"Would Spartan-117 report to the command centre". Chief just glanced at the ships' speakers before brushing past all the agents to get to the doorway.
The walk up to the command centre was uneventful but corridors were filled with awestruck marines, technicians even Freelancers that wanted to get a good look at the winner of the arena match. Chief ignored them; having had the same attention as back in his own time.
The thick steel doors slid open silently, opening up to the command centre. The place seemed spacious due to the lack of personnel there. Chief found the director conversing with the Councillor before Church noticed John and waved him over, dismissing the Councillor at the same time.
"Spartan-117, I congratulate you for passing the test and surpassing all expectations", the Director expressed, "but something has come up and has given me reason to believe the insurrection have become more aggressive and active".
A hologram of a planet was displayed with two moons surrounding it and seven orbital mac platforms floating in space above it's surface.
"This is New Varsity, a colony dedicated to the manufacturing of ships, not just civilian cruise liners, but top of the line UNSC navy Capital Warships. The whole planet is under control of the insurrectionists led by a man under the alias of Desmond Jorgenson".
An image of a middle aged man appeared, a cap was on his head and it read 'Hate UNSC' in bold letters. As well as that; he was also dressed in a standard marine BDU.
"This mission requires you to eliminate him and his other high rank subordinates that we have not identified, I trust that you will be able to do this?" Chief nodded.
"Sir, if I may, will I be able to take a squad of freelancers to back me up". The Director shook his head.
"If I deem it necessary, then yes, but I believe your abilities will allow you to easily infiltrate and eliminate the insurrectionist threat before it begins again".
The table then shifted to a very detailed 3 dimensional representation of an area. The Hologram also showed the 'Mother of Invention' flying high in the clouds.
"You will be deployed via ODP and land somewhere in this area", he pointed at a grassy plane that was about fifty klicks south of the town where the supposed insurrectionist leader was.
"The UNSC has given us three days to either assassinate him or gather intel before they launch an all out assault on the planet which will induce a high amount of casualties. If you manage to take him out of the picture, the UNSC will be able to launch a quick strike against the insurrectionist base there without the troubles of high amounts of casualties", the Director finished his thorough explanation and hoped the Spartan would understand.
The super soldier stared at the tables hologram until his head turned to face the Director, "I'll do it Director", John saluted the older man before heading towards the drop pod bay.
As John sat in his allocated pod, he began to process what happened in the two days he was on the frigate. The training simulation was so realistic, but not as intense and unforgiving as his trainee days of the Spartan II program.
Chief contemplated on how it was 2521, years before the Covenant's genocide against humanity. He pondered if he could somehow prevent the war from ever happening, but dismissed it for another time. He needed to focus on the mission.
The pod suddenly jerked before the feeling of falling kicked in. The pod's viewport became fiery red as the air friction caused flames to burn outside the pod.
Within minutes; the city finally came into view and steadily grew larger as he approached the surface. Within seconds the pod thumped heavily and produced a sound of crushed metal. The pods door exploded outwards, allowing John to hop out and survey the landing site with his 'MA37' assault rifle.
After confirming it was safe, Chief made the trek to the city; walking at a moderate pace. He passed houses and made sure to keep out of sight of bystanders.
After hours of hiking, Chief finally made it to the industrialised city. A few apartments were in the area, but most of the city was ship manufacturing yards, building ships ranging from a longsword fighter/bombers to a Halcyon class light Cruiser.
John kept to the shadows and traversed the city, looking for signs of the insurrectionist leader, Desmond Jorgenson. The only mentionable insurrectionist activities were the hourly patrols around the city. Luck was on his side however and they didn't check the alleyways for anything. The sun began setting on the horizon, almost ready to disappear from the sky all together.
As Chief passed by a small white apartment, out of the corner of his right eye he caught a glimpse of a warthog convoy beginning to turn into an intersection. John instantly scrambled into the apartment and threw himself behind the counter. The warthogs passed by without even noticing the faint impressions he left behind on the ground. Peeking over the counter, John saw them pass and left his hiding spot, about to exit the apartment when the sound of a dropped vase resounded in the air.
He whipped out his holstered pistol and aimed behind him before surprise overtook him. A young women in her early twenties looked in shock and fear at the 7 foot fully armoured Spartan, now staring straight at her.
"S-s-st-ay-aw-aw-away-fr-from-m-me", she stuttered. Her lips trembled and her eyes became glossy with tears. John lowered his pistol and holstered it. The woman bolted upstairs and the Master Chief gave chase quickly catching and holding her firmly with a hand over her mouth.
She squeezed her eyes shut and began hyperventilating, simultaneously sniffing. John released his hand from her mouth and placed it gently on her shoulder.
"I'm not going hurt you Miss, but you must calm down and breathe", he spoke gently, the gravely voice resonating. She slowly stopped hyperventilating and peeked one eye open to see his opaque orange visor staring right at her. The woman wimpered, "shhhhhhhhhh, its okay I'm not going to harm you", he spoke softly again. She stopped and took heavy breaths.
"Who are you?" she asked hesitantly.
"Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117", he replied, "What is your name?".
"M-Mel-lissa", the woman replied nervously. John quickly did a scan of her; she was about 160cm in height, had light brown hair that reached her upperback, was fair skinned and had bright cobalt-indigo eyes.
"I'm sorry to scare you, I don't usually have much civilian interaction", he spoke. He then got up and turned towards the exit before looking back at her.
"I don't suppose you know where the insurrectionist main base is in this city?", he asked. She stared at him before grabbing his armoured hand daintily and leading him to her room. She shut the doors and curtains.
"Are you with the UNSC?", Melissa asked softly. He nodded and she breathes out a sigh of relief.
"Ever since the Insurrectionists took over; they have subjected us to their tyranny. Many of us thought the UNSC abandoned us, but from your allegiance, I guess soon the insurrection will be kicked out of New Varsity after so many months", she smiled warmly at John but he didn't return the expression.
After a moment of awkward silence Melissa brought out a data pad and flicked through before she brought up a hologram, albeit less detailed than the one on the frigate.
"From what I know, they have actually two main bases. One in the old militia's barracks…", she pointed to a spherical roofed building that was three stories high, "…and one in the shipyards", she pointed at all twelve of the interconnected shipyards.
"Thank you for your assistance Melissa", John spoke before heading out of her apartment.
"Wait! Do you have a place to stay?" she asked shyly.
John shook his head, "I don't need one since I'm heading out", He said.
"You can't!", she exclaimed before covering her mouth, "Insurrectionists are more active at night, that's why patrols in the day aren't so full on". John considered her argument and reluctantly complied. She ushered him inside and prepared the guest room whilst Chief walked onto her balcony. Using his helmets inbuilt zoom function he watched as more insurrectionist thugs patrolled the streets occasionally knocking on peoples doors and questioning them before either moving on or arresting them. Chief almost wondered why this was happening but realised that his pod was still in the fields. Anyone could have seen it and reported to the Insurrectionists. That meant that they could be investigating the apartment as well. As he pondered the door knocked. He hid behind the kitchen counter.
"Sorry I'm coming!", Melissa called, she opened the door to find two thugs carrying smg's. The closer one got up to her face. "Hey there beautiful. You haven't happened to see a UNSC soldier in the area have you?", he questioned in a sickeningly sweet undertone. Melissa shook her head rapidly.
His face frowned dangerously and he pulled out a tablet, showing a still image of Melissa in the arms of the Spartan, "Don't lie to us you dirty scrub, where is he!?" he yelled at her, causing her to hyperventilate.
"I-I-I-I don't kn-know-wh-where he i-is", she stuttered in fear.
The man grabbed her and threw her on the floor cause her to cry in pain. He proceeded to mount her, his gun at her temples. She cried fully this time; tears streaming down her cheeks and her whimpering was heard by John.
John hearing the commotion drew his pistol from the waist and took aim at the thug's head. BANG-BANG! The two thugs dropped to the floor with holes on their faces. Melissa curled up into a ball and sobbed. John lifted the corpses and dropped them into the garbage disposal unit before walking to her quivering body.
He knelt beside her and reluctantly wrapped his armoured arms around her. She slowly subsided with the sobbing and breathed slowly and softly. John lifted her up and carried her to her room before gently placing her down on the soft mattress of the bed. After looking back at her peaceful slumber, he walked back out onto the balcony and waited for the sun to rise.
You know what guys, I apologise, I was waiting for a person to peer check but he hasn't messaged me back so it was actually ready to be posted like 3 weeks ago,
I am very sorry to keep you guys waiting,
Yours Sincerely, Xenongaf