Chapter 37
August 30, 2552 1137 Hours,Sword Base, Babd Catha Ice Shelf, Eposz, Planet Reach
Mike realized he'd lost all sense of the time as the remainder of Noble Team travelled with Dr. Halsey away from her lab. He looked at the mission clock on his HUD and saw it was nearly noon the day after this whole thing had begun. "Time flies when you're having fun," he mused to himself.
"I'm sorry?" Dr. Halsey asked, not quite catching what he'd said. Or did she? In the time they'd been together the insightful Spartan had figured out the brilliant scientist was not only intelligent but also cagey.
"Nothing ma'am," he tried to brush it off. "Just talking to myself."
"Hmmm," she responded, looking at him while they walked, as if analyzing him. "You seem to have a lot on your mind."
"We all do, ma'am," the still-troubled Spartan tried to deflect. "I'm nothing special."
"But you are special, Noble Six. Or should I say Mike," Halsey's grey-blue eyes suddenly lighting up with a playful twinkle as she emphasized his name.
"No, I'm not. I'm expendable. A tool of war, Mike answered flatly, wanting no part of this conversation.
"Ah yes, Colonel Ackerson's dirty little secret."
"I guess. Doesn't matter," Mike shrugged his shoulders. "I'll make sure the package makes it through."
"This is more than about a package lieutenant, as important as that may be. And you are not expendable," Halsey declared with a passion in her voice that surprised Mike. Then the scientist softened, taking an almost maternal tone. "You have much to live for. Cortana has seen that in you. Please, don't give up," she urged him, spontaneously grabbing his armored arm and causing him to stop despite their size differential, her voice thick with compassion.
"What? What does she see in me?" Mike asked, barely above a whisper despite every fiber of his body screaming not to ask.
"She sees character Mike. More than what you project and more than you see. Michael Nantz, you are more than the Lone Wolf. That is a construct based on circumstances. Cortana chose you because you have a noble lineage and legacy that is deeper than even you can see."
"She sees that?" Mike responded, voice choked by the implications of the declaration.
"Throw off the shackles of insecurity and be the man you're destined to be," Halsey urged.
"Come on, let's keep moving," Commander Carter called out from the point position, realizing they'd stopped. Emile was crouching down covering the rear. The volatile Spartan said nothing, watching his arc, allowing them to have their moment.
"Let's go," Mike confirmed, starting to walk briskly away, but her turned back and said to Dr. Halsey, "and thanks, that means a lot."
"You take care of yourself Noble Six," she added, "and thank you for taking care of Cortana."
Mike continued to walk rapidly right past Commander Carter to take the point. The leader of Noble Team looked at him, as if wondering what he and Halsey had been talking about but said nothing.
Mike could feel the presence of the AI despite it, or should he say her, being in the data storage unit which gave off a light blue glow now on his back. He had a lot of questions. How could this AI know so much about him? True, his service record was known and Halsey and this AI would likely have the highest level of clearance, but she also seemed to have insights into who he was even he didn't know. Or was it perhaps obvious to everyone who took the time to examine him besides himself? Cortana knew, Natalia knew. Why didn't he know?
The Spartan pushed the thoughts out of his mind as the end of the cavern they'd been travelling down showed its opening and he prepared for what lay beyond.
What good is it to know all this when I'm never going to get off Reach? Mike thought to himself fatalistically.
The group came out of the tunnel to a pink-hued morning sky. Though clear, heavy grey clouds were slowly beginning to roll in. The party came out onto an emergency landing pad built into the face of one of the rugged mountains overlooking Sword Base on the plain below. As expected, two Pelicans sat on the metal deck.
Dr. Halsey had started a self-destruct timer that would destroy the base and deny the Covenant who'd still been trying to force their way into the scientist's lab when they'd taken an escape tram to this point. So the clock was ticking.
Looking out the scene was ruggedly gorgeous, tranquil even if one didn't know the destructive forces that had been wrought the past few days. Still, the air was thankfully clear of Covenant aircraft allowing the humans this opportunity for escape.
Carter moved towards the craft on the right but Dr. Halsey started to move towards the second Pelican on the left and away from the team.
The leader of Noble Team turned back and declared, "Dr. Halsey, Noble Three will escort you to Castle Base."
"I require no escort, commander-," the independent-minded scientist declared.
Carter cut her off. "Jun, make sure nothing falls into enemy hands," he emphasized to the team's sniper.
"I'll do what's necessary, sir," Jun answered, grasping Carter's drift. If Dr. Halsey caught the implicit threat she didn't say anything. The sniper nodded his head in agreement then looked to the remaining members of Noble and their leader. "Good Luck."
"You too, rifleman," Carter answered with a bit of melancholy in his voice.
With nothing left to say, Jun and Dr. Halsey headed towards the second craft as Commander Carter continued on towards the one he'd been heading to with the other two Spartans in tow. While the head of Noble Team hopped into the pilot's seat in the cockpit then began the pre-takeoff sequence Mike and Emile held the perimeter. Despite how quiet it was none were willing to let their guards down.
Punching a series of buttons the engines whined and began to come to life. "I need a heading, Dot," Carter called out to the team's AI.
"At three kilometers north, turn right. Heading zero-five-zero," the accented female voice responded.
"Which leads to?" Carter asked.
"The ship-breaking yard in Azsod," Auntie Dot confirmed. "The only off-planet extraction point left on this continent. Small scale air attacks have decimated many convoys en route. An armada of Covenant cruisers have hastened to that location as well. UNSC cruiser, Pillar of Autumn is waiting for your arrival."
Carter exhaled heavily followed by a low chuckle as he shook his head in disbelief at yet again another impossible assignment. "Wouldn't be a Noble mission if it were easy," he answered grimly. "Okay boys, let's roll."
Mike trotted into the empty bay while Emile sat down on the open ramp as the Pelican took off. While the ship gained altitude the two Spartans watched as the explosive charges went off beneath the ice shelf of Sword Base destroying what remained of the UNSC complex and alien structure below it. The lake around the base began to drain into the gaping hole in the surface as water poured into the opening, flooding the excavation area.
"Good riddance," Emile grunted as the Pelican took flight towards their new objective. Their race against the clock had now gotten even shorter.
August 30, 2552 1154 Hours, 2552, Sydney, Australia, Planet Earth
"Sir, it's your daughter," Spanner Misriah's immaculately dressed female assistant pointed out to the multi-billionaire who was busy talking on his mobile device in the Misriah Armory offices in the city. The tall man looked up from his conversation and noted his equally tall daughter's approach with a slight smile of satisfaction though he continued what he was doing.
Natalia knew her father was aware of her approach as she moved closer though he gave no indication of this fact. The observant woman had seen the gesture of his assistant, whose name she didn't remember, and her father's reaction. She knew his body language well enough.
MacKenzie wasn't there, Natalia observed, and that was a good thing. Their conversation the previous day had gone well but left her confused and unsettled. Her would-be suitor had been very kind, not trying anything intimate with her due to his perception she'd been traumatized on Reach. Yet he'd given every indication of interest in that by the way he'd touched her several times.
For her part, Natalia didn't have the energy to deny him so had allowed the eager man to indulge himself. Several times she'd wanted to tell him about Mike, about what had happened on Reach, but she just couldn't bring herself to do that. Why? Was she forgetting about Mike already? No, it wasn't that. She'd never forget him. Then why not be forthright? Maybe it was the change in environment. Confusion began to grow, causing a state of gridlock in the tormented woman. Seeking a measure of comfort she now wore his ID discs on a chain around her neck. They were warm against her chest, just as she imaged he'd feel pressed against her.
Rather than her armor or even a uniform Natalia was in civilian clothes. A pair of black form-fitting pants, black high-heeled boots and tight white button-up shirt accentuated her figure catching the eye of several she'd passed. She could have gone in uniform but now it seemed awkward. Already she felt like she was losing herself, or at least losing what she'd discovered on Reach.
Spanner Misriah made his daughter wait as she stopped in front of him. He gave her a nod of acknowledgement but then turned his back to shield his conversation while the businessman's slender female assistant stood between the two. Though annoyed at the implication this woman thought she could stop Natalia the aggressive ONI officer let it pass
"Good morning Natalia," her father looked over as he finished his conversation and handed his communication device to the hovering assistant who he waved off with a slight nod of the head.
"Good morning father," Natalia responded neutrally, marveling anew at the power this man had over people.
"Would you care for some lunch?" her father asked, suddenly seeming almost vulnerable in the way he asked, as if looking for some sort of connection.
"No thanks," the woman with a mission responded brusquely, wanting no part of anything Spanner Misriah had to offer. She was there for answers.
Unexpectedly guilt filled Natalia at the sudden look of disappointment that came over his hard face.
"Sure, okay," she agreed. "That would be fine."
A short time later, in a private room overlooking the harbor and sparkling blue water of the Tasman Sea Natalia picked over a grilled chicken salad while her father devoured a rare sirloin steak. They'd spoken little and an awkward silence hung over father and daughter.
Natalia chided herself for not being able to speak. She'd faced the Covenant but yet seemed more afraid of her own father. But she was a different woman so swallowing a bite of food despite having no appetite she asked the question that had brought her to the man who still controlled so much of her life. "Why did you do it?" she said evenly, not able to make eye contact.
"Do what?" her father responded obliquely.
Anger flaring at the evasive answer, her emerald green eyes laser-locked onto him. "You know what I'm talking about! Why did you pull me off of Reach?"
"That was Admiral Parangosky's doing," he responded weakly.
"Cut the crap, father. She would never have arranged it without your prompting. I'm not that valuable to her. So why?" she pressed in. "Why did you do it?"
"Because you're valuable to me," Spanner Misriah finally answered, his usually commanding voice very low and definitely vulnerable this time.
In her anger Natalia missed the emotion in her father's voice. "Valuable? I have no value to you," she shot back. "I can do nothing to help with your empire building."
"That's not what I meant," Spanner responded with a hurt expression.
"Then what? What do you mean?" Natalia asked less aggressively, having finally caught the change in her father.
"I…I couldn't lose you," the hard man's voice broke slightly. "I didn't want you to die on the other side of the galaxy. You're…you're all I have."
Natalia was stunned by the declaration and wasn't sure what to make of it. Her father seemed almost embarrassed and wouldn't look at her. She took her slender fingers and massaged her temples as a low-grade headache from the stress of all this began to pulse. "Okay, I get that and appreciate your concern," Natalia measured her words carefully. "But I was finally doing something on my own. I was actually contributing without having to wonder if you were pulling the strings and you took that away from me." She paused as she thought back to the incident on Reach when she'd been forced to leave. "But it turned out you really were pulling strings after all. I never really was free of it."
"I'm sorry," the words came out as barely a whisper.
"Pardon?" Natalia asked, stunned at the declaration and uncertain she'd heard what she thought she had.
"I said I'm sorry. I was thinking about myself and didn't consider you wouldn't want to leave," her father answered defensively. Then his analytical mind kicked in and he came out of his reflective funk. "What changed? You didn't want to go in the first place. The admiral had to force you. I never thought it would be an issue."
Now it was Natalia's turn to be on the defensive. She wanted to tell him about Mike, about what she'd done, everything, but how could she tell him she'd fallen in love with a Spartan? How could she tell him about combat? Suddenly her confidence washed away and all she could say was, "I was making a difference. What we were doing was making a difference."
"To what end though? Reach is lost. If it hasn't fallen already it's only got days left."
The declaration stunned Natalia who'd never considered the UNSC would allow this major center to be lost. "How can that be?" her voiced became husky. "What about our fleet? What about the reinforcements?"
"All lost," her father responded without emotion. "Wasted on a fool's errand."
"But what about those left on the planet?" Natalia choked out.
"From what I've learned they've evac'd all they can. Anyone left there is gone, fighting a rear-guard action to buy time for the others to get away."
A cold chill of dread came over Natalia. It was something deep down she knew but would never admit; the fear of an unspoken inevitability enveloped her. Then a biting phrase entered her mind: expendable soldiers.
That's what Noble Team was. That's what Mike was. Expendable. But how could that be? They had hopes and dreams. They could love as Mike loved her and now they were being used up like some depleted commodity and thrown away.
And she was home safe.
Bile leapt up into her throat and she gagged involuntarily.
"Are you okay, Natalia?" her father leaned over immediately to attend to her, concern framing his handsome face.
"I'm fine," she lied, "I just don't feel well."
"Okay, we can finish up and leave," her father said with surprising tenderness. "Listen, I have to go off planet for a couple of days but when I get back I want to talk to you about something."
"Where are you going?" Natalia asked, trying to distract herself from the pain of knowing eating a hole in her stomach.
"Oh, it's just business, but it can't wait. Nothing to concern yourself with though," Spanner responded evasively. "But more importantly, I want to speak to you about something MacKenzie and I have been talking about since you left for Reach."
Natalia could only imagine what the two of them had been scheming about. She looked at her expensive lunch, likely the equivalent of two day's pay for a Spartan and knew if she put another bite into her mouth she'd throw up. Privilege always seemed to win out she thought to herself as Mike's ID discs seemed to grow heavier around her neck.
August 30, 2552 16:52 Hours Aszod, Eposz, Planet Reach
The initial flight from Sword Base had gone well. For over four hours the team had flown close to the ground and remained undetected until they got closer to their objective. Mike was beginning to think their luck had changed and they'd be able to sneak in, deliver the package and get out.
Fortunately the Lone Wolf was not that naïve so hadn't let his guard down. Almost immediately after the UNSC ship had committed to flying through a barren canyon cut into the drab brown terrain the Covenant swarmed in on the Pelican flown by Commander Carter.
A flight of Banshees followed by a Phantom using its heavy plasma autocannon in a gunship role came screaming in trying to put the heavily armored aircraft on the ground. Carter showed considerable flying skill juking and weaving throughout the narrowing rocky obstacle. Mike and Emile used their personal weapons, firing from the open rear ramp to try to keep the vultures off their tail.
Mike had successfully fired a stream of armor piercing rounds from his Assault Rifle into the engine of one of the Banshees causing it to blow up and throw its mates off track. Going full throttle through the canyon the Spartans thought they might make it until two more Banshees came swooping down out of the late afternoon sun. Unable to maneuver the two nimble Covenant attack crafts fired a full salvo of plasma and fuel rod projectiles into the cockpit. The nose of the Pelican dropped dangerously and the engines screamed in protest until the heavy aircraft righted itself.
"Noble Leader, seek immediate medical attention," Auntie Dot called out to Commander Carter urgently over the comms.
Mike and Emile looked at each other, knowing the other had the same concern for their team leader despite not being able to see facial expressions behind their visors.
"You go check on the commander," Emile urged Mike. "I'll hold the fort back here."
"Roger that," Mike confirmed and turned to move back through the nearly seven meter long troop bay to the cockpit.
"Noble Leader, please respond," the AI called out again, concern etching her voice.
Mike continued to move towards the front of the craft, holding on to stabilize himself despite the weight of his armor in the bobbing dropship. But then the pursuing Covenant ground support craft let loose a salvo from its twin cannons. The hot plasma cut through the armored skin of the dropship and splashed Mike as he passed, draining his shields precariously. The alarm claxon went off, warning him to find cover, but he didn't care. He wanted to get to Carter as quick as he could.
Fortunately, as the next Banshee set up for another pass Emile fired a precisely placed round from his Grenade Launcher, hitting the lead craft. The resulting EMP burst the explosion caused disabled the lead Banshee causing it to crash into its wingman. Even though the Phantom still pursued for the moment the volatile Spartan had bought them some time.
For Mike, he didn't like what he saw as he entered the cockpit. Commander Carter had removed his helmet and dropped it to the deck. Blood spatters on the cockpit window and the state of their team leader told him all he needed to know.
"Please respond, Sierra Two-Five-Nine. You are alarming me," Auntie Dot pleaded again.
Commander Carter ignored the entreaty and instead turned to Mike. Face bloodied and armor charred from plasma fire, he declared, "Not sure how long she's gonna stay together. Skies are jammed up anyways. Gotta get you off here, lieutenant."
Revulsion at what he knew was coming overwhelmed Mike. For nearly his whole career he'd worked alone and now not only had he begun to work with people but he cared for them and now they were being taken from him one-by-one. He grabbed the pilot's chair and began to plead, "Sir, you-"
But Carter cut him off. "Don't wanna hear it. Get the Package to the Autumn."
Mike could see the hole from the Fuel Rod Round that had penetrated Carter's armor from the Banshee's class-2 Projectile Cannon and knew it was not a matter of 'if' but 'when' for the Spartan who was holding it together despite the incredible pain he must have been in from the inch-and-a-half long fuel rod lodged deep in his chest.
The tormented Spartan knew there was no other option. "Done," was all Mike could say, feeling his heart coming up into his mouth.
"Not yet, it's not," Carter answered grimly, staying focused despite the pain. "Emile, go with him. It's a ground game now."
Emile turned and looked the length of the Pelican to see his team leader, who he'd been through so much with, saying goodbye. Pumping his left shoulder with his fist in salute the warrant officer responded, "It's been an honor, sir."
"Likewise...," Carter let the word drift for a moment as thoughts of their past together flashed into his mind. He smiled, knowing he'd served with people he counted as friends. "I'll do what I can to draw their fire."
"I wish things had turned out differently," Mike said quietly. "But I appreciate you giving me a chance. It was an honor to serve with you. Thank you."
Carter snorted. "You earned your place on Noble Team, son." Taking the offered hand he shook it and then turned back to the controls. "Six. That AI chose you... She made the right choice."
Mike moved back to the still open ramp at the rear and rejoined Emile. The two looked at each other but said nothing as the Pelican curved sharply down a break in the canyon at the last moment causing the pursuing Covenant aircraft to miss the turn and lose sight. The two remaining Spartans crouched down on the ramp at the Pelican's tail, getting ready to jump. Mike held the AI data storage unit close to his chest.
"On my mark!" Carter called back, getting a surge of adrenaline and holding his fingers up for a countdown. As he moves to zero the leader of Noble Team pumped his fist and gave the signal. "Mark!"
Mike and Emile jumped, free-falling down, missing the ledge they'd tried to hit due to the speed of the Pelican. The two Spartans bounced and slide down the canyon wall until they rested on the ground, safe for the moment, but a long way from their objective.