I'm back with a new chapter and I've also gotten rid of an old one with what I hope is an improvement to what was before. Also turns out that replacing an older chapter then deleting another somehow counts as an update? I don't get it.
Anyway I officially apologize for that and sorry I didn't realize it sooner but I was a little busy with other things. But lets move on with it.
All rights to their owners as I own nothing.
Location: Seattle, Washington
[Time: 11:26] [date: September 21, Local date, 2553 UNSC stander year]
Currently cruising through the streets of Seattle Washington, Dutch and Romeo were walked as if they own the place as they killed time till the football game kicked off. As they had tickets for Seahawks game taking place later on tonight.
This was also this was their first official leave from base since they had gotten here.
And it was probably of the best as Buck was still furious with everyone over Mickeys death. Something that was completely understandable but it was just getting old at this point. And it made for one very uncomfortable work environment.
Still they had expected that the moment they rolled into base without him and broke the news to Buck. At which point he flipped his shit and went on to personal blame them for Mickeys death and for not following through on his orders.
Still they didn't defend themselves from his accusations he throw their way. As they couldn't even bring themselves to look him in the eye after they had told him. Dutch less of all could find the guts to look in the eye. As his whole world probably would've shattered as he burst into tears as he blamed himself and resigning from service.
"Hmm?" Romeo grunted as he noticed that Dutch face turn into a frown.
"It's nothing. Besides you know." Dutch didn't need to elaborate on what Romeo already knew.
He knew that the earlier events were still weighing heavily in his mind. Still Romeo felt something of helpless as he was unable to do anything to help his partner out of this. Unless fucking around with the laws of the universe counted. Still he was no Einstein as he didn't understand what the hell made the universe tick on a daily basis.
Still Romeo wasn't going to be any good to Dutch if he was worrying about him. So he directed them to a clothing store as their current clothes were just not cutting it.
They were both wearing what ever was on the base that hadn't fallen apart in the wash. It had been what ever had been left behind the contractors that had done the teardown of the base.
"Surely you're joking." Dutch said dryly not believing Romeo was serious.
"Have you looked at what you're wearing? Come on, we might be able to walk around the streets like this, but don't you think they might not let us in the stadium if we're wearing this?" Romeo had him there.
They were currently wearing faded blue overall with holes in the leg and a stained white work shirt. So they looked like that I just got off the job site and on their way home.
"At least it's a Marks works warehouse." Dutch commented as they entered the store.
It was like any Marks store anywhere in the world, with it work clothes section in the middle of the store. Instantly the two of them split up and looked around for some reasonable looking clothes to wear to the football game.
Dutch and Romeo quickly looked through a couple of different clothes still they found that pants were the easiest things for them to find. As Dutch quickly found himself a pair of blue jeans while Romeo got a pair of black pants. Now the problem they had was what kinda shirts that they were going to wear with it.
For the most part Dutch wasn't liking most of the shirts he had to choose from. But as for as Romeo was considered however it was rather easy as he didn't really care as to how it looked or what colour it was as long as it fitted him correctly.
It didn't take Romeo long to notice that Dutch was struggling to find anything to his liking. So like any good friend he was, Romeo looked around to see if he could find anything he thought Dutch would like.
It didn't take Romeo too long to find something that he knew that Miles would probably like.
"Yo, Miles!" Romeo called out.
It wasn't that offen that Romeo used his name so Dutch quickly looked up to find a large orange shirt flying towards him. Which he immediately caught in midflight, it was a XL shirt similar to that which to what he used wear in his trucking job before he join the core.
"Nice." Dutch said approvingly as he tried on the shirt.
Much to his surprise and unlike many other shirts that he had tried, this one seemed to fit better then the other he had tried before hand. As it wasn't too tight on him and yet wasn't too loose it was in his opinion: It was a perfect fit for him.
Still even though they had found everything they had need, the two of them still shopped around as they still had around four and a half hours to kill. While they were still looking around both Dutch and Romeo did manage to find a couple more outfits alongside a couple of sets of boots.
But this too came with problems as the more they bought more then they couldn't take across the border without having problems with costumes officials. But Dutch and Romeo had that covered as they would simply drop everything off at a ONI owned storage unit. After which ONI would use their middle man to smuggle this stuff to them at a later date.
Just one of the many perks of being secret millionaires. So much money to throw around that it was almost child's play to set up any sort of illegal supply chain from the US to Canada.
This was one of their very many unofficial missions while state side. Still their main goal of the two was R&R before they were thrown back into the meat grinder. But Romeo was still hoping that he would have a chance to buy a Lamborghini while here and be able to being it back with him after this was over.
Still that was mostly an after thought as they finally checked out of the store, as the two of them then began to made their way back to the hotel room which they were staying in.
"Hay Romes, do you know anything about football?" Dutch popped the question once they were back in their hotel room.
This was because Dutch didn't real know a thing about football, only when I had stopped being played across the colonies as a professional sport league in the late 23rd century do to some labor disputes and transporting the players to their game.
"Somewhat. Me and a couple of my friends from back on the day used to play in high school." Romeo said as he was charging his pants.
"Well isn't that reassuring. I'll make sure that you're the one doing all the talk then." Dutch said dryly as he slipped on his shirt.
This drew a sigh from Romeo, of course Dutch was going to look far any excuse to make him do all the talking that had any chance to make him look the the fool.
"If that's the case then, I'll be sure to send you the bill if I land in jail." Romeo joked dryly.
It was a rather unfortunate possibility with him, still Romeo loved to joke about it anyway. As Dutch laugh at the thought of Romeo being dragged away by the Feds.
"Don't worry. The entertainment value alone would be worth any bail I would have to pay."
"Ha. Ha." Romeo fake laugh in reply to this.
"Anyway, do you want to swing by the storage unit before we head off to the game to dump our stuff?" Romeo asked.
"Sure I don't see a reason as to why we can't." Dutch replied as he finished dressing himself.
"Cool." Romeo said as he also finished up putting his clothes.
"Anyway we still have a couple of hours to burn anyways." Dutch pointed out as he came to sit on his bed.
"Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find something to do to kill time." Romeo reassured Dutch who only half believed it.
He had an idea of what Romeo's idea of 'killing time' entailed. The strip club. Romes natural habitat when he wasn't killing the ever living shit out of Covenant or flirting with the ladies.
It had been many years since Romeo had set foot in such an establishment. While Dutch on the other hand had never needed to visit such a place since he had already found his love in his old squad mate and wife: Gretchen Ketola.
Just the thought of her hurt him, for all the promises that he had broken. The unbearable pain she that was probably feeling at the news that he was KIA. The family they would never raise. All this hurt Dutch more then anything any enemy could come up with.
Just knowing that you were alive but separate from the one that mattered more then the universe itself. It was heart wrenching to say the least.
'Gretchen. I don't know what to do. Maybe, if you were here things would've been different.' Dutch thought to himself.
This wasn't the first time he had thought about how things would've been different if she hadn't been injured by that innie land mine. He flinched upon that extremely painful memory, he would never get over it.
From the sudden sound of the explosion which was followed by Gretchen crying out in pain as the dust cleared to reveal...
It was at this point that he started to feel light headed and his could feel his balance started to go. As Dutch didn't even realize it had fully gone and that he was falling until he hit the floor.
"Dutch!" Romeo cried out in alarm as he raced over to check on him.
Dutch had already begun to recover by the time Romeo made it over to him.
"I'm." He took a deep breath to stayed his voice. "Fine."
"Like hell you are!" Romeo retorted sharply.
He was right of course. Dutch had never had this kinda episode before, even during the war. It had all the signs of PTSD written all over it. And as much as Rome may hate to admit it, Dutch might of been on to something with retiring from field missions.
"I know. I know. Probably for the best that I quite while I'm at the top of my game." Dutch said jokingly.
Still it was a fake on at best, everyone who hear it knew it. But it was at least meant to lighten the mood.
Despite that Romeo made sure that he was sitting on his bed before asking him this next piece.
"Was It about her?" He asked simple.
He didn't need to say the name, he knew who he was talking about.
"Yes. And Mickey. I'm just not what I used to be, even with the new body." Dutch shock his head as he continued. "My mind still the same one as before." He just simply shock his head again as let his head rest in his hands.
Romeo didn't know what to say as most of what Dutch had said was on the mark. As they indeed have the bodies of young adults but with the minds of war veterans and all that in tailed.
"Yay, me as well." Romeo said in sympathy unable to find anything else to say.
And that what bothered Romeo the most. As he couldn't simply say something smart and that would be the end of it, nor could he simply punch his way out of this situation either. This was something that was truly out of his control and he absolutely hated that.
It made him feel powerless to effect anything that was happening to Dutch, and as a ODST one of the many things they hated the most was feeling powerless but then again so did most people in the world.
"Damn, I can't believe I'm saying this. But Dutch." Romeo looked away from him as he continued. "As much as I don't want say it." He breathed sharply as he continued. "I rather see you on the side lines then with Mickey."
After those words were uttered a deafening silence fell across the room. As the possibility ran through their heads. It when on for a rather long time, too long in fact that it started to become awkward. But much to Romeo's surprise it was Dutch who broke the silence.
"Rome's. I get what you're getting at. Trust my I do. I'm not going to end up like Mick, I just need time to sort something's out and get my bearings again." He then smiled at him as he continued. "Besides who else is going to bail your scrub ass out when that prostitute holds you up for you wallet." Dutch teases his partner.
"You never gonna let that one go are you?" Romeo said not wanting to be reminded of that particular incident.
"Never in a million years." Dutch confirmed at the two of them broke into uncontrollably laughter.
It was a rather good thing to do after the topic they were just on letting them know that life would go on as normal. Well, as normal of them at any rate.
But once the laughter had died down they were still left with the specter of what they had just talked about. Still they tried not to dwell on this as they got up and did anything to keep busy so they didn't have to think too much.
Still there wasn't much to do either so they quickly ran into problems.
"Romes?"
"Yay. Let go." Romeo replied as they gather their stuff and left.
After they had left their hotel room with all their stuff. Romeo and Dutch quickly founded themselves talking about the cars from this time period as most 21th century and were considered classes back in their time.
Still as they walked along they made sure to keeping their guard up in case they became a target of those who saw them as weak. Fortunately for them most knew not to mess with military even ex-military as they could usually take care of themselves and had an aura around them that usually kept even the most bold from trying anything on them.
Still that didn't mean that people would've take any opportunity to exploit them if given the chance. As anyone could be easily misdirected if the person opposite knew what they were doing.
"Hello ladies." Romeo comment as two rather attractive women passed by them.
"Don't even think about it ladies man." Dutch said grabbing him by his collar.
Maybe back home, but here they were more likely to simply lead to to a back ally and robed him. And he didn't feel like either scrapping what ever was left of Romeo off the side walk and reporting to Buck how it had happened. Or baling him out only to have the cops after them afterwards.
Neither one was something he wanted to deal with at the moment because they both involved him having to face Buck afterwards. And that would definitely not be a pleasant experience if past experiences were any indication.
"Fine. Only because Buck would kill us other wise." Romeo said admit defeat as they walked on.
And as they continue walking they quickly found themselves at the storage facility where they could dump all their stuff off before going to the game.
"Here we are. All the porn, pot and snacks you could ever want." Romeo announced as he open the storage unit.
"What ever. As long as I can throw my stuff in it. I don't care what you do in your free time." Dutch rolled his eyes at Romeo's comment.
It was a rather large unit probably about the size of three of the smaller one combined with the matching price. Still Dutch and Romeo didn't care. As it was ONI problem as to how they pay the bills for this stuff, the two of they were just their unwilling underlings.
"Alright anything else you need to grab or can I lock her up and get out of here?" Dutch asked find himself short on patients.
"Hang on. I just need to grab something. Give me five." Romeo responded much to Dutch irritation.
Still it didn't take long for Romeo to grab what he was looking for.
'Keys?' Dutch thought confused as to why Romeo would take the time to search for such a trivial thing.
"You're probably wondering, as to why I've made such a big deal out of this." Romeo said now throwing the keys at him.
Dutch easily caught the keys in mid air, and what he saw on then shocked him. On the keys was the logo for a Bentley.
Bentley a British based manufacturer know for it luxury cars with prices to match. As some people who knew the company considered their vehicles to be discount super cars. Which were often the case as many underworld illegal street racing got a hold of them and upgraded them.
In other words it was probably one of Britain best kept secrets only known mostly to car lovers who enjoyed this brand of vehicle.
"Do this mean? What I think this means?" Dutch asked hopefully.
He had hoped to in fact have a chance to sample some of the more classic cars from this era. And Bentley was definitely one of those on his list. It wasn't at the top to be sure but in his top fifty. Still he wasn't disappointed with Romeo's response.
"Well... it's not a Lambo, but it will do." Romeo said disappointed by this fact.
But Dutch didn't really care at this point as from what he had head it was a good car from a couple of his buddies back from his trucking days. Especially if it were from the Supersport line. Still it was rather unfortunate that they couldn't get anything more fancy but considering the time crunch and everything else it was definitely the best thing that they could come up with considering the short notice.
"I'm hoping that its fully loaded." Dutch commented as Romeo close the door to the storage unit and locked it backed up.
"I assume so. It owned by those ONI spooks." Romeo set offhandedly as he turned to join him as they left the facility.
Once they were outside Romeo instructed Dutch to follow him to a nearby Parkade. To which Dutch assumed was where the Bentley was currently parked at. He was right as the entered the third level and Dutch was finally lay eyes upon it.
From the moment he saw the car he knew that this was going to be 'his' car. Not exceptions.
It was a Supersport as he had hoped to find with it very recognizable design and paint job. With it gray body raised hud cover for the engine block which was coloured black and ran down the car like a strip. Started at the bottom of the grill and to the trunk of the car, the interior was quality black leather and red and gray that made it pop and screamed luxury.
"Any idea if it had any work done on it?" Dutch inquired as jumped in the drives seat and took in the cars interior.
"Knowing ONI. It's probably been upgraded and armored up." Romeo commented as he hit the ignition switch.
Its engine roared to life sending shivers up Dutch's back. It was confirmed that this was going to be his car, as he then put it into gear and drove it out of the Parkade.
Location: Seattle, Washington, CenturyLink Field
[Time: 18:42] [date: September 21, Local date, 2553 UNSC stander year]
Both Dutch and Romeo were currently standing in line to get their tickets check so they could be let into the stadium.
"This should be interesting." Commented Romeo as he noticed the security measures in place ahead of them.
Dutch tried his best to look casual as he surveyed the security set up. It wasn't good as he saw metal detectors with x-ray machines beside it, hell there was even a sniffer dog walking around and that wasn't even mentioning all the security personnel walked around as well.
"Did someone call in a bomb threat and not tell anyone." Rome whispered to Dutch hoping that no one would overhear him.
"I didn't know. But this can be a problem." What Dutch was referring to was the fact that hadn't come to the game empty handed.
Because currently hidden inside their pants were their M6C service sidearm. If it had been any other day then the US probably wouldn't of give a damn if you brought a gun to the game, but now...this could prove problematic for the two of them.
"So much for gun ho, America." Romeo muttered under his breath as Dutch tried to come up with a plan.
Still he couldn't think of many options that didn't end up with them both ending up on the seven o'clock news. The only good idea that he could come up with was bluffing one of the security personnel that they were undercover cop or some stupid like that. But apparently the universe was up to it usual tricks. Just as they were getting closer to the security line an entourage of people push their way through the lines without a care as to those still waiting.
"Bloody hell." Dutch growled under his breath as he braced for what he knew was coming up.
"One away, you Mongrels." Growled out the obvious leader of the mob.
Dutch and Romeo alongside a large number of people in the line up made way to the unruly mob that forced their way to the front of the security line. The two of them like everyone else there wasn't really sure as to what to do, so they listened in to their instructions in order to avoid any sorta fight.
"Tickets please." Asked the usher in a calm voice as if this wasn't anything out of the normal once the leader approached her.
"Don't you know how we are?" The woman asked her in a condescending tone.
"Not I don't. Now would you kindly show me your tickets." The ushers asked with a hidden tone of malice now entering her voice.
It was at this point that Romeo caught a glimpse of at least ten or so people making their way to the back of the new formed mob that awaited to out come of this squabbling. As the jackass in front of them kept tried to force their way into the stadium without the proper tickets.
Romeo quickly tapped Dutch shocked and alerted him to this development.
"What you think?" He asked in a hushed voice.
"No point in standing around here." Romeo said just as the yelling at entire point intensified.
The two of them quickly made their way to the back of the mob just as the mood started to sour and they became more restless. Probably just as well as they left when they did least they found themselves right in the middle of riot that seemed to brewing.
As the two of them quickly caught up to those who break aways from the main mob as were made their way around the stadium.
"So... any idea as to where they're going?" Romeo asked.
"Probably a back door or something like that. Because I seriously doubt that they would leave without good reason." Dutch commented as they approached where the players and staff when in.
As they approached they quickly noticed the line that had formed in front of the doors.
"Yo." Romeo called out to one of the people in line. "Is this the a way to get in?" He asked one of the men in line.
"Yay, it is. I'm going to guess that you're not from around here." The man asked them.
"We're tourists from Canada." Romeo said sticking to their cover story.
As it was more conspicuous to say Canada then Mars or Madrigal at any rate.
"Guess you're lucky then. Probably because everyone's there's nice." The man said jokingly.
"They have their moments." Romeo said drawing from his memories.
"You'll have to tell me a couple of stories about that over a drink sometime." The man said as he finally got to the front of the line and showed his ticket to the man, who was then promptly let him inside.
Unfortunately for both Romeo and Dutch it hadn't occurred to them to save a spot in line as they were talking to that man. As they finally realize that they would stand at the back of a large line that was now threatening to spill onto a nearby sidewalk.
"Great. This's going to fucking blow." Romeo complained to which Dutch could agree with as he wasn't looking forward to this.
He was currently it did fucking blow as they ended up waiting over twenty minutes before they finally got to the front of the line and were able to show their tickets.
"Finally." Romeo grumbled under his breath as he approached the usher that seemed to be in charge.
"Let me guess. This wasn't how you were expecting to experience your first football game in the States." Commented the usher as he inspected their tickets.
"You could, say that." Dutch said as he handed him his ticket.
"Yay, sorry about that. But unfortunately for everyone, we all have to deal with this crap. Thanks for nothing Tabane." He particularly said this last bit under his breath in an effort not be heard by everyone else standing in line behind them.
"Yay, that bitch is a idiot. Still any idea as to what we can expect inside?" Romeo asked the usher.
"I'm assuming you asking about what's happening up front?"
"Yay, kinda." Romeo replied sarcastically as if it weren't about the brewing riot at the main entrance of the stadium.
"Don't you worry about that. In fact." He committed just as at least five to six SWAT cars raced by them in menacing silence.
Romeo asked the question. He just had to.
"I take it this happens very often?"
"Every other day in fact." He replied.
He wasn't joking. Because this had become pretty much the norm sad right? Just considering only that a few years ago that you would never had seen a SWAT team being called in before game time to deal with some so so trivial now though...
"Damn." Was the only thing that Romeo could say as he shock his head.
"From what I hear I'm assuming that you're not from around here?" The usher inquired as he finally took their tickets and checked them both in.
"You could say that." Dutch said not really wanting to repeat the entire story again to this man.
"We I hope that you'll at least enjoy the game. Can't say that you won't get into any more trouble inside. Watch you back, will yay?" He said waving them inside.
Dutch gave him a quick salute signifying that he would try as the two of them walked into the arena.
It took them a good five minutes till they finally managed to find there way to the concourse where all the food, drinks, and memorabilia was being sold.
There was still at least ten minutes before game time so the two of them walked around the concourse. For the most part Romeo and Dutch didn't really find anything interesting in the first three minutes till they passed by a memorabilia store.
They would've easily have passed by it if not for Romeo something something that caught his eye. It came in the form of a sale on all Seahawks merchandise that were currently so ridiculous that it was kinda hard to believe the prices at face value.
As such Romeo immediately went in scanning for anything of value.
He saw a couple of items that caught his eye but nothing he hadn't seen before. Until he came across what was especially a gold mine.
"Score! Hay Dutch you also want a jersey?" Romeo asked to which he received a no.
"Fine then. Your loss my friend." Romeo said a little bit disappointed that Dutch wasn't going to wear on with him.
As he then grabbed the jersey off the rack and when up to the teller to pay for it. The jersey that was usually $179.99 was currently on for $19.99 so Romeo was going to get it. And when they got back home he could probably flip it for a small fortune as the Seahawks had been disbanded in the late 22th century which was definitely a plus.
Along with the fact that it looked cool and could possibly have it signed as well. If that happened he would definitely hang it on his was so the possibility for him were endless.
"Hi. I would like to get this." Romeo said kept it simple as their were other waiting in line behind him and he didn't want to get jumped by a bitch who thought it was her God given right to be served before him.
But luckily it all when off without a hitch as he payed for as he was now walked back over to Dutch now wearing the jersey.
"So? What you think?" Romeo asked for his opinion.
"Looks good. If it were you colour." This drew a sour look from Romeo.
Dutch was definitely in one of his moods as he would often get into when his was annoyed by something. Still there was little he could do when Dutch was like this other then just ride it out.
"Then again maybe it's your colour." Romeo said turn the tables on his friend as he threw him the jersey.
Dutch looked at the jersey for a couple of seconds before albeit reluctantly put on the jersey. Still he didn't look particularly happy about this, but neither did he look particularly upset about wear it.
So Romeo took what he could get. And hay at least he hadn't said no to him.
'Hopefully this goes some way as to cheers him up.' Romeo thought to himself as he then walked back to buy himself another jersey.
Still when he got back to him Dutch still had that same look on his face as before. Romeo sighed to himself knowing that it was going to take a lot more then his to cheer the man up as they continue walking around the stadium waiting for the game to start.
It was finally game time as both Dutch and Romeo made their way to seats only minutes before the opening ceremonies began in earnest.
Still in their time walking around they had managed to grab all their snacks, sports merchandise and any other crap they need before the game started and they were locked into their seats for a couple hours.
As they were walk up the stairs to their seats Romeo made small talk with Dutch as they walked.
"This should be hopeful a good game. Considering who the Seahawks are playing." Romeo said as they finally managed to get to their seats.
"Hopefully it is, or we've wasted an entire night here." Dutch replied, not as optimistic as Romeo over outcome of the game we were about to watch.
The two of them had finally gotten their seats and were on the middle of sitting down where two women started to approached them.
'Why do I get the feeling thay an eye us?' Romeo asked himself as his feeling were then confirmed by her next statement.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure that this will be a wasted night for you two." Said one of the two that were now standing right next to Romeo as he turned to face her.
'Oh boy, here we go.' Dutch thought in his head as he prepared himself for Romeo's reply as he knew that he wasn't going to back down.
"And why would that be? Because as far as I know, my ass is firmly in 'my seat.'" Romeo put an extra emphasis on my seat to make clear to them if they wanted this seats they were going to have to fight them for it.
"Well that rather unfortunate. Because I rather not of use this. Now move your in our seats." She said asliding out a gun from her purse and point him towards themm taking care to make sure that no one around them noticed what was going on.
'Of fucking course she's armed with a gun.' Romeo thought darkly, hated the fact that with all security outside bull shit like this could still happen.
Still that did little to change the fact that some ass of a woman and her friend were trying to steal their seats from them. And that any chance of civilized conversation had been thrown out window the moment they had pulled out the gun on them.
So Romeo naturally pulled out a gun of his own to point at the person holding a gun to his head.
But this only served to escalate things quickly as her partner also pulled another gun on him and in response Dutch quickly pulled his gun out and pointed it her as well.
As the whole thing degenerated into a Mexican standoff between the four of them with no one wanting to pull the trigger. Still they could feel everyone around them held their breath to see who would shoot first. Still it surprised everyone especially Dutch when Romeo brought out another gun from seemly out of his ass and now trained it on the one who was aiming at Dutch.
'Okay it's official. This is a complete cluster fuck.' Thought Dutch who wasn't sure as to Romeo's next move at this point.
But he was pretty sure that it didn't really matter at this point as he could the eyes of everyone in their section on them. In no part do to the fact there were live firearms involved. As live firearms at a public event usually didn't mix with one another.
Still he didn't expect what came next. As in a moment that could only be described as Romeo to go full retar. As he then brought up his gun and fired!
"Wow! WOW! WOW!" Dutch cried out as he wasn't expecting Romeo to take it this far.
He guessed that he was trying to show that he was serious to this pricks. But instead it now looked like that he was th crazy one.
'How can this get any worse?' Dutch asked himself and felt stupid only moments late once he finally figured out that this was playing out live on the stadium jumbo screen.
"This just got worse a whole lot worse." Dutch said to himself as he then started to think of an escape plan to get out of there in one piece.
Location: Omega ODST base Northern Canada
[Time: 20:58] [date: September 21, Local date, 2553 UNSC stander year]
Buck had just finished up his shift and boy did he now have a new respect for the average service man worked behind the scenes to keep everything running smoothly for others.
He was beat and had just sat down on the newly acquired chair in the base new brake room. It was pretty basic at the moment a rather large empty room with a small TV and around it three chair. But they really didn't need that much at the moment as there were very few personal so on base.
That definitely had to change as Buck was really getting tired of having to do all this trivial tasks in order to keep this place up and running.
"Alright then lets see what shitty third-rate TV show it is tonight." Buck said to himself as he flipped on the TV.
As he was taken a sip of his beer, and nearly chocked on it once he saw what was on the television screen.
"*COUGH! COUGH!* YOU SON OF A BITCH! DUTCH! YOU FUCKING PROMISE ME! YOU FUCKING PROMISE ME YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Buck cursed the the heavens as he continued to watch the two of them on the TV.
What he was referring to was the fact that Dutch had promised to keep a low profile while on this shore leave. This. This was definitely the complete opposite of keeping a low profile! In fact it was far as you could get!
Buck immediately went to find the phone that was somewhere in the room. It didn't take him that long to find it. As he immediately turned to the TV to see if they were still on it.
Yes they were still on the TV, and yes the cops had shown up and Romeo had now pulled out a second gun from seemly out of his ass.
"This isn't happening. This isn't happening." Buck said to himself as he dialed the number for Veronica's phone.
He waited till she picked up the phone and said hello before he started getting straight to the point.
"Dare drop whatever the hell you're doing and meet me in the main meeting room in five."
"I'm busy right now Buck. Can't this wait? No it's fine he's was always expendable! JUST GET ME RESULTS!" Dare called out to some beyond the phone range.
Buck waited until she was done before dropping his bomb shell on her.
"I'm calling you because Dutch and Romeo are on the television and are holding someone at gun point." That seemed to get through to her how important this call was.
"Fucking hell. Alright I'll be there in five." Dare said to him as she then hanging up the phone.
Buck satisfied that Veronica understood the situation took one last look at the television as he then watch as Romeo and Dutch were now in full retreat as they made their less then gracefully escape from the sports arena.
To which Buck let loose another string of curses as he angrily shut off the TV. As he then started to think how they were going to clean up this entire fuck mess.
Location: Seattle, Washington, Naval district bar
[Time: 22:49] [date: September 21, Local date, 2553 UNSC stander year]
A couple of hours had passed since their little incident at the stadium had occurred. And in that time Dutch with Romeo in tow had taken refuge in one of a city local bars in the hopes that their local patrons wouldn't rat them out to the authorities.
To help ensure this Romeo had pay so that everyone there had two rounds on him. So far it seemed to be working as a news bulletin flashed on the TV and no one in there batted an eyelash at this.
"So far. So good." Dutch muttered under his breath as he took another sip of his drink.
"Humph! Don't jinx us." Romeo said waving at the bartender for a refill.
"I know. Still your the one who should've known better. I still can't believe we missed the flipping game." Dutch was generally disappointed at this as he knew that Romeo had been looked forward to it as well.
"I know I'm a fucking ass. Still I can't stand those stupid bitch and their God complex." Romeo grumbled as the bartender handed him is drink.
"So another game ruined by our out control women? Can't say I'm surprised." The bartender commented.
"I know right? We both had-" But before Romeo could say the rest Dutch placed a restricting hand on his mouth.
As he was unsure as to whether or not it was truly safe to disclose what had transpired only hours before in this establishment.
"Relax. You're not the first ones in here to be chased by the cops on trumped up charges. Besides it's becoming too common now a days." The bartender reassure them as he gave Dutch another drink he didn't ask for.
Still Dutch looked around nervously as to confirm what he was being told. But for the most part he seemed to be right, as everyone in the bar seemed more interested in the TV then what Romeo was saying. Still Dutch still wanted to err on the side of caution as he wasn't sure if it was safe to speak freely here.
"Don't worry lad. Most of us here don't have any reason to screw you over. In fact, I think someone wants to talk to you." He then gestured to table in the corner where two man were currently sitting.
Dutch looked to where the bartender had gestured and saw what he had pointed out. The two man were currently playing what looked like a cut throat game of poker. But they seemed to stop when the notice Dutch gaze on them and waved at him to come over to their table.
"Romeo. Keep an eye out in case this goes south." Dutch whispers to his partner as he made his way over the tab.
"So." Dutch asked deliberately once he gotten close enough for him to judge the two men sitting at the table.
They were both wearing clothes that did little to hide their heavily built with their tattoos all over them that screamed ex-military to him. Still looks their looks could be deceiving so he was cautious as he took a seat in a empty chair.
"I've heard that you want to talk to me about something?" Dutch then finished as he decide to play it by ear.
"We do as we've hear that you have a ship that needs a good crew." Asked one of the men.
Dutch instantly knew what was going on slipped into his new role of recruiter perfectly.
"Possibly. Depends what you know about it." He replied deadpanned.
Dutch wasn't expecting this still as often the case ONI had other ideas for him. Still he found it very inconvenient to be doing this considering this was supposed to be their downtime alongside that fact they were at the center of an ongoing manhunt. But he had no choice but to roll with it and hope for the best.
"I do. Still a funny name for a ship. Say my name? Isn't that what the ships called?" He asked Dutch.
"It is. Still it depends on what you're looking to apply for. And how many of you are applying as well." Dutch said wanted to know if it was just this two gentlemen he was dealing with or if they had friends who were keeping a low profile.
One of the man then let out a soft sigh as if he was about to do something unpleasant.
"Do you want to call him or should I?" He asked his partner.
"I'll do it. You just get his stuff." The other said as he took out a phone and started texting someone.
"Can I get a strong bottle of vodka?" His partner then called out to the bartender.
"How strong?" He called back.
"Strongest you've got." He called back to him.
Dutch raised an eyebrow and was about to ask as to why they needed a bottle of vodka just as the doors to the bar open. And in came a mountain of a man who came and pulled up a chair beside them just as the vodka arrived at their table.
"My comrades it's good to see you again. Also thank you for such strong vodka." Said the Russian as he chugged the drink like it was nothing.
It was probably one of the most stereotypical Russians that Dutch heard and it instantly expected why they needed the vodka. Still he couldn't get over how stereotype this man seemed to him.
"My names, Ivan. So I hear you have ship that needs fixing?" Ivan said his words covered in the thick Russian accent.
"That and probably more." Dutch stated dryly.
It was no secret that base barely had running water and electricity on it best days. And even so Bucks patch up jobs were going to fail soon or later, so a couple of extra hand work around the base would be great appreciate by everyone there considering the sorry state it was currently in.
"Don't worry comrade. We're former engining core, we know to make good in short time." Ivan reassured Dutch of his ability alongside those currently at the table.
"Sorry mate, but he still learning English." Said one of his companions.
But Dutch would admit that even with his short time learning the language Ivan seemed to be pretty good at it. But before he could comment Ivan continued.
"Only reason I left the Mother Land was to send money to wife and child." Ivan then explained to Dutch.
"Let me guess. Budget cuts?" Dutch asked guessing that it was the most likely cause.
"Dah. Idiot leaders cut budgets for stupid little girls." Ivan said not even hiding his anger at this.
Dutch didn't respond to this right away as it had finally struck him that he had even asked for the names of the two gentlemen he was currently sitting with.
"I'm sorry Iven. All of us here understood what you're going through. And by the way I haven't caught your names." Dutch said looking at the two gentlemen in front of him.
"Yay..well my names Jeff and this glorious man with the mustache beside me it Gump." Jeff said now finally putting names to faces.
"Yo." Gump said as he then played his hand, to which Jeff's face quickly turned into a frown upon seeing three aces and two kings on the table and was forced to lose the round.
"Next time, I'm choosing the game." Jeff gripped as Gump reached over and took some bottle caps that were standing in for poker chips.
"But this was your idea." Gump reminded him as he shot him a smug smile.
It was around this point that Romeo was signaling Dutch that something was off or about to happen. So as best he could to not to draw attention to himself as he craned his neck over to look out the window.
"Crap." He said not meaning to say that loud as it quickly drew the attention of his compatriots.
"What?" Asked Jeff as quickly glanced outside and saw what had caught his attention. "Well. Shit." Was the only word he could offer to Dutch knowing this meeting was about to cut short.
"Iven get the lights." Gump said as the Russian quickly complied quickly dimmed the lights as the police lights were now flashing through the bars windows.
"So...we fight?" Iven asked, probably just to make sure what to do if the police came through the door.
"Probably." Jeff said as he then turned to Dutch.
"But probably not as it isn't the best thing for us to do. Anyway you should probably make myself scarce." Gump said as Dutch got up and shook everyone's hand.
"We'll be in touch." "Dah." "What he said." The three of them said as he now left them and make his way over to Romeo only to find that he had ditched him while he had been making his good byes to his new acquaintances.
'Son of a bitch.' Dutch thought to himself.
He knew Romeo to be cold.
But this.
This was definitely taking it to a new level as Dutch then promised himself that he was going to have a long chat with him after this. But in all likelihood he had simply been following protocol for this kind situation. As it stipulated that at least one of them made it away and informed their handlers about this.
There was also another reason for this. It also ensured that if one of them were captured by the enemy that the other could either mount a rescue or if called for, silencing their accomplice as a final act of mercy.
Still Dutch hoped that it didn't come to that as he quickly made his way to the back, pushing his way past bartender as he went and meeting little resistance. This was because the bartender knew what what happened to his business if an arrest took place within his bar so he let him pass.
Now as Dutch finally made his way into the ally behind the pub he quickly found that his way to freedom was cut off. But as he weighed his options for getting out of this mess a voice came up from behind him.
"Run into a spot of trouble, have we?" Came an old wispy voice.
Dutch jumped upon hearing it and quickly wiped around to find a smiling old man.
He was short around Dutch chest high with a full head of hair with a white beard to go with it and was wearing simply gray brown clothes that wouldn't bring any sort of unnecessary attention to himself.
Dutch was a little unnerved by this, as an ODST he had been trained not to allow some to get the drop on him. As they were usually the ones doing the house calls not the other way around. So it bagged the question as to how he had gotten the drop on him.
Still Dutch didn't have time for this as he asked bluntly.
"Who are you? And what do you want?" Dutch asked getting straight to the point as he knew that he didn't have much time to play with.
"I know who you are, Taylor Miles. And I was hoping that you could help me in exchange for this." The old man smiled at him and waved to a motorcycle as Dutch stepped back inadvertently.
"You have my undivided attention." Dutch said deadpan as he checked over his shoulder to make sure that there wasn't anyone coming up behind them as his mind raced with the possibility of who this man was.
"Good. Now, here's what I need you to do." The old man said as he took out a a pair of keys with a flash drive hanging off of it with another sly smile now spreading across his face.
End of chapter.
UNSC AI call sign Ghosts special report: Summers personal IS unit: The Forgotten
The Forgotten is a ruff transition from Arabic. Is Summers personal IS unit built with the help of Winter and is one of a handful of unofficial fourth generation IS units. As such great efforts had been made to ensure that government and more importantly the IS own inventor: Tabane Shinonono don't learn of their existence.
Her IS is a reflection of her own person philosophy of knowing you enemy and strikes them where they're weakest. As such her IS isn't made for front line combat rather secondary support roles, intelligence gathering, assassinations and high risk scouting missions.
But in doing so she has most armor plating and reduced energy shields in favor of maneuverability, flexibility and stealth. Still that doesn't detract from that fact that an IS is as good as the pilot that rides it.
Weapons:
Heavy handed of silences: heavily modified sniper rifle
Whispers of the winds: two compact blades hidden within the main IS gauntlets and can be deployed even in standby mode.
The Whisper Truth: Heavily modified side arm with extra magazine, reduced recoil, and quickly draw system bypass.
Specialized equipment:
EMP hardening
Silences for sniper rifle
Reduced armor for increased mobility
Wireless jammer
One off ability:
Whispers of the ever shifting sands
This one off ability renders both IS and user invisible to visual and electronic tracking. Unlike most other one off abilities it can remain active as long as there's sufficient power to the unit and dispite any damage the unit my incur as long as it's not crippling to any major systems that's attached to this ability.
Another in the books I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. Anyway if you can't tell I was going to write something different but I couldn't find the motivation or inspiration to do it. Still I had this as a backup as I wanted to do something with Dutch and Romeo for a while now. So apologies for the delay.
Also if you read books and comics about Dutch you know that he has a wife. As stated above he was injured by a land mine, so I think that Dutch probably has a lot of baggage if you know what I mean. It's not that I'm trying to handicap him I just think that there's room for him because a deeper character in my opinion. Anyway I'll probably end up messing it up. Still it's worth a try considering the current state of halo at the moment.
Anyway in the near future my real life may become more important than writing so I thought I would give you all the heads up.
And on that bombshell I'll see you next time till then have a good one.