement. He's going to be at a retirement party for a member of Mamore's parliament tomorrow night. So I've decided to send you and Allie in undercover, see if you can ID any of his supporters".

"Sounds like a plan" said Alison.

"what about the message?" said Kyle. "This MG the URF is sending?"

"Machine guns" said Kerry. "Its an arms shipment, probably heavy stuff too which explains the timetable going up"

"ok then, I'm not waiting any longer" said Jameson. "I'm alerting ONI of the situation, they'll have to send in the Marines. I'll also have to recommend that we inform Governor Giuilani of the situation so he can activate the colonial militia. Tell our operatives to continue gathering intel" he said to Chris. "We need to know when they'll strike".

"So what's your suit size?" Alison asked Kyle.


January 18, 2537

location: C202 alpha system, Mamore- New Phoenix plaza center

"you got your equipment set?" Jameson asked from the driver's seat of a luxury car he somehow acquired, Kyle sat in the back seat in his suit. Next to him was Alison in a blue sleeveless dress and her blond hair was in a bun. Kyle wasn't armed but he had a small camera built into a button on his coat, they both had COM units in their ears and a concealed panic button.

"Ok, we're here" said Jameson as he pulled up out front, Kyle got out first and offered his hand to Alison. She took it and Kyle helped his "date" out of the car.

"I'll be around the corner" said Jameson as he rolled up the window and sped off, Alison looped his arm around kyle's and the pair proceeded inside. Kyle handed the guard their invitations that had been arranged through the governor's office. The guard cleared them and they were allowed to proceed to the ballroom. In there was various politicians, rich people and personal friends of the various guests. On the stage was a line of tables and a podium in the middle with a pair of Teleprompters on either side. The whole seen reminded him of the white house correspondents association dinner they had every year, the only one he watched was in 2006 when Stephen Colbert was invited and he roasted President Bush.

"I'm going to scout out the guests" said Alison as she left him. Kyle decided to get a drink at the bar so he walked over and ordered a ginger ale from the bartender, the regs said that Spartans couldn't consume alcohol and Kyle still took it to heart. As the bartender handed him his drink he didn't notice who had sat down next to him. He spoke with a southern accent as he ordered a scotch and after his drink arrived he decided to strike up a conversation with Kyle.

"How's the ale?" he asked.

Kyle looked up from his drink and stared face to face with Jacob Alexander

"just play it cool, Kyle" he said to himself. "Its fine" he replied to Alexander.

"never cared for it myself" said Alexander. "I prefer something with a little alcohol. You all right?

"yes, why?" Kyle replied, sounding puzzled.

"you look a little pail" he said with a hint of concern in his voice.

"I'm fine, I'm something of a hermit so I don't get a lot of sun" said Kyle.

Alexander let out a small chuckle, "so what exactly do you do, Mr...?"

"Stevens, Kyle Stevens" he said as he shook hands with Alexander. "I'm a journalist, freelance".

"Nice to meet you, Mr Stevens" said Alexander. "I'm sure you've herd of me"

"who hasn't these days" said Kyle.

"quite right" he replied. "As you might have guessed I don't like reporters and I'm afraid I have to cut this little interview short".

"Who said this was an interview?" said Kyle.

"quite right" said Alexander as he got up "I'm afraid I have business to attend to, perhaps we can schedule an interview later?"

"I'd like that" Kyle replied as he watched Alexander meet up with two other people and leave the ballroom. He returned to his drink but suddenly someone grabbed his hand and dragged him onto the dance floor, it was Alison.

"can you dance?" she asked as she wrapped her arm around him.

"a little" said Kyle, but before he could protest they were already dancing with the other couples.

"Do you have any idea who you were talking with?!" she whispered into his ear.

"yes, Jacob Alexander" Kyle whispered back.

"well?" said Alison.

"I defiantly think he's hiding something" said Kyle.

They kept up the dancing until the guest of honor approached the podium and began his speech, he thanked everyone for coming and then turned it over to a surprise guest. Governor Giuilani came out, took his position behind the podium and began to speak.

"Jameson, we have a problem, the governor is here" Kyle said into his concealed Mic.

"What?! That wasn't on his literary, it must have been a last minute deal" Jameson replied.

Suddenly, a pair of shots rang out and governor Giuilani collapsed with a bullet hole in his head. Everyone in the room either ducked or scrambled for cover as several armed men shot up the podium, killing the governor's bodyguards and several people at the table. Kyle sprang into action, his military training took over and he hurled himself at the closest attacker. He slammed his fists into the man's chest, shattering his rib cage then wrenching his weapon out of his hands. Before his comrades could react, Kyle cut them all down. People began running out of the ball room and Jameson was screaming in his ear piece.

"what the hell is going on? All hell is breaking loose out here!"

"Guilani's dead" said Kyle as Alison came over to him. "We're on our way out"

"roger that I'm... oh shit", there was a hiss of static and the line went dead. Suddenly, there was a loud boom and the lights began to flicker.

"Lets go!" said Kyle as he grabbed her hand and they both ran out of the building. When they got outside though, the whole city was in chaos. There was smoke coming from several points in the city and the street was littered with debris and burning cars. Gunfire and small explosions could be herd.

"This way" said Alison as she led Kyle to where Jameson was parked, all they found though was the sedan on fire and pot marked with bullet holes. Kyle took her to an nearby car, hot wired it and he drove them both back to the warehouse. They mainly used side streets and back roads until they arrived in the industrial sector. The rebels were easily overwhelming the local police and soon they would have control.

"Its no good, I can't reach the base" said Alison.

"The rebels must be jamming all the frequencies" said Kyle. "We're almost there though"

When they arrived at the warehouse and went in they, found the computers shot up. And found Kerry, Harling and Capra dead on the floor.

"Oh my god" said Alison.

Suddenly, several flashbang grenades rolled inside the warehouse and detonated. Kyle pushed Alison to the floor. He tried to get up but someone placed a cloth covered in chloroform over his mouth and Kyle passed out.

--

"wake up!" someone said as he splashed a bucket of cold water over Kyle's head. Kyle woke up to find himself tied to a chair. There were men with guns everywhere and the person in front of him was Jacob Alexander.

"Well well well, what are you doing here Kyle Stevens, or is it... Petty Officer Kyle-091?"

Kyle gut turned cold, he'd found out his identity.

"You'd be surprised what my allies in the URF know about you and your fellow Spartans" said Alexander. "Well it only fair you should know something too"

"where's Alison?" he asked.

"your lady friend has been taken somewhere safe and your ONI colleagues don't even know that you and her are still alive. But I think they would be willing to give in to our demands as long as they know we have a Spartan as a hostage. We are now in control here so don't expect the militia to bust in and save you".

Suddenly, there was an explosion and glass started to rain down from the ceiling, someone had blown out the skylights. Three ropes dropped own from the holes but no one slid down. The guard who weren't dazed began firing at the holes. Then the wall behind the majority of the guards exploded and the remaining ones shifted their fire over there. Alexander drew his own sidearm and fired at the new hole as he made a beeline for the exit. The guards didn't see three figures slide down the ropes and begin firing on the remaining solders. Kyle couldn't get a good look at them because it was like they were transparent shadows, he could only make out a basic human shape. Kyle decided to act and he easily broke his rope bonds and stood up. But a guard rammed the but of his weapon into the side of Kyle's head and he collapsed. He could feel the blood run down his head and his vision was starting to get a little blurry, but he watched as one of the shadows approached him.

The guard who knocked him down saw this too and fired at the shadow, the bullets pinged off, but it disrupted what ever camouflage this guy was using and Kyle was able to get a good look at him. His armor seemed similar to an ODST body suit, but was covered in green paneling, the helmet had a large gold faceplate that covered most of the helmet. "It can't be" Kyle thought to himself as the stranger moved at lighting speed and rushed the guard, grabbed his arm and broke it in one motion. "There could only be one explanation" thought kyle "... Spartans", but before he could ponder anything else, he passed out.