}{=}{
The Earth hung in the window like a giant glowing ball of excitement. Though it was early in the morning and the man in the bed behind her fast asleep, Maddie could see everything as though it were midday.
Such was life on Luna.
She stretched daintily and picked up her heels, thong, and dress, which had been tossed to the floor in the fracas of the night before. As she pulled the dress over her head and the panties up her legs, she looked back at the sleeping man and smirked. With his seduction, her plan was complete and with it, she would show them all who was the Queen of Luna's Naval Academy.
The dome was quiet as she slipped out of his apartment and out into the filtered air of the Luna Academy campus. People stared as the sun rose over the earth, trying to get as much of an eyeful of the tightly dressed young woman walking barefoot through the streets. She smirked, adjusting her carefully messed hair to look 'just so', hiding her face and giving anyone who looked at her no reason to think twice about who she might, or might not be. Within hours, the scandalous rumours would be raging on the net, dragging her rival's reputation through the mud like a stuck pig.
Katya had good taste, but a bad reputation. One that Maddie had carefully manipulated as she flaunted herself through the campus, making sure everyone saw the blonde girl in the red satin dress, leaving the Dean's apartment. Just as planned, she slipped into the alleyway where her change of clothes had been stashed and made the switch, stuffing the dress into the correct rubbish bin behind the correct apartment and texting the rumour to the campus tabloid.
She whistled a Russian tune, just in case someone was listening before slipping in through the fire escape and strolling up to her room. It had been a night of passionless flirtation, and a lot of careful planning over the course of the semester, but Maddie grinned as she closed the door to her apartment and opened the fridge door, taking the thick slices of back bacon out of its packaging and preparing some thick, white slices of bread for herself.
"Hello, Madeleine." Said the airy voice of her AI programming project.
"Hello to you too, Walsingham." She replied, pulling off her clothes and hopping into the shower.
"Was your mission successful, ma'am?"
"Let's see, shall we? Do me a favour and scan the intranet for rumours about Katya." she said, as water cleaned her lean and toned body. The shower was quick, efficient, and purposeful, with no time for ceremony as she switched off the water and dried herself off. The A.I whirred, scratching at his chin as she stood in the nude, letting the air dry her as she ignited the stove and heated the pan. The A.I. wasn't thinking, he'd already processed all of the information before she had stopped talking. It was a quirk of Walsingham that he insisted on the theatrics.
"The net is already ablaze with rumours about her, my lady." he smiled, "it reminds me of the Spanish and their damned armada. Fire's everywhere for her to put out and a typhoon of speculation, if you'll pardon the pun."
The bacon spat triumphantly as she laid it out in the pan.
Maddie laughed. Walsingham modelled himself after Queen Elizabeth's Spymaster and the young cadet couldn't think of a better fit for her. The bacon sizzled as she laid it in the boiling pan, smiling gleefully as the smell of bacon wafted upwards to her nose. It had been grim work, not helped by the Dean's lurid obsession with the female form; but she had managed it, and now she would finish the year ahead of Katya. Fat spat and hissed as she watched the flesh sear and cook, glancing at it as she buttered her bread.
While breakfast cooked, she pulled her cadet uniform from the closet and laid it out across the back of her sofa before assembling her sandwich and flicking on the television.
She rolled her eyes as a flurry of meaningless shows danced across the screen.
It's hardly surprising that so few take this war seriously.
The sandwich oozed the vinegary red sauce and soon, the dull throbbing in her head didn't feel quite so bad.
With a spring in her step and a quick change into her freshly pressed regs, Maddie stood before the mirror and smiled. One could see that her body was a toned masterpiece of physical fitness without seeing so much of an inch of her skin. Gone were the days that Madeleine Harper walked with the gait of malnourishment. Her legs were long and powerful, bronzed and lean. Her arms pulsed at every opportunity and her figure, while unmistakably feminine, was pulled taught in an iron-clad expression of fitness. She tied her hair into a tight bun, placed her cap on her head and winked before turning to the door, the last of her sandwich still in her hand as she collected her keys from the pot besides the door.
"Compile the best stuff into a folder while I'm away, and see if you can find out what the new postings are, I want to know if Admiral Parangosky plans on pulling any last-minute surprises."
The AI saluted and disappeared to do what he did best: subterfuge. Walsingham was a loyal A.I designed by Maddie to do one thing. It was his knack for subversion, misdirection and theatricality that gave the 'dumb' A.I. its quirks. The pair of them had engineered her own demise in the destructive anti-race for valedictorian and had grown closer than the atoms of the titanium alloy plating used on starships. It was a masterstroke on Maddie's part, disguising Walsingham as a tactical assistance A.I. It gave him the perfect cover to attempt to upgrade the Academy's security in line with the specs they just happened to be updating the system to anyway, making her look not only competent, but also as though her overachievement was the source of her discredit. Never mind that fact that Walsingham had simply entered the system, stolen the planned update, and simply uploaded it before it was ready.
The security breach cost her all the points she'd earned in that class, of course, but that was the point.
No ONI operative can be valedictorian.
It was a beautifully simple mantra, and better yet, it was only known by those looking to join Naval Intelligence. The recycled air was crisp today and Maddie strolled to the Department for Small Unit Tactics for one of the last lectures of the year, headed by her old friend, Percival Akron. Earth looked resplendent as it hovered in the sky like an omnipresent God of beauty. She was one of the last into the theatre, and took her seat as she always did, right in front of her lecturer. He arched a brow at the girl as she sat gracefully in the chair in front of him and looked pointedly into a spot in the crowd behind her, presumably at the girl who was suffering through the opening stages of a scandal. Maddie could feel the flames of two very blue eyes burn laser pointed holes in the back of her skull and shuddered. She did have a habit of screwing with the wrong people but she wanted second place, it mattered to her. She needed to prove that she was more than just talk, that what she had achieved was more than just luck. The pair of them had spent their entire time at the academy duelling for first place, and everyone was interested in who would come out on top. Maddie had gone to extreme lengths to ensure that it was her, and god willing, nothing would go wrong now.
"Right, Good morning everyone. I won't keep you for very long, this is just a formality, really." Percival said, standing in a pulpit to the side of the lecture room. "Firstly, congratulations on a successful final year, I know that Small Unit Tactics isn't a favourite among Swabbies but you've all come on leaps and bounds compared with the state you were in when you arrived here."
There was a murmur and a few laughs from the crowd as Percival worked the room. He'd settled in nicely here and it always warmed Maddie's heart to see him at ease.
"Regardless, the results of your final assessment are in, and the examiners were impressed as well it seems. A number of you have excelled this year but naturally, we're all here to find out who gets top honours."
The class fell silent.
He ran through the top ten, with the current Valedictorian placing third, suspense hung in the air.
"... as such, top honours goes to Cadet Volkovskaya! Congratulations to Cadet Harper as runner up." he said, looking apologetically at her.
The tension in the room seemed to dissipate as the graphic on the screen receded, showing the race for valedictorian instead. A gasp erupted sharply as the lecture room noticed the large board with a large black, damning asterisk next to Katya's name.
Everyone knew what that meant.
It worked.
Her grades had been frozen until the end of the year, and with her runner-up grade raising her average, Maddie slotted into second place, just behind the new, and totally undeserving valedictorian. She let out a sigh of relief and relaxed, stewing in the gaze of several hundred bewildered classmates.
Percy noticed the asterisk, too and coughed, trying to move on as best as he could. "Well, truth be told," he said, shushing the crowd, "I would have been happy to have any of you leading my men back-in-the-day, and should any of you need to lead a unit, know that each of you possess the skill to do so. With that in mind, go and enjoy your last days here, because the war is still raging."
And we aren't winning it.
Little had changed militarily since Skopje, the war had ground to a stalemate at Meridian, giving the military a little breathing room. There were still no victories, no signs of the tide turning, and no real respite for the UNSC.
Still, her spirits were high as Professor Akron ended the lecture and she slipped out of the hall before Katya could catch up with her. Akron's office was just down the hall, adorned with pictures of his young family. His own daughter was married in Jakarta, to an accountant. It was the sort of boring life that Maddie herself never wanted but coveted the value of immensely.
Boring is a luxury.
The office was styled after an old smoking room, tanned brown leathers and dark oak wood panelling made the trimmings and furniture seem old and refined. Luna was the site of the first human excursion on a planetoid that wasn't Earth, and it showed. It was old money, a mixture of ancient looking architecture and systems that required almost around the clock attention to keep running. Maddie was almost constantly in awe of it all, much like shore leave on Earth, she spent her free time learning and reading, as she always had. There was even an oak tree in the campus park that she could sit under, too. She had taken a seat in one of the large wing-back chairs when the door swung open and Professor Akron entered.
"By all means Cadet, make yourself at home." he said, sighing.
"I didn't realise this was a formal meeting." Maddie replied, sitting forward.
Akron raised a hand to stop her, "Clearly, it's not." he said, sitting down. "What did you want, then?"
"Nothing, really, just to thank you and to say goodbye." she smiled warmly, "I imagine I'll be shipping out soon. I noticed that ships have been arriving all morning."
Akron cocked a brow, "early morning, Cadet?"
Maddie knew what he was referring to, and shrugged, "no earlier than normal, sir."
"Indeed." he said suspiciously, "so this business with Katya, you had nothing to do with that?"
"You should know me by now, Sir." she replied, a hint of disappointment planted in her voice.
"It is because I know you that I ask." he said, darkly, "it's very convenient for you, what she did, isn't it?"
"Maybe, but you and I both know how life can be sometimes. I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, am I?"
He wasn't convinced.
"There's coincidence and then there's Deus Ex Machina" he replied sternly.
Maddie shrugged, "I don't know what you want me to say?"
"I suppose telling the truth is a bit beyond you now." he said, grimly, "especially if the rumours about your tutorship are true."
"You mean Captain Osman?" Maddie grinned, "honestly, I'm flattered but I doubt Admiral Parangosky or her protégé have the time for me these days."
"Now we both know that isn't true."
Again, Maddie shrugged. She'd learned the value of plausible deniability long ago. It was one of her favourite tools that she'd built her reputation with. To deny a rumour was to reveal information about yourself, to say nothing gave them nothing but the theories in their minds. Akron had no business knowing any of this, naturally, but Luna was a den of intrigue. There was value in forming relationships with future stars of the Navy and value in being scouted here, too.
"It's been good to teach you these last few years" the aging man said, realising he would get nothing from her, "genuinely, You've become every bit the warrior we thought you would on Skopje."
"Thanks, Percy. That means a lot coming from you." Maddie replied, a warm and inviting smile on her face, "it's been hard work but I'm more than ready for the real work to begin."
"It has, especially with all that business with your family. I know that couldn't have been easy."
Maddie shifted in her seat, her expression faded into a sort of twisted concrete scowl. The years hadn't been kind to her family, and it wasn't something she liked to talk about.
"It wasn't." she said, tersely. "But my Dad passed away two years ago. I'm over it."
Akron looked as though he wanted to say something. Her pain was obvious to him, but to her, it was an inconvenience. It was a distraction, and just before she had entered the academy, it had thrown her entire world into disarray again. Maddie realised that once you became an adult, the gloves were off, there was no shelter from the bad and the ugly and you had to earn the good. You had to carve it out of the rock for yourself and you had to protect that carving from the weather, be it storms or wind or snow.
"She's not going to be happy about this, Maddie." Akron said after a while. He stood and poured her a drink from his cabinet.
The young cadet took it and cupped it like cocoa.
"Whether you did it or not" he said, wryly, "she will blame you."
"She will."
"Then I hope you are ready because that girl..." he shook his head, "well, she's about the only person I've ever met that could give you a run for your money."
Maddie knocked back her drink. Well aware of the fact that Akron was right. Katya Volkovskaya was formidable. One day, she hoped that she would forgive her. However unlikely that was to be at this point, Maddie knew that they could probably kick the covenant right in the giggly bits, they could really make it hurt. Maddie stood and excused herself, figuring that everyone had long since dispersed from the corridors by now. Akron leaned back in his chair as she left, cursing the war for what it was doing to a generation of humanities brightest stars. Maddie on the other hand, found herself breathing quickly, slightly put off at the mention of her family. Glancing both ways, she started down the hall to the less used back entrance as a thin layer of sweat cut across her brow. The recycled air of the greater campus dome didn't help and Maddie found herself moving distinctly in the direction of the pit. The Pit was another, more open tradition of the Luna Academy, a place for students to let off steam by drinking, and beating the living daylights out of each other. Maddie slipped inside the locker rooms and found her neatly pressed gear in her locker in the centre of the room.
She sighed as she changed into her gear, and moved the wall panel in the rear storage room leading to the competitor's area of the pit. The pit was a malfunctioning boiler room, or something of the sort. It was a disused steaming hot hole, easily the most brutal place Maddie had ever been, and that included a Covenant torture cell.
She smiled. Feeling the eyes on her as she entered the waiting room. A couple lost their nerve and left almost instantly, the rest were staring as they let her pass, glaring at the emblazoned heretic brand that adorned her bare shoulder.
There weren't many times that Maddie got to truly enjoy the spotlight, and going forward that was about to get even rarer, the next few hours in the pit would be the last chance she would get for a long time. The door slid open and the heat rushed into the room, the warm sweltering heat blasted into her face as she walked into the ring, the crowd gathering close, rumbling and vibing with a loud and eager fury. The man in the centre turned as the noise rose, his eyes narrowing as they recognised her, already dipped into her fighting stance.
He rounded on her, his own brand of martial arts on display. He stalked her as she waited, watching for him to move. He fainted, trying to toy with her as the heat beat on them oppressively.
He hadn't been in the ring for too long, the general rule was winner stays on but some people earned the right to walk away. The man in front of her now might have been capable, but he had not earned that right. Only the judgement of the crowd could save you, and even Maddie had only earned that right once, a marathon six-hour stint in the heat. That was usually what got you, the heat. The sauna-esque boiling furnace that was the pit was usually the final nail in the coffin for someone's bout in the ring.
The crowd was no better, often, they wanted to see how far you could go. As such, it wasn't about your longest stint in the ring, it was about your average. It was that statistic that gave Maddie her reputation.
An average of three hours and forty-eight minutes put Maddie up with the all-time greats, and ahead of one Felix Drake.
The other guy moved, for real this time, and Maddie tightened, her reflexes kicking in.
Like a viper, she struck at the out swinging leg, crunching it as she stepped into it. She drew herself close to him, landing several accurate jabs to his stomach and one to his throat.
A claxon sounded as he crumpled to the floor and the pit erupted in a loud cheer, alcohol spraying over her as spray from the celebration, coated the small space in a mixture of sticky cider, icy beers and noxious spirits.
The atmosphere was electric as Maddie raised her arms, complete with her fingers spread in a 'v' for victory.
It was that celebration, coupled with her fighting style, that earned Maddie the nickname the "Viper".
Some people had said that the brand looked like one too, and as foe after foe fell to her pin-point jabs, what to do with that shoulder remained the most pressing issue facing her, even as the second hour closed out.
I'm shipping out after I graduate, there's not long left otherwise.
Another man stepped into the ring, and Maddie polished off a half pint of water before turning to face him. Alexander De Vries was another heavyweight of the Pit with an average of three and a half hours. He and Maddie had spent most of the last year trading places but it was Katya who had proven his true bane.
She had a win ratio against him of about three to one. For Maddie and Alex however, that stat was reversed, and then some. The crowd roared as the Snake Charmer entered the ring, Maddie panting and heaving as he sauntered about, his swagger on full display.
Maddie rationalised that stat by the fact that Alex preyed on her when she was tiring. It wasn't a very good excuse and Maddie knew it, but she wouldn't be able to use it today, as the clock ticked over into hour three, she felt electric, and bobbed and jumped with energy as Alex watched her like a shark.
He was big, and classical in his approach, she couldn't pull any fancy moves with him and he knew it. She respected his strength, and he respected hers.
For all the talk of averages though…
You're only ever as good as your last fight.
Given this would probably be their last go at it, this one mattered.
His guard was tight and fresh.
So was hers.
He didn't give her an inch, stepping forward with big and powerful legs.
She watched, light on her feet and ready to pounce, rocking on the balls of her feet.
His eye's narrowed and his muscles tightened, he struck, hard and fast, driving at her defense, trying to wear her down.
She ducked, weaved, and spun, letting him chase her about the ring as the crowd's roar became a warm hum in the darkness and the heat of the pit as her concentration peaked and her athleticism shone in a perfect display of evasion and grace.
He was laser focused, striking hard at her, denying her the time to kick back at him and throw him off. She searched for an opportunity to pounce once more but he remained unfazed by her defense, lunging forward to strike harder than before.
He was tiring and she struck, twice. Once in the ankle as he planted it for a kick, and again in his side.
Alex staggered back and wheezed, trying to recover.
Maddie moved close as the crowd roared, baying for blood.
Again, she swung at his head, her arms taught and powerful.
His eyes showed fight and he grunted as he tried to spin away as the blow caught his nose, a spray of crimson flying into the crowd as its hunger was satiated. His ankle was causing him pain as he winced and growled. His eyes narrowed, steadying himself as she rounded on him again.
Overconfident, Maddie ignored the way he held himself, ready and composed as she pushed her attack, driving at his core. He spun on his undamaged foot and caught her as she rushed forward, pushing her off balance and sending her slamming into the floor. Following up with an earth-shattering stomp to her back as he set about finishing her.
Air rushed from her lungs as she scrambled away, dodging and weaving as he kicked at her, taking several painful and bruising blows to her sides and legs.
She rolled onto her back and caught his foot as he attacked her chest. Twisting it violently, he yelped, and the crowd raved with excitement as Alex's two damaged legs gave way, allowing Maddie to pull herself to her feet and catch her breath.
He looked up at her and smiled.
He knew it was over.
She landed a kick, placed perfectly on the side of his head, knocking him out cold.
The crowd descended into a frenzy as a fresh wave of drinks flew high into the turgid, boiling air of the pit, just as the claxon sounded to signal her victory. In the glowing embrace of that victory, and with the clock ticking ever towards her average, Maddie basked in the pure energy of the room as several burly competitors emerged from the edge of the pit to drag Alex from the arena.
Maddie nodded as the giant came to, showing him the respect that he deserved. He couldn't see it in the state he was in but he would've done the same. Alex was honourable, and he'd make a good Captain one day, she thought, sighing as two orderlies marched in with a mop to dry and clean the filthy floor.
Maddie stood in the middle, refusing to budge as per the custom, taking a photo with a member of the crowd, a girl, who had been sprayed with Alex's blood as his nose burst. The clock ticked away and Maddie rested, breathing deeply and drinking water to stop the heat getting to her. Her body was bruised and beaten, the last three hours and twenty minutes had been rough and her head was swimming in serotonin as the pit cleared and the claxon sounded for the next challenger to enter.
The crowd fell eerily silent as they entered. Maddie finished her drink as everyone waited on her, the Viper, to face her opponent. Maddie had a feeling she knew who it was, only one person could challenge her and silence the pit.
Katya.
Maddie turned to face her, the pale, blue-eyed vixen, from a long glassed outer colony. The two of them shared the same piercing stare, the same colour eyes and hair, they were both tall with legs a thousand miles long and slender, athletic bodies at the peak of their physical performance. Katya was terrifying. Maddie didn't understand the power she wielded until she had met her, and seen herself in the young woman's eyes.
She shuddered.
Those eye's, they were now filled with fury, rage, and a tangible indignation.
Disgust, too.
Maddie was passed caring; she had won. To her, that was all that mattered. It was the same for Katya, too. She stood, her wraps barely fastened to her hands, her breathing ragged and her brow taught.
She was a ball of rage and stood hunched over like a panther with indigestion.
"Katya." Maddie said, nodding.
"Whore." She seethed back, spittle spilling from her mouth.
"Oh, now isn't that ironic." Maddie replied, grinning as the crowd laughed and began to beat and pulse once more.
The crowd had rarely seen this, the pair had only ever fought eight times, with four wins each.
Half of the reason the air was so tense, so much more intense than it was even at the height of the last fight, was because Katya fought in much the same way as Maddie.
She may have been off-kilter, full of rage, and unfocused, but the stance she adopted as the crowd began to egg the two women on was familiar. In many ways, the pair of them cast a mirror image of each other. Sweat lined their bodies, alcohol hung in the air, and the heat warmed their palms as they squared off.
The claxon sounded and the crowd bucked and weaved in a frenzy of excitement as the two women circled each other with the grace of a snake and the killer instinct of a tiger.
"Your move, snake" Katya hissed, goading Maddie into an attack.
The mob whooped and cheered.
Bread and circuses.
The mob would have it.
She coiled, like a snake, grinning.
Maddie winked and Katya snapped, launching herself at her with a flying kick. The crowd exploded as the fight began.
Katya, with her long legs, struck at her in a wide and furious arc.
Maddie hadn't stopped grinning.
She braced.
The kick slammed into her guard, pushing her back a little as Maddie clasped her fingers around the ankle.
Using her momentum and a carefully placed foot, she pulled Katya away and sent her careening into the opposite wall as a shower of cocktails and beer flew through the air. The woman groaned as the air was punched from her lungs and Maddie stalked her, enjoying the rush of victory.
Katya refused to give up, wheezing as she pulled herself to her feet and brought her hands up in a weak attempt to regain some kind of form.
Maddie struck this time.
She coiled and sprung forth, swiping twice at her face. The first knocked her backwards, the speed of it taking her by surprise.
The second, slower and more powerful, crunched into her jaw, sending her sprawling put over the floor.
Maddie stood, triumphantly, basking in the glory she had secured herself.
She glanced at the clock and watched it tick over her average and smiled.
}{=}{
The following day, Maddie woke sore and secure in her bed. With the year finally over and Katya's position in the rankings secured in third, Maddie had achieved exactly what she had hoped. She'd given up the top spot, and she'd beaten her rival to second place. As she walked to the administration building, gazing happily at the students busying themselves with the education of war, Maddie was in a state of pure contentment.
In the sky, earth dominated the view. It never got old for Maddie, that little blue dot was the centre of her world now and it meant as much to her as the last family she had left. She watched the ships, many more than usual, arrive in the sky over the Academy.
The grand old steps of the admin building were a breeze to climb and the smell of old wood filled her nose as she half skipped inside and up towards an office on the uppermost floor.
Several burly guards greeted her, all dressed in the black fatigues of ONI.
Something was up.
She arrived at the door and knocked three times.
"Come in" said a voice that certainly wasn't Serin's.
She pushed the old oak door open and smiled.
"Admiral." She said, snapping into a smart salute.
"At ease, Cadet Harper." She replied, sat in the leather chair usually reserved for her protégé, Captain Osman.
"It's been a while, " Maddie said, taking a seat in front of the Admiral.
"It has, my apologies for being so busy, darling, but you know how the covenant can be."
"That I do, Ma'am" Maddie replied, relaxing, "I'm guessing Serin has been reassigned?"
The Admiral sipped her tea and nodded, "yes, she's learned all about politicking and administration during your tenure here. With your graduation however, and her skill, she's wasted here." She set her cup down and sat forward. "Serin isn't why I'm here, though, I'm here to give you some good news."
"Really? Is it about Maggie?"
The Admiral shook her head and Maddie knew better than to push it.
"No, it's about what comes next."
Maddie shot upright.
"I'm getting assigned?"
"I thought I would let you know. You are, after all, my second most valuable investment."
Maddie smiled, that meant a lot. Having an Admiral on your side mattered in the world she was about to enter. Reputation meant as much as accuracy with a DMR to the brass of the UNSC, they didn't like or trust ONI, so instead they had to respect or fear those they worked with.
"You flatter me, Admiral."
"Indeed," she said, digging into her pocket and producing a bar of Kendal Mint Cake. "An old friend of yours said you liked this."
Maddie reached across the desk and smiled warmly at the bar.
"Thank you, Ma'am."
"No need for thanks', Darling." she replied, leaning back in the large leather chair, "What I need from you, is results."
"I'm ready."
"I have no doubt that you think you are." she mused, a wry smile on her lips. "But I need to know that you can truly be relied upon for more sensitive missions."
She scowled a little, wondering if all her achievement had been pointless.
"Now now, my dear, don't be like that." she laughed, "It's nothing personal. I've just come up with a mission to truly test your capabilities."
Maddie nodded, regarding the old woman coolly.
I shouldn't have been so naive as to think that the games would end with my graduation.
"You're being assigned to military intelligence, as my eyes and ears on the ground during the renewed campaign on Meridian. It's only temporary, so long as you prove that you can deliver results."
"I understand." Maddie said, nodding.
"Good!" the old Admiral said, "I've been looking forward to this day for four years. After what happened on Skopje, I knew we needed someone like you."
Maddie agreed. Four years of hard work, sweat, tears, bruising's, training and rivalries had finally paid off.
Tomorrow she would graduate and begin her fight. Her new life, the one she had worked so hard to attain, was in her grasp.