Time for the Chief to meet his match: An old lady.

"It's the FNG, Sir"

March 4th

Arcturus Station, Arcturus Stream

Medical facility, Governmental Section

Solitary confinement cell.

12:00

"Open the doors." Anna said. She looked to her left, watching as the nurse scurried to obey her command.

Anna herself couldn't very well open the doors, seeing as she was carrying a pair of plastic-chairs in one arm, while the other was trying not to touch anything. The wrist was still broken and wrapped with a splint, and a layer of Omnigel coated the whole thing. The moment the doors opened fully, she strode in, huffing while keeping the chairs raised.

John-117 was still on the floor, naturally, and was looking like he had nothing better to do than to stare at her. It had been some four days since he'd been shoved through the portal, and Anna hadn't wanted to meet with him before having something to barter with.

"Unlock his restraints." She said as the doors hissed shut.

The technicians and guards on the other side of the thick glass nodded with a little hesitation, then pressed the button. John's restraints unlocked with four identical hisses, allowing the bulky soldier to stand. When he did, he towered over Anna with at least half a meter. Damn.

"Sit." She said, brokering no argument as she pointed at the chair. In hindsight it probably wouldn't be able to support him. Shit, she should have thought that one through; "or, just sit on the floor or stand. I'm sitting."

"I'd rather stand." His dark eyes seemed to try drilling into her soul. Well, sucked for him if he succeeded. Might get some nightmares.

"Sure, whatever." She waved him off before pulling a small disk from her uniform's chest-pocket; "Figured you might want this back."

John's eyes froze at the sight. It was like he'd become another person altogether at the sight of the small AI-bluebox. Hands shaking, he gently took the disk from Anna's hands, gingerly holding it before looking around in mild confusion. Anna guessed what it was, and gestured to the doors.

A small hatch slid open, allowing a small drone to hover into the room. It stopped in front of the huge soldier, hovering expectantly before him.

"Go on, plug her in." Anna smiled while watching the man insert the disk into the drone. Faster than the eye could blink, the blue visage of the AI's avatar appeared. Anna herself had only briefly conversed with 'Cortana' via a small screen on an isolated laptop, and that had only showed her Cortana's face.

Funny enough, Cortana looked a lot like a twenty-ish year old version of herself.

Cortana in her whole was… different, than Price. In a few ways too at that. First of all, she didn't appear to be neither clothed nor naked. She simply had… a surface, like the body of a gorgeous woman. Her face was completely human though, complete with the overwhelming expression of joy Anna was seeing on it right now.

It was damn sweet, actually.

"…John?" It was like she was afraid of believing it.

"Cortana." The relief was hard to see on his face, but his voice gave it away. He then, with visible effort, turned his eyes from the AI's avatar to Anna; "Is the Rampancy…"

"Fixed." Anna said, giving a wry smile at the human-sized avatar; "We've had Price and Eliza working on it for days. Honestly, I was starting to get nervous when she fried the station's shields, but yeah."

"I thought only Doctor Halsey could have helped me." Cortana said, smiling warmly at the both of them; "You saved my life, Admiral."

"Oh please…" Anna huffed; "that's like, what I do every day."

"I… Thank you, ma'am." John had his hands behind his back, standing at ease before her. Despite his imposing form, he looked like his eyes were close to welling over. If it wasn't for the broken bones in her wrist, Anna would have patted him on the shoulder.

"So, can I take it that this means you'll be willing to work for me? And, pointedly not break any more of my bones." Anna gave Cortana a look to say that he really was forgiven, more or less. The AI knew what had transpired, and Price had been busy explaining the situation with a speed and depth only an AI would be capable of.

"Yes."

"Good." She straightened a bit in the chair; "Seeing how you can probably not be integrated with the regular Alliance military, I'm considering having you made part of a new taskforce I'm assembling."

"Part of project 'Relay', ma'am?" John asked. Anna smiled wryly, tapping a finger on her cheek.

"Kun told you about that, did he?" she said, looking between the two newcomers before she leaned back in the chair with a sigh; "But no, this is outside that. Listen, what I am about to tell you, and Lord knows I'm only telling you because there's no conceivable way you could be spies, is classified to the highest levels of them Alliance. Under no circumstances can you discuss it with anyone not initiated."

"Understood."

"Good." Anna said, getting to her feet. She pulled her Omnitool (on her right hand and God was that just awkward) up and remotely turned off the light in the room. The armored windows polarized and allowed for total darkness sans Cortana's glow and the light from the tool. Anna then projected the first image onto the wall;

"Let's start with the main threat here." She pointed at the first image, showing Saren Arterius. He was pre-indoctrinated, and then a slide with him as he was under the heavy influence of Sovereign; "This is Saren Arterius. Was. Anyway, the first slide was taken four years ago. Here, he's normal, uncompromised. The next one here, he's indoctrinated by… this ugly fuck." she changed the image to Sovereign.

"John." Cortana muttered.

"I know." He said slowly; "Looks like the wreck on the installation."

"Right." Anna sighed; "Somehow it wouldn't surprise me if the Reapers turned up on your doorsteps as well. This is Sovereign, officially, and Nazara unofficially."

"Why the two names?" Cortana mused, looking intently at the image of Sovereign carving up a Turian cruiser on its approach to the Citadel.

"Sovereign is the official name given to the Reaper Vanguard by the Alliance. Officially it was an AI controlling a four-kilometer doom-squid."

"…doom-squi…oh, I see it. Yeah." Cortana said, a small smile cracking her digital lips.

"Exactly. Regardless of what the Alliance officially says, the truth is that Sovereign's real name was Nazara, a dark god bent on exterminating all advanced life in the galaxy." Anna sad, allowing it to sink in before changing the image to one of the few surviving surveillance-recordings; "Watch."

The recording was not exactly the best quality. It lasted only ten seconds, but it showed clearly enough Thomas, blazing green while he was hurling Saren through a wall. Then they came back out, Thomas on the receiving end of the blows this time. The video stopped at Saren hurling Thomas into the air.

"The one on fire with purple and dark colors was Saren. The fire was apparently given to him by Nazara, by some sort of fucked up supernatural stuff-ish thing. Fuck if I know how the Devil works, I just makes sure he pays rent. Boom." She grinned and smacked her fist. When she saw John's confused expression, and Cortana fighting a grin, she straightened back up.

"And, the one with the green colors?" Cortana asked, pointing at Thomas. Poor guy, the video hadn't exactly stopped at a moment doing him much justice.

"Service Chief Thomas Fisher." She enlarged the image, then changed it to one of Thomas in profile, armored up bar a helmet. The scars over his eye hadn't healed all the way yet there, which made him look pretty badass.

Anna was a proud sister with that picture.

"Name's the same-" Cortana started.

"As mine, yes. Officially he's my nephew." Anna cut the AI off. She was kinda glad she'd engaged Price with fully devoting his attention to researching plasma-physics derived from the weapons from the Ishimura.

"And, unofficially?" Cortana really seemed to be the more talkative one of the pair. Anna crossed her arms, looking between them.

"He's my older brother who's forty years younger than me." The look of complete and utter surprise and confusion on the Master Chief's face was worth the slip of secrecy. God, he looked hilarious; "Let's just say I knew from experience I could haul something from that portal."

"Do I still have rampancy, of did she just say what I think she…" Cortana seemed to think she was whispering. Well, she wasn't.

"Just go with it, otherwise you'll get a migraine." Anna shrugged; "Anyway. Thomas is a first-generation Chi-soldier, meaning he's utilizing the dormant network of Chi-energy in the human body." The next video she showed them was Thomas and Roku training, trading blows and fireblasts; "We're still working out the kinks in it."

"That's not something you see every day." Cortana mused, hand to her lips.

"True words. Thomas is part of the taskforce I mentioned earlier, as are several other persons of interest. A few of them share your origins, though I'll allow them to be the ones to open up to the two of you. You'll of course be given a few days to acclimate and get familiar with your new surroundings, as well as be given a dossier of your to-be team. You'll also be equipped with modern equipment, communication-tools and a bank-account will be created in your name."

"Damn. Off the boat and already employed." Cortana couldn't hide the smirk on her lips. Being brought back from the brink seemed to have done a positive on her attitude.

"It sounds like this is not exactly a standard taskforce, even with your…brother's abilities." The Chief muttered, locking eyes with Anna; "Is there a hidden agenda behind this team?"

"Well…" Anna sighed; "Before this whole 'Reaper' shit-storm, I was going to use the team as a spearhead in an eventual war against the Hegemony, but now? No, no ulterior motives. Oh, and you'll have to let our scientists take a look at your armor. Master Chief Petty Officer, you are now employed under the 'Aspect of Fire' directive. You will comply with my orders. Understood?"

"…Yes, ma'am." The Chief sounded hesitant in his words. Still, if he complied, she didn't see a problem his attitude towards releasing what could be new technology, or just outdated tech. Either way, his size alone suggested heavy augmentations, and perhaps involvement in the Spartan-program Price had mentioned months ago. So he'd be an asset regardless.

Anna was fighting a grin at the possibilities.

Some days she hated her job.

And some days, she fucking loved it.

"Good." She smirked again before seriousness came back on her expression; "The rank of Master Chief will not be upheld though. I don't know what you can do, will do and have done, and I don't want an unknown commanding as much as a cornflake." She paused, seeing if the soldier would react. He just looked at her, listening. Huh; "You'll be granted the rank of Private First Class, and be under the command of Captain Jane Shepard. Hopefully, you'll live up to the praise Price had about you, and you'll rise in the ranks again. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Hey, why's that necessary? You could review his entire service-history from the files in-"

"In his helmet, yes. Already have been looking through the early Human/Covenant war." Anna cut Cortana off; "Doesn't matter. I make my own judgment of you. Works better that way."

"Understood." Now-Private First Class John-117 nodded in agreement; "Will I be meeting the rest of the team soon?"

"Soon enough, yes." Anna nodded. Damn, she still needed to see how Thomas handled the new arm. Her brother had come out of the Bacta-tank earlier that day, and Emhart was already busy going through a wide selection of bionic limbs last Anna knew. Huh. Maybe she could introduce the newcomer to one of his immediate superiors right now?

Sure, why the hell not?

"If you feel ready for it, you can bypass the dossier on Service Chief Thomas Fisher, and meet him right now?" She tapped a finger on her chin, watching as something unspoken passed between John and Cortana.

"Sure, let's meet him." Cortana seemed at least enthusiastic enough; "Feel up for it, John?"

"I'm ready." He nodded, his deep voice making a shiver run down Anna's legs. Damn, he was going to suck up ladies like a magnet, that guy. Anna nodded, pushing aside the chairs before turning to the door. 117 made clearing of his throat; "Ma'am?"

"Yessssssssss?" she turned to regard him.

"Will it be too much to ask for the return of my helmet?"

"Sure. Need to wear that armor of yours anyway until we can get a suit of armor big enough. We'll find a place to store it near the others'. Sound good?"

"…I, would prefer to get it back now, actually, ma'am."

Anna cocked a brow, looking at the hulking soldier. That was… certainly an odd request. What, was he afraid of being shot while on the station?

"Why?"

"John's not used to being without it, Admiral." Cortana explained; "It's easier."

"Ah. Insecure, are we?" Anna didn't wait for a reply; "Sure, okay. I'll arrange for it to be brought to the nearby bacta-tank rooms. It's close by."

"What is in the bacta-rooms?" John asked.

"Service Chief Fisher."

"What do I need to know about him?"

"Oh, nothing much." Anna shrugged; "Just don't piss him off. He's taken down things you'd probably only see in your nightmares."

"Noted."

Arcturus Station, Arcturus Stream

Medical facility, Governmental Section

14:22

Thomas, clothed in pants and with his upper body laid bare, eyed the newly brought bionic limbs nervously. They were lying innocently enough on the table next to the gurney he was seated on, and the familiar sound of Emhart humming as he worked filled the room.

"So, I hear you got my arm trashed on the Citadel." Emhart stated.

"I didn't. The Cerberus fucktards were the ones who threw me into the wall." He muttered indignantly, tapping a finger on his thigh as he watched Emhart rummage through several containers with parts for the insertion of his new arm.

Since he had been drugged when the arm had come in the first time, he hadn't been aware of the socket made in his shoulder. Now, he had a perfectly nasty view of how the metallic-looking fusion merged with his flesh. A dry chuckle escaped him, while Ashley, Nikolai, Tequila and Hillary were waiting in chairs out in the hallway. Ashley was pacing in front of the door until Emhart had told her to stop giving him a headache.

Thomas just looked down at the socket;

"I look like a damn Lego robot…"

"Huh, yeah maybe, but at least you don't need some obnoxious ten-year old steering you around." Emhart mused with a wry smirk on his stubbed face; "Alright, you ready for this?"

Thomas looked from his shoulder to the doctor. The new arm was resting in his arms, and that in itself wasn't creepy at all.

"Are you going to put me under again?"

"What? Why'd I do that and waste the experience?" Emhart chuckled at the worried expression on Thomas' face; "'Sides, the second time doesn't hurt nearly as much."

"Nearly? Well now I'm so much-"

"Just go with it." Emhart broke him off and hefted the new arm towards him. It looked like a human arm in all but the joint, where the synthetic muscle and bone was visible. Gods, that just looked so wrong in the doctor's arms; "Alright, this is a new model, so I'll give you the rundown before we start the procedure."

"Yay?" Thomas stated uncertainly. Emhart grabbed the limb fingers of the new hand and spread them out, showing the palm;

"Okay. See this mismatched piece here?" he said, tapping a rectangular part of the palm. It was smaller than the thumb. Emhart pressed it hard, causing the surface to give a little. With a series of wet snaps and bends, the fingers of the hand folded up and back, making way for a hand-sized blade sliding out from beneath the synthetic skin.

Thomas paled a little.

"What…"

"The first version I gave you back then was purely strength-augmenting." He tapped the blade; "This is a military model, one of many actually. Seeing as I've been informed that you prefer close fighting, this model comes with an extendable blade of graphene, stock made of silicon so there won't be a problem with chafing or getting cut. A simple press of the palm will cause the blade to snap out."

Emhart then pressed the palm twice in succession, and the blade retracted into the arm again. Thomas glanced at the door and caught his colleagues looking on in surprise. In the meantime, Emhart put the limb down and retrieved a new one.

"This one…" he patted the arm, which was slightly thicker than the other one and seemed heavier too; "Is a new model meant for soldiers who just don't like the idea of getting disarmed. Until recently it was actually illegal, but after last December, a lot of restrictions were lifted."

"Right." The battle of the Citadel and the fact that a new unknown enemy had shot down a stealth-frigate had probably made Anna slightly anxious to get as much firepower as possible to the average G.I Joe.

"So…this one is neural-controlled…" Here Emhart plugged a wire into the open joint of the arm and pressed a command on his Omnitool. With a sound of spinning servos and synthetic tissue and metal peeling back, a single three-centimeter wide barrel protruded from the arm where the hand had just been. At the same time, a rectangular slot suddenly opened in the upper arm, showing where an ammo-block was supposed to be inserted. If Thomas had paled at the bladed arm, this one made his skin white as paper.

"What the…Hell?" he stuttered. Emhart just got a wicked glint to his eyes.

"A retractable single-barreled rifle. It's a small caliber, true, but not to be underestimated. Barrel length is 170mm, ammunition is eleven-forty-point-twenty-three millimeters at a firing rate of six-hundred rounds per minute." Emhart beamed a little; "With an effective range of twenty-five meters, it's basically your very own submachine gun. Real handy, if you catch my drift."

"Can I have one?!" Hillary called from the hallway. There was the sound of someone smacking her over the back of the head. Nikolai's chuckles were then cut off when he too seemed to received a smack on the head. Thank the gods for Tequila.

"I… I don't know." Thomas muttered, looking at the two weaponized left-arms. Both were… intimidating, for lack of better words, but he just didn't see how he could make it work with his life if one wrong movement, one wrong embrace could lead to him cutting Ashley or shooting someone.

"Of course you can also just get the defense-oriented model." Emhart said, procuring one last arm. It looked much like Thomas' old one, with the exception of a metallic stripe by the lower wrist; "This thing here is the newest from Xen's labs. It projects a shield of non-Newtonic fluids suspended by a handheld generator, supported in a frame of experimental hard-light."

Thomas looked on as Emhart pressed a new command on his own Omnitool, connected to the new arm. A holographic shield roughly the size of his torso flung itself out from the buzzing 3D-fabricators inlaid in the arm, then a fluid was pumped into the shield even as it unfolded to the size of a Roman Legionnaire's shield.

"Damn…"

"It can, of course, be adjusted in size, but this is the maximum version. The difference from a regular kinetic barrier is that this will stop missiles in their tracks. The only thing you need to worry about is refilling the fluids after it's taken a really bad hit. It's thermally recharged by your body, so no need to change the battery, and before you ask: No. you can't bash people over the head with this. It'll be like punching them with a wet blanket."

"I still want the machinegun!" Hillary called from the hallway, followed by a solid thwack as a hand hit the back of her head. Wonder if she gets brain damage from that.

Then again, it was Hillary. She was probably immune to that stuff anyway.

"So, what'll be your poison?" Emhart looked excited like he was presenting wares for the next big fashion show. It reminded Thomas a bit of Bob, the Scotsman who'd run Bob's Guns on Eden Prime. He never did find out if the man was killed or managed to escape.

The choice was between a blade, a hidden machinegun and a shield. So it was sword, spear and shield. Thomas chewed on his cheek, looking between the three limbs. He'd already once used a sword, and found it to be destroyed when he went over the edge. The inbuilt gun was nice, but made him feel too much like a human weapon.

"Does the shield handle biotic attacks?"

"Mmm. Anything less than a full-on shockwave should be stopped in its tracks. Don't test it against a singularity though, but other than that, the hard-light will maintain the shield against most punches the average Asari could throw your way." Emhart mused with a finger on his cheek.

"The shield then." Thomas nodded at the third arm; "…my main cause of injury is people shooting biotics at me."

"Ah, I knew you'd be in for the finer stuff." Emhart rubbed his hands gleefully; "Now, normally this kind of hardware would be in the higher price-grades, but… a certain Admiral moved for the 'Endure and Overwhelm'-act, which means any and all bionic replacements, upgrades and alterations for Alliance serving personnel is pre-paid by the Alliance."

"Anna." Thomas sighed with a mounting grin; "I love that woman sometimes."

"Mmm. Most fear her though. Still, I can understand the feeling." Emhart nodded, grabbing the chosen limb; "Now, wanna get started?"

"Is it going to hurt?" Thomas asked in a voice low enough that the people in the hallway couldn't hear him. Emhart seemed to think about the answer.

"Only… the painful part will be the reconnecting of the nerves. I'm going to give you a local sedation, but you'll still feel a sting." The prosthetics doctor explained; "Do you want miss Williams in here when we do it?"

Thomas shook his head.

"Just get it done." He knew she would probably see it as stupid macho-stuff, or just an attempt at misguided chivalry, but he hated when she had to see him in pain; "I'm fine."

"Suit yourself." Emhart said, injecting a stim into Thomas' shoulder. He grit his teeth and fought down the urge to escape the needle. It was easer now though, than it had been the first time Emhart had put him under. Most likely because he'd been through less back then. His overall handling of needles had improved, apparently.

Without further words, Emhart plugged the arm into Thomas' shoulder-socket. The initial sensation was cold. Then it was warm as Emhart turned the limb a little. Then, with a twist and a push, Emhart connected the new arm fully. Pain flared through his body, like napalm had been poured into the veins in his shoulder before burning through the entire system from there on out.

And this was with local sedation? Fuck!

The hallway was connected to the rest of the station via a single slide-door. The hiss of the door opening was deafened by the pained hiss escaping Thomas' lips as his nerves connected to the new limb, and the brain suddenly had to get reacquainted with a left arm;

"Mother of- Fuck!" he hissed, pressing his eyes closed to endure the pain.

"Language, Thomas." An unexpected voice suddenly said from the doorway. Thomas snapped up with eyes opening, seeking an explanation as to why he could suddenly hear Anna's voice in the room. He was fairly sure she hadn't been in the room just before; "You have a guest. Behave."

"Wha…" he started, trailing off as his eyes found his sister. And more importantly, found his colleagues looking a bit startled at the sight of a two-two-fifty meter man, armored from top to toe in a set of massive, green armor. Looking a bit upwards as well, he found the man's face was hidden behind a golden visor, betraying nothing beyond it; "Oh…"

"Is…that…" Nikolai started in the hallway, mouth moving a lot more than words were allowed out. He honestly looked like a heart attack was fast approaching; "Is this some… sort of…Oh. My. God."

Thomas more than understood the reaction. His skin felt like it went full electric, neck-hairs standing while tingling with both pleasure and a strange sense of nausea. Unless Anna had just come up with the idea for a new set of armor, which in itself wasn't all that impossible, what he was looking at was more or less blowing his mind.

In hindsight though, it really shouldn't come as a surprise on top of meeting Delta-Squad.

"Anna…" he muttered, trying to blink away the blur forming over his eyes. Emhart tightened the new arm again, causing a fresh wave of pain to surge through him. In a way though, he was grateful that the doctor provided the distraction, painful as it was; "Shit! That stung."

"Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, Service Chief Thomas Fisher, Service Chief Aquila, Privates Tengberg and Pennyloafer." Anna nodded around, then nodded at the hulking soldier. Holy Divines, she'd seriously pulled the longest straw this time; "Meet the newest member of your team."

"Fuck me sideways…" Nikolai wheezed.

"Private First Class John-117. At your service." Even though Thomas had never had any interest in Bungee's games, he still knew exactly what that armor entailed, and who the man was. Thus, he was struck with confusion when he processed the spoken rank.

Glancing at Emhart as the doctor moved away, Thomas jumped from the gurney as Ashley, being the highest ranking soldier there excluding Anna, greeted the newcomer. The haze of pain and nerves resettling made it difficult for him to follow the short introduction, but he did realize when John looked towards him.

"John-117, Service Chief Thomas Fisher." He greeted the massive soldier with a handshake. Thomas, mindful of the man's size and strength, prepared himself for a crushing grip; "Welcome to the team."

The grip was firm, but surprisingly not-crushing.

"Sir." The Master Chief, and Thomas really couldn't think of him as anything but (especially not a private. Hel, was he Master Chief's superior? Daaaaamn!) replied respectfully; "I have been briefed on some of your service-history."

"Hopefully not the part where he got his ass kicked on Feros?" Tequila said, leaning against the doorway. That was another thing. When the hell had she been promoted? He sent her a glare. Feros wasn't a place he liked to remember, for various reasons.

"Hopefully," Thomas pressed to overrule Tequila; "only good things, I trust?"

"Yes sir." John said, his golden visor betraying nothing of his expression.

"…Great." Thomas smiled. It was a forced smile, which was mostly forced because he could already sense how the socially inept super-soldier would be… awkward to be around.

While on one hand Nikolai seemed to be in the middle of a fangasm, he himself on the other hand was wary of working with someone he knew from a picture and almost nothing else. He knew Master Chief was the protagonist from the Halo series, but apart from that… Nothing.

Not knowing the man made him feel slightly uneasy.

Nikolai, on the other hand, was more or less bouncing in place.

"Okay. Well, welcome to, Private." Ashley ended the awkward silence; "Have you been briefed on the team?"

"I'll get him the dossiers later on." Anna answered for him; "For now, I just figured the six of you could get introduced, then I'll have someone direct-"

"Why's he wearing a helmet inside here?" Hillary mused, interrupting Anna. The admiral sent the young blonde a flat, tired stare. Tequila smacked her over the head.

"…direct him to his new quarters. Private, do you make a habit out of breaking the rules of conduct?" Anna finished.

"What? He could be anyone behind that helmet." Hillary argued; "I mean, what if it's an evil clone and he'll replace us all with evil clones too?"

Another thwack as Tequila's palm smacked Hillary's blonde head. The blonde shut up.

"Williams, can I leave this guy here for a few minutes without subjecting him to mental scarring?" Anna glanced at Ashley, the younger woman sighing.

"Yes, ma'am." Ashley replied; "He won't come to harm."

"Can't believe I'm already worried before anyone's even shot at him…" Anna grumbled before looking (up) at John-117; "You scared yet?"

"…Ma'am?" Master Chief inquired in mild confusion. Anna gave him a pat on the shoulder;

"Don't worry, they don't bite." She smirked, then turned and left, leaving the group in an awkward silence. Silence, bar Nikolai who looked like he might throw up or faint if the green-armored soldier so much as spoke to him.

"Okay." Thomas sighed; "Doctor Emhart, mind giving us some privacy?"

The doctor paused in his activities. Said activities seemed to be using the blade-arm to slice up pre-heated sausages, and he looked mildly surprised at the request.

"You know, some days I think I miss out on a whole lot of awesome stuff." The man huffed, then exited the room while pushing the trolley with excess arms before him.

The group looked after the doctor until he was out the door, before returning their attention inwards. Thomas breathed before resuming;

"John-117." He started, catching the man's full attention; "Am I correct to believe that your rank used to be that of Master Chief?"

"Yes, sir." The man replied.

Ashley, Tequila and Hillary stared at him. Ashley seemed mildly surprised, Tequila amused and Hillary looked like she might have another round of her reactions on Thomas revealing his past.

"And… you came here, very recently?" At the man's nod, Thomas felt a small frown mounting. He pressed it down; "How recently?"

"The first of March this year, as per your calendar."

"That's…Wait." He looked at Ashley; "What day is it today?"

"Sunday, March the fourth." She replied; "You've been in the bacta for little less than two weeks."

"Huh." He nodded. That was sadly not even all that surprising. Really, sometimes he wondered if Roku hadn't chosen the wrong guy to play host. And where the Hel is that geth anyway? "Okay, so you've been here for three days?"

"Yes."

"And… how exactly did you end up here?"

"More or less the same way as you, Sir." The hulking soldier replied.

"What, green lightning, death by train and a piss-annoying god getting on your case?" Thomas laughed dryly. It was mostly good-natured though. Roku had saved his ass more than once.

"No." Master Chief replied; "A nuclear bomb that detonated prematurely."

"All men have that problem, dude." Hillary chuckled; "Don't sweat it."

The entire group, John included, leveled a unified flat look at Hillary. She just smirked and leaned back in her chair.

"Sex-jokes." An unseen woman's voice laughed, seemingly coming from the hulking soldier; "Seems like we're in fine company, John."

"Oh sweet, buttery Jesus!" Nikolai whispered; "Was that…God."

"Cortana." John clarified as if he believed Nikolai had called his AI 'God'. Really, there was some great entertainment-value in that. Thomas pressed a pair of fingers on the bridge of his nose. Gods, this was becoming a joke way too fast.

"Right. Okay, so here's the short version." Thomas said; "You were brought here, by Anna?"

"Your sister, yes."

Thomas blinked. He hadn't expected the Chief to know that part of the story. Had Anna just decided that the secret was out?

"Did… she tell you that?" He asked in a low voice. The Chief nodded; "Huh. What else has she shared with you that I, we should know about?"

"You are members of Taskforce 'Aspect of Fire', part of the preparation for the Reapers, a force of manifested dark gods intending on harvesting the galaxy of life." John said with a firm voice, like it had been rehearsed.

"'Aspect of Fire'?" Hillary laughed; "Fuck, that's just cheesy. Who the hell came up with that name?"

John gave Hillary a flat stare. At least, that was what it looked like when it was impossible to actually see his face.

"The Admiral."

"Yep. Nutty old bat." Hillary mused, then seemed to realize that Thomas was glaring at her as well; "What? It's a good thing."

"I so…" Thomas started, then looked back at the towering soldier; "Anything else?"

"You are a first-generation Chi-Soldier, capable of harnessing the network of energy in your body. Also, there were others on the taskforce not from this place."

"Huh. So it's "Chi-Soldier" now, eh?" Tequila mused with what seemed like a small smirk of pride; "Well, I'm one too, just in case you wanna know."

"Beyond the designation, what's in a Chi-soldier anyway?" Cortana asked from the man's helmet. At the looks sent his way, the Chief pulled what looked like a small disk from his helmet and held it forth. A blue, miniature woman popped up from it; "Hey guys."

There was a heavy thud and a clatter of trashing equipment as Nikolai collapsed on the floor.

Hillary seemed to choke on laughter before she gained a surprisingly solemn expression;

"…Why is there a naked smurf in his hand?"

"Come a- I am not naked!" Cortana retorted; "And I'm not a smurf."

Hillary paled.

"To return to your question, Cortana, a Chi-soldier is basically someone who can harness the chi-network in the body." Thomas said, holding out his right hand. A bright, emerald flame danced over the skin of his palm; "In my case, it's in the form of fire."

"Wicked." Cortana chuckled at the sight. The Chief-turned-private 'hmm'ed in agreement. Cortana turned to look at Tequila; "Wait, you're one too?"

"Yeah, but I'm not gonna demonstrate." Tequila huffed; "Unless you want me to tear a wall down."

"I like these guys already." The AI grinned; "What else's new?"

"Got a god on the team." Anna said, striding into the room with a datapad in her hands; "Named the taskforce after him, but 'Taskforce Roku' would've sounded dumb."

"A god?" John asked in clear disbelief.

"Yes." Anna nodded as she jabbed the datapad into his hands; "Roku's responsible for any of us even being here. You'll meet him later, but for now, 117, come with me. We'll get you situated."

"Ma'am." John nodded, then nodded to the rest of them and left with Anna.

The group looked after them as they left, a certain air of incredibility surrounding the two. Cortana was plugged back into the Chief's helmet. As the newcomer left their sight, the group's eyes slowly went to the collapsed form of Nikolai on the floor.

"So…" Hillary started, a wicked grin forming on her face; "Who's got a black marker?"