"You endangered not only the mission but the safety of the soldiers sent to help you! they could have extracted as soon as you were done, but you decided to put it all up to chance!"
Iona was on the bridge with Admiral De Jager as he yelled at her. Captain Agnello stood to his left, watching. When he had chosen not to reprimand Iona for her actions, the Admiral himself had stepped in.
"Iona, it pains me to say this (she seriously doubted that), but I'm afraid you are going to be severely reprimanded," De Jager said finally. Iona didn't regret what she had done at all, and she understood why she was being punished. But still, she was itching for this little session to be over so she could go check on Caleb.
"It seems what I first thought to be your greatest strength was our greatest hindrance, so I'm afraid I am going to have to reassign you to a different unit to compensate. You and Caleb are to be separated, an incident like today cannot happen again," the Admiral said with an air of finality. Iona stood, shocked, her mind still processing. Separate them? Of all the consequences Iona had expected, this wasn't one of them. It looked like the captain felt similarly.
"Sir, with respect I don't believe this is the most efficient-" the captain began before he was cut off.
"If she decided to put the entire mission in danger over one soldier, efficiency has already been thrown out the window," De Jager growled, "until we find another permanent team to assign you to, the captain will dispatch you with squads of marines and ODSTs. For now, you are no longer an infiltration unit. Dismissed."
Iona stood, still frozen in place. The Admiral walked past Iona and out of the room, the door sliding shut behind him. Captain Agnello walked up to Iona and put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly.
"I'm sure it won't be permanent," he said. "Go get some rest, I think you made the right call back there."
Iona nodded to him and the captain left the room, leaving Iona alone on the bridge with the busy technicians. She stared off into space around them, watching UNSC ships fly past. She wouldn't be with Caleb anymore. She couldn't even remember a time when he hadn't been there by her side, and now she may not ever see him again. Assuming the Admiral was serious about reassigning her, she might never even see the Pollux again. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind. Sighing quietly, she left the room to go check on Caleb.
It was a short walk to the infirmary. When she arrived she asked for Caleb's room number from the friendly staff member and waited patiently to be allowed in. When the nurse opened the door she looked up and stumbled back a little, clearly not expecting the hulking armor-clad soldier in front of her. Wordlessly, she smiled nervously and stepped out of the way. Iona walked in and saw Caleb, her heart leaping a little. His chest was completely covered in bandages, and his throat was contained in a strange metal tube. Iona kneeled next to Caleb and removed her helmet, watching the shuddering rise and fall of his breathing.
"Status?" She asked softly.
"We're confident in his recovery," the nurse replied, still a little timid, "It seems his armor took the majority of that plasma fire, so most of the damage is internal. Which brings me to his throat, it's been severely damaged. He's going to have trouble eating and breathing for a while, and his vocal cords have been almost completely crushed. I'm afraid it's likely he won't be able to speak ever again." Iona nodded. She was glad to know he would make it, but Caleb had taken some serious hits out there. Iona found herself wishing she had thought the plan through more thoroughly, she should have known the proud Councilor would have no regard for his own life. And now Caleb was paying for it. He'd never be able to speak again. Those words continued to bounce around in her brain. She had always loved the sound of his voice.
Her mind shifted back to all the times Caleb had sung for her, in quiet caves and forest camps on distant planets. Behind enemy lines, in a sea of the unfamiliar and dangerous, he was the light that pushed it all back. She doubted she'd be here without him, and she knew she was able to help him a lot too. They were a team, binary in everything they did. Connected on a psychological level. And now, it seemed it was going to be severed. Iona rested her head on the edge of the bed and closed her eyes. Imagining the last song he had sung to her. The song about the ODSTs
--
Plasma fire and needles whizzed over Iona's head as she took cover next to her squad. She had been deployed on a simple mission alongside a 65th shock troops division squad of ODSTs. Their job was to clear a destroyed human settlement of an old Covenant occupation force. It had been a relatively simple battle, there wasn't much resistance anymore. Though Iona got the feeling the ODSTs didn't appreciate the help, they were an efficient combination.
"Alex, take the left turret!" One shouted. His name was Sergeant Leon, your standard gruff ODST leader.
"Yes sir!" Alex shouted back, sprinting over to the unmanned heavy machine gun turret. Alex was an extremely talkative young ODST, and seemingly the only one that was comfortable enough to speak directly to Iona. Nearly the moment she had been deployed with them he had started asking her questions about being a Spartan. Iona found it entertaining to humor him if a little awkward. The Sergeant had soon put a stop to this.
"Charlie! Cover us, the rest of you advance!" The Sergeant yelled again while pointing forward.
A different ODST hopped out of cover with a grenade launcher and charged towards a Brute that had gotten a little too close to their lines, firing as he ran. The shots impacted the giant ape and sent him flying backward. The ODST continued to lay down fire as the rest of them caught up and took cover again. Charlie was a quiet demolitions expert that seemed to take a little too much pleasure in his job. And after that, there was Anne, their marksman and reconnaissance expert. And finally Pierre, a rather confident close quarters combat fighter.
The group worked rather efficiently, and Iona found herself not needing to put in as much effort as usual. It was clear they worked well as a group, but there wasn't much synchronization between the Spartan and ODSTs, just meshed skill. Even so, the mission ended quickly, and the group finished clearing out the Covenant from the area and prepared to return to their forward base.
It didn't take long for them to return to the site they were camped out in, the third story of an old building near the city square. The room they were taking shelter in was missing a wall and part of the roof, which conveniently allowed them to keep watch on the area. The ODSTs began unpacking some of their equipment while Iona walked over to look out over the dark city. She could hear the soldiers behind her talking about her, which they thought she couldn't hear.
"Do you think she even sleeps?" Pierre was asking Charlie, who Iona could audibly hear shrug his armored shoulders.
"I'm not even sure she's fully human anymore," Anne said to Pierre. "I heard they all went through some crazy surgery that made them half cyborgs"
"Half cyborgs?" Alex asked, "I thought that cyborgs were already like, half of a human"
"Oh whatever you know what I mean," Anne said. "Point is, I think she should take first watch."
"Oh yeah?" The Sergeant asked, walking over, "then why don't you ask her?"
"Uhhhh yeah I'm good," Anne said as Leon chuckled.
"I'll do it," Alex said, walking towards Iona, the rest of them watching curiously for a moment before returning to their work. Leon chuckled as he watched him leave.
"Hi," Alex said, standing next to Iona, looking out over the city with her. Iona hesitated before nodding to him curtly. "I know you're not the talkative type but I just wanted to ask if you'd be alright with taking the first watch? It was the guys' idea. We're not fully convinced you Spartans actually sleep," he said, laughing a little.
Iona paused again before responding, "we sleep, but I'll take the first watch." Alex nodded, looking back out over the city. It was aglow with failing neon signs that flickered in the darkness. In the far distance, Covenant Phantoms patrolled areas, keeping their own watch. As Iona looked out, it began to rain.
"If you don't mind me asking, you were on a team of two right?" Alex asked, "So what happened to the other Spartan?" The memory stung at Iona like a hot covenant spike, but she mustered up the will to answer.
"He was injured, and we were forcibly separated," She said.
"Oh, I see," Alex said. "I'm sorry about that." He seemed to think for a moment, before continuing. "Were you two close?" Iona's pain grew a little.
"Yes," she said, "I guess we were." Alex nodded.
"You know, I used to think that Spartans were completely devoid of emotion. I would hear stories about the insane killing machines of the UNSC and honestly, they scared me a little. But now that I've seen one, that's pretty obviously not true." Alex said. Iona turned towards him, cocking her head ever so slightly.
"I can tell, even through that visor of yours that you're in pain. I didn't think Spartans could feel pain until now. But I see now that you guys have to fight through a lot of that when you do your battles. I know it's not much, but I just wanted to offer a little bit of advice. I know you guys were made to fight and raised into this war, but this doesn't have to be your only purpose. Sometimes, it's better to value yourself and what you want over the purpose others have instilled onto you. That make any sense?"
Iona thought for a long moment before replying, "yes, I think it does. Thank you," she said.
"You're very welcome," Alex replied, smiling, and walked back into the dark building. He was right, Iona was thinking. And she was going to find a way to get Caleb back. Because that's what she wanted.