Disclaimer: I don't own Halo. I wish I did, because then I'd be rich. I do, however, own Spartan-150 also known as Mariana.
Mariana: sheafs through Ria's reviews Hey Ria, you've got a flame.
Ria: What does it say?
Mariana: This person says that if you're going to base this story on the books, you should stick to it more. continues to read He also says that it's not right that Mariana refuses to salute a superior.
Ria: well he can kiss my arse. 1) I only use the books as a reference. Besides, in the game, Master Chief is 41 years old, which is my dad's age and 2) Mariana adopted the Elites point of view on the humans. She may have been five, but she is unusually bright and perceptive, and she also sees no importance in the human rank system so refuses to salute on the sole idea of it being pointless.
Mariana: well there you have it. Ria, what are you planning for this chapter?
Ria: hmm, I'm trying to decide if I should do a part of the chapter based on Adadee or not. After all, I've been focusing on Mariana for quite a while. What do you think Mariana?
Mariana: do this one on my father. I want to know what's going on with him.
Ria: very well, the first page or so will be of Adadee because he'll get his fair share of time later… onward then!
BY THE WAY: as of last chapter, YSF stopped helping me with this story. She figured I could handle this from now on. This is my first solo chapter, so be nice.
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Adadee stood at a control panel surveying a report. It told an unbelievable tale of humans defeating and blowing up a starship. Clicking his mandibles in the equivalent of a shrug, knowing it wasn't his problem, the silver armored Elite dumped the report on a data disk and headed to where his superior was located.
After handing over the disk and returning to his station, Adadee let out a sigh. Planet work was dull for a soldier like him, but it kept his heart intact. About four years after Mariana had been separated from him, Adadee had filed for a transfer to get away from Tartarus. Then after another four years after he was recently promoted to silver armor, he transferred yet again. Since the only available position was on the Elite home planet, Adadee took it to get away from the fights for quite a while. Since every single time the flagship he was on would incinerate a human planet, Adadee would feel a pain in his heart as he wondered if Mariana would be on that planet and helpless to the destructive force.
"Thinking about your daughter again?" came a slightly teasing voice. Adadee turned and clicked his mandibles slightly at the crimson Elite.
"Don't you dare say you don't miss her Arkanee," Adadee said disapprovingly to his friend. Arkanee pushed himself off the wall where he had been leaning and joined Adadee at the panel.
"I never said that. Of course I miss her. In fact, the only reason I came here was to bring you back into battle," Arkanee started but trailed off when he saw Adadee's expression.
"I don't want to kill her by accident," came the quiet response.
"Which is why I arranged for us to be assigned to help explore constructs around the galaxy," Arkanee replied slyly.
"Constructs? What are you blabbering about this time?" Adadee asked mildly thinking Arkanee was joking.
"I'm not blabbering," Arkanee defended indignantly, "the Prophets believe that these constructs were made by the forerunners."
"The forerunners huh? I think that I'll take you up on your offer then," Adadee said now interested.
…
Mariana looked around the amphitheater and sighed. It seemed like only yesterday she and seventy-four other six-year-old kids were being marched down these stairs, all frightened except for her. In reality, it was about ten grueling years of hard fought battles and solo missions after they completed training. Mariana had spent about two years of her time training and playing guard dog for Sol and Earth. A boring job because nothing happened, so she transferred back to the battlefield once the Spartan program was revealed to the public.
"Mariana!" someone called. Mariana turned and saw John approaching her.
"Hello John," she replied with a good-natured smile when she saw the medals on John's dress uniform, "have fun these past years?"
"You should talk, you have more medals than I do," he teased and then became serious. "Did you find your father?" he asked quietly.
"No," she replied, "I checked yesterday though, and he's safe near Threshold."
John was about to reply, but stopped and saluted as Dr. Hasley and the UNSC renowned Captain Keyes entered. Mariana, after a second, followed suit, Keyes being the only human that she respected enough to salute.
Once they were told to sit, they listened to the briefing. It was about how the UNSC wanted the Spartans to disable a Covenant ship and take it back to their home world. Mariana as usual found ways to amuse herself since she was easily bored with briefings. 'They'd probably flip if they found out that I have a map of the galaxy and knowledge of the location of the Elite's home planet,' she mused with a small smirk as she and the other Spartans were dismissed.
A few days later, Mariana was summoned back to the military base. Once she arrived, she immediately noticed that there weren't any other Spartans there…and that suited her just fine.
"Mariana, I'm glad you could make it," Dr. Hasley said as she approached the Petty Officer, "If you'll follow me, I'm going to update your neural implants and then I have a pleasant surprise for you.
Mariana nodded and followed the mother figure of all of the Spartans. After the neural implant procedure, which Mariana didn't like because the assisting doctor wanted to cut her long (and way over the regulation limit) hair for the second time in her life in order to reach the neural implants easier. Of course Dr. Hasley sent the assistant away after he was threatened with castration, long painful death, various forms of torture, and disembowelment delivered by none other than Mariana.
"We really have to work on your attitude," Hasley joked as she finished up with the neural implants, "Come this way now."
Mariana obediently followed. "So what's my surprise?" she asked as she followed the doctor into a tent and stopped short. Suspended on a raised platform was a brand new suit of MJOLINR armor. "Is that…"
"Yours? Yes. It's the completed version of MJOLINR. Your old one was basically a prototype. This suit is yours and only yours because I integrated a slot for your little computer chip in the helmet." Dr. Hasley explained with a grin.
As Mariana was fitted with the new suit, Dr Hasley was pulling a data crystal out of a computer. "What is that doctor?"
"Well, you and John have been selected to protect the computer engineers that will be accompanying the Spartans," Hasley said as she went around to Mariana's neural slots and inserted the data crystal into a special slot.
Mariana jerked and tensed as a cool presence flowed into her mind and then warmed. Just as she was about to ask Dr. Hasley what the meaning of this was, she heard a familiar voice in her head.
"Still a trouble maker? I thought that in ten years you would mature, but no, you're as bad as ever," the voice said.
"A-Amee?" Mariana asked uncertainly.
"Very good! I missed you," the AI added softly.
"Are you the computer engineer?"
"Absolutely. Me and Cortana will be fulfilling your every hacking and operating needs," Amee replied proudly.
"Just do me a favor and stay out of my software. I don't trust anyone except me to use it."
"Why do you think I won't be able to use it?" Amee demanded.
"Open it up and see."
Mariana stood patiently while Amee opened the covenant software and the galaxy sprang up on her HUD. A moment's pause and then, "But this is in the language of the covenant! No one can read this!"
"No one?" Dr. Hasley asked amused, "I guess Mariana never told you that her 'father' is a Covenant Elite then?"
Mariana felt Amee process the equivalent of shock. "No way," she murmured, "Mariana, is this true?"
"Yes, I plan on finding him someday after the mission," Mariana replied stoutly.
"Mariana, we need to run a test to see how well you, Amee, and Cortana work well together," Dr. Hasley interrupted gently.
Mariana raised the visor on her helmet and Dr. Hasley saw her indigo eyes filled with surprise. "You mean to tell me that I have to carry two Ais! Won't my suit short circuit?" she demanded.
"No dimwit, I'm carrying Cortana. You don't mind running the course with me, do you?" John mocked lightly entering the tent.
"Watch it," Mariana growled, whirling around to glare at her friend who also had his visor up, "I could beat you now if I wanted."
"Try me," John challenged, getting into a stance, Mariana quickly following, both facing off, serious looks on their faces.
"Children!" a voice snapped from John's external speakers, startling the two Spartans out of their stances, "You're the only hope for Earth, and you're acting like spoiled children!"
John winced. "Cortana! Not so loud," he scolded. Mariana made a mental note to not get on Cortana's nerves again, even though she'd probably mouth off right back…as always.
"Truce?" Mariana asked, offering her hand to John.
"Truce," John agreed, taking her gauntlet and kissing the back of it in a gentlemanly manner.
"Now since you two are done with your antics, let's continue. The objective is simple. You must get through the course and ring the bell on the far end of it. Some of the ONI wish to see you two fail and may have planned some dangerous obstacles for you, so be careful," Dr. Hasley explained.
"We won't fail," Mariana said confidently, lowering her visor.
"I'm sure you won't. Once I leave count to ten slowly, and your test will begin," Dr. Hasley said and strode out of the tent as John lowered his visor.
"Just like when we were kids, eh Mariana?" John asked as the two stepped onto the raised platform and stood face to face.
"I remember. I count 10 Helljumpers around the outside. Five each and we don't have any weapons."
"Can you two take them? It's 5-1," Cortana stated.
"I've handled worse," Mariana replied and finished counting to ten just as three Helljumpers entered and opened fire. In a blur of movement, John formed his hands into a cradle, Mariana placed a foot into the cradle, and John vaulted her up and over to land silently behind the ODSTs. The Helljumpers, not seeing this movement because it was too fast, opened fire on John, oblivious to the threat behind them. There was a whump and the ODST on the right flank crumpled weaponless beneath a harsh blow to the back.
John took advantage of the distraction and took out the left flank man. Both Spartans then gunned the last soldier in the tent and strode outside to face the remaining seven after policing the fallen soldiers' ammo. After dispatching the last seven in the same distract and attack method, Mariana and John headed towards the barracks, belly crawling under them to disappear from possible snipers.
Coming out to the gravel field, Mariana held John back suddenly. "I don't like this," she murmured, which surprised John. Normally nothing would phase the human Elite, but now she was hesitating.
"Cortana, Amee, can either of you find out what's spooking Mariana?" John asked.
Amee found it first. "I found a signal for Lotus mine activation! Mariana was right not to cross it."
"John, throw a grenade into the field. If it sets one off, I can determine the position of the others," Cortana instructed. John complied, and soon the two were picking their way across the field.
"That was brutally annoying," Mariana said irritably, her shoulders relaxing once they were across.
"I feel the same, but me and Cortana are picking up personally encrypted chatter between this base and Fairchild Airfield. I suggest continuing this course under the cover of those trees," Amee pointed out.
John and Mariana headed to the razor wire and commenced taking down the chain guns that were aimed at them, while Amee and Cortana investigated what Fairchild Airfield was planning.
"Spartans! A SkyHawk was sent from Fairchild air field and is headed this way!" Cortana warned.
"To the pillars of Loki! Hurry Mariana!" John urged, grabbing Mariana's hand and sprinting to the next section. Climbing up onto the top of the ten-meter-tall poles, John and Mariana started to hop across the top, intent on landing perfectly and balancing a half ton of flesh, bone, and armor on the ten centimeter diameter poles.
As Mariana was hopping, her very sharp ears picked up a rumbling that was steadily growing louder. "Amee, what's that?"
Amee listened also. "It's the engines on the SkyHawk. I'm getting a lot of interference from the jetwash, so it's up to you to alert John," she said as the jet opened fire.
"John! Jump!" Mariana cried out as the pole below her was shredded to pulp from the jet's automatic cannons. John looked towards the cry since their hopping had put some distance between them, and saw Mariana plummeting towards the ground, and pillars exploding in a straight path at him.
Sliding down his pole till he reached the ground as it exploded, John ran to Mariana and helped her up. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. We have to hurry. The SkyHawk will return and it'll use the Scorpion missiles next time," she said hurrying to the edge of another clearing.
"Stand behind me," John said, as he turned to face the jet, since both of them knew that they wouldn't be able to outrun the jet. Mariana nodded and moved behind John, wincing at the pain in her leg as she put weight on it.
"What are you planning to do?" she asked. John just looked at her and swiped the Spartan's signal of a smile on her visor.
"Just jump to the left when I tell you to," he answered. Both Spartans waited and suddenly, as the missile streaked towards them, John yelled, "Jump!"
Mariana dove to the side as John slapped the missile aside. When it detonated behind them, both flew six meters before crashing back down to the ground. Struggling to his hands and knees, John crawled to Mariana and rolled her over.
Mariana moved and turned so John could see his reflection in the visor of her helmet. "You son-of-a-bitch. You are the craziest person I ever knew," she said sourly.
"Don't I know it," he replied teasingly and then grew serious. "Can you stand?"
"I have no idea. I landed on the same leg that I landed on when I fell off that damn pillar," Mariana said as she struggled to stand and started limping towards the bell. "If Father saw me now, he would reprimand me for getting injured," she said as John caught up and helped her so they could get to the bell before the SkyHawk could return.
"Is he that tough?" John asked as he rang the bell and they listened to Dr. Hasley give them instructions to stay put.
"He would think it would have been a pointless injury and made sure it didn't happen again. You would like him John. He's strict, but he knows the limits of anyone," she explained, sitting down and taking off her helmet. John raised his visor and looked at his friend with a small smile as a Pelican circled overhead to pick them up.
"If he's anything like you, I'm sure I will," he replied, and received a very rare, beaming smile from Mariana as the Pelican settled onto the grass
…
The next day all of the Spartans loaded all of their gear and themselves onto the Pillar of Autumn. That was the ship that would take them to find a Covenant ship. Mariana had finished her preparation first along with Kelly, and the two were sparring, seeing if Mariana's leg was truly all right from yesterday's test.
Attack, block, counter-attack, and start all over again and again. Going faster and faster until they entered their favorite phase, 'Spartan time,' which was when everything seemed to slow. Linda, another Spartan who was done, was watching Mariana's performance and making notes.
"You seem vengeful," Mariana pointed out to Kelly as she caught one of her opponent's legs and sent the armor-clad Spartan to the floor.
"I'm just angry that the Covenant seems to always be erasing our wins against them," Kelly replied as she got up and flipped Mariana, but the said Spartan landed on her feet and kept punching.
"In my opinion, anger and revenge are the same thing. If you're angry, you want revenge, and if you want revenge, you were obviously angry at one point in time," Mariana replied before John cut them off.
"Captain on deck!" he barked, and all thirty Spartans saluted Captain Keyes in unison and at attention.
"As you were," he replied with a smile. Mariana couldn't help but like the captain. He wasn't one of those snobs who think they know everything. "I just dropped by to extend my regards. Master Chief, if you or your men…"
"And women," one of the Spartans that had been sparring interrupted.
"Spartan-150! Hush up!" Master Chief reprimanded.
"No Master Chief, she's right. I forgot the women. Let me try again. "If you or your men and women need anything at all, don't hesitate to ask," Keyes finished, recognizing the one who had interrupted as Mariana. He would never forget that little sharp-tongued, raven-haired girl who used to spar with a tree at the orphanage they found her at.
"Sir," John replied, saluting as Keyes left. As soon as the captain was gone, he rounded on Mariana. "Can't you behave for once?" he demanded.
"Not necessarily," she replied smoothly and stretched her leg out.
"I should leave you to guard the Autumn when we find a Covenant ship," John hissed.
The other Spartans held their breath, not wanting to set Mariana off any more than she already was about to. All of them knew about Mariana's upbringing. A long while ago, she had sought them out and told them, and they all still respected her.
"Leave me behind?" she growled, "I am the only one who is able to fly a covenant ship and be able to understand the transmissions! Remember, you can't order me around anymore. I am the same rank you are, Master Chief!"
John could only watch as Mariana stormed out of the room, knowing she'd be back after she cooled down. Looking at the other Spartans, he could tell that some of them wore looks of amusement. "Shut up," he muttered, going back to preparing his cryotube.
Mariana headed towards the Autumn's bridge, taking the long way around. Watching the doors slide open, she stepped slightly in. "Permission to enter the bridge."
"Granted Spartan-150…Mariana," Keyes replied, turning. Mariana strode to him and took her helmet off, causing her raven hair to tumble down her back.
"How did you know who I was?" she asked curiously.
"Well, I remembered your tendency to disregard the authority of superiors, seeing as you didn't salute…not that I care," he started with a chuckle at her shocked expression, "And secondly, Dr. Hasley gave me an accurate description of your unique suit build."
Mariana ran a gloved hand over her armor. It was true that her armor was built differently. It was lighter and more mobile, and the helmet was built less blocky and more streamlined. In fact, it reminded her a lot of her father's armor.
"I take it that you are going to be the Spartan in charge of the covenant ship?" Lieutenant Dominique asked as Mariana sealed her helmet shut again.
"Correct. I'm probably the only human who knows just about everything on the Covenant…" Mariana would have continued, but an incoming transmission interrupted her.
There was a few second pause, and then Lieutenant Dominique cried out, "The transmission was from FLEETCOM HQ. Sir, the Covenant are attacking Reach!"
Not even a minute later, Mariana was sprinting back towards the Spartan's quarters when the ship turned, sending her into the wall. "Damn Ensign Lovell," she snarled, tapping into the communication link. "John!" she shouted, "Covenant are attacking Reach! We're turning back!"
"What?" John demanded and then fell silent, knowing that she never lied, "Fine, get back to our quarters and we'll think of something."
Reaching the storage bay-turned quarters, Mariana barely had time to catch her breath before Keyes arrived. Once he briefed them all, John gave orders. He wanted Mariana to return to the bridge to provide the crew with tactical information on how to keep the Autumn safe. Mariana was silent for a minute, and John knew she was checking to see if her father was there. Finally she nodded in consent and departed for the bridge.
Since they had been at the system's edge, the Spartans and the Autumn's crew could do nothing but watch the slaughter. "Cortana, what's the damage report?"
Cortana was silent and then reported that one hundred UNSC ships were destroyed. While Cortana was talking, Mariana had gripped one of the rails in a death hold, fuzzy memories of screaming and death by the covenant coming back to her after god knows how long.
"Mariana, are you alright?" Keyes asked.
"I'm…I'm fine," Mariana said after taking a few ragged breaths and looked up. "Captain, the covenant… they're turning around. They're coming back," she said, pointing towards the viewscreen.
Cortana appeared on the holo panel. "It gets worse, there's an unsecured NAV database on the Reach space dock."
"Shit," Mariana swore. "John, what are we going to do?" she asked, knowing that Cortana had sent the others the transmissions.
John appeared on one of the view screens. "Captain Keyes, I'm requesting that you allow my team to split. One small group will go onto the space dock and retrieve the NAV database, and the other will go to Reach's surface and protect the MAC gun generators."
Keyes thought, tapping his pipe against his chin. At first he declined, but John effectively argued, so he granted the request. "Mariana," John said through the Spartan's intercom, "You're coming with me, Linda, and James on the space op. Prepare and meet us in the launch bay in about five minutes."
"Understood," Mariana replied. She then pulled Amee's data crystal from her helmet and turned to Keyes. "Captain, do you think you could hold onto this until I get back? She's another AI. She will help Cortana with offensive and defense if you wish." she asked, holding out the crystal.
Keyes nodded and took the crystal. Mariana left, grabbing some weaponry from a weapon's locker as she headed towards the launch bay. She couldn't help but feel the sense of foreboding that surrounded this mission.
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Ria: well, that's all for this chapter. Review and I'll update ASAP