Chapter 25

November 25, 2552, 0815hrs, New York City, New York, United States, Planet Earth

Spanner Misriah sat quietly at his desk alone in his opulently appointed office rubbing his temples in fatigue. The owner of Misriah Armory had waited for several hours for MacKenzie Wainwright to return with the incriminating evidence against the Office of Naval Intelligence but he didn't return. The calculating business executive began to wonder if he was wrong in trusting the young man who'd once been one of his most trusted executives. If he'd decided to run rather than come clean he'd find him. The issue began to appear as one of almost being betrayed anew. So, after the wait he had one of his security team go to the young executive's home. MacKenzie wasn't there and it seemed as if he'd never gotten that far. It was well into the evening and he had other plans so he decided to find MacKenzie in the morning because what was a few hours?

Spanner Misriah was wrong.

In the morning the multi-billionaire had Niccolo do a search and was shocked and surprised to find out that rather than running MacKenzie Wainwright was dead. Immediately he had the Smart AI do an investigation of the nature and cause of death and so he sat, with a growing anger at what had happened and a growing suspicion as to what had happened.

His instincts were right, though considering where they sat it wasn't a big stretch.

"It was an ONI Kill Team from Section Zero that terminated Mr. Wainwright," Niccolo reported.

"Any you're certain of this?" Spanner asked, almost redundantly since he knew the truth of the answer.

"Yes sir. The coroner's report showed he died of an injection of pancuronium bromide, potassium chloride and midazolam. They also found a small puncture wound on the back of his neck. The police are treating it as a homicide and have opened an investigation. I would expect you to be contacted about this within the day."

"What else do you have?" Spanner asked, agitation growing.

"Mr. Wainwright's personal communications device was not on the body. All CCTV cameras in the block he was killed were off-line and just before the time of death there was a narrow band EMP burst that temporarily shut down all electronic devices in a four-block radius."

No one else but ONI could pull something like that off.

"Do you have ID's on who did it?"

"No," Niccolo confessed with a perturbed look on his face. "I do know that what was reported as a four-man ONI Security Detail flew in and out of New York yesterday. The manifests have been redacted and since my looking around the flights have been eliminated from the system. I have to admit I admire how thorough they were."

"Very well, what's done is done," Spanner declared forlornly, grieving the loss of the man he'd once thought of as nearly a son but one he'd allowed to fall from his graces which ultimately ended in this tragedy.

"I have reviewed and am already initiating changes to your personal security protocols," Niccolo declared breaking the man from his moment of reflection. "They may make an attempt on you."

"Thank you Niccolo," Spanner responded. He was still distraught over the news but impressed at the Smart Ai's initiative. "It's not likely though. As much as Margaret Parangosky hates me, I've also made myself pretty invaluable to the war effort."

"Well played sir," Niccolo responded with a note of admiration.

"Okay, well let's prepare for the visit from the police. Have Peter Slack standing by."

"Already done. Your lawyer's office is ready when needed."

"Good. I also want to speak to his family and offer them our fullest support for their son's funeral," Spanner instructed.

"But sir, he was a traitor to your company," Niccolo responded in surprise.

"Yes, but part of that is on me. He was a contributing member of Misriah Armory and he'll be remembered that way. Everything to do with what he did is to be pulled and firewalled. The man's dead. There's no reason to destroy his reputation."

"It shall be done, my lord," Niccolo answered with a note of confused respect in his voice. The old Spanner Misriah would have made all this very public to show what happened to someone who messed with him. Perhaps these emotional humans can change and learn from their mistakes, the Smart AI thought to himself.

The avatar of Niccolo disappeared and Spanner was again left with his thoughts. He felt sick to his stomach and then a thought hit him hard. How would he tell Natalia? He felt somehow responsible for the young man's death. And even worse, if ONI sent a hit squad to kill MacKenzie, what would they potentially do to her? He had to warn his daughter.

November 25, 2552, 0830hrs, "The Hive", HIGHCOM Facility Bravo-Six, Sydney, Australia, Planet Earth

"And everything has been scrubbed and cleaned up?" Admiral Margaret Parangosky asked.

"Yes, everything is nice and tidy," the Smart AI Black Box reported, "though that pesky Niccolo did poke around and found out we had a security team in and out of New York. I have to admire the old boy's ingenuity," the cube-shaped avatar confessed with admiration.

"And we have all evidence that traces back to us?" Captain Osman interjected.

"Yes, his personal communication device and both datapads. Our team did a thorough sweep of the man's New York condo and his apartment here," Black Box confirmed though with a note of irritation for even being asked.

"What are next steps, admiral?" Osman asked.

"For now, I think all is well," Parangosky replied smugly. We'll see how things play out with dear Natalia who I'm sure will grieve the loss of her former suitor. We need to turn out attention to the UN and that pesky Ruth Charet. Any updates?"

"Public Affairs has been receiving requests for statements from you on the declaration. A couple of government agencies have been asking around as well," the head of ONI's personal assistant answered.

"And what about the UNSC?" Parangosky asked, with a nod of her head.

"Nothing, as to be expected," Osman answered. "The information you released right after the declaration seems to have given everyone there at least some cold feet."

"Good," the admiral responded with a note of satisfaction. The situation had the potential to blow up but now seemed to be becoming more manageable. "Now's the time to press Procurement then for more funding for our newest project."

"Admiral?" Osman asked in surprise at the bold move. She'd expected her boss to at least lay low for a while but once again misjudged how not only aggressive Margaret Parangosky could be but how shrewd.

"Of course, my dear Serin," giving her protégé a patronizing look that caused the Spartan II washout to wince, "we need to show that the Office of Naval Intelligence is humane and sensitive to the needs of the people. We've heard the message and are here to serve as we've always been. Let's bring our fourth gen project out of the darkness and into the light. Inform Jun of this."

Yes, to serve yourself, as you've always done, Black Box thought to himself but said instead, "Well played admiral! I will get the wheels of progress in motion."

November 25, 2552, 0845hrs, New Mombasa, Kenya, East Africa Protectorate, Africa, Planet Earth

The sun was already up and the temperature rising despite being late fall. There was not a cloud in the sky which was a brilliant blue. Natalia barely noticed as she sat in the passenger seat of a Warthog driven by her personal escort, Lt. Ian Wilson.

The pair had returned to their base of operations the previous afternoon after their tour of the destroyed city so Lt. Wilson could find out where Mike was. They had then set out early in the morning to a location on the north-west edge of the city that had been set up as a staging area for troops moving out to the area to Voi and the most current spot of heavy fighting.

Natalia's heart beat heavily and she involuntarily licked her lips nervously in anticipation of seeing him again. The quick-thinking woman had rehearsed in her mind what she'd say and how she'd deal with a variety of anticipated responses. Once again, she was using her position to drop in on him which screamed of privilege and could cause distance yet she'd been sent to New Mombasa by her command and so he couldn't fault her for that. No, she hoped he'd be happy and so would the rest of the team. Regardless, she couldn't wait to see him, yet in her heart she had a sinking feeling things wouldn't turn out as planned.

She wasn't wrong.

Rolling up to the staging area they found it largely deserted other than a small security detail and a bunch of service support personnel going about their duties.

Lt. Wilson rolled up to a green modular tent that looked to be serving as the headquarters for operations there and jumped nimbly out of the Warthog, still trying to impress Natalia.

"Sir," Wilson threw up a salute to a captain with the name 'Cook' on his tactical vest. "This is Lt. Commander Misriah of ONI Sector Two, she has some questions for you."

"Ma'am," the middle-aged officer saluted Natalia in turn which made her feel uncomfortable since the look on his face showed what he thought of ONI, "what can I do for you?"

"Thank you for your time, captain," Natalia responded humbly, returning the salute and catching the dark-haired officer off guard. "I don't want to be a bother and will only take a minute. I'm wanting to connect with a Spartan special ops team that is staging out of here. They're designated as the Wolf Pack. Do you know their status?"

"Sorry, ma'am," Captain Cook responded genuinely, "they were in and out of here about two hours ago. They headed up the Tsavo in a small packet towards Voi."

"Okay, thanks for the information and your time, you have a good day," an obviously disappointed Natalia answered and turned away.

She and Lt. Wilson walked a few steps away from the headquarters when the Army officer said apologetically, "I'm really sorry, ma'am, if I'd known their time schedule I could have tried to get us here sooner."

"It's okay, Ian," Natalia responded, trying to quell her disappointment, "you did way more than you should have. I appreciate that."

"So, what now?" the eager junior officer asked, glad he wasn't in trouble.

"I don't know," Natalia replied with an unmotivated shrug, "I guess we head back to base."

Before Wilson could answer the air filled with the sound of a deafening explosion as a stockpiled stack of munitions exploded in a massive orange fireball. It was immediately followed by the hollow staccato of plasma rifle fire and the quick chug chug chug of Needler rounds. But one didn't need to hear this as the air filled with the colorful but deadly sight of incoming plasma and needler rounds. Several other smaller explosions went off as several brute shot grenades rained down on the staging area.

The human defenders responded as best they could to the unexpected attack but were quickly overwhelmed as a horde of Grunts came screaming into the staging area followed by a pack of roaring Brutes. As the juggernaut began to work their way through the camp Jackals sniped from the periphery and another group of Jackals came charging in to form a pincer on the humans.

Natalia responded without thinking, drawing the M6C magnum in one fluid motion from its holster capped off four quick rounds to drop two Grunts that had been moving towards her after killing a flatfooted Army trooper. Lt. Wilson went down with a yelp, a needler round shot at short range went fortunately clean through his shoulder and he lay on the ground screaming in pain. Natalia moved to stand over the wounded officer protecting him from further harm. She ducked away from another burst of needler rounds and returned fire, hitting the Covenant shooter. She then coolly dropped to one knee and pivoted around firing controlled two round intervals at any who tried to come close to her or her wounded escort who now lay on the ground balled up.

Natalia emptied the twelve-round mag in her pistol and deftly released the empty and slapped in a fresh one, barely missing a beat. The woman was holding her own, scattering Grunts and keeping the Skirmishers at bay which drew the attention of a pair of Brutes. The massive Jiralhanae were incensed that a puny human female was holding their forces at bay so shifted their attention to her. Natalia turned just in time to see a pair of brute shot grenades soaring towards her. She dropped flat on top of Lt. Wilson to shield him at the projectiles soared over top of her to land several meters away. Fortunately, she was close enough to the cone of the blast that the shrapnel spray went up and over her though she couldn't hear anything as the concussion temporarily deafened her. Ears ringing, though she was okay physically the blast had caused her to lose her magnum and she was lying prone on the ground. With a barking laugh the two Grunts charged in to finish off the helpless pair. The roar of an M41 LAAG opening up could be heard even by the deafened Natalia as the Brutes seeking to end her life were shredded by armor-piercing rounds from two Warthogs that came roaring into the staging area leading a mixed group of Marines and ODSTs.

Moving in disciplined bounds and supported by the Marine's heavy weapons detachment the ODST Helljumpers began to systematically take back the camp. The Jackals immediately melted back into the shadows of the early morning sun knowing this fight was lost while the Grunts scattered in panic. The remaining Brutes sought to rally and held the UNSC tide for a time but the sheer weight of firepower arrayed against them was too much for the Jiralhanae and Kig-Yar Skirmishers who stood with them. Too late the Covenant forces attempted to separate themselves from the counter-attack and withdraw. Rather than concede the retreat the Helljumpers eager for revenge for the weeks of destruction in the region charged after them, slaughtering the Covenant forces in its entirety.

To ensure there were no more surprises to the staging area several ODST teams probed out to look for remnants of Covenant while the Marines established a new defensive perimeter. Meanwhile, medics began to tend to the wounded including Lt. Wilson who it turned out had had his pride hurt more than his body. The needler round had turned out to be a glancing blow causing only a superficial wound. As a field dressing was placed on his shoulder Wilson wanted to thank Natalia for saving his life but couldn't bring himself to speak and admit what had happened. For her part, Natalia said nothing but instead automatically scanned the periphery of the staging area, looking for threats. She understood the young man's dilemma as she'd felt the same way with Mike back on Reach. The old Natalia would have made a point of exploiting the man's discomfort but she wouldn't go there anymore. She really had changed.

Then the reflective woman saw a sight that brought her back to a place of her own discomfort.

Coming towards her with a look of recognition on his face was Gunnery Sergeant Marcus Stacker. The ODST NCO who went by Pete had led the team she'd connected with when she was seeking to bring Mike back to Noble Team on Reach. Carrying a slung BR55 service rifle his close-cropped brown hair and expressive blue eyes gave him away.

"Howdy, ma'am," Stacker greeted her in a friendly way though without saluting.

Natalia was frozen with fear and her own embarrassment at how she'd treated the seasoned combat veteran the first time they'd met. She wanted to apologize herself but didn't know how to so instead went for small talk. "Hi gunny. You still with 105 Shock?"

"Yep, still with 7th Battalion," Stacker confirmed then immediately changed subjects. "I just saw the Wolf this morning."

"You saw Mike? How's he doing?" Natalia exploded, all pretense put aside.

Stacker chuckled at the response which caused Natalia's face to turn red in embarrassment. Yet he didn't exploit the opportunity instead answering, "They'd just been in a tough fight, ma'am, took a lot of casualties."

Natalia's heart sunk. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Stacker shrugged. "Nature of the beast when you're the pointy end of the stick," he said in his light southern drawl, "and we're in a fight for our existence."

"I guess you're right, still sucks though," Natalia acknowledged. "Thanks for the info, gunny."

"No problem. Listen ma'am, I want to tell you something."

Natalia tensed. "Okay, shoot."

"I got you wrong on Reach. I thought you were a pampered brat hiding behind your name." Natalia winced openly but Stacker continued. "But I had some buddies on Mars and heard about your work there as a controller. They said they wouldn't have gotten out of alive if it hadn't been for your work there. You're alright."

Natalia's eyes filled with tears at the unexpected compliment. "Thanks gunny, that means more than you can imagine. But you had me pegged right," she confessed. "I was arrogant and often out of line when we met. I'm sorry for that. Things changed for me later on Reach and so when I had a chance to help out on Mars, I grabbed it."

"What changed?" the ODST senior NCO was drawn in.

"Mike."

Stacker chuckled. "Yea, the Wolf can have that effect on you."

"No," Natalia corrected, happy for the chance to share this, "he showed me a different way, that I could stand on my own two feet and be something more than the legacy of my name, that I could build my own legacy."

"Well, good on you ma'am for grabbing it," Stacker nodded his head approvingly. "Listen, good luck to you two. Me and the boys are pulling for you. I hope you get a chance to make it work. I shared the same thing with him."

"What did he say?" Natalia suddenly desperately wanted to know.

"What could he say?" Stacker responded with a shrug. "Command pushes those guys harder even then us so he's got a lot on his mind. But don't give up on him, ma'am, you two are good together."

"Thanks, I needed to hear that," Natalia responded.

"Good. Well, gotta run, see you around," the ODST NCO grinned and headed back to rejoin his squad.

Natalia smiled and felt her heart soar. She was different and things were changing.

"Who was that?" Lt. Wilson asked.

"An old friend," Natalia answered, not catching the hint of jealousy and lingering embarrassment in the logistics officer.

The pair returned in silence to their base of operations and the young officer would ask for a new assignment, no longer wanting to work with Natalia Misriah. For her part she was fine with that, she had other things on her mind.

Returning to her quarters she was surprised there'd been three calls from her father. Alarm rose up in the woman since her father never called. Though the middle of the night she knew she could, and should, call. Nervously, she grabbed her communication device and with shaking hands punched in his number.

"Daddy?" Natalia asked as they connected on the second ring. "I saw that you'd called. What's going on?"

Spanner's heart sunk at the sound of urgency in his daughter's voice. "I'll get right to the point. Mackenzie's dead."

"What?" Natalia exclaimed, stunned by the news. "I don't understand," her voice shook, "what happened?"

"I'm still trying to figure it all out myself," Spanner confessed, "but it's worse than that. He was murdered."

Natalia was shook to her core at the unexpected news. "Do you know by who?" she had a strong suspicion but was too scared to consider it.

"It was by ONI," her father declared.

Natalia's heart nearly exploded in shock and sudden fear. Involuntarily she looked over her shoulder. "ONI? How do you know? Are you sure?" she shot back nervously.

"I know, and I'm sure."

The now distraught woman who wore the uniform of that department of the UNSC took three deep breaths to calm herself. "What happened?" Natalia asked quietly.

"He got himself into some things he shouldn't and became a loose end that needed to be tied up," Spanner answered cryptically, not wanting to fully disclose what happened and ruin the man's reputation. He truly had changed. "I called because I wanted you to know and also to tell you to be careful."

"Why? Does it have anything to do with me?" Natalia perceptively asked.

"No, not this. But we do know that Margaret Parangosky has it in for us so we need to watch our step," Spanner stated honestly.

"Yea, I can see that," Natalia confirmed. "That's why I'm in Kenya." Then a thought occurred to the changed woman. "How are you? Are you okay daddy?"

"I'm doing okay, but it's tough," Spanner confessed, touched by the concern of his daughter. "It is hard though because I feel a certain degree of responsibility. I'd let things drift with MacKenzie and then this happens."

"Don't feel bad. I have a bigger responsibility in this than you do then," Natalia stated emphatically, being able to read between the lines.

"Thanks, I appreciate that. Listen, I need to go because there's a lot going on now but I'll try to connect with you tomorrow, if that's okay."

"Sure, that would be great. I'll talk to you soon." Natalia heard her father disconnect and was left with her thoughts. She'd never had any depth of feelings for MacKenzie, that had been the old woman who'd just used him for her personal amusement. The revelation didn't sit well with her. The initial response was it reminded her of who she'd once been which always made the sensitive woman uncomfortable, but the deeper revelation was what if it had been Mike? Her feelings were deep and real. She'd allowed her emotions to dictate much of their relationship and that needed to change. The disappointment of just missing him became even more bitter and her determination to see him again became even stronger.

Over one hundred kilometers up the Tsavo Highway Mike was reflecting back on the last day as he watched burned out Covenant and human vehicles on the side of the road, testimony to the ferocity of the fighting that had gone on for the area leading up to the city of Voi. But the brooding man's thoughts were not on what was to come but on what had happened the day previous. In the final assaults to clear New Mombasa the ODST Wolverines under his command had taken heavy casualties. Nearly one-third had been either killed or wounded in the surprisingly fierce fighting. In the end the Covenant forces left had chosen to fight to the death rather than try to escape. Those numbers would be sobering enough but they were made more bitter by the fact the Wolf Pack and their inability to effectively transition to the use of their Mjolnir armor was the reason. No one had said anything, and logic dictated that the fact they'd not been given sufficient training and had been thrown into combat after only hours of preparation rather than the requisite days spoke to the reasons but that did little to assuage the sense of guilt the teenage Spartans and their leader felt.

Mike had run into Gunnery Sergeant Pete Stacker, an old friend from Reach, and they'd had the chance to talk which was nice. Still, it had gotten him thinking about Natalia and that had led him to a renewed sense of frustration. Plus, Melanie had been uncharacteristically quiet and sullen. It was beginning to become more than the man could take. He'd worked hard to throw off the idea of being the Lone Wolf and to open his heart and now it was doing nothing but causing him distractions and heartache.

Each of the Spartans in the team had kept their helmets on, not wanting to be seen after what had happened and the ride thus far had been in silence as each was left with their conflicted thoughts. But it was obvious from the body language of each there was an explosive tension building that would eventually pop.

It was finally Adam who spoke.

"Guys, I know we're all thinking the same thing so let's get it out in the open," the teen with blond hair that was naturally tightly curled exclaimed. "We're not pulling our weight here and its starting to get people killed. We need to get better."

"Yea? Well it's not fair we get thrown into this with armor we still don't know how to used properly," Matt retorted bitterly, punching the side of the transport vehicle, denting it.

"Don't matter, we're letting our side down," Alissa retorted bitterly. "We need to get our shit together and fast for what's coming up."

"Any suggestions?" Matt shot back. "Since you're not doing any better than the rest of us."

"Don't you think I know that?" Alissa yelled angrily, sitting upright to face off with her teammate.

"Listen, we're all in this together," Maia interjected, "we can find a way to figure this out, together."

The quietest member of the team's comment and the fact that she was the only one who had been able to fully integrate with the new armor system yet hadn't exploited that fact spoke volumes. The others calmed down and they began to brainstorm and swap ideas of how they could improve and once again be an asset.

Mike watched all this unfold quietly. Maia and now Adam were handling the conversation and the thoughts coming out were excellent. He was wise enough to know not to mess with that so let it flow. He was proud of his team again but he also had a sense of foreboding for what lay ahead as Voi and the main battle for Africa came increasingly closer.