Firebase: Ashfell. Intelligently and aptly named for the active volcano that it is nestled beneath, the base was only a few months old, having been laid down by the Invictus in early January after the covenant had been driven back to the coast. Maddie was blinking the sleep from her eyes as the Falcon circled the small airfield they'd built and touched down with a clunk on the asphalt. Drake and George stepped out followed by Maddie, each of them ducked as the rotor blades whipped at the air above their heads. They jogged away, letting the falcon clear the landing pad and return to its patrols, they made their way inside the complex, built using a series of Firebase prefabs from the Invictus. Maddie went straight for her quarters, pulling off her jumpsuit and dress the moment she had the door closed. George chuckled, as he locked it, "Someone's eager" he said, yawning as he removed his tie.
"Not just yet, I've got to hear Bee's report on the Valterri's and check up on Arc Dream." she said, pulling her black fatigues on and threading her ponytail through the back of an ONI cap.
"Bee?" George asked, a little confused.
"Spartan B312" Maddie sighed, "I don't like the fact that he doesn't have a name."
"I know, you've mentioned it a few times. You settled on Bee, then?"
Maddie strapped her holster to her thigh and clipped her helmet to the combat harness on her hip. "I'd love to probe deeper but that guy is designated hyper-lethal-vector."
"Is that supposed to mean something?" he said, laying on the bed in his underpants.
"Only the big green himself has that designation." Maddie smirked, "you know who I'm on about."
George sat up, "he's as deadly as the Master Chief?"
"ONI seems to think so."
George whistled. "Yeah, best not piss him off, then."
Maddie sat beside him on the bed and kissed him on the forehead, "don't worry, I'll use my natural charms to keep him in line."
"So long as it's not your feminine wiles, you'd have a better shot at killing him."
Maddie snorted as she stood up, "please, you can't spend a whole evening making eyes at me and then lie about it. You're much better than that, Commander." With that, she unbolted the door and left, striding down the hallway and towards the ops centre. At this hour, most of the men were off duty or in the barracks, which left the corridors feeling somewhat ominous as Maddie walked through them. There was the blue light that glowed in the dusk and the halogen bulbs that flickers occasionally, humming a droning tone into the calm night air. Her boots clacked along the metal floor, a steady beat that kept Maddie from yawning as she finally reached the room, hidden at the centre of the complex for security. Maddie placed her hand to the scanner and it beeped, turning green as the door latch clicked open and she stepped through to the other side. There were a couple desk jockeys trying to stay awake at their posts, as well as Felix, still dressed in his tuxedo, and Maddie's three most important officers. Major Arjun Denning and Captain Jack Braeburn, who led her ODST Battalion, and Lieutenant Duggan, who had become into his own leading her strike teams. Each of them had been fast tracked into their post, save for Denning but Maddie trusted them. It made her job easier knowing who it was that she was entrusting the mission to. Each of them stood at attention, save for Drake, who met her eye as she told the rest of them to stand at ease.
"Commander" Denning asked, speaking up, "we were just discussing the SPARTANs. The men are getting jumpy with them around."
Maddie leaned against the war-map on the holotable. "That's to be expected, I suppose. Is there a problem?"
Christopher Duggan, known to his friends as 'nuggs' spoke up now, "They don't like the Fours. New tech like that on a backwater like Ballast? They stick out like a sore thumb, especially considering we have six of them."
Seven. Maddie thought, humorously. She glanced at Drake who said nothing and gave nothing away before looking to Denning. He nodded, confirming that Duggan's appraisal was correct. "Not much we can do about that, we don't have the facilities to remove their armour, and I need them on standby in case the covenant attack. I trust that I don't need to explain to you all that the men need to keep their heads?" They nodded. "Good, I'll see what I can do about keeping contact to a minimum. I'll increase their patrols and Arjun will increase staff rotation among the worst-affected units. You're dismissed." They saluted and left; Drake sent the support staff to bed as well, leaving just the two of them alone in the room. Maddie sighed loudly, her shoulders sagging a little as she watched them leave. It was an uneasy feeling that washed over her, one filled with anticipation and a twisted sense of excitement. How much preparation and training had she done? It felt like a lot, yet it was nowhere near enough, and how could it be? Most Generals had a lifetime of experience under their belt and the merit to go along with it. Maddie was a product of circumstance. Hell, if it weren't for her grandfather, she'd be a corpse beneath a mound of glass on Skopje right about now. She tried to push it from her head but found it difficult in the silence, Drake was setting up the decryption for Bee's transmission and his face was a picture of serene focus as he worked.
Maddie turned and went to the water cooler, figuring that the wine she had drunk at the party was part of the problem and downed a gulp. She turned and looked at Drake, who continued to work as he always did. "Do you ever stop working?" she asked, joining him at the table.
"Doesn't feel like it" he joked. "Why?"
"I just kind of realised that we've only ever been on mission together and on the rare day that you're off duty I never see you."
"Maybe that's how I like it," he said dismissively.
"So, you just sit in your room like the stoics?" Maddie teased, watching as a progress bar counted up to 100%.
"I hike" he said, "I like to go outside and just relax."
Maddie tilted her head, "Do you take that Cake stuff with you?"
He smiled, "You remember that?" Maddie nodded, his minty 'cake' was all that had kept her going at one point in her life, she'd bought some on Earth but it was a pain to ship out these days, especially with the Covenant so close to the innermost planets. "I have a load with me if you want some."
"Ah, that's awesome" she said, grinning, "Thanks."
Felix tapped play on the recording as it finished loading and the eerie black armour of 'Bee' popped onto the screen.
"Captain." he said, his voice low despite the fact that his helmet was likely muted. "The Valterri's are definitely doing something unsanctioned on this planet. Large sums of money have been transferred from their personal accounts and ONIs provisions for the cell. It seems to be going to the nobility in some capacity but as to what it's for I don't exactly know. The ONI cell was originally posted here for genetics research years ago but the base's location was scrubbed from the records, neither Parangosky, nor HIGHCOM know what's actually going on here anymore. Obviously, they're obeying the original mission or Parangosky would have had them scratched off but I suspect that the nobility enlisted their help to maintain control of the populace. Their influence began to fray and the money seemed to start going haywire around the same time a local human rights lawyer arrived back on the planet. There was a significant amount of social unrest following his arrival and his subsequent death which was quietened by the King using some strategies that are straight out of ONIs playbook. The operation itself is likely small, which is why they were able to divert much of the funding, that or they're making a profit on the research already. I will return to the safehouse and await further instruction, B312 out."
He didn't use my nickname, she thought, still annoyed by that. Her sister was now a SPARTAN, and definitely alive, she hated and rejected the idea that they were somehow less than human. Naomi and Bee might be reserved and awkward around others, but the IVs were different, they were volunteers and adults who had made a choice.
"Did you ever meet the Valterri's before you came here?" Maddie asked Drake, chewing her lip.
He shook his head, turning to face her, "No, I suspect you know more of them than me, lass."
Maddie wondered about that, she'd always known Ana's parents as a fairly kind and familial, if absent, couple. They were incredibly close as far as Maddie had ever known, and she only found out that they were ONI the day before the Covenant invaded her home. "I knew their cover, maybe." she sighed, "I don't like it, Felix, we shouldn't be investigating our own people."
"It happens all the time, its standard procedure to work out what another cell is doing in a system you're operating in. It's hardly surprising that they have their fingers in the pie, lass."
Maddie shook her head, "Lieutenant Duggan believes the ONI cell on this planet killed his father. If the accounts and the cell started acting out around the same time we're obliged to investigate."
He scratched his beard, "it's a risky path to take, lass, if you're wrong there will be consequences. You need to be absolutely sure if you go after them."
"I mean, I trust Duggan but it is just speculation on his part. I think it's best we wait and see if we can establish a more concrete connection first. Send a message to Bee, see what he can dig up, whatever he needs give it to him, then send me the details."
Drake nodded, relaxing a little. The right choice then? At least Drake thinks so, that's a good sign, right? She bit her thumb; the question went unanswered.
"There was a message for you as well, rerouted via Enigma." he paused and his brow curled, "and a message from Ana Valtteri."
Maddie groaned audibly. Ana always had been persistent; she was easily one of the worst influences in her life back when they were close but that didn't mean Maddie regretted their friendship. It was more that she didn't want to revisit that life. When Ana and Angie abandoned her and Nicola on Skopje, the animosity she misattributed to them, blaming Nicola's death on their not taking her with them, had kept her sane and stopped Maddie from blaming herself. She knew she was wrong to do it, she'd even known at the time she was being unfair, but confronting Ana wasn't something that she felt needed to happen. Afterall, hadn't enough time passed now? It had been almost five years since it had happened and as far as Maddie was concerned, it was dead and buried.
Clearly Ana did not feel the same way about it.
She had been a nuisance ever since Maddie arrived, trying to corner Maddie, trying to get her alone so that they could talk. Luckily, Maddie's new command meant that she was too busy to deal with it most of the time but as time wore on, Ana had become better and better at finding Maddie when she was busy trying to organise the troops.
"Send it to my personal terminal. All of it." She sighed, not worrying about freezing Drake out of the loop. He accepted the decision without question, something that still annoyed her.
Trust yourself, lass. His eyes seemed to say, as she took her leave and walked back to her room for a couple hours sleep. When she arrived, she found the lights lit at a low glow. George sat relaxing, watching local television on the laptop in the corner.
"That was quick." He said, smiling.
"I've brought work home with me, unfortunately."
"Making me wait, are you?"
Maddie grinned and shook her head, "something like that." She said, sitting beside him and annexing the laptop. She searched for the files sent from the ops centre and archived the message from Ana.
"Her again?"
Maddie shrugged, opening the message from the Enigma without giving Ana a second thought.
"Commander!" Jade beamed, "Tuk, Kat, and I have some good news, nothing I can say over comms but it's important you get here ASAP so that I can fill you in. I see that Sterling is due back on the Ides early tomorrow morning, take Naomi and pop by if you can. Ciao!"
Maddie smiled, her team on the Fenrir was shaping up to be her ace in the hole. Preliminary work on the basic systems on board those ancient ships had already given insight into a number of technical advancements that she had applied throughout her fleet. From a bureaucracy subroutine that made admin almost redundant, to proprietary shield technology that she'd had the engineers graft to her SPARTANs and her personal transport Pelican that she'd affectionately named Body Bag. Tukmen'tukhan had also begun to compile databases regarding potential testing sites for ARC DREAM as well as places of interest for her to investigate once they'd escaped the system. In particular, the world he'd known as Charum Hakkor was intriguing to Maddie. While Earth really had remained the original home of her species, in the days of Tukmen'tukhan, it was a backwater. Charum Hakkor was the seat of power and the cultural heart of her people. It was the perfect place to start her quest to reclaim what was lost to the Forerunners.
Focus, lass. That comes later. Drake's voice rang in her head
George had stood at some point and uncorked a local vintage, pouring the red, almost satin, liquid into a glass and handing it to her before sitting down. She sipped it and revelled in the tart bitterness of the drink and enjoyed the feeling of alcoholic stupor returning.
"How's things up there, anyway? Reitker, Alex, and Katya are keeping you busy, I hope."
George took a big sip and leaned back in his chair, "Oh yeah, big time. There's a lot of ground to cover with only ten ships; one is a prowler and two are top secret inert ancient wrecks."
"If the Covenant return in force?"
"Best not think about it."
Maddie grimaced. It was the same story as always; the naval gulf was just too big. Maddie had seen it on every mission she'd been on and it was a constant point in every debriefing she'd read about the invasions of other systems. A Valiant defence on the ground, decimation in the skies. "Still no news on what brought the Covenant here, then?"
"You'd know if there was any, you're the fourth highest ranked person in the system." He said, searching her eyes. She leaned her head back into his arm, staring at the ceiling.
"What about you, then, how are you holding up?" George looked away, originally the seventh fleet had included two of his best friends, one of which had died during the siege of Meridian. It had driven a wedge between himself and the other Commander's, one that had played a role in not receiving a promotion that he more than deserved.
"Oh, you know…" He trailed off and Maddie sat up, kneeling on her calves beside him, "what?"
"Don't avoid the topic."
He chuckled, "I'm not."
"It's not healthy," she replied, her face struck with worry.
"Aren't you avoiding Ana and your family, too?"
That shut Maddie right up. "Fair enough." She shrugged, laying on top of his chest. He ran his fingers through her silky hair and sighed.
"It's hard. I suppose me and Kiko thought we'd all stay alive passed our first deployment, at least."
"Rude awakening, huh?" She asked, quietly.
"Yeah, something like that."
"I'm sorry." Maddie said, softly, tracing the muscles on his thighs with a delicate and slender finger. George didn't reply.
They sat in silence for a while and Maddie slipped into a wine induced bliss as she felt her head rise and fall on George's chest. She was happy here, both physically and mentally, and her last mission had taught her that as much as she needed to fight for ONI, she also needed to live for herself. Part of that meant giving George a chance. When she'd injured herself, he was the only one who had come to her, the only one she hadn't scared off or hurt in her quest to be the best. At first, she thought it was just about attraction but to George's credit he was far more complicated a man than she thought. Born into a noble house on Ballast, George had rejected nobility and legacy, he had gone to the academy to fight for more than blood. It was ironic that he was now assigned to a project about reclaiming humanities birth right. George had run from home and she could relate as she had run from everything that her life once had been. Maggie was on base somewhere and Maddie had continued to find a way to get through to her. There was a mutual desire to move on, their conversation aboard the Enigma seemed to suggest it, but there was a gulf between them. It was an unquantifiable distance, marked as much by history as it was their current circumstance. Maggie wanted to both reveal herself to their family, and remain hidden out of a sense of duty to ONI. Maddie essentially wanted the same thing, except she realised that revealing Maggie to her family would mean needing to explain what had happened to their mother, that Dad hadn't needed to kill himself. That the daughter he thought was lost could have been alive, was still alive. That was before she even considered what Eliza would think. She'd spent years after Skopje, caring for her, building a relationship with her, what would she think when she found out that Maddie had kept it all a secret?
She swallowed a sip of wine and felt its tangy texture wash down her throat, thanking God for the fact that she at least had Drake, Kat, Jade, and Tuk to call friends. They'd been incredible these last few months, to the point that Maddie didn't think she'd ever cope without them. Maddie started to think about her older brother, Alex, who was in space aboard the UNSC Aegis Fate, when she noticed how much her mind was wandering.
"I hate this waiting around." She said, chewing her lip. "On Skopje, it came out of nowhere but the enemy intention was clear, Meridian was similar, the goals were clear but this place is doing my head in. I feel like McClellan, like I'm tip-toeing around the Covenant."
"Who's McClellan?"
Maddie chewed her lip, trying to think of a more recent example of military incompetence. "Early days of the Harvest Campaign, remember Colonel Liang?"
"Sure, everyone knows his story, refused to engage the enemy despite his numerical advantage, then lost his opportunity and had his entire division wiped out." He shrugged, "it's not your fault that you can't engage the enemy, there's a lot more going on here than a simple siege."
Maddie snorted, "doesn't matter if my inaction is justified. Inaction is still inaction."
George smiled and wrapped an arm around her, "Drake and Reitker's deal with the Militia and the Government is almost complete, when that's done, we will have a lot more room to manoeuvre."
"I hope you're right."
He popped a sing brow and rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "I thought Drake told you not to doubt yourself, Commander."
Maddie pouted and sat up. "I hope you aren't suggesting I lack confidence," she purred, sliding one toned thigh over his lap.
He grinned polishing off his wine. "I'd never, Commander." He said, eyeing her figure.
Maddie leaned in and kissed his neck, she felt two firm and powerful hands on her ass, travelling up her back and up towards her chest in a delicate yet assured motion. "I see you don't lack for skill, as ever." She giggled, unzipping the jumpsuit and revealing the dishevelled dress she'd been wearing underneath.
George stood, lifting her high into the air, Maddie shrieked in delight as he threw her over his shoulder and stalked over to the bed. He placed her rather than throwing her and Maddie pouted, a thin look of disappointment hidden beneath the redness in her glowing cheeks and her passionate eyes. He undressed her, taking his time, making her wait. Maddie loved that about him, he was a hopeless romantic and a force of nature.
And when things get really good? The man is a goddamned SPARTAN.
He picked up on the very unsubtle, ravenous look she was giving him and put his hands on her shoulders, guiding her firmly to the bed. She saw the icy cold hunger in his eyes, it matched her own. Their breath mixed; the heat pulled them closer.
They kissed.
And Maddie had one of the greatest nights of her life.