Happy new year readers, I'm sorry to say I'm not back to 100% but I'm getting there, slowly.
A lot of things happened, I won't go into details but I'll stick to my promise: I won't abandon this fic.
Transformer or Halo are property of their owners (Which isn't me, sadly T.T).
On with the chapter then!
-Arcee POV-
The sun was about to set in Diego Garcia, when most of the members of the ground team had been called to the Command center. It looked like they had finally found something about the attack two weeks before.
It didn't take me long to get there.
I was one of the few bots to arrive early it seemed. When I entered the room I saw both Morshower and Optimus in the middle of a vid-com.
I went towards where the rest of the members were, who at the moment account for: Jazz, Prowl, Ironhide, Lennox, Epps and the Spartan. Jazz was the first to notice my arrival.
"Yo Arcee!" He cheerfully voiced grabbing everyone's attention.
"Hey Jazz" I answered, smiling lightly "Did we finally find something?"
"It seems to be the case, although we'll have to wait for more information." Prowler added. He always looked like he was in the middle of processing something.
"What he said." Jazz nodded, earning a displeased grunt from the logical bot "The big boss and the old man are still getting the details, they'll probably tell us when their finished." He finished. Believe it or not, Jazz was the one who started using Morshower's current callsign (Grandpa), much to the latter's annoyance…
"Whatever it is, I just hope we get to kick some ass Pronto. Even I can get bored with drills." The human sergeant added as he leaned against a hand rail, arms crossed.
Lennox shook his head at the comment.
5 minutes later everyone finally arrived, now we only had to wait for the call to end…
-Arthur POV—
Both the General and Prime had just ended their vid-com.
Whom exactly where they talking to? I had no clue, but if it meant they would finally get an assignment I won't care. I can't remember the last time I've spent this long without a mission of any sort; it made me feel out of my element.
Marines sometimes say that Spartans don't know the meaning of R&R. We do know the meaning, we just don't know how to...
"Ladies, gents and bots. Can I have your attention please?" the General bellowed, effectively cutting off any distraction. "We don't have too much time so I'll just get to the point. Again…" he sighed "I got good news and bad news." He then approached the console of the central table, after entering a few commands; an image of what I could assume was a geographic location popped up.
"What you're seeing is a mediums sized industrial complex, north-eastern part of Colombia, near the Venezuelan border. Officially it's owned by a metal working company, Unofficially it's a grand scale drug and weapon operation. All of it under the control of this man." Another imaged appeared showing a low quality scene of a bald man wearing sunglasses that had just gone out of a building. "Our target, Señor Sánchez; Narco, gun dealer, private army… you name it, this guy holds a lot of influence in the black market. He also has some major pull on some government officials from many countries in South America. Both US and UK NEST highcom suspect this guy is somehow related to the attack on the American base two weeks back. The British government also thinks this man is also supplying several terrorist cells around England. In other words let's just say both the Pentagon and Northwood want to have a word with Mr. Sánchez." The man added.
"Tell us the good news already; when do we leave?" Epps inquired. Most of the present looked like they felt the same way, now that we had a target.
Morshower sighed "That was the good news." He typed the console; the image from the complex moved a bit north. "The bad news is we aren't the ones running the op, the Pentagon is." This comment elicited multiple groans from almost everyone "And I'm sorry to say, the Pentagon doesn't want autobot assistance in the operation."
"So what? We just wait here spinning our cannons?" the weapons specialist growled, he did not looked pleased. Many autobots shared the same view.
"Settle down Ironhide, let the General finish." Prime's strong baritone voice ordered the upset black bot.
With a nod, Morshower continued "Thankfully, Highcom was able to twist a few arms, allowing to deploy a couple of autobots to protect the LZ. The exact number is still up for debate."
"I assume we're going to extract the target?" I immediately inquired. Catching almost everyone in the room by surprise, in the last week I probably only spoke a handful of times.
Morshower nodded "In the essence, but it's not going to be that easy." The image had finally stopped showing a medium-sized airfield with several structures placed next to the only runway. "About 30 clicks north there's an airfield, an old outpost built by the Colombian military but abandoned almost a decade ago. A faction of rebel militia took over the place and Mr. Sánchez is using it to move his goods in or out of the country, in exchange for supplying the faction's movements."
"Unless we know exactly where Sánchez is, we'd have to hit both locations at the same time…" Lennox declared as he examined the images "We don't have the man power to simultaneously cover that much ground…"
Technically that isn't true; I could certainly take care of the airfield on my own. Wouldn't be the first time I've been tasked to infiltrate or clear out an insurgent outpost by myself.
As I thought this, Morshower spoke up "Not enough to cover both, but we won't need to either. As I said before; others are running the show, which also means they'll bring their own guns to the fight. Although we're still planning the final details on the logistics, I'm almost sure none of them will have any sort of clearance for any undisclosed information. I would feel extremely pleased if in the next few days I didn't get another angry liason demanding an explanation on yet another possible security breach, and I don't feel like explaining another 'Moscow incident'." He gave everyone around a crippling look. "Am I clear?"
"Crystal, Sir!" the reply from all the soldiers was almost instantaneous.
I then heard Epps whisper to the Major "I told you bringing the twins to Russia wouldn't end well."
"How the hell was I supposed to know they would use one of the Kremlin's walls as a canvas?" Lennox whispered back.
"What makes you think this isn't a 'con setup?" Sideswipe quipped, leaning against one of the platforms.
"Because both the USDD and CIA suspect he could something to do with the attack on the base, making that risk the only reason we're even allowed to get involved in this operation… Although both Optimus and I think it's unlikely." The General explained with Optimus nodding in approval.
"Indeed, but it would be best to exercise cautious. We never know what our enemy could be planning…" added the blue giant.
"Typical, they think we're not good enough for these kinds of ops but as soon as they find something that smells like a decepticon they come running, begging us to handle it…" Lennox said as he sighed.
"Who gets to go?" Arcee inquired.
"Unknown, we were only informed about the situation a few minutes before we sent the call… Hell, I still need to get a hold on our means of transport…" Morshower sighed massaging his temples. "We'll probably need several hours to get things ready… In the meantime, all of you get some rest until 6:00 hours. Dismissed!"
I quietly sighed, even if without being directly involved with this government; I've learned a few things from my past experiences with ONI: what appeared as a simple extraction in enemy territory is almost certainly a cover for something else… And if ONI operations have taught me anything: It's never good…
Considering I'd probably be knee-deep in jungle territory several hours from now, better find out all I can about the situation, hopefully along with some clues on the true nature of the plan.
Sleep can wait until this is all over.
-Arcee POV-
/NEST base, Diego Garcia. 4:30 AM /
Almost everyone who'd been called left as soon as we were dismissed; Lennox and a few of the officers stayed for a few hours, but left afterwards to get ready. All of them got some sort of rest… except for the Spartan.
As soon as the meeting was over, he began roaming around the command center, looking for anything he could get his hands on about the operation, our target, the rebel militia, maps… It didn't matter as long as it was remotely related.
About two hours ago I left the CR to get some energon for when I got selected to go on the mission.
While walking back to the command center, I overheard the General; he also left some time ago to arrange all the paperwork for the mission. Had he already gotten everything ready?
"You should go get some rest Spartan." I paused just outside the entrance, using my audio receptors to better hear the conversation.
"I have other priorities to consider, sir." I heard the clear reply from the Spartan, for the first time in weeks, without any interference… He had taken his helmet off.
Yet, for some reason, his voice felt even colder…
I heard the General sigh "If I didn't know better I'd take that as another way to say 'I'll sleep when I'm dead.'… I sometimes wonder if you're some sort of humanized Prowl…"
I stifled a chuckle, now that he mentioned it he did act a bit like Prowl.
"But even Prowl needs to rest, or do super soldiers don't need sleep where you come from?" Morshower chuckled.
"Just being honest, sir." The Spartan curtly answered, clearly focused on something else.
The General sighed "Like I said, just like Prowl…"
Chromia would have roared with laughter right about now.
With nothing better to do for now, I leaned against the wall next to the entrance.
"Spartan, There's something I've had on my mind for some time now." The general spoke a few minutes later.
"Sir?"
"'Spartans don't die, they only go missing.' I've heard some of the men talking about it a week back at the mess hall…"
"A directive ONI established during the late Human-Covenant war, after the Spartan project had gone public, so to speak." Arthur immediately voiced.
"ONI directive? Isn't that the intelligence agency from your place?" Morshower added, puzzled.
"I'm sure you already been told, but by then the UNSC had been fighting in a losing war for years against the Covenant; we only managed to keep in the fight by pure attrition. We were losing almost every battle groundwise and in space; the few battles we won were by outgunning them almost 5 to 1 with sheer numbers. We, with everything we could get our hands on, fought for every system, planet, continent, city, street, building or inch we had. But in the end, we still lost our worlds one at the time." The Spartan continued as if this were only a mere distraction.
I found it weird, news travel fast around the base and almost everyone knew more less the story of the Spartans events. Why would he go over something most of us already knew?
"That's when the Spartan project started?" Morshower questioned, although I knew he knew about it after being told by Optimus.
"Yes and no." the Spartan sighed "In an attempt to rise the troops moral, ONI revealed the existence of a special unit: 'The Spartan Project'. Spartans soon became a beacon of hope 'Defenders of humanity', no matter where, no matter the odds, nor the mission… Spartans would always get it done and win, as they were the greatest soldiers. In an attempt to keep up the illusion, no Spartan would ever be designated KIA. Did that answer your question, Sir?"
Morshower kept quiet for a few seconds, as if he were contemplating on what had just been said. "I guess it does, but it also leaves me with more questions."
Don't push it Morshower! He's already said more than in the last two weeks.
"What exactly is the 'Spartan Project'?"
Slag it Morshower!
I decided to walk in; I would surely be interrupting the conversation, but scrap if I would just stand by and let the Spartan close up again.
Just as I entered I heard a slight hiss, the Spartan had just put one his helmet once again.
"Apologies, Sir: That will have to wait for another time. I still need to get my gear ready before the briefing." He then stated, speaking through the speakers once more.
"5:10, it's this late already?" the General said as he checked his watch. "Oh, Arcee, you're a bit early. Seriously, I sometimes wonder why I even bother giving orders…"
"I can recharge on the way, nothing else to do in the tight space of a plane, speaking of which; you've been active all night also." I retorted with a smile.
"Someone has to keep an eye on all of you, especially when nobody listens. All of you tend to behave like children as soon as I take my eye on the lot, specially the twins."
I'm almost certain we weren't all that bad… Well… not counting Skids and Mudflap. If the twins gave him a hard time, wait until we get the other set together… I almost shivered at the thought.
Wait, where is the Spartan?
I looked around, only to find that he had vanished in the middle of our brief chat.
"Scrap…" I cursed silently.
-Arthur POV—
/6:02 AM/
All who had been chosen to take part on the mission had arrived and were waiting for the briefing.
15 NEST soldiers were now in the command center, including: Major Lennox, Sgt. Epps, Lieutenant Graham (A British officer who arrived a week ago after being called back to England for debriefing.) among others…
All of them had switched out any UNSC weaponry for this mission, most likely following the Generals request, and had outfitted most of their weapons with silencers, infrared lasers, scopes and other appropriate hardware for the mission.
For this mission I picked a SMG and a M6K, both outfitted with a scope and suppressors, along with the M5AE assault rifle as a backup in case things got loud. Also carrying enough ammo for a really long firefight, an old habit of mine since you never know when you'll need it…
Optimus had chosen Ironhide, Ratchet, the infiltrator Mirage and Arcee to aid us after having a "talk" with the NEST officials, persuading them to allow at least four autobots to be on standby in case of this being another ambush. Right now he was briefing the four of them a few meters away.
Morshower caught my attention when he began.
"Listen up!" he barked "8 hours ago, the Colombian military made their move with the intent of taking the industrial complex. CIA confirms that our target has moved to the airfield, using it as his glorified personal fort, placing the rebels and his weapons between him and the army… Mr. Sanchez's in for one nasty surprise."
After tapping a few keys, two maps popped up: one of the complex and of the airfield.
Although this time they had several marks on the map, detailing entry points, possible LZ's, high value targets and highlighted structures.
"Remember the main objectives: Locate and extract the target, use force if necessary but you must bring him back ALIVE. We can't get the information we need if he comes back in a body bag. As I said before, we won't be alone this time: a Delta force, SEAL and SAS squads will come with us for the ride."
If I recall correctly, they were a special ops branch from the United States army, navy and the British army respectively… the amount of people for just a single insurgent base felt weird… Back in the UNSC they'd only need to send a ODST squad, sometimes even one or two Spartans, to get the job done… That is, if they didn't just call in an airstrike or obliterated the base from orbit after the package was extracted…
Focus on the mission, and only on the mission.
It would be just like any other operation: Get in, get it done, and get out.
"Further information on the operation will be given to you by the CIA Special Activities Division Agent coordinating this whole mess upon arrival. Pilot has order to get the C-17 airborne in 30 minutes."
Optimus had apparently ended his briefing, as he approached the central stand. "Everyone, be on your guard, an enemy caught by surprise will sometimes react unexpectedly."
"Sir, yes sir!" we voiced all at once, I guess some things don't change in hundreds of years.
"Autobots, Roll out!"
Sorry for the short chapter, but I had to cut the chapter here before the next part to give you a overdew update.
To those who have sticked with me, reviewed or supported in any way: You have my apologies and my sincerest thanks.
Thanks for playing.