Chapter 6: Sorrow and New Discoveries

1134 hours, February 14, 2555 (Military Calendar)/ Omega Delta System , Research Outpost Berk, Planet FP-089.

Astrid exited the massive training gym into the busy corridors of the subterranean system of Berk's hardened bunkers, followed closely behind by her fireteam. All of them were in a fresh set of their black and multi gray shad ODST BDUs without the combat armor plates. Having to do post op maintenance on their gear and return weapons, equipment, and armor plates to the Quartermaster. Astrid was happy to be out of the simulation under armor that she and the other participants wore underneath their combat armor for the war game. The jam-packed hallways filled with base personnel sparked a fresh wave of pain in her head that ruined her mood, which was caused by the concussion she received from her encounter with that simulated knight battlewagon. She rubbed her temple in a futile gesture to relieve the pain and at a sideways glance she noticed concern in Heather's eyes.

Ignoring both the pain and the concerned looks she was getting from her subordinates, she reflected back on the exercise. Overall, it was a win, but the Valkyries and the Riders coordination has room for improvement. She frowned in thought, but it was not the team's coordination that had her attention. It was her's and Hiccup's coordination. Her mind went back to right before the assault on the opposing team's base. That sensation of knowing what her counterpart was about to do and reacting to Haddock. That level of sync with another soldier required hours upon hours of working together. Not on their first training exercise, but there was no denying the fact that she and Hiccup briefly fought as one, as if they had been fighting side by side their entire military career. Furthermore, she could not make up her mind on what she makes of Lieutenant Haddock. From her limited interaction with him, she has determined that he lacks confidence, a disregard for procedures, lack of combat experience, and is unorthodox with his wild west plans. His redeeming qualities is that he is brave, intelligent, determined, and his memorizing, forest green eyes that demand that she lower her emotional barriers. That vivid, intimate episode she experienced with Lieutenant Haddock during the war game caused her cheeks to flush, her heart to race, and her stomach to flip. She was overwhelmed by that situation and caused her to lose focus in the midst of battle. Thank the gods that Specialist Thorston decided to make a jab instead of firing the second warhead at them in that compromised position. If she had, she could have eliminated their leadership and the outcome of the game would be vastly different. Her anger flared at herself for letting her emotions distract her and at Haddock for being the cause of her laps of control. That anger coursed through her body, causing her fists to coil and relax rapidly. She rubbed her temple in a vain attempt to alleviate some of the pain and redirect her energy away from lethal actions.

A hand gently tapped her shoulder to bring her back to reality, "Lieutenant? Are you ok? You spaced out there for a moment."

Astrid shook her head a few times to focus through the anger that clouded her mind. "I am sorry Heather. You were saying?" asked Astrid with great effort to maintain a reserved tone.

With concern, "ma'am I know that the Major cleared you for only light duty, but don't you think you are pushing yourself with your condition? You should go and rest. I will consolidate our after-action reports for you and forward them to you this evening. All this commotion is not helping." Heather offered as she gestured to dozens of base personnel rushing past them in either direction.

Heather and Astrid were forced apart as Camicazi inserted herself between them. "You are reading the situation wrong Heather." She stated with a massive grin on her face and hopped from one foot to the other with excitement. Cami continued with her grin growing wider, "I believe our cold, fearless leader's heart is being thawed by a certain green eye Lieutenant."

The concept of her falling for the General's son caused her cheeks to flush and her anger to rush back twice as potent. Her anger was focused through her death glare with the crosshairs set on her shortest subordinate.

To her annoyance, her team's recon specialist was completely oblivious to her wrath as Cami looked over to their team's corpsmen for assistance, "You are with me Doc? Right? You can see how flustered she gets around Lieutenant Haddock."

Astrid noticed Jenra's grey, neutral gaze shift between herself and paled then back at her doomed comrade. Regaining her composure, "the Lieutenant's love life is none of our concern. Whoever she decides to date is within her own right as long as it does not conflict with this team or mission. As the team's corpsman, I suggest Cami, that you save your teasing for another day for your own immediate health."

Astrid was grateful that her team's corpsman could read the room and attempted to deter Cami, but her patience had been shortened due to her headache. She snapped, "Corporal Ozouf, I am taking up your offer. You are in command until 1700 today."

A wolfish smirk appeared on her face. Camicazi froze and all enthusiasm vanished as she turned to face her commander, noticing her glare and predatory smile. Cami's reaction gave her some satisfaction with her getting the last laugh. She continued, "Corporal Camicazi requires some additional training. Have her run the gauntlet to put her energy to good use. Heztra, be on standby to lend medical aid if necessary."

A unison of "yes ma'am!" acknowledged her order. Both Heather and Jenra grabbed one of Cami's arms and began to drag her back to the gym, who began pleading with Heather for leniency. Cami's pleas fell on deaf ears and faded as her team turned the corner in the hallway, disappearing in the sea of base personnel.

The clattering of base personnel rushing past her provided plenty of ruckus to cause her headache to flare without the assistance of her subordinate teasing her. The latest wave of pain caused her to wince, reminding her to seek refuge in her quarters from the constant activity of the base. She picked up her pace down the crowded hallway towards the underground tarmac. Hopefully flight operations were at a minimum, which would allow her to cross and cut the amount of travel time to her quarters by at least six minutes. Apon approach, she noticed two male marines with MA5B assault rifles in their grasps blocking the titanium blast door to the tarmac.

Noticing her rank insignia, one of the marines stepped forward, raising his hand for her to stop. In a respectful tone, "sorry ma'am, but only critical personnel for flight ops or the task force are allowed beyond this point."

Slightly annoyed that her gambit backfired, Astrid peered at the three yellow chevrons on his chest plate, "Sargent can you inform me what is going on?"

"Ma'am, the General and his task force are now beginning operations to recon the area known as Hell Hinds Gate. The aircraft are now taking off."

At that statement, the ground fibrated as the roaring of multiple aircraft engines raised in pitch then grew faint in a repeated pattern. Astrid covered her ears as the sound waves from each aircraft taking off amplified her headache. The Sargent gave her an apologetic look as he retrieved a set of ear plugs from his vest and handed them to her. Gratefully, she put them in her ears eagerly and nodded her head in thanks to the Sargent. Astrid backtracked down the hall, following the direction signs to the nearest stairwell to the surface. The ear plugs provided some relief from the surrounding commotion and made the rest of her journey to the surface bearable.

After ascending multiple flights of stairs, Astrid came across the blast door that separated the surface and the fortified complex that made up the subterranean part of the base. Scanning her common access card, the display turned green. With minimal effort, she turned the wheel to retract the pins and gently opened the door. Astrid was greeted by the chilling February wind and overcast skies. Tucking in her arms to conserve body heat, she made her way to base personnel quarters. The main route snaked up the cliffside of the island. Astrid followed the bend in the path and stumbled from a sudden blast of wind. Her attention was encapsulated by the ocean and the large formation of UNSC aircraft beginning to take formation. To her astonishment, the beast of a gunship that she saw the other day was at the spearhead of the formation. This was the first time she witnessed the General's personal transport operating and she was impressed. The massive cannon that was bolted to the under chassis of the airframe bristled with electricity along it's coils and just screamed I will wreck your day.

Behind the monster gunship were a flight of six pelicans with their rear hatches open, revealing their cargo holds filled to the brim with marines and equipment for a long expedition. Warthogs, four wheeled all-terrain vehicles, locked in place by the pelican's tail hardpoints. On either side of the formation were two flights of four hornet gunships. Each hornet's landing strut had a marine seating on it bearing a M41 rocket launcher. Overall, the force was formidable and packing some serious firepower. A frown replaced the grin she unknowingly had when the memory of that intruder she pursued then lost surfaced. A pit formed in her stomach as the formation finished forming up and began to accelerate away from base. That sense of awe was replaced by dread that this operation was going to turn FUBAR. Her anger flared at the sense of helplessness she felt, for not being able to do more to change the outcome. Yes, she was an officer in command of an elite team of ODSTs, but they were still lacking experience in fighting the Forerunners to reach their peak efficiency in combat. Astrid stood at the cliff, seeping in her anger, observed the formation of aircraft with a determined expression as the force recon force faded in the distance.

In a serious, soft tone, "I will have my team ready to join the fight once you return General, and I will not have your son distracted me again. This I vow, for once a Hofferson makes up her mind, she will follow it through to the end."

A blast of chilly air sent chills down her spine and reminded her that she was still outside, vulnerable to the elements. Once more, she began her trek to the living quarters to recover from her injuries. She noticed that there were fewer people on the surface of the base than in the tunnels, for this she was thankful that the last portion of her journey will not be as painful. Thoughts of nursing a hot mug of tea and getting some much needed rest to speed up her recovery brought a small smile to her lips. Movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention. Turning to get a better look and to her dismay was Lieutenant Haddock. Fresh memories from the earlier game caused feelings she deemed annoying surfaced. With great effort and will power, she forced both the memory and feelings into a deep crevice and focused on what the bane of her concentration was doing. To her surprise, he was all geared up in armor and had a fully loaded rucksack secured to his back. Her curiosity took over and she presided to follow him from the shadows cast by the late morning sun.

Astrid took shelter from behind a set of supply crates that were stacked up on the side of the road as Hiccup approached a weapon locker. Silently, she observed him input his code and retrieved a BR55 battle rifle from the rack and stuffed a handful of magazines into his vest. What she saw was nothing new. The majority of the base personnel carried some form of weapons on them at all times due to the frequency that the base was attacked. A wave of pain forced her to break surveillance and with her back against the crate, she slid down. She could not believe herself. Here she was stalking the General's son for Thor's sake, all of this based on a whim. The chance that Lieutenant Haddock was the one that was sneaking around the base was unfamible. Taking a deep breath, she shakenly got back on her two feet. Astrid peered over the crate once more to reacquire Hiccup's location. Unsurprisingly, he was no longer at the weapon locker. Astrid looked further up the route that she was tailing Haddock on with no success.

She shrugged, "well he must be doing some endurance training in full combat gear. Good for him." Astrid whispered to herself nonchalantly. With that thought, she began walking to her quarters once more and cast a nervous glance in the direction the General went, the feeling of dread still present.

1030 hours, February 14, 2555 (Military Calendar)/ Omega Delta System , Research Outpost Berk, Planet FP-089.

Hiccup winced in pain as he pulled a fresh, marine green, UNSC t-shirt over his head. His chest flaring in pain, where the three sim rounds hit his chest during the exercise. He was still in a daze that his crazy, improvised plan actually worked, even with his consistent standard of bad luck. His cynical side showed it's despairing face as he analyzed the game. The game was a fluke. An outlier in a massive collection of data events that was his military career. He sighed sadly at this realization that the probability to pull off another miracle was a fraction of a percent. He reached for his military blouse in his locker when a bare, muscular arm with a black claw strike tattoo on the bicep wrapped around his arm.

"That was inssaaannnee brother! Causing the other fireteam's position to collapse was genius, hahaha!" Dagur praised with a deranged laugh.

Taken aback, Hiccup ducked under Dagur's arm and turned to face him, "I am not your brother Corporal, I should have mentioned that we were on the verge of defeat if that stunt failed."

Dagur's smile boarded on the insanity, "but it worked LT." He placed his hands on Hiccup's and his expression switched to one of seriousness in a blink of an eye, "your action saved the pipsqueak and mine lifes."

His expression changed to one of carefree thought as he retracted his hands back into a thinking stance, "even though our lives were never in jeopardy. We were able to complete the mission because of you. Even if the game was a mock battle, our brotherhood was forged with blood and hardship on the field of battle."

His eyes locked onto Hiccup's once more, "from where Heather and I come from that makes us brothers."

Hiccup stood there speechless as Dagur turned away down the row of lockers and disappeared around the corner. The giant statue of a marine Sergeant Andersen with a towel around his waist, entered Hiccup's field of vision, snapping him back. Hiccup continued to dress as he analyzed his conservation with the Corporal.

After a few moments of silence, Hiccup heard the Sergeant clear his throat. As Hiccup zipped up his uniform, he tilted his head towards his team's NCO, "you have something on your mind Sergeant?"

Andersen turned towards him as he finished zipping up his own blouse, "Sir permission to speak freely?"

Hiccup gave him a nod, "granted." "Sir, I have survived my fair share of engagements with the Covenant and witnessed plenty of officers freeze in combat. Their inaction led to the deaths of themselves and others. You on the other hand are one of the few that remain cool under pressure and came up with a plan and stuck to it."

With an encouraging smile, "you may be a green horn, butter bar when it comes to combat, but that is the reason you have me. I got your back LT and more importantly trust in yourself."

Again, Hiccup was speechless at the words of wisdom from his Sergeant. Andersen lobed his gym bag over his shoulder and closed his locker. Hiccup remained frozen in place as he attempted to comprehend this newfound support from his team and failed to notice the smirk on the Sergeant's face and his fist approach him.

The fist struck his shoulder with enough force to reset his mind, "also I got those after-action reports so you can rest up LT. You deserve it."

He waggled his eyebrows and flashed a mischievous smile at him, "With this time resting, why not go and charm that smoking hot, spitfire, blond officer? You guys got some chemistry."

Hiccup's cheeks redden, "not you too sergeant. One team member I can handle, but two of three will be the death of me."

Andersen chuckled, "you mean the entire team? This is a quote from Heitz." Andersen placed his hands on his cheeks in a dreamy expression and raised the pitch of his voice in an impression of their young, female navy corpsman, "the way that Lieutenant Haddock bridle carried the unconscious Valkyrie Lieutenant to safety was straight from a romantic fairy tale."

Hiccup groaned in despair and covered his face with his hands in defeat, "please kill me now Sergeant, for the Forerunners haven't been able to."

The chuckle grew into an uncontrollable laughter, "I am sorry sir, but I cannot follow that order." With a meaty, comrade slap on the shoulder, which caused Hiccup to stumble, he watched as the bulky Sergeant left him alone in the locker room.

In a sarcastic tone, "I bet that there is a pool already going on when and if we become an item."

Alone finally with his thoughts, he agreed that Lieutenant Hofferson was an extremely attractive woman. In addition, she was intelligent, ruthlessly determined, stubborn beyond belief, and so far, she treated him as an equal. Having his team believing that he has a chance in dating his counterpart was refreshing, but, he believed he has a better chance revealing the ONI conspiracy than dating a warrioress like the ODST Lieutenant. A beep registered from his wrist data pad interrupted his train of thought. His curiosity peaked, with a few quick taps on the interface brought up the sender ID. Hiccup's eyes widened in surprise at the sender's identity, Dr. Fishlegs Ingerman, Forerunner Specialist. With haste, Hiccup opens the message. It read "my lab once you have a chance -FL." Having a feeling what the meeting is about deleted the message and began the trek through the base to the science wing deep inside the base fortifications.

At a brisk pace, Hiccup weaved in and out of foot traffic that was more dense than usual base operations. This delayed his arrival to the security checkpoint manned by a squad of marines standing sentry to the secured science wing. UNSC olive green mobile barriers flank either side of the titanium blast door that separated the science wing from the rest of the base. A grizzle, stocky marine six inches shorter than Hiccup moved to intercept Hiccup.

Seeing the Lieutenant insignia on Hiccup's uniform stiffened and gave a crisp salute, "morning sir, what state of business do you have here?"

Hiccup took note of the staff sergeant chevrons on the marine's armor and returned the salute, "morning, staff sergeant, I require access to the science wing to meet with Dr. Ingerman."

The staff sergeant nodded in understanding, "sir will need to confirm your identity." He waved a private forward, who held out a data pad to Hiccup. Hiccup retrieved his CAC from his pocket and slid the card over the pad. A service picture of himself appeared along with a hand scanner app. He placed his hand on the outline as the scanner scanned his hand. A moment later the scan was completed and his picture flashed green confirming his identity. Hiccup heard the staff sergeant talk into his helmet mic then a constant buzzing alarm sounded from the blast door. Two marines grabbed handles and began to pull the thick blast door open to allow entry.

Hiccup wasted no time entering one of the most secure sectors of the base and made his way towards Fishleg's lab. He passed multiple labs filled with computer equipment and lab techs in their white lab coats analyzing data displayed on the consoles. Almost ten minutes has passed since he read the message as he crossed the threshold into Fishleg's assigned lab. The doors slid shut behind him as he approached one of his only friends on the outpost. His friend's lab was cramped with state-of-the-art computer equipment designed for research. Fishleg's workstation was filled with empty or partially filled coffee cups and stacks of data pads, stacked in a uniform style with post it notes categorizing each one. The sight brought back nostalgic memories from his university days before his father put him through OTS on Earth to "protect him". His friend was still oblivious to him, for his attention was still glued on the glyphs that Hiccup recalled sending him yesterday. Leaning against the wall in a casual stance, Hiccup analyzed the screens in hopes to decipher a clue on why his friend messaged him. A program in the top right corner of the screen caught his attention. It was a highly complex language analysis program currently studying the unknown glyphs. A sense of dejavu overwhelmed him, the glyphs taunting him as if he should already know their secrets.

His trance was interrupted by his friend turning around. Fishlegs squealed in excitement and rubbed his massive hands together in anticipation of sharing his latest discovery. Hiccup gave a small smile at his friend's antics and braced himself for what is to come. Fishlegs rushed him and engulfed him in a massive bear hug. Most people would not take Fishlegs seriously with his massive bulk built like a bear, but after a friendship of many years, Hiccup was not a bit intimidated by his friend. Hiccup gave out a yelp of pain from his still sore chest from the earlier game.

Through stained teeth, "gentle Fish, only currently injured from the war game."

Fishlegs hastily put Hiccup back down and in an embarrassed tone, "sorry Hiccup, I got carried away." His embarrassment vanished, replaced by his eagerness to show his discovery, "the data packet you sent me has kept me up all night trying to identify those new glyphs with no success currently."

Studying his friend's face and seeing the bags under his eyes, Hiccup now put that observation and the wide consumption of coffee together that explained his friend's current status of behavior. Before his friend continued, he motioned Fishlegs to pause, "Fish calm down I am here and you have my attention, so please slow down. Also did you enact that security firewall I sent you when we were stationed here?"

Realization dawned on Fishleg's face, and he nodded, "yes. I had a gut feeling that would be the wisest course of action."

A puzzled expression appeared on his face, "Is the data that important to protect with the computer firewall that you invented?" Fishlegs laughed and in a joking manner, "are you trying to hide this data from ONI?"

Hiccup froze in place that his friend hit the nail so close to the truth. This brought a new dilemma to surface. Can he bring Fish into the need to know about the ONI conspiracy? Information that he is keeping from his own father and commander of the outpost? If he does then Fishleg's life would be in danger. Fishlegs would be a great ally to have and would be a good confidant or gods forbid that he is part of the conspiracy? What he needs is more information before he makes that critical decision.

Hiccup nervously laughed with Fishlegs, "you can't be too careful with maintaining security of classified information nowadays."

Fishlegs accepted his answer and nodded his head.

Hiccup decided to swiftly change the subject, "sooo Fishlegs what you got for me?"

Fishlegs squealed once more and hopped from one foot to the other in excitement that broke containment and rushed over to his workstation. With Fishlegs' back turned to him, Hiccup exhaled the breath that he realized he was holding in and forced a neutral expression as he moved to Fishlegs' left to obtain a better view.

With pure passion, "to begin the process of unraveling the mystery of these characters I compiled a base model of all known Forerunner glyphs and identified key characteristics of the roots that give insight on the meaning of each glyph." Fishlegs explained.

Hiccup gripped his chin with his right index finger and thumb as he followed his friend's logic and nodded in agreement.

Fishlegs continued, "using this model as the foundation for the translation software, I ran the mystery characters through the program all night with every iteration." Fishlegs exploded with pure joy, "the results for similarity was zero percent!"

Hiccup's eyes shoot wide open by the revelation of this astonishing discovery, "you mean that these unknown characters are not Forerunner in origin, but another language altogether?" Queried Hiccup.

Fishlegs' smile broadens, "exactly. Furthermore, I was able to clear up more of the translation of the Forerunner script about a great war with the intruders."

Hiccup let the new information simmer in his mind, "are you suggesting that this new language could be connected to these intruders that the Forerunners fought against during the peak of their strength? We know that the Forerunners fought against the parasite life form called the Flood and lost. Forcing them to activate the seven halo rings to wipe out sentient life to starve the Flood."

Fishlegs replied, "It is only a theory at the moment. Also, what is also interesting is that the Forerunner glyph for the Flood was not used in conjunction with the intruders. So, it is safe to assume that these intruders and the Flood were two different enemies that the Forerunners fought."

Hiccup's mind went into overdrive devouring all these new variables and how these discoveries fit in the overall puzzle. His mind jumped from one thought to another as he tried to answer the newfound question, who were these unknown intruders? Again, and again his trail of logic kept leading him back to Berk's encounter with the black dragon he shot down. Currently that dragon was the only entity that met the current parameters. If so, that would explain why this ONI Black Ops group is so keen on capturing the dragon. Making the need to acquire more information on the dragon the next step in his mission. The only way to meet this objective is going back to where he freed that dragon.

Hiccup gave a genuine smile, "thank you Fishlegs for taking a look at the data I sent you. For the foreseeable future keep that firewall operational. In the meantime, I will get out of your hair so you can continue your research with the unknown language."

Fishlegs nodded in understanding and went back to analyzing the data, "no problem Hiccup. I am more than happy to lend my expertise to a friend. I will message you if I make any more breakthroughs."

With a final farewell, Hiccup exited the lab and made his way back to his quarters. Thankfully Sergeant Andersen volunteered to handle his paperwork for the day, which opened his schedule for the rest of the day. Hiccup let out a depressed sigh, the probability of him relaxing when he was engrossed in a project was smaller than him going out on a date with his new counterpart. His mind never slowed and his thirst to know the unknown was his personal curse. He lost his perception of time with his thoughts and the journey to his quarters ended. With fluid efficiency, he keyed in his combination on the keypad and swiftly entered his room. Immediately, Hiccup restocked his rucksack that was still packed from his base exertion the other day and donned his standard combat armor.

Fully geared up, he swung the straps of rucksack over his shoulders then tightened the straps to balance the load on his back. Excited to begin his recon mission to the dragon crash site, he exited his quarters into the chilling, February late morning, the sky overcasted. Again, his mind began to wonder about possible scenarios that he may encounter while in the forest. Would he cross paths with the dragon again? Another ONI Spec Ops team? What was his strategy? Would he only observe, or would he try to engage them?

His cynical side of his mind revealed itself, "you take on a team of Spec Ops agents that most likely were recruited from the ODSTs? That will for sure work out well."

With annoyance Hiccup responded to himself, "Thanks for pointing out the obvious you sarcastic ass."

"My pleasure. By the way, pay attention to your surroundings when you are trying to sneak off base."

A cold chill went down his spine, as if someone was observing him. The sensation broke his mental exchange with himself as he stepped forward towards an armory locker. Discreetly, he turned his head towards the keypad and began inputting his officer code to gain access to the weapons. While doing so, he scanned behind him to locate the source of the disturbance. Seeing no one, but on guard, he grabbed an BR55 and a handful of 9.5 x 40mm magazines. Clipping the weapon to a sling and depositing the magazines in ammo pouches. Now armed, Hiccup walked further up the main road of the base then slipped into the shadow of the alley between buildings. Combined with the dark green of his armor and being motionless the shadow concealed his presence from whoever was following him. From the shadows, Hiccup waited for the unknown pursuer to break their cover in hopes of acquiring his location. Movement from behind a stack of supply crates caught his attention and he tracked the suspect with his eyes, not daring to move his head in risk of revealing his location. His pursuer's features began to be more clear as their distance shortened and he made out the feminine shape of the pursuer's body and her golden, blond hair. Shock overcame his senses as he could not remove his eyes away from his pursuer. His mind refused to acknowledge the identity of this pursuer despite the undeniable evidence in front of him. Hiccup's hand clutched his heart as feelings of betrayal, dread, and hopelessness began to creep in, for the pursuer was none other than Lieutenant Astrid Hofferson.