RECOMPOSE
by Ladywolvesbayne
Well, not much to say today... except that something GOOD it's coming and you don't want to miss it. Also, I've been watching a little of Red vs Blue lately and I'm so in love with those idiots, I don't know which one I pity the most xD anyway, enjoy!
27. NOT A DRILL
proofread and corrections by SL4Y3R -hugs-
SEPTEMBER 11TH, 2558
Exiting a very risky but necessary slip-space jump close to Earth orbit, the Infinity was received by a full battery of orbital MAC guns and two more fleets of ships. The most accessible (and largest) spaceport capable of supplying and accommodating a ship of that size was at Cerro del Corcovado, looming over the major city of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); so they were hauled through atmosphere by four valiant-class super heavy cruisers to the final destination.
Nobody was allowed to leave their stations. More ONI agents boarded before the Corcovado spaceport gave the thumbs up for approach.
Unlike most of people thought, Rio de Janeiro wasn't as hot as hell. Sure, it was located in an especially rainy strip of the continent but the daily temperature fluctuated between 66 to 77 degrees with mostly sunny days. The air felt a bit hot although it was barely the end of winter; and occasionally there were violent yet brief storms in the middle of the day due to the proximity of the Atlantic Ocean. Besides that, it was a pleasant, colorful place to settle down for a few days.
The Infinity was in really bad shape if you looked at her from the outside, but she was a tough girl and she wasn't defeated yet. Despite the large sections of charred hull, thousands of missile pod doors welded by the heat and the loss of almost ninety percent of the communication dishes, it would take a beating far worse to undermine her.
The crew, however, was returning home with sadness in their eyes.
Four thousand five hundred and sixty seven funerals were officiated within the next three days; plus six thousand three hundred and nineteen cryo-pods were properly evacuated and moved to underground medical facilities, making that fifty-two percent of the crew dead or injured. The surviving civilians were examined, interrogated and relocated in the same city under UNSC surveillance. All personnel that wasn't under medical care was debriefed, several times, by ONI agents.
Admiral Osman was still in coma but the fingers pointed at her by several reasons regarding who was to be blamed for the incident. Most of the crew didn't have clearance to know about the real motives behind the disaster and what was actually going on, so the accusations were dismissed.
ONI wanted to pin it on Thomas Lasky and his closest commanding officers over charges of negligence, but it wouldn't be easy since he was technically arrested when the ship was hijacked. Palmer was the next lamb on the row. There was also a major issue regarding Cortana, her splinters, the HARPY technology, the glassing of the New Carthage armor manufacturing facilities, the imminent dismantling of the Wanderer (the dreadnought-class Forerunner warship that Eleven had recovered from the shield-world Paragon) and Dr. Halsey. Roland was intervened by an ONI AI to hand away all the relevant logs that weren't corrupted or erased by the alien construct that almost destroyed the Infinity's network.
Sigrid had taken care of certain specific things on her own, just in case.
ONI still had plenty of evidence and material to work their way into court-martialing a good chunk of people.
However, almost all operations came to a full stop when nearly at eleven-hundred that same day, a high-clearance order was made effective immediately. Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra-117 and thirty other people (counting Lasky, Palmer, Cortana and her siblings) were to be excluded from the scrutiny. Someone had made perfectly clear that they were undergoing an extremely important and highly classified mission and not to be disturbed in any way. The repairs of the Infinity marched on the double after that, the base had to fly in more technicians and supplies from Argentina and Uruguay to accommodate the new schedule.
When Sigrid informed him about the news, John felt relieved. He was a practical man who was taught since early age on how to properly assess which battles were worth to fight and which weren't; a war with ONI was, at the moment and circumstance, far out of his league. They probably had one more chance to make it back to deep space in time to stop the Rampant Spike for good.
So he turned to the only person he knew that was powerful enough to apply some pressure.
SEPTEMBER 11TH, 2558
LOCATION: UNSC BASE IN RIO DE JANEIRO
TRAINING RANGE WORKSHOPS
1:13 PM standard time
John clenched his fists, feeling the materials move against his skin.
The armor sang in his ears, the hissing frequency almost sounded like a chant only for him to hear. It had a pattern, but he couldn't record it neither make anyone else hear it. Whatever the source was, the sound wasn't distracting and didn't do anything else but remain on the background, it didn't bother the comms.
"I need thrusters. She had them."
Cortana gave him a playful smile, while tinkering with a pad.
"You sound like a little kid when you talk like that." she said, amused, but when she lifted her gaze to meet the orange faceplate, she understood that he didn't share her nonchalance. Cortana rolled her eyes. "Fine, thrusters. I think I can get you something, if this inventory is correct."
They were over with the issues about the shields, since the HARPY absorbed the MJOLNIR's shielding system. Cortana turned to the rack-wall and searched through the pieces of equipment until she found what she was looking for, two twin blocks of metal with openings on the underside: detachable thruster packs. He turned around to present his back and Cortana locked the pieces in place, leaving the armor to do the rest. It was all on their hands now, since Sigrid and Roland were confined to the Infinity until ONI considered they could be released.
"You'll have to give it some time to adjust." Cortana mumbled, while working.
John nodded and turned to her. The material worked again, morphing.
Now he not only could pin rifles and shotguns on the magnetic plates, he could lock weapons in place too. When the plate sensed the proximity of an object, it reshaped creating a specific socket to nest it. To say that John was very enthusiastic about such developments would be an understatement; he was eager to go out on the field and test the limits of the new equipment. He didn't care how much Dr. Glassman insisted in taking back the armor to quarantine until it could be properly studied, a select group of engineers had already run a lot of simulations and exams, enough to drive him mad.
Cortana commanded her armor to uncover her head and so did the Chief.
"Are you alright?" she asked, pressing her palm on his breastplate.
"I'm fine, trust me. Have you been sleeping?"
"No. Did you?"
John just shook his head.
She groaned something and stared at the bottom of his eyes, worried. At least he had time to eat, have a short shower and shave. He should be able to sleep, to regain his strength and rest, but Cortana knew that it didn't matter how much she insisted on it, the Chief would always place his objectives first. She lost herself in thought for a moment, while studying the depth of those blue eyes that were looking back at her. She didn't know exactly when they got so close to one another, but when she heard the steps behind them, she realized it didn't look good.
"You're having a party here and you don't invite me? That's rude." Eleven said as he quickly closed in. He caught Cortana and the Chief as they stepped back from each other rather awkwardly; he raised his eyebrows giving them an ill-behaved look. "Or is it that I am interrupting something, perhaps?"
Cortana shook her head, a little blushed. The HARPY hissed over her body.
"No, we were just running through some upgrades for the Chief." she coughed.
"John. You can call him John, we're amongst friends, aren't we?"
The aforementioned SPARTAN presented a hand, waiting for a proper handshake.
"Good to see you around." he said, calmly.
Eleven responded the greeting with interest. "Same. I would've been here earlier if it wasn't for that nice ONI officer who kept me locked inside a room until two hours ago. You know? You have a very big and powerful hand covering your head."
"Don't get used to it."
When they separated from each other, Eleven looked up and down at John and let out a sardonic whistle. "Looking sharp there, Master Chief. The green really suits you, love the black accents and the yellow faceplate thing, totally your style. So, how does it feel? Comfy?"
"I have to do all the thinking myself now." John answered.
Eleven smirked quietly. The Chief was in a good mood.
"If I'd known you were going to miss me this much..."
John gave him a stern look. Eleven's smirk turned into a serious frown.
"You know what I mean." he blurted out. "Don't get any funny ideas."
"Right."
"Anyway, I come in peace and bearing gifts. You're going to love this."
He raised an arm and threw a small object towards the Chief. The SPARTAN caught it in his fist in mid-air and gave it a look. A bullet. It was of the approximate size and shape of a fifty-caliber round, but the weight felt off. It was lighter than a feather. It was also made of a polished black alloy like he'd never...
No, he'd seen that before.
"You made this out of your armor?" John asked, carefully.
"Clever boy. We named it anti-HARPY ammunition." Eleven chuckled in a way that resembled to Cortana's manners. "Dr. Clayton developed it from a scrap. She placed a microbattery inside the bullet to hold it together and infected it with a virus, which puts the inner systems on a loop so it won't realize it isn't attached to a living host."
"This little thing has inner systems?"
"I bet that single scrap, as you call it, has ten times more processing power than your regular microchip, so..." Cortana trailed off, raising her eyebrows. Eleven frowned, so she explained: "Roland and I think it might be Precursor technology."
"Well, that would explain some things." snorted Eleven.
John made the bullet bounce on his palm. "So, does it work?"
"We tested it, yes, SPARTAN Suzuka enjoyed herself a lot using me as a target. It has something like a date of expiry, that's the catch, but this thing can penetrate the HARPY and its shields like a hot knife through butter."
Cortana picked up a bottle of water from the rack. "You have to be careful with Suzuka. She'll fuck you up one of these days." she said, before taking a sip.
"Oh, she doesn't just want to fuck me up. She wants to fuck me, literally. She said it like that, with those exact words."
Cortana gagged on the water and coughed, surprised. John narrowed his eyes. As if nothing, Eleven placed his hands on his hips and cocked his head up, almost proud of himself. Cortana drank a bit more of water to clear her throat.
"Too much information." she said, a little later.
"That's the exact same thing I said to Suzuka."
"Out of curiosity; what would you do if she makes a move?"
"Seriously, Cortana?"
She shrugged. "For what I know, she doesn't have a partner waiting for her back home, does she? Or is it that you're not into her?" Cortana's face was the living image of fake innocence. "Let's start with the basics, are you even into humans?"
"I'm not into anything right now. Unless it involves ripping Seven's head off with my bare hands, thank you very much. You all had a chance to kill her already, I'm next in line and I'll put her down for good."
John smirked, mostly to himself. He could relate to that feeling.
The cheerful mood suddenly broke when Eleven's eyes filled with cold anger.
"To think that if I had been with you, this wouldn't have been so bad."
Cortana observed the tight bundle of his clutched fists, the red flares on his armor were slightly flickering in tune with his turbulent emotions. She felt a little guilty, it was because of her insistence and mistrust that Eleven chose to stay behind in the first place. But still, truth had to be told.
And it was John who said it, surprisingly:
"You were way more useful at Paragon aiding the crew of the Challenger. Now we have the generator and it's being installed inside the Infinity, you brought in a fully functional Forerunner ship and somehow you made this bullet possible. Thanks to all of you, we have resources to repair the Infinity faster than we ever could." he grasped the black bullet in a tight, strong grip. "We stand a chance now, because we all did what we had to do when we had to do it."
Eleven tried not to smile, but Cortana didn't restrain herself.
"Thanks, Chief. It really means a lot to me, you know, coming from you." he said, but before Cortana could retort something, Eleven took a deep breath and rubbed his hands together. "Can we get to the point now? I've been observing your training, you both suck so much at this that you make me cry. I really think I can teach you a trick or two, since I'm the HARPY veteran here."
"Hilarious." Cortana snorted, now annoyed.
"Actually, I'm serious. It's terrible." he pointed at Cortana with a finger. "You are wasting the HARPY's potential; and you, Chief... well, I think it would be best if I run you through the basics, for starters."
Cortana crossed her arms, not so sure about what to think.
John, instead, nodded and handed the bullet back to Eleven.
"I'm in." he said, coolly.
Cortana startled. "What? Chief, we were about to run some tests on the armor."
"Tests, huh? I can help you with that too."
Eleven peeked through the impressive wall-rack, upholstered from the floor to the ceiling with spare parts, different kinds of weapons, ammunition and varied equipment, checking the supplies until finding exactly what he was looking for. He strode towards the wall and snatched a gun and a bunch of magazines, several grenades, a shotgun that he pinned to his back and a rocket launcher which he perched on his right shoulder.
Then, he turned towards his sister and the SPARTAN.
"My idea of 'testing' is slightly different than yours, Cortana, but it's my favorite."
"Show off." Cortana scoffed.
"Alright, move your asses to the firing range; today they belong to me." in the same fashion of hers, Eleven flashed a mischievous grin. "This is going to be fun."
SEPTEMBER 13TH, 2558
LOCATION: DOWNTOWN RIO DE JANEIRO
TOURIST DISTRICT
2:30 PM standard time
"... and I was this close from smashing that guy's head on the wall. Twice, just to be sure." said Sarah Palmer, and then she proceeded to furiously sip her drink, eyebrows still furrowed. The soft, sweet lemon-flavored beverage was delicious and just as cold as her nerves needed it to be. "I swear, Tom, I don't know if ONI trains them to be more stupid or just more annoying."
Thomas Lasky tried to smile, his brow mildly furrowed too. "Think about it like this: if you had hurt the officer, you wouldn't be enjoying that caipirinha."
The Commander growled something and took another sip of her glass.
He stirred the ice cubes inside his own glass with a plastic stick, while following Sarah's every little move. The soft oceanic breeze caressed the terrace and blew a few strands of her hair, which she decided to wear down that afternoon. Still somewhat in uniform (if you could consider a white UNSC short-sleeved t-shirt, training shorts and sneakers uniform), she looked more like your ordinary next-door friend than the rough, battle hardened SPARTAN Commander she was most of the time. Lasky himself chose to wear something comfortable too, after that was a little escapade to relieve stress from the last... well, few months, actually.
Being on Earth made Tom feel safe, somehow; since the repairs were developing incredibly well and astoundingly fast, he decided he could take a little advantage on his new ONI-free status. He wasn't cleared for duty (and he wouldn't be until the ship was fully functional again) neither was Sarah, and they weren't allowed to step inside the Infinity until the new generator was fully installed and tested.
So it was either enjoy a little the free time or give in to more stress.
"Thanks for taking me out here, by the way." said Palmer, her gaze fixed on the drawings of the table cloth. "I was going crazy between ONI and the doctors."
She meant the medical procedures initiated aboard the Infinity to finish the proper treatment of her limping leg. It worked fine, Sarah felt better and the limp was almost gone. Her arm was completely recovered, too.
"Don't mention it. I needed to get out myself, I thought you'd like to tag along."
"Where did that order come from, anyway?"
"I have a slight idea."
"Yeah, he is the only person I can think of, too." she rolled her eyes.
Tom drank from his glass and they remained quiet for a few seconds, then...
"What's eating you? Do you feel bad for not trusting him?"
Sarah tilted her head to the side. "Who are we talking about now?"
"The Master Chief."
The Commander's face immediately lost the cheerful glee recently acquired.
"He should have been declared unfit for duty a long time ago, we both know that." Sarah shifted uncomfortably on her chair, nervous. She knew how much esteem Tom held for the renowned SPARTAN, but she never agreed to go soft on the matter. "Do you remember that time we sparred at the gym, before the Admiral showed up? I told you that, if necessary, I was willing to start my own operation."
"I remember." he smiled. "You invited me to join in, it sounded all so reckless."
"I think that turning a blind eye on the Master Chief's behavior qualifies as being reckless enough." she drank the rest of her beverage and chewed on an ice cube. "And you're in it with me, so..."
"You can't deny that he brings results, compromised or not."
"For how much longer? What if something bad happens to that woman? Step into my shoes for a moment: I don't want to be the one to put him down if he suddenly loses his shit, Tom. That man is a walking nuke ready to go off, don't forget that he destroyed a Covvie ship with a plasma grenade and some duck tape. I don't want to spend the rest of my career being known as the S-IV bitch that killed the Master Chief."
The Captain pressed his lips in a thin line, considering the words.
"I'll make sure it doesn't end up being like that, Sarah." he stated, acknowledging Palmer's logic.
"Seriously, your blind faith in him is just..."
She didn't finish the sentence, to bring damage to her relationship with Tom was the last thing she needed. They remained silent for a moment, breathing in the hot coast-side wind.
A young Brazilian waitress approached, tray in hand and a big smile on her round, tanned face. The girl wore pretty much just the top of a fluorescent bikini and shorts, walking barefoot; her luscious curly hair pulled up in a bulky ponytail; she bent over to talk somewhat privately with Tom, to Sarah's unease. However, he seemed as surprised by the approach as the Commander was.
For a moment, Sarah just stared at the waitress trying to decide why she didn't like her if they haven't even shared a word. Tom was listening to her with quite the attention, yet his eyes never moved from the girl's face as she spoke; her English had a strange, cloying accent. A small envelope shifted from the girl's hands to Tom's.
Sarah put her glass down.
Then the waitress straightened her pose and made a gesture with her head towards the bar, where a tall woman with sunglasses, dressed in a colorful beach dress, waved a hand at them when both the Captain and the Commander dared to look. The woman left almost to the next second. By the time Lasky got up from his chair and moved with the intention of following, he'd already lost her amongst the tourists.
Sarah stood up too, her senses suddenly on alert.
The waitress placed two more drinks on the table and left too, still smiling.
"What's going on?" she asked, when the Captain returned. He discreetly grabbed her hand in a very informal fashion and she startled, but felt the lump of a small object pressed against her palm. "What's this?"
"Earpiece. Be discrete."
"Are you sure?"
"We have to find out one way or another, right?" he plugged the device in his ear and tapped at it, twice, while he pretended to shift his sunglasses.
The Commander simulated to fix her hair and slipped the piece inside her ear. The voice that came through the device was unmistakably familiar, so much that she almost snapped to attention when she heard it:
"If you can hear me, laugh to each other."
Unexpectedly, they both burst out laughing at some fake, untold joke.
"Excellent. This is a one-way-comm, absolutely untraceable." Lord Hood's voice rang through Lasky's and Palmer's ears with the severe tone of a very urgent issue. "I'm aware of your current status and mission. I'm addressing specifically to you because the Master Chief swore that you are trustworthy and the assignment I'm about to drop on your laps requires as many hands as we can gather. If you acknowledge, drink."
Sarah frowned yet again but complied, taking a little sip, Tom grabbed the second glass and drank half of the content in one sit.
"Now, listen carefully. This is what I require of you..."
SEPTEMBER 14TH, 2558
LOCATION: UNSC INFINITY DOCKED IN RIO DE JANEIRO
NAVIGATION AISLE - BRIDGE
10:21 AM standard time
The Infinity was cleared for boarding on September 13th, still halfway through the repairs. Only half of the regular seventeen thousand souls were commissioned this time, including one hundred SPARTANS, two thousand Marines, five hundred ODSTs and five hundred officers. The rest were scientific, medical and kitchen staff, maintenance personnel and specialized mechanics, mostly.
Back on base, Eleven was having the time of his life with the live-fire exercises. He stood alone against any fire-team (SPARTAN or not) that dared to try a round with him. He lost a few times, but he cherished the experience. Eleven, as when he was still a sub-routine of the whole AI Cortana, valued more learning a new trick over winning every time.
It was somewhat silly of him, but it was the only way he could think of to keep himself busy (and away from SPARTAN Suzuka).
Cortana, however, spent most of her waking hours working with a small crew on the labs, overseeing with Dr. Clayton the development of the anti-HARPY bullets and analyzing the formulas scribbled by her older sister, Subject Two. For if she wasn't busy enough, she also kept an eye on the battalion of technicians and engineers that were still testing the Forerunner shrieking sun device. Dr. Glassman himself literally kicked her off his lab when she stopped by to drop advice about the installation of the crystalline array that was supposed to funnel the energy from the core. Multitasking like that was taking its toll on her and the people around her started to notice it, but she didn't pay that much attention. Cortana became fond of Brazilian coffee; they had a strong and tasty variety better than any other she ever tried aboard the Infinity.
Since she was busy and Eleven was busy, that left John alone with shifts, training and some time to think.
Mostly it was about things he didn't want to consider, but his mind was set on the plan and therefore, he had to go through with it. He had very specific orders. Secrecy was mandatory, ONI still had ears and eyes; it was hard to act in riddles and undermine even the most ordinary procedures in order of not getting caught. It made him feel very uncomfortable.
But he had to keep in mind that it was in behalf of the objectives.
"Master Chief, you were supposed to file a report about an hour ago." commented Lasky, after presenting his respects to the SPARTAN he had summoned to the bridge. It was a bit dark, since the navigation consoles were off and Roland wasn't around. The Captain's voice sounded a bit tense. "Can I ask what happened? I was expecting a list of at least fifty names, not... well, nothing."
"Captain, with all due respect... not this time."
"Excuse me?"
"No more casualties, sir." John stated.
That answer stopped Tom's breath, somehow.
They stood in silence, looking at each other's faces, for almost a full minute.
Lasky's face was dead serious. "You can't go there alone, Master Chief."
"I have my assets sorted out. If they can be spared, that's all I need."
John promptly handed the Captain a battle scarred tac-pad and Lasky grabbed it, still confused. A single file was displayed before his eyes, a roster report with only three impressive CSVs and names.
Or more like three numbers:
104
087
058
The Captain arched his eyebrows but he wasn't surprised, just impressed. He knew what those numbers meant. Hell, everybody knew what those numbers meant. Turning to the last remaining active SPARTAN-II soldiers wasn't big, it was huge. A single one of them was a menace enough, but a whole team? That was plain insanity in a can, and Thomas Lasky liked the idea a lot.
"Well, now I understand." he muttered, recalling the incident at the bar.
"Can it be done, sir?"
"I'll see what I can do, not exactly my branch. But since Osman is still in coma, I think I can pull something out for the sake of this mission... there's still someone else we can turn to, I was given some specific instructions." but he definitely wasn't expecting it to be something like this. "If I can get your team assembled, I approve your plan."
"And if you can't?"
Lasky frowned a little. "I'd rather like you to wait until we can figure something else out, but... well, we both know that there is very little a man like me can do against a legend like you. And we're short on time, I understand that."
John accepted those words with humble respect. Compliments always made him uncomfortable although reasonably content.
"I will get this done, sir. Once and for all."
"No need to make such promises. Dismissed." Lasky turned around, still holding the pad, and leaned against the disconnected holo-table while reading the rest of the file. Since he didn't hear the heavy thumping of the boots leading out the bridge, he looked over his shoulder. The Master Chief was still standing there, fully clad in armor, hands clasped behind his back, serious. The Captain turned around again, respectfully. "I'm so sorry, Master Chief, is there anything else you need?"
John hesitated a first, slightly shifting his weight from one leg to another. "I'd like to request some time off, sir."
Lasky's eyes opened wide in surprise.
Time off? It was the first time he'd ever heard the man say something alike. Truth be told, the Chief hadn't been issued with a single day off since he was reassigned to active duty after his leave (not that he ever complained, either) when most of the other SPARTANS already had at least twenty four hours of spare time not concerning wound or sickness recovery.
It must be something really important.
But as always, the Chief's face was as stoic as a rock.
"How much?" the Captain asked, calmly.
"Just a few hours, sir."
Lasky relaxed a little. He didn't know why he was expecting it to be because of something bad.
"Well, I think we're safe without you for now. Request granted, I'll have Roland to place you in the off-duty list for the rest of the day."
"Sir, if you don't mind, I can manage with eight hours tops."
"Fine." the Captain shrugged a little and proceeded to check out at the time-stamp on the tac-pad. He was still somewhat confused, that was for sure. "Let's say eight hours starting from... two PM, in about three and a half hours. That way you can join us for the third shift at ten o'clock."
"Thank you, sir."
Lasky didn't know if he should say something like 'enjoy your time' or 'have fun', so he just saluted when the Chief did and watched him leave.
.:.:.:.:.
When he was younger, John used to think that the meaning of 'perfection' was based in completing a mission exceeding the expected success parameters and making it back without leaving anyone behind. The hunger for victory always made him tick and success was a satisfying experience, even when he wasn't supposed to feel that way about his duty. He didn't have to enjoy it, but he did. It wasn't about killing or making things explode, it was about the greater good and the SPARTANS' role in it.
After Sam's death, after thirty-five years of war, the feeling somehow eventually faded but the satisfaction of a job well done remained.
Until he met her.
Scratch that. Until he opened his eyes and saw her, and understood.
He wasn't supposed to feel this way about Cortana either. It was the craziest thing ever: to be emotionally attached to a computer program. But he did and he enjoyed it. The hunger for victory was still in there, except that now the hunger had mutated into something else, maybe another kind of challenge. He felt raw satisfaction every time she smiled or laughed because of something he said or did, or whenever their minds connected in that special way. Perfection had a deeper meaning, it was embedded in Cortana and everything she was to him.
She was perfect. And together they were a perfect fit.
John had to confess, he liked more the man he was when they were together than the machine he was when he didn't have her.
Cortana's transfiguration into a human, beautiful, real, touchable person was the quintessence of perfection because now it didn't seem so crazy to feel attracted to her. It wasn't so weird to be worried sick about her. The hunger and the satisfaction didn't feel wrong or misplaced now, they felt logical. Natural. She was within his reach now.
And she felt the same way about him too.
TO BE CONTINUED
Well, with this ending, you can figure out two things: one, BLUE TEAM IS ON THE HOUSE! HELL YES! (is this goddamn fanfic EVER going to f***ing end?) and two; I guess that we can say this, things are going to get hot. Period. Also: regarding Rio de Janeiro, it's all true. I never really visited it myself but, as some of you know, I'm Argentinean (right under Brazil) and I remembered Majestic talking about Rio on the first cutscene of Spartan Ops. I couldn't resist. I hope you enjoyed the little wink.
Nico; here we are again! I hope you had fun :3
RandomGUy; yeah! Everyone is safe, we need them to be safe. For now. On what Sigrid's plans are, well, it's going to unravel sooner or later, don't worry :P we have some nice and happy thoughts now for a few episodes, so relax and enjoy the ride. Thanks for visiting, as always!
Rory; you're absolutely right; you see? He's better than ever. And worry not, our boy is going to do a little more than ass-grabbing pretty soon. Spartan promise. I think everyone is a little anxious about that by now xD -hugs- thanks for stopping by!
I know you have a lot of things to say, so go ahead and say it! Don't leave me hanging here! Excitement is in the air! :) let's meet again next week, and get your feelings ready :P